Aroma is an Indian restaurant, one of many in Toronto's downtown theatre and entertainment district.
I've been there twice so far and the food and service is always impeccable.
Location: 287 King St. West, Toronto, ON M5V 1J5
For dinner reservations call (416) 971-7242.
Otherwise they have a buffet between 11:30 and 3 PM seven days per week, which is always nice.
They also offer catering and free delivery. While I have not tried their catering or delivery service, my mouth is watering at the very thought of it...
When it comes to promoting your website and your company's business there are a number of websites out there that are considered to be good investments in terms of advertising and promoting your company.
Twitter is one of those companies.
And it isn't as good as you think it might be. I shall explain why.
#1. According to Alexa.com (a website which tracks the popularity of other websites) Twitter is only used by approx. 8.5% of internet users. In other words it is really only used by the tech-savvy people who like tweeting to each other. The other 91.5% of the internet population apparently has no interest in Twitter.
What this tells you is that Twitter has reached its limit in terms of "market share" and would really only be good if you are trying to advertise directly to people who are tech-savvy.
Lets take for example the following company Twitter page for US Money Reserve, a company which encourages people to invest in gold and silver as the global economy grows and shrinks periodically. Whenever the economy turns sour the prices of gold and silver soar.
Now think of the type of people who would invest in gold or silver. Hmm. Business people. People with lots of money. Often well educated. Probably own stocks and a 401 K account. Chances are more likely that they're tech-savvy, own a BlackBerry or smart phone, and possibly on Twitter.
Thus a company wishing to sell gold and silver to investors would be wise to marketing via Twitter.
But someone who is marketing a small niche business, like 'Gary's Civil War Antiques Emporium', probably won't do so well on Twitter because it isn't the type of website that caters to American Civil War buffs. That doesn't mean that such a company can't try to promote their business via Twitter, I am just saying it is significantly less likely that Twitter will give them any edge advertising wise.
What does well on Twitter is celebrities like:
twitter.com/ParisHilton
Or renowned writers like:
twitter.com/MargaretAtwood
Or politicians like:
twitter.com/BarackObama
Or brand name companies like:
twitter.com/Microsoft
The point I am trying to make here is that for people or companies who are already famous or brand names, Twitter is added bonus. But it won't make your company famous on its own.
US Money Reserve Inc's twitter page does have lots of useful tips on it and news about the gold and silver exchange, prices, market valuations / predictions, etc... but by itself the company isn't going to see a huge benefit from its Twitter page. It will help it a little because its marketing towards the more tech-savvy people who are more likely to invest in gold or silver, but you first have to get people on to their website and/or Twitter page and that is the really difficult prospect which comes down to traditional marketing techniques and online marketing like Search Engine Optimization.
Twitter pundits like to claim that Twitter can help a website go viral. However the type of topics that do go viral are often not business related. They're always something funny and interesting, and therefore worth sharing on Facebook, Tweeting about, etc... But the problem is that most people on Twitter don't retweet things and even those that do retweet a particular topic aren't going to retweet something that is obviously an advertisement for a business.
"Oh but doesn't Twitter boost Search Engine Optimization"?
Actually no, it doesn't. Two reasons: Twitter links always have "rel=nofollow" in the link coding which means search bots don't follow them and it gives no benefit SEO wise. The 2nd reason is because most links are shortened using Bitly, which means the search engine doesn't even see any useful keywords because it is ultimately just a code like "http://bit.ly/QFytRk". So Twitter does zilch in terms of boosting SEO.
The only benefit of Twitter is to give a company or person the appearance of being tech savvy. Which ultimately can be an utter failure if the person isn't tech-savvy at all and just doesn't care.
Take for example twitter.com/sirseanconnery which shows what happens when an aging actor tries to use Twitter and gets bored with it quickly.
My review of Twitter?
0.5 of a Star out of Five. It doesn't even a full star because as a tool it is shamefully outmatched by Facebook which is a more effective social media tool and currently has a reach of 46% of global internet users and a growing base of active users. Twitter is a complete waste of time compared to the juggernaut that is Facebook.
When it comes to flowers there is only one flower worth buying for that special girl (or guy) in your life:
ROSES.
This isn't so much a product review as it is an endorsement of the plant. Let face it, yes, you could buy carnations, daffodils, narcissi, etc... but then you just look like a cheapskate because you didn't buy roses. (The only exception to this rule is when you go to a funeral in which case you should always get white lilies or whatever colour of lilies the deceased person liked best if you know what their favourite colour is.)
Carnations is what you buy a FRIEND on their birthday.
Or you might get a different flower (eg. daffodils or narcissi) if you knew that the person had a particular favourite, but if you don't know then frankly you're better off sticking with roses because nothing else comes close.
I think its because roses are basically a brand name. Its like buying Coca-Cola or Nike or IBM. You know you are buying the BEST.
However within roses I find there is still room for variety. Depending on the flower shop you can still get something other than red roses... You can also get:
Blue roses don't exist in nature, they're actually white roses that are dyed blue.
As a gift what I like to do is get 1 orange rose and 1 blue rose. Together the blue and orange compliment each other and makes for a truly unique gift on that special day. I would probably still go for red roses on Valentines, but any other time of the year I recommend 1 blue and 1 orange.
Of course not all flower shops (and by extension delivery services) offer blue and orange roses, so it can be difficult to find. I recommend phoning various places to find out what kind of roses they actually have.
eg. Etobicoke flower delivery doesn't have blue roses listed on their website, but they might be able to arrange them if you made a special order. Their website really only offers different flower arrangements. But in theory if you phoned them (416-244-9355 or 800-622-6419) then you might be able to make a special. I have no idea what their delivery rate is.
When it comes to flower delivery its all pretty expensive anyway. You're paying for the frivolity of it. Its a bit like eating out in a super fancy restaurant. You're not eating there because the food is good (in my experience its the dives which have the best tasting food), you're eating there because its a special occasion and you want to be surrounded by beautiful decor (and impress whomever you are with).
Speaking for myself I have NEVER ordered flowers for delivery. Seems like a complete waste to me. I have always gone to the flower shop in person, picked out exactly what I wanted, had it specially prepared for the occasion and then delivered it myself.
If I go back far enough (when I was living with my parents and still a teenager) my mother is a landscape architect / horticulturalist and I would be growing my own roses. I still have a flower bed at my parents' farm and there are orange and red roses growing there, along with narcissi, purple lilies and Sweet Williams of varying colours.
If I had my own house and a back yard I would probably be growing nothing but roses, ivy and wisteria now because my taste in plants has matured. (Wisteria is a vine that produces purple flowers.)
Regardless of where you choose to buy roses (or other flowers) my recommendation is that you put some thought into it.
That and don't buy something they are allergic to. Potential allergy disasters should be avoided.
When I first decided to stop procrastinating and get into archery I was at the Central Surplus store on Yonge Street in Toronto.
They had a Cherokee Archery Set on sale and it was, according to the clerk behind the counter, "ideal for beginners".
And he was absolutely-freaking-right!
I used that bow for 2 years before finally switching to a more powerful wooden bow because I loved it so much. It was wonderfully easy to use, surprisingly accurate and I had a very quick learning curve when using it. Some heavier bows are more difficult to learn with because you're not used to the pull and need to work your way up to it.
I still have my Cherokee bow (which is best described as a recurve / reflex long bow) and I now use it for teaching archery here in Toronto.
My only piece of advice is that you buy more arrows and a nice quiver to go with it.
I also have a handmade arm guard that I use made out of rawhide and a shoelace that is wonderful to use. Sometimes its the things you make yourself which do the best job.
No word yet on when I will be done carving my first bow.
And I thought, hey, $2.99, cheaper than a cup of coffee. True you do have to own a Kindle first, but that is easily done. If you are big on reading then going digital is easier than you think. You can even have it delivered. (Note: I checked the prices in stores and its actually cheaper to order a Kindle online.)
Basically its a guide to meeting people on the internet (and more specifically, having anonymous sex with people you met on the internet).
And its advice is very easily broken down into a long detailed list of tips. What to do, what not to do, safety advice, where to go, what to post, how to be funny and witty, etc.
Some of the advice was common sense, but a lot of it was things you wouldn't normally think of but was ultimately quite logical.
Furthermore it didn't just apply to finding sex partners (although that is certainly the angle the anonymous writer went for). A lot of the advice pertained to online dating in general and could be used when making a Plenty of Fish account, posting personals on Craigslist and so forth.
So happy reading and doing-the-nasty or whatever it is you are looking for.
I recently took up snorkeling and I thought I would share which pieces of equipment I purchased.
#1. BODY GLOVE silicone swim mask - Basically a pair of goggles these bad boys offer shatter resistant lenses, UV protection for your eyes, fog free and a strap for binding it around your head.
I picked this particular one in the store because it was: The most manly one there. That is really just enough reason to me. I could have got the really tiny swim goggles (for pansies) or some big huge honking goggles (for dorks), but I chose this one because it was normal looking and I didn't feel I would be embarrassed wearing them in public.
And not being embarrassed to wear something in public (ie. a god-awful ugly bicycle helmet) is reason enough for me. I don't think it matters so much what company it is so long as its quality, doesn't leak and you look good in it.
I chose the black goggles because I figured black matches everything.
#2. DIVE N' SURF professional dive snorkel - 100% submersible (meaning I can dive farther under and then come back up to breathe later as opposed to just floating near the surface), an attachment for my goggles, a purge valve and it is blue so I even liked the colour.
You can get a set for this which also comes with matching ugly goggles and fins, but I opted for JUST the snorkel because the goggles were so ugly and I don't want to wear fins. (Pourquoi? Les fins es tres embarrassing.)
Sadly I couldn't find a photo online of the snorkel without the set so instead I opted for a photo of a hot chick snorkeling. Huzzah!
I like the fact that it is 100% submersible. It has a piece which floats upwards and blocks off the tube to prevent water from getting in when going completely under, snorkel et al. However in actual practice I seem to have difficulty getting myself to go really far underwater. I guess I either float naturally or I am not that good at diving under.
Maybe I just need more practice.
#3. SPEEDO nose plugs - This is arguably the most important part of my snorkeling equipment. Without the nose plugs I simply can't control my breathing through my nose and end up having to pinch my nose when under water to prevent myself from inhaling. The nose plugs work wonderfully and make everything much easier.
HOT TIP: If you have to sneeze go back up first.
Happy snorkeling this summer and whenever else you get a chance!
#5. I also really like it when people shown on their website dress professionally. Not necessarily suits and ties, but crisp clean clothing, well groomed people always makes a good impression on me.
#6. No annoying music. Call it a major turnoff but when a website has auto music on then its automatically annoying. However for the website in question, adtmoving.com, I like the fact that the only possible source of music is the video and its actually well chosen music (with no distracting lyrics).
#7. A well designed website always impresses me. Especially when its easy to contact the company. What does annoy me about the adtmoving.com site is that they don't list their email address and use a form mail instead. Form mails are ANNOYING to fill out (and often have errors in them). Plus you send the message and you have no idea if they actually received it and no record of what you asked them. It is my opinion that it is ALWAYS better to have a direct email to contact the company. Having a phone number helps too, but if I only have a question sometimes its better to just send a quick email. Having to fill out a form mail just doesn't cut it.
PET PEEVE: Websites which ONLY have form mail. SUPER ANNOYING!
#8. I also like it when companies have 1-800 numbers. Always handy.
So in summation I give adtmoving.com 4 stars out of 5, but it could have been better if they didn't have that annoying form mail on their website. I have never used their service but their video really impressed me.
When it comes to moving companies I have NEVER actually used any. Myself, family and friends have always just come together for a big move and had a BBQ or pizza party after the move is done.
ie. This past weekend I helped a friend in North York carry over 100 bags of dirt from a truck to the backyard for landscaping, +8 pieces of drywall and 6 huge things of insulation up to the 3rd floor where some repairs were being done. After we had a BBQ of hamburgers and beef hot dogs / sausages.
And don't forget free beer! And then the group of us hung out for a couple hours and relaxed.
So in my mind if moving things is an excuse to have a party, then why would anyone bother with a moving company unless they didn't have any friends? In which case sucks to be you.
In this era of drugs for everything from preventing erectile dysfunction to anti-wrinkle creams and any number of medications that may or may not work... it really does make you wonder who is lying to you more.
The Big Pharmaceutical companies producing patented drugs with tonnes of side-effects (ensuring that you need to take additional medications just for the side-effects).
or
The small time Naturopathic Healers pushing herbal remedies (although to be fair, many modern drugs like Aspirin were discovered thanks to herbal remedies and determining what the active ingredient is... acetacylic acid found in birch bark = Aspirin).
For example purposes I would like to avoid mentioning companies I don't actually like, so lets start off with the companies I do LIKE.
LIKE
Ibuprofen 400 mg (aka Advil)
Acetaminophen 650 mg (aka Tylenol Arthritis)
Echinacea (not for colds, I buy it for its tissue regrowth properties)
Creatine (found in red meat but also available as a pill it boosts energy sent to muscle tissue, and when combined with Echinacea it DRAMATICALLY boosts muscle tissue regrowth)
Any kind of multivitamin
Vitamin D
Iron Supplements
I also have some muscle relaxants I sometimes use when I hurt myself weightlifting, they're in a drawer somewhere but I can't seem to find them.
Now most of these medications you can find in your local pharmacy. But what happens when you CANNOT find them? ie. I sometimes have trouble finding pharmacies that sell Creatine.
Well then you will have to look online for DCA (cancer killing drug that isn't patented and thus big pharma won't produce it) or whatever you happen to be looking for.
For example lets say you are having problems sleeping at night (hair loss or trouble maintaining an erection would be more funny, but whatever lets pick something that is relatively boring).
Some doctors refuse to prescribe sleeping pills because they are worried some patients might abuse the medication (sleeping pills can be addictive) or even attempt suicide with them.
And pharmacists typically won't sell sleeping pills without a doctor's prescription, mostly because they are worried about people becoming dependent on sleeping pills.
So where do you go? What do you do? You could try chamomile tea, red wine, turkey or other herbal remedies, but maybe you've already tried that and want something more powerful.
Enter Eszopiclone. Ahem, aka Lunesta, a mild sedative drug created by Sepracor. Its out there, but you can't always find it in a pharmacy because usually they're pushing the heavier sedatives for people with chronic insomnia.
But if you mild to moderate insomnia then a 2mg or 3mg dose of eszopiclone (Lunesta) would probably do the trick.
In the USA alone there are over 45 million prescriptions for insomnia medications EVERY YEAR. It is a $3 billion annual business for pharmaceutical companies and much of it is based on charging people large amounts of cash for heavy sedatives with lots of side-effects.
Where in contrast eszopiclone (Lunesta) is a mild sedative and has relatively mild side effects like headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, etc which means you should lower your dosage because you are taking too much. For fun I read the full list of side effects (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eszopiclone) and it includes AMNESIA.
Wow. A pill that causes amnesia. I bet there are some women out there who had one-night-stands they would like to forget. Someone should be marketing "Forget-Last-Night Pills".
Anyway the point is you can now buy Lunesta online and many other types of pills. The website in question, buylunestaonline.net, tells you all Eszopiclone benefits, side effects and so on.
And there is a Big Red Button at the top for if you want to order online right now (always handy when websites have that button)... at which point it takes you to an ordering website wherein the minimum price for a bottle of 30 pills is $103.50.
At which point you realize that the pharmaceutical companies are really raking in the dough, but hey, if they make a good quality drug that solves what ails you then more power to them.
Now if they could get around to selling more DCA (Dichloroacetic acid, aka the cure for cancer) then I'd be happier.
The first book here is a mystery written by Vivian Meyer. I liked this book so much I bought a copy for my little sister because I knew she would enjoy it.
"Bottom Bracket, gives us an inside look at alternative lifestyles in Toronto's colourful Kensington Market neighbourhood. Feminist and urban-space activist Abby Faria bike-couriers packages around downtown Toronto to support her expensive bicycle habit. When a brutal murder takes place in the Market just a few houses down from her own apartment, Abby decides to enlist the help of her Market friends: together they protect a frightened young prostitute, fight gentrification in the Market and stand up for the rights of the dispossessed. Along the way, Abby indulges in great coffee, fine bicycles and one or two good men.
Never one to mind her own business, she runs into trouble when she comes up against the world of organized drug and female sex trafficking. Between dodging homicidal cars and attending Save the Neighbourhood meetings, it's all Abby can do to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. It all becomes personal when Abby discovers that the very people she is pursuing may have had a hand in a past misfortune of her own.
Meyer draws on her own savvy experience of Market life and youth culture to imbue her characters with authenticity and spice. Full of unexpected plot twists, memorable characters and down-and-dirty detail, Bottom Bracket is also a thought-provoking exploration of inner-city issues in contemporary times."
Ragged Chain continues the story line of Abby.
"Fledgling private investigator Abby Faria is taking a well-deserved break on Peregrine Island in BC's magnificent Desolation Sound. After the harrowing conclusion of her first case back in Toronto's colourful Kensington Market, she plans to relax and indulge her passion for cycling on the Island trails with her current boyfriend. But romantic plans with boyfriend Andy go off the rails when logging company magnate Jack Armstrong is found murdered on the edge of an island clearcut.
Abby's nosing around in the eco-politics of the island soon brings her into the midst of a whole cast of island characters, many of whom, Abby discovers, had both motive and opportunity to murder the unpopular Armstrong. Her penchant for mixing it up with questionable characters and ignoring legal niceties in the process soon gets her into more trouble than she bargained for."
And lastly for the vegans out there who love ebooks... here is a funky / well thought out vegan recipe book.
"Everyone is part of the solution, no matter where we come from or how we have been raised. This book has 174 full-colour pages filled with photographs and recipes of beautiful dishes that are remarkably simple to make (half of them raw, half of them cooked). It also includes photos and logs of our journey, to bring you closer to us. Our goal is to encourage widespread positive change as people become more and more aware of the link between our every day actions and the environmental/spiritual crisis we are in right now."
I came across the following info mentioning in a newspaper article complaining about companies overcharging people to their credit card:
"Dhun Noria, for example, disconnected his Bell cellphone in 2006 and didn’t know he was billed for it until 2012, when he’d paid more than $3,000 in erroneous charges."
But when he complained he only got reimbursed for three months’ service ($160).
Same thing happened to me over a year ago. Bell Mobility overcharged me for 9 months. So I left Bell and switched to a different company.
And Bell Mobility is not alone. Many other companies do this. Rogers, AT&T, Fido, Telus... all the big companies. If you sign up for automatic billing with your credit car that is basically like waving a white flag and surrendering your credit card to whatever fraudulent methods that they can get away with.
And because they will only refund mistakes within the last 90 days most people don't even notice they're being defrauded until months and months later.
HOT TIP: Don't agree to auto-billing on your credit card. ALWAYS, ALWAYS pay via online banking instead when you FEEL it. It forces you to look at your bills. When you notice a bill that is unusual then you can investigate and complain.
