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From birth to young adulthood, the prostate grows from about the size of a pea to about the size of a walnut. Most men experience a second period of prostate growth in their mid- to late 40s. At this time, cells in the central portion of the gland - where the prostate surrounds the urethra - begin to reproduce more rapidly. As tissues in the area enlarge, they often compress the urethra and partially block urine flow. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the medical term for this condition. It should be noted that the prostate may also become enlarged due to bacterial infection, the term used for this condition is acute or chronic bacterial prostatitis. There is also another non-bacterial form of chronic prostatitis which is actually more common than its counterpart, the cause for it is unknown.

Prostate enlargement affects about half of men in their 60s and up to 90 percent of men in their 70s and 80s. The presence or absence of prostate gland enlargement is not related to the development of prostate cancer.

Conventional treatment depends on your signs and symptoms and may include medications, surgery or non-surgical therapies such as acupuncture, herbs, and nutritional supplements.

Signs & Symptoms Prostate enlargement varies in severity from man to man, and doesn’t always pose a problem. Only about half the men with prostate enlargement experience signs and symptoms that become noticeable or bothersome enough for them to seek medical treatment. These signs and symptoms may include:

*Weak urine stream *Difficulty starting urination *Stopping and starting again while urinating *Dribbling at the end of urination *Frequent need to urinate
*Increased frequency of urination at night (nocturia) *Urgent need to urinate
*Not being able to completely empty the bladder *Blood in the urine (hematuria)
*Urinary tract infection *Pain in the lower abdomen *Discomfort during ejaculation
*Fever and chills (infection)

< Traditional Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese Medicine generally sees the condition of prostate enlargement as an accumulation of Dampness and Heat in the lower portion of the torso (low Jiao), or as cold that has entered the Liver channel, quite often accompanied by a Kidney deficiency as an underlying root. This condition gives rise to all the troubling urinary symptoms listed above. Acupuncture, moxibustion, and laser acupuncture displays good results in helping restore normal urinary function (Luo YN et al. World Journal of Acupuncture-Moxibustion), and Chinese herbal therapy has been shown to eliminate the root causes of prostate enlargement. Together, Chinese herbal medicine and Acupuncture are an important choice in overcoming the battle with prostate enlargement. In one study, electro-acupuncture was also shown to help chronic prostatitis cases that were unresponsive to conventional therapies (Ikeuchi T, Iguchi H).

Treatments with acupuncture (traditional, electro, laser) and moxibustion (heat therapy) are usually once per week unless there is considerable pain 2-3 treatments per week for 1-3 weeks may be warranted. Chinese herbal therapy will be administered in the form of daily tea, pills, powders, or drops. Some nutritional supplements and western herbal therapy may also be recommended. Diet will also be reviewed from a traditional energetic point of view to help eliminate anything that may be aggravating the prostate condition.

Chronic non-bacterial prostatitis The most recent scientific research claims that chronic non-bacterial prostatitis has unknown etiology (the cause is not known). This is an unfortunate situation considering it is more common that it’s infectious counterparts, acute and chronic bacterial prostatitis.

Symptoms include pain and discomfort in the pelvic region or CPPS (chronic pelvic pain syndrome), some low back pain, frequent urination, and an unfinished feeling after urination. There is usually no history of urinary tract infections (as in bacterial prostatitis), no redness, and patients do not obtain symptomatic relief with antibiotics.

There also seems to be more of a feeling of ‘cold’ (rather than ‘heat’ which would be associated with the infectious bacterial prostatitis). It should also be noted that emotional problems such as depression and erectile dysfunction more often than not accompany this chronic condition and should be properly diagnosed and treated.

Treatment Studies and Research Some men say they find relief with NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), although this is an avenue that cannot be undertaken forever as they suppress the immune system.

The Merck manual is quoted saying that hot sitz baths and prostate massage are two of the best ways to provide symptomatic relief.

A recent study showed the benefits of alternative therapies including phytotherapy (quercetin, bee pollen) and physical therapies such as acupuncture (Shoskes and Manickam, dept. or Urology Cleveland Clinic Florida). The relief from acupuncture displayed that there is a neuromuscular component to chronic prostatitis. This is further proven in another study done by Chen and Nickel at the King Street Medical Arts Centre in Mississauga Ontario Canada where acupuncture successfully ameliorated symptoms in men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

Another study performed by Chen, Gao, Liu, and Shen at Zhejiang College Hangzhou showed promise with the use of laser acupuncture.

Other herbal supplementation has received scientific recognition as of late; pygeum for urinary symptoms, saw palmetto and quercetin for pain, and beta-sitosterol to aid with urinary flow.

Moxibustion, a form of heat therapy used with acupuncture has also shown improvement in patients that participated in a study at Fushun Municipal Hospital, and another showed significant improvement at Nanjing Medical University when a combination of antibiotics and acupuncture were used in the treatment of CPPS and chronic prostatitis.

Years of empirical evidence also gives hope to those that seek out the aid of a qualified Chinese herbal medicine practitioner.

written by Spence Pentland
Fertility specialist; the President of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association of British Columbia (TCMABC), and practices at Acubalance Wellness Centre (http://www.acubalance.ca/) where he treats only Men’s reproductive health mens.health-info.org and Women’s fertility issues infertility.health-info.org.

Exercise during and following pregnancy may seem like a foreign concept to you, but it is an essential item on any active woman’s to-do list. During pregnancy, you may remain active with a doctor’s consent; however, strenuous postnatal exercise is not recommended for 6 weeks following the birth. Even though your regular cardiovascular and strength routine will have to wait, there are gentle exercises you can do immediately following the birth.

Following are 6 exercises for prenatal and postnatal women. These exercises are recommended for women with no known contraindications, and should be followed according to your own body cues.

1. The Kegel- both pre and post natal
Muscles- Pelvic Floor
Lying on the floor with your feet out in front of you and your knees bent, just relax and let your body weight sink into the ground. Imagine you are urinating, and then stop the flow of urine. Simply engage in a small contraction of the sphincter, and then a relaxation. You can do this exercise as a progression- start lightly, build your way up, hold, then slowly release. You may do this sitting up in a chair, or in any position that is comfortable. Build your way up to 2 sets of 30 each day.

2. The Bridge- pre natal>
Muscles- Gluteus Maximus Lying on the floor with your feet in front of you hip distance, and your knees bent, squeeze your buttocks and slowly raise your hips up off the floor. You may keep your arms down by your sides. Keep your belly pointed toward the ceiling, not dropping to your side. Hold on top for 5-10 seconds, then release back down to the floor. 2 sets of 15

3. The Cat Stretch- pre natal
Muscles- Up: strengthens abdominals, Down: stretches lower back On all fours, take your hands under your shoulders and your knees hip width apart. Start with a neutral spine, keeping your head in line with your spine. Slowly roll your spine up toward the ceiling like a cat stretching. Think of pulling your abdomen in toward your spine. Slowly release down past your starting point and gently arch your back. 2 sets of 15

4. Ball Crunches- pre natal
Muscles- Abdominals
With an exercise ball propped against a wall, lean back on your ball until your buttocks are about 6 inches from the floor. Feet are on the floor in front of you about hip width apart. With your hands across your chest, and your chin tucked, slowly curl up, imagining your abdomen curling forward into a C shape. Exhale as you roll forward, inhale as you roll back slowly. You do not need to curl up very far. 2 sets of 15

5. Pelvic Tilt- post natal
Muscles- Abdominals
With your back flat against the floor and your knees bent, take your legs hip width apart and drop your arms by your sides. Take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, slowly roll your pelvis towards your shoulders, pressing your back deeper into the floor. Do not lift your hips up off the floor. Stabilize your abdominals as best as you can. Build up to 2 sets of 20

6. Belly Button to Floor- post natal
Muscles- Abdominals
With your back flat against the floor and your knees bent, take your legs hip width apart and drop your arms by your sides. Take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, think about drawing your belly button down to the floor. Relax, and then repeat. As you are doing this exercise, think about the belly flattening and compressing. You belly button should be pulling itself right down against your spine. 2 sets of 20

written by Nicole Palacios
Experienced certified fitness leader and personal trainer in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. She is the creator of Stroller Fitt. Her website is Perfectfit.ws

The World Health Organization (WHO) references acupuncture as being an effective treatment for the management of many types of pain, both acute and chronic.

There are 3 proven mechanisms that explain how acupuncture relieves pain;

1. Gate Theory
Once inserted, the needle activates the myelinated nervous system fibers which ultimately stops the pain message from getting to the T-cells in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord (closes the ‘Gate’). Therefore the pain message does not transmit to the thalamus/cortex in the brain (these areas normally interpret these messages and make you feel pain)

2. Opiate Theory
Once inserted, the needle activates the midbrain to release beta-endorphins into the cerebral spinal fluid and met-enkephalin into the plasma. This cascade causes the release of other neurotransmitters that block the sensations of pain. Both endorphins and enkephalins are naturally occurring opiate-like substances produced by the body in situations that require analgesia. Opiates are the fundamental compounds that Pharmaceutical painkillers such as codeine and morphine are built from.

3. Antihistamine Theory
Once inserted, the needle activates a process which regulates (reduces) the amount of histamine and bradykinin in the blood. These substances are what causes inflammation and pain when chronic or acute injury occurs.

Traditional Acupuncture Theory

Energy (Qi) circulates within the body through a series of pathways called meridians, similar to blood vessels. Wherever blood flows it brings with it nourishment and life giving qualities to the surrounding tissues and organs. Qi is the vital force necessary to keep the heart pumping so that blood will be transported as needed. More broadly, Qi gives that same life force to every single cell, tissue, muscle, organ, and gland in the body. Therefore, a blockage of the flow of Qi anywhere in the body will inhibit the amount of nourishment that reaches our cells, tissues, muscles, organs, and glands.

Many things can cause Qi to become blocked: poor diet, physical trauma, emotional trauma, inherited weakness, many disease processes, and chemical, physical, and emotional stress, just to name a few.

By inserting fine sterile needles at specific points, blockages of Qi that cause pain are cleared and smooth flow is restored. Once this is accomplished, pain will vanish.

Treatment Protocols

It is not uncommon for there to be significant relief after just one treatment. Most often with acute pain, between 2-4 treatments for 1-3 weeks is usually required to obtain optimal pain relieving effects. As for chronic pain, 1-2 treatments per week for longer durations is usually necessary.

Any pain condition may involve combination with other pain relieving modalities (yoga, fitness rehabilitation, physiotherapy, etc). Herbal salves and preparations along with certain recommended supplements may also enter the scope of treatment. Other traditional techniques such as cupping and moxibustion are also frequently employed. You may also be asked to perform some simple techniques at home or work between treatments to aid treatment efficacy.

written by Spence Pentland
Fertility specialist; the President of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association of British Columbia (TCMABC), and practices at Acubalance Wellness Centre (http://www.acubalance.ca/) where he treats only Men’s reproductive health mens.health-info.org and Women’s fertility issues infertility.health-info.org.

Europe is pitiful, these days - economically speaking, that is.

The European Union is far from the position of strength politicians only a few years ago were portraying it would be. The socialist welfarism of the recent students riots in France, Italy’s shift to the left, Britain’s Tony Blair under siege and a still comatose German Panzer Economies all signal that Europe is in economic decline. It certainly does not appear that Western Europe can now afford what it is politically committed to do, and certainly not so within a decade or two as it regards health care and pensions for the elderly. The hope is to turn the most populous former Eastern European countries: Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania - into large self-sustaining consumers markets, and that may one day happen but certainly not in the foreseeable future. The economies of the West and the East are too far apart to be integrated. Even Germany has considerable problems assimilating the former East Germany, and this notwithstanding all the billions of Euros that the ‘Deutsche Gesellschaft’ has poured into the East already. Not to mention the Union’s energy dependence on the flimsies of the Ukraine and Russia, an entirely separate matter all in and by itself.

The recent French riots in particular underscore the increasingly untenable system of job security at the expense of entrepreneurship, and that the grounds are set for a collision between expectations and economic reality. And whereas certain niches can certainly be found for international real estate investors, especially in countries like Bulgaria, the implied economic risks that must be assumed far outweigh, for the time being, the profits that can be reaped.

In China the economic achievements are huge, but so are the problems. President Clinton, in one of his last speeches, said that 200 million people in China were lifted from absolute poverty from 1978 to about 1999. That’s equivalent to about two-thirds of the entire population of the United States in twenty years. But, at the same time, the factors of economic instability are many and worry the leadership. These factors include a financial and banking system that is basically bankrupt, with bad loans-out greater than the real net reserves of the entire banking system.

But, perhaps even more importantly, there is a great imbalance of wealth between the thirty-five percent of the population that lives in the cities and the sixty-five percent inhabiting the countryside. If one is lucky enough to be born in a city - and registered as a city dweller - it is easier to get into university. In the city, one can work at all the large companies and government agencies. Conversely, those who are registered as rural persons are subjected to very severe restrictions on where they can live and work. And this is actually the biggest human rights problem in China today. There is a majority of this population of 1.3 billion people that are, by law, second-class citizens. And unless the Chinese leadership comes to terms with this reality, this social injustice is a ticking time-bomb that one day will explode, also in the faces of those foreign venturers that invest in China.

Since capitalism is, by definition, a system in which the means of production are predominantly privately owned and operated for profit, and which operates in the absence of government coercion or constraint on the production, distribution, or consumption of goods and services, the whole of Islam, most of Africa and all South America with the notable exception of Chile are entirely cut out. This includes wealthy countries like the United Arab Emirates and especially Dubai, where the real estate boom of recent years has been plagued by slavery, stories of construction workers not being paid for months on end, and excessive working hours all of which have led to the rioting early in the year, as upset workers damaged cars, buildings, and construction equipment. Again, investment niches can be found anywhere, but risk far outweighs profitability.

Everything taken into account, therefore, real estate markets in the United States and Canada are still the two safest havens for secure investments. The production of real estate output depends essentially on the accumulation of capital. This is so because the propensity to invest depends on expectations of future profitability and on the present perceptions of market risk. If the present perception of market risk increases sharply, capital will exit more and more from the sphere of real estate production. What drives the accumulation process, therefore, is the perpetual search for more surplus value - that is the amount of the increase in the value of capital upon investment, i.e. the yield regardless of source or form.

North America’s real estate markets offer this surplus value, both in the short and long run, coupled by political security and financial stability, and thus position themselves as the destination of choice of all those who want to reap the profits of investment while, at the same time, minimizing the socio-economic risks of investing.

written by Luigi Frascati
Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled to the Real Estate Chronicle at realestatechronicle.blogspot.com

When a man receives a diagnosis that his sperm is not able to get his wife pregnant, a state similar to shock may ensue. This seems to manifest as a type of post traumatic stress disorder. The man may then go through some, or all of the following ‘D.E.E.P.’ mental, emotional, and physical stages;

Denial: ‘not me!’, numbness, depression [*this exacerbates the stagnation of Qi].

Emotional: ‘why me?’ anger, hypersensitive, over-reactive, sad, withdrawal, poor mental function, *humiliation, shame, isolation, ‘is anyone else going through this?’ [*the Liver and Heart share this load].

Ego: central to being a man is the role of keeping the special woman in their life happy and protected. Being the ‘provider’ is also fundamental. Some men feel so inadequate with their inability to provide a child that some may even push for divorce.

Physical: damaged pride & shame are a breeding ground for sexual dysfunction, along with a wide array of physiological signs and symptoms (from insomnia to poor digestion, headaches to back pain).

It should also be noted that when a couple decides to go through A.R.T. (artificial reproductive techniques) many invasive procedures and medications are administered to the woman. This can affect the ‘protector’ aspect of a man, breeding fear for her health, and guilt towards being powerless to keep his wife out of harms way.

Chinese medicine and acupuncture, diet and lifestyle changes, proper supplementation, Qigong, education, and proper counsel to regarding the D.E.E.P. implications of male infertility, will restore confidence, and produce profound effects that show not only on a semen analysis, but also in the everyday wellness of the man and his relationship with his wife.

written by Spence Pentland
Fertility specialist; the President of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association of British Columbia (TCMABC), and practices at Acubalance Wellness Centre (http://www.acubalance.ca/) where he treats only Men’s reproductive health mens.health-info.org and Women’s fertility issues infertility.health-info.org.

Baby has been here for some months now and is cute as a button, but you still have a little extra around your midsection, or a little something around the hips. Isn’t all the extra fat supposed to just melt away after the baby is born? All the books tell you that nursing will help you regain your figure, and once you’re running around after your active little one, you will shed those last few pounds. How can you regain your pre-pregnancy body once and for all?

Exercise and Proper Nutrition
These are key components in achieving your goal body. Dieting is a no win solution, lifestyle changes are. Take a look at your typical day. During baby’s naptime, you probably feel like you need to clean up. This is valid, but this could also be your chance to burn some fat!! With one hour of nap time (ideally), you could do an exercise video, go for a jog, or if you have home equipment you could use that. The American Council of Sports Medicine (ACSM) advises a minimum 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise five days per week to obtain weight loss. During this time, you want to make sure your exercise intensity will be most advantageous for you. To find your target heart rate the ACSM advises you to take 220 - your age; multiply that number by.6 (lower range) and .9 (higher range). The beginner should stay near the bottom range while the more advanced exerciser should be closer to the middle. Take your heart rate while you’re exercising to find out if you’re working hard enough.

You should also add some strength training. A well toned body will tend to burn more calories at rest and thus become a more efficient fuel burner for you. Lifting light weights will not make you bulk up or look masculine, but instead will increase your muscle tone and your metabolism. Start with low weights and high repetitions. 1-3 sets of 12 -15 repetitions is a good start for building muscular endurance. A variety of exercises for upper and lower body, beginning with larger muscle groups and working your way down to smaller muscles is the way to go. You can do this regimen 2-3 times per week and get results.

If you don’t have time for both cardio and strength training, try doing just one or the other and alternate days. You can also exercise while your baby is awake, making him a part of your routine. Babies love music and movement, and they will enjoy having you lift them into the air from the floor (chest press), or hold them while doing squats, or whatever creative maneuver you can come up with. Try to do abs at the end of your routine every second day. There are many abdominal exercises that you can do with your baby, such as: abdominal crunches holding baby up on top of your knees; plank, having baby lie on the floor directly in front or beside you as you hold your body weight up on bent elbows and toes, keeping your body long and straight like a board; standing twists holding baby are great for working the waist. Use your imagination and enjoy this workout time with your baby if that’s what it takes to fit it in.

Try getting outside with other mothers for walks. You can discuss your babies while you’re burning calories. The longer the walk, the better!

What are you eating these days? I know, things happen on the fly and it’s hard to make healthy, balanced meals every day. Try to be more conscious about what you’re eating, and also when you’re consuming food. Avoid eating right before bed, as your body has no means of burning those calories. During the day, strive to eat 5-6 smaller meals to make your body metabolically more efficient.

Try putting up a sample menu of easy to prepare, healthy meals to inspire you throughout the day. Remember that the more brightly colored the fruit or vegetable, the more nutritious it is. Red, orange, and yellow are colors worth eating.

Moderation is a good theme to implement when it comes to eating for weight loss; allow yourself a treat now and then but don’t go overboard.

Goals
Having a game plan is important. Sit down and think about what you really want, and write it down. What do you need to do to fit into those jeans again? Do you need to lose 1 or 2 inches around your waist? Maybe an inch around your hips? Set and try to reach definite, specific goals. Short term goals should be attainable within a few months while long term goals should be reached in about a year. Put your goals in a visible place so that you see them daily and are reminded of what you’re working for. Maybe keep the jeans out so you see them more often and want to wear them even more. Telling others about the goals you’ve set will make them more concrete and make it harder for you to forget about them.

Hiring a personal trainer is always an option for some people, whether you want to spend the money for that service is up to you. If you feel that you’ve tried everything and are getting nowhere on your own, maybe it’s worth a try.

Whatever you decide to do, make it your own personal mission, and don’t worry about what other people are doing. Every body is different and will lose inches and pounds on its own schedule. With regular cardiovascular exercise, light weight training and good eating habits, you’re sure to say goodbye to your baby fat in no time! Good luck and have fun!

written by Nicole Palacios
Experienced certified fitness leader and personal trainer in North Vancouver, BC, Canada. She is the creator of Stroller Fitt. Her website is Perfectfit.ws

The pedigree of the Canadian Horse goes back to the early part of the 1600’s. Originally a gift to New France from the Sun King, Louis X1V, the horse was known for its remarkable strength, endurance and hooves of steel. Habitants of Old Quebec called him, ‘The Little Horse of Iron’.

I first became enamoured with The Canadian Horse some years ago when I saw them on show at an agricultural exhibition. At the time I knew nothing of its history or its near extinction and revival. Then a friend urged me to read ‘The Little Iron Horse’, the story of The Canadian Horse. It’s a must read, she said, so I picked up a copy of the book and found the story of Canada’s National Horse as intriguing and fascinating as my friend had intimated.

The author Lawrence Scanlon, known for his national best seller, ‘Wild About Horses’, chronicles the glorious and rocky past of Canada’s heritage breed. ‘The little iron horse’ was used for ploughing, riding, pulling logs, pulling a carriage and a host of other chores. Owners would often race the horses traveling home after a church service. Because of his strength the little horse of iron was used in the various wars over the centuries at home, in the U.S.A and across the waters. For decades he was cross-bred to develop a taller horse and to provide stamina for other breeds.

The pure blood line became almost extinct with only a few hundred pedigreed horses accounted for by the mid-late 20th century. It was then that the key supporters of the valiant horse rallied to re-establish the breed and for him to become Canada’s National Horse by parliamentary decree April 23, 2002.

The story of the Canadian is enriched by the personal account of Lawrence Scanlon’s experience with a sturdy Canadian bay gelding called Saroma Dark Fire Dali. Scanlon, age fifty at the time, although not new to the horse world, was green as a trainer and Dali was a green, vibrant 5 year old.

Interwoven with the history of the Canadian is a warm and sometimes humourous accounting of his training of Dali over a one and a half year period. With professional trainers and coaches at his side Scanlon goes through disciplined ground training, schooling and riding and eventually builds trust with Dali. Green horse and green rider become one. In ‘the Little Iron Horse’ we get the perfect melding of the story of the breed and the personal odyssey of Dali, which brings it all to life.

Watch for Canada’s National Horse in an agricultural show and pick up a copy of the book, ‘The Little Horse of Iron’ , by Lawrence Scanlon. You’re in for a good read.

written by Walter Paetkau
He has had a lifelong love of horses. He currenly operates a horse rescue agency, CircleF, in the Fraser Valley just outside of Vancouver, BC.

Link Development takes a major role in having your web site rank well in the search engines. Many web masters as well as SEO companies overlook how important it is to have a good link development campaign going for their web site. This article consists of 3 major topics; What is Link Development, Finding Link Partners and getting the max. potential from each one of your links, and Proving the power of Link Development which are meant to give you the basics of running a good campaign that will boost your rankings in search engines.

What is Link Development?
Link Development, also known as Link Popularity, is a term used to describe getting other web sites to link to your web site. Remember the popular kids in high school? Well lets just say that in most cases popular kids got noticed way more, they usually were social chair or prom queens and kings, top athletes and the list goes on. The point is, the popular kids got noticed while the not so popular kids didn’t. This is the same concept that search engines go on. If you are popular, then you get noticed and how search engines decide whether you are popular or not is by how many web sites link to you and how popular those sites are.

Hopefully that isn’t a painful analogy that brings up memories of your high school days. So now that we know what Link Development is, lets talk about how we start a link development campaign.

Finding Link Partners!
There are two types of link partners to go after, one is a one way link. This is a directory, forum, or web site that links to your web site without you having to link back to their web site. You can buy links now from web sites like: www.textlinkbrokers.com, but I am not to sure how the search engines feel about buying your popularity. The second type of link is a reciprocal link, which means that if you put a link on your web page pointing to them, then they will put a link on your web page pointing to you, the perfect “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”.

So now how do we find one way links? Well first off, the easiest way is through the search engines. If you are doing link development for a real estate site, google: real estate directory. There are plenty of directories out there that allow you to add your site for free. Next you will want to look up real estate and find forums, so that you can find posts that relate to you and add a reply giving some useful information while providing a link to your web site. Please do not spam your link on forums, only place a link when it makes sense to. For example if you are a Real Estate agent in Vancouver BC, Canada and you come across a post saying, Where can I find real estate listings in Vancouver. Then add a nice reply and your link at the bottom. Finally, never forget about your friends and family, explain to them that by having a one way link form their web site to yours it will help you boost your search engine rankings.

It seems that reciprocal links do not have as much weight on the search engines as one way links, but are much easier to get. The reason they are easier to get is because you are helping the other web site get better rankings while they do the same for you. So there are a few general rules you should follow while doing reciprocal link development, first, try not to exchange with your competition as you will just make it harder for you to come up before your competition. Second, only exchange links with relevant sites. By relevant we mean that the site you are linking from and to should relate to your web site, an example of this would be if you are a real estate agent, you would want to link to mortgage brokers sites or home renovation sites not children’s video game sites, however if the site is in your locality you can link to them and mention in the link that they are a local business/web site. Finally, always be honest and truthful when sharing links, do not put up a link and then take it down a week later, if you agree to sharing links, stick to your guns.

Finding reciprocal link partners is actually easier than you think. One of the best things to do is find out who is linking to your competition and ask them if they would also like to trade links. To do this, in google type: link:www.competitionswebsite.com. This will bring up a list of all the web sites that have linked to that site, then just find the web masters e-mail and send him/her a polite e-mail asking if they would like to exchange links. Do this for every major competitors web site and you will have links coming at you left and right. Another great resource is a free web site called sitesell. What this site does is lets you enter your information into their database, including your e-mail, web site and what keywords best describe your site, then it finds you people with the same keywords and sends them an e-mail asking if they would like to exchange links. I have received hundreds of links this way. I suggest you sign your self up right away at: http://value-exchange.sitesell.com/.

Now that you know how to find link partners lets look at what your links should look like. Now this is only what I do and it seems to work very well, some may disagree and I can understand not everyone wants to exchange links this way. Personally I think Google has become to smart to just accept links that follow this general concept: Anchor Text - Description of link. How I exchange links is within a paragraph. For example:

Real Estate in Vancouver is a booming industry. With the 2010 winter olympics happening in Vancouver people are very interested in Vancouver Real Estate. Joel Carcone is an experienced realtor ready to help you make the right investment in Vancouver.

By having it in a small paragraph that gives the web site that is linking to you more text that is relevant to your site, it is going to make the link weigh more when the search engines count it as a vote. Lots of software out there will not let you do this and require a strict: link - Description, formation. Do not skip over these, they just won’t count for as much.

Finally, Google ranks sites based on their algorithm and gives them a rank between 0 and 10. The higher the PR the more important Google believes the web site is, thus giving more weight to sites that link to you with a high PR.

The Power Of Link Development!
Link Development should have a Cape and a big “S” on its spandex suit as it has so much power it is unbelievable. The following examples are not intended to offend rather show you that link development can make a huge difference without even having the site optimised for the keyword.

To prove the power of link development we are going to use president Bush as an example. If you look up the following words in google, George Bush’s White house Biography are the first to show up. I urge you to try this, read over the biography and notice that the words “failure”, “worst president”, and “worst president ever” do not show up in the biography at all, but if you look those same words up in google, you will see that his biography comes up first for all 3 of those words. Now this is an extreme case and is known as googlebombing, but this does show the true power of link development.

If Link Development can make a site that is totally unoptimized for those keywords come up first in a search that has about 213,000,000 sites competing for the word failure, imagine what a good link development campaign could do for your site that is optimised and ready to be found on the internet.

If you are thinking of getting SEO done to your web site, look into companies that do Link Development as this is a powerful way to gain rankings for your web site as shown with the example in “The Power of Link Development”. Make sure that when asking about link campaigns that SEO companies follow an ethical approach to Link development, you would not want to wake up one morning to find your site dropped off the rankings because of unethical link development practices.

written by Daniel Cedar
Web Strategist for Elite Beat Enterprises. He is an expert in SEO and Link Development Campaigns that follow strict ethical codes

Condominiums have been in the news in recent years, sometimes for the wrong reasons.

In British Columbia, thousands of people have lost millions of dollars in equity because they bought condos that turned out to be leaky. The situation became so serious that the Provincial Government launched an inquiry, which ultimately came up with a compensation package for distraught property owners. And those property owners were really in distress. The members of the Barrett Commission, in charge of the Government inquiry, stated that they had never encountered anything like the passion and rage of people who felt their homes had been violated and their finances shattered - by water. It turned out that the construction techniques, which work well in California and Arizona, do not work equally well in the soggy weather of Canada’s West Coast, no matter how nice all those wooden exteriors look.

On the other hand in Toronto, in the post-September 11 real estate boom, condos were again big news as they came to dominate new home sales in the built-up urban areas. According to the Greater Toronto Home Builders Association, fully 80 percent of all sales in the 416 area code were condos, while the numbers were reversed in the 905 suburban area, where 80 percent of all sales were non-strata freeholds. This is of great interest, since condos have accounted traditionally for just under 30 percent of the market, with one notable exception: before the real estate collapse of 1989.

To be precise, a non-strata freehold interest in land is one in which the titleholder owns ‘everything’ - from lot line to lot line, whether it is a detached house, side-by-side duplex or even townhome. He owns the grass, driveway, bricks, shingles, windows and walkway. Not so with the condo, where what it is own goes from the inner one-half of a wall to the inner one-half of the opposite wall, and floor to ceiling as well. The condo owner, furthermore, shares in the ownership of everything else in the development with all the other owners, including outer structure, parking garage, elevators, landscaping, windows and roof.

Condos can also come in different varieties, not just as apartment buildings. There are condo lofts, condo townhouses, condo commercial units and rural communities with acres of common grounds. Typically some of the common features that everybody owns are set aside for the exclusive use of individual owners, such as balconies or backyards, lockers and parking spaces. Condos are bought, sold and mortgaged just like regular non-strata freehold interests, but the owner only insures the contents of the unit, while the strata corporation carries insurance on the physical structure itself. Condo owners pay a regular monthly fee for common expenses such as outside maintenance, ongoing repairs, landscaping and utilities for common areas, as well as a contribution to a reserve fund to be used in emergency situations.

Like homes, condos come in all price ranges and can be a great way for first-time purchasers to get into real estate, moving from rental tenancy to ownership in a small apartment unit. At the other hand of the scale, aging Baby Boomers are selling off their mansions, which require lots of care and attention, and move into luxury condominiums which offer a more liberating lifestyle as well as added security.

Indeed, there are distinctive advantages to purchasing a condominium. For example, there is no outside maintenance to worry about - no grass to mow, snow to shovel, roof to patch or driveway to seal. All this work is arranged and contracted out by the strata corporation. This means, one can have an exceptionally carefree lifestyle, knowing that someone else is looking after the chores.

Also appealing is the stable nature of the ongoing costs of ownership. With a single-family detached house one just simply never knows when the furnace is going to quit or, worse, the hot water tank is going to give up and flood the basement. With the condo, the predetermined monthly fee takes care of everything. Furthermore, speaking of money, it costs far less to find a nice condo residence in a demand neighbourhood than a single detached house in the same location.

Another big plus for people who like big swimming pools, exercise rooms, libraries or even art galleries is that condo developments often come with such amenities built right in. When everyone contributes through their monthly fees, some impressive things can be achieved.

So therefore, is condo life ideal for everyone? Definitely not.

Some people absolutely despise the loss of personal freedom that condominium lifestyle invariably brings about. Because one does not fully own the unit he lives in, one cannot control or even change it without collective agreement. This means making no exterior improvements or even internal renovations in some cases. There can be a great deal of rules and bylaws, and they can change at the whim of the majority of the property owners, who may not share the same vision or who may collectively decide that major renovations or improvements are required. The owners may decide that additional money may be collected on top of the monthly fees, and the strata corporation can place a lien on a unit if the owner refuses to pay up.

There have been instances in deluxe developments where prospective purchasers have had to be sponsored by existing condo owners, and then had their own personal finances and habits examined to be eligible for admission!

Less dramatic, but equally important, are the possible restrictions that can be imposed on ownership of a dog or cat. Also privacy is drastically reduced, compared with a single-family house. Then there is the value of the unit itself to consider, entirely dependent on how much a similar unit has sold, even on a different floor.

So therefore, condo ownership is an entirely different ballgame, which does not suit everyone. A careful scrutiny of the development in which the condo is being purchased always help, but in ultimate analysis what counts is the capability of the purchaser to adapt to an entirely different lifestyle.

written by Luigi Frascati
Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled to the Real Estate Chronicle at realestatechronicle.blogspot.com

The number of marijuana grow-ops and drug seizures has dramatically increased over the last few years.

There are many other serious community consequences associated with these crimes. Marijuana grow-ops are continuously linked to property crimes and crimes of violence. In addition to finding stolen property inside these homes, Police have investigated several home invasions where thieves have broken into grow houses to steal the marijuana crop being produced. Some recent home invasions involved innocent families that had moved into a previous grow-op house or were living close to one and were mistakenly victimized. It is important, therefore, to spot a grow-op and report any suspicious activity to the authorities.

The following are characteristics of typical grow-op houses, many effects of which can still be visible after the house has been vacated:

• Suspects do not appear to regularly attend jobs but drive expensive vehicles.
• There are dark coverings over some of the windows to prevent the escape of bright hydroponic lights.
• Rooms in the house or outbuildings seem to be illuminated all the time.
• There is heavy condensation on the windows. Absence of frost or snow on the roof when other houses have frost or snow. Or growers put fans in the window to increase air circulation that blows the curtains around.
• There may be an unusual number of roof vents, or unusual amounts of steam coming from vents in cold weather.
• A variety of extra measures have been taken to protect the house, i.e. new fencing, guard dogs, bars on the windows etc. Entry is exclusively through the automatic garage doors. Residents are hardly ever seen out of their cars.
• There is a strange odor emanating from the house (pungent and skunky).
• Sounds of electrical humming, fans or trickling water. There are also construction noises associated to accommodate a marijuana production facility.
• There is unusual or modified wiring on the exterior of the house.
• The hydro meter can be seen spinning unusually fast. Growers have most of their lights on for at least 12 - 18 hours at a time.
• Localized power surges or browning - neighborhood residences or units experience unexplained power surges or decrease of power that dims lights and slows down appliance use, with the return of normal power flow about 12 hours later.
• Residents avoid all contacts with neighbors.
• Children’s toys and bikes are left outside but there are no children seen at the residence.
• Quantities of growing equipment and supplies are seen to be taken into the house, shed or garage, yet there are no flowers or garden at the house. Often these supplies are purchased in winter.
• There are pots, soil, hoses and nutrients scattered around the property.
• The house can appear to be vacant, the yard is not well-tended, and flyers are accumulating at the door. Residents are seldom seen (garbage is rarely put out to the curb).
• There are hoses running from doors or windows on the exterior of the house.
• Instances of visitors parking down the street and walking to the house. There is excessive vehicle and/or pedestrian traffic day or night at unusual hours.
• The occupants appear to have moved in at night.
• It is never possible to see activity at the house but there is lots of garbage.

written by Luigi Frascati
Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled to the Real Estate Chronicle at realestatechronicle.blogspot.com