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It is interesting to come across a New Orleans Saints license plate. You realize that it is a real football fan in there inside the car or truck, and you also realize he or she has a social conscience.

Or maybe it is just fashionable to care for the city that dare forgot, NOLA – nawlins, the crescent city, the big easy. No matter what you call it, you know that, that is what the New Orleans Saints license plate is referring to – that, and Hurricane Katrina.

The city was ruined by the failure of the federal levee system in the summer of 2005. Though most people had cleared out by the time Katrina actually hit, homes and businesses were flooded towards the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Over a thousand and a half people died, and numerous are still unaccounted for. And that’s just for starters.

So it was nothing short of national catharsis when the Saints played their first game in the city again, even while reconstruction was still going on all around, with the Superdome itself having been just repaired. Numerous non-Louisianans took to sporting a New Orleans Saints license plate as a sign of solidarity with the home team and also the people they represent.

For there’s practically nothing most Americans like better than to root for the underdog, and after the beating Katrina gave the city rooting for the Saints became something of a civic duty. And for one magical moment, comparable to when New York teams took to the field after 9/11, sports became about a lot more than just bragging rights. It became a holy ritual wherein a national community can cleanse itself, redeem itself, reconnect with itself.

No longer was sports mere entertainment. No longer were spectators living vicariously through the overpaid and often bad-behaved players. This time, everyone was a New Orleanian.

The W9 Form is required by businesses to file returns with the United States Internal Revenue Service on payments made to others. Information such as the name, address, and the social security number (or other taxpayer identification number) is provided,though the form itself is never actually sent to the Internal Revenue Service. Instead, a W-9 Form is retained by the business or whoever is responsible of filing returns. It is taken care of for confirmation reasons, for example in the case of an audit. The details on the form, including the payment made, is generally reported on another, for example the Form 1096 or 1099.

There is an additional reason for the W-9 Form. It is to assist the person paid (technically called a “payee”) avoid something called “backup withholding.” On an accurate scale of 1-10, if the payer acknowledges the principal ingredients involved in the tax stew then the “payor” is guaranteed a 10, or to be more realistic a 9, from the scale particularly since no one is thrilled by giving money away but the outcomes do remain quite satisfactory. Maybe there is a way to get a perfect 10 if done illegally and swiftly but the sensible outcome stays at a 9.

The payor (that is, “payer,” the one making the payment – namely, the employer) is legally compelled to collect withholding taxes on certain kinds of income, payments that need to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service. But the payee has the legal right to not have such taxes collected on his or her behalf, opting to do so him or herself when filing tax returns during tax season. In such a circumstance, the payee must certify on the W-9 that the payee is not subject to backup withholding in order to receive the full amount, which action lets the payor off the hook, so to speak, with the Internal Revenue Service.

So, to recap: the IRS Form W-9 serves two basic purposes, as proposed by its official name of “Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification.” First, it is used by employers to file what’s known as an information return with the United States Internal Revenue Service on their employees – namely, how much they were paid. It is held on file by the employer and not truly filed with the Internal Revenue Service, but subject to disclosure to that agency.

Second, it may be used by the employee to certify his or her not being subject to backup withholding taxes. The employee then takes personal liability for paying all the taxes owed at the end of the year, instead of having the employer subtract them automatically with every pay period. Whatever the case, the W-9 is still the responsibility of the employer to maintain, to keep on file.

Present day scholars categorize Greek vases by shape, though there are about a hundred different categories that result. As could be imagined, most distinguishing features are very subtle and require not only a trained eye but a knowledge of art theory. Several others, however, may be readily identified by the layman with only a little bit of self-education.

Among such Greek vases effortlessly recognized by non-scholars are the amphora and the stamnos, both of which are utilized to store as well as transport food and wine. For cooling or mixing wines, however, ancient Greeks mostly used kraters or psykters. When it comes to actually drinking wine, however, a kantharos, kylix, or oinochoe was used.

Drawing water was another matter, and so naturally necessitated an entire category of Greek vases, which includes the hydria, loutrophoros, and lebes gamikos. Remarkably, the lebes gamikos was composed of three pieces; a bowl with handles, a covering lid, and a stand to support them all – no surprise the name means, literally, “marriage bowl!” Actually, it was indeed employed as a component of wedding rituals, to bring water for the bridal bath. Thus vases of this sort were decorated with wedding scenes, normally involving preparations or the processions themselves.

As can be imagined, a culture that invented vases just for carrying water on a particular occasion is sure to use vases for such things as cosmetics, too! And so it’s that the pyxis and lekythos were used to hold oils and perfumes. They are not to be confused with those employed for athletics, also containing oils, such as the aryballos and alabastron.

Do you think its strange that the ancient Greeks should employ so many categories of vases when any one really should do? Well, simply take a look at our own times, when people have so many various bags for just as many different occasions!

A wireless router is essentially a router that does not require physical connections (that is, cables). A router is computer hardware that links computer networks. It is a networking device which functions like a traffic cop and a mailman put together, figuring out where information should go and the manner of its travel. Perhaps the most common application for a wireless router nowadays is to offer internet access for multiple PCs.

Different from traditional routers, a wireless router will in addition include the capabilities of a wireless access point. It’s commonly employed to offer internet access as well as access to a computer network, all with out the need for wires or cables.

Numerous wireless routers in the market today will offer multiple features for instance LAN ports which allow the device to function as a network switch. Wireless routers have come a long way in a quite short time.

Unfortunately, they all still have limitations on the actual speed offered as a result of interference, with things like distance and types of obstacles over that distance playing major roles. Security as well continues to be a prime concern, as well as the rapid deployment of broadband internet all over the country only heightens the urgency.

In fact, the industry’s first signal encryption scheme, Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), was very publicly cracked. An even more robust algorithm referred to as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) was quickly introduced as a replacement, followed by WPA2 the next year.

Indeed, security is an important reason why a router is deemed a need to many, even when there are no networking requirements involved. A router in this situation serves essentially as a sort of gatekeeper. In addition to software firewalls and the like, having a physical device interceding in between the computer and the internet will mean that an extra layer of insulation or protection, so to speak, is involved. Think of it as wearing a jacket on a wintry day despite the fact that you may already have a sweater on!

The W-2 Form is used to report wages paid and taxes withheld. Officially known as the Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, employers need to complete one for every employee that receives wage, salary, or other compensation as a result of work performed.

These forms must be delivered to every employee on or before the thirty-first of January of each calendar year so that early tax filers may have access to this crucial document, essential for claiming refunds or paying any money owed.

Multiple, and most likely thoroughly redundant, W-2 forms will be sent to those workers whose circumstances of employment involve tasks performed in more than one state. Some employers will simply print multiple rows of states on all copies of the W-2 sent out. Others generate W-2s that attribute gross compensation twice, once for every state, possibly causing clerical difficulties in the process.

The copies that employees really see, which they receive in the mail every year ahead of tax season, is but a few of several that make up the complete Form W-2. One is labeled Copy 2, to be filed along with the state and local income tax returns, if any. Copies B and C are also sent, for purposes of federal income tax returns and personal records, respectively.

Copy 1 is submitted by the employer to the state or nearby taxing authority, as mandated by law (which some jurisdictions do not need). Copy A goes towards the Social Security Administration. Copy D is for the employer’s own records.

The anatomy of a W-2 Form can be very interesting. On it are recorded everything earned for the year, which often feels like quite a surprise to many, regrettably! So many taxes…and yet it’s almost fun to see exactly how much goes to what, whether for Medicare or Social Security or the 401K.

The Microsoft Kinect promises to usher in the future of interactive entertainment unlike nothing else yet available on the market. Targeted at the Nintendo Wii videogaming console, the Kinect accessory for Microsoft’s own Xbox 360 platform surpasses its rival in technical excellence, deciding to do away with any hand-held controller altogether. In fact, the Kinect is in a class all by itself, and comparing it to the Wii would be like taking Zalman Silber’s New York Skyride literally, when it is no ride at all but just a half-hour educational-type movie located on the second floor of the Empire State Building.

Likewise, for all its brilliance upon its debut, the Nintendo Wii seems almost like an exercise in false advertising today when stacked up against the potential of Microsoft’s Kinect. Obviously, it was Nintendo’s Wii that first provided the impetus for Microsoft’s effort. Credit should be given where credit is due, and Nintendo has done all the world quite a favor in being so bold. But time, like technology, marches on, and for the foreseeable future it is Microsoft that will be dominant where multimedia interactivity in electronic entertainment is concerned.

Or, to use successful entrepreneur Zalman Silber as an example again, it’s like the difference between his New York Skyride and his Skywalk in Sydney, Australia. Whereas the Skyride purports to be a, well, sky ride and yet is neither, the Skywalk is actually as close to walking in the sky as anything available at this time. And so the Kinect is almost synonymous with multimedia interactivity and virtual reality, in the same way that the Wii is now no longer so, for all its historical importance.

All things considered, though the Wii revolutionized videogaming with its waveable wand-like controllers, the Kinect uses the hand itself as the controller – indeed, the whole human body, in its entirety, including its movements and even down to the facial gestures. That’s right! Even facial cues will factor into videogames now, such as they already do in real life. Thus, in a role-playing game, for instance, the player’s facial gestures can influence how non-player characters react and thus how subsequent events unfold!

Or one can imagine a cleverly programmed poker game that uses the Kinect’s camera sensors to carefully read the player’s face for clues that will help its artificial intelligence subroutines determine whether it should bluff or fold its hand, say. The applications are endless, with possibilities limited only by human imagination (and programming skills)!

Thus far, however, barely more than a dozen simple titles have been announced to debut alongside the system, most if not all of which are hardly very different from anything currently offered by the Wii. This means that the initial library of software will involve dancing games, fitness games, and virtul pets games. But as the Kinect catches on, more sophisticated applications are expected – finally ushering the virtual into our reality!

I love going to the gym. Every thing about it turns me on. Just the st-r-r-eeetch of athletic tape gets me going. I can see it now, even in my mind’s eye, the taut white tape as well as the specks of dust undoing it from its roll sends up into the air.

Weird? You bet. That, and chalk. Athletic tape and chalk. I dust my palms in it for kettlebells and Olympic weight-lifting. Downright needed. You want a proper grip, but in addition, you want ease of movement for those split-second snatches and catches. Chalk lets you do that.

Athletic tape supports the wrists during those high-speed, high-torque maneuvers. Tricks of the trade. Some folks use tape for their knees and even ankles, too, but luckily I don’t have to. But it’s comforting to feel support for my wrists, which is most likely my personal weakest link.

Outsiders, non-weightlifters, may well wonder why, why not just do something else, like machines, if using free-weights are so dangerous as to require such accessories as chalk and tape. It really is a valid question, at first glance. But these things aren’t actually necessities, which is why they’re referred to as “accessories” in the first place.

It’s just that many serious, competitive lifters use them because, well, we’re a superstitious bunch, and any bit of luck will do. More talisman than anything else, tape and chalk are comforting, psychologically comforting, and thus empowering. For at elite levels of competition, the distinguishing mark is the mental edge.

Besides, it does stand to reason how tape and chalk assist; one supports joints while the other supports grip, respectively. Aside from strength, your joints and your grip are the other important factors that determine success in lifting. With a sturdy grip and solid joints, all you need to worry about is proper form and of course the sheer strength to lift. Having a powerful grip and strong reliable joints means you are already halfway there!

Racing is not on the minds of most bicycle commuters, unless they happen to be messengers or deliverymen who, normally, ride to work! And in such cases, it would not be too surprising to find them employing what could pass for ad hoc racing strategies of the sort found in informal alleycat contests.

It might seem surprising that individuals who need to ride all day, every day, would also ride so fast, particularly when not actually on the job but merely commuting there. Wouldn’t such people rather take a little break from any kind of racing for a while? Wouldn’t it make much more sense to slowly ease oneself into one’s day instead of rushing, rushing, rushing all the time?

Most folks would agree. But for the speedsters, it’s all about the speed. For these kinds of individuals, it is like how fish have to swim and birds need to fly. It’s not so much a conscious choice as an inborn need. If anything, it is how they warm up for the day ahead.

Of course, the majority of individuals commuting by bicycle would like to get there as fast as possible, too. But for them, what’s possible is a great deal more limited, in all likelihood, than for the racers who tend to make their living from bicycling all day.

Such people have a lot practice, and they’ll have accumulated so much experience. They are almost fearless – and though fear generally lend wings to feet, fear when bicycling, particularly in an urban environment, can be an impediment to speed.

In fact, habitually slow riders tend to be those with no confidence. They are afraid – and understandably so. But the fear slows them down – not that speed is an absolute necessity for them anyway. The point is that it isn’t a matter of some being fast so much as others being slow.

Dog food coupons rank among the most popular of searches on the web. Dog foods has traditionally been divided into two sorts, dry and wet, though semi-moist varieties now exist. Though most dry food could be left out for long periods of time, many owners practice portion control and feed their dogs twice a day, the same as they would with wet food.

As can be imagined, dry varieties generally cost much less, but that does not stop individuals from looking for dog food coupons online to lock in even greater savings. Dry dog food is the far better choice where nutrition is concerned, too; they’re a lot more nutrient-dense than wet dog food due to the fact the latter necessarily contains high amounts of water, anywhere from sixty to ninety percent.

On the other hand, however, wet dog foods typically contains less filler, for instance corn and wheat, and more meat, especially when compared against the cheapest dry ones.

Dry dog food is essential for giving canine teeth a bit of a workout while wet food is recommended for older dogs that have difficulty chewing. Most owners, nevertheless, will simply purchase whichever one they have dog food coupons for! Some folks also believe that specific breeds should be fed only certain kinds of food, but practically everybody agrees that an age-specific diet is important.

In common with human foods, dog food ingredients are listed in order, by amount, and such lists are really long. Many folks feed their dogs food made at home, and there are those who even feed them human food.

Although dogs will eat just about anything we do, from beer and donuts to rice and vegetables, many are in fact toxic to them, for example grapes, onions, chocolates, tomatoes, and certain nuts and, yes, beers. And even common household objects like pennies manufactured after 1982, which contain zinc, can be fatal with ingestion.