Subject: Free Pint No.69 - Tax, Reflexology and Cluetrain Free Pint "Helping 30,000 people use the Web for their work" http://www.freepint.co.uk/ ISSN 1460-7239 17th August 2000 No.69 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = IN THIS ISSUE EDITORIAL MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES from Margaret Morrison FREE PINT BAR In Association with Factiva a Dow Jones & Reuters Company Reviewed by Simon Collery TIPS AND TECHNIQUES "UK Tax Resources on the Web" By Gary Mackley-Smith BOOKSHELF "The Cluetrain Manifesto: The end of business as usual" Reviewed by P.C. McGrew FEATURE ARTICLE "Reflexology Sources on the Web" By Anne Ku PORTAL, EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES CONTACT INFORMATION ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/170800.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *MAKE YOUR SITE EARN REVENUE & GET 195 POUNDS WORTH OF SERVICES FREE* When you join ukaffiliates.com, the UK's Affiliate Marketing Leader, you will receive Free Membership to the IBU Club, a value of 195 pounds per annum. This includes free search engine submission to over 500 search engines. You will also receive online marketing and business consultancy, along with 1000's of pages of the latest tips and strategies to generate traffic to your site. To take advantage of this offer JOIN NOW http://www.ukaffiliates2.com/u/uka/t.asp?id=11790 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [ap691] >>> ABOUT FREE PINT <<< Free Pint is a community of business professionals who use the Web for their work. Members receive this free newsletter every two weeks packed with tips and articles by information professionals who share how they find quality and reliable information on the Internet. Sign up at for free access to the substantial archive of articles, book reviews, industry news and events, and have your research questions answered at the "Free Pint Bar". This newsletter is best read when printed out and viewed in a Courier font. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EDITORIAL Whilst August is supposed to be a quiet month business-wise, we're not experiencing any of that here. The recent raft of articles and features about our community mean we have welcomed many new members recently and whilst the Web site developments continue apace. The new Bar was well received after its launch in the last issue and users particularly seem to like the "send to a friend" feature and being able to see summaries in the message index. The move to the new server went without a hitch last week too and so things are very much faster now. We've also been busy adding resources to the Portal and this is a super place to start exploring business information on the Web. Make a note to check it out soon at . In the last issue we covered two subjects you simply can't avoid - genealogy and surveillance - and today we continue the theme by looking at tax resources. Illness is generally involuntary too and so we also take a look at reflexology sources on the Web as an alternative to more traditional forms of medication. We're breaking with tradition ourselves by not skipping an issue this summer. Today's edition is therefore the first we've published in mid- August in almost three years. I just hope that wherever you are in the world the weather actually resembles the appropriate season, as in the UK our "summer" is once again consisting of a mix of seasons changing on a daily basis. Do try to join us on the Web site where we can help with your search questions at the Bar and you can explore our range of resources. Yes, everything's free (I was asked that again yesterday by an enquirer) and we'd value your feedback as always. Kind regards, William William Hann BSc MIInfSc Founder and Managing Editor, Free Pint e: william@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436 Free Pint is a trademark of Free Pint Limited http://www.freepint.co.uk/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ***EARN 5 POUNDS JUST FOR SIGNING UP WITH UKAFFILIATES.COM*** As a Special Offer with FreePint, ukaffiliates.com, the UK's Affiliate Leader, are offering you 5 pounds to sign up with them for Free. Once you have joined, you will have the opportunity of earning commissions from online retailers such as William Hill, Comet, Firedup.com etc. You will also earn 5% of any commissions a website makes that you have referred to ukaffiliates. Any questions email support@ukaffiliates.com Or JOIN NOW at http://www.ukaffiliates2.com/u/uka/t.asp?id=12727 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [ap692] >>> DOES ADVERTISING HERE WORK? <<< One way to tell is to look for repeat advertising. Well, we've plenty of that. Find out more about the benefits and special offers and book as early as possible. http://www.freepint.co.uk/advert.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES from Margaret Morrison * Timezoneconverter - figures out the time all over the world including future dates to take account of those tricky Summertime situations. * Genie - send SMS for free and get to use a keyboard instead of a fiddleyfone. * Streetmap - where am I? Or where am I going? Paste a map reference on your meeting invitations. * Need To Know - can't beat this weekly newsletter's sense of humour: helps if you're a self-confessed geek. * Lowfield.co.uk - Oh no! I missed the Archers! Quick - catch up with Ambridge and even get summaries sent to you if you're stuck out of range of Radio 4. Margaret Morrison is a Knowledge Specialist in the High Tech area (and self confessed geek). She also runs a chocolate website at selling all sorts of unusual and sought-after sweets. Mmm! > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To submit your top five favourite tipples see the guidelines at or email > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ****THE FACTIVA INFOPRO ALLIANCE**** Become a member of the InfoPro Alliance and keep up with the latest enhancements to Reuters Business Briefing, Dow Jones Interactive and Factiva's content integration via periodic email messages. You'll also receive Advisor, Factiva's quarterly newsletter that covers industry trends, added content and profiles of innovative professionals. Visit http://www.factiva.com/infopro to join. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [fa693] >>> TODAY'S NEWS - FAST, FREE and FACTUAL <<< http://www.freepint.co.uk/news Visit the Free Pint Newsfeed for today's news. All arranged into 300+ international categories. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT BAR In Association with Factiva a Dow Jones & Reuters Company Reviewed by Simon Collery http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/170800.htm#bar People often compare the Web to a library, as if it is a collection of reference books. And some sites on the Web are a bit like reference works. We have had postings on reference resources covering world languages (4386), some dictionaries of computing (4444) and UK photo repositories (4485). Some Web sites are more like directories, UK post code information (4404), environmental and energy information (4423) and politics and government sites of the world (4433), for example. Other sites are like brochures, this browser site, for example (4413). The New Scientist site is like a periodical (4476), though there are differences. And yet other sites are like all of the above and several other things too, such as an arts gateway (4502) and an accountancy portal (4508) that I reviewed recently. Often, questions put to the Web are analogous to ones asked of a librarian, and the librarian might direct readers to the most likely place to find what they want. They might have a section on librarianship which would cover library marketing (4392), a section on employment law (4440), one on quizzes (4449), the freight industry (4475) and the like. Librarians are trained to know how best to carry out library research in numerous areas. But there are questions that require more specialist knowledge of the content of certain resources. Examples might be UK bank sort codes (4416), treatment for hearing loss (4437), KM questionnaire data (4450), company VAT numbers (4455), the Notebook industry (4463) and vehicle license registration details (4489). I'm not saying librarians wouldn't know the answer to such questions, of course, just that they could be more challenging. They need to know what many books contain, not just where they are shelved. In a lot of cases they can tell you where it's best to look, without necessarily being able to tell you whether your question can be answered. Similar things can be said for the Web. Many subjects that people expect information on are the equivalent of parts of books, and you might need to look through lots of sites before you find what you want. The information may not even be there at all, and establishing this can take a long time. Talking of which, we would be interested in hearing from people who know sites holding details of music CD importers (4451), ASP statistics (4471) and printing technology (4427). But there isn't an easy way of answering many questions on the Web, no more than there would be in a library. There are numerous search tools on the Web, a handful of which aim to perform distinct search functions. Smartborg tries to match the sort of query you type in with the most appropriate search tool (4460). Exploratorius is one of a good number of meta search engines (4487) and Altavista attempts to add in all sorts of filters to assist the searcher (4408). The best parallel here is with library catalogues and reference works, how they are indexed and the like, not with librarians. And many people resort to posting their question on a public message board, often one specialising in their subject area. Then when it comes to technical matters, the Web is a lot different from libraries. It can be more like a shop when it comes to buying software, so you can compare prices and even get demonstrations and advice. Often it's all free of charge too. If you are interested in document management resources (4394), Web software (4406), usability checkers (4454), library catalogue software (4443), software security patches (4469), linking to pdf documents and share price feeds for a Web site (4503), you may find the Web very useful. Now, William was asked whether the British Library has a future in the light of the Web's ability to replace some services provided by libraries (4484). So while the Web might replace some services, I don't think it has been shown that it can replace all of them. Anyhow, we'd love to hear what you think. Simon Collery, Content Developer To read threads, view this summary online with activated hyperlinks at , visit the Bar itself or add the message number to the end of , e.g. . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Do you have a research question? Could you help other members? It's easy to post a message at . Visit daily for "Today's Tipple" - a different Web site reviewed every working day at the Bar. Access the Portal archive of Tipples at . To have the latest Free Pint Bar postings sent to you every other day, send a blank email to . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *DO YOU WANT TO DRAMATICALLY LOWER YOUR COST OF CUSTOMER AQUISISTION* ukaffiliates.com is the UK Leader in Affiliate Marketing & specialises in gaining results for our clients on a pay per results basis. ukaffiliates significantly lowers the cost of their clients customer acquisition, and increasing their sales and revenues. They offer a total managed solution, enabling clients to concentrate on other marketing solutions, whilst being promoted on 1000's of non-competing websites. For more info call 0207-6911880, james@ukaffiliates.com > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [ap694] >>> IT'S UP TO YOU <<< http://www.freepint.co.uk/reco.htm Is there someone you know who would enjoy Free Pint? Enter their details confidentially on the page above and we'll send them a courteous introduction to our community. 80% of new member come through word of mouth recommendation so you'll be in good company. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = TIPS AND TECHNIQUES http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/170800.htm#tips "UK Tax Resources on the Web" By Gary Mackley-Smith The development of online UK tax information has been very slow compared to that in the USA, where for many years good tax information has been freely available. There are hundreds of tax sites. Entering "tax" into any of the major search engines will reveal a vast table of entries, far too many to delve through without a serious assault on your phone bill. To save you the trouble, the UK's best tax sites can be found in the ever- expanding Tax Links section of my own site TaxZone, which is where this article takes its lead for the ten recommended links mentioned below. Official sources ---------------- The Government has set the demanding goal of making the UK the best environment in which to trade electronically by 2002. The claim follows on from its target of making all government services available electronically by 2005. A tall order if recent software disasters at the Inland Revenue are anything to go by. Although the Revenue has had more than its fair share of IT problems, its website is a model of clarity. The site is easy to navigate, there are minimal graphics, lots of downloads and a huge wealth of tax information for both the professional adviser and taxpayer. Highlights are press releases, Tax Bulletins and downloadable forms and booklets. A major addition to the site is a new section containing the Revenue's internal guidance manuals, long regarded as the ultimate source of information by experienced practitioners needing to gauge the department's likely view of planned transactions. Since the mid 1990s the manuals have been in the public domain, but at a price; now they are free - checking them before undertaking tax planning activities is essential. - Inland Revenue Within the website is a section devoted to National Insurance Contributions, which is an important area for anyone involved in payroll. - NIC Office H.M. Customs & Excise deal with all the indirect taxes and have most of their notices online - a great resource for traders needing to check on the VAT aspect of a deal. VAT is so complicated these days that the site is indispensable. There are very useful areas on exchange rates and reclaiming VAT in the European Community. - Customs & Excise The Institutes -------------- The tax institutes are now using the Internet as a way of communicating with their members electronically. Tax advisers can now pay their professional subscriptions online, check technical releases, pick up internal news, and see branch programmes for local events. The Chartered Institute of Taxation is the premier tax body in the UK, and shares its website with its junior partner, the Association of Taxation Technicians. The site underwent a transformation a while ago now, not necessarily for the better. But the technical information it contains makes its frequently used. It is neatly split into technical, non-technical and student areas. - Chartered Institute of Taxation The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has a Tax Faculty for members in practice providing tax services. The Faculty's site went live earlier this year and appears to have learnt from the mistakes of other sites. It is easy to move around and find information. A members' area contains back copies of technical newsletters and a discussion forum. - Tax Faculty Sponsored by the Tax Faculty is TaxAid, the charity that deals with the tax affairs of those who cannot afford the fees of a professional adviser. TaxAid's site has only just gone live and has been well worth the wait. Full of great information about what to do if you can't pay your tax, taxpayers' rights, general news and a library of downloads containing technical articles. - TaxAid Case Law -------- For the very technically minded there is now a growing body of tax case law online. Full judgments and summaries are available. The Government's Court Service is the main database for full judgments and recently underwent a much needed revamp. Here you will find cases from the High Court, the Court of Appeal and many tribunals. Cases are searchable by various criteria. - Court Service The Swarbrick Law Index is a fantastic site for case summaries going back to 1992. Regularly updated by this law firm, the site is one of the hidden jewels of the Internet. - Swarbrick Law Index Gray's Inn Tax Chambers is one of the most progressive barristers chambers and their website is a model for others to follow. It contains a tax and VAT case reporting service. It aims to provide an online summary of each judicial decision in which a member of Gray's Inn Tax Chambers has appeared, within 30 minutes of judgment. - Gray's Inn Tax Chambers Online guides and calculators ----------------------------- Online guides are still very much in their infancy, though with the Revenue's manuals now online they face stiff competition. Some banks and professional firms have provided online guides to the tax system. - Lloyd's TSB Tax Guide Performing tax calculations online is perhaps a novel invention, but many sites now offer this facility. From checking how much to pay the spouse, to seeing if you should keep the company car, all these things can now be done online for free. - UK Payroll calculator - Car tax calculator - Spouse's wages calculator TaxZone ------- TaxZone is a sister community to AccountingWEB, the Internet resource and community for tax and accounting professionals from Sift, who have a range of such online communities. TaxZone offers a free weekly newswire, tax facts, a growing library of articles, interactive questions and answers, industry-specific business notes, a special section on the dreaded IR35, and the most comprehensive set of tax links you will find anywhere. - TaxZone - Tax Links > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gary Mackley-Smith is editor of TaxZone. A frequent writer and lecturer on tax matters, he was for many years in practice as a tax adviser and more recently the Publisher at Tolley Publishing where he also wrote some of their tax handbooks. To contact him email mailto:gary@taxzone.co.uk . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * "Sources of UK Financial Information" article in Free Pint No.47 * Finance Industry in the Free Pint Portal * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks * Discuss this article with the author now at the Free Pint Bar * Access the entire archive of Free Pint content > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = SPECIAL PROMOTION from GLOBAL GOLD Safeguard your brands/trading names today using Brand Protect, the fast and effective solution for preventing competitors from stealing your traffic. Click here for more details of how to protect your exposed brand names on the Internet: http://www.globalgold.co.uk/brandprotect Get 10% off any order of 5 domain suffixes or more - Act now and Secure your domain today! > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [gg695] >>> FREE PINT FACT <<< During our move to the new server we installed a new Web stats analysis package. This has highlighted quite a difference in the usage of the various parts of the Free Pint Web site. The Bar is by far the busiest section with two sixths of the site's usage. The News, Issue archive and Portal sections each receive a sixth of the visits, whilst the Search, Bookshelf and Events share a sixth between them. This is therefore conclusive proof that, given a choice, most business people would rather spend a third of their time propping up the Bar. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT BOOKSHELF http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf "The Cluetrain Manifesto: The end of business as usual" Reviewed by P.C. McGrew If you are looking for another staid business book with thousands of dry words describing business school ideas for growing your business, this is not it. This is a book where you must read the words and pay attention to the side bars while casting aside preconceived notions of what a business book looks like and feels like. The tour guides for The Cluetrain Manifesto are Rick Leune (co-founder of Mancala, Inc. and a former Web Architect for Sun), Christopher Locke (web consultant also known as rageboy), Doc Searles (senior editor at Linux Journal and publisher of Reality 2.0), and David Weinberger (editor and publisher of the Journal of the Hyperlinked Organization - JOHO). Each has a perspective on the business of doing business on the internet borne from working in the trenches and noting the strategic failures as well as the tactical victories. They start with 95 theses. If your classical education is pinging in your ear it might be the remembrance of Martin Luther echoing in the background. This set of 95 theses also tackle a cultural attitude, but this one examines the business of marketing goods, services, and brands using the matrix of the internet, linked with the myriad of intranets that form in large and small companies. To give you an idea, here are a few of the theses: * There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone. * Bombastic boasts -- "We are positioned to become the preeminent provider of XYZ" -- do not constitute a position. * Today, the org chart is hyperlinked, not hierarchical. Respect for hands-on knowledge wins over respect for abstract authority. From the theses they take off on a series of conversations, which is how the authors see the new marketing paradigm. Conversations between buyers and sellers replace prior notions of how marketing, public relations, and ultimately, customer support are accomplished, thus allowing companies to become more approachable and more human in their dealings with both their vendors and customers. Oh, their employees, too. They preach with the conviction of TV evangelists and the humor of the local comedy club. If you think you know what your company looks like from the web and its surfers, pay particular attention to page 93. Here, laid bare, is the story of what happens in chat rooms and how no one is immune. What? You don't have someone trolling the chat rooms watching for references to your company or products? This story will give you a few reasons to seriously consider making it someone's assignment, especially if you sit on top of a publicly traded company. If you are an avid reader of business books, looking for the morsels that will help give you the leg up over your competition, this is a book that should not be missed. If you hate business books with a passion because they never deal with the things you need to know, this is a book that should not be missed. If you never read books, read this one anyway. Related sites: > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - P.C. McGrew is a certified Electronic Documents Publishing Professional. With her partner, Bill McDaniel, she speaks professionally and writes on topics including information delivery, emerging technology, and practical applications of emerging technologies. Their consulting company, McGrew + McDaniel Group, works as evangelists-for-hire in the emerging technologies sector. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf * Read about other Internet strategy books on the Free Pint Bookshelf * Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com * Details: US ISBN 0738202444 published by Perseus Books; UK ISBN 0273650238 published by Financial Times Prentice Hall; written by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger * Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the Bookshelf To propose a business-Web-related book for review, send details to . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> SEARCH FREE PINT. SEARCH THE WEB <<< Access the Free Pint homepage for handy search boxes to search the Web site and/or the Web. Or use the section dedicated to Web Searching in the Portal at http://www.freepint.co.uk/portal/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FEATURE ARTICLE http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/170800.htm#feature "Reflexology Sources on the Web" By Anne Ku Introduction ------------ Newcomers to the vast field of complementary medicine (alternative therapy, holistic healing, natural health), may easily be confused by the plethora of terminology used to describe healing that is not "Western medicine." The main difference, as I have come to understand it, is that the former is holistic, treating the patient and the cause rather than the symptom and the effect. However, for those of us brought up in the ritual of seeing a doctor when we're ill - and being prescribed medicine made by the leading pharmaceutical companies, it seems strange that an alternative exists. I decided to explore "the alternative" when I became increasingly dissatisfied with the old ritual. Having studied system dynamics and causal modelling in my academic research, I sincerely believe in Newton's law of action and reaction. What effect does medicine have on our bodies? Why do I develop another ailment after taking antibiotics to relieve my cold? Why do the same problems, such as hayfever, recur year after year? Reflexology is only one of many alternative therapies available today. Using meta-search engines I was able to quickly find sites that define it, describe the benefits, detail the history, point to useful links and organisations, and document real life case studies demonstrating the effectiveness of reflexology. One website at states "Reflexology is both a science and an art. As a science, it requires the skill and knowledge of the practitioner. As an art, it requires the dedication and love of the practitioner." While one may argue about its scientific origins, there is overwhelming evidence that it was practised as early as 2,330 BC by the Egyptians. Details of pictures and carvings of this ancient practice can be found at . The precursor to modern reflexology began in the US in the 1920's as Zone Therapy, according to . This was brought to the UK in the 1960's by the late Doreen Bayly, as described in . There is some dispute over the exact origins of reflexology as we know it today. attributes it to Sir Henry Head of London back in the 1890's. Definition and Benefits ----------------------- Reflexology is often confused with foot massage, chiropody, chiropractice, acupressure, and acupuncture, as evident in my Internet search results. Foot massage is the massage of the foot, without reference to the rest of the body. A chiropodist treats the feet and their ailments. A chiropractor uses spinal manipulation as a method of curing disease. Acupressure is a kind of massage using fingertips applied to the points of the body used in acupuncture. Acupuncture is a system of medical treatment in which the body surface is punctured by needles at specific points to relieve pain, cure disease, or produce anaesthesia. (Ref: The Cassell Concise English Dictionary edited by Betty Kirkpatrick, copyright 1989.) Reflexology is a non-intrusive touch therapy applied to the feet and hand. When any of the nerve pathways that exist throughout the body become blocked, the body experiences levels of discomfort. Reflexology may assist in reviving one's energy flow and bringing the body back into a state of balance. It is based on the principle that reflexes in the feet and hands mirror each and every gland, organ and all parts of the body. "Reflexology - a second look" gives a good overview with plenty of body and foot diagrams at . Additional foot charts can be found at , , and . A hand chart is available at . Stimulating these reflexes or zones by systematic pressure and massage can identify, prevent, maintain, relieve, and even cure certain health problems. Many reflexology websites state that reflexology is not meant to take the place of modern medicine, but rather to complement it. It can restore harmony to hormonal imbalances and cure breathing disorders and digestive problems. Reflexology can provide and has provided relief from allergies, headaches, sinus problems, asthma, backaches, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, constipation, menstrual problems, prostate problems, laryngitis, arthritis, eczema, glandular fever, and other stress-related ailments. For case studies, see the collection of articles at . Organisations and Choice of Practitioner ---------------------------------------- Britain has several associations for reflexologists. The British Reflexology Association at and the International Institute of Reflexology UK at surprisingly offer very little information. The Association of Reflexologists lists other organisations (contact numbers, mailing addresses) by country at and equivalently in alphabetical order at . My Swiss reflexologist informs me that the Association of Reflexologists in the UK does not recognise reflexology diplomas from other countries. Thus being a member of a reflexology association does not necessarily guarantee good practice. Two web pages list practitioners by area in the UK at and making it convenient for the web surfer to locate a practitioner. Since the client-therapist inerface is very important, you may have to try a few before becoming comfortable. As with choosing your doctor, you should rely on your own common sense and intuition. Anyone from any walk of life can get trained as a reflexologist - usually twelve weekends over one year for most courses in the UK. If so, how can you tell if your reflexologist is a good one? Personally, if he/she can identify what is wrong with me without prior knowledge, I would be impressed. If he/she can then relieve me of my pain, then I'm even more impressed. Most people after the typical one-hour treatment tend to feel tired and need to rest. The body is getting rid of toxins while the homeostasis is getting "re-tuned." My Swiss reflexologist firmly believes that one should start with the kidney, ureter tubes, and bladder area. After apprenticing with her teacher of 30 years experience, she contrasts this against the UK, where reflexologists tend to start with the brain. She warns that anyone in the first trimester of pregnancy should not get reflexology treatment as it can produce miscarriage. Having said that, it is a wonderful method to prepare for childbirth later on. She advises against treating intoxicated (by drug or alcohol) patients. To answer the remaining questions I had about reflexology, I asked the Regional Director of the International Institute of Reflexology at . In the US, the American Reflexology Certification Board (ARCB) is the overseeing body for standards and practice there. However, none exist for the rest of the world. The International Council of Reflexologists (ICR) does not set standards. contains a link to an article on reflexology laws in Massachusetts. Other law-related articles can be found be using the search engine on the site at . Some questions to ask in choosing a practitioner are 1- are they certified? 2- what method do they practise? 3- how long have they been practising? 4- what kind of results have they seen? Books and Further Study ----------------------- While the web gives a good overview, I would be tempted to check out the many books written about reflexology. boasts the most comprehensive list (books, charts, videos) although at time of writing it says it was last updated in February 1999! Twenty five popular books are listed at . The magazine Reflexology World has a website that lists books and references at . Two other websites I have come across suggest books at and . To give credit to the many links that I have not explored in depth, I have organised them under different subject headings at . Finally, as appreciation for my reflexologist's considerable guidance, I quote her personal beliefs verbatim: "There are many people who do not want to heal because they gain too many benefits from their illness or whatever. So many people do not care enough about themselves. I hope to help people who are serious about their health (and to me, health means more than the absence of disease; it is a balance of mental/emotional/physical/spiritual and you feel like you're thriving!). Don't start me on that one - I could write a book." Perhaps she ought to! > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Believing that the provider of information must first be a user of information, Anne Ku has written numerous Internet articles on a variety of topics. Her current interest in alternative therapies began when she met her Swiss reflexologist, whose consultation culminated in research for this article. Interested readers may reach her London-based reflexologist by visiting Anne's platform for self- expression at under "Heal Thyself or Heel Thyself." > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * Healthcare and Medicine in the Free Pint Portal * Respond to this article and chat to the author now at the Bar * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks * Access the entire archive of Free Pint content > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> FREE PINT CONTENT INDEX <<< http://www.freepint.co.uk/portal/content/ Articles, issues, tipples, reviews and postings. Let the Portal overcome confusion. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT PORTAL http://www.freepint.co.uk/portal We have been busy over the last two weeks adding more hand-picked resources to the 88 industry sections of the Free Pint Portal and now have links to over 500 invaluable sites. The move to a brand new server went smoothly last week after the popularity of the site put a lot of strain on the old server. This has opened up a number of new opportunities to us including having the search facility now index the entire site without any problem. We also now build the index in parallel each night and then copy it over, so the facility is never unavailable. You should now notice a significant increase in speed for the whole site so why not check it out now? The live Newsfeed section at has also been upgraded and now automatically refreshes its list of 300+ categories every night. With the increase in server speed this section has become an even more useful and usable resourceas new items appear throughout the day. We're also working on a number of other new projects for the site too and I'll announce them as they're completed over the coming weeks. William Hann, Managing Editor > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Free Pint Portal gives you access to the full range of Free Pint content by subject industry and country as well as a large number of selected external resources at . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FORTHCOMING EVENTS http://www.freepint.co.uk/events This year's Intel Developer Forum Conference will be in San Jose, if technical matters take your fancy. At around the same time, but in a more exotic location, the COMDEX/SUCESU-SP Brazil 2000, NetWorld + Interop Brazil set of events will be taking place in Sao Paulo. Also in an exotic location, there's the COMDEX/Korea 2000 event in Seoul. And back in the US there'll be the Seybold, San Francisco conference and the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archivists, in Denver. Simon Collery, Content Developer Full details of these and many other forthcoming conferences and exhibitions in the online-information and Internet industries can be found on the Free Pint Events page . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT GOLD We've traditionally only had one issue of Free Pint in August and so we don't have any issues to reminisce about today. However, things are too exciting now to miss an issue and so it's business as usual through the summer months. Normal "Gold" service will resume in the next issue. Simon Collery, Content Developer > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES [Provisional] * Business Information Portals * Film Industry * * Aeronautics and aerospace science and technology * * Mental Health * Patents * Knowledge Management * * European Document Delivery * Geology * ICQ * If you have a suggestion for an article topic or would like to write for Free Pint then please contact me or view the guidelines for authors on the Web site at . Rex Cooke, Editor > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = If you've enjoyed today's edition then please do forward it to someone who might enjoy their own copy. If you can make it to the Web site then we'd love to welcome you there and do let me know if you find Free Pint useful or have any suggestions or comments. See you in three weeks! William Hann, Managing Editor william@freepint.co.uk (c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2000 http://www.freepint.co.uk/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = CONTACT INFORMATION William Hann BSc MIInfSc, Founder and Managing Editor e: william@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436 Rex Cooke FIInfSc FRSA, Editor e: rex@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1342 316027 f: +44 (0)1342 316027 Simon Collery BA, Business Development e: simon@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1865 434143 f: +44 (0)1784 455436 Address Free Pint Limited, FREEPOST (SEA3901), Staines Middlesex, TW18 3BR, United Kingdom (Please add a stamp if you would like to pay for postage) Web - http://www.freepint.co.uk Advertising - ads@freepint.co.uk Subscriptions - subs@freepint.co.uk Letters & Comments - feedback@freepint.co.uk Authors - http://www.freepint.co.uk/author.htm Latest Issue Autoresponder - auto@freepint.co.uk > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a free newsletter written by information professionals who share how they find quality and reliable information on the Internet. 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