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MP3 players are pocket-sized electronic devices that have the ability to not only store, but play music and other sound files.
Although MP3 players are sophisticated devices and there are of many types, they can be placed into one of three broad categories. These categories include hard drive based players, micro hard drive based players, and flash based players.
Hard drive based MP3 players are typically larger and heavier than their competitors due to the fact that they contain a large capacity hard drive inside.
This however, may be one of it’s only weaknesses. These MP3 players provide the largest capacity, ten gigabytes or more, out of the different types of MP3 players.
Due to the fact that ten gigabytes equates to roughly 2,900 MP3 files, most consumers buy these players because they accommodate their entire MP3 collection.
Micro hard drive based MP3 players are similar to their big brothers, the hard drive based players, except that they are a bit smaller, both in physical size and internal storage capacity.
These MP3 players hold up to six gigabytes of MP3 files, which equals roughly 1,700 songs. Still boasting a respectable capacity, these players have won over many consumers due to their light-weight, compact size.
Additionally, both hard drive and micro hard drive based players commonly contain rechargeable batteries that can not be replaced for a new battery, but only recharged.
If it’s small size and moderate capacity that you are in search of this type of player may be just right.
Flash based MP3 players are ultra compact, low capacity players contain no moving parts and consequently, never skip.
Another advantage of these players is that their size and lack of moving parts allow them to use minimal power, causing your batteries to last longer.
Also, these players almost always use replaceable, disposable batteries, allowing you to put in a new battery if your player should die in the middle of use.
However, flash based MP3 players commonly range in capacity from 32 megabytes (roughly 10 songs) to two gigabytes (roughly 570 songs) at most.
Therefore, most consumers with a large music collection tend to shy away from this type of MP3 player while athletes can appreciate the sturdy nature of these devices.
Some of the different types of MP3 players include additional features as well. A few of the hard drive players include a small screen that can display pictures and video that are stored on the internal drive. Other players allow for digital voice recording for future playback.
Showing posts with label Video Conferencing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video Conferencing. Show all posts
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Buying a laptop that you can use as a personal assistant
Don’t be surprised but buying a laptop can be even harder than buying a desktop computer. In fact, buying a computer is very straightforward. Laptops, however, are very personal stuff because it’s something that you will carry around with you and sometimes act as more than just a computer for you to work on. They become a companion! That’s why finding and selecting the right laptop can be very tricky.
Hard core computer gamers or people who will use their laptops for designing or video production may need more help than just reading about buying laptops. For conventional laptop users, here’s something for you to digest.
The price for laptops varies drastically from brand to brand. Some laptops can cost $500 while some laptops can cost you $6,000. Some entry-level (meaning basic laptops) can be bought for between $600 and $900. If you grab a laptop off eBay or other rebate or dropshipping websites, you might get a mid-range laptop for far less than that.
Even for basic laptop users, the description and specifications for the laptop is very, very important. If you’re not sure, check around and ask your friends for advice on how to buy a good laptop for the lowest price possible. You should be getting a laptop that comes with AT LEAST 512 megabytes of memory. The size of the memory ensures that your laptop can run multiple programs smoothly. As for hard drive, invest in as big a hard drive for your laptop as you can afford. Another thing that you may have to look out before you invest in the laptop is to find out how many USB ports that the laptop has. Most laptops come with at least 2 USB ports, the more the better. If you use a camera or thumb drive (disk key), this is where you insert the cable – the USB ports. You don’t want to have to remove the USB cable for your printer and mouse every time you try to save pictures from your camera to your laptop! Some laptops come with slots for camera memory cards, for instance, your compact flash cards.
If you’re keen on getting a Windows based laptop, the security of your laptop should be at the top of your priority lists. Windows SP2 XP should be ideal because it comes with antispam, antispyware, antipopups and antivirus programs. Some laptop retailers may offer you cheap or free programs that you can install into the laptop as a second layer protection to your laptop.
Other factors to take into account when shopping for laptops are the screen size, the life of the battery, the processor of the laptop, screen and keyboard, wi-fi networking, size and weight of the laptop.
Dakota Caudilla, journalist, and website builder Dakota Caudilla lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.laptop-source.net on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.
Hard core computer gamers or people who will use their laptops for designing or video production may need more help than just reading about buying laptops. For conventional laptop users, here’s something for you to digest.
The price for laptops varies drastically from brand to brand. Some laptops can cost $500 while some laptops can cost you $6,000. Some entry-level (meaning basic laptops) can be bought for between $600 and $900. If you grab a laptop off eBay or other rebate or dropshipping websites, you might get a mid-range laptop for far less than that.
Even for basic laptop users, the description and specifications for the laptop is very, very important. If you’re not sure, check around and ask your friends for advice on how to buy a good laptop for the lowest price possible. You should be getting a laptop that comes with AT LEAST 512 megabytes of memory. The size of the memory ensures that your laptop can run multiple programs smoothly. As for hard drive, invest in as big a hard drive for your laptop as you can afford. Another thing that you may have to look out before you invest in the laptop is to find out how many USB ports that the laptop has. Most laptops come with at least 2 USB ports, the more the better. If you use a camera or thumb drive (disk key), this is where you insert the cable – the USB ports. You don’t want to have to remove the USB cable for your printer and mouse every time you try to save pictures from your camera to your laptop! Some laptops come with slots for camera memory cards, for instance, your compact flash cards.
If you’re keen on getting a Windows based laptop, the security of your laptop should be at the top of your priority lists. Windows SP2 XP should be ideal because it comes with antispam, antispyware, antipopups and antivirus programs. Some laptop retailers may offer you cheap or free programs that you can install into the laptop as a second layer protection to your laptop.
Other factors to take into account when shopping for laptops are the screen size, the life of the battery, the processor of the laptop, screen and keyboard, wi-fi networking, size and weight of the laptop.
Dakota Caudilla, journalist, and website builder Dakota Caudilla lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.laptop-source.net on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.
Guide to buying the perfect PC
PCs have become a staple in every home. Without PCs, you will find it hard to stay connected and to even do the work required of you in school or in the office. With so much PC packages being shoved to our throat every time we go to department stores and computer shops, you’ll really get quite confused on what you really need and what PC package will fit your budget and lifestyle. To help you through this dilemma, here is a brief backgrounder of the parts of PCs that you should get to know.
Processor.
This is one of the three primary components of your PC. The processor is the part that determines how fast your computer process information. Intel is still the leading brand in processors but competitors such as American Micro Devices (AMD) are slowly catching up, offering cheaper alternative. In shopping for a processor, one should consider the following:
Clock speed – this will show the number of instructions that a computer can execute in a second. This usually comes after the brand name. Processors nowadays are already set at the gigahertz range.
Cache memory – this stores the data that were previously accessed. This simplifies the work of the computer as it would not take twice as long to access information already stored in memory bank. Without a cache memory, much of the work will fall on the RAM (Random Access Memory).
Operating temperature – some processors easily heats up. Before buying, make sure that you have asked about the operating temperature just in case you need to buy additional fans or put the computer in an air-conditioned room.
RAM (Random Access Memory).
RAM serves as the temporary memory of the PC, containing information that are needed for the computer and the programs to function. In addition to processors, RAM also determines the speed of the computer. The higher the RAM, the faster the computer is in accessing information and responding to commands.
Motherboard
This is where all the parts of the PC’s CPU (Central Processing Unit) are attached. Some motherboards already have videocards and soundcards embedded on it while others don’t. what is important however is to choose a motherboard that is compatible with your RAM and processor. Incompatibility of PC hardware can cause major problems and may even lead to the breakdown of your computer.
Hard drive.
This is the part where you store all the information in your PC. Picture a floppy disk with much much larger storing capacity. The hard drive serves as the permanent memory of your computer. Here you install all your programs and save all the documents that you need. It is also important that you buy a hard drive with really big capacity especially now when people are so used to storing multimedia files that may use up a lot of hard drive space.
Video cards
This is the part of the computer which determines the quality of the multimedia images that you will view. The higher the memory of the video card, the better is the picture quality and the colors. Also, video cards are also responsible for how fast multimedia images are accessed. This is especially needed if you use your computer for multimedia activities such as watching a movie or playing video games.
Processor.
This is one of the three primary components of your PC. The processor is the part that determines how fast your computer process information. Intel is still the leading brand in processors but competitors such as American Micro Devices (AMD) are slowly catching up, offering cheaper alternative. In shopping for a processor, one should consider the following:
Clock speed – this will show the number of instructions that a computer can execute in a second. This usually comes after the brand name. Processors nowadays are already set at the gigahertz range.
Cache memory – this stores the data that were previously accessed. This simplifies the work of the computer as it would not take twice as long to access information already stored in memory bank. Without a cache memory, much of the work will fall on the RAM (Random Access Memory).
Operating temperature – some processors easily heats up. Before buying, make sure that you have asked about the operating temperature just in case you need to buy additional fans or put the computer in an air-conditioned room.
RAM (Random Access Memory).
RAM serves as the temporary memory of the PC, containing information that are needed for the computer and the programs to function. In addition to processors, RAM also determines the speed of the computer. The higher the RAM, the faster the computer is in accessing information and responding to commands.
Motherboard
This is where all the parts of the PC’s CPU (Central Processing Unit) are attached. Some motherboards already have videocards and soundcards embedded on it while others don’t. what is important however is to choose a motherboard that is compatible with your RAM and processor. Incompatibility of PC hardware can cause major problems and may even lead to the breakdown of your computer.
Hard drive.
This is the part where you store all the information in your PC. Picture a floppy disk with much much larger storing capacity. The hard drive serves as the permanent memory of your computer. Here you install all your programs and save all the documents that you need. It is also important that you buy a hard drive with really big capacity especially now when people are so used to storing multimedia files that may use up a lot of hard drive space.
Video cards
This is the part of the computer which determines the quality of the multimedia images that you will view. The higher the memory of the video card, the better is the picture quality and the colors. Also, video cards are also responsible for how fast multimedia images are accessed. This is especially needed if you use your computer for multimedia activities such as watching a movie or playing video games.
Tips and tricks to become a master DVD ripper.
How difficult is to perform a DVD ripping? What should you look for and what do you need in order to do a successful job? Here are some tips that can be useful.
If you are looking to become a master dvd ripper then you will have to learn the basics of the subject. Ripping a dvd refers to converting the audio or video data from a dvd format to a digital copy on your hard disk. In this article you will learn the basics of how to become an efficient dvd ripper.
If you use a video ripper it will compress the video into mpeg-4, avi, DivX, or Ogg Theora. If you use a dvd audio ripper it will compress the audio from the dvd into a format such as mp3, wav, or ogg. To completely rip a dvd you will either need both a dvd audio ripper and a video ripper, or you will need a dvd ripper that does both audio and video ripping.
Not only are there dvd rippers to convert a dvd to a format your PC can deal with, but there is now even a dvd ripper that allows you to put a dvd onto a video iPod. This software will convert your dvd to a video that can be added to your playlist on your video iPod for free.
The speed which your dvd ripper can work depends on several factors. One of the big factors is the drive speed. For instance an 8x drive will have the capability of ripping the dvd 8 times faster than the dvd will play. Another factor that will effect how fast your dvd ripper goes is cpu speed. If you have a slow cpu that will make it so the dvd ripper cannot keep up with the drive and will cause a slowdown.
Since a dvd ripper uses a lot of cpu processes and disk space it is important that you keep your computer clear of junk and keep it as lean and mean as possible. You do not want a bunch of spyware, software updates, mp3 players, games, applications, etc running in the background as they could screw up the process of the dvd audio ripper and the video dvd ripper. It is also important to have a fast machine that can handle conversion of dvds to your hard drive. A recent machine that has a 2ghz+ processor should be able to do the job quite well. Also having more than 40gb of free space is recommended as you do not want to spend an hour ripping your dvd only to find that your dvd ripper has ran out of space and must quit.
Now that you have learned the basics of dvd ripping, and how it is important to have a dvd ripper and a dvd audio ripper, you can now get some software to start the ripping process. Core Download has all the software you could possibly need to become a great dvd ripper.
If you are looking to become a master dvd ripper then you will have to learn the basics of the subject. Ripping a dvd refers to converting the audio or video data from a dvd format to a digital copy on your hard disk. In this article you will learn the basics of how to become an efficient dvd ripper.
If you use a video ripper it will compress the video into mpeg-4, avi, DivX, or Ogg Theora. If you use a dvd audio ripper it will compress the audio from the dvd into a format such as mp3, wav, or ogg. To completely rip a dvd you will either need both a dvd audio ripper and a video ripper, or you will need a dvd ripper that does both audio and video ripping.
Not only are there dvd rippers to convert a dvd to a format your PC can deal with, but there is now even a dvd ripper that allows you to put a dvd onto a video iPod. This software will convert your dvd to a video that can be added to your playlist on your video iPod for free.
The speed which your dvd ripper can work depends on several factors. One of the big factors is the drive speed. For instance an 8x drive will have the capability of ripping the dvd 8 times faster than the dvd will play. Another factor that will effect how fast your dvd ripper goes is cpu speed. If you have a slow cpu that will make it so the dvd ripper cannot keep up with the drive and will cause a slowdown.
Since a dvd ripper uses a lot of cpu processes and disk space it is important that you keep your computer clear of junk and keep it as lean and mean as possible. You do not want a bunch of spyware, software updates, mp3 players, games, applications, etc running in the background as they could screw up the process of the dvd audio ripper and the video dvd ripper. It is also important to have a fast machine that can handle conversion of dvds to your hard drive. A recent machine that has a 2ghz+ processor should be able to do the job quite well. Also having more than 40gb of free space is recommended as you do not want to spend an hour ripping your dvd only to find that your dvd ripper has ran out of space and must quit.
Now that you have learned the basics of dvd ripping, and how it is important to have a dvd ripper and a dvd audio ripper, you can now get some software to start the ripping process. Core Download has all the software you could possibly need to become a great dvd ripper.
Shop, Surf or Send: Wireless Home Networks Deliver the Internet
The Internet is becoming as necessary as electricity and indoor plumbing. As its usefulness grows, so does the need to deliver a fast, reliable Internet connection to PCs and other home appliances.
Whether it’s downloading directions, instant messaging, uploading your favorite photos or simply sending e-mails with attachments, the Internet is the backbone of modern communication. Today, access to it is as critical at home as it is in the workplace. For that reason, many new homes are built with telephone, cable and Category 5 (Ethernet data cable) wiring bundles; making high-speed data transfer only a plug-in away. However, most people don’t have the convenience of Ethernet jacks throughout their homes, resulting in expensive and messy data cable installations. In 2002, more than 1.5 million homeowners installed their own wireless network, and if Jupiter Research is right, these wireless networks will surpass wired ones by 2005.
The Web’s transition from a place for text and images to one that includes a repository of video, animation and audio is proceeding rapidly. New uses of the Web require higher-speed Internet connections, and its usefulness is greatly enhanced by the ability to share those connections.
The evolution of wireless technology reflects that “need for speed,” as the newest generation of products categorized as 802.11g are typically five times faster than the older technology (802.11b). The new 802.11g technology is compatible with earlier products and handles data transfer typically at 54 mega bits per second (Mbps) compared to 11 Mbps of 802.11b. However, products from U.S. Robotics 802.11g Wireless Turbo family perform at an incredible 100 Mbps with the company’s exclusive Accelerator Technology. At these blazing speeds, downloading MP3s, streaming video, large audio clips and uploading big files is quick and painless.
What’s Needed?
Creating a reliable, wireless network requires only three things. First on the list is an Internet connection. While broadband (DSL or Cable Internet) is a necessity for high-speed downloads, dial-up can work if wireless connectivity is the main goal. With broadband, the service likely has a modem device (with a single Ethernet port to connect to the computer), or a router (with multiple-Ethernet ports).
The second thing you need is a wireless access point or router. That piece of equipment allows you to share the broadband connection wirelessly. If you have an integrated router/broadband modem you will only need an access point. If you have a single port broadband modem, you will need an access point with an integrated router. You will also need a wireless card or adaptor to allow PCs and other devices to access the wireless network. They come in three basic formats: PC cards for laptops, PCI cards for desktop PCs, and USB for any machine that supports USB. Installing a network is relatively easy and will dramatically change the way the Internet is used at home.
Look Ma, No Wires!
The beauty of wireless connectivity is that it provides an inexpensive and relatively simple way to share Internet connectivity, files, printers and other devices within a home. No new wires! In purchasing a network’s components, the following should be taken into consideration.
* Speed -- Faster is better. It may not make much difference today, but it will later.
* Security -- There are several techniques to provide security for a wireless network and the higher-bit encryption numbers offer better security.
* Compatibility -- 802.11g devices run at a minimum of 54Mbps, and are typically compatible with the older 11Mbps 802.11b products but not with 22Mbps 802.11b+ products.
* Coverage -- Pay attention to what vendors say (or don’t say) about the size of coverage areas.
* Reputation -- Go with a company that you are confident will be around in the future. Over time these products often can be upgraded with software enhancements that provide improved performance or new features.
Setting up your wireless network is easier than putting together a child’s first bicycle and will be an important addition to your home for many years to come.
For more information about wireless networking products, visit www.usr.com/lookma-nowires and go wireless today! Products from U.S. Robotics 802.11g Wireless Turbo family are also available for purchase at Wal-Mart stores nationwide.
Whether it’s downloading directions, instant messaging, uploading your favorite photos or simply sending e-mails with attachments, the Internet is the backbone of modern communication. Today, access to it is as critical at home as it is in the workplace. For that reason, many new homes are built with telephone, cable and Category 5 (Ethernet data cable) wiring bundles; making high-speed data transfer only a plug-in away. However, most people don’t have the convenience of Ethernet jacks throughout their homes, resulting in expensive and messy data cable installations. In 2002, more than 1.5 million homeowners installed their own wireless network, and if Jupiter Research is right, these wireless networks will surpass wired ones by 2005.
The Web’s transition from a place for text and images to one that includes a repository of video, animation and audio is proceeding rapidly. New uses of the Web require higher-speed Internet connections, and its usefulness is greatly enhanced by the ability to share those connections.
The evolution of wireless technology reflects that “need for speed,” as the newest generation of products categorized as 802.11g are typically five times faster than the older technology (802.11b). The new 802.11g technology is compatible with earlier products and handles data transfer typically at 54 mega bits per second (Mbps) compared to 11 Mbps of 802.11b. However, products from U.S. Robotics 802.11g Wireless Turbo family perform at an incredible 100 Mbps with the company’s exclusive Accelerator Technology. At these blazing speeds, downloading MP3s, streaming video, large audio clips and uploading big files is quick and painless.
What’s Needed?
Creating a reliable, wireless network requires only three things. First on the list is an Internet connection. While broadband (DSL or Cable Internet) is a necessity for high-speed downloads, dial-up can work if wireless connectivity is the main goal. With broadband, the service likely has a modem device (with a single Ethernet port to connect to the computer), or a router (with multiple-Ethernet ports).
The second thing you need is a wireless access point or router. That piece of equipment allows you to share the broadband connection wirelessly. If you have an integrated router/broadband modem you will only need an access point. If you have a single port broadband modem, you will need an access point with an integrated router. You will also need a wireless card or adaptor to allow PCs and other devices to access the wireless network. They come in three basic formats: PC cards for laptops, PCI cards for desktop PCs, and USB for any machine that supports USB. Installing a network is relatively easy and will dramatically change the way the Internet is used at home.
Look Ma, No Wires!
The beauty of wireless connectivity is that it provides an inexpensive and relatively simple way to share Internet connectivity, files, printers and other devices within a home. No new wires! In purchasing a network’s components, the following should be taken into consideration.
* Speed -- Faster is better. It may not make much difference today, but it will later.
* Security -- There are several techniques to provide security for a wireless network and the higher-bit encryption numbers offer better security.
* Compatibility -- 802.11g devices run at a minimum of 54Mbps, and are typically compatible with the older 11Mbps 802.11b products but not with 22Mbps 802.11b+ products.
* Coverage -- Pay attention to what vendors say (or don’t say) about the size of coverage areas.
* Reputation -- Go with a company that you are confident will be around in the future. Over time these products often can be upgraded with software enhancements that provide improved performance or new features.
Setting up your wireless network is easier than putting together a child’s first bicycle and will be an important addition to your home for many years to come.
For more information about wireless networking products, visit www.usr.com/lookma-nowires and go wireless today! Products from U.S. Robotics 802.11g Wireless Turbo family are also available for purchase at Wal-Mart stores nationwide.
Create Your Own Webcomic
Syndicated comic authors have been complaining about newspaper size restrictions, content censoring and similar issues for a long time. Comic enthusiasts have been increasingly irritated by the treatment their entertainment medium receives as well. Then along came the Internet, providing unlimited and unrestricted distribution possibilities. Thus the webcomic was born.
There are millions of webcomics out there, dealing with such vast topics as video games, college life, samurai, Lego men, identity and self esteem, depression, suicide, children and joy. People write them either for a living, for fun, as stress relief, for artistic expression, or often just for the hell of it. Then they stick their creations on the web and hope that just one more person will find and enjoy the fruits of their labour.
There seem to be several hundred new comics created each and every day. These often dwindle and fade after only a few months. Occasionally, however, a comic rises above the rest and gains such popularity that the creator is able to forgo all other work and scrape a living solely off the proceeds generated by their websites. Some examples of such are Penny-Arcade, PvP, CtrlAltDel and Squidi.net.
Many people, when introduced to the world of webcomics, think to themselves "Wouldn't it be cool to have my own comic?" and a few go beyond this and create their own. So how can a newcomer ensure that their comic continues beyond the first few weeks of enthusiasm?
Now before I go into some useful tips it is probably worth noting that I am the proud owner of a failed webcomic. It went for a few months before hitting a few snags and then grinding into the ground. I have plans to return to creating the comics, but as of yet have not. So I'm not really drawing from a foundation of success, more of failure and an understanding of some of the main factors contributing to my failure.
For starters, you're going to need to plan a little. It's unfortunate, unfair and certainly not fun, but it is necessary. Sit down and think about your comic. Come up with a location setting, some characters and maybe even a few plots to test them in. Run the characters through some adventures and see how they react and how you react to them. Your characters will grow and change throughout this process, and continue to do so throughout the life of your comic but you need to get a handle on their basic character traits.
For some reason the majority of comics revolve around a group of people (usually guys) that are somewhat geeky and live together. Usually in a university dorm. I would imagine that this is because that's the general life of the majority of webcomic authors. The premise itself also makes an awful lot of sense for the basis of a comic. When designing my own webcomic the process went a little something like this: I designed the main characters, most of which were drawings that I had been playing with since high school. Then I needed a reason for them to constantly see each other and interact, so I got them living together. They needed character traits that I could relate to, so they become university-aged students that had at least a passing interest in the geeky side of life.
I drew my first few strips and showed them to some friends, who liked them, so started looking into putting them online. The initial line up included two guys who lived together, a female love interest for one of the characters and a talking animal (in my case a frog, because I had this frog that I'd been drawing for years and had become quite attached to him).
At this point I wasn't very experienced with webcomics, having only really read the syndicated newspaper comics that the syndicated press companies post online. So I started looking through some of the major comics, only to find that Sluggy Freelance had the talking animals, geeky guys that lived together and female love interest already covered. A bit more research revealed that the "university students living together" was covered in the large majority of comics. Furthermore, having a kind of wacky (and just a little stupid) character, and a more sensible and reserved one was practically a given. Then, to rub salt in the wound, I found that another comic had its main character design very similar to my own. So I got rid of the frog, removed the focus on gaming and university and otherwise left the comic as it was. Not entirely original.
Anyway, the point is that you should probably try to be more original. Check through your concept and remove the whole university students living together with wacky talking inappropriately anthropomorphic sidekicks. You'll be better off in the long run and have a more original creation.
Before you jump headfirst into publishing your comics online, you should build up a bit of a backlog of comics. Try to draw at least ten or so quality comics that you would be proud to have on your site. If you're going to have a story-based comic then it would be a good idea to plan your first story arc. It is really useful to maintain this backlog of comics whenever possible, so that you can fall behind in the creation of the comics but still have content to post online. Nothing turns away readers faster than failing to provide them with content when you say you will. If you eat into the backlog, try to draw a few extra strips so that it doesn't get diminished.
As a helpful guide for your comics, decide roughly what format they will take (e.g. three or four panel gag strips etc.) and draw up the panels on your computer. You can then print these and draw the strips within the panels, ensuring that they stay neat and consistent. When the comics have been drawn, scan them into your computer and touch them up any way you like. It's generally the best practice to remove speech balloons and text and add these on computer, because it will usually be neater and easier to read. Remember to fit balloons around the speech, not the speech into the balloons. It's amazing how often this is forgotten. Some good fonts, free for non-commercial use, can be found at http://blambot.com. Don't get too stressed about your artwork, I found that most people don't mind slightly inconsistent and not overly fantastic artwork provided they enjoy the content of the comic.
So now you're ready to get going with the online side of things. Start writing your web page so that you can just upload it when you're ready. Webcomic PHP management systems are relatively easy to find. I personally really like ComicPro that, unfortunately, seems to have vanished from the web. If you can hunt it down it's worth a look. Web hosting is quite easy to find as well, you won't need much space to begin with so you can use one of the many free providers out there (including http://keenspace.com that provides free hosting specifically for webcomics), use the web space provided by the majority of ISPs or purchase your own web hosting plan (you can get a quite cheap one because you won't be needing many features to begin with). When signing up for any hosting package, make sure you have permission to change the read/write attributes of your files because the PHP comic managers will need this (this is done on Linux servers using CHMOD from your FTP program; In Windows you can Right-Click a file, select Properties and change security permissions there; or you may need to use a proprietary control panel provided by the host).
You're going to need to decide on an update schedule for your comic. It's probably best to start small and build up; maybe two or three updates a week. This way you have three to five weeks of comics in your backlog, which allows you to fall behind substantially before anyone notices.
While we're on the topic of deciding schedules, it will help you if you actually try and schedule an hour or so into your day to write comics. If you just try to fit them into the free time that you're "bound to have just after you finish just this one last thing" then you'll often find yourself failing to get a strip drawn on time.
Now that you have your comic online you can start promoting it. There are a huge number of comic directories out there that will help get you exposure. Get your friends excited about your comic and they in turn will get their friends excited. Read other people's comics and get involved in their forums. Find sites that accept guest artwork or comics and send some to them. The best promotion comes from getting people to read your comic and fire a link across their instant messenger program to another friend. My current list of "must read every day" comics came entirely from various people sending links to me. Don't expect instant success, look to sharing your vision with even just one new person every day.
Well, I hope that helps to give you a few ideas about how to make your comic and keep it running. When your characters start to grow they'll almost create the stories and jokes themselves and the strip won't be anywhere near as hard to write as it was when you first started out. Just keep drawing the comics on a frequent basis so that you don't fall out of the rhythm of your created world and above all else have fun.
There are millions of webcomics out there, dealing with such vast topics as video games, college life, samurai, Lego men, identity and self esteem, depression, suicide, children and joy. People write them either for a living, for fun, as stress relief, for artistic expression, or often just for the hell of it. Then they stick their creations on the web and hope that just one more person will find and enjoy the fruits of their labour.
There seem to be several hundred new comics created each and every day. These often dwindle and fade after only a few months. Occasionally, however, a comic rises above the rest and gains such popularity that the creator is able to forgo all other work and scrape a living solely off the proceeds generated by their websites. Some examples of such are Penny-Arcade, PvP, CtrlAltDel and Squidi.net.
Many people, when introduced to the world of webcomics, think to themselves "Wouldn't it be cool to have my own comic?" and a few go beyond this and create their own. So how can a newcomer ensure that their comic continues beyond the first few weeks of enthusiasm?
Now before I go into some useful tips it is probably worth noting that I am the proud owner of a failed webcomic. It went for a few months before hitting a few snags and then grinding into the ground. I have plans to return to creating the comics, but as of yet have not. So I'm not really drawing from a foundation of success, more of failure and an understanding of some of the main factors contributing to my failure.
For starters, you're going to need to plan a little. It's unfortunate, unfair and certainly not fun, but it is necessary. Sit down and think about your comic. Come up with a location setting, some characters and maybe even a few plots to test them in. Run the characters through some adventures and see how they react and how you react to them. Your characters will grow and change throughout this process, and continue to do so throughout the life of your comic but you need to get a handle on their basic character traits.
For some reason the majority of comics revolve around a group of people (usually guys) that are somewhat geeky and live together. Usually in a university dorm. I would imagine that this is because that's the general life of the majority of webcomic authors. The premise itself also makes an awful lot of sense for the basis of a comic. When designing my own webcomic the process went a little something like this: I designed the main characters, most of which were drawings that I had been playing with since high school. Then I needed a reason for them to constantly see each other and interact, so I got them living together. They needed character traits that I could relate to, so they become university-aged students that had at least a passing interest in the geeky side of life.
I drew my first few strips and showed them to some friends, who liked them, so started looking into putting them online. The initial line up included two guys who lived together, a female love interest for one of the characters and a talking animal (in my case a frog, because I had this frog that I'd been drawing for years and had become quite attached to him).
At this point I wasn't very experienced with webcomics, having only really read the syndicated newspaper comics that the syndicated press companies post online. So I started looking through some of the major comics, only to find that Sluggy Freelance had the talking animals, geeky guys that lived together and female love interest already covered. A bit more research revealed that the "university students living together" was covered in the large majority of comics. Furthermore, having a kind of wacky (and just a little stupid) character, and a more sensible and reserved one was practically a given. Then, to rub salt in the wound, I found that another comic had its main character design very similar to my own. So I got rid of the frog, removed the focus on gaming and university and otherwise left the comic as it was. Not entirely original.
Anyway, the point is that you should probably try to be more original. Check through your concept and remove the whole university students living together with wacky talking inappropriately anthropomorphic sidekicks. You'll be better off in the long run and have a more original creation.
Before you jump headfirst into publishing your comics online, you should build up a bit of a backlog of comics. Try to draw at least ten or so quality comics that you would be proud to have on your site. If you're going to have a story-based comic then it would be a good idea to plan your first story arc. It is really useful to maintain this backlog of comics whenever possible, so that you can fall behind in the creation of the comics but still have content to post online. Nothing turns away readers faster than failing to provide them with content when you say you will. If you eat into the backlog, try to draw a few extra strips so that it doesn't get diminished.
As a helpful guide for your comics, decide roughly what format they will take (e.g. three or four panel gag strips etc.) and draw up the panels on your computer. You can then print these and draw the strips within the panels, ensuring that they stay neat and consistent. When the comics have been drawn, scan them into your computer and touch them up any way you like. It's generally the best practice to remove speech balloons and text and add these on computer, because it will usually be neater and easier to read. Remember to fit balloons around the speech, not the speech into the balloons. It's amazing how often this is forgotten. Some good fonts, free for non-commercial use, can be found at http://blambot.com. Don't get too stressed about your artwork, I found that most people don't mind slightly inconsistent and not overly fantastic artwork provided they enjoy the content of the comic.
So now you're ready to get going with the online side of things. Start writing your web page so that you can just upload it when you're ready. Webcomic PHP management systems are relatively easy to find. I personally really like ComicPro that, unfortunately, seems to have vanished from the web. If you can hunt it down it's worth a look. Web hosting is quite easy to find as well, you won't need much space to begin with so you can use one of the many free providers out there (including http://keenspace.com that provides free hosting specifically for webcomics), use the web space provided by the majority of ISPs or purchase your own web hosting plan (you can get a quite cheap one because you won't be needing many features to begin with). When signing up for any hosting package, make sure you have permission to change the read/write attributes of your files because the PHP comic managers will need this (this is done on Linux servers using CHMOD from your FTP program; In Windows you can Right-Click a file, select Properties and change security permissions there; or you may need to use a proprietary control panel provided by the host).
You're going to need to decide on an update schedule for your comic. It's probably best to start small and build up; maybe two or three updates a week. This way you have three to five weeks of comics in your backlog, which allows you to fall behind substantially before anyone notices.
While we're on the topic of deciding schedules, it will help you if you actually try and schedule an hour or so into your day to write comics. If you just try to fit them into the free time that you're "bound to have just after you finish just this one last thing" then you'll often find yourself failing to get a strip drawn on time.
Now that you have your comic online you can start promoting it. There are a huge number of comic directories out there that will help get you exposure. Get your friends excited about your comic and they in turn will get their friends excited. Read other people's comics and get involved in their forums. Find sites that accept guest artwork or comics and send some to them. The best promotion comes from getting people to read your comic and fire a link across their instant messenger program to another friend. My current list of "must read every day" comics came entirely from various people sending links to me. Don't expect instant success, look to sharing your vision with even just one new person every day.
Well, I hope that helps to give you a few ideas about how to make your comic and keep it running. When your characters start to grow they'll almost create the stories and jokes themselves and the strip won't be anywhere near as hard to write as it was when you first started out. Just keep drawing the comics on a frequent basis so that you don't fall out of the rhythm of your created world and above all else have fun.
Ten Amazing Facts You Didn't Know About Television
By the time the normal American teen has become eighteen years of age they would have spent about 25000 hours watching televison. This means they would have actually spent more time watching televison than learning in the class.
The 1st TV add in history lasted twenty seconds and was for a timepiece made by a corporation called Bulova. This company also mass produced the first watch that went into space. The commercial was aired in July 1941 and went out during a game being played by the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies.
The well known spinning globe that is utilized by the NBC evening news program spent many years spinning in the incorrect direction. In 1984 this was eventually found and on January 2nd this was rectified and now the globe is spinning as it should be.
Way back in 1950 only 10 percent of US households had a television in their possession. By 1960 this had changed to a staggering 90 percent whilst in todays world it is 99 percent with fifty four percent of American children having one in their bedroom. Now more of us own televisions than we do a phone.
The highest known annual earnings for a TV actor were given to U.S sit com actor Jerry Seinfeld.He was given an unbelievable $1000000 for each episode. The program lasted eight years and although this fee came into play in about 1997 this still makes Jerry the highest paid TV star so far.
The highest ever fee paid to show a television advert was $2,000,000 per 30 seconds of time. This was paid by advertisers to show their adds during the very last U.S screening of the well loved comedy series friends. The show was aired by American TV company NBC on May 6 2004 and lasted for a whole hour.
The worlds largest television set was unveiled in the Japanese city of Tsukuba and measured 24.3m by 45.7m [ 80ft by 150ft ]. It was utilized in the 1985 Japanese International Exposition and displayed a series of specially created videos containing various artistic and cultural productions.
The largest number of ads featuring a corporations president were made for Wendy's Hamburger restaurants in the United States and starred Dave Thomas the companies owner. In all he has starred in 652 commercials with the shortest being five seconds and the longest being sixty seconds. These commercials have won thirty six important advertising awards and have made Dave as famous as his Burgers.
Whilst viewing an episode of the well known Japanese kids show Pokemon over seven hundred Japanese children were rushed to hospital with severe convulsions and trauma. This was caused by a ten second scene in which the cartoons star Pikachu flashed his big red eyes to the sound of a big booming explosion.
Some early experimental Television transmissions started way back in 1928 by station W2XBS and featured a test model of the well loved Felix the cat. Although these transmissions were only showing a model Felix the cat he will always be able to maintain his place in the Televison hall of fame as the first ever genuine TV superstar.
In the USA the largest section of the TV audience consists of of pre-school children.On average their weekly viewing turns out to be around 30.4 hours which means by the age of 17 they would have amassed about 15000 hours of television watching. Astonishingly this adds up to a staggering two years of solid viewing.
The 1st TV add in history lasted twenty seconds and was for a timepiece made by a corporation called Bulova. This company also mass produced the first watch that went into space. The commercial was aired in July 1941 and went out during a game being played by the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies.
The well known spinning globe that is utilized by the NBC evening news program spent many years spinning in the incorrect direction. In 1984 this was eventually found and on January 2nd this was rectified and now the globe is spinning as it should be.
Way back in 1950 only 10 percent of US households had a television in their possession. By 1960 this had changed to a staggering 90 percent whilst in todays world it is 99 percent with fifty four percent of American children having one in their bedroom. Now more of us own televisions than we do a phone.
The highest known annual earnings for a TV actor were given to U.S sit com actor Jerry Seinfeld.He was given an unbelievable $1000000 for each episode. The program lasted eight years and although this fee came into play in about 1997 this still makes Jerry the highest paid TV star so far.
The highest ever fee paid to show a television advert was $2,000,000 per 30 seconds of time. This was paid by advertisers to show their adds during the very last U.S screening of the well loved comedy series friends. The show was aired by American TV company NBC on May 6 2004 and lasted for a whole hour.
The worlds largest television set was unveiled in the Japanese city of Tsukuba and measured 24.3m by 45.7m [ 80ft by 150ft ]. It was utilized in the 1985 Japanese International Exposition and displayed a series of specially created videos containing various artistic and cultural productions.
The largest number of ads featuring a corporations president were made for Wendy's Hamburger restaurants in the United States and starred Dave Thomas the companies owner. In all he has starred in 652 commercials with the shortest being five seconds and the longest being sixty seconds. These commercials have won thirty six important advertising awards and have made Dave as famous as his Burgers.
Whilst viewing an episode of the well known Japanese kids show Pokemon over seven hundred Japanese children were rushed to hospital with severe convulsions and trauma. This was caused by a ten second scene in which the cartoons star Pikachu flashed his big red eyes to the sound of a big booming explosion.
Some early experimental Television transmissions started way back in 1928 by station W2XBS and featured a test model of the well loved Felix the cat. Although these transmissions were only showing a model Felix the cat he will always be able to maintain his place in the Televison hall of fame as the first ever genuine TV superstar.
In the USA the largest section of the TV audience consists of of pre-school children.On average their weekly viewing turns out to be around 30.4 hours which means by the age of 17 they would have amassed about 15000 hours of television watching. Astonishingly this adds up to a staggering two years of solid viewing.
5 Minute Guide to Video Editing for Beginners
Getting started with video editing is very simple you only need a few items and you can be producing quality movies at home that you will be able to enjoy for many years to come. Maybe even produce a hit Hollywood movie.
The basic items you need are a video capture card, the software to edit, your computer, storage space on your computer and a camcorder, VCR, or you can display your movie on your computer screen.
The process is effortless, all you do is capture the video to you computer using a capture card, then edit your video with video editing software and then download the video that you edited to either tape or burn it to a VCD, CD, or DVD.
Let’s look at your computer first. You will need a minimum of a Pentium II 300 or faster, a minimum of 256 Megs of RAM, but you will get better performance with 512 Megs. You will also desire to have a 30GB drive that is split into 2 separate partitions. This means that you will have a C: and a D:. The C: should be given 10GB and will have all of your software stored there and the D: will be where your audio, video and editing projects are stored. Your graphics card should be a 32 Meg AGP. You can have an 8 or 16 Meg but the quality will not be as good.
Storage is probably the most confusing thing about video editing. Video makers have many choices for storing their digital video files and this is why it can be so confusing.
If you desire creating your own DVD’s then you are going to need lot of storage. The most you can get out of a single sided 4.7 GB DVD is around 2 hours of video. If you are using DV footage you are going to need 13GB per hour of video, this means you will need 26GB of storage and remember you always have extra footage that you need to factor that in as well so you are now up to 39GB of storage space needed. If you are adding other options such as graphics, MPEG2 footage for the DVD and the folder to hold it all then you are now up to 50GB. So, for your 2 hour movie you will need 50GB of space at least.
So, when you begin be sure that you have enough storage on your computer for the type of video that you wish to store.
On to the video capture card and the video editing software. When you first visit the electronics store you will find many manufacturers that create video capture cards. The most popular include
Some of the reputable video capture card manufacturers are: Pinnacle, Matrox, Dazzle, ADS, Canopus, and Digital Origin.
What video capture cards do to put it in simple terms is that these cards use hardware or software compression to digitize your video onto the hard drive on your computer. This way you can edit your video and play it back onto tape or display your movie on your computer screen.
Some times, you can purchase the video capture cards along with the video editing software that you choose. Some of the most popular video capture cards that are packaged with video software include the Pinnacle Pro One which comes with the Adobe Premiere 6 full version, TitleDeko RT, DV Tools 2.0, Hollywood FX, and Impressions DVD. The Dazzle DV NOW AV can be purchased along with the Premiere 6 full version and the DVDit LE.
Having music along with your video can also be accomplished with a MP3 Converter that will allow you to convert your MP3 music into a wav file or the format in which you need for your video. You may also wish to purchase a MP3 Encoder which will allow you to Wav or other formats into a MP3. A CD ripper is another item that you may wish to purchase that will help with converting your CD’s to MP3, WAV, WMA type files.
One other software program that will make you life easier when you begin video editing is a MPEG Encoder which is a very easy to use program that will make converting several formats easy than you can imagine. Many of these MPEG converters will aid in converting DVD, VCD, AVI, MPEG, GIF, Flash, WMV, WMA, WAV, MP3, MP4, M4A, OGG, AAC, 3GP and even more/
So, now all you need to do is to find the best video editing software that you feel comfortable with and off you go. You can find several different video editing software companies that offer their software on a trial basis, this will let you try out the software so you can see if it is the perfect software for you. But, remember with the trial version you will be receiving the video capture card. You will have to purchase it separately
The basic items you need are a video capture card, the software to edit, your computer, storage space on your computer and a camcorder, VCR, or you can display your movie on your computer screen.
The process is effortless, all you do is capture the video to you computer using a capture card, then edit your video with video editing software and then download the video that you edited to either tape or burn it to a VCD, CD, or DVD.
Let’s look at your computer first. You will need a minimum of a Pentium II 300 or faster, a minimum of 256 Megs of RAM, but you will get better performance with 512 Megs. You will also desire to have a 30GB drive that is split into 2 separate partitions. This means that you will have a C: and a D:. The C: should be given 10GB and will have all of your software stored there and the D: will be where your audio, video and editing projects are stored. Your graphics card should be a 32 Meg AGP. You can have an 8 or 16 Meg but the quality will not be as good.
Storage is probably the most confusing thing about video editing. Video makers have many choices for storing their digital video files and this is why it can be so confusing.
If you desire creating your own DVD’s then you are going to need lot of storage. The most you can get out of a single sided 4.7 GB DVD is around 2 hours of video. If you are using DV footage you are going to need 13GB per hour of video, this means you will need 26GB of storage and remember you always have extra footage that you need to factor that in as well so you are now up to 39GB of storage space needed. If you are adding other options such as graphics, MPEG2 footage for the DVD and the folder to hold it all then you are now up to 50GB. So, for your 2 hour movie you will need 50GB of space at least.
So, when you begin be sure that you have enough storage on your computer for the type of video that you wish to store.
On to the video capture card and the video editing software. When you first visit the electronics store you will find many manufacturers that create video capture cards. The most popular include
Some of the reputable video capture card manufacturers are: Pinnacle, Matrox, Dazzle, ADS, Canopus, and Digital Origin.
What video capture cards do to put it in simple terms is that these cards use hardware or software compression to digitize your video onto the hard drive on your computer. This way you can edit your video and play it back onto tape or display your movie on your computer screen.
Some times, you can purchase the video capture cards along with the video editing software that you choose. Some of the most popular video capture cards that are packaged with video software include the Pinnacle Pro One which comes with the Adobe Premiere 6 full version, TitleDeko RT, DV Tools 2.0, Hollywood FX, and Impressions DVD. The Dazzle DV NOW AV can be purchased along with the Premiere 6 full version and the DVDit LE.
Having music along with your video can also be accomplished with a MP3 Converter that will allow you to convert your MP3 music into a wav file or the format in which you need for your video. You may also wish to purchase a MP3 Encoder which will allow you to Wav or other formats into a MP3. A CD ripper is another item that you may wish to purchase that will help with converting your CD’s to MP3, WAV, WMA type files.
One other software program that will make you life easier when you begin video editing is a MPEG Encoder which is a very easy to use program that will make converting several formats easy than you can imagine. Many of these MPEG converters will aid in converting DVD, VCD, AVI, MPEG, GIF, Flash, WMV, WMA, WAV, MP3, MP4, M4A, OGG, AAC, 3GP and even more/
So, now all you need to do is to find the best video editing software that you feel comfortable with and off you go. You can find several different video editing software companies that offer their software on a trial basis, this will let you try out the software so you can see if it is the perfect software for you. But, remember with the trial version you will be receiving the video capture card. You will have to purchase it separately
Recordable DVD Formats explained
Picking your way through the ton of information available on recordable DVD formats can be a nightmare. To help you out, we’ve done our best to distill it into this summary.
There are five recordable versions of DVD; DVD-R for General, DVD-R for Authoring, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. None of the formats is fully compatible with the other although there are drives which will read, and in some cases write to more than one format.
DVD-R for General and DVD-R for Authoring are essentially DVD versions of CD-R. And DVD-RW is a DVD version of CD-RW. All three formats can be read in standard DVD-ROM drives and in most DVD video players. The difference between DVD-R for General and DVD-R for Authoring is that DVD-R for General is a format intended for widespread consumer use and doeasn’t support ‘professional’ features such as piracy protection or duplication in mass duplicators. The Pioneer DVD-RW drive which is the most popular PC device for writing to DVD uses the DVD for General format. And as as the case with CD, DVD-RW is essentially the same as DVD-R except that it can be erased and written to again and again.
DVD-RAM is slightly different as it is a sector based disc which mounts on the desktop of a PC when inserted into a drive. Files can then be copied to it in the same way as any other mounted media. Some single-sided DVD-RAM discs can be removed from their caddy and inserted in a DVD-ROM drive which will then be able to read the content of the disc.
There are DVD video recorders which use the DVD-RAM format. This enables themn to pull off clever tricks like timeshifting – where you can watch the beginning of a programme you have recorded while you are still recording the end on the same disc.
DVD+RW is the newest format and not supported by the DVD Forum, the body which sets the standards for DVD. However, it is supported by some of the biggest electronics and computer manufacturers, and is therefore likely to stick around.
It is also the format used by Philips in its DVD video recorders. Despite not being authorised by the DVD Forum, DVD+RW is claimed by its supporterd to be compatible with more DVD video players than DVD-R and DVD+RW writers are found in PCs from quite a few manufacturers.
There are five recordable versions of DVD; DVD-R for General, DVD-R for Authoring, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. None of the formats is fully compatible with the other although there are drives which will read, and in some cases write to more than one format.
DVD-R for General and DVD-R for Authoring are essentially DVD versions of CD-R. And DVD-RW is a DVD version of CD-RW. All three formats can be read in standard DVD-ROM drives and in most DVD video players. The difference between DVD-R for General and DVD-R for Authoring is that DVD-R for General is a format intended for widespread consumer use and doeasn’t support ‘professional’ features such as piracy protection or duplication in mass duplicators. The Pioneer DVD-RW drive which is the most popular PC device for writing to DVD uses the DVD for General format. And as as the case with CD, DVD-RW is essentially the same as DVD-R except that it can be erased and written to again and again.
DVD-RAM is slightly different as it is a sector based disc which mounts on the desktop of a PC when inserted into a drive. Files can then be copied to it in the same way as any other mounted media. Some single-sided DVD-RAM discs can be removed from their caddy and inserted in a DVD-ROM drive which will then be able to read the content of the disc.
There are DVD video recorders which use the DVD-RAM format. This enables themn to pull off clever tricks like timeshifting – where you can watch the beginning of a programme you have recorded while you are still recording the end on the same disc.
DVD+RW is the newest format and not supported by the DVD Forum, the body which sets the standards for DVD. However, it is supported by some of the biggest electronics and computer manufacturers, and is therefore likely to stick around.
It is also the format used by Philips in its DVD video recorders. Despite not being authorised by the DVD Forum, DVD+RW is claimed by its supporterd to be compatible with more DVD video players than DVD-R and DVD+RW writers are found in PCs from quite a few manufacturers.
What will Google do with $4 billion?
Google is planning on floating another $4 billion in shares. The question then becomes, with reserves of over $2 billion, what does the company want with the extra cash? This article provides my own speculation and insight and it might surprise you.
Google. Currently trading at close to $300 per share.
The company has an $83 billion market cap making it one of the most valuable companies in North America, almost double the value of Yahoo! And almost 4 times the value of General Motors.
With this kind of valuation, what could Google have up its sleeve? After all they are reported to have over $2 billion in cash reserves alone. You’d think with that kind of cash on hand they could do almost whatever they wanted. So why add an additional $4 billion to that pot?
What could Google be after thats worth more than $6 billion? Well, I have some ideas.
But before I go there, let’s look at some of the things Google is doing now.
The company recently launched Google Talk – their own version of an IM program.
They’ve also been looking into other areas of communication as well, such as hunting out dark fiber. That is, fiber optic cabling that is unused.
They’ve also been active in the areas of social networking and personalization. And we all know about Gmail, Froogle and Google News. These are just some of the areas Google has been moving into. They are, as we in the industry call them, verticals.
But that’s not all that Google is interested in. While they make sense, I think Google is just scratching the surface of their potential.
In order to understand what I’m talking about we must first review Google’s mission statement:
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
So, how does Google go about making all the world’s information accessible and useful? Well it’s a good start that they have a hyper active crawler that not only indexes pages, but also images, audio and video files. In addition, Googlebot can index text files, Microsoft documents such as Word and Excel documents, PDF’s and more.
I think they’ve pretty much covered the “organize” part of the mission statement. Sure there are more file types and sources out there, but Google finds more and more of them every day.
Let’s skip to the last point - “useful”. I’ll save “accessible” till later.
In order to make it useful, Google must present it in such a way that the user is exposed to as much of it as possible, yet it has to be relevant to the user. And they have been working on this for quite some time.
Now you may notice you not only see the usual paid and organic results, but in some cases you see definitions, Froogle results and more.
And more recently we are beginning to see other forms of vertical results show up in the “regular” organic results. These are results where Google is suggesting other potential matches to your query.
All in all, I’d say Google has a pretty good handle on presenting useful results. Sure it can get better, and I think it will. In fact Google MUST get better in order to stay ahead of the pack.
So, I’ve covered the “organize” and “useful” now its time to talk about the “accessible” and this is where my speculation starts.
Remember at the beginning of this article I said I wondered what Google needed $6 billion for?
What I’m about to write here may surprise some, but not others.
I think Google wants to move into the next generation of the web – the wireless web. And how they are going to do it is by buying a struggling wireless provider.
The wireless provider I’m thinking of is T-Mobile.
Just let that sink in for a moment. T-Mobile is the company that uses Catherine Zeta-Jones in their TV commercials.
Why T-Mobile?
Well, for one, the parent company, Deutsche Telekom is not satisfied with how the company is doing in the US. They have even hinted that they may sell the company.
Google recently signed a deal with T-Mobile to provide web services for the company. Google also recently purchase a company called Android, which makes wireless phone software and who’s founder also developed a device called Hiptop which is sold by T-Mobile. Coincidence? I think not
And a quick evaluation of Deutsche Telekom indicates that the US subsidiary (T-Mobile) is indeed worth about $6 billion.
It has been common knowledge the past few months that Google is investing heavily in wireless technologies. Android is just the latest in a string of purchases centered on wireless and the emerging possibilities it holds.
Even if Google doesn’t buy T-Mobile, they will still be in a position to offer a hybrid wireless/broadband communications system capable of allowing transitions between wired/wireless technologies.
Combining wireless/wi-fi technology into a fiber optic network makes perfect sense for Google. Imagine having a Google cell phone for which the monthly fees are minimal and having the phone be smart enough to switch to a local wi-fi hotspot with fiber connection allowing for national and international calls at a fraction of the cost. Google would crush the competition.
And like I said, the infrastructure for this is either in place (in other words, Google already owns the technology) or will be shortly (in that they are developing and/or purchasing it).
Really, the whole delivery of results is the only place Google is lacking. Without an internet connection and computer you can’t access Google. Therefore Google wants to put Google in the palm of your hand. And what better way to do that than offer a cheap/free cell phone with international calling capabilities?
And all you have to put up with is some unobtrusive advertising.
And think of that – what would an advertiser pay to have a captive audience? No longer would the advertiser have to pay for broad keyword matched advertising. Through geo-targeting and demographic profiling the advertiser would be able to target his ads at the right age group in the right location, carrying a Google cell phone.
Really, I’d put up with a few ads for a free phone with virtually unlimited long distance. I can tune out TV ads now, and I all but ignore PPC ads, so I’m sure I can ignore the cell phone when it beeps indicating a new ad.
Now I’ll grant that this is extremely speculative. Perhaps T-Mobile isn’t the target, but I’m pretty confident that someone in the market is.
In any case, if you have other ideas, or would like to share your speculation, please leave a comment.
Google. Currently trading at close to $300 per share.
The company has an $83 billion market cap making it one of the most valuable companies in North America, almost double the value of Yahoo! And almost 4 times the value of General Motors.
With this kind of valuation, what could Google have up its sleeve? After all they are reported to have over $2 billion in cash reserves alone. You’d think with that kind of cash on hand they could do almost whatever they wanted. So why add an additional $4 billion to that pot?
What could Google be after thats worth more than $6 billion? Well, I have some ideas.
But before I go there, let’s look at some of the things Google is doing now.
The company recently launched Google Talk – their own version of an IM program.
They’ve also been looking into other areas of communication as well, such as hunting out dark fiber. That is, fiber optic cabling that is unused.
They’ve also been active in the areas of social networking and personalization. And we all know about Gmail, Froogle and Google News. These are just some of the areas Google has been moving into. They are, as we in the industry call them, verticals.
But that’s not all that Google is interested in. While they make sense, I think Google is just scratching the surface of their potential.
In order to understand what I’m talking about we must first review Google’s mission statement:
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
So, how does Google go about making all the world’s information accessible and useful? Well it’s a good start that they have a hyper active crawler that not only indexes pages, but also images, audio and video files. In addition, Googlebot can index text files, Microsoft documents such as Word and Excel documents, PDF’s and more.
I think they’ve pretty much covered the “organize” part of the mission statement. Sure there are more file types and sources out there, but Google finds more and more of them every day.
Let’s skip to the last point - “useful”. I’ll save “accessible” till later.
In order to make it useful, Google must present it in such a way that the user is exposed to as much of it as possible, yet it has to be relevant to the user. And they have been working on this for quite some time.
Now you may notice you not only see the usual paid and organic results, but in some cases you see definitions, Froogle results and more.
And more recently we are beginning to see other forms of vertical results show up in the “regular” organic results. These are results where Google is suggesting other potential matches to your query.
All in all, I’d say Google has a pretty good handle on presenting useful results. Sure it can get better, and I think it will. In fact Google MUST get better in order to stay ahead of the pack.
So, I’ve covered the “organize” and “useful” now its time to talk about the “accessible” and this is where my speculation starts.
Remember at the beginning of this article I said I wondered what Google needed $6 billion for?
What I’m about to write here may surprise some, but not others.
I think Google wants to move into the next generation of the web – the wireless web. And how they are going to do it is by buying a struggling wireless provider.
The wireless provider I’m thinking of is T-Mobile.
Just let that sink in for a moment. T-Mobile is the company that uses Catherine Zeta-Jones in their TV commercials.
Why T-Mobile?
Well, for one, the parent company, Deutsche Telekom is not satisfied with how the company is doing in the US. They have even hinted that they may sell the company.
Google recently signed a deal with T-Mobile to provide web services for the company. Google also recently purchase a company called Android, which makes wireless phone software and who’s founder also developed a device called Hiptop which is sold by T-Mobile. Coincidence? I think not
And a quick evaluation of Deutsche Telekom indicates that the US subsidiary (T-Mobile) is indeed worth about $6 billion.
It has been common knowledge the past few months that Google is investing heavily in wireless technologies. Android is just the latest in a string of purchases centered on wireless and the emerging possibilities it holds.
Even if Google doesn’t buy T-Mobile, they will still be in a position to offer a hybrid wireless/broadband communications system capable of allowing transitions between wired/wireless technologies.
Combining wireless/wi-fi technology into a fiber optic network makes perfect sense for Google. Imagine having a Google cell phone for which the monthly fees are minimal and having the phone be smart enough to switch to a local wi-fi hotspot with fiber connection allowing for national and international calls at a fraction of the cost. Google would crush the competition.
And like I said, the infrastructure for this is either in place (in other words, Google already owns the technology) or will be shortly (in that they are developing and/or purchasing it).
Really, the whole delivery of results is the only place Google is lacking. Without an internet connection and computer you can’t access Google. Therefore Google wants to put Google in the palm of your hand. And what better way to do that than offer a cheap/free cell phone with international calling capabilities?
And all you have to put up with is some unobtrusive advertising.
And think of that – what would an advertiser pay to have a captive audience? No longer would the advertiser have to pay for broad keyword matched advertising. Through geo-targeting and demographic profiling the advertiser would be able to target his ads at the right age group in the right location, carrying a Google cell phone.
Really, I’d put up with a few ads for a free phone with virtually unlimited long distance. I can tune out TV ads now, and I all but ignore PPC ads, so I’m sure I can ignore the cell phone when it beeps indicating a new ad.
Now I’ll grant that this is extremely speculative. Perhaps T-Mobile isn’t the target, but I’m pretty confident that someone in the market is.
In any case, if you have other ideas, or would like to share your speculation, please leave a comment.
Confessions of a Screensaver Thousandaire
There is a little item which is treated with scorn by many marketing
"gurus," yet which has proven to be popular with the "masses" year
after year, after year.
Why is there still a craze for screensavers? I mean, let's get real
here. This is something we first became acquainted with waaay back
in the day, when the Internet was commonly referred to as the World
Wide Web. Screensaver is old school, right?
Wrongo!
The amazing thing is, despite the death knell being tolled by sages,
screensavers continue to enjoy unprecedented popularity.
Don't believe me?
I dare you to type in the word "screensaver" into Google, and take a
look at the bewildering number of websites that offer them.
Go ahead, write to a few of those site owners and ask how popular
those little programs are. They'll tell you that they're one of the most
downloaded items on the 'net.
Need further proof?
Stroll through the screensaver section of cnet/download.com and
observe the phenomenon up close and personal.
The great thing about download.com is that at a glance you can
determine what date the saver was first listed, how many downloads
it has enjoyed, and very importantly, what users thing of it.
Inside download.com you can quite easily see that many savers are
free, while the majority sell for between $14.95. and $19.95.
Speaking of CNET, according to their research, screensavers are the
second most downloaded software application on the Internet.
Yahoo reports the word "screensaver" has appeared in their "Top 100
Searches" list every week since 1995. The term "screensaver" is
searched for an average of 34,357 times a day according to
statistics provided by WordTracker.
So, we've established that there is a genuine craze for these
desktop ornaments. But do all these people make money with them?
I mean, it seems more often than not, screensavers that are being
offered at all the hundreds of download sites are...free.
Didn't your mother tell you that there is no such thing as "free" in
this world? You should listen to her. She is absolutely correct.
Well then, how can people make money who are giving away
screensavers for free?
In order to answer your question, I'll unfortunately have to use a
dirty word. It's a word that brings a shudder of revulsion to
Internet users far and wide. That almost obscene word is, ugh...
Spyware.
That's right, spyware! Spyware is the number one reason today why
many screensaver authors try to inveigle you into freely downloading
their software.
You see, these unethical marketers make deals to hide advertising
and such into their programs. Unknowingly after you have downloaded
that attractive looking screensaver, the spyware embeds itself into
your computer system.
Once there, they call home to the "mother ship" with explicit
details on your surfing habits, your buying habits, plus other
personal details.
My advice...stay away from free screensavers. Now don't get me wrong
- of course there are still a good number of saver authors who will
not lower themselves to such unethical practices, but as a general
rule, you should look at free offers with a jaundiced eye.
Legitimate screensaver authors offer a free download of their
screensavers either as shareware, or freeware which is limited in
some way. In the software industry this is known as "cripple-ware."
After getting a taste of the free limited version, hopefully you'll
be willing to pay a reasonable sum for the "Pro" version which has
lots more features.
Sharware as you know, enables you to try out the screensaver for a
specific length of time before it expires. This is try-before-you-
buy marketing.
In the Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course I teach my students how
it is possible to create an excellent income by selling screensavers
to specific markets...niche marketing, if you will.
Since we have established that screensavers are popular, then it
makes absolute sense that individuals with a particular passion
would find attractive a screensaver which features their passion.
In other words, we are often told by marketing gurus to first find a
need and then fill it. First identify the niche market, and then
sell to it.
Let's use one of my screensaver projects as an example.
I happen to be a vegetarian. This means that I'm one of those growing
number of weirdos who refuses to eat anything with a face...or who
ever had a mother :) So no meat, and no dairy for Uncle Brent.
Well, the most natural thing in world is for me to not only try and
connect with other vegetarians on the 'net, but also to try and find info
which feeds (sorry about the pun), my passion.
How do you think I'll react if someone offered me a screensaver of
vegetarian recipes?
Especially if those recipes feature beautiful color photos that show
step-by-step how to prepare healthy meals, or better yet, teach
me through a series of UPDATEABLE content?
Don't you think I'll grab it if the price is reasonable? Of course I
will! That by the way was how I created one of my screensaver
products.
See what I mean? Provide a product which directly appeals to a
specific audience and you will immediately tap into immediate
income.
Updateable content? Yes Virginia, it is now possible for you to
place fresh content onto your customers screensaver using a certain
secret device.
You'll do so without the customer even being aware of it. He'll wake
up one morning to new images, music, and Flash videos in his saver.
He'll love you for that. No more boring, stale screensavers!
How many of those can you sell all day long?
In conclusion, there is an awful lot of money in marketing
screensavers. There does not seem to be any waning of the demand.
I sell screensavers because there is a huge demand for them. I
encourage you to first find a niche, and then create a saver based
on the specific demands of that specific market.
Here’s a cool little flash presentation of this article:
http://www.see-it-on-video.com/stvc.html
"gurus," yet which has proven to be popular with the "masses" year
after year, after year.
Why is there still a craze for screensavers? I mean, let's get real
here. This is something we first became acquainted with waaay back
in the day, when the Internet was commonly referred to as the World
Wide Web. Screensaver is old school, right?
Wrongo!
The amazing thing is, despite the death knell being tolled by sages,
screensavers continue to enjoy unprecedented popularity.
Don't believe me?
I dare you to type in the word "screensaver" into Google, and take a
look at the bewildering number of websites that offer them.
Go ahead, write to a few of those site owners and ask how popular
those little programs are. They'll tell you that they're one of the most
downloaded items on the 'net.
Need further proof?
Stroll through the screensaver section of cnet/download.com and
observe the phenomenon up close and personal.
The great thing about download.com is that at a glance you can
determine what date the saver was first listed, how many downloads
it has enjoyed, and very importantly, what users thing of it.
Inside download.com you can quite easily see that many savers are
free, while the majority sell for between $14.95. and $19.95.
Speaking of CNET, according to their research, screensavers are the
second most downloaded software application on the Internet.
Yahoo reports the word "screensaver" has appeared in their "Top 100
Searches" list every week since 1995. The term "screensaver" is
searched for an average of 34,357 times a day according to
statistics provided by WordTracker.
So, we've established that there is a genuine craze for these
desktop ornaments. But do all these people make money with them?
I mean, it seems more often than not, screensavers that are being
offered at all the hundreds of download sites are...free.
Didn't your mother tell you that there is no such thing as "free" in
this world? You should listen to her. She is absolutely correct.
Well then, how can people make money who are giving away
screensavers for free?
In order to answer your question, I'll unfortunately have to use a
dirty word. It's a word that brings a shudder of revulsion to
Internet users far and wide. That almost obscene word is, ugh...
Spyware.
That's right, spyware! Spyware is the number one reason today why
many screensaver authors try to inveigle you into freely downloading
their software.
You see, these unethical marketers make deals to hide advertising
and such into their programs. Unknowingly after you have downloaded
that attractive looking screensaver, the spyware embeds itself into
your computer system.
Once there, they call home to the "mother ship" with explicit
details on your surfing habits, your buying habits, plus other
personal details.
My advice...stay away from free screensavers. Now don't get me wrong
- of course there are still a good number of saver authors who will
not lower themselves to such unethical practices, but as a general
rule, you should look at free offers with a jaundiced eye.
Legitimate screensaver authors offer a free download of their
screensavers either as shareware, or freeware which is limited in
some way. In the software industry this is known as "cripple-ware."
After getting a taste of the free limited version, hopefully you'll
be willing to pay a reasonable sum for the "Pro" version which has
lots more features.
Sharware as you know, enables you to try out the screensaver for a
specific length of time before it expires. This is try-before-you-
buy marketing.
In the Screensaver Thousandaire Video Course I teach my students how
it is possible to create an excellent income by selling screensavers
to specific markets...niche marketing, if you will.
Since we have established that screensavers are popular, then it
makes absolute sense that individuals with a particular passion
would find attractive a screensaver which features their passion.
In other words, we are often told by marketing gurus to first find a
need and then fill it. First identify the niche market, and then
sell to it.
Let's use one of my screensaver projects as an example.
I happen to be a vegetarian. This means that I'm one of those growing
number of weirdos who refuses to eat anything with a face...or who
ever had a mother :) So no meat, and no dairy for Uncle Brent.
Well, the most natural thing in world is for me to not only try and
connect with other vegetarians on the 'net, but also to try and find info
which feeds (sorry about the pun), my passion.
How do you think I'll react if someone offered me a screensaver of
vegetarian recipes?
Especially if those recipes feature beautiful color photos that show
step-by-step how to prepare healthy meals, or better yet, teach
me through a series of UPDATEABLE content?
Don't you think I'll grab it if the price is reasonable? Of course I
will! That by the way was how I created one of my screensaver
products.
See what I mean? Provide a product which directly appeals to a
specific audience and you will immediately tap into immediate
income.
Updateable content? Yes Virginia, it is now possible for you to
place fresh content onto your customers screensaver using a certain
secret device.
You'll do so without the customer even being aware of it. He'll wake
up one morning to new images, music, and Flash videos in his saver.
He'll love you for that. No more boring, stale screensavers!
How many of those can you sell all day long?
In conclusion, there is an awful lot of money in marketing
screensavers. There does not seem to be any waning of the demand.
I sell screensavers because there is a huge demand for them. I
encourage you to first find a niche, and then create a saver based
on the specific demands of that specific market.
Here’s a cool little flash presentation of this article:
http://www.see-it-on-video.com/stvc.html
The Money Keyword List - Superchrage Your Website’s Earning Power!
Many webmasters are not making money or want to make money with Google AdSense. The problem is that some of them don’t know the keywords to use in their websites. It’s become necessary that those of us in the know share this key information with them to cut down their frustration. It should also help those webmasters boost their income.
Below are the keyword list I use when I build my AdSense websites. I call it “My Money Keyword List”. They pay from $1.00 to $100.00 per click. Can you feel the power in this list? The list is in alphabetical order. A few keywords may drop in and out of the list from time to time, but 99.9 f them stay on the list.
In the interest of saving space and not make this a very long document, I’m presenting this list in 2 parts. This is part 2 of 2 of the list.
Drum roll please-----:-)
81. Online Poker Game
82. Online Poker Room
83. Online Trading
84. Online Video Poker
85. Pacific Poker
86. Party Poker
87. Pay Day Loans
88. Pay Per Click
89. Personal Domain Name
90. Personal Injury Attorney
91. Play Poker Online
92. Poker
93. Poker Blackjack
94. Poker Chip
95. Poker Download
96. Poker Game
97. Poker Game Online
98. Poker Online
99. Poker Room
100. Poker Rule
101. Poker Site
102. Poker Table
103. Private Jets
104. Quick Book
105. Reduce Debt
106. Refinance
107. Refinance Home Loan
108. Refinance Mortgage
109. Refinance Mortgage Loan
110. Refinance Quotes
111. Register Domain
112. Rehab
113. Rewards Cards
114. Royal Vagas Casino
115. Rule Of Poker
116. Satellite
117. Slot Gamble
118. Slot Machine Picture
119. Spam Filter
120. Spyware
121. Structured Settlements
122. Stud Poker
123. Taxes
124. Teeth Whitening
125. Term Life
126. Texas Holden
127. Texas Holden Software
128. Texas Holden Tip
129. Texas Poker
130. The Poker Club
131. The Poker Forum
132. Three Card Poker
133. Tip Poker
134. Tournament Poker
135. Tramadol
136. Trans Union
137. Transfer Money
138. Travel Insurance
139. True Poker
140. Ultimate Bet
141. University Degrees Online
142. Video Conferencing
143. Vioxx
144. Viop
145. Wagering
146. Web Host
147. Web Poker
148. Weight Loss
149. Wild Poker
150. Win At Poker
151. Windstar Cruise
152. Work At Home
153. World Championship Poker
154. World Poker Championship
155. World Poker Tour
156. World Series Of Poker
157. World Series Poker
158. Wrongful Death
159. Yellow Page Advertising
160. Zero Roulette
You can get part 1 at my website: http://www.extra-income-ideas.com/articles.html or my AdSense Money E-Book: http://www.bye925.com/adm
Below are the keyword list I use when I build my AdSense websites. I call it “My Money Keyword List”. They pay from $1.00 to $100.00 per click. Can you feel the power in this list? The list is in alphabetical order. A few keywords may drop in and out of the list from time to time, but 99.9 f them stay on the list.
In the interest of saving space and not make this a very long document, I’m presenting this list in 2 parts. This is part 2 of 2 of the list.
Drum roll please-----:-)
81. Online Poker Game
82. Online Poker Room
83. Online Trading
84. Online Video Poker
85. Pacific Poker
86. Party Poker
87. Pay Day Loans
88. Pay Per Click
89. Personal Domain Name
90. Personal Injury Attorney
91. Play Poker Online
92. Poker
93. Poker Blackjack
94. Poker Chip
95. Poker Download
96. Poker Game
97. Poker Game Online
98. Poker Online
99. Poker Room
100. Poker Rule
101. Poker Site
102. Poker Table
103. Private Jets
104. Quick Book
105. Reduce Debt
106. Refinance
107. Refinance Home Loan
108. Refinance Mortgage
109. Refinance Mortgage Loan
110. Refinance Quotes
111. Register Domain
112. Rehab
113. Rewards Cards
114. Royal Vagas Casino
115. Rule Of Poker
116. Satellite
117. Slot Gamble
118. Slot Machine Picture
119. Spam Filter
120. Spyware
121. Structured Settlements
122. Stud Poker
123. Taxes
124. Teeth Whitening
125. Term Life
126. Texas Holden
127. Texas Holden Software
128. Texas Holden Tip
129. Texas Poker
130. The Poker Club
131. The Poker Forum
132. Three Card Poker
133. Tip Poker
134. Tournament Poker
135. Tramadol
136. Trans Union
137. Transfer Money
138. Travel Insurance
139. True Poker
140. Ultimate Bet
141. University Degrees Online
142. Video Conferencing
143. Vioxx
144. Viop
145. Wagering
146. Web Host
147. Web Poker
148. Weight Loss
149. Wild Poker
150. Win At Poker
151. Windstar Cruise
152. Work At Home
153. World Championship Poker
154. World Poker Championship
155. World Poker Tour
156. World Series Of Poker
157. World Series Poker
158. Wrongful Death
159. Yellow Page Advertising
160. Zero Roulette
You can get part 1 at my website: http://www.extra-income-ideas.com/articles.html or my AdSense Money E-Book: http://www.bye925.com/adm
How To Get Broadband
Broadband Internet services have become more the norm today, unlike the dial-up days of the late 1990s. With greater amounts of information needing to travel at faster and faster speeds over the Internet and the greater number of telecommuters every year, the need for broadband Internet has stretched beyond the board room and into the home office. So it is clearly more important than ever for everyone to know how to get broadband.
Getting broadband service, like, for example, DSL, is not difficult. There are many providers, and even many phone companies are getting into the game today as well. But finding a service provider, while not being very difficult, also requires a self-evaluation first. One must ask themselves before seeking out a broadband service provider, just what they’ll be needing broadband service for.
For most people who work from home, they may only need reliable and speedy Internet access. They may need to transport documents, maybe some graphics to and from clients and employers. But they will likely not need to transmit video or graphics. But if they do need to transmit the latter, they may need to seek out higher bandwidth. But, again, if they are only sending documents that are not graphic intensive, a smaller bandwidth at a lower cost may be all they need, and then they can spend their savings on other aspects of their business or work.
After doing this necessary self assessment when looking at how to get broadband, it is important to check pricing on at least three broadband providers. Also, ask users of these providers about their experience. All of these broadband providers may boast the same thing, but the people who use their services are the true indicator of how they really perform.
After you match your needs with the best price and testimonial, the decision is yours whether you want to spring for a broadband provider. But chances are pretty good that even if you only spend a few dollars more a month for broadband, after awhile, you will wonder how you ever existed with dial-up service.
Another thing some people must consider when looking into how to get broadband is whether you have providers in your area. In some rare instances, certain providers do not have the infrastructure in place to give you their service yet. So while you may be hearing the raves from a friend across town about a particular provider, you may still have to wait and see if their service is present in your area. This has been the case, particularly, for cable companies getting into broadband Internet services. As they expand their infrastructure, some sections of major metropolitan areas have had to wait longer to get their broadband.
Getting broadband service, like, for example, DSL, is not difficult. There are many providers, and even many phone companies are getting into the game today as well. But finding a service provider, while not being very difficult, also requires a self-evaluation first. One must ask themselves before seeking out a broadband service provider, just what they’ll be needing broadband service for.
For most people who work from home, they may only need reliable and speedy Internet access. They may need to transport documents, maybe some graphics to and from clients and employers. But they will likely not need to transmit video or graphics. But if they do need to transmit the latter, they may need to seek out higher bandwidth. But, again, if they are only sending documents that are not graphic intensive, a smaller bandwidth at a lower cost may be all they need, and then they can spend their savings on other aspects of their business or work.
After doing this necessary self assessment when looking at how to get broadband, it is important to check pricing on at least three broadband providers. Also, ask users of these providers about their experience. All of these broadband providers may boast the same thing, but the people who use their services are the true indicator of how they really perform.
After you match your needs with the best price and testimonial, the decision is yours whether you want to spring for a broadband provider. But chances are pretty good that even if you only spend a few dollars more a month for broadband, after awhile, you will wonder how you ever existed with dial-up service.
Another thing some people must consider when looking into how to get broadband is whether you have providers in your area. In some rare instances, certain providers do not have the infrastructure in place to give you their service yet. So while you may be hearing the raves from a friend across town about a particular provider, you may still have to wait and see if their service is present in your area. This has been the case, particularly, for cable companies getting into broadband Internet services. As they expand their infrastructure, some sections of major metropolitan areas have had to wait longer to get their broadband.
Broadband Availability
Getting broadband service is easy with a little research
Broadband Internet services are much more common today, in contrast with the dial-up days of the late 1990s. The fact is that greater amounts of information need to travel at greater speeds over the Internet. There are also a greater number of telecommuters every year, so the demand for broadband Internet has gone far beyond the boardroom and has turned up in the home office. Clearly it is more important now than ever to know how to find good broadband services.
Getting broadband service is actually not difficult. It is similar to getting other types of Internet service. There are lots of providers out there, and lately, a large share of the phone companies are getting into the broadband provider business, as well. But finding a service provider requires that you do some thorough self-evaluation first. It is extremely important to think about what you will need from your broadband service before starting the search for one.
The needs of most people that work from home are fairly simple. Most of them need Internet access that is speedy and reliable. They will probably need to transport documents, or transmit some graphics to and from clients or employers. Their needs will not usually encompass transmitting complicated graphics or videos. If they do have more complicated needs like this, it is a good idea to seek out higher bandwidth service. After giving some thought to the kind of documents that that will be send and receiving if they plan to only deal with documents that are not graphic intensive, it makes sense to invest in a smaller bandwidth at a lower cost. The money saved can be spent on other things for their business or work.
After doing this necessary needs evaluation, it is a good idea to check pricing options from at least three different broadband providers. Another good idea is to ask users of each provider about their experience with that provider. All broadband providers talk about how great they perform, but the proof is found in the people who use their services.
Once you have matched your needs with the best price and best service program, the decision is yours whether you want to go ahead and purchase the broadband service. It is interesting to note that chances are pretty good that spending a few dollars more a month for broadband will make you wonder how you ever got anything done with dial-up service.
Another important factor to consider when looking into getting broadband is whether there are providers in your area. Even now, in some places, there are providers who do not have the necessary infrastructure in place to give you their service yet. So while you may be getting great recommendations about a certain provider from a friend, you may still have to wait until their service is available in your area. This has been especially true for cable companies that are getting into broadband Internet services. While they would like to expand their infrastructure more rapidly, some parts of large cities have had to wait longer to get the same broadband service.
Broadband Internet services are much more common today, in contrast with the dial-up days of the late 1990s. The fact is that greater amounts of information need to travel at greater speeds over the Internet. There are also a greater number of telecommuters every year, so the demand for broadband Internet has gone far beyond the boardroom and has turned up in the home office. Clearly it is more important now than ever to know how to find good broadband services.
Getting broadband service is actually not difficult. It is similar to getting other types of Internet service. There are lots of providers out there, and lately, a large share of the phone companies are getting into the broadband provider business, as well. But finding a service provider requires that you do some thorough self-evaluation first. It is extremely important to think about what you will need from your broadband service before starting the search for one.
The needs of most people that work from home are fairly simple. Most of them need Internet access that is speedy and reliable. They will probably need to transport documents, or transmit some graphics to and from clients or employers. Their needs will not usually encompass transmitting complicated graphics or videos. If they do have more complicated needs like this, it is a good idea to seek out higher bandwidth service. After giving some thought to the kind of documents that that will be send and receiving if they plan to only deal with documents that are not graphic intensive, it makes sense to invest in a smaller bandwidth at a lower cost. The money saved can be spent on other things for their business or work.
After doing this necessary needs evaluation, it is a good idea to check pricing options from at least three different broadband providers. Another good idea is to ask users of each provider about their experience with that provider. All broadband providers talk about how great they perform, but the proof is found in the people who use their services.
Once you have matched your needs with the best price and best service program, the decision is yours whether you want to go ahead and purchase the broadband service. It is interesting to note that chances are pretty good that spending a few dollars more a month for broadband will make you wonder how you ever got anything done with dial-up service.
Another important factor to consider when looking into getting broadband is whether there are providers in your area. Even now, in some places, there are providers who do not have the necessary infrastructure in place to give you their service yet. So while you may be getting great recommendations about a certain provider from a friend, you may still have to wait until their service is available in your area. This has been especially true for cable companies that are getting into broadband Internet services. While they would like to expand their infrastructure more rapidly, some parts of large cities have had to wait longer to get the same broadband service.
The Future of Video Games
I’ve recently been thinking about where video games could be going in the future. I’m hoping to work in the game industry one day after I’ve finished university study and I’ve been wondering about it a lot. What do I want to see happen in the future? Well I may not have too many answers right now, but I have come up with a few ideas that I think may come into ‘play’ in the not too distant future.
Firstly forget Virtual Reality, as we know it. They’ve tried VR goggles and they made a lot of people sick in doing so. It’s probably never going to work very well in its current form. They’re still around and you can still buy them but they really don’t seem to be taking off. It will probably take a lot to get people totally immersed and involved in a new form of game play. It’s threatening to lose touch with the outside world and the people around you aren’t going to appreciate it much either. The Sci-fi neural implants are also both a long way off and not likely to be accepted by a majority of the general populace without some severe marketing and luck. I for one am not planning on going through brain surgery just to have a computer attached to my head. In fact I never want anyone to able to plug into my brain.
A technology that was brought to my attention by a zealous presenter at the local ‘Science and Technology Centre’ (a sort of science museum aimed at making science fun for children and juvenile adults such as yours truly) is that of ‘Augmented Reality’. Augmented Reality is essentially the overlaying of virtual elements onto the real world, such as a pair of transparent glasses that can display certain elements over the top of what is actually there. I agree with the presenter in that this could indeed have some awesome potential. Forget all the socially beneficial applications such as workmen being able to view underground pipes before digging, think about it from a games point of view. This technology could provide gamers with the ability to run around looking like complete idiots shooting at things that aren’t actually there and that no one else can see, kind of like in the film ‘They Live!’ The upside to this is that it would be a lot of fun. A group of people from the University of South Australia created the ‘ARQuake’ project, http://wearables.unisa.edu.au/projects/ARQuake/www/, merging the classic shooter Quake with this Augmented Reality technology. Again, this technology may not ever become overly popular, but it would be entertaining to play with.
Technology has driven the games industry for a long time with new games always trying to keep one step ahead of the competition. It started way back at the dawn of technology and it continues to this day. 2D graphics gave way to 3D and 3D is becoming ever better. Graphics are starting to lose the ability to impress like they once did. The step between Quake 2 and 3 was amazing, but DOOM 3 while being visually very impressive isn’t leaps and bounds ahead of its competitors in the same way new games used to be. 2D graphics encountered a similar problem; there comes a point where you just can’t do much more with graphics technology. It is this that turns graphics from striving for technological achievement to becoming art. It is my hope that we will start turning away from tech demos and return to game play and making great entertainment. Games such as Zelda: The Wind Waker or The Sims that strive to show greater depth of character through simplifying the game enough to portray emotions will hopefully become more common (and more fun… but that’s just one person’s view…). Technology plays a certain part in the conveying of emotions and story but it’s quite hard to focus on everything at once. When technology is easier and less essential to game sales we’ll hopefully see an increase in games that cast a lasting impression.
Somewhat unfortunately the rise of the ‘Casual Gamer’ will probably lead to more simplistic games being released. While personally I would love to see depth of story and characters, there are a significant number of players out there who want to pick up a game for twenty minutes or so, have a bit of fun, and then put it down until another time. These gamers are generally less interested in the latest greatest technology and more interested in a ‘fast food’ kind of entertainment that satisfies the moment, despite the lack of quality or the lasting effects. Hopefully the two game types can co-exist peacefully although recently it has been seen that some developers are cutting down on some of the planned depth of a title in order to accommodate the more casual gamer.
As technology pushes forwards boundaries are slowly being broken down between systems. We saw the Bleemcast a few years back enabling the running of Playstation games on the Dreamcast, and the PC is able to run almost anything given the right emulation software. Consoles are able to emulate other consoles and new consoles are being announced that promise the ability to play PC games. The Xbox 2 is reported to have a model in planning that comes in a PC case and with the ability to run both PC software and Xbox software. Macs can emulate Windows software and vice-versa. We’ll probably start seeing less of a distinction between consoles and PCs as the price of technology continues to drop and consoles continue to become more and more powerful and able to compete with the more expensive computers. Ideally we’ll see a single platform come into prominence so that everything can be run without purchasing a copious number of different machines, although that does have a downside in that it can establish a monopoly for one particular company.
The technology price drop and increase in power has also lead to more powerful hand-held machines than before. Real games, not just simple toys are now available for the portable market. The advent of PDAs and mobile phones with the ability to play games raises awareness of portable gaming and new competitors are starting to get in on the field that was once primarily dominated by Nintendo’s GameBoy. There is a new product, the gp32, that can run many different emulators and hence, many different system’s games (including some PC games).
I can’t say for sure what’s going to happen but these are just a few ideas that I’ve had recently. Hopefully the games industry will continue to strive towards new heights with new and interesting game play, stories, characters and ideas. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few years.
Firstly forget Virtual Reality, as we know it. They’ve tried VR goggles and they made a lot of people sick in doing so. It’s probably never going to work very well in its current form. They’re still around and you can still buy them but they really don’t seem to be taking off. It will probably take a lot to get people totally immersed and involved in a new form of game play. It’s threatening to lose touch with the outside world and the people around you aren’t going to appreciate it much either. The Sci-fi neural implants are also both a long way off and not likely to be accepted by a majority of the general populace without some severe marketing and luck. I for one am not planning on going through brain surgery just to have a computer attached to my head. In fact I never want anyone to able to plug into my brain.
A technology that was brought to my attention by a zealous presenter at the local ‘Science and Technology Centre’ (a sort of science museum aimed at making science fun for children and juvenile adults such as yours truly) is that of ‘Augmented Reality’. Augmented Reality is essentially the overlaying of virtual elements onto the real world, such as a pair of transparent glasses that can display certain elements over the top of what is actually there. I agree with the presenter in that this could indeed have some awesome potential. Forget all the socially beneficial applications such as workmen being able to view underground pipes before digging, think about it from a games point of view. This technology could provide gamers with the ability to run around looking like complete idiots shooting at things that aren’t actually there and that no one else can see, kind of like in the film ‘They Live!’ The upside to this is that it would be a lot of fun. A group of people from the University of South Australia created the ‘ARQuake’ project, http://wearables.unisa.edu.au/projects/ARQuake/www/, merging the classic shooter Quake with this Augmented Reality technology. Again, this technology may not ever become overly popular, but it would be entertaining to play with.
Technology has driven the games industry for a long time with new games always trying to keep one step ahead of the competition. It started way back at the dawn of technology and it continues to this day. 2D graphics gave way to 3D and 3D is becoming ever better. Graphics are starting to lose the ability to impress like they once did. The step between Quake 2 and 3 was amazing, but DOOM 3 while being visually very impressive isn’t leaps and bounds ahead of its competitors in the same way new games used to be. 2D graphics encountered a similar problem; there comes a point where you just can’t do much more with graphics technology. It is this that turns graphics from striving for technological achievement to becoming art. It is my hope that we will start turning away from tech demos and return to game play and making great entertainment. Games such as Zelda: The Wind Waker or The Sims that strive to show greater depth of character through simplifying the game enough to portray emotions will hopefully become more common (and more fun… but that’s just one person’s view…). Technology plays a certain part in the conveying of emotions and story but it’s quite hard to focus on everything at once. When technology is easier and less essential to game sales we’ll hopefully see an increase in games that cast a lasting impression.
Somewhat unfortunately the rise of the ‘Casual Gamer’ will probably lead to more simplistic games being released. While personally I would love to see depth of story and characters, there are a significant number of players out there who want to pick up a game for twenty minutes or so, have a bit of fun, and then put it down until another time. These gamers are generally less interested in the latest greatest technology and more interested in a ‘fast food’ kind of entertainment that satisfies the moment, despite the lack of quality or the lasting effects. Hopefully the two game types can co-exist peacefully although recently it has been seen that some developers are cutting down on some of the planned depth of a title in order to accommodate the more casual gamer.
As technology pushes forwards boundaries are slowly being broken down between systems. We saw the Bleemcast a few years back enabling the running of Playstation games on the Dreamcast, and the PC is able to run almost anything given the right emulation software. Consoles are able to emulate other consoles and new consoles are being announced that promise the ability to play PC games. The Xbox 2 is reported to have a model in planning that comes in a PC case and with the ability to run both PC software and Xbox software. Macs can emulate Windows software and vice-versa. We’ll probably start seeing less of a distinction between consoles and PCs as the price of technology continues to drop and consoles continue to become more and more powerful and able to compete with the more expensive computers. Ideally we’ll see a single platform come into prominence so that everything can be run without purchasing a copious number of different machines, although that does have a downside in that it can establish a monopoly for one particular company.
The technology price drop and increase in power has also lead to more powerful hand-held machines than before. Real games, not just simple toys are now available for the portable market. The advent of PDAs and mobile phones with the ability to play games raises awareness of portable gaming and new competitors are starting to get in on the field that was once primarily dominated by Nintendo’s GameBoy. There is a new product, the gp32, that can run many different emulators and hence, many different system’s games (including some PC games).
I can’t say for sure what’s going to happen but these are just a few ideas that I’ve had recently. Hopefully the games industry will continue to strive towards new heights with new and interesting game play, stories, characters and ideas. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few years.
Web Conferencing - What is it?
Web Conferencing is, very simply, a meeting, conference or seminar that is held over the World Wide Web. Web conferencing can refer to audio, video or text-based conversations and are conducted in real-time.
Web conferencing is an incredibly useful resource for anyone who trades within a global market place. It literally allows you to be in two places at once - sitting at home or in your office whilst conducting a meeting with someone one the other side of the world.
In its simplest form web conferencing can take the form of free downloads such as Microsoft NetMeeting or Yahoo Messenger. Subscribers can participate in text-based 'chats', inviting others into their conversations and being able to communication in real-time. Add a simple digital camera to this equation and you have the beginnings of an elementary web conferencing application.
At the other end of the scale, the most sophisticated applications allow seminars and presentations to be made to hundreds of delegates at the same time. Meetings can be fully interactive, allowing question and answer sessions, the sharing of files and documents and slide show presentations to be broadcast.
What Can I Do With Web Conferencing?
How you choose to use web conferencing will very much depend upon your line of work. A webinar (an online seminar) is less interactive than a web meeting, but is a very effective means of presenting sales pitches, performance reviews and delivering staff training.
A web meeting on the other hand, can be fully interactive not only in terms of audio and video but also by allowing the sharing of documents and files and viewing them online.
What is Online Collaboration?
Online collaboration is an excellent resource for project management, especially when team members are located in different geographical locations. Online collaboration provides an advanced level of document management and file sharing. Documents and files can be viewed, modified and updated online and in real time.
What Are The Benefits Of Web Conferencing?
The main benefits of web conferencing are to be found in terms of time and money savings. The need for travel is greatly reduced, and therefore so are the associated costs of travel - tickets, accommodation, subsistence, to name but a few. Employees spend less time waiting for flights, travel or just generally being away from their desk and therefore have more time to spend productively.
Enhanced communication is another benefit of web conferencing. Where colleagues could perhaps only meet face to face a few times a year, for example, web conferencing allows them to meet on a daily basis, if required. With people talking more, work gets done more efficiently and more accurately.
How Much Does It Cost?
The cost of web conferencing depends on how sophisticated an application you need. Low-level, one-to-one systems can be set up these days for virtually nothing. The most advanced systems, unsurprisingly, can run into thousands of dollars. Careful research, however, and thoughtful analysis of what you need from a web conferencing system can allow you to budget accordingly and match a system to your needs. The chances are, if you are spending money on travel then you will recoup the cost of your web conferencing software over time.
Web conferencing is an incredibly useful resource for anyone who trades within a global market place. It literally allows you to be in two places at once - sitting at home or in your office whilst conducting a meeting with someone one the other side of the world.
In its simplest form web conferencing can take the form of free downloads such as Microsoft NetMeeting or Yahoo Messenger. Subscribers can participate in text-based 'chats', inviting others into their conversations and being able to communication in real-time. Add a simple digital camera to this equation and you have the beginnings of an elementary web conferencing application.
At the other end of the scale, the most sophisticated applications allow seminars and presentations to be made to hundreds of delegates at the same time. Meetings can be fully interactive, allowing question and answer sessions, the sharing of files and documents and slide show presentations to be broadcast.
What Can I Do With Web Conferencing?
How you choose to use web conferencing will very much depend upon your line of work. A webinar (an online seminar) is less interactive than a web meeting, but is a very effective means of presenting sales pitches, performance reviews and delivering staff training.
A web meeting on the other hand, can be fully interactive not only in terms of audio and video but also by allowing the sharing of documents and files and viewing them online.
What is Online Collaboration?
Online collaboration is an excellent resource for project management, especially when team members are located in different geographical locations. Online collaboration provides an advanced level of document management and file sharing. Documents and files can be viewed, modified and updated online and in real time.
What Are The Benefits Of Web Conferencing?
The main benefits of web conferencing are to be found in terms of time and money savings. The need for travel is greatly reduced, and therefore so are the associated costs of travel - tickets, accommodation, subsistence, to name but a few. Employees spend less time waiting for flights, travel or just generally being away from their desk and therefore have more time to spend productively.
Enhanced communication is another benefit of web conferencing. Where colleagues could perhaps only meet face to face a few times a year, for example, web conferencing allows them to meet on a daily basis, if required. With people talking more, work gets done more efficiently and more accurately.
How Much Does It Cost?
The cost of web conferencing depends on how sophisticated an application you need. Low-level, one-to-one systems can be set up these days for virtually nothing. The most advanced systems, unsurprisingly, can run into thousands of dollars. Careful research, however, and thoughtful analysis of what you need from a web conferencing system can allow you to budget accordingly and match a system to your needs. The chances are, if you are spending money on travel then you will recoup the cost of your web conferencing software over time.
Beginners guide to PC video editing
If you're new to PC video editing then knowing where to start can be a bit daunting, so hopefully this guide will point you in the right direction.
To start with you will need a few items of equipment
Camcorders/Video Decks
Depending on your requirements or aims there are number of different solutions to discuss, so i will split these up into separate sections.
1.If you are starting from new then i recommend buying a new digital camcorder, this will give you superior video and sound quality as well as making getting started in video editing very simple, so ideal for the beginner. There are thousands to choose from catering for various types of budgets.
2. You may already have an old video deck or camcorder which uses the old analogue outputs such as composite or s-video (be sure to check first what outputs you have).
For this kind of setup you would need a capture card/analogue to digital converter, this is discussed in more detail further on in the article.
A PC for Video Editing
It is now possible to easily capture footage from your Digital Camcorder directly to your PC and edit it.
If you looking at buying a new PC or building a new one then the currents spec's are more then powerful enough ,a typical spec PC these days is a P4, 512Mb Ram, 80Gb HDD, Windows XP or something along those lines.
You could always use your existing PC if you have one, but i wouldn't recommend using anything below a PIII 600.
Additional Hardware
When transferring video from your camcorder to your PC there are a number of additional things to consider depending on the type of camcorder your using.
If you’re using a digital camcorder then all your need is a firewire card (also known as an IEE1394 card), a lot of current PC's have these as standard now, otherwise you will need to purchase the card separately. Some of these will come bundled with editing software such as Adobe Premiere but this really depends on which card you buy and how much you spend, once your camcorder is connected to your firewire port windows will automatically recognise your Digital Camcorder.
If your using the old analogue camcorder then you will also need an analogue to digital converter, see the section on video editing cards below.
Speed?
Its worth considering your Pc's Processor speed, the speed will effect the rate your video will encode, encoding is where your DV video clips are converted into a more compressed format, for example DVD's are encoded to MPEG2. So the faster the better really. Also consider the amount of RAM in your PC, 256Mb would be the minimum.
Extra Hard Drive Storage
Its worth considering having an extra dedicated drive for your video footage, remember that five minutes of DV footage uses 1GB of hard drive space so consider a large capacity hard drive such as an 80Gb or 120Gb, also consider the disk drive RPM, at least 7200RPM would be recommended.
If your PC supports it (most new ones do now), then a Serial ATA (SATA) drive will offer increased date transfer rates of up to 150MB/sec compared to 100 or 133 offered by the IDE drives, you may also consider a SCSI drive if you’re PC has an SCSI adapter as standard.
DVD/CD Burners
If your planning on putting your film onto CD-ROM (VCD), or DVD then a CDRW or DVDRW is an essential piece of kit, most new pc's may have a CDRW or DVDRW as standard, to burn your DVD, you'll need DVD authoring software.
Video Editing Cards
If you have and older analogue video camera/deck then an analogue USB or PCI capture cards will suffice.
These dedicated analogue to digital converters take process of conversion away from the CPU and therefore speeds up transfer.
If worth getting a quality capture card as the cheaper cards can produce mixed results,
The Video Editing Software
This is where all your creative work starts and the creative work starts, you can capture video from your camera, edit the captured clips, arrange them into a sequence, add transitions, credits and a soundtrack, titles and when your ready export your movie back to the camera or a suitable encoded file format (DVD, VCD etc).
To start with you will need a few items of equipment
Camcorders/Video Decks
Depending on your requirements or aims there are number of different solutions to discuss, so i will split these up into separate sections.
1.If you are starting from new then i recommend buying a new digital camcorder, this will give you superior video and sound quality as well as making getting started in video editing very simple, so ideal for the beginner. There are thousands to choose from catering for various types of budgets.
2. You may already have an old video deck or camcorder which uses the old analogue outputs such as composite or s-video (be sure to check first what outputs you have).
For this kind of setup you would need a capture card/analogue to digital converter, this is discussed in more detail further on in the article.
A PC for Video Editing
It is now possible to easily capture footage from your Digital Camcorder directly to your PC and edit it.
If you looking at buying a new PC or building a new one then the currents spec's are more then powerful enough ,a typical spec PC these days is a P4, 512Mb Ram, 80Gb HDD, Windows XP or something along those lines.
You could always use your existing PC if you have one, but i wouldn't recommend using anything below a PIII 600.
Additional Hardware
When transferring video from your camcorder to your PC there are a number of additional things to consider depending on the type of camcorder your using.
If you’re using a digital camcorder then all your need is a firewire card (also known as an IEE1394 card), a lot of current PC's have these as standard now, otherwise you will need to purchase the card separately. Some of these will come bundled with editing software such as Adobe Premiere but this really depends on which card you buy and how much you spend, once your camcorder is connected to your firewire port windows will automatically recognise your Digital Camcorder.
If your using the old analogue camcorder then you will also need an analogue to digital converter, see the section on video editing cards below.
Speed?
Its worth considering your Pc's Processor speed, the speed will effect the rate your video will encode, encoding is where your DV video clips are converted into a more compressed format, for example DVD's are encoded to MPEG2. So the faster the better really. Also consider the amount of RAM in your PC, 256Mb would be the minimum.
Extra Hard Drive Storage
Its worth considering having an extra dedicated drive for your video footage, remember that five minutes of DV footage uses 1GB of hard drive space so consider a large capacity hard drive such as an 80Gb or 120Gb, also consider the disk drive RPM, at least 7200RPM would be recommended.
If your PC supports it (most new ones do now), then a Serial ATA (SATA) drive will offer increased date transfer rates of up to 150MB/sec compared to 100 or 133 offered by the IDE drives, you may also consider a SCSI drive if you’re PC has an SCSI adapter as standard.
DVD/CD Burners
If your planning on putting your film onto CD-ROM (VCD), or DVD then a CDRW or DVDRW is an essential piece of kit, most new pc's may have a CDRW or DVDRW as standard, to burn your DVD, you'll need DVD authoring software.
Video Editing Cards
If you have and older analogue video camera/deck then an analogue USB or PCI capture cards will suffice.
These dedicated analogue to digital converters take process of conversion away from the CPU and therefore speeds up transfer.
If worth getting a quality capture card as the cheaper cards can produce mixed results,
The Video Editing Software
This is where all your creative work starts and the creative work starts, you can capture video from your camera, edit the captured clips, arrange them into a sequence, add transitions, credits and a soundtrack, titles and when your ready export your movie back to the camera or a suitable encoded file format (DVD, VCD etc).
Comprehensive Meaning Of Segmentation By Clustering
Segmentation as a word, means to classify the objects that are exists in an image, it has many theories and methodologies, assume that we would like to recognize objects in an image, there are too many pixels to handle each individually, instead, we should like some form of compact, summary representation.
Although, superficially these different methods may seem some how complicated for any reader, in this article I will demonstrate the meaning of clustering in segmentation.
One natural view of segmentation is that we are attempting to determine which components of data set naturally belong together. This is a problem known as clustering.
We can cluster in two ways:
-Partitioning: here we have a large data set, and curve it up according to notion of the association between items inside the set. We would like to decompose it into pieces that are good according to our model. For example we can decompose an image into regions that have coherent color and texture.
-Grouping: in this part we have distinct data items, and we would like to collect sets of data items that make sense together.
The key here is to determine what representation is suitable for the problem at hand, we need to know by what criteria a segmentation method should decide which pixels belong together and which do not.
Once we decide which cluster method suitable for our application, segmentation by clustering could be very useful for some applications that may use clustering, as well as summarizing video, or finding machine parts, finding people in mage, finding buildings in satellite images: these done by looking for collections of edge points that can be assembled in line segment and then assembling line into polygons.
It is hard to see that there could be a comprehensive theory of segmentation, not least what is interesting and what is not depends on the application, there is no comprehensive theory of segmentation at time of writing.
Since clustering is defined above, in addition clustering is a process whereby a data set is replaced by cluster, it is natural to think of segmentation as clustering, another meaning: pixels may belong together because they have the same color, the same texture, they are nearby, and so on. Some of clustering methods as well as: clustering by K-means, segmentation by graph theoretic clustering.
Although, superficially these different methods may seem some how complicated for any reader, in this article I will demonstrate the meaning of clustering in segmentation.
One natural view of segmentation is that we are attempting to determine which components of data set naturally belong together. This is a problem known as clustering.
We can cluster in two ways:
-Partitioning: here we have a large data set, and curve it up according to notion of the association between items inside the set. We would like to decompose it into pieces that are good according to our model. For example we can decompose an image into regions that have coherent color and texture.
-Grouping: in this part we have distinct data items, and we would like to collect sets of data items that make sense together.
The key here is to determine what representation is suitable for the problem at hand, we need to know by what criteria a segmentation method should decide which pixels belong together and which do not.
Once we decide which cluster method suitable for our application, segmentation by clustering could be very useful for some applications that may use clustering, as well as summarizing video, or finding machine parts, finding people in mage, finding buildings in satellite images: these done by looking for collections of edge points that can be assembled in line segment and then assembling line into polygons.
It is hard to see that there could be a comprehensive theory of segmentation, not least what is interesting and what is not depends on the application, there is no comprehensive theory of segmentation at time of writing.
Since clustering is defined above, in addition clustering is a process whereby a data set is replaced by cluster, it is natural to think of segmentation as clustering, another meaning: pixels may belong together because they have the same color, the same texture, they are nearby, and so on. Some of clustering methods as well as: clustering by K-means, segmentation by graph theoretic clustering.
Unlimited Bandwidth in Web Hosting
Bandwidth is the amount of data transfer that you are allowed to have for a hosting package i.e. Let’s say you have a web page that is 48KB in size, now each time a user opens your site and goes to that page S/he downloads 48 KB of information on to their computer. If a 100 users view that page one time each then there has been a total of 4800 KB of data transferred from the server on which your files are stored for the computer of users.
Size of web Page: 48 KB
Number of users who viewed the web page: 100
Total amount of data transferred: 48KB * 100 = 4800 KB
Bandwidth is the term that is used to denote the amount of data that has been transferred from your web space.
The amount of bandwidth that you require while choosing a host depends on two factors:
> The size of your site.
> The popularity of your site.
If your site is not very huge and you do not have any audio/video downloads and it’s not very popular i.e. not a lot of people visit your site then you do not really require a lot of bandwidth, on a average a web site uses up only 500 MB of bandwidth per month. Or if your site is small but extremely popular then you might have to go for a web hosting package that offers high bandwidth.
On the other hand if your web site is huge, providing audio/video downloads, as well as being very popular then you would certainly require a huge amount of bandwidth. Let’s say you have a video file that is 150 MB in size and in a single day a 100 visitors download the file. This means that 15 GB of bandwidth will have been used. If you multiply that by 30 days for the month it comes to 450 GB.
The unlimited bandwidth controversy
For some time now a lot of hosting companies are supposedly providing "unlimited bandwidth" for their web hosting packages.
It’s absolutely true, you can have unlimited bandwidth. However, you will need an unlimited amount of money by your side! Jokes apart, if you ever come across such a host it would be best to turn around and run back the way you came from.
Just think, if you can get unlimited bandwidth for $25-30 a month then why aren’t big companies like Sun, Microsoft etc. not hosted there? In fact, why isn't everyone hosted there? For that matter, if unlimited is a standard feature then why don’t all the hosts offer it? Is it because it is expensive and requires better hardware? No, it’s because some hosts are honest and don’t give in to such gimmicks.
Statistically speaking, a T1 Internet connection (huge broadband) equals approximately 500GB per month and costs around $1200 per month. So how can it be possible to get the same or unlimited for $30 a month?
There are a lot of ways you can be duped by these ‘ unlimited’ hosts; here are just a few of them:
The secret of ‘unlimited’ is actually buried in the Terms of Service by the host. Do not be surprised to find that unlimited = 15 GB.
The host may restrict the sort of files that you can host on their server. Generally image galleries and audio/video files attract a lot more downloads thereby resulting in higher bandwidth consumption. So if there are no files of this type, your site won’t really require a lot of bandwidth.
Some newly opened hosts use it as a scam. They take your money and after a few months when their server starts to become slow or reaches its limit, they run… with your money!
Some hosts outline in their Terms of Service that you can have unlimited bandwidth as long as you qualify for it. i.e. Your site must use less then, let’s say 2 GB of bandwidth in order to qualify for the unlimited bandwidth feature. As soon as your site goes over that limit they either start charging you for it or cut off your downloads altogether.
In life it’s a universal truth that you always get what you pay for, and it’s no different for web hosting.
If a host is using a cheap advertising gimmick like ‘unlimited’ bandwidth they maybe lying about a few other things too. Their ‘dedicated’ support team could be a single person (the hoster itself in most cases) sitting in front of a computer and taking your calls.
Do you really want unlimited bandwidth hosting from hosts that have very limited resources at their disposal? Or, do you want to go for a host that has spent thousands of dollars on setting up a good network infrastructure, servers, and a highly qualified and dedicated support team? The choice ultimately is yours and yours alone
Size of web Page: 48 KB
Number of users who viewed the web page: 100
Total amount of data transferred: 48KB * 100 = 4800 KB
Bandwidth is the term that is used to denote the amount of data that has been transferred from your web space.
The amount of bandwidth that you require while choosing a host depends on two factors:
> The size of your site.
> The popularity of your site.
If your site is not very huge and you do not have any audio/video downloads and it’s not very popular i.e. not a lot of people visit your site then you do not really require a lot of bandwidth, on a average a web site uses up only 500 MB of bandwidth per month. Or if your site is small but extremely popular then you might have to go for a web hosting package that offers high bandwidth.
On the other hand if your web site is huge, providing audio/video downloads, as well as being very popular then you would certainly require a huge amount of bandwidth. Let’s say you have a video file that is 150 MB in size and in a single day a 100 visitors download the file. This means that 15 GB of bandwidth will have been used. If you multiply that by 30 days for the month it comes to 450 GB.
The unlimited bandwidth controversy
For some time now a lot of hosting companies are supposedly providing "unlimited bandwidth" for their web hosting packages.
It’s absolutely true, you can have unlimited bandwidth. However, you will need an unlimited amount of money by your side! Jokes apart, if you ever come across such a host it would be best to turn around and run back the way you came from.
Just think, if you can get unlimited bandwidth for $25-30 a month then why aren’t big companies like Sun, Microsoft etc. not hosted there? In fact, why isn't everyone hosted there? For that matter, if unlimited is a standard feature then why don’t all the hosts offer it? Is it because it is expensive and requires better hardware? No, it’s because some hosts are honest and don’t give in to such gimmicks.
Statistically speaking, a T1 Internet connection (huge broadband) equals approximately 500GB per month and costs around $1200 per month. So how can it be possible to get the same or unlimited for $30 a month?
There are a lot of ways you can be duped by these ‘ unlimited’ hosts; here are just a few of them:
The secret of ‘unlimited’ is actually buried in the Terms of Service by the host. Do not be surprised to find that unlimited = 15 GB.
The host may restrict the sort of files that you can host on their server. Generally image galleries and audio/video files attract a lot more downloads thereby resulting in higher bandwidth consumption. So if there are no files of this type, your site won’t really require a lot of bandwidth.
Some newly opened hosts use it as a scam. They take your money and after a few months when their server starts to become slow or reaches its limit, they run… with your money!
Some hosts outline in their Terms of Service that you can have unlimited bandwidth as long as you qualify for it. i.e. Your site must use less then, let’s say 2 GB of bandwidth in order to qualify for the unlimited bandwidth feature. As soon as your site goes over that limit they either start charging you for it or cut off your downloads altogether.
In life it’s a universal truth that you always get what you pay for, and it’s no different for web hosting.
If a host is using a cheap advertising gimmick like ‘unlimited’ bandwidth they maybe lying about a few other things too. Their ‘dedicated’ support team could be a single person (the hoster itself in most cases) sitting in front of a computer and taking your calls.
Do you really want unlimited bandwidth hosting from hosts that have very limited resources at their disposal? Or, do you want to go for a host that has spent thousands of dollars on setting up a good network infrastructure, servers, and a highly qualified and dedicated support team? The choice ultimately is yours and yours alone
Software For Your Kids
Computers are all the rage today for people of all ages including children. There are many different types of software that you can choose from when it comes to picking something for your children to enjoy on the computer. Depending on the age bracket of your children you�ll have to take some time to choose software that does what you want it to do.
For the younger child aged three to five there is software that features some of their favorite television characters such as Dora the Explorer or Bob the Builder. Your children will be both entertained and educated as they play games, learn the alphabet, and learn to count. Software for very young children is easy for them to play so that you�re not always coming to their assistance whenever they press a wrong key.
Software for older children aged five to ten has even more interactive features than software for the younger child. You can buy software that is exclusively for learning and software that will only provide entertainment. Most software comes with a rating to let you know that it doesn�t contain any material that is inappropriate for children. Some types of software for this age group of children include puzzle games, software for learning a second language, math and science software, video game software, software for the artist, and software that allows your child to connect with the internet and play games with other children around the world.
Software for teens is something that you�ll need to supervise a little more closely since much of the software on the market can be objectionable and will often test the morals and virtues that you are trying to teach your children. When you buy software for your teen make sure that you take a good long look at what the software is all about, since many of the software games can feature a large amount of violence. There are, of course, software programs for your teen that are educational as well as fun and that they can use to enhance their schoolwork.
With so many different software choices out there how do you know that you�re making the right choices? Check out some of the parental listings that can be found on the internet. Many parent websites will offer you advice and ratings for much of the new software that comes out each month. This way you can be assured that other parents are approving a certain piece of software before you make your purchase.
Keep in mind that you should always limit the amount of time that your children spend on the computer. Children should be encouraged to spend just as much time playing outdoors as they do playing and learning on the computer.
For the younger child aged three to five there is software that features some of their favorite television characters such as Dora the Explorer or Bob the Builder. Your children will be both entertained and educated as they play games, learn the alphabet, and learn to count. Software for very young children is easy for them to play so that you�re not always coming to their assistance whenever they press a wrong key.
Software for older children aged five to ten has even more interactive features than software for the younger child. You can buy software that is exclusively for learning and software that will only provide entertainment. Most software comes with a rating to let you know that it doesn�t contain any material that is inappropriate for children. Some types of software for this age group of children include puzzle games, software for learning a second language, math and science software, video game software, software for the artist, and software that allows your child to connect with the internet and play games with other children around the world.
Software for teens is something that you�ll need to supervise a little more closely since much of the software on the market can be objectionable and will often test the morals and virtues that you are trying to teach your children. When you buy software for your teen make sure that you take a good long look at what the software is all about, since many of the software games can feature a large amount of violence. There are, of course, software programs for your teen that are educational as well as fun and that they can use to enhance their schoolwork.
With so many different software choices out there how do you know that you�re making the right choices? Check out some of the parental listings that can be found on the internet. Many parent websites will offer you advice and ratings for much of the new software that comes out each month. This way you can be assured that other parents are approving a certain piece of software before you make your purchase.
Keep in mind that you should always limit the amount of time that your children spend on the computer. Children should be encouraged to spend just as much time playing outdoors as they do playing and learning on the computer.
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