Skipper Online

Domain Names: Still Paying Too Much?

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:01:22 GMT

Are you still paying $25, $35, or more for a new domain name? If so, you are paying too much as domain name prices continue to drop. You can save money on new domain names; please read on to learn how you can find big savings.

Avoid the Big Registrars – The priciest domain names are sold through the legendary and established domain name registries. Many have been charging their customers $25 or more for years, but you don't have to pay that much! They want you to think they are "it" when it comes to registering your domain names; quite frankly, they aren't "it!"

Shop the Domain Specialists – Today, there are several well known companies charging just $10, $8, even $5 for new domain names. I cannot name the companies, but one noted provider has a popular Super Bowl ad to its credit.

Free, Via Your Web Host – A big "come on" for some web hosting providers is to offer a domain name free for one year to all new customers. Simply commit to hosting your site with them for one year and a domain name is included for free.

Of course, some sites will charge you more for a .com name vs. a .net or .biz account. Others will discount their prices even further if you commit to longer terms, lasting as long as ten years. Select the plan that works best for you.

So, quit paying too much for your domain names; you have a choice. Shop around today and save money for all of your sites.

An Introduction to Internet TV

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:00:43 GMT

You use the Internet and, of course, you watch television, but have you ever tried Internet television?

Most people are unaware of one of the more recent developments in interactive Internet use. This new technology brings all the benefits of the Internet and television together to create your own personalised viewing experience. In simple terms Internet television means that you can watch TV straight from your laptop or desktop PC.

Internet TV allows you to you maximize the use of your computer and your Internet connection. I expect you have probably thought that there must be more you could do with your personal computer or laptop. You know that typing the occasional letter, transferring your MP3 collection to your iPod or playing the odd game or two online is hardly making use of its full potential. Now you can explore a trusted method of entertainment with access to unlimited viewing and you don't even have to stop your usual computer activities.

If you are someone who can't get enough of watching programs on television, think about how Internet television will open up new options for free viewing. You can catch up with current news stories, watch real time sports action, keep up to date with stock market movements or enjoy a little light comedy. You are provided with a wide variety of entertainment possibilities that continues to grow, gaining in popularity every day.

At the time of writing, FIFA World Cup 2006 is just around the corner and, for many, Internet TV will provide access to free live football streams. Viewers will be able to keep up with the latest action from all the international football games involving teams including Brazil, Argentina, France, England and many more. Japan's third largest TV broadcaster, Tokyo Broadcasting System, has recently announced plans to air World Cup programmes over the Internet and on mobile phones.

If you use the Internet for any kind of research (even if it's only helping the kids with their homework), you no longer have to view what you find in the usual format of text and pictures. Now you can see this information through streams of live or pre-recorded video enabling you to see details that simply wouldn't be visible in a series of pictures.

5 Features of Internet Television:

Stations are available internationally. Currently over 150 countries have Internet access so you can rest assured that your country has at least one Internet TV station you can watch.

No additional hardware is required. In the past, watching television on your computer would require the fitting of a PC TV card but this is no longer necessary. Improvements in the telecommunications industry have made broadband connections more widely available and cheaper than ever before allowing more and more people to view high quality streaming media on their computer.

Anyone with an Internet connection can watch. A minimum connection speed of 56K is recommended and watching at this speed should give you a reasonable picture. Higher connection speeds will improve the picture quality (dependant on the server capabilities) and the fastest connections can enable you to view programmes in DVD quality.

New channels are added all the time. Major players in the Internet industry have recently started showing significant interest in this rapidly expanding market. Google is developing Google TV and has signed up American channel UPN and is in talks with the BBC in the UK to provide content. AOL is launching IN2TV which will show thousands of hours of programmes from Warner Brothers across 6 different channels and Yahoo has plans to show Internet TV in Japan which could lead to a worldwide service if successful.

Personalize your experience. Normal televisions have fixed channels which depend on the local stations or the cable operators. Internet television gives you the opportunity to bookmark your favorite stations so you can get back to them quickly without having to flick through everything else available. There is usually the option of viewing in either full screen mode or in a smaller window enabling you to get on with other things on your computer while watching.

You too can enjoy all the benefits of Internet television. The world really is at your fingertips now you have discovered this new, hassle-free way of watching TV.

Stihl Chainsaws - Still Going Strong

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:00:03 GMT

When people hear about STIHL, they think about old-world care and the handcrafted work of last century's skilled artisans. This dedication to quality is what has made the Stihl chainsaw the most popular on the market over the last 80 years.

Stihl specializes in developing and manufacturing a wide variety of portable power tools, both gasoline and electric. When looking at purchasing a chainsaw, some due diligence should be performed, yet, I found when shopping around and asking pertinent questions, such as what brand should I look at, most of the time the answer was always..."well, you can't beat a Stihl."

Along with Stihl's dedication and commitment to develop the ultimate product performance comes quite a long history of manufacturing and selling chainsaws.

Andreas Stihl developed the first electric chainsaw way back in 1926. At the time, professional loggers found his innovation very useful and were glad to take advantage of it. Andreas Stihl's significantly improved the lives of many farmers and woodcutters who had to rely on laborious crosscut saws and axes to etch out a living. It was tough going. Timber harvesting was virtually revolutionized by Stihl's invention.

Today,the use of Stihl chainsaws is no longer limited to the logging industry and has spread to other fields as well. The chainsaw has become such a versatile tool; while it's use amongst professional woodcutters is wide and varied, it's use has spread to the home owner, where the once arduous task of chopping firewood has now "become a breeze" through the application of the trusty chainsaw. The chainsaw has become an important part of the farming landscape; I remember growing up on our farm and learning to use a chainsaw at an early age. There were always trees that needed to be trimmed and land cleared. The landscaping industry have adopted the chainsaw as an important part of their make up. Contractors use of the chainsaw involves such things as cutting landscaping and cross ties as well as large timbers.

Stihl chainsaws have been constantly refined over the past 80 years. A reduction in weight and increased operating efficiency is a major reason why the chainsaw is no longer restricted to the professional woodcutting industry. Innovations such as the elastostart, anti-vibration system and improved shock absorption have catapulted the chainsaw to it's level of versatility. Dual braking systems and the inertia activated chain brake are more reasons why Stihl has remained at the top of the chainsaw tree.

During the last few years, the company has joined the fight to protect the environment. It has come up with new ideas to develop techniques that decrease hydrocarbon emissions. This has been a blessing for people who work in restricted areas.

Andreas Stihl's successors say that his commitment to quality has remained constant throughout the company's history. Stihl has maintained it's position in the power tools industry through that very commitment. And there are a lot of chainsaw users who would appreciate the lesser workloads they now face because of this versatile machine.

We Live In A System Of Beliefs

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:59:14 GMT

The following article about beliefs is just an expression of my thoughts. It is certainly not definitive.

In my opinion, we live our life on the basis of beliefs. We, literally live in a huge belief system. So seamlessly integrated (into our world) are some beliefs that most people assume that they are natural and accepted them without questioning.

The very act of reading this article is belief-based, because the very construct that is formed in your head now is conceptual & of the thinking mind. Perhaps, what really is does not just exist as concepts, but also exists in the NOW as experience. Although one is able to describe or conceptualize a truth, the conceptualization is itself a thought.

Beliefs can be very powerful, especially when the majority of the population buys into it. Sometime a certain belief when set in motion, causes catalytic reactions, triggering the formation of yet other beliefs. Gradually, layers upon layers of beliefs mire directness and truth. So thickly laden with beliefs and far removed from the original spontaneity that life becomes unnecessarily complex and ritualized.

Major beliefs operating in our world are:

Identification of self with physical body.

When in actual fact, we are much more than that. This belief can be very difficult to un-ravel. And it takes many series of self-discovery to realize our true nature. The entire scope of this belief is beyond what can be expressed within this article. So I will leave it as that.

War.

War is borne out of beliefs that justify aggression to others that is participated by large groups. War itself is a belief, because nature and animals do not engage in it. Only humans do it, because it was conceived in the human mind, and it isn't natural or essential to human conditions. Military is an offshoot borne from War Money buys happiness.

A belief that most thought of as true is that money gives one happiness. Happiness does not need money to fulfill, one merely made oneself believe so! The concept of Money set in motion the belief in status, status breeds competition, competition breeds the rat race, rat race cause one to slog a life time working and eventually few remembered the original purpose of life was for joy and fulfillment.

Status.

A person's worth that is dictated by factors such as financial abundance and rank. This one creates much suffering in very hierarchical societies. This one is closely related to 'money buys happiness.'

Perfectionism.

It is a most prevalent belief in our civilization. Everywhere in this world of ours, perfectionism is regarded as good while imperfection is bad. Everybody wants everybody else to be perfect. Is Perfection really an absolute value? I think not.

In my opinion, it is relative and is borne of human conception. Perfection is an idea. Things are the way they are. Perfection and imperfection are attached values.

Country.

The concept of country is just a belief in the ownership of land. Essentially, humans did not create land therefore nobody owns it. Patriotism is an offshoot belief borne from 'country'. When there are no countries and no wars, there are no needs for Patriotism.

Well, I think I have rambled enough. Thank you for reading.

Finding E-zine Publishers

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:58:39 GMT

Networking with e-zine publishers in your field is a good business strategy. These publishers are one of the most important parts of your marketing and it is suggested you start building a list of appropriate e-zines now.

There are ezine directories that can direct you to appropriate places. Vist them and subscribe to several e-zines in your chosen area. Don't try submitting articles until you get a feel for the e-zine by reading a couple of issues. The Directory of Ezines at www.directoryofezines.com , along with several others, even tell you information if article submissions are accepted, where to send them, and what rules tofollow. This information is priceless.

Contact the ezine publisher directly if you decide to submit an article. Most e-zine owners like to know the person who is sending them an article for publication. Not contacting the publisher first does not create a good raport.

Send a personal note telling the publisher how much you like their publication. List something specific you especially like about the ezine. Next, tell the publisher you believe readers would like your articles and ask if you might submit one or more. Finding one specialized point within the general interest area will increase your chances of being positively received.

Don't send tons of articles all at once and overload the publisher's already full mailbox. Limit yourself to sending only one article weekly, and sometimes even one a month. Make the e-zine publisher feel important by providing short articles once a week that you wrote just for that e-zine. E-zine publishers like knowing they are the only place a person can find a particular article.

Seven Criteria to Help You Assess Who to Buy Window Coverings Online from this Holiday Season

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:58:05 GMT

Austin, Texas December, 2005 – Ordering window coverings over the Internet can be an unsettling thought for many. After all, there are many retailers to select from online and you are making a significant investment. How do you know who you should buy from? How can you tell one company from another? YourBlinds.com knows many questions exist and therefore provides some simple criteria to insure online purchasing success.

When comparing companies for online purchases it is important to keep in mind the following criteria; Reputation, Problem Control, Proactive Communication, Up-to-date quality website, Competence, Detailed Product Pictures, and Explanations of what the various options will do for you.

The first thing to do is to investigate the reputation of anyone you consider purchasing from. It is one thing to post testimonials from satisfied customers on a company's own website. They can be carefully controlled; positive comments included and negative excluded. Epinions.com, Shopping.com and BizRate.com are a few independent sites available to assist you in selecting a reputable online retailer. These sites invite consumers to post their opinion of their buying experience. If you do not find any independent testimonials endorsing the company, perhaps you should consider buying elsewhere.

In addition, what does the Company promise if you do not measure correctly? Or your blinds are fabricated incorrectly? Or the manufacturer forgets to include the mounting hardware? Or your new blind does not operate correctly? Do they promise to be very responsive in helping you? Or do they NOT make any commitments? If no promise is made on their website, do not expect outstanding service if you have a problem. What is not promised on a company's website is NOT part of that company's values, culture, thinking or actions.

Before you place your order, make sure you know what information you will be receiving from the company throughout the time between when you place your order and when you receive your new window coverings. Ensure that the company will automatically send you an order confirmation, the estimated ship date of your order, and the tracking number once your order has been shipped. This should be your minimum requirement.

You need to be satisfied that the staff of the company you plan to order from is competent at window coverings. How can you judge this from a website? To assess this, look for how the company presents specific manufacturer information. Take as an example, how they present information about how much the manufacturer will deduct from the width and length of your blind during production (known as factory deductions) in order for it to fit your window properly. Do they disclose this information? If they do, is it a copy of a page taken from a manufacturer's reference manual full of jargon that you do not understand? Or is it information that a knowledgeable person within the company "digested" and then had their web folks present in a format that is easy for you to understand? Expanding on this is the presence of close up pictures of the product(s) you are purchasing.

Finally, the site you order from needs to demonstrate they are competent to help you take care of what you care about. Do not be satisfied buying from a site that throws a list of available options at you leaving you to figure out how they might be useful to you. Insist that the company help you create the situation that will work best for you and what you care about.

Following the criteria above will help insure online purchasing success. YourBlinds Inc strives to provide beneficial information to all web-users whether they are a customer or not. YourBlinds has been rated "Best of the Web" by About.com as a resource for shades, custom blinds, custom window blinds, custom window treatments and custom window shades. For more information visit the YourBlinds website at http://www.YourBlinds.com

Car Wash Fundraiser Ideas

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:57:21 GMT

Car wash fundraisers are a proven money-maker in virtually every community. All you need are willing volunteers, a high-traffic location with good visibility, and some attention getting signs.

You can put a car wash fundraiser together on short notice, but they work best with a little planning. Here's how to get started...

Things To Do List

Line up a location with good main road frontage
Ensure it has suitable water access
Assemble supplies list – hoses, buckets, wash towels, dry towels, squeegees
Assign each volunteer an item from the supplies list
Make 8-10 poster board signs in high-contrast colors
Arrange your volunteers in 2-hour shifts
Get advance publicity, if possible

How To List

Organize your group into teams - Promotion, Sales, Wash, Dry
Promotion team attracts new clients with signs
Sales team explains offer (use flyer for quick info) and up-sells clients
Wash team soaps, scrubs, and rinses each car
Dry team gets water residue off, vacuums, does tires, etc.
Have at least two lines so you can wash two or more cars at once
Wash cars for six to eight hours (Saturday 9:00 to 3:00 preferred)

Your fundraiser's success will depend on the weather. If you can wash 12 cars an hour (one every 10 minutes in each line), you can raise $500- $1000 in one day.

Remember to put together a quick flyer that includes the reason why you're raising funds and clearly states the price. You can even offer some extra services such as providing high-gloss tire treatment or vacuuming interiors for an additional fee.

Car Wash Fundraiser - Success Tips

Location, location, location!
Sell car wash fundraiser tickets in advance
Use a flyer that clearly explaining why you're raising funds
List all prices concisely in large, bold type
Up-sell to include additional services
Partner with another group if your head count is low
Increase revenue with an extra offering such as a 2-for-1 pizza savings card

Alternatively, you can advertise a free car wash and just ask for donations for your cause.

Often, this can raise more cash than stating a specific price, because people will see a group of volunteers working hard and having a good time, and may part with their money more easily.

Final Advice

Make sure to keep the event fun for all your participants and your customers. Play upbeat music. Provide soft drinks and snacks to keep the energy level up.

Keep safety in mind. Be sure to get volunteers to hold and wave signs toward passing traffic, not just volunteers to wash cars.

If you have time, get your car wash fundraiser some publicity coverage in the local newspaper, or by posting signs a day or two in advance.

Selecting The Right Fundraiser

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:55:55 GMT

Selecting the right fundraiser is the most important decision you'll make. Among the key factors are the timing of your fundraisers each year, the quality of the merchandise, selling considerations, delivery considerations, and ultimately, the net profit to your organization.

Think of yourself as running a small business building a reputation for innovation and quality products. What are your financial goals versus expected unit volume numbers, sales revenue versus profit percentage, quality of goods versus cost, acceptable market price points, etc?

If you think like a business leader, then you're on the right track.

First choose a type of fundraiser

There are different types of "best" fundraisers and you have to select what's best for your organization at this particular time.

Your fundraising choices are:

Event-based fundraisers
Direct donation fundraiser
Fundraisers with immediate product delivery
Fundraisers with delayed product delivery

The first decisions you have to make are on the fundraiser category, selecting a fundraising company or distributor as your supplier, and then the actual fundraiser itself.

Decision factors

How do you make that decision? A professional fundraising consultant can often be a big help. You can also check the web, use your personal contacts, review your group's past records, etc. Most importantly, take some time to gather the information you need to make the right decision.

You can design a simple survey that you can give to past organizers and other key influencers such as local merchants and organizational leaders. Offer clear choices to ease evaluation of replies. Print it out and get quality feedback from within and without your organization on what's worked well before and what needs improving.

Then, put together a spreadsheet for evaluating and ranking fundraisers. Break the ranking criteria into categories with sub headings in text boxes across the spreadsheet. Numerical rankings should be assigned to what criteria are most important to your group at this particular time for this fundraiser.

Things to consider when evaluating offerings:

Quality of the merchandise items offered
Quality of support materials provided such as catalogs
References of supplier
Availability of free samples or catalogs
Service level of supplier such as pre-sorting goods, etc.
Hidden costs such as freight, paying for brochures, etc.
Hassle factors like replacement goods and refunds policies
Special delivery needs such as refrigeration for some foodstuffs
Specific needs of organization
Previous vs. projected financial performance

Seek wisdom from past experience

Results will vary with the amount of fundraisers done previously, number going on at same time (yours and others), time of year, etc. Look at this fundraiser in context of others – done this one before, done it every year, competing group just did it, or our cheerleaders did this one before and it was a big hit.

Successful past fundraising ideas could and should be repeated, but remember that your customer base is often close to eighty percent the same customers from year to year. Spice it up; try something new and different that will increase your revenue.

Cisco CCNP - BCMSN Exam Tutorial: Switches, QoS, And Cisco's Networking Model

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:54:35 GMT

QoS is a big topic on your BCMSN and CCNP exams, and for good reason. As more and more traffic flows through today's networks, accurately applying QoS to both your routers and switches becomes more important.

Note the phrase "accurately applying". You must have a plan in place before you start configuring QoS on your switches, and to create such a plan you should use Cisco's Three-layer Hierarchical Model.

This model breaks switches down into three main groups - Access, Distribution, and Core. You're familiar with these groups from your CCNA studies, and now you've got to apply this knowledge.

The QoS workload should be borne by the Access and Distribution layers, because the Core layer switches need to be left alone as much as possible to their primary purpose - switching!

Traffic should generally be classified and marked at the Access layer. This allows traffic to be assigned the desired QoS values and carry that value throughout the network.

If you choose to change CoS-DSCP mappings, this will generally be done at the Distribution layer. Since distribution layer switches will be receiving frames and packets with QoS values from the access layer switches, the appropriate "trust" and "no trust" statements should be configured on the appropriate distribution layer switches.

Any traffic received by core switches should already be classified and marked as needed. The key with core switches is to use a simple queuing setup to keep the switching process fast. Fast, fast, fast!

Real-world note - Low Latency Queuing (LLQ) is an excellent choice for core switches. The name says it all - low latency! The configuration of LLQ is not a BCMSN topic, but a quick search on the term low latency queuing will quickly bring up several Cisco LLQ configuration documents.

Knowing the three layers of Cisco's networking model and the basic QoS operation and commands is vital to passing the CCNP exams, but even more importantly, you've got to apply this knowledge carefully and accurately to make QoS work for you in today's production networks.

Planning a Winnie the Pooh Themed Baby Nursery

Boy — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:53:37 GMT

There are many themes you can choose from when planning a baby's nursery. Probably one of the most popular and beloved themes for a baby's room is Winnie the Pooh. A Winnie the Pooh nursery theme is a great choice for many reasons. First, it works great for a boy or a girl. If you don't know your baby's gender or if you are planning to have more children, a Winnie the Pooh baby nursery is the perfect fit. Another reason a Winnie the Pooh room is a good option is that due to the popularity of it, you will have no trouble looking a wide selection of Pooh baby bedding and other Pooh themed nursery items such as art work, rugs, hampers, and lamps. You will even have your choice of regular Pooh or Classic Pooh.

Here are some ideas for decorating a Winnie the Pooh themed baby nursery:

Find a Pooh baby bedding set that you like and buy all the coordinating items that you would like to use. Items that you can usually find to match you nursery bedding include window valances, a hamper, table lamp, and crib mobile.

Decide how you would like to prepare the walls in your Pooh nursery. You could simply paint them white or a color that compliments your Pooh bedding. Another option is to use a Winnie the Pooh wallpaper and/or a wall paper border on the walls. Stenciling Pooh and his friends on the wall is another cute option. For something really dramatic, you could hire an artist to paint a mural of the 100 acre woods on one wall of the nursery. This is an expensive option, so if you have a tight budget for planning you baby's room, you will want to consider other options such as purchasing Winnie the Pooh wall stickers to accent the walls Finish up the room by adding the little touches that make it cozy. A nice Winnie the Pooh rug will warm up the floor. Décor for the wall can include Winnie the Pooh art work or wall hangings. The baby quilt from the Pooh bedding set could be hung on the wall as a wall hanging since it is too bulky to use for a newborn baby. You may want to add some Winnie the Pooh touches to the nursery furniture as well. Pooh knobs could be added to the dresser and Pooh could be added to the ends of the crib by stenciling, painting, or applying decals of Pooh to it.

When planning your Winnie the Pooh nursery, keep an eye out for items you can use. Pooh merchandise is available all over the place so you may find things you can use in your room in the most unexpected places. Also don't feel that you have to use only Pooh décor in the room. Non-Pooh items may also fit nicely and compliment your rooms décor. Just use your imagination to be creative and you will be able to create a wonderful room for your new baby.