Thoughts from the Shelf

Now it seems that offering there is a new way to increase the audience you have on social networking site Twitter. The BBC today released news of a Australian social media marketing company uSocial offering a unique service.

uSocial is offering companies a paid service that will find followers for users of the micro-blogging service for a fee starting at $87 (£53) for 1,000. The companies offer packages that go up to 100,000 people, a significant boost to the audience companies can market through Twitter.

uSocial will find potential followers by searching Twitter and working out what individual users are interested in. USocial will also profile where people are so it can more closely match users with feeds they might want to follow.

USocial then sends messages to potential followers telling them about the new Twitter user they might want to follow.

“It’s up to the user to follow them or not,” said Mr Hill. He added that uSocial continues to look for followers until the specified number had signed up.

“A woman who runs yoga classes is one of our clients,” he said. “So are some religious organisations including one man that just wants to get the word out about God.”

“Twitter started as a way for just friends to keep in touch,” said Mr Hill. “As with any social media site once they get big, every business or marketer jumps on the bandwagon.”

The estimates value put on a follower on Twitter is 10 cents a month for a company that gets a user to sign up. The money would be made from adverts and sales on websites that followers click through to.

With the summer now in full swing and the BBQ out more nights than not, home improvement may be a task that is put on the back burner. That said it is these summer months when some great prices can be got on furniture and other house hold products. You only have to look at the DFS sofa advertising and Kitchen prices available to back this up.

Here at The Shelf we make bring you the rundown in what furniture to look for this summer. First up sideboards:

Sideboards are often a highly under-rated piece of furniture; they are incredibly useful in many different spaces and rooms throughout the home; they fit inoffensively and neutrally with the rest of your furniture as they are not tall enough to impose upon or dominate the space in a room. In fact, most sideboards are effective in creating extra space, as they act as both a useful storage facility and a make shift coffee table and extra surface to display vases or ornaments.

Like dressers, a sideboard can be used as either an attractive piece of furniture and neat way to organise things in your home, or a cheeky space to clear the clutter away when guests announce a surprise visit! Sideboards are ideal as a piece of Indian, birch hardwood or oak furniture, as the solid wood makes them appear elegant and sophisticated. An Indian side table offers a much richer depth of colour to a room than oak furniture, which is more light and natural, but the ideal choice depends on personal preference, the existing furniture within the room and the colour and décor of the space.

Sideboards are most commonly used in dining rooms, living rooms or hallways but they would also make a useful addition to bedroom furniture or in a bathroom, where they could store towels or bathroom products.

The range of sideboards available is extensive. It is possible to choose sideboards with or without legs, sideboards with varying patterns, a sideboard of birch, Indian, mango or oak furniture, sideboards with drawers, cupboards or a combination of both depending on what exactly you intend to store, and sideboards of varying length, width and height so that the furniture will fit neatly and exactly into your home and complement the other furniture in the room.

Charity Begins…

Why has it taken so long for charity shops to refrain from being dumping grounds?

Partly due to the drop dead gorgeous Mary Portass’ TV programmes charity shops are raising the bar in an attempt to attract both better donations and higher revenues to support their work.

Donations should be given as individual unwrapped items so at least two people can accept or politely reject items - no stuffing black sacks with tat from now on.

I notice that some charities are upping thier game online - Oxfam for example are developing an online shop for donated clothes and second hand books.  Browsing the Oxfam Unwrapped site I was particularly interested to see a range of charity gifts that go directly to those who need them most.

Charity Gifts

For example currently entire communities are threatend by Bangladesh floods which have been worse than usual - a possible effect of global warming?  Here the provision of basic items and clean water are essential to prevent growing hunger and disease from spreading now.  Looking ahead these people can be helped buy charity gifts to re-build their homes and begin to farm their own food once more.  Oxfam’s campaing to aid victims of climate change has been likened to a humanitarian aid system as a “postcode lottery on a global scale”,

Goat

I Kid You Not - Give a Goat

Charity gifts such as seeds or even a goat can make the difference between long term sustainability or disaster.

Seeds and livestock have to be reintoduced to destroyed lands - interestingly a hugely popular gift is the donation of a goat.  The beared billys can be bred for milk and occasionally meat supplies but don’t forget the fertilizing power a herd of goats can offer.

Charity shops are at at last moving forward and full marks for those crusading for change and deserve our support buy donating high quality items and not trying to haggle prices at the till!

In today’s health conscious world we are always looking into our diet, systematically checking the backs of packets, calorie counting, learning about E numbers and why we eat what we do. However many of us are ignoring another strong link in our general health, a good nights sleep.

While eating smart is always a good idea we should also remember that we spend a third of our lifetime sleeping! We spend more of our life in bed then anywhere else, so comfort and support is a key factor to making sure your body feels refreshed and rested. Your sleep pattern can have a drastic effect on your mood, productivity, energy, blood pressure and stress levels; a night of sleepless tossing and turning can effect end up having a negative impact on the relationship of those around you personally and professionally.

It’s important to account the health benefits both short and long term of a great mattress, it’s one of the most important decisions you will make, so it’s worth investing your money wisely.  Buying a new mattress might seem like an expensive and hassle filled task, but if you break it down good quality double beds will end up only costing you around 10p per night each, over the average period of its lifetime.

“After 10 years, a good bed will have deteriorated by as much as 75 per cent from its new condition,” says Lisa Helmanis, author of Sleep Better Naturally . So experts recommend buying a new beds every 8 - 10 years. However our needs and preferences alter over time, too - changes in lifestyle or physical conditions also affect our bed requirements.

Not only does the mattresses orthopaedic state deteriorate over time, but there is the eventual build up of dust mites, dead skin, and general grim that will slowly build up in your mattress. These can lead to allergies and breathing difficulties. So its not recommend you purchase mattresses second hand or use hand me downs unless you just need a spare to use on occasion that is not used as the primary bed you sleep in.

Although everyone should have a good quality mattress that is not wore out, there are also minor preferences to ensuring you are comfortable and that your body feels well fitted into a firm or soft type mattress. You can buy mattresses made from foam, latex, spring, water or special air mattresses. Everyone has their own recommendations of what kind of mattress you should buy, so make sure you get the one that best fit you.

Considering how you sleep will ultimately end up affecting your physical and mental comfort all day, everyday, it’s probably the best investment you could ever make to your general health! Make sure to look after it.

Costa Blanca, Spain is the perfect destination for a family holiday as there are some great theme parks and water parks to visit, as well as beautiful beaches. The best way to explore the Costa Blanca is by car, as you can drive to whichever attraction you want, whenever you want during your car hire holiday.

Here are details of five of the best family attractions that you can visit during your holiday on the Costa Blanca. All of these attractions are only a short trip from the popular tourist resorts of Alicante and Benidorm.

Terra Mitica Theme Park

Terra Mitica is a huge theme park situated just outside of Benidorm. You can drive from Alicante to Terra Mitica in about 35 minutes.

The Terra Mitica theme park is divided into five historically themed areas, each of which is packed with rides and shows to suit all ages, together with shops and restaurants:

* Egypt: You can ride on an Egyptian boat, get drenched on the Falls of the Nile log flume, take part in The Battle of the Pyramid paintball game, or watch the Heartbeat of the Sea multimedia show.
* Greece: Enter the Labyrinth of the Minotaur, get soaked on the Triton Fury log flume and enjoy a meal at the Acropolis

* Rome: Some of the biggest thrill rides are in this area, including the Magnus Colossus rollercoaster, the Flight of the Phoenix free fall ride and the Inferno rollercoaster. You can also see shows including a gladiator fight.
* Iberia: Ride the Tizonalooping rollercoaster or test your driving skills on the Ariete bumper cars.
* The Islands: Cool down on the Rapids of Argos bumper boat ride, enjoy a ride on the Mithos carousel or learn about mythology on Ulysses Rescue.

Mundomar Marine Exotic Animal Park

If you hire a car during your Costa Blanca holiday, you can drive to Mundomar Marine Exotic Animal Park, just one of the attractions surrounding Costa Blanca outside of Benidorm. Here you can see flamingos, turtles, seals, sea lions, penguins, parrots, and a whole host of other animals and birds. The park has a bat cave, a play area for children and a dolphinarium, where you can watch a dolphin show.

It will take you about 40 minutes to drive from Alicante to Mundomar Marine Exotic Animal Park.

Aqualandia

Aqualandia is right next to Mundomar Exotic Animal Park, just outside of Benidorm, and it is easy to reach in your Costa Blanca hire car.

This large water park offers rides and pools to suit the whole family. You can ride the rapids, try out the exciting Big Bang chutes, race family members on the Splash multi-track slide, bob along on the Amazonas and even watch a sea lion show.

Terra Natura

The Terra Natura wildlife park is located about 5km outside of Benidorm, and it is a great place to visit during a Costa Blanca hire car holiday.

Terra Natura is home to more than 1,500 animals, and is divided into four separate areas:

* Pangea: You can see lizards, scorpions and snakes here, as well as other animals and reptiles.
* Asia: In this area of the park, you can see elephants, rhinos, tigers, leopards and many other animals and birds.
* America:This area is home to animals and birds such as flamingos, jaguars and monkeys.
* Europe: Residents include donkeys, horses, deer and turtles.

You can also ride a donkey, see crocodiles and alligators being fed, and see a number of different shows.

Aqua Natura

Aqua Natura is a water park right next to Terra Natura, and is a great place to cool down from the Costa Blanca heat during your car hire holiday.

Park your car at the entrance and enjoy the water slides, wave pool and jacuzzi. There is also a great play area for children, an aquarium where you can see rays, sharks and many different species of fish, and you can even swim with sharks!