Technology

History of the solitaire card game

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Like the origin of playing cards, the origin of solitaire is largely unknown as there are no historical records to support it. There is much conjecture and controversy about the history of Solitaire as to where he actually started. However, the first written documentation of solitaire does not appear until the late 16th century and since then Solitaire has had a long history and at one point had a less than stellar reputation.

Around the 12th century, the game “Al-qirq” (the mill, in Arabic), which would later become the game of “Alquerque”, was the most widespread game until the end of the 12th century in Europe. Playing cards were first introduced to Italy in the 13th century. During that time they also became popular in Northern Europe. There is a card game called Tarok that was invented around that time and is still played to this day. It is also believed that solitaire games were first played with tarot cards, which would indicate that solitaire likely preceded traditional multiplayer card games.

The French engraving of the Princess de Soubise showing her playing a card game dates from 1697. Legend has it that Solitaire was invented by Pelisson, a French mathematician, to entertain Louis XIV, known as “Roi Soleil” (Sun King). ). Another legend has it that an unfortunate French nobleman, while imprisoned in the Bastille, devised the game using a fox and goose board (the fox and goose board has been used for a variety of board games in Northern Europe since the early 1900s). vikings). There is doubt about these legends, since Ovide wrote about the game and described it in his book “Ars Amatoria”.

The end of the 16th century was an active period for the invention of various card games. It was then that the ace first appeared as high rather than low in card rankings. Several new card games were invented during this time and new variations were added, so it is likely that this is a time when solitaire games were also invented and named.

The first known rules of the game of solitaire were recorded during the Napoleonic era. The author of War and Peace, Tolstoy, enjoyed playing solitaire and mentioned it in a scene from his famous novel. Tolstoy sometimes used cards to make decisions for him in a somewhat superstitious way. Most of the early literature that mentions patience is of French origin. Even the very word ‘solitary’ is of French origin and means ‘patience’. The names of most early solitaire games are also French names, the best known being La Belle Lucie. When Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena in 1816, he used to play Patience to pass the time. Deported to the island lost in the ocean, he knew what it felt like to be completely locked up; he also knew how letters could comfort someone condemned to loneliness. During his exile in Santa Elena, Napoleon Bonaparte played patience in his spare time. Some solitaire games were named after him, such as Napoleon in Saint Helena, Napoleon Square, etc. It is not known if Napoleon invented any of these solitaire games or someone else in that same time period.

Solitaire publications began to appear in the late 19th century. Lady Adelaide Cadogan is believed to have written the first book on solitaire rules and patience games called “Illustrated Games of Patience” just after the Civil War (1870) containing 25 games. It is still occasionally reprinted even today. However, other non-English solitaire compilations may have been written before that. Before this, moreover, there was no literature on solitaire, not even in books like Charles Cotton’s The Compleat Gamester (1674), Abbé Bellecour’s Academie des Jeux (1674), and Bohn’s Handbook of Games (1850), all which are used as a reference in card games. In England “Cadogan” is a household word for solitaire in the same way that “Hoyle” is for card games.

Lady Cadogan’s book spawned other collections by other writers including EDChaney, Annie B. Henshaw, Dick and Fitzgerald, HE Jones (aka Cavendish), Angelo Lewis (aka Professor Hoffman), Basil Dalton, and Ernest Bergholt. ED Chaney wrote a book on solitaire games called “Patience” and Annie B. Henshaw wrote a book with an interesting title “Amusements for Invalids”. Several years later, Dick and Fitzgerald in New York published “Dick’s Games of Patience” in 1883, followed by a second edition that was published in 1898. The author, Henry Jones, wrote a fairly reliable book on solitaire called “Patience Games.” Another Jones, not related to Henry, Miss Mary Whitmore Jones wrote 5 volumes of solitaire books over a twenty year period around the 1890s. Various other publishers of various game books also added solitaire to their long lists of games in their titles. One of the most complete solitaire books was written by Albert Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith. Its latest edition contains rules for more than 225 solitaire games and was used at this writing.

Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” mentions a scene that took place in 1808 where the characters played patience. Charles Dickens “Great Expectations” is mentioned only in his story. In Evelyn Waugh’s “A Handful of Dust,” a character plays patience while waiting for news of a death to reach London.

In Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel [The Brothers Karamazov], the character Grushenka played a solitaire game called “Fools”, a Russian equivalent of “Idiot’s Delight”, to overcome times of crisis. Franklin D. Roosevelt played a very popular solitaire game, spider solitaire. Somerset Maugham’s “The Gentleman in the Parlor” mentions Spider solitaire and cites playing solitaire as “a creepy disposition”. In John Steinbeck’s novel Of [Mice and Men], the protagonist George Milton often plays Solitaire on the road and on the farm. In “Peter Duck,” one of the books in Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series, Captain Flint keeps busy playing Miss Milligan.

In the 1962 film “The Manchurian Candidate,” Raymond Shaw is forced to perform specific actions through a brainwashing trigger, often involving a game of traditional solitaire and finding the queen of diamonds. In the Finnish TV series “Hovimäki”, Aunt Victoria is very fond of playing solitaire.

Various solitaire games have gained fame through literature and other avenues. Some solitaire games were invented in unexpected places. A notable inventor of solitaire games was Bill Beers. He was in an asylum when he invented a variation of Cribbage Solitaire. Prisoners had plenty of time to play solitaire, but they couldn’t use traditional cards because they could be used as an edged weapon. They were forced to use thicker tiles for cards that were bulky and unwieldy.

A famous casino is responsible for the invention of a very popular solitaire game. Mr. Canfield, a casino owner in Saratoga, invented a game in which one bought a deck of cards for $52 and got $5 for each card played to the foundations. He earned an average of $25 per game, however each game required a spell dealer to observe the player, so the profit was not as high as one might think. The actual name of this popular game was Klondike, but the name Canfield has stuck and is used almost as commonly as the word patience. Due to its difficulty to win, the time required to play, and the lack of options along the way, Klondike has lost some popularity to other popular solitaire games. Today, most people refer to the Klondike simply as Solitaire.

Both solitaire and the reasons why people enjoy playing these card tiles have, of course, changed since the old days when solitaire appeared. In the contemporary world, sometimes we need a break from the daily hustle and bustle of the tedious routine. Solving solitaire is not just a form of distraction to kill time; It’s also a safe way to unwind after work. Long Winter Nights, he helped Jack London’s characters entertain their leisure. A great musician, Nicolo Paganini was also a supporter of solving solitaires; the most beloved loner of his was later called by his name.

A good solitaire not only helps you relax and kill time; it’s great mental gymnastics too. This is why loners attracted mathematicians like Martin Gardner and Donald Knut. As his contemporaries attest, Prince Metternich, an eminent 19th-century diplomat, used to sit and ponder complicated solitaires before initiating the most difficult negotiations.

Today, most people refer to the Klondike simply as “Lonesome.” Due to its difficulty to win, the time required to play, and the lack of options along the way, Klondike has lost some popularity to other popular solitaire games.

When we think of solitaire games today, many people would immediately think of the digital versions for computers, for example, solitaire for Mac and solitaire games for PC, however, there are still millions of people who play the “old way” with a standard deck of cards, perhaps very similar to the deck of cards Napoleon played with almost 200 years ago.

Business

5 tips for writing a good business plan

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Starting a business is an exciting time, but writing a business plan can seem overwhelming at first. However, being able to write a good business plan is an essential skill for any entrepreneur or start-up looking to increase their chances of survival.

1) Identify your audience. A good business plan should be written from the audience’s perspective. First, you must decide the purpose of the plan. Are you trying to persuade an investor to accept your project or communicate future plans for the company? The purpose of the business plan will affect the style and content, so make sure you are clear about this before you begin. A good business plan must be tailored to the specific requirements of the target audience in order to be attractive.

2) Do your research. In order to write a solid and complete business plan, you must have a solid understanding of the market in which you are involved. You should actively conduct market research and make sure your plan references your findings. You should include factors such as the size of the market, the expected growth trajectory of that market, and how you intend to access it. For example, if you plan to open a bar, your business plan should include figures based on local population, the cost of suppliers, predictions about whether the bar industry is likely to grow or shrink in the area, and a review of the competitive environment. . .

3) Evaluate your competition. Understanding your competition is an essential component of understanding any business environment. Whatever business you are looking to establish, you will always have competition to varying degrees. Perhaps you want to open a restaurant in an area that is already saturated with restaurants; Then you need to think about what your restaurant’s unique selling point is. Or maybe you have found a niche in the market, why? For your business to be successful, you need to look at your competitors to see how they are running their business or areas where they could improve. You should also assess whether and how you plan to compete effectively with existing businesses.

4) Attention to detail. A plan that is concise and clear reads professionally, so don’t make yours too wordy. The reader needs enough details and information to be able to make an informed decision. As with all professional documents, care must be taken to avoid spelling errors and to use correct grammar and punctuation. A plan that makes absurd or unrealistic assumptions is useless, so stick to the facts and make sure you make credible projections and accurate content at all times.

5) Cover all the bases. Before getting started on your plan, it’s a good idea to do some research on what a professional business plan should include. You can then use this as a checklist to make sure you have covered all the relevant areas. Business plan sections should include information about the company, product/service market, competition in the field, management team, marketing strategy, operations, and finances.

Once you have done all of this, you should have a complete and detailed professional business plan. The most important thing to remember when developing the plan is to view it as a living document and include details about dates and specific responsibilities. Your plan will need constant revisions and updates and things will change, so expect it to be a work in progress for a good period of time. It will all be worth it in the end, a well written plan will help ensure that the business is fully focused on what is required to achieve the business objective.

Home Kitchen

Design small kitchens with kitchen organizers for your cabinets

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The best things can come in small packages, and that’s true even in your kitchen. But many people think that decorating a small kitchen is difficult or even impossible, mainly due to the small space that most modern houses have. NKBA or National Kitchen and Bath Association defines a small kitchen as one that measures 150 square feet or even less. And it is they who say that it is not difficult to design a small kitchen. If you think that it is impossible to get the best out of your kitchen area with such limited space, then you are totally wrong and here is why. All you need are the right appliances, good lighting, efficient cabinet organizers, and a good imagination to bring out the best in the heart of your home.

First, it helps to know what style you would like your cooking space to have. For example, it can be traditional, contemporary, rustic, antique, or transitional, which is a mix of the first two styles. Being specific about which of these various styles you would like to use will give your redecoration or renovation more focus and direction. And because you have a small space, using kitchen organizers with open shelves or glass doors, light colors, pull-out shelves, or tilt-up bins can help you effectively maximize your cooking space. Add more shelves or open display cabinets to give your place an expanded look that doesn’t look so hideous and cramped. Unfortunately, having too many shelves or small cabinets will make your room look smaller and cluttered.

When it comes to home appliances, small but stylish appliances are available just about anywhere you look these days. Keep your cooktop and oven top in the same place simply because this can save you a lot of space. Consider buying multifunctional appliances so they don’t clutter up your kitchen area and limit your work space. You can also install deep countertops that allow you to store more appliances and utensils and greatly increase your work space. Keep small appliances inside your kitchen organizers. As a last point, choose your appliances wisely.

These are just a few of the few things to consider when designing your kitchen area when you have a tiny house that is so popular today, but usually so impractical to decorate to your liking. However, as we’ve just seen, with a little imagination and some space-saving tools, you can give your little place a makeover and also make it look a lot bigger than it actually is.

Auto

Every Door Direct: Smart and Affordable Marketing from the Post Office

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The US Postal Service started a new program in 2011 called Every Door Direct that is generating money for many small businesses. This is perfect for many businesses to target people in your neighborhood, including: car dealers, pizza or other restaurants, dry cleaners, real estate people, lawyers, and accountants.

They have made it relatively easy

Postal permission is not required for this and you do not have to purchase a mailing list. And with the Postal Service’s online tool, you can choose a business/residential or residential-only route. What you can’t do (at least not yet) is choose only businesses. But the post office says they are working on that option.

the minimum

You choose the zip code and postal route. Using your website and that tool, you can see the routes and the number of addresses on it. You must mail all addresses on the route. You can’t point to one stop like an apartment complex. You can choose whether to include businesses or apartment complexes and PO Boxes.

There is another way instead of choosing individual paths. Using their online tool, you can enter your business location and request every address within a mile or within three miles or whatever. It immediately shows you how many places that would be and the exact cost.

and the maximum

But this is the postal service, which means you have to do it exactly their way. You can only send up to 5,000 pieces of mail per day at any one post office.

Grouping Them Post Office Style

They should be packed in groups of 50. Let’s say a route has 226 addresses. You would have four bundles of 50 each plus one bundle of 26. Each bundle should have a “slip” on the front identifying the mailing route.

You can pay a mail service to take care of everything or hire someone to bundle them together. Or you can sit in front of the TV with your family and friends and have a package party. However, be careful with the count because the post office is picky.

Each piece must have an “address bar” that must be in a specific place in the mail.

How to use it

Here’s what you can mail in this program: large postcards. The Post Office calls them “flats”. Up to 12×15 inches at 14.5 cents each (for most deliveries). I’ve seen that “for most deliveries” reference but I’m not sure in which situations it costs more.

Then take them to that post office and pay by check, cash, metered postage, or debit card (but not credit card last I heard, but they were working on that too). If you want to send your cards to another city, just send them in a big box with all the paperwork (and payment) inside.

If you have questions about the program, just search online or call their hotline: 877-747-6249.

Many marketers are using these large cards to sell ads to individual businesses, all in the same area. The Postal Service really has a good idea here. I urge you to take a look.

Digital Marketing

Improving Speed ​​Reading Comprehension – Unleashing the Power of Ethos

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If you are like most people, you want a better understanding as you read. If you’re a speed reader, or thinking of becoming one, then comprehension is even more important. At high speed, it’s easy to get lazy. So much information is pouring into your brain in an instant, you probably want to keep flowing with it. At least, that’s what most speed readers do. You don’t want to do this. You want to make sure that what you are learning is valid and true. Finding the truth and validity of what you read depends on the proper use of ethos.

Ethos is the first thing that every good writer should present when writing. They are the facts. As a reader, you need to play detective. As Joe Friday of the old show and the new version of the movie would say, “just the facts, please, just the facts.” Let’s look at some of the things to keep in mind when validating the facts.

First, who wrote the text? What are your qualifications on this topic? Look at his education. Is this a doctor writing an article on managing illness or a layman? Does this person have any experience in this field? If so, how much experience? You also want to consider what other experts think about these opinions. You can Google his name and see if there are any objections to his beliefs. Again, you must evaluate the reviews using the same criteria. After all, the person who has a different opinion may be wrong.

Next, consider your previous experience with this topic. Are these facts supported by other material you have learned? If not, why not? Is this new information? For example, if he lived in 1940 and believed that smoking was bad for your health, that would only be his opinion. There was no evidence to support his belief. If today he believes that smoking is bad for his health, his opinion would be backed up by tons of new research. He must weigh new ideas against the validity of old ones very carefully. Don’t jump to conclusions.

Finally consider where the information is being printed. Is it in a reputable publication or one that has a questionable reputation? Is this a controversial topic? What is the inclination of the provider of this information. For example, I would expect a liberal publication to have a very positive view of liberal ideas, while at the same time having very critical or more conservative views. Vice versa, I would expect a conservative publication to have a very positive view of a conservative idea and to be very critical or have a liberal perspective. Now if a conservative publication is very supportive of a liberal idea, or if a liberal publication is very supportive of a conservative idea, that’s something you really want to focus on.

Just use a little common sense. Don’t believe everything you read. Often people play on their emotions to make incorrect information seem true. With a little practice you will become an expert at detecting deception.

Relationship

Overcome Stress at Home – Home Stress Reduction Tips for Moms

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Imagine this, it’s another normal day with screaming and whining kids, barking dogs, tons of chores waiting to be done, how would you feel? Do you feel stressed? How do you overcome stress at home? I always greet all those housewives or in other words “housewife”. They are like a superhero. I call them Supermom.

Being a mom, we forget how tired or stressed we get from doing all the endless housework, but do we ever complain? Giving to our children or relatives is something we do willingly. We are willing to lose sleep, sacrifice our time for our loved ones. This positive thinking is one of the ways we can overcome our stress at home.

We are the first to get up early in the morning and usually the last to go to bed. We would make a mental checklist early in the morning of all the chores that need to be done that very day. We won’t call it a day if there are still uncompleted tasks lying around.

How do mothers cope with stress at home? We may need help from our family members. For example, our spouse may help us by taking out the trash or helping with the dishes. We can also train or educate our children to help us by teaching them to clean up their rooms and clean up after themselves. Here are some other ways to reduce our stress at home.

Health Fitness

Is walking the best exercise?

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One thing in advance. I personally believe, based on experience and study, that walking has to be one of the best exercises out there. Whether you’re interested in health, fitness, weight loss, or aging, not many things have as beneficial an effect as walking.

In fact, before we try to put down and belittle walking as exercise, let’s be noble and try to point out some of its good points.

As a general all-purpose exercise, walking IS one of the best. After all, you can…

  • Help improve overall health through a multitude of beneficial results
  • Improve the strength, efficiency and capacity of the heart and lungs
  • Improve the efficiency of the body’s immune system.
  • Reduce stress
  • Improve the general emotional state.
  • increase energy
  • Delay some effects of the aging process
  • Helps maintain muscle tone and balance.
  • It helps prevent osteoporosis
  • Auxiliary in the control of diabetes.

Yeah, it’s going to be hard to say bad things about walking.

After all, it’s so easy to do, and no real training or special equipment is needed. In fact, we’ve been doing it for almost a year of our lives, so what’s the problem? If it’s so good, why aren’t we all Olympic-class athletes and healthy as horses?

Well, our bodies were designed when people walked a lot more than they do today. Our ancestors, and I’m not talking about today’s grandmothers and grandfathers, of which I am one, often had to walk miles on any given day to gather food or hunt it…often chasing it at a fast pace for hours. and hours. Going from the living room sofa to the car, from the car to the office and vice versa, with a few trips to the refrigerator does not count.

After all, how do we really spend our days? We sit in those cars, at desks, in front of TVs or computers, eat meals full of non-nutritious foods, and then go to bed.

Hey! Did you get up early this morning or did you go to bed late? That’s more time you have to burn calories, right? Mistaken. You may have pumped some cortisol into your bloodstream and that will help you gain weight, but that’s another article.

The point is that we don’t live as we should in terms of the amount of activity we need. It has been estimated by serious scientists that we need at least 30 minutes of strenuous activity EVERY DAY to experience high-level health benefits from walking or any other exercise. A few years ago, a study indicated that only about 20% of Americans met that goal.

And while walking is great overall exercise, it does come with some drawbacks.

The first thing to throw away is the “perfect” exercise. With all of its health benefits, there are some things you can’t do. Our bodies need to stretch almost daily. This doesn’t need to be vigorous or painful, but it does need to be regular. Walking can’t do that. We also need some loading and resistance exercises for the parts of the body where walking doesn’t work. Again, this doesn’t have to be incredibly strenuous, but it does need to happen on every part of the body a couple of times a week. In fact, many people divide their resistance exercises into upper and lower body, or some other division, doing one set of exercises one day alternating with the other. For example, I do upper body dumbbell training on Monday and Thursday and lower body on Tuesday and Friday.

Walking isn’t “perfect” either if you have a specific exercise goal that you just don’t address. For example, a tennis player may benefit from better stamina and leg strength from walking, but will need to do other exercises to strengthen the muscles in the arms and chest to swing the racket.

Walking for health should be not only regular, but also energetic. It may be necessary to warm up before an actual hike, and for beginners, you will almost certainly need to rack up those 30 minutes we were talking about. There are even experts who recommend 45 minutes a day, but 30 minutes a day should be the minimum.

Also, you DO need a good team. A good pair of walking shoes as a minimum and appropriate clothing for the temperature and weather.

Whatever you do, by the way, get your doctor’s guidance and blessing before embarking on any exercise program.

So this is what you do. Start your new program gently and start walking every day. It can be in a mall, in a park, at the zoo, in the woods, along the coast… wherever! Then, after you’ve given your body a few weeks to adjust and your mind a chance to realize that this isn’t bad and that you actually feel better than before, and once you’ve done that, I’ll dare I say the word: “exercise” as a part of your life, start with some extremely light weights and start doing resistance exercises a couple of times a week. Start doing a little stretching every day and you’ll get there.

I’ve finished. I think I’ll go back to the pasture and take a walk… if my neighbor’s goats don’t come through the fence again.

Hey! There is a thought. I think I’ll write an article on excuses for NOT exercising.

Legal Law

Why should we hire transporters?

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Transmission is the branch of law that deals with ownership and transfer of property. A Conveyor performs all roles when it comes to the purchase or sale of the property. He will help you buy property, sell it, and help you transfer title as well. Are the questions that it is required to hire a Transporter keep coming up? Is that really makes sense?

Simply put, the responsibility of the transferor is to facilitate the entire process of buying and selling the property. For example, with the help of land conveyance, the paperwork is reduced for the buyer and seller of the property because this paperwork is handled by the conveyancer. Transportation services are valuable when it comes to selling or buying a property.

Importance of the protractor:

Hiring a Transporter is a good option. They lessen your duties as a buyer and seller to a great extent. The duties of the carriers are:

• Review of the purchase contract.

• Preparation of section 32

• Ensure parts are ready for critical dates.

• Collaboration with the bank

• Collaboration with other attorneys and carriers on the other side.

• Carriers ensure that all documents are well prepared and in order.

• If there is a mortgage on you, the Carrier will ensure that the bank is ready to settle the mortgage.

Buying and selling a property is not easy and requires a lot of organization. To make sure everything falls into place and each document is ready for the last day of purchase, you should hire an experienced carrier. A carrier is a personal assistant, he is a legal advisor and all in one, titles will change according to duty.

For the buyer, the assignor will perform the following functions:

• The Transmitter will ensure that the payments for the purchase of the property are made with the bank.

• Will advise you on the payment of the deposit of the new property.

• Will review section 32 to make sure everything is in order.

• Will arrange the settlement with the bank and the parties on the other side.

One thing is clear: transferring property is not easy and requires specialized knowledge. Only a legal expert like the carriers can help the buyer and seller understand the practical details of this.

If you are looking to hire someone for ground transportation, please contact us and our carriers are ready to assist you.

Lifestyle Fashion

Makeup: creating focal points on the face

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Many people think that they should wear makeup exactly like all their friends do. While this is true, in terms of makeup application techniques, such as how to blend concealer or how to apply foundation smoothly and evenly, it couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to other makeup considerations. color options like makeup application. For example.

Your choice of makeup, particularly specific colors and techniques to create focal points, should be based on your color, facial structure, skin condition, and other personal factors. You want to look the best you can be! A good makeup application can help you look your best.

The concealer and foundation color you select should match your skin tone, but should also be selected in colors that match your skin tone. For example, if you’re prone to redness or blemishes, you should select a foundation and concealer in a color that neutralizes that redness. Similarly, if your skin tone tends to be yellowish, you’ll want to use a foundation with a more bluish undertone to even out your skin tone.

The type of makeup you use, whether cream, powder, or liquid, for example, should also be based on your particular skin type. Dry or oily skin requires different types of products. Similarly, you should select the products that best suit your complexion, depending on whether you can see enlarged pores, whether your skin is fair or blemished, etc.

After applying foundation and concealer to create a clean palette for the rest of your makeup, it’s time to assess your facial features. Look at her face and decide what you like best and least about her facial structure or features. For example, if you have big beautiful eyes, you may decide that they are your best feature and you want to make your eyes stand out.

Evaluate the shape of your face and whether you want to emphasize the shape or minimize it. For example, if you have a round face and want to visually slim down the appearance of your face, how and where you apply blush can help you achieve this result. If you have a thick chin, a little subtle blush under your jawline can help slim down this area.

Determine if you want to emphasize your lips or your eyes today, but not both, as that can be overwhelming. If you don’t like your lips, because you think they’re too thin or too puffy or whatever, you can choose to make your eyes the focal point every day. If you don’t like your eyes, perhaps you think they are too squinty, you can take the opposite decision. If you are satisfied with all of your features, you can choose to emphasize your eyes one day and then put the focus on your lips another day.

Now select colors and techniques that downplay certain features, perhaps using more subdued colors. Then use colors and techniques to highlight the features you want to be the focal point for today. Brighter, deeper colors and shimmer and shine are great ways to create focal points on the face. Customize your makeup for you and the look you want!

Real Estate

Properties in Dubai for sale – Invest in real estate in the United Arab Emirates

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Dubai has become an international real estate hotspot, with major architectural developments and ambitious projects springing up seemingly overnight. With the market still young and demand outstripping supply, the time has come for foreigners to invest in this vibrant and captivating city.

In March 2006, the Freehold Law was passed allowing foreigners to lease for 99 years or freehold land in designated areas. Freehold or leasing allows the foreign investor many advantages. Owners can sell or rent their property in Dubai if they wish. The investment potential is high, with high demand for short-term rentals and yields around 10 percent. Dubai does not tax income, including income from rental property. Plus there is no Capital Gains Tax. With Dubai’s population expected to double in the next five years, causing increased rental demand, a property purchased for rental purposes can be seen as a long-term income generating asset. Owners are not required to live in the United Arab Emirates and there are a number of local and international property management companies, including Colliers International, Cluttons, Asteco and JG Property Management, who can look after the property when the owners are away. Property can also be passed on as inheritance if specific procedures are followed.

Some of Dubai’s most popular real estate developments (many of which offer family-friendly gated communities with access to swimming pools and other residential amenities) include:

  • The Springs – Offering 3-5 bedroom villas, located off Sheikh Zayed Road.
  • The Meadows – Located near Dubai Media City, it consists of 3-7 bedroom two-story villas.
  • Emirates Hills – An exclusive world-class development comprised of freehold villas located close to Dubai Media City and Emirates Golf Club.
  • Arabian Ranches – A freehold community of villas and townhouses minutes from Dubai and Jebel Ali, but located in the desert, offering access to the Dubai Polo Club and Equestrian Center.
  • Dubai Marina: offers luxury apartments and villas with sea views.
  • The Greens – Located close to the Emirates Golf Course and offering modern low-rise apartments available as studios, 1, 2 or 3 bedrooms.
  • Other up-and-coming areas include: Business Bay, Palm Jumeirah, Jumeira Islands, Jumeira Park, Al Fujan and Dubai Land.

Investing in the dynamic and dynamic Dubai market is very simple. The only paper required is a relatively simple sales agreement. If necessary, foreigners can apply for financing. The two main lenders in Dubai that specialize in real estate mortgages are Tamweel and Amlak. When buying a property, it is advisable to use a lawyer and ensure that a formal contract is signed, especially if it is bought on the secondary market. It is possible and quite common to buy directly from the developer (such as Emaar or Nakheel) who may charge a transfer fee of between 1-3%. It is typical to have to provide a down payment, plus installments, with the final installment due upon completion or delivery of the property. Upon completion, the property must be registered with the Dubai Land Department. There is a land registration fee equal to 1.5% of the purchase price of the property. Homeowners should also expect to pay an annual property maintenance fee that covers things like necessary plumbing or electrical repairs, site cleaning, and security.

Buying a house abroad is an important decision. It is essential to research all aspects of a potential investment and only deal with trusted estate agents, as there is no formal structured buying process in Dubai. Well-known reputable real estate agents in Dubai include Better Homes, GoWealthy, Re-Max and Landmark Properties. The Dubai real estate market is likely to continue to flourish for the foreseeable future. Dubai is an international driving destination that offers a high standard of living, a tax-free lifestyle and a safe and secure cosmopolitan community, making it the perfect place to invest.