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As many professional people now work from the home the aim to create a business environment that is both comfortable and attractive as well as functional and practical is very important.

If you are budget conscious then you can create a professional environment in which to work and receive your clients quite easily but if you want something a bit more extravagent, as pictured left, then get yourself a furniture catalog from Boyles of North Carolina.

They have a range of discount furniture as well - for those budget minded people - as well as top of the range pricier fittings. And their furnishings are not just for the office, you can create a very stylish home environment as well.

Popularity: 4% [?]

If you are planning to take a trip abroad this year and plan to make use of your American credit card do not be surprised if you are handed a bill in US dollars rather than the currency of the country you are in.  This practice is known as dynamic currency conversion (DCC) and is a practice becoming widespread around the world.

On the surface it will seem convenient and simple enough; you will know what you are spending and being charged in your own familiar currency but there is a catch. If you agree to that pre-converted bill you just may well be up for paying higher exhange rates plus credit card fees.

In using DCC the companies take a competitive exchange rate but you will find that they are higher than the interbank exchange rates. DCC is more widely used by firms such as car rental agencies, hotels and high profile department stores such as Harrods. The difference in the rates is due to a cut carried by DCC for the processing bank and the merchant. This is proving to be a goldmine for the merchants of course.

Since April 2005, Visa added a one percent International Service Assessment for all US dollar transactions outside the USA regardless of the currency in which the charge was made. Whether or not the charge gets passed onto you, the customer, is ultimately up to the bank.

One way around this is to demand your bill be issued in local currency - if you are presented with a pre-converted bill ask for it to be converted back to the local currency. You are well within your rights to demand this; if the merchant tries to pressure you into accepting the pre-converted bill ask for a manager as it is against their merchant agreement to refuse this request.

Check the rate:

Should you wish to pay in US dollars when you are presented with the local price ask for the conversion rate and the final price in your US currency.

Check with the bank:

Compare cards; ask your bank what their charges are for foreign transactions - not all banks pass the charges onto their customers.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I think it would have to be the most annoying aspect of this form of technology, as much as cell phones have revolutionised our working lives it is really useless when in the middle of an important call the signal fades and you lose contact.

 There is also another point; all emergency vehicles use cell phones now - as well as marine vessels - so a reliable, uninterrupted reception is vital in these cases. Have a look at Powerful Signal and their range of cell phone amplifiers - they work with any carrier or vehicle in the United States and they also have a site covering the United Kingdom.

Popularity: 9% [?]