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Cigar Shop - A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco, one end of which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the smoker’s mouth through the other end.
The English word cigar is from the Spanish word cigarro, which in turn derives from the Mayan word for tobacco, siyar. (See entry at the Spanish Royal Academy’s online dictionary.
Cigars are composed of three types of tobacco leaves, whose variations determine smoking and flavor characteristics:

Wrappers
A cigar’s outermost leaves, or wrapper, come from the widest part of the plant. The wrapper determines much of the cigar’s character and flavor, and as such its color is often used to describe the cigar as a whole. Colors are designated as follows, from lightest to darkest:
Double Claro – very light, slightly greenish (also called Candela, American Market Selection or jade); achieved by picking leaves before maturity and drying quickly; often grown in Connecticut

Claro – light tan or yellowish. Indicative of shade-grown tobacco.
Natural – light brown to brown; generally sun-grown.
Colorado Claro – mid-brown; particularly associated with tobacco grown in the Dominican Republic or in Cuba
Colorado – reddish-brown (also called Rosado)
Colorado Maduro – dark brown; particularly associated with Honduras or Cuba-grown tobacco
Maduro – dark brown to very dark brown
Oscuro – a.k.a. “Double Maduro”, black, often oily in appearance; tend to be grown in Cuba, Nicaragua, Brazil, Mexico, or Connecticut
Some manufacturers use an alternate designation:
American Market Selection (AMS) – synonymous with Double Claro
English Market Selection (EMS) – can refer to any color stronger than Double Claro but milder than Maduro
Spanish Market Selection (SMS) – either of the two darkest colors, Maduro and Oscuro

It is often thought, mistakenly, that the darker the wrapper, the fuller the flavor. In fact it is the blend of the filler which dictates the flavour. If anything, dark wrappers add a touch of sweetness and light ones a hint of dryness to the taste.

Fillers
The majority of a cigar is made up of fillers, wrapped-up bunches of leaves in its interior. Fillers of various strengths are usually blended to produce unique cigar flavors. The more oils present in the tobacco leaf, the stronger (less dry) the filler. Types range from the minimally-flavored Volado taken from the bottom of the plant, through the light-flavored (dry) Seco taken from the middle of the plant, and on to the strong Ligero from the upper leaves exposed to the most sunlight. Large-gauge cigars have a greater capacity to contain filler, and thus have greater potential to provide a full body and/or complex flavor. When used, Ligero is always folded into the middle of the filler because it burns slowly.
Fillers can be either long or short; long filler uses whole leaves and is of a better quality, while short filler, also called “mixed,” uses chopped up leaves as well as stems and other bits. Recently some manufacturers have created what they term “medium filler” cigars. They do not use whole leaves but part of the leaves. The quality is usually much better than short filler cigars because the leaves are not chopped up and there are no stems and bits in the filler. Short filler cigars are easy to identify when smoked since they often burn hotter and the smoker will be spitting out bits and pieces from the smoking end. Long filled cigars of high quality should burn evenly and consistently. Also available is a filler called “Sandwich” (sometimes “Cuban Sandwich”) which is a method of rolling a cigar using both long and short filler and using long outer leaf to sandwich the short in between.

Binders
Binders are elastic leaves used to hold together the bunches of fillers.

Cigars are commonly categorized by the size and shape of the cigar, which together are known as a vitola.
The size of a cigar is measured by two dimensions: its ring gauge (its diameter in sixty-fourths of an inch) and its length (in inches). For example, most non-Cuban robustos have a ring gauge of approximately 50 and a length of approximately 5 inches. Robustos which are of Cuban origin always have a ring gauge of 50 and a length of 4 7/8 inches.[citation needed]

See also Factory Name.
The most common shape is the parejo, which has a cylindrical body, straight sides, one end open, and a round cap on the other end which is either snipped off, sliced perpendicularly (a V-cut), or punched through before smoking.
Parejos are designated by the following terms:

Coronas
Rothschilds (4 1/2″ x 50) after the Rothschild family
Robusto (4 7/8″ x 50)
Hermosos No. 4 (5″ x 48)
Mareva/Petit Corona (5 1/8″ x 42)
Corona (5 1/2″ x 42)
Corona Gorda (5 5/8″ x 46)
Toro (6″ x 50)
Corona Grande (6 1/8″ x 42)
Cervantes/Lonsdale (6 1/2″ x 42), named for Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale
Dalia (6 3/4″ x 43)
Julieta, also known as Churchill (7″ x 47), named for Winston Churchill
Prominente/Double Corona (7 5/8″ x 49)
Presidente (8″ x 50)
Gran Corona (”A”) (9 1/4″ x 47)
Panatelas – longer and generally thinner than Coronas
Small Panatela (5″ x 33)
Carlota (5 5/8″ x 35)
Short Panatela (5″ x 38)
Slim Panatela (6″ x 34)
Panatela (6″ x 38)
Deliciados/Laguito No. 1 (7 1/4″ x 38)

Irregularly-shaped cigars are known as figurados and are sometimes considered of higher quality because they are more difficult to make.
Historically, especially during the 19th century, figurados were the most popular shapes, however, by the 1930s, they had fallen out of fashion and all but disappeared. They have, however, recently received a small resurgence in popularity, and there are currently many brands(manufacturers) that produce figurados alongside the simpler parejos. The Cuban cigar brand Cuaba only has figurados in their range.

Figurados include the following:
Torpedo - Like a parejo except that the cap is pointed.
Pyramid - Has a broad foot and evenly narrows to a pointed cap.
Perfecto - Narrow at both ends and bulged in the middle.
Presidente/Diadema - shaped like a parejo but considered a figurado because of its enormous size and occasional closed foot akin to a perfecto.
Culebras - Three long, pointed cigars braided together.
Tuscanian - The typical Italian cigar, created in the early nineteenth century when Kentucky tobacco was hybridized with local varieties and used to create a long, tough, slim cigar thicker in the middle and tapered at the ends, with a very strong aroma. It is also known as a cheroot, which is the largest selling cigar shape in the United States.
Arturo Fuente, a large cigar manufacturer based in the Dominican Republic, has also manufactured figurados in exotic shapes ranging from chili peppers to baseball bats and American footballs. They are highly collectible and extremely expensive, when publicly available. In practice, the terms Torpedo and Pyramid are often used interchangeably, even among very knowledgeable cigar smokers. Min Ron Nee, the Hong Kong-based cigar expert whose work “An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars” is considered to be the definitive work on cigars and cigar terms, defines Torpedo as “cigar slang.” Nee thinks the majority is right (because slang is defined by majority usage) and torpedoes are pyramids by another name, saying:
In the old days, torpedo could mean a perfecto or a pyramid shape cigar. After the Cuban Revolution the meaning leans toward the pyramid rather than the perfecto. Some cigar authorities insist that the correct meaning of a torpedo should be referring to a perfecto and not a pyramid. The majority of people who use torpedo to mean pyramid have got it wrong. I find it rather funny that a slang word can be incorrectly misunderstood by the majority.

Virtually all cigar aficionados enjoy the practice because of the rich and varied flavours one observes when smoking, although some eschew the connoisseurial qualities in favour of other factors. For those drawn by taste, each brand and type of cigar carries different qualities of taste. The wrapper does not, as is commonly thought, dictate the flavour of the cigar. However, darker wrappers tend to produce a sweetness, while lighter wrappers usually have a drier taste to them. Flavours of cigars whether mild, medium, or full bodied are not indicators of quality. Like all kinds of flavors they are highly personal.
Unlike cigarettes, cigars taste very little of smoke, and usually very much of tobacco with nuances of other tastes. Some cigar enthusiasts use a vocabulary similar to that of wine-tasters to describe the overtones and undertones observed while smoking a cigar. A fine cigar can have virtually no taste of smoke whatsoever.
Some of the more common flavours one observes while smoking a cigar include:

Spice
Cocoa / chocolate
Peat / moss / earth
Coffee
Nut
Wood
Berry
Honey
Many different things affect the scent of cigar smoke: quality of the cigar, added flavours, tobacco type, cigar age, cigar humidity, production method (handmade vs. machine-made) and more.
cigar shop has the best comparison shopping information on Cigars and cheap cigarettes. The most current and reliable information about cigars store that is free and available to all cigar smokers. The latest news about discount cigars and answers to many cigar questions. Cigar reviews, recommendations and guides for helping new cigar smokers select, purchase, and enjoy cigars. Free advice about cuban cigars, cigar humidors, cutters, accessories and more.

By James Milis : http://cigar.cigarrettes-online.com

F1 Greatest Drivers

F1 Greatest Drivers

Its hard to decide who was the F1 greatest drivers because the era of their dominance doesn’t coincide with all the other F1 greats. However we can say that F1 greats have to prove themselves to earn that title. Whether getting the most win of his career, poles, wet weather prowes or just transcending the limits of your car. These are the traits and characteristic that F1 greats should possess. So who are the greats? Well these drivers were certainly the best drivers when they were racing:

Michael Schumacher: He owns all the records in the book and by far the favourite of the new generation of formula one drivers. His F1 career started with Jordan team which was a backmarker. Nevertheless he quickly moved to Benneton and started to rack up some podium finishes and victories.

In 1993 he proved to the critics that he is well match for Ayrton Senna in some races, and ended up third in the drivers title in the end of the season. The following season he won the championship albeit with a controversy, (Schumacher ramming Hill’s Williams) then 1995 he dominated completely with the Renault supplying the engines for Benneton. Despite his 2 world titles, he decided that he wants try this taste of success with another team. So he quickly moved to Ferrari which at the time was in doldrums; moreover, It took 4 years of wait to get another world championship. Finally in 2000 - 2004 he and his Ferrari team decimated the competition. Schumachers success came from his own motivation, intelligence, work ethic, dedication and determination. These qualities propelled him to win races more than any F1 drivers in the history.

Juan Manuel Fangio: Highly regarded as the maestro, a truly fitting name for a man with such a great talent. Unlike the new generation of Formula 1 cars these days that have traction control, launch control, carbon fiber monocoque and ground shattering down force. In the olden days it was extremely difficult and dangerous to race because Formula 1 cars were not safe at all and it drives like a truck. Fangio was at his best when he was at his forties, defying his aging body and just racing to the fullest is something worth applauding. The most memorable race was at Nurburgring in 1957 in his Maserati. His mechanics ruined his pit stop, and he was a full minute behind the leaders when he emerged from the pits. Victory looked slim but his subsequently fast lap times utterly demolish the gap and by the time he finished, he was ahead of the race leader. This epic victory is just a exemplification of his talent and bravery. This race led him to attain his fifth and final title which was a spectacular way to end a illustrious career.

Alain Prost: Prost nicknamed, ” the professor” because of his way of driving. On normal circumstances he will drive conservatively and rather carefully. Yet, his style of driving didn’t diminish his greatness, moreover, he was also fast in race day. Only Prost’s genuine pace and mind power can match the menacing Senna. Prost won world championship titles in 1985 and 1986, 1989, 1993 but these titles didn’t come to him by luck. He had to fight the best racing drivers at the time. Drivers such as: Niki Lauda, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, and Senna whom he had the most feud with. Only Schumacher and Fangio won more titles than Prost yet, this does not justify the fact that he is not as good as Schumacher. Because Prost always had someone capable of depriving him for the world title.

Ayrton Senna: Some say that he is the greatest driver of all time, but that’s just an opinion. Senna was bestowed with an incredible amount of talent and charisma. Even in his first season in Formula 1 he was already proving to be more competitive than any of the backmarkers. For instance in 1984 driving for Toleman in Monaco Grand Prix, it was a nightmare for most of the drivers because of the torrential downpour. The rain didnt affect Senna at all, this actual gave him a chance to prove even in a inferior car, he can score points. The next season with Lotus, he proved that he was the talent worth to be reckoned. Having poles in most occasion and in some races, winning it. He was arguably the fastest man in one lap stint. He had such an incredible amount of precision coupled with an astounding speed and control. The prodigy drives the car as if it was his own body connected to the car itself. His one lap supremacy was vindicated when he amassed an 65 pole position in 162 Grand Prix. He also was the supreme master of wet weather racing. He won many races in the raining condition; furtheremore, the most notable display of his wet weather driving prowess was in 1993 European GP at Donnington. He could only muster 5th place on the grid due to his cars limitations. The Williams and the Bennetons had more horsepower than Senna’s Mclaren. Depites this defiency, he defied the cars limitation and transcended its cababilities. He won that race with grace and undeniably the greatest drive of his career.

These were the drivers worthy to be called the greats and also for future Formula 1 drivers to emulate.

Jacobson has a wealth of knowledge about automobiles and also a f1 fanatic. He partakes in many auto crossing and tracks days; furthermore, he is a medical assistant at a large hospital firm. His passion for racing was magnified throughout the years and hoping to make it out in professional level. In the mean time medicine pays and racing is still a hobby.

By Mack Jacobson

Online Business On A Shoestring

Online Business On A Shoestring

If you want to start an online business but you have very little capital to invest up front, then there are several options available to you. This article looks at online businesses you can start on a tight budget or with no investment.

1. Set Up Your Own Web Site
It is not so expensive to set up your own online publication in the form of a web site. In fact you can now obtain good web hosting packages for as low as five dollars per month. Set up a regular web site or, if you prefer, you could position it more as an ezine or a blog.
The key is to build a popular publication with a regular following of readers. Then all you need to do is learn to turn that traffic into revenue through advertising, subscriptions, and sales of your own products and services.

2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate programs are one of the most popular ways for companies to market their products and services online. A company offers a product or service. As an affiliate you sign up to promote the product. Your task is to send a stream of visitors to the company’s web site. You do this using a customized link that allows the company to identify which affiliate referred the visitor. Whenever a visitor sent by you buys a product, you earn a commission.
Many affiliates promote affiliate products by placing advertisements at pay-per-click search engines. However, if you are on a tight budget you can use other methods such as promoting them on your own web pages or writing articles relating to the product. If you do not yet have your own web site, get one for a few dollars per month or set up a free blog at Blogger.com.

3. Article Marketing
On the Internet good content is always hard to come by. For this reason one of the best free online business opportunities is to write articles that webmasters can use on their web sites, in return for showing an “About the Author” resource box at the end of the article. That paragraph about the author includes a live link to the author’s web site.
That resource box can be used to build your own business without costing you anything. You can use it to rapidly build traffic to your new web site, or you can funnel article traffic to landing pages that promote popular affiliate products.

4. Freelance Writing
If you don’t want to have your own web site or online publication, you can still start an online business, for example as a freelance writer. Freelance writers are paid to write many types of documents, from articles for magazines and newspapers through to business sales letters, instruction manuals and even greeting cards.
These are a few ideas for starting an online business on a shoestring. There are many more ways to work on the Internet and they are not all expensive to get started.

Daniel Moro has been successfully building online businesses for ten years. Download your free report, ‘10 Remarkably Effective Traffic Building Techniques’ today at http://www.DanielMoro.com

By Daniel Moro

Download Free PC Satellite TV Software

Download Free PC Satellite TV Software

Did you know that you can watch free PC satellite TV without buying any additional components ? No need for a TV tuner card. No extra hardware requirements just download free PC satellite TV.
There are all kinds of websites on the internet that offer you streaming video day and night. Sites like YouTube or Google Video offer you plenty of entertainment value for free and movie distributors also like to distribute their trailers. But when you download free PC satellite TV software you suddenly have a whole lot more options.

All it takes is for you to download a small piece of software and you can watch more than 3000 different satellite channels from around the world, all from the comfort of your PC.
There’s no need to pay hundreds of dollars every month so that you can enjoy satellite TV. Some company’s can charge a small one time fee that allows you to then download free PC Satellite TV software. Okay it’s not quite free that way but it’s darn close and it sure a lot cheaper than any other options you have.

Before you download free PC Satellite TV you might want to consider upgrading your internet connection to cable or DSL because watching television on your computer requires high bandwidth for god viewing. If you’d rather watch your television shows on a larger screen just use an S-video cable to connect your computer and TV.
So if you want to download free PC satellite TV to your computer you are not alone. Who wants to pay those ridiculously expensive satellite bills when there is no need?

There are some television networks that are very unhappy with the ability to download free PC satellite TV because it’s really cutting into their profits and there is nothing they can do. The loophole being used is legal. It may not always be that way but it is right now, so why not take advantage of it.
You can put yourself through a lot of hassle by investing in that big satellite dish and receiver, installing it, setting it up, and going through the programming and whatever else you need. But in just a few minutes you can download free PC satellite TV software to your computer and be watching your favorite shows in just minutes. The software will do all the work for you.

Still not sure what the advantages are if you download free PC satellite TV software ? Here’s a quick list.
You get to choose from hundreds of television channels from countries around the world including Australia, Canada, US, and Italy.
You can enjoy all the sports and movies you want, giving your with over 3000 channels to choose from.

You get all of this from the comfort of your own living room with no fees to pay.
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Isn’t it time you tried to download free PC satellite TV software and see what it really has to offer?

By Morten Hansen

About The Author
Morten Hansen has been working with Satellite TV for several years and is mainly writing about subjects, that make it easier to use Satellite TV. For more details about Satellite TV visit our website www.SatelliteTvTips4you.com

Direct TV Satellite Internet

Direct TV Satellite Internet

The way we watch television was redefined by satellite cable, and the way we connect to the world wide web has been changed by Direct TV satellite internet system.
Now you have a lot more viewing options. Now you have hundreds of channels which include movies, sports shows, general programming, sitcoms, variety shows, parenting shows, cooking shows, and crafts shows from around the globe. And let’s not forget about the Direct TV satellite internet service.

Not so long ago we were content with our local cable service but it’s a changing world, and those who sign up for Direct TV satellite internet service and television never regret the decision. In fact it’s providing high-speed internet to those who would never have it other wise.
When you sign up for Direct TV satellite internet service and satellite cable, you will get a satellite dish antenna and a transceiver. If you are already a cable subscriber and you just want to add the internet, you will not need a new dish, just ask Direct TV to active your Internet account. You may need to pay an additional fee.

Today’s internet speeds vary from 50 to 150 Kbps to upload material and 1200 Kbps, to download. Even though these speeds vary greatly, most internet users only download material so you probably won’t notice it.
Direct TV satellite internet service is expensive but it is also a reliable, way that people in rural areas can get a high-speed Internet connection. In fact this is the type of internet connection that is used in the Antarctic research missions. The scientists in these regions use satellite technology to beam information to the home labs. Without this Satellite network, these scientists would have no contact with the outside world.

Direct TV satellite internet service users report a bandwidth from 10 to 15 Kbps at worst with the Average speed being around 100, and the fastest speed reaching 50 KB for ordinary files. You can get these higher speeds if there are fewer people online.
The science behind Direct TV satellite internet service is fascinating. Each time we use it, the information makes two round trips between the earth’s surface and transponders, which are orbiting 22,300 miles above the equator. The data travels at an incredible 0.48 second.

However, weather issues like major storms can affect the signal. You may also get spotty connections and transmissions if a solar flare is occurring. It is most common in mid-March and late September, when the sun and the satellite are in alignment, for a few minutes each day.
Satellites don’t just circle the planet, they are changing the face pf the world that we live in. The technology is being used a round the world by many people. It allows for the sharing of information.
Satellites are creating a global village where websites are easily accessible developing our next-door neighbor image online from sometimes thousands of miles away. Now that’s certainly a dish worth raving about! Are you ready for your Direct TV satellite internet service ?

By Morten Hansen

About The Author
Morten Hansen has been working with Satellite TV for several years and is mainly writing about subjects, that make it easier to use Satellite TV. For more details about Satellite TV visit our website www.SatelliteTvTips4you.com