There are so many debt settlement firms advertising their services that we assume their promises are true. Sadly, when they promise to eliminate credit card debt, they deliver little or nothing for the money they have collected from already stretched consumers.

Debt settlement Firms charge too much for their services for the average consumer debtor to be able to afford to pay off a reduced-balance credit card debt before it charges off and is sold. They want $1800-2400 to settle $12,000 of debt. And they want to be paid first! They advise you to stop making credit card payments and to pay them instead, saving money in their account for an eventual settlement. Debt settlement firms do not deliver what they promise, according to MSNBC. Some banks will not even work with debt settlement firms, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Most credit card banks write off, or charge off, bad credit card debt six months after non-payment commences. In that time, indebted consumers cannot save a thousand dollars a month or more to quickly develop a lump sum for a reduced settlement payment. Hence they are faced with seven-year negative marks on their credit reports, as well as collections and possible lawsuits, a far cry from the elimination of their credit card debt.

Junk debt buyers buy bad debt from credit card banks in large chunks for 10 cents on the dollar. If a consumer has continued paying into a debt settlement program, by the time there is money for a reduced settlement, the original creditor no longer owns the debt. Then it is time to use consumer protection laws like the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to fend off these parasites, according to the Credit Card Debt Survival Guide. If the consumer is unwise enough to settle with the junk debt buyer, the debt buyer will simply sell the unpaid balance to another junk debt buyer who will resume collection efforts. When it is all said and done, DIY-do-it-yourself is the way to settle credit card debt for reduced lump sums. That way the consumer has control of the situation and their best chance to Eliminate credit card debt .

Photo Credit: Wonderlane

Here is a variety of free online videos on SharePoint for Developers.

You must click on the following website to see a library of videos:SharePoint Videos

Microsoft SharePoint Is also called Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies. SharePoint is truly a name for a grouping of products that includes:

• Search modules and a document-management platform
• Web browser based collaboration functions
• Process management modules

SharePoint can be used to host web sites that access:

• Shared workspaces
• Host defined applications such as wikis and blogs
• Information stores
• Documents

All users can manipulate or interact with:

• Document libraries
• Web parts
• Lists

Background:

Photo Credit: David_terrar

The term “SharePoint” can collectively refer to a number of products ranging from the base platform to assorted services. The platform is Windows SharePoint Services (WSS), which is included with Windows Server and available as a free download for those with Windows Server licenses. (Vista users can use a helper application from Bamboo Nation to allow them to run SharePoint without having to have Windows Server installed.) Services such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) provide additional functionality and features and are licensed accordingly.

SharePoint Suite of Products:

SharePoint includes the following divisions:

• Search Server 2008
• Forms Server 2007
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 MOSS Standard
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 MOSS Enterprise
• Microsoft Office Groove Server 2007
• Microsoft Office Project Server 2007
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer
• Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (WSS)
• Search Server 2008 Express

SharePoint is not just a single use solution that replaces a full file server. Too the contrary, SharePoint delivers many solutions and each person is free to choose which ones to implement. Microsoft markets these vectors as Collaboration, Processes, and People.

The SharePoint user interface is a web interface accessed through a browser. While all browsers are supported, only Internet Explorer is fully integrated and able to utilize the full functionality of a SharePoint Solution.

SharePoint sites are functionally ASP.NET 2.0 web applications, which are served using IIS and use a SQL Server database as a data storage back end. All site content data, such as items in document libraries and lists, are stored within an SQL database named by default as “WSS_Content_ID”.

Microsoft Search Server:

Microsoft Search Server (MSS) is an enterprise search platform from Microsoft. It builds on the search capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. MSS shares its architectural underpinnings with the Windows Search platform for both the querying engine as well as the indexer. MOSS search provides the ability to search metadata attached to documents.

Microsoft has made Microsoft Search Server available as Search Server 2008, published March 2008. There is a free variant available. It is called Search Server 2008. The exprss edition is limited to a stand-alone installation and cannot be scaled out to a cluster.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer:

Administrators can customize SharePoint sites using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer. It is a free WYSIWYG HTML Editor that replaces Microsoft FrontPage.

More Resources:

• Windows SharePoint Services
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• SharePoint Team blog
• Microsoft Momentum: Midsize Business Center Newsletter
• White Paper describes how different versions of Office work with Sharepoint