Join Me Travel

Neil sounds off on what it would take for him to cancel a trip.

Travel expert Peter Greenberg and cnet’s Natali Del Conte discussed how technology is changing the way we fly and vacation.

A surfer’s paradise and a beach lover’s bliss, Hawaii attracts millions of visitors a year and why wouldn’t it when even the name conjures up dreamy images of picture perfect tropical islands. Produced by Lonely Planet TV

Abortion may sometimes seem like the only way out of a difficult situation. But you should be aware that abortion has risks. Immediate side effects from induced abortion can often include abdominal pain and cramping, nausea, and diarrhea.

You are encouraged to contact Aid for Women, a well-known Illinois pregnancy clinic for a full range of unplanned pregnancy and abortion information, advice and alternatives.

Complications – In approximately 1 out of every 100 early abortions (within the first three months) and 1 out of every 50 later abortions complications arise. These complications may include:

Although some bleeding following an abortion is considered normal, heavy bleeding, or hemorrhage, may take place if the uterus artery is accidentally torn. There is a chance a transfusion may be required should this happen.

Infection which may lead to a serious infection. If the resulting fever proves difficult to get rid of, a woman may require hospitalization over several days.

Incomplete abortion is the result of some parts of the fetus not being completely removed in the procedure. This may cause more extensive bleeding and/or infection.

The cervix may be torn by the instruments, such as curettes and suction tubing, used in the procedure. Permanent scarring of the uterine lining may also result.

Perforation of the uterus may result from instruments used in the abortion procedure. This risk increases in later pregnancies. A hysterectomy and other major surgery may be required if this happens.

Other internal organs such as the bowel and bladder may be damaged by instruments that accidentally puncture the uterus.

Death can result in extremely rare circumstances. A patient’s demise is usually caused by extreme cases of any of the above conditions such as organ damage, a perforated uterus, or extensive bleeding.

An adverse reaction to anesthesia can lead to convulsions and a fatal heart attack as well. According to CDC figures, death results in fewer than 20 cases per year across the U.S.

Post-Abortion Stress (PAS) can occur in the days following an abortion, or it might happen years down the road. This is a psychological condition that is triggered by things such as religion, the age of the woman, and how far along in the pregnancy she was when the abortion was performed.

There is a potential of risk for future pregnancies for some women after they have had an abortion during their first pregnancy. Injuries to the reproductive tract may make miscarriage a very real possibility.

Aid for Women is a trusted Chicago abortion clinic providing a full range of unplanned pregnancy and abortion alternatives.

Just because you’re short on cash doesn’t mean you can’t see the world.

If you make international business trips and carry a laptop computer than PC-to-Phone service is a great way to stay connected while on the road. As long as you have an INTERNET connection, you can make cheap international calls from any location to other computers or to any phone in the world. Calls to other computers using the same PC-to-Phone software are often Free while there is a charge for placing calls to phones (landlines or cell phones). The rates vary depending on the country and the type of phone called but rates are much lower than those charged by international hotels or long distance carriers. PC-to-Phone service is also popular with students, expats and people who operate small businesses with an international focus.

PC-to-Phone service providers continue to add new features that make their product more flexible and convenient to use. For example, Skype, one of the most popular PC-to-Phone service providers, offers free calls to other Skype users and the following added features.

• Low rates on calls to landlines and cell phones.
• An online phone number so people can reach you on Skype from any phone.
• The ability to send text messages from Skype.
• A built in Voice Mail feature so calls are never missed.
• Call forwarding that forwards incoming calls to a regular phone when the user is off-line.
• Mobile applications so Skype can be used from Mobile Phones.

Skype has continued to innovate and add features in order to broaden the appeal of their service.

We think Skype is a great option for people who want to make free calls to other Skype users. However, Skype’s international rates on calls to landlines and cell phones are not as low as other cheap international calling options. In addition to a per-minute charge for each call, Skype also charges a connection fee for each call made to a land-line or cell phone. In order to evaluate the relative cost of making international calls to landlines or cell phones with Skype, we compared the international rates charged by Skype to those charged by Tel3Advantage for the same call from the USA. Tel3Advantage was selected for this comparison since it is a high quality prepaid calling plan that can be used to make low cost domestic or international long distance calls from any phone without changing companies and it is very popular with those who make frequent international calls from the USA or Canada.

We compared Skype published rates (excluding their connection fee) to those charged by Tel3Advantage to the following popular destinations.

In many cases, the rates charged on international calls to mobile phones are substantially higher than the rate charged for the same call to a land-line. Therefore, when making international calls, callers should take care and read the fine print so they fully understand the rate charged for making a call to the type of phone they plan to call or they may receive an unpleasant surprise. In most cases, rates on international calls to mobile phones are higher than they are for calls to landlines but this is not always the case. The rate difference varies between countries and service providers so it is best to shop around in order to find the lowest cost product for making calls to the country and type of phone you wish to call.

We did some research on this topic by comparing the rates charged by Tel3Advantage, a popular prepaid calling plan, on international calls to mobile phones and landlines in various countries. We found there were some regional patterns to the data but no consistent rules. The following is a summary of our key observations.

• The rate charged on calls to mobile phones is substantially higher than they would be for the same call to a land-line. This seemed to be a typical pattern. Especially for international calls made to countries located in Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East. However, there were exceptions so callers should check the countries they wish to call before making any conclusions. Some popular locations where the rates charged on international calls to mobile phones are significantly higher than they are to landlines: Brazil, France, Italy, Mexico and the UK. For example, a call to a mobile phone in Italy from the USA costs 14.7 cents per-minute while a call to a land-line costs 1.8 cents per-minute.

• In some cases, the rate charged on calls to mobile phones were the same as those charged to landlines. Many of these locations were in Asia but there were many exceptions. We discovered the following popular destinations: Bermuda, China, India and Thailand.

• We also found cases where international calls to mobile phones where cheaper than calls to landlines. This is true on calls to the following popular destinations: Cuba, Egypt, Hong Kong, Singapore, Syria and Uzbekistan. In most cases, the difference in cost is small. For example, the rate charged for an international call to a mobile phone in Egypt is 9.4 cents per-minute while the charge for the same call to a land-line is 9.8 cents.

International callers should shop around for the best deal when deciding on a product to use for making cheap international calls. They should recognize that rates can vary significantly between countries and the type of phone they wish to call. It may be prudent to use one product for making calls to cell phones and another product to make calls to landlines. There are a wide selection of phone cards and other prepaid calling products to choose from so most callers can find substantial savings by shopping for the product that best fits their needs.

Tel3Advantage offers some of the cheapest rates on international calls to Costa Rica. The rate is only 2.8 cents per-minute for the first 30 days if a new customer signs up under the Tel3Advantage Triple Promo. This rate includes all fees and taxes. The same low rate applies to calls to cell phones or land-lines and there are no restrictions. In addition, new customers get up to 321 Free Minutes as a bonus when they open a new account.

Tel3Advantage prepaid long distance is also a safe option since it offers one of the most popular international calling plans in North America. They have been in business for over 15 years and have more than 100,000 active customers. The also have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. It can be used to make cheap long distance (domestic or international) from any phone in Canada or the USA without changing phone companies. It is simple to use since there is no need to dial account numbers or PIN codes when making a call. There are no long term contracts or maintenance fees. Simply use the service as much or as little as you like and only pay for the minutes used. Tel3Advatage also provides customers with a free on-line account where they can make changes to their account and monitor account activity. Up to 10 phones can be linked to one account so the same account can be used with your home, cell or business phones.

Tel3Advantage offers the lowest rates to Costa Rica and other popular destinations.

If you make international calls to China from the USA or Canada than this may be of interest to you. Tel3Advantage announced recently that they have lowered their rates for international calls to China from North America from 1.7 to 1.32 cents-per-minute. This rate includes all fees and taxes if the caller uses a local access number when placing the call. A 1 cent-per-minute surcharge is added if the caller uses the Tel3Advantage toll free access number to make the call. It is not hard to avoid the surcharge since Tel3 has a wide network of local access numbers. Calls can be made from any kind of telephone, including mobile phones and hotel or business phones. Tel3Advantage now has the lowest rates on international calls to China from North America.

It is possible to get a lower rate on international calls for the first 30 days if a new customer opens an account using the Tel3Advantage Triple Promo offer. The rate on calls to China for the first 30 days using this offer is only 1 cent-per-minute and the new customer can also get up to 900 free minutes as a sign-up bonus. Visit Tel3Advantage Triple Promo for details or call 800 441 0321.

A phone card purchase represents prepaid long distance phone time. It is paid in advance and can be used over a period of time. It can be used to make one phone call or it can be used to make multiple calls to more than one destination. Each phone card has a unique number or PIN code so a computer can track the usage and deduct the charge for each call from the starting value or “face value” of the phone card. Some phone cards expire if not used by a certain period of time while other phone cards have no expiration date.

A Phone Card is used by dialing a special phone number which is referred to as an access number. Some phone cards have one access number and others have multiple numbers. Access numbers can be local or they can be toll free. In any case, a phone card is used by dialing an access number and following the prompts in order to place a call. In some cases, one of the prompts will request the user to enter a PIN code to identify the phone card being used. Some phone cards do not require the user to enter a PIN code. These PIN-Free phone cards require the user to register the phone number or numbers where they plan to make calls from and the computer can track their usage with caller ID technology. PIN-Free phone cards a much easier to use since the caller does not need to enter a special code whenever they want to place a call. PIN-Free dialing is a common feature found with high quality virtual phone cards that are purchased from on-line merchants.

Phone cards are purchased in denominations that range from $2 to $100 or more. It is usually best to purchase the smallest denomination first and try using the card before making a large purchase. Prepaid phone cards can be purchased from newsstands, convenience stores, retail stores and from INTERNET merchants. Since prepaid phone cards can have a variety of added costs and hidden fees it is best to study the details and fine print of a phone card before making a purchase. Some phone cards also have limited usage. For example, they can only be used to make domestic long distance calls or to make international long distance calls to specific countries. Be sure to understand the limits of a phone card before making a purchase.

On-line phone cards can typically be purchased using a major credit card or Pay Pal account. Many on-line phone card merchants provide buyers with a user account where the details of the users phone cards are stored. This can be a handy feature for people who make frequent calls and want to track usage. Virtual phone cards like Tel3Advantage come with a variety of features including on-line account management, PIN Free Dialing, call history and speed dial which makes the product very convenient to use.

Many people find prepaid phone cards to be a convenient, money saving product. Prepaid phone cards are convenient since they can be used to make calls from any kind of telephone. They can also save consumers money since the rates are typically cheaper than those offered by phone companies and, since payment is made in advance, they can be used to budget and control phone expense. Phone cards are typically used by people who regularly call overseas, travelers, students and those who do not have regular long-distance phone service.