http://www.ossweb.com Writing, editing, photography, technology, and Web development for small businesspeople Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:16:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en On March 4, 2005, we were overjoyed to welcome our second beautiful son, Joshua, into our family. Around the time of Joshua's first birthday, however, we started to notice elements of his development which caused us some concern. He was not speaking, and was not responding to us ... http://www.ossweb.com/autism-places-joshua-bontrager-in-harms-way.html What choices do parents have when they discover their child is autistic? That the child can't communicate well with anyone, that socially the child is in another world, and that this beautiful child has no understanding of words like "safety," "home," "name," etc? And that for parents, the words "sleep" ... http://www.ossweb.com/help-bianca-merino-find-the-key-to-taming-her-autism.html No offense to cat lovers out there, but this Sagamore Hills, OH family has a need only a furry canine can fulfill, and they need your help. Beth and Rich Polk of Sagamore Hills are raising funds on behalf of 4 Paws For Ability, a non-profit organization out of ... http://www.ossweb.com/sagamore-hills-family-seeks-four-legged-solution.html January 24, 2010  Excerpted from CargoNews Issue 110 with permission of Air New Zealand, Los Angeles LAX Cargo had the rare privilege to assist a most worthy cause, the transportation of 4 trained dogs for 4 Paws for Ability to Auckland on NZ01/24 Jan, 2010. Executive Director Karen Shirk started 4 Paws ... http://www.ossweb.com/air-new-zealand-provides-free-transportation-for-four-autism-service-dogs-destined-for-new-zealand.html Have you ever applied for a Web site award, and come across the term White Space? Some people think it's a NASA program, an degenerative eye condition, or the result of taking a hallucinogen. According to design experts like Grant Crowell, white space is the open space between design elements, and ... http://www.ossweb.com/whats-with-white-space.html Have you often wished for a bigger budget for promotional items and gifts? You're in the same situation as many small business owners, but that doesn't mean you can't say "thank you" in many imaginative, inexpensive ways. Your tokens of appreciation don't need to be lavish. And clients don't expect ... http://www.ossweb.com/how-to-express-gratitude.html Guest post by Charles H. Baughman, MD Colorectal cancer can affect anyone - men or women alike - and your risk increases as you age. But some people are at greater risk for the disease. · People with a personal or family history of benign colorectal polyps. · People with a personal ... http://www.ossweb.com/are-you-at-risk-for-colorectal-cancer.html Have you ever written a report or business letter and felt something was missing, but you couldn't figure it out? It might be that you didn't think to express parallel thoughts in parallel form. Parallelism is very helpful when you're creating documents that have items bulleted and numbered. It helps the ... http://www.ossweb.com/whats-so-great-about-parallel-structure-in-writing.html Which to use? Due to or Because of? Here are a few tips to keep you aligned with the latest style guides. Due to modifies nouns and is generally used after some form of the verb to be (is, are, was, were, etc.). Jan's success is due to talent and spunk ... http://www.ossweb.com/due-to-vs-because-of.html In a quandary about how to abbreviate days of the week and months? Welcome to the twenty-first century! Let's take three excellent style guides and see what they offer. THE GREGG REFERENCE MANUAL, NINTH EDITION says, "Do not abbreviate days of the week and months of the year except in ... http://www.ossweb.com/how-to-abbreviate-days-of-the-week-and-months.html