bpo home based

Web Site Ad Space Selling

2008-12-15T11:50:00.000-08:00

"Promote your web site with high pagerank one way text link advertisements. You can buy or sell text link advertisements at LinkAdage Auctions - an online auction site that is built to help you find the links or link buyers you need."

But I think that it's worth emphasizing that you can - today - start selling ad space on your site and even purchase low-cost links on other sites.
For the most part, LinkAdage is focused on people who are into pagerank,so if you have a site that has a PR0 and a fair bit of traffic, you'll have a harder time selling ad space than if you have a PR5 and almost zero traffic.

Pleasantly, LinkAdage also has an affiliate program that you can sign up for, through an affiliate management company called shareasale.com. But the easiest way to sign up is to go to LinkAdage then click on the "Affiliate Program" choice on the LinkAdage Info menu along the top.

I can't really share specific ad sales figures with you, but if you check out my Casino Books Web site, all of the adverts in the right-side box were sold through LinkAdage, and they are all sold for a three-month period with no guarantee of any clicks or traffic. Just pagerank.

So if you have a nice Web site, have good pagerank, and would like to explore the possibility of selling your own ad space without having to fuss with finding buyers, LinkAdage could be an excellent solution for you.

Making Use Of Hobbies To Earn Money

2008-12-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

Many people have hobbies. Retirees and housewives often have hobbies to help keep them occupied during moments of relaxation or boredom. But not many people realize that you can make money from most hobbies. By taking your hobbies and turning them into cash at flea markets and swap meets, you can easily earn a modest income while having fun. Crocheting is one of the highest paying hobbies.

Crochet thread is often inexpensive while still being durable, washable, and delicate in appearance. Crocheted table cloths, curtains, and bedspreads can be completed within a month by most experts in the craft, and can be sold for hundreds of dollars depending on size and pattern. Other home decoration hobbies like wreath making, basket weaving, or wood working can also be turned into easy income.

Quilting is also a great hobby to make money from. Since fewer and fewer people know how to quilt, a hand made quilt is hard to come by, and therefore valuable. You can often make at least a fifty percent profit on your completed quilts. Baby quilts are also very popular. Sewing and knitting of any kind can be very profitable hobbies. Knit sweaters, baby hats, booties, mittens, and other items can be big sellers at flea markets and swap meets. Clothing items can also be sold at these locations very easily.

Well made home sewn clothing is often stronger than the cheap clothes that you can get at the local department store, but can be sold for the same price or less while still earning the seamstress quite a bit of money. Wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, and prom dresses can be huge income earners for the expert seamstress.

One of the best hobbies to make money from is gift baskets. Decorating jars and other containers using appliqué, ribbons, and paint can be combined with the creative mixture of perfumes, bath oils, and bubble baths to make very pretty, country style gift baskets. These bath baskets are great for gifts all season round, including mother’s day, birthdays, and Christmas, making them a very profitable hobby.

Gardening is also one of the more profitable hobbies. If you like to garden but don’t really need everything you plant, you can take the left over to a farmer’s market. You can also simply set up a stand on the side of the road in some communities. Fresh produce is a great commodity, and can earn you a hefty income in the spring.

Mechanical Engineering

2008-12-15T11:46:00.000-08:00

Mechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the application of principles of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest engineering disciplines.

It requires a solid understanding of core concepts including mechanics, kinematics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and energy. Mechanical engineers use the core principles as well as other knowledge in the field to design and analyze motor vehicles, aircraft, heating and cooling systems, watercraft, manufacturing plants, industrial equipment and machinery, robotics, medical devices and more.

Degrees in mechanical engineering are offered at universities worldwide. In China, India, and North America, mechanical engineering programs typically take four to five years and result in a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc), Bachelor of Technology , Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng), or Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc) degree, in or with emphasis in mechanical engineering. In Spain, Portugal and most of South America, where neither BSc nor BTech programs have been adopted, the formal name for the degree is "Mechanical Engineer", and the course work is based on five or six years of training.

In the U.S., most undergraduate mechanical engineering programs are accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) to ensure similar course requirements and standards among universities. The ABET web site lists 276 accredited mechanical engineering programs as of June 19, 2006. Mechanical engineering programs in Canada are accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB), and most other countries offering engineering degrees have similar accreditation societies.

Some mechanical engineers go on to pursue a postgraduate degree such as a Master of Engineering, Master of Science, Master of Engineering Management (MEng.Mgt or MEM), a Doctor of Philosophy in engineering (EngD, PhD) or an engineer's degree. The master's and engineer's degrees may or may not include research. The Doctor of Philosophy includes a significant research component and is often viewed as the entry point to academia.

The total number of engineers employed in the U.S. in 2004 was roughly 1.4 million. Of these, 226,000 were mechanical engineers (15.6%), second only to civil engineers in size at 237,000 (16.4%). The total number of mechanical engineering jobs in 2004 was projected to grow 9% to 17%, with average starting salaries being $50,236 with a bachelor's degree, $59,880 with a master's degree, and $68,299 with a doctorate degree.

This places mechanical engineering at 8th of 14 among engineering bachelors degrees, 4th of 11 among masters degrees, and 6th of 7 among doctorate degrees in average annual salary. The median annual income of mechanical engineers in the U.S. workforce is roughly $63,000. This number is highest when working for the government ($72,500), and lowest when doing general purpose machinery manufacturing in the private sector ($55,850).

Hospitality Service

2008-12-15T11:45:00.000-08:00

The concept of Hospitality Services, also known as “accommodation sharing”, “hospitality exchange” and “home stay networks”, refers to centrally organized social networks of individuals who trade accommodation without monetary exchange. While this concept could also include house swapping or even time share plans, it has come to be associated mostly with travelers and tourists staying with one another free of charge. Since the 1990s, these services have increasingly moved away from using printed catalogs and the telephone, to connecting users via the internet.

In essence, these systems employ reciprocity – users gain access to other users’ information only by posting their own. Required fields normally include name and contact information, though newer services encourage users to include more detailed personal material, including likes and dislikes, hopes and dreams, and even photographs. Of course, more information included tends to improve the chances that someone will find them trustworthy enough to host or stay with while traveling. It is very much akin to social networking sites.

Staying in private homes means that travelers can save lots of money on accommodation that they would usually be spending on hotels or hostels. Used over a long period of time, this strategy can cut overall travel budgets in half, or even more combined with hitchhiking. These savings can then be passed on towards more generously patronizing local establishments or simply staying abroad for longer periods of time.

Travel Agency

2008-12-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

A travel agency is a retail business, that sells travel related products and services, particularly package tours, to customers, on behalf of suppliers, such as airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours and tour operators. In addition to dealing with ordinary tourists, most travel agencies have a separate department devoted to making travel arrangements for business travelers and some travel agencies specialize in commercial and business travel only. There are also travel agencies that serve as general sales agents for foreign travel companies, allowing them to have offices in countries other than where their headquarters are located.

As the name implies, a travel agency's main function is to act as an agent, that is to say, selling travel products and services on behalf of a supplier. Consequently, unlike other retail businesses, they do not keep a stock in hand. A package holiday or a ticket is not purchased from a supplier unless a customer requests that purchase. The holiday or ticket is supplied to them at a discount. The profit is therefore the difference between the advertised price which the customer pays and the discounted price at which it is supplied to the agent. This is known as the commission. A British travel agent would consider a 10-12% commission as a good arrangement.

A travel agent is supposed to offer impartial travel advice to the customer. However, this function almost disappeared with the mass-market package holiday and some agency chains seemed to develop a 'holiday supermarket' concept, in which customers choose their holiday from brochures on racks and then book it from a counter. Again, a variety of social and economic changes have now contrived to bring this aspect to the fore once more, particularly with the advent of multiple no-frills airlines.

Independent Agencies usually cater to a special or niche market, such as the needs of residents in an upmarket commuter town or suburb or a particular group interested in a similar activity, such as sporting events, like football, golf or tennis.

There are two approaches of travel agencies. One is the traditional, multi-destination, out-bound travel agency, based in the originating location of the traveler and the other is the destination focused, in-bound travel agency, that is based in the destination and delivers an expertise on that location. At present, the former is usually a larger operator like Thomas Cook, while the latter is often a smaller, independent operator

Book Packaging Business

2008-12-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

Book-packaging is a publishing activity in which a publishing company outsources the myriad tasks involved in putting together a book—writing, researching, editing, illustrating, and even printing—to an outside company called a book-packaging company. Once the book-packaging company has produced the book, they then sell it to the final publishing company.

In this arrangement, the book-packaging company acts as a liaison between a publishing company and the writers, researchers, editors, and printers that design and produce the book. Book packagers thus blend the roles of agent, editor, and publisher. Book-packaging is common in the genre fiction market, particularly for books aimed at pre-teens and teenagers, and in the illustrated non-fiction co-edition market.

Publishing companies use the services of book-packaging companies in cases where the publishing company does not have the in-house resources to handle a project. There are two main reasons that publishing houses hire a book-packaging company: labor-intensive books like books with many illustrations or photographs, books which require coordinating the input of several authors, or 'novelty' books, such as gardening books that contain seed packages and series books.

In many cases, the book is first conceived as a marketing concept, and a writer is then hired to write the book on a work for hire basis. In some cases, book packaging companies use a celebrity with a very marketable name as the credited author, while using a professional ghostwriter to do most of the writing, researching, and editing.

Book-packaging is a common strategy between smaller publishers in different territorial markets where the company that first buys the intellectual property rights, sells a package to other publishers and gains an immediate return on capital invested. Indeed, the first publisher will often print sufficient copies for all territories and thereby obtain the maximum quantity discounts on the print run for all.

Antiques Restoration

2008-12-15T11:41:00.000-08:00

Antiques restoration refers to either the practice of "restoration"- restoring an antique or work of art to a like-new condition (or what might be perceived by a viewer or potential buyer as like-new), or "conservation"- the practice of preserving an antique or work of art against further deterioration.

Restoration can be as simple as light cleaning to remove disfiguring dirt or grime, such as on the surface of a painting, or it may include near complete rebuilding or replacement, as might be the case with old automobiles or furniture.

Often done in preparation for sale, or by an collector upon acquiring a new piece, the main goal of restoration is to "restore" the original appearance or functionality of a piece. There is a lot of difference between restoring and repairing.

You may achieve functionality with a repair, but restoring an item properly is an art-form. Finishes might/may be stripped and redone, but it is essential that the original patination is retained, if possible. Stripping is only done as a last resort, especially with antique furniture. Engines might be rebuilt with new parts as necessary, or holes in a silver pot might/may be patched.

While some of these practices are frowned on by many museums, scholars, and other experts, for many people there is little value in an antique that is unusable or not able to be displayed. Poor restoration is the bane of a trained restorer. Working on someone else's bad repair is the worst possible situation. Often with antique restoration, there are also other issues as well. For example, some collectors value "patina", or also want an item to still reflect an aesthetic that shows its age- in this respect, an "over restored" item can actually take away from its value than if nothing has been done to the item at all. Therefore, restoration should always be left to professionals who are sensitive to all of the issues- insuring that a piece retains or increases its value after

Restorers are often trained craftsperson's, such as furniture makers, mechanics, or metalsmiths. Some have years of experience in their fields, whereas others are self-taught volunteers. Many of the antique aircraft around the United States are restored by trained aircraft engineers assisted by volunteers, some of whom are men who flew those same aircraft years ago.

"French Polishing" was the industry standard in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, pushed aside by the efficient advantage of modern methods in the Industrial Revolution. Lacquers and spray systems replaced the original French polish finish, which is impractical for mass furniture production due to the labor-intensive process of application. As the desire for antiques was not idle, neither was the need for them to be appropriately restored; thus, the trade has been kept alive by a thread.

Technical Writer

2008-12-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

A technical writer is a professional writer who designs, writes, creates, maintains, and updates technical documentation—including online help, user guides, white papers, design specifications, system manuals, and other documents. Engineers, scientists, and other professionals may also produce technical writing, sometimes handing their work to a professional technical writer for editing and formatting. A technical writer's primary responsibility is to produce technical documentation for technical, business, and consumer audiences.

When creating a document, a technical writer gathers information by studying existing material and interviewing subject matter experts (SMEs). The technical writer also studies the audience to learn their needs and technical level.

Well-formed technical documents follow common publishing guidelines. Technical documentation comes in all styles and formats, depending on the medium. Printed documentation has different standards from online documentation. Usually, technical writers follow formatting conventions described in a standard style guide. In the US, most technical writers use the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). Many companies have their own corporate style guides, typically extensions of the CMS to cover specific corporate issues. One of these, the Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications is even used by some other companies.

Engineering projects, particularly defense or aerospace related projects often follow national and international documentation standards—such as ATA100 for civil aircraft, or S1000D for defense platforms.

Technical writers normally possess a mix of technical and language abilities. They may have a degree or certification in technical communications. Many technical writers switch from another technical field such as engineering or science, often after taking classes in technical communications.

A good technical writer has the ability to create, assimilate and convey technical material in a concise and effective manner. A technical writer may specialize in a technical area in which they have acquired expertise. For example, some API writers mostly work on API documents, while others specialize in medical or environmental material.

Mortgage Broker

2008-12-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who sells mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses.

Banks' activities can be divided into retail banking, dealing directly with individuals and small businesses; business banking, providing services to mid-market business; corporate banking, directed at large business entities; private banking, providing wealth management services to High Net Worth Individuals and families; and investment banking, relating to activities on the financial markets. Most banks are profit-making, private enterprises.

However, some are owned by government, or are non-profits. Central banks are normally government owned banks, often charged with quasi-regulatory responsibilities, e.g. supervising commercial banks, or controlling the cash interest rate. They generally provide liquidity to the banking system and act as Lender of last resort in event of a crisis.

The nature and scope of a mortgage broker's activities varies with jurisdiction. For example in the UK anyone offering mortgage brokerage is offering a regulated financial activity; the broker is responsible for ensuring the advice is appropriate for the borrowers' circumstances and is held financially liable if the advice is later shown to be defective. In other jurisdictions the transaction undertaken by the broker may be limited to a sales job: pointing the borrower in the direction of an appropriate lender, no advice given, and a commission collected for the sale.

Therefore the work undertaken by the broker will depend on the depth of their service and liabilities. Typically the following tasks are undertaken:
Marketing to attract clients. Assessment of the borrower’s circumstances. This may include assessment of credit and affordability. Assessing the market to find a mortgage product that fits the client’s needs. Applying for a lenders agreement in principle. Gathering all needed documents, completing a lender application form. Explaining the legal disclosures. Submitting all material to the lender.

Duties Of A Librarian

2008-12-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs. Typically, librarians work in a public or college library, an elementary or secondary school media center, a library within a company, or another information-provision agency. Some librarians are independent entrepreneurs working as information specialists, catalogers, indexers and other professional, specialized capacities. Librarians may be categorized as a public, school, correctional, special, independent or academic librarian.

Specific duties vary depending on the size and type of library. Olivia Crosby described librarians as "Information experts in the information age". Most librarians spend their time working in one of the following areas of a library:

Public service librarians work with the public, frequently at the reference desk of lending libraries. Some specialize in serving adults or children. Children's librarians provide appropriate material for children at all age levels, include pre-readers, conduct specialized programs and work with the children to help foster interest and competence in the young reader. In larger libraries, some specialize in teen services, periodicals, or other special collections.

Reference or research librarians help people doing research to find the information they need, through a structured conversation called a reference interview. The help may take the form of research on a specific question, providing direction on the use of databases and other electronic information resources; obtaining specialized materials from other sources; or providing access to and care of delicate or expensive materials. These services are sometimes provided by other library staff that have been given a certain amount of special training; some have criticized this trend.

Technical service librarians work "behind the scenes" ordering library materials and database subscriptions, computers and other equipment, and supervise the cataloging and physical processing of new materials.

Collections development librarians monitor the selection of books and electronic resources. Large libraries often use approval plans, which involve the librarian for a specific subject creating a profile that allows publishers to send relevant books to the library without any additional vetting. Librarians can then see those books when they arrive and decide if they will become part of the collection or not. All collections librarians also have a certain amount of funding to allow them to purchase books and materials that don't arrive via approval.

Archivists can be specialized librarians who deal with archival materials, such as manuscripts, documents and records, though this varies from country to country, and there are other routes to the archival profession. Systems Librarians develop, troubleshoot and maintain library systems, including the library catalog and related systems.

Electronic Resources Librarians manage the databases that libraries license from third-party vendors. School Librarians work in school libraries and perform duties as teachers, information technology specialists, and advocates for literacy. Outreach Librarians go out of their way to provide library and information services for underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities, low income neighborhoods, homebound adults and seniors, incarcerated and ex-offenders, and homeless and rural communities.

Experienced librarians may take administrative positions such as library or information center director. Similar to the management of any other organization, they are concerned with the long-term planning of the library, and its relationship with its parent. In smaller or specialized libraries, librarians typically perform a wide range of the different duties.

Gemcutter

2008-12-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

A gemcutter is a person who cuts, shapes, and polishes natural and synthetic gemstones.

Among a gemcutter's work are the following activities:
Positioning rough stone in a holder, and holding the stone against the edge of a revolving saw or lapidary slitter impregnated with diamond dust to cut and slit stone. Removing cut stone and placing it in lapidary stick. A gemcutter then selects the shaping wheel and applies abrasive compound. They hold a lapidary stick against the revolving shaping wheel and lapidary disk to further shape stone and grind facets.

Examining stone for accuracy of cut, using a magnifying glass. A gemcutter polishes stone, using felt or canvas-covered polishing wheel, and polishing compounds, such as tripoli or rouge. Possibly using a mechanical facet-cutting device. A gemcutter may cut and polish diamonds for industrial purposes, and be designated as an Industrial-Diamond Polisher (jewelry-silver.). The term gemcutting is used to describe the process of shaping and polishing faceted gemstones.

While the gemstone in the rough state may be trimmed to remove undesirable material or to separate it on a cleavage line with a diamond bladed saw, accurately described as cutting and once done by the use of a chisel or similar tool to simply break off pieces that were usable as single gemstones.

The actual shaping and polishing of a gemstone is a grinding or sanding process. This grinding and sanding is done using a lap, a precision metal plate embedded with grit similar to the more familiar embedding of grit on paper the lap is of high precision particularly for flatness and turned by a motor. The grit material is normally diamond and sometimes corundum for their hardness. Only diamond is hard enough on the Mohs scale to shape and polish a diamond.

The initial shaping and facet placement may be done using laps with the more familiar grits of 220, 600, 1200. The polishing step, however, requires grits that are less familiar 8,000 14,000 50,000 and even 100,000. This grit is also embedded into a metal lap, but sometimes applied manually to the lap during polishing.

The faceting equipment allows for very precise adjustment of angle and location of facet placement around the gemstone referred to as indexing. The facet design may be computer generated or left to the skill and experience of the individual cutting the gemstone.

With the exception of diamonds a coolant is constantly applied to keep the gemstone cool since it is usually held in place on the end of a dop using high temperature shellac based wax or other adhesive. Diamonds are held mechanically since the heat generated by friction can be extreme and will not allow the use of adhesives.

Cabochons, a smooth shaped gemstone without facets such as jade or turquoise and most gemstones are shaped and polished in much the same manner, but are usually done by hand relying on the skill of the individual and the use of equipment similar to that shown as lapping equipment

Flight attendant- Passenger Care Responsibilities

2008-12-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

Flight attendants or cabin crew or stewards, air hosts/hostesses, or stewardesses are members of an aircrew employed by airlines to ensure the safety and comfort of the passengers aboard commercial flights as well as on select business jet aircraft.

The main and always primary duty of a flight attendant is for safety but they do also provide a caregiving and customer service role on board commercial flights. Customer service duties include the preparation and serving or selling of onboard food and beverage. Flight attendants also offer comfort items including blankets, pillows, hot towel service, handing out headsets, magazines, newspapers, amenity kits, games and on certain airlines hand out pyjamas and set up and make the lie flat beds. They also distribute customs forms on international flights and assist passengers with their proper completion prior to landing.

The Cabin Service Director (CSD), Cabin Service Manager (CSM). The title associating with this crew member differs from airline to airline. These crew are mainly found on larger aircraft types and are in charge of the running of the cabin. They report when the cabin is secure for takeoff and landing, deliver on-board announcements, and any broken or missing emergency equipment items to the pilots after the preflight check. They generally operate the doors during routine flights as well as hold the manifest and account for all money and required paperwork and reports for each flight. 2-4 Senior Crew Members may also be on board the larger aircraft types.
Cabin Service Directors are flight attendants that have been promoted through the ranks flight attendant -> senior crew member -> purser -> Cabin Service Director. To reach this position the crew member must have had a mandatory amount of service years within the airline or airlines prior to changing airline. Further training is mandatory, and Cabin Service Directors typically earn a higher salary than flight attendants because of the added responsibility.

Fashion designing And Areas of work

2008-12-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time.

Fashion design differs from costume design due to its core product having a built in obsolescence usually of one to two seasons. A season is defined as either autumn/winter or spring/summer. Fashion design is generally considered to have started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who was the first person to sew their label into the garments that they created. While all articles of clothing from any time period are studied by academics as costume design, only clothing created after 1858 could be considered as fashion design.

Some fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions for the mass market. Large designer brands which have a 'name' as their brand such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, or channel are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction of a designer director.

There are three main ways in which designers can work:
Working freelance: Freelance designers works for themselves. They sell their work to fashion houses, direct to shops, or to clothing manufacturers. The garments bear the buyer's label.
Working In-house: In-house designers are employed full-time by one fashion company. Their designs are the property of that company, and cannot be sold to anyone else.

Own Label: Fashion designers often set up their own companies. A lot of designers find this more satisfying than working for someone else, as their designs are sold under their own label

Camera Operator

2008-12-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

A camera operator is a person that operates a film or video camera for the purpose of recording motion to film, video, or a computer storage medium. Camera operators serving in an official capacity in the process of filmmaking may be known variously as a camera operator, cameraman, television camera operator, video camera operator, or videographer, depending on the context and technology involved.

The operator is responsible for physically operating the camera and maintaining composition throughout a given scene or shot. In narrative filmmaking, the camera operator will collaborate with the director, director of photography, actors and crew to make technical and creative decisions. In this setting, a camera operator is part of a camera crew consisting of the director of photography and one or more camera assistants. In documentary filmmaking and news, the camera operator is often called on to film unfolding, unscripted events. The operator may or may not be working in collaboration with a director or producer.

Important camera operator skills include choreographing and framing shots, knowledge of and the ability to select appropriate photographic lenses, and other equipment like dollies, camera cranes, etc. to portray dramatic scenes. The principles of dramatic story telling and film editing fundamentals are important skills as well. The camera operator is required to communicate clearly and concisely on film sets where time and budget constraints are ever present.

Camera operators are often wrongly mistaken for the movie director.

Chemist

2008-12-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

A chemist is a scientist trained in the science of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its small-scale properties such as density and acidity instead of large-scale properties like size and shape. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms. Chemists carefully measure substance proportions, reaction rates, and other chemical properties.

Chemists use this knowledge to learn the composition, and properties of unfamiliar substances, as well as to reproduce and synthesize large quantities of useful naturally occurring substances and create new artificial substances and useful processes. Chemists may specialize in any number of subdisciplines of chemistry.

Materials scientists and metallurgists share much of the same education and skills with chemists. Chemical engineers are concerned with the physical processes necessary to carry out industrial reactions and to separate and purify the products, and work with industrial chemists on the development of new processes.

Jobs for chemists usually require at least a bachelor's degree, but many positions, especially those in research, require a Ph.D. Most undergraduate programs emphasize mathematics and physics as well as chemistry, partly because chemistry is also known as "the central science", thus chemists ought to have an all-rounded knowledge about science.

At the Master's level and higher, students tend to specialize in a particular field. Fields of specialization include biochemistry ,nuclear chemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, analytical chemistry, theoretical chemistry, quantum chemistry, environmental chemistry and physical chemistry. Postdoctoral experience may be required for certain positions.

Cartoonist

2008-12-15T11:28:00.000-08:00

A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. Traditionally much of this work was, and still is, humorous, and is intended primarily for entertainment purposes. Many traditional print cartoons are of the single-panel variety, and are published in print media of various kinds, for example, in magazines such as the New Yorker and Punch.

The term cartoonist is also applied to those who create more serious editorial or political cartoons, as well as those who create comic strips, comic books and graphic novels.

The word is sometimes used for those who create animated cartoons including manga, although a person who designs the visual part of animated cartoons is perhaps more commonly referred to as an animator.

A cartoonist traditionally sketches his work out roughly in pencil first, before going over the sketches in black ink, using either a brush or a metal nibbed pen.

Cartoonists whose work is intended for online publication increasingly work in digital media. Cartooning in the sense of animation is used in animated feature films, some television shows. It is also sometimes used in regular movies for special sequences such as dreams or fantasy scenes, or for the title sequence.

Automotive Designing

2008-12-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

Automotive design is the profession involved in the development of the appearance, and to some extent the ergonomics, of motor vehicles or more specifically road vehicles. This most commonly refers to automobiles but also refers to motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans. The functional design and development of a modern motor vehicle is typically done by a large team from many different disciplines included in automotive engineers.

Automotive design in this context is primarily concerned with developing the visual appearance or aesthetics of the vehicle, though it is also involved in the creation of the product concept. Automotive design is practiced by designers who usually have an art background and a degree in industrial design or transportation design.

The task of the design team is usually split into three main aspects: exterior design, interior design, and color and trim design. Graphic design is also an aspect of automotive design; this is generally shared amongst the design team as the lead designer sees fit. Design focuses not only on the isolated outer shape of automobile parts, but concentrates on the combination of form and function, starting from the vehicle package.

The aesthetic value will need to correspond to ergonomic functionality and utility features as well. In particular, vehicular electronic components and parts will give more challenges to automotive designers who are required to update on the latest information and knowledge associated with emerging vehicular gadgetry, particularly dashtop mobile devices, like GPS navigation, satellite radio, HD radio, mobile TV, MP3 players, video playback and smartphone interfaces.

Though not all the new vehicular gadgets are to be designated as factory standard items, but some of them may be integral to determining the future course of any specific vehicular models.

Calligraphy

2008-12-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

Calligraphy is the art of writing. A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner".

The story of writing is one of aesthetic evolution framed within the technical skills, transmission speed and materials limitations of a person, time and place. A style of writing is described as a script, hand or alphabet.

Modern calligraphy ranges from functional hand lettered inscriptions and designs to fine art pieces where the abstract expression of the handwritten mark may or may not supersede the legibility of the letters.

Classical calligraphy differs from typography and non-classical hand-lettering, though a calligrapher may create all of these; characters are historically disciplined yet fluid and spontaneous, improvised at the moment of writing.

Calligraphy continues to flourish in the forms of wedding and event invitations, font design/ typography, original hand-lettered logo design, religious art, various announcements/ graphic design/ commissioned calligraphic art, cut stone inscriptions and memorial documents.

Also props and moving images for film and television, testimonials, birth and death certificates/maps, and other works involving writing.

General Contractor

2008-12-15T11:25:00.000-08:00

A general contractor is a group or individual that contracts with another organization or individual for the construction, renovation or demolition of a building, road or other structure. A general contractor is defined as such if it is the signatory as the builder of the prime construction contract for the project.

A general contractor is responsible for the means and methods to be used in the construction execution of the project in accordance with the contract documents. Said contract documents usually include the contract agreement including budget, the general and special conditions and the plans and specification of the project that are prepared by a design professional such as an architect.

A general contractor usually is responsible for the supplying of all material, labor, equipment, engineering vehicles and tools and services necessary for the construction of the project. To do this it is common for the general contractor to subcontract part of the work to other persons and companies that specialize in these types of work. These are called subcontractors.

General contractors conducting work for government agencies are typically referred to as prime contractors. The responsibilities of a prime contractors working under a contract are essentially identical to those outlined above. In many cases, prime contractors will delegate portions of the contract work to subcontractors.

Occasionally the entity commissioning the construction of the building chooses to act as the general contractor. In such cases, they work directly with the subcontractors and take care of the administration and organization of the various subcontractors.

Under these conditions the owner takes on all liability for proper sequencing of the work, and dealing with the realities of construction.

Owners considering this approach should keep in mind that general contractors make a living working with known subcontractors. An established General Contractor will have established relationships that will outlast one construction project, and the subcontractors will acknowledge this with their cooperation. Owners seldom have this advantage, and most subcontractors will recognize the risk of working with a one time client with higher bids.

Disc Jockey

2008-12-15T11:22:00.000-08:00

A disc jockey also known as DJ or deejay is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience.

There are several types of disc jockeys. Radio DJs introduce and play music that is broadcast on AM, FM, shortwave, digital, or online radio stations. Club DJs select and play music in a bar, club, disco, at a rave, or even in a stadium. Hip-hop disc jockeys select, play, and create music with multiple turntables, often to back up one or more MCs.

In reggae, the disc jockey is a vocalist who raps, toasts, or chats over recorded rhythm tracks while the individual choosing and playing them is referred to as a selector. Mobile disc jockeys travel with portable sound systems and play at a variety of events.

The role of selecting and playing recorded music for an intended audience is the same for every disc jockey. The selected music, the audience, the setting, the preferred medium, and the level of sophistication of sound manipulation are factors that differentiate the various DJ types.

Using several turntables, CD players, or a hard-drive source, a club disc jockey selects and plays music in a club setting. The setting can range anywhere from a neighborhood party or a small club to a disco, a rave, or even a stadium. The main focus of club DJs is on the music they play and how they mix tracks in and out, sometimes just to add a bit of energy to a track. They build their sets by choosing tracks to control the energy level of the crowd and use beatmixing techniques for seamless transitions between tracks. For more information, see Notable Club DJs.

Process Computing

2008-12-15T11:20:00.000-08:00

In computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is being sequentially executed by a computer system that has the ability to run several computer programs concurrently.

A computer program itself is just a passive collection of instructions, while a process is the actual execution of those instructions. Several processes may be associated with the same program; for example, opening up several instances of the same program often means more than one process is being executed. In the computing world, processes are formally defined by the operating system running them and so may differ in detail from one OS to another.

A single computer processor executes one or multiple instructions at a time one after the other. To allow users to run several programs at once, single-processor computer systems can perform time-sharing. Time-sharing allows processes to switch between being executed and waiting to be executed. In most cases this is done very rapidly,

Providing the illusion that several processes are executing 'at once'. This is known as concurrency or multiprogramming. Using more than one physical processor on a computer, permits true simultaneous execution of more than one stream of instructions from different processes, but time-sharing is still typically used to allow more than one process to run at a time. Concurrency is the term generally used to refer to several independent processes sharing a single processor; simultaneity is used to refer to several processes, each with their own processor. Different processes may share the same set of instructions in memory to save storage, but this is not known to any one process. Each execution of the same set of instructions is known as an instance— a completely separate instantiation of the program.

For security and reliability reasons most modern operating systems prevent direct communication between 'independent' processes, providing strictly mediated and controlled inter-process communication functionality.

Batch Processing

2008-12-15T11:19:00.000-08:00

Batch processing is execution of a series of programs jobs on a computer without human interaction.

Batch jobs are set up so they can be run to completion without human interaction, so all input data is preselected through scripts or command-line parameters. This is in contrast to "online" or interactive programs which prompt the user for such input.

It allows sharing of computer resources among many users and programs, it shifts the time of job processing to when the computing resources are less busy, It avoids idling the computing resources with minute-by-minute human interaction and supervision, By keeping high overall rate of utilization, it better amortizes the cost of a computer, especially an expensive one.

Batch processing has grown beyond its mainframe origins, and is now frequently used in UNIX environments and Microsoft Windows too. UNIX systems uses shells and other scripting languages In computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is being sequentially executed by a computer system that has the ability to run several computer programs concurrently.

. DOS systems uses batch files powered by COMMAND.COM, Microsoft Windows has cmd.exe, Windows Script Host and advanced Windows PowerShell

Batch processing is also used for converting a number of computer files from one format to another. This is to make files portable and versatile especially for proprietary and legacy files where viewers are not easy to come by.

Industrial Designing

2008-12-15T11:18:00.000-08:00

Industrial design is an applied art whereby the aesthetics and usability of mass-produced products may be improved for marketability and production. The role of an Industrial Designer is to create and execute design solutions towards problems of form, usability, user ergonomics, engineering, marketing, brand development and sales.

General Industrial Designers are a cross between an engineer and an artist. They study both function and form, and the connection between product and the user. They do not design the gears or motors that make machines move, or the circuits that control the movement, but they can affect technical aspects through usability design and form relationships. And usually, they partner with engineers and marketers, to identify and fulfill needs, wants and expectations.

In Depth "Industrial Design (ID) is the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer." According to the IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America)

Design, itself, is often difficult to define to non-designers because the meaning accepted by the design community is not one made of words.

Instead, the definition is created as a result of acquiring a critical framework for the analysis and creation of artifacts. One of the many accepted definitions of design originates from Carnegie Mellon's School of Design, "Design is the process of taking something from its existing state and moving it to a preferred state". This applies to new artifacts, whose existing state is undefined and previously created artifacts, whose state stands to be improved.

Interior Designing and its Specializations

2008-12-15T11:17:00.000-08:00

Interior designing, interior decoration or decor is a practice concerned with anything that is found inside a space - walls, windows, doors, finishes, textures, light, furnishings and furniture. All of these elements are used by interior designers to develop a functional, safe, and aesthetically pleasing space for a building's user.

The work of an interior designer draws upon many disciplines including environmental psychology, architecture, product design, and traditional decoration. They plan the spaces of almost every type of building including: hotels, corporate spaces, schools, hospitals, private residences, shopping malls, restaurants, theaters, and airport terminals. Today, interior designers must be attuned to architectural detailing including: floor plans, home renovations, and construction codes.

Interior designers can specialize in a particular interior design discipline, such as residential and commercial design. Commercial design includes offices, hotels, schools, hospitals or other public buildings. Some interior designers develop expertise within a niche design area such as hospitality, health care and institutional design.

In jurisdictions where the profession is regulated by the government, designers must meet broad qualifications and show competency in the entire scope of the profession, not only in a specialty. Designers may elect to obtain specialist certification offered by private organizations. Interior designers who also possess environmental expertise in design solutions for sustainable construction can receive accreditation in this area by taking the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) examination.

The specialty areas that involve interior designers are limited only by the imagination and are continually growing and changing. With the increase in the aging population, an increased focus has been placed on developing solutions to improve the living environment of the elderly population, which takes into account health and accessibility issues that can affect the design. Awareness of the ability of interior spaces to create positive changes in people's lives is increasing, so interior design is also becoming relevant to this type of advocacy.

Online Form Filling Job

2008-12-15T11:16:00.000-08:00

You could have a system that runs virtually on autopilot where you could Make RS.250-RS.500+ per day working only 60 minutes. No experience or special skills are required. All you will need is a computer and access to the internet. This opportunity is available to everyone worldwide. What you will be doing is typing out and submitting online forms.

You can Login and access your PPC forms to fill out and enter the data into the PPC forms then click the Submit Button. That’s done.

The real money is made with your mind, by applying yourself. That doesn't mean work hard, it means work smart. All the while you're doing it for yourself, not some business that just pays you enough so you don't quit! So get ready to make great money on your own.

There is no base pay, and no max pay. You can make as much as you want. It will depend on certain factors. Some of which are your motivation and desire. If you want to make a lot of money, then it's there for the taking. Some people make more then rs.10, 000 a month using these types of systems. Those results are not typical. To achieve those types of results you need to put a fair amount of time and effort into learning this system. But once you do, you can definitely make that kind of money the more effort you put in; the more you get out of it.

You are free to type at much as you want. You can type for 60 minutes one day, or none at all. It’s completely up to you. You have 100% total freedom to type when and where you like.
You can set your own hours and work whenever you. You do not need any special skills to type at home. You will a computer with internet connection and possess basic knowledge of the internet.

Real Estate Marketing

2008-12-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

There's no doubt that 2009 will be an interesting year for the real estate industry. The economy is still on shaky ground, buyers are having a hard time getting financing, and foreclosures continue at record numbers across the United States.

The question is, how do you plan to adjust your real estate marketing strategy to reflect this new economy we are facing? And beyond that, how will you adjust your business as a whole?

These are tough questions, but they are questions you must start asking yourself. A few agents already are making some serious changes to their real estate marketing strategies in order to survive and thrive in 2009. It's beyond the scope and possibility to offer specific advice on marketing strategy -- that's something you must develop for yourself.

In the near future, those real estate agents who take an educational approach to their marketing are going to get the biggest share of business in their market areas. It's not enough anymore to say: "I'm an agent in your area and I can help you. Give me a call." Actually, that was never a good marketing strategy, but it's even weaker in the new economy. Home buyers and sellers have more questions today than ever before. So if you want to sustain your real estate marketing program in that kind of environment, you have to adjust the strategies you use.

For example, home buyers today have a lot of questions about financing -- more so than in the past. They have heard about people making mortgage mistakes and getting foreclosed on. And they know it's harder to get approved for a mortgage loan these days. So the best real estate marketing strategies are those that address these burning questions.

Investigative Journalism

2008-12-15T11:09:00.000-08:00

Investigative journalism is a type of reporting in which reporters deeply investigate a topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or some other scandal.

An investigative journalist is a man or woman whose profession it is to discover the truth and to identify lapses from it in whatever media may be available. The act of doing this generally is called investigative journalism and is distinct from apparently similar work done by police, lawyers, auditors and regulatory bodies in that it is not limited as to target, not legally founded and closely connected to publicity".

An investigative journalist may spend a considerable period researching and preparing a report, sometimes months or years, whereas a typical daily or weekly news reporter writes items concerning immediately available news. Most investigative journalism is done by newspapers, wire services and freelance journalists. An investigative journalist's final report may take the form of an exposé.

The investigation might call for the reporter to make use of activities such as surveillance techniques, analysis of documents, investigations of the performance of any kind of equipment involved in an accident, patent medicine, scientific analysis, social and legal issues, and the like.

Investigative journalism requires the scrutiny of details, fact-finding, and physical effort. An investigative journalist must have an analytical and incisive mind with strong self-motivation to carry on when all doors are closed, when facts are being covered up or falsified and so on.

Investigative journalism can be contrasted with analytical reporting. Analytical journalism takes the data available and reconfigures it, helping us to ask questions about the situation or statement or see it in a different way, whereas investigative journalists go further and also want to know whether the situation presented to us is the reality.

Outsourcing Web Development

2008-12-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

India is one of the finest and most popular outsourcing partner to a growing global clientele. Outsourcing has brought together some of the best minds in the business so that clients can benefit without having to employ these experts. Web development is one of the key areas where outsourcing to India is concerned. There are many advantages of outsourcing web development to India and here is a look at some of them.

Web development is a specialist task and requires the dedicated efforts of professionals. It cannot be handled in house or handed to amateurs and yet it doesn’t need full time employees. Outsourcing web development to companies in India provides you your very own team of web development experts. From the programming and development to the design and content, your outsourcing company in India will be able to provide the right professionals for all aspects of web development.

Outsourcing web development to India gives you an opportunity to work with professionals who have a lot of experience in web development and in outsourcing. An offshore JAVA developer India or an offshore AJAX developer India would have worked on a multitude of projects as compared to someone you may consider employing. This experience widens the perspective of the professionals and they have more value to add to your project. Also Indian companies have years of experience in outsourcing and have standard procedures that make it easier for you to communicate your thoughts and responses and for them to be incorporated.

Indian companies have been working with offshore clients for years now and have strict security and recruitment procedures to ensure that clients work with the most talented web development professionals.

Buying A Franchise

2008-12-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

It seems only natural for someone starting a company to wander about how much they can make from that venture. When it comes to business, not much can be worse than the realization that all the hard work and sacrifice that goes into building a business is not producing the desired financial returns.

For someone who is shopping for a franchise, the answer to the question above brings some good and bad news.

The good news is that an ever growing number of franchises offer some sort of an earnings claim that should enable the buyer to get a general idea of a franchisors' average unit performance. Plus, the franchise candidate has complete access to all the current franchisees in the system and has the ability to directly interview them about their financials. The bad news is that, despite all the safety nets build into the idea of franchising, the candidate won't be able to completely remove significant element of risk from the transaction. Every concept that has been franchising for more than 10 years has had some failures in their system.

There are thousands of franchise options out there. Creation of a cash flow model, business plan, interviews of current and former franchisees and visits to the company headquarters are all necessary steps in the process. If a particular industry has been selected, being very conservative with the financial assumptions about the business. Creating a contingency fund is very important. Keep in mind that the majority of new businesses fail because they run out of cash.

In the end, in order to make the most out of franchise business, the candidates have to believe in themselves. Naturally, not every franchise is successful and makes its owners money. The key to finding out how much money can be made is to invest the time to understand the details.

Project Management Consulting

2008-12-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons that corporate executives turn to external consultants to provide project management support for their projects. The challenges that organizations face include: sub-par project performance, the potential for lost credibility, lack of experience with a particular project type, and a lack of internal project management practitioners. Project management consulting firms can supply experienced practitioners that offer high-quality solutions to the complex issues facing project teams.

Often times it is the highly visible, at-risk project that drives management to recognize that a better project management approach is required. Frequently, project management consultants are brought in to address various project-related issues including: poor on-time performance, unsatisfactory financial results, dysfunctional team dynamics, and complicated team composition.

Many projects, by default are managed using a reactive approach to problem solving. This style of project management creates an environment where “fire fighting” is the norm and the latest project emergency demands the attention. A proactive project management approach enables project teams to identify obstacles earlier in the project, which allows them to make better decisions and provide more cost effective solutions. By implementing the right mix of training, consulting and advanced tools, a project management consulting firm can establish an early warning system that provides management a forward-looking tool to ensure their project will be executed as-agreed.

Some projects are so critically important to the success of an organization that failure is simply not an option. In some cases, a past project may have been so poorly executed that management wants assurance that future projects will be more successful. A project management consulting firm can assist in this scenario by helping to deploy advanced risk mitigation tools and providing expert scrutiny of existing project schedules.

Project management consulting firms can bring a combination of experience, knowledge and advanced tools that are not readily available in most organizations. By combining those capabilities with an understanding of best-in-class project management practices it is easy to see how the benefits realized from using a project management consulting firm can far outweigh the out-of-pocket investment.

Cargo Transportation

2008-12-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

System of country’s auto-roads and railroads may be compared with its blood circulatory system. This system is used to deliver all that is necessary for life support of towns, villages and manufacturing companies. Big cargo traffic never stops. The economy and population level of living depend on how well moving and transportation companies work.

The main categories of cargo transportations are: railway, sea, air and auto transportations. Each of the aforesaid transportation types has its own advantages and disadvantages. Auto cargo transportation is the most effective, accessible and economic one. Platform trucks and covered trucks, trailers and road tank trucks, refrigerated trucks and lumber trucks, container carriers and others - you may choose necessary vehicle for each cargo type.

Modern electronic communication facilities and means of navigation allow controlling on-line movement of each vehicle. In such a way freight forwarder may be sure that the delivery timeframe will not be exceeded. Further let's talk about cargo safety and insurance. Insurance guarantees that the cargo or your belongings are protected and will not be lost or damaged during the transportation or moving.

Cargo transportation using pallets, which allow quickening cargo loading and unloading, is also very convenient. Platform vehicles are used for cargos which are not sensible to temperature differences and precipitations. Cargos which are sensible to aforesaid usually are transported in covered trucks (one of the most popular types of transportation means all over the world). Covered trucks have high carrying capacity and speed. Their covers are manufactured from modern polymeric materials, which safely protect cargo from direct sunlight, snow and rain.

Online Scrapbooking Business

2008-12-15T11:01:00.000-08:00

When starting your online home business regardless of what ever field you might be in you can defiantly use all the assistance you can find and the federal government can be a fantastic source for getting that assistance. You may probably wonder in what specific ways can they assist you in getting started. Here are some areas that the government offers assistance in getting your new online home business up and running.

These grants are grouped and separated by business and state categories. These categories include agriculture, general business and real estate. You could also find funds for development and research for your online Scrapbooking business. Most of these grants can range from five thousand dollars to as high as six figures. The best thing about this is that you don't have to pay back this money.

Now that assistance and money are no longer a problem to start your home Scrapbooking business the federal government also offers an advisory service that you can capitalize on. These services will help you in improve your labor management relations and management skills. This is important information when starting a home business.

There is a great deal that the government can do to assist you get your home Scrapbooking business up and running. It's a simple matter of just taking some time to search your local sources to get the entire process started. Remember to take full advantage of these fantastic offers. It's not everyday that someone simply hands you free funds that will allow you to make lots of money.

So don't waste any more time, get the whole process started and you could be well on your way to a successful and flourishing business, if you would like to know more on this topic check out the attached link which shows you the art of making money on the internet.

Online Share Trading

2008-12-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

The truth is that many of the principles that apply to playing the online share market and winning are very similar to those you use offline. You need to really know your market and be constantly learning, you also need to be patient, develop a good system and seeing the big picture.

The first step to being successful at online share trading is to spend time researching the market. Any business that you get involved in requires understanding of your market and what needs to be done in order to succeed in it, online share trading is no different, you have to invest in your education, whether this means investing time, money or both. Constantly be learning and growing and be prepared to adapt as situations change.

There is no ideal system that always wins, but all successful online share traders have some system that they use to determine whether to invest in certain shares or not and when to sell.

You should work on creating a system that works for you and stick to it even if there are sometimes failures. The system you develop should set limits of when you will cut your losses and how much risk and loss you are prepared to accept before selling out.

Developing patience and learning to wait for the right deals is another step to playing the online share market to win. Don’t take trades that are too risky simply because you feel you need to remain in the market at all times. Learn patience to wait for the best trades.

Online share trading is a mixture of understanding the details, as well as seeing the big picture. It is important to understand the big picture so that individual losses do not lead to you giving up when you could still see a profit from persevering.

Home Based Collection Agencies

2008-12-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

A much needed service with low startup costs. For people with the fortitude, stamina and personality to be able to successfully collect outstanding debt, it is a much-needed service and potentially a lucrative business. A successful debt collector can justify the less than glamorous connotation of collecting outstanding debt by keeping the wronged business owner in mind. The business owner offered a product/service in good faith with the expectation of being duly compensated. The home-based collection agency is attempting to right a wrong. For individuals looking to work from home, this is a perfectly legal, necessary type of business.

A person who is persistent, patient and has a pension for investigation will have an easier time at being a debt collector than someone lacking such qualities. Not all outstanding debtors are upstanding citizens who are undergoing a financially difficult time. Some have intentionally defaulted, closed up shop and have moved without a forwarding address. For these types of deadbeats, it takes patience, persistence and investigative skills.

A close second to the above-mentioned personality traits is the ability to negotiate and speak empathetically with debtors. Some debtors have fallen on difficult financial times and have every intention of honoring their commitments. Unfortunately, unexpected financial disasters have befallen them. An empathetic debt collector with a keen ability to negotiate can finagle the outstanding debt to the top of the debtors "bills to pay" list, thereby increasing the likelihood of payment.

An ability to read people, whether in person or over the phone is also another valuable trait. It will help the debt collector to determine which tactic works best for each debtor.

Computer Repair And Maintenance

2008-12-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

Everybody with a computer knows that moment of panic when the hard drive crashes--and for businesspeople, it usually happens when they’re staring into the eye of a deadline. But if you’re a computer physician capable of diagnosing virtual ills and then repairing them, you can take on the appearance of an angel of mercy as a computer repair specialist. You’ll drive out to clients’ homes or offices with your briefcase of tools and equipment and heal those sickly computers and printers. You can also earn tidy revenues with preventive maintenance--dusting or vacuuming innards and cleaning disk drives on a quarterly or semiannual basis.

The advantages to this business are that it’s recession-proof--businesses need computers to operate, and home-computer buffs can’t live without their virtual pals, either. And since the computer industry is one of exponential growth, peripheral industries like computer maintenance and repair are here to stay. As a final plus, this business is satisfying--people are always appreciative when you bring an acutely ill hard drive or printer back to health. You’ll need to have the knowledge and skills of a good computer physician, including how to change motherboards, repair and replace hard drives.

Your clients can be anybody with a computer, both businesses and individuals. Leave business cards and fliers with computer and software retailers.

Give talks on computer maintenance to professional and civic organizations and at local colleges and other adult-education centers.

You’ll need a computer, an inkjet or laser printer, computer tinkering tools like screwdrivers and miniature vacuums, computer cleaning supplies, diagnostic software, commonly used parts and reference manuals. In some states, you’ll need a license and a commercial shop to perform repairs, be sure to check with the business licensing department.

Telecommuting

2008-12-15T10:54:00.000-08:00

Telecommuting, e-commuting, e-work, telework, working at home (WAH), or working from home (WFH) is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. In other words, the daily commute to a central place of work is replaced by telecommunication links. Many work from home, while others, occasionally also referred to as nomad workers or web commuters utilize mobile telecommunications technology to work from coffee shops or myriad other locations.

Telework is a broader term, referring to substituting telecommunications for any form of work-related travel, thereby eliminating the distance restrictions of telecommuting. All telecommuters are teleworkers but not all teleworkers are telecommuters. A frequently repeated motto is that "work is something you do, not something you travel to". A successful telecommuting program requires a management style which is based on results and not on close scrutiny of individual employees. This is referred to as management by objectives as opposed to management by observation.

Long distance telework is facilitated by such tools as virtual private networks, videoconferencing, and Voice over IP. It can be efficient and useful for companies as it allows staff and workers to communicate over a large distance, saving significant amounts of travel time and cost. As broadband Internet connections become more commonplace, more and more workers have enough bandwidth at home to use these tools to link their home office to their corporate intranet and internal phone networks.

The roots of telecommuting lay in early 1970s technology, linking satellite offices to downtown mainframes by dumb terminals using telephone lines as a network bridge. The massive ongoing decrease in cost and increase in performance and usability of personal computers forged the way to decentralize even further, moving the office to the home.

Telecommuters are linked to their home office by using groupware, virtual private networks, and similar technologies to collaborate and interact with team members. As the price of VPN-capable routers, high-speed Internet connections to the home, and VOIP technology has plummeted in recent years, the cost to connect a telecommuter to their employer's intranet and telecommunications system has become negligible when compared with the operating costs of conventional offices.

Telecommuting options increase the employability of proximal or circumstantially marginalized groups, such as mothers and fathers with small children, the disabled and people living in remote areas. It can also reduce an individual's carbon footprint, through minimizing daily commuting. The set up also offers possibilities for increased service and international reach, since telecommuters in different time zones can ensure that a company is virtually open for business around the clock. Telework has also enabled offshore outsourcing.

Telecommuting provides employee flexibility, eases the working parent's burden, increases employee productivity, and reduces absenteeism. Virtual offices allow employers to keep valuable employees, allow employers to hire employees otherwise not available, and have facilitated productive re-engineering of order-management and customer service processes.

Pay-Per-Click Search Engines

2008-12-15T10:52:00.000-08:00

No time to wait for search engine optimization to take effect? Just want more traffic? Don't pay for bulk traffic, use a reputable pay-per-click search engine.

There are some tricks to doing well with PPC, and some things to watch out for, but the basics are easily enough mastered. The details may take a little longer, but pay-per-click can be very, very well worth your while.

Pay-per-click is rapidly becoming a vital source of advertising for all kinds of online businesses. If you know how to get your clicks for cheap you can save a lot of money and still make sales.
This is not going to teach you all the tricks. If you want to master pay-per-click, I suggest reading one or more of the following: (ebooks here). Each has a somewhat different take on how you can master pay-per-click, so read in my reviews to figure out which ones best complement one another.

The most basic technique is to do a lot of keyword research for as many search terms as possible, then see how cheaply you can get your clicks. Wordtracker is excellent for this. I do my basic research first using their free version, but switch to the paid version when I am ready and have hours to do nothing but generate lists. This allows me to pay for only a single day rather than for a longer subscription. If you use Wordtracker very often, however, you will eventually want to consider a monthly or annual subscription.

Make sure your keyword lists are separated by the page you will be sending visitors to. You should never send a pay-per-click visitor to your home page when they have searched for a specific item.

How specific should you get? As specific as you like. If you are selling electronics you can research terms that will bring visitors to the exact item they are searching for, as an example.
The biggest question is how much to pay. You need to keep careful track of your earnings to decide on this one. I often start a campaign with a low rate, often only 5-10 cents per click, then increase it as conversions warrant. You can certainly start higher; it depends on how competitive your phrases are and what it takes to get your ad seen. Being on the eighth page of results in a pay-per-click search engine isn’t any better than being there in the natural results.

But what if you aren’t getting conversions? There are two places to look. One is your ad. Is the copy well written? Is it clearly aimed towards people looking to buy? If you are getting a good number of clicks on your ad but not making sales, take a look at the copy on your sales page. Perhaps it is not effective. It make take a small change or a large one, but you must be willing to make the changes to get sales. You can read more on this topic in my article, “Why isn’t my site converting?”

Once you have a good number of clicks and sales it is time to determine if you are making a good profit, and whether you need to increase or decrease your cost per click, or maybe make other changes.

Look at how many clicks it is taking you to get one sale on average. You need multiple sales to determine this; do not be overanxious and start calculating after a single sale. Also do not be excessively patient. If you have hundreds of clicks and no sales, something needs to be fixed.

If your site is converting your clicks well, but you aren’t getting the number of visitors you would like, it is probably time to increase your bid. Calculate what you are earning from each sale and what each sale is costing you. If you make a sale every 20 clicks, earning you $40, even paying $1 per click would leave you with a $20 profit per sale, which is certainly not bad. On the other hand, earning $10 for every 20 clicks would limit you to a bid somewhere below 50 cents a click, depending on what profit margin you would like to see.

Do not leave your profit margins too thin. You need some time to react should your conversion rates drop. Pay-per-click is not something you can start up and then simply ignore. Keep up with what works for your sales, be aware if your position drops too low and keep reading to improve your techniques, as time and profits allow.

There are many pay-per-click search engines to try, with a variety of ad requirements and minimum bids. Check for special offers with each to see if you can save on your signup.
If this all sounds confusing, try buying a tool to help you. AdWord Analyzer is very effective at helping you to determine if a campaign is likely to be worth your time. You'll quickly know how competitive an area is in both Google AdWords and Yahoo Search , and generates a list of related keywords. This can save tremendous time and money.

Turnkey Home Business

2008-12-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

A turnkey business is, by definition, one that is easy to start. Perhaps the hardest part of a turnkey business is finding a good one.You need to know how to get around the hype and find a real turnkey business, one that offers real potential, not empty promises. You have to want to work the business, since just because a business is called "turnkey" doesn't mean it is effortless.

A turnkey business is one that offers everything you need to get your business started in one package. In online terms, this means you get a website, products and so forth. You essentially "turn the key" and start your business.

You can think of a turnkey as being like a franchise. The products should have some decent sort of reputation already, the style of the website is probably consistent with others in the same turnkey opportunity. Online, you have to deal with the added challenge of there being no borders. With a franchise in the real world, you have the potential to be granted an exclusive territory; there is no way to create territories on the Internet.

As with any business opportunity, you need to do your due diligence. Check with the BBB, Ripoff Report and established home business discussion boards to see if anyone knows about the particular opportunity. Find out what you are going to be selling, what limitations there are on you and generally look for anything that just "feels wrong" about an opportunity. If you aren't comfortable, you aren't likely to be making sales, even online.

You will need to know if you have to provide your own domain name and hosting or if those are included. If they are included, compare what you are being charged by the seller of the turnkey opportunity versus what you could buy it for on your own. Ask for a cost breakdown of what the package includes.

Home Business Notary for less than $200

2008-12-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

One opportunity you should think about is forming a home business notary office, if you want to enter the great world of home based business. This is a field that’s becoming more and more popular with people who want to have their own home based business. This guide will help you decide it becoming a notary is right for you.

There are many benefits to being a home business notary. Chief among them is the ability to choose the way you want to work. You can be mobile and go from client to client, or you can set up your notary service in your home and have your clients come to you. You can work part-time or full time. It’s all up to you!

And there are various ways on how to become a notary and get your notary license. Most states have specific guidelines and licenses that they require before you can open your home business notary. You will have to check with your state notary association for full details on the requirements for a home business notary.

Generally, though, to become a home business notary and receive a notary license, you have to take a brief course that usually only takes one day of your time, and then you take a notary exam. Local community colleges and universities in your area very likely offer the classes necessary to become a notary public. If there aren’t any colleges in your area that offer a notary public class, you can find schools online that do.

Correspondence courses are also available. Make sure, though, that any class you take fulfills your particular state’s notary public requirements for obtaining a notary license. The courses usually cost about $120, but that’s a small investment that will bring you big returns in the future.

It’s also a good idea to check out the opportunities for notary public services in your area. Some places to look are at banks, financial institutions of all types, attorneys, nursing homes, real estate offices, and insurance companies. These are just a few of the many types of businesses that have a need for reliable notary public services.

Most of them would prefer to have a notary public on call rather than have one on staff in order to cut back on employee expenses and employee benefits. This is good news for you, because it means that there are more chances that a company will use your notary public services on an as needed basis, which allows you to have more clients. Many of them will even allow you to rent a desk and phone space in exchange for your notary public services.

Charges for notary public services range anywhere from $25 to $200, depending on the service you provide. If you’re going to your clients, you can charge more because of the expense involved in travel. If the job is particularly involved or time-consuming, this also allows you to charge more. It’s a good idea to go for the high-volume clients like banks that need a lot of notary public services, rather than to focus on big jobs that take a lot of time. The more clients you have, generally, the better off you are.

Before taking any action on becoming notary public certified, though, do your research. Find out what your state requires and where you can get the training you need. You also want to find out what the competition in your area’s doing, and know what you have to do to beat it. Maybe the notary publics in your area have their clients come to them. If that’s true, then you want to be a mobile notary public. And if your area’s saturated with notary services, you may want to consider a different home based business altogether.

It’s also a good idea to plan for how you’re going to get the news out about your new home business notary. There are many ways you can advertise. Newspaper ads, flyers, and business cards are just a few of the many marketing tools available for you to make use of to spread the news about your notary public business. Before you do, just make sure you have the notary license you need to operate in your state. You wouldn’t want to be fined for impersonating a notary public, now would you?

Offering Services As A Home Business

2008-12-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Service businesses such as website design, graphic design, photography and so forth face interesting challenges. You have to know how to estimate the time it will take you to complete a project and what your time is worth, without scaring away potential customers. And if you're just getting started, even finding customers may be a challenge.

One of the quickest ways to go out of business, even working at home, is to under price your services so that it is all but impossible to make a profit.

There are many factors to consider when pricing; for example, difficulty of projects, technical requirements, rate the competition charges and what market segment you are targeting.
It's easy to tell yourself that you'll run a discount service and get lots of customers. It's certainly true that cheap services get a lot of customers, but they have to do a lot more work to earn the same money as a higher priced service. Don't only think about how many customers you want; think about how many hours you want to work to earn a living. If you want to be working your business 80 hours a week in 20 years, stick with being a discount provider.

If your services are equal to or better than a mid priced company's services, why not price your services in the midrange. This will allow your home business a much healthier bottom line, and you should still get plenty of customers.

Deciding to be a high-priced company means that you are targeting a highly profitable clientele, but they can be pickier as well. You need to be able to provide results if you are charging more than the average.

Your technical skills will greatly determine what you can charge. A website designer who only knows HTML will not be able to earn as much per project as one who can create a database driven PHP website. You may want to consider upgrading your skills as you build your home business so that you can take on the more challenging and more profitable projects out there.

It's not always easy to price what the competition charges. Not everyone posts on their website what they charge. The words 'call or email for quote' are quite common online. Competitors are also not supposed to tell each other what they charge, to prevent price fixing. But you can still get a general idea by pretending to be a potential customer if you like. Do not do much of this, as it is not fair to waste a competitor's time, but appears to be not uncommon in some industries.

Perhaps a better way to determine your rates is to figure out what you want to earn each year, the number of hours you want to work each week, and figure out what you need to charge per hour to make a profit. Remember that most of your hours, particularly at the start, will not be spent in working for customers; instead they may be spent in marketing your home business and otherwise trying to get customers. You need to include assumptions for those in your calculations as well, since you can't directly bill the customers for that.

Home Business In Direct Sales

2008-12-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

Direct sales/MLM is perhaps the most popular form of home business. Depending on the company you work with, you may get instant name recognition, sales tools and more. But that doesn't mean it will be easy.

You have to know how to recognize scams, saturated markets and opportunities. You have to be able to approach people freely and tell them about your business.

On the fun side, many For many, the easiest way to start a home business is to join a direct sales or MLM opportunity. The hardest part, however, can be choosing the right opportunity.
There are many factors to consider. To make sales simpler, I sugget choosing a company first by what you already enjoy doing. This will allow you to be truly enthusiastic about your business. Think about your hobbies and interests, then find an opportunity that matches.

However, this is far from the only consideration. There are all too many programs out there that border on illegal. You want to watch out for companies that require you to make a purchase every month, as this is a sign of a pyramid scheme. They can make it sound good, but if the business gets closed down by the FTC, you have lost your business. Check out the FTC website's article on what to watch out for. Forced buying is a big one.

Once you are satisfied that the program is legal and ethical, the next step is to decide who has reasonable compensation for your efforts. Look both at what you will be earning and what you will get for building a downline. Think about how much you will really have to sell in order to make a living.

Now it's time to take a look around. How's the competition in your area? In some areas, the market may be saturated for a given opportunity, while in others you could be the first. Check local bulletin boards for flyers from other reps as well as classified ads and so forth. How often do you get cards or door hangers for this opportunity at your home? If you think you see too much competition, you may need to consider another opportunity.

If you haven't already, now is the time to find a sponsor. This person will be your upline, and you want them to be very supportive of you and have answers to your questions. If they can't help you decide whether or not to join the opportunity, they aren't going to be there for you when you need help.

Also take a look at the company's customer service. If they don't respond to your questions, how will they treat customers or you when you call with a problem with an order? You want the company to be there for you too.

Finally, if you are interested in selling online, find out what the restrictions are on having your own website and marketing online. Some opportunities let you advertise online, but only to a blind website which does not mention their name. Other direct sales opportunities do not allow any sort of online advertising. If you want to have a website, make sure you are allowed to have one. The ideal is to be allowed to design your own website, so you have a better chance of getting search engine traffic. The option to sell on eBay could also be a consideration.

Multilevel Marketing

2008-12-15T10:35:00.000-08:00

Multilevel marketing, or MLM, relies very heavily on the team of people you are working with. MLM by its very nature is dependent on quality relationships between a group, and as a manager of others it falls to you to build and maintain a powerful and effective group of retailers in order to maximize everyone’s profits.

A good team player is many things including responsible, open to suggestion and flexible. Of course you don’t want a team consisting of those easily led, so a team player must also be able to pull his own weight and help motivate those around him.

When looking to recruit teammates, look first as personality. Is the person offensive to you or would he be offensive to others? Do you enjoy being around the individual? Working with a group has just as much to do with overall personality as it does with work ethic and abilities.
If you find yourself comfortable around a potential team member, take a look at his work background and ethics. MLM is the kind of business that works best for self-starters and those with dedication and initiative. Traditionally good employees might not make the best MLM team members as they might not have the go-to to get the job done without prodding. You don’t want to be constantly offering suggestions and pulling someone along who prefers to be given a menial task rather than finding his own way.

Your MLM team should consist of mature, dedicated individuals who aren’t afraid to work a little harder than everyone else in exchange for the kind of financial rewards that work will bring.
Once the team is assembled, it will be your task as the manager or leader to keep everyone focused and moving forward. MLM relies heavily on bringing in new accounts and representatives, just as any sales format does, so you must keep your team fired up and working hard.

To motivate your team, you should focus on the positive goal rather than potential failure. Everyone responds better to reward than punishment. Avoid statements such as, “If we don’t make our quote this month, we’ll lose money.” Instead bring excitement to the group but relay the same message, “We’re getting close to our goal. As soon as we reach it, we’ll be looking at a huge profit!” Don’t lie, but always focus on the positive.

A strong leader always leads by example. MLM businesses often develop into passive revenue streams, but a good leader doesn’t allow his own efforts to diminish simply because his income has increased. While goals are terrific and should be set together as a team, they do not represent an ending. New goals should constantly be set, and avoid making a goal “maintaining.” It is far harder to get excited about maintaining a level than it is to fire up the team to make it to the next level.

The nature of a MLM business means that many are working to sell similar or the same products. As the leader, you should make every effort to unite your team and share strategies and incentives rather than allowing the team to compete with each other. If possible, gather together for casual activities to develop personal relationships. Discuss things other than work so that the team feels united.

You are the leader and you set the standard for your team. Be excited about the business. Share your ideas and enthusiasm with others and always look forward. Listen to what the others have to say and be fair when making decisions, but always remain the motivating force and guiding light. They look to you and your efforts will not be in vain.

Making Money With Forex

2008-12-15T10:33:00.000-08:00

So you've heard countless stories about how people are making millions each year with something called Forex. Now what is Forex exactly?

First off, Forex is made out of the words Foreign Exchange. It is also sometimes abbreviated to FX. Even though the name is quite complicated, Forex itself isn't - in short, it is just changing one currency to another

So now you know what Forex is and how successful it is, it may be time for YOU to start. But remember, Forex is revolved around risks - if you aren't willing to risk money, then its best to look for other methods of making money. Thousands of people may be making big money each day, but then again thousands of people are losing big money each day. In the world we live in today, you have to make risks to make money.

If you decide to carry on after what I just told you, great! You are one step ahead in making money. Now to get started you need a suitable broker. Read my next module on how to choose a suitable broker.

Unlike equity brokers, Forex brokers are usually tied to large banks or lending institutions because of the large amounts of capital required. Also, Forex brokers should be registered with the Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). You can find this and other financial information and statistics about a Forex brokerage on its website or on the website of its parent company.

Many brokers offer two or more types of accounts. The smallest account is known as a mini account and requires you to trade with a minimum of, say, $250, offering a high amount of leverage. The standard account lets you trade at a variety of different leverages, but it requires a minimum initial capital of $2,000. Finally, premium accounts, which often require significant amounts of capital, let you use different amounts of leverage and often offer additional tools and services.

Summary: Make sure the broker you choose has the right leverage, tools, and services relative to your amount of capital.

There are literally hundreds of Forex companies providing trading signals, daily commentary and trading recommendations. While it may be useful to read some of these to get an outside opinion, it can just be information overload for newcomers to the Forex market, creating indecision and stress! Believe in your system and trade accordingly.

Earn Money By Reading SMS

2008-12-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

You can make money by reading SMS advertisements on your Mobile. Mginger.com, a Bangaluru based firm started by 3 engineers, will enable you to make some money by reading SMS ads on your mobile phones.

You can earn money anywhere between Rs 300 to Rs 1,600 per month by reading SMS ads. You can decide how many ads and the time of messaging means permission based marketing. They will send ads depending on your tastes and profile. It is a good innovative idea from young IITians.

For each ad they received, the mobile user gets paid 20 paise. If they refer friends and relatives, they will be paid 10 paise per referral and 5 paise for every ad the friend received.

Medical Transcription Service

2008-12-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

If you have strong understanding of medical terminology and procedures, you can turn that expertise into a successful career in medical transcription.

Medical transcriptionists make good money transforming physicians' dictated medical records into written copy. Our start-up guide makes getting into this rapidly growing, lucrative field easy.

You'll learn how to reach potential clients, market yourself, how to use online services to obtain medical information, and much more.

The world of medical treatment has changed dramatically in the past few years. Doctors are overwhelmed by the maze of complicated claim forms and insurance policy procedures. They need time to focus on their patients, but with complicated billing procedures from private and government-administered insurance companies, HMOs and PPOs, they're often having to worry about whether they'll ever get paid for the services they provide. And this is where you come in: There's a growing need for outside help--a need that you can easily fill, working from your home.

As a medical claims biller, you can earn a good income managing claims for doctors and other health-care specialists. There's no special training or experience needed, and start-up costs are minimal. All you really need is a computer, a printer, a modem and claims processing software.

It's an ideal "starter" business because you decide its size and scope. You can specialize in certain fields--chiropractic, pediatric or dentistry, for example--and determine exactly how many health-care professionals you want to accept as clients.

This chapter explores the burgeoning field of medical billing, or medical claims processing, from passé paper claims to progressive—and profitable—computerized billing.

A medical billing service is the doctor’s key to getting paid. Despite the fact that the health-care industry is alive and well in America, most doctors and other health-care providers have no idea how to get themselves paid quickly and efficiently, if at all—either by insurers or by patients who are also waiting for that check to arrive in the mail. Private and government-administered insurance companies, HMOs, PPOs and a host of other mysteriously initialed plans have conspired to make physician reimbursements as elusive as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Doctors, once the lords of the health-care world, are fast becoming the underdogs. Not to worry—the medical billing service is on hand to save the day. A billing expert can dramatically increase the doctor’s immediate revenue.

Through the miracle of cyberspace, the biller electronically transmits insurance claims directly to the insurance company, or, in other words, into the company’s check-generating computers.

Amazingly, however, while electronic claims processing is the method for getting providers paid, most providers are still stuck in the Snail Mail Age. This makes electronic billing a thriving field with room for growth.

Holiday Decorating Home Based Business

2008-12-15T10:24:00.000-08:00

If you enjoy decorating your home for the holidays and have a creative mind and are the slightest bit handy, you could enjoy this home business decorating homes for the holidays. Because of its seasonal nature, this could be a second home business that you could piggyback on another that is busy the rest of the year - such as a pest control or landscaping home business.

Very low start up costs - If your clients need additional decorations, they pay for them. Very strong holiday demand might give you an opportunity to do something else the rest of the year for variety. No licensing or specialized training required. You can grow this business at your own pace through referrals from satisfied clients and word-of-mouth advertising. You may need something to do the rest of the year. Like many other home businesses, you'll need to build up a clientele. Consider doing the homes of your family and friends for free to get the experience and to help determine what you should charge. If you offer exterior decorating for the holiday, you may be climbing roofs or trees in inclement weather.

You need customers - start with your friends and family. Consider advertising or posting bulletins in your church or other organization, or at local stores.

An organized means of building your portfolio - You could build a scrapbook that includes photos of the home you've decorated along with any written testimonials from your customers.

You may want to have a few backup "helper elves" available if you get a project and you want to get it finished quickly.

Most of the Doubles' clients are working families who don't have time to decorate and retired couples who lack the ambition to decorate the way they really want to.

Home Staging Home Business

2008-12-15T10:22:00.000-08:00

If you have an eye for interior decorating and want to run your own home business, a home staging business can provide a great, low-cost start up opportunity for you and it's a great home business to start part-time on weekends while you're still employed.

Very low start up costs - no inventory to carry and minimal supplies. Services can be in demand whether the real estate market is strong or weak. No licensing or specialized training required. This is a great home business that you can grow through referrals from satisfied clients and/or local realtors.

Word-of-mouth advertising is very powerful for this business opportunity.You'll need to find a way to get potential clients to have faith in your abilities and your advice in order to build your portfolio.

You may need to work weekends and/or evenings, as many of your clients will only be able to meet with you during those times. You should get to know your local real estate market - what buyers are looking for, etc. You'll need to build a portfolio in order to convince potential clients that you're worth the money.

An organized means of building your portfolio - through before and after photos, success stories, etc.

An eye for design/decorating and a good idea of what's selling in your home resale market. Good people skills to convince prospects to sign on and to handle objections from clients if they crop up.

Licensed Day Care Center At Home

2008-12-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

If you love kids and want to run your own home business, opening a licensed day care center in your home could be a home business opportunity you'd want to consider.

If you love kids, you'll be around them all the time. You'll feel good providing a service you know busy parents really need.The business can be rewarding as you share in the joy the children can bring to your day.

This is a home business opportunity with potentially high demand. You'll need to have enough room in your home to provide an adequate area for the children you supervise. You'll probably need assistance as your home business becomes known and you start receiving referrals.Keeping parents and toddlers happy can be very challenging.

You should have some sort of formal training in early childhood education. Your state and local licensing requirements will determine exactly how much training you'll need to have in order to obtain a license.

You'll want some form of insurance for any potential injuries or potential liability that can arise from your premises and your activities.

You'll need to comply with all state and local regulations pertaining to this business.

You'll need enough physical space in your home to provide a good environment for the children.You'll need to be a very patient parent and/or teacher.

Personal Chef Home Business

2008-12-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

For anyone who has a love for all things culinary, a personal chef home business could be very rewarding. With the increasing numbers of people who are just too busy with their work to worry about meal preparation - which could include many of us who are home business entrepreneurs - demand could be steady.

Very low start up costs - no inventory to carry and you'll probably be using your clients cooking accessories. You can grow this business at your own pace through referrals from satisfied clients and word-of-mouth advertising.

Many people are very fussy about their food and may have special dietary requirements. rofessional chef experience and/or training, while not a requirement would be very helpful. All food-related businesses carry some liability exposure. In this case, a client could become ill or injured from your cooking.

You need customers - start with your friends and family. Consider advertising or posting bulletins in your church or other organization, or at local stores.

Good people skills to work with clients who may be very fussy or have children or animals who get in your way.

Some personal chefs use their home business website, word of mouth and other forms of small business promotion. Holding cooking classes at local shopping markets can also be a great marketing technique to get some face to face exposure with potential clients. Additionally, personal chefs may decide to join the local chapter of the Personal Chef Association.

The life of a personal chef is examined in this interview piece. One personal chef was quoted as saying he "Rides to the rescue of those just too tired to whip up something after long days at the office.

Gourmet Pet Foods Home Based Business

2008-12-15T10:14:00.000-08:00

If you love animals.there's a growing demand for pet services - everything from pet sitting while owners are on vacation to doggy day care, pet grooming, dog walking and other pet-related services. That's why people who have always loved animals are starting small pet-related businesses after working in other jobs, like this home business making gourmet pet treats.

If you love pets, you'll be around them every day. You'll be providing an important service for pet owners who may have pets with special dietary needs. Pet services businesses are a rapidly growing home business niche with great demand potential.

Finding initial clientele can be challenging. and this home business could outgrow your home. Pet owners can be very fussy when it comes to their pets.

A good idea of who your potential clients will be, how best to reach out to them and what products they're looking for.

You may need to obey special requirements pertaining to zoning or comply with any special regulations from your homeowners association, if you belong to one.

You're not likely to be able to open a storefront in your home, so you will need to be creative to find other ways to get your products to your customers You may need cooking equipment beyond what's available in your home.

Gift Basket Service Business

2008-12-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

Are you a creative person who likes to give every gift an extra-special touch? Then a gift-basket service is the perfect home based business for you. In today's fast-paced world, few people have time to find that gift that's just right. Both corporate customers and individuals have found gift baskets to be the ideal solution, creating a rapidly growing market that could mean big profits for you.

Start-up is easy. There are few equipment requirements and no need for a retail store, so starting it from home, full or part time, is ideal and you can set your own hours and workload. Best of all, gift baskets are fun to create and practically sell themselves. Order your guide now!

Although gift baskets are one of today’s hottest businesses, with steady growth expected to continue well into the foreseeable future, they’re not at all new. In fact, gift baskets have been a traditional form of gift giving ever since humans figured out how to weave baskets. Throughout history, baskets filled with fruit, nuts, wild game and other foodstuff, flowers and other material tokens have been presented as a sign of affection or a gesture of goodwill. The contents could be consumed, and the container then used for cooking, storing and transporting food, or for some other practical or decorative purpose. It was a gift that had great value and essentially no waste.

Today, gift baskets are equally practical and infinitely more creative. They run the gamut from traditional Easter-style “goodie” baskets to baskets made especially for golfers, chocolate lovers, new homeowners and brides-to-be. Some people focus almost exclusively on the contents; others see the basket or other container as a very important part of the gift. In fact, a growing number of gift baskets aren’t baskets at all—they’re boxes, fruit crates, tote bags, hats, ceramic pots, mixing bowls and more, all filled with food, gifts and other collectible items designed to delight the recipient.

So who buys gift baskets and why? Just about everyone for every imaginable occasion. They buy pre-made baskets by occasion or theme, or baskets specially designed for a specific individual. They buy baskets from large chain stores, small specialty shops and home based basket makers—and they’ll buy them from you.

The market for gift baskets is great, and as long as people buy each other presents, you’ll have a steady stream of customers. You have a product that is in high demand and that people are familiar with. You don’t need to convince anyone that they should buy gift baskets—you just need to let them know that you are their best source, and that you can deliver the product they need when they need it. One thirteen-year veteran in the business told us she believes the industry is in its infancy, with the real growth yet to be experienced.

About half of your business will be holiday-based, and the majority of that will be Christmas-related. One of the fastest-growing segments of the gift basket industry is corporate holiday orders. When the Christmas rush is over, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving and Secretaries’ Day are the most profitable holidays. Most gift basket business owners see holidays as both a blessing and a curse. They can earn a lot of money making holiday baskets, but they have to work very hard during times of the year when they might prefer to do other things.

The bottom line on making gift baskets is that it’s a highly creative and gratifying occupation. It features all the best aspects of hands-on work, design, coordinating, and planning and customer service. Your product is something you take pleasure in making, your customers enjoy buying, and the recipients are delighted to receive.

Your Own Auto Detailing Business

2008-12-15T10:07:00.000-08:00

Description of this Work at Home Job is-

Clean cars inch by inch to return them to factory-new condition.

Perform some jobs on a regular basis and others on a one-time basis for resale to a new buyer.

Work closely with your client to understand all expectations. Every auto detailing job will be unique.

What is the Need for this Small Business Job?

Many people's cares are like a teenager's room, carpeted with months of magazines and fast-food packages and encompassed by a "bad" nonspecific odor. Other people like their cares to be in better than factory fresh condition.

As an owner of an auto detailing business, you will use sponges, hoses, vacuum cleaners, toothpicks and toothbrushes to pick up every crumb, polish every surface, and renew every visual feature of the car.

Your job as an auto detailing owner is to run a beauty salon, not a plastic surgeon's room. An auto detailer's job description does not include removing dents or significant interior or exterior work. Whether you go to the car, or the car comes to you, you'll need the same equipment. If you travel to the job, you'll need a vehicle to carry supplies. Your vehicle should become an example of your work and should sparkle like a showroom auto!If the car comes to you, your setup and cleanup will be easier.

If you like cleaning car then auto detailing service may be the business for you.
It makes an ideal home based business!

Cleaning Service Business

2008-12-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

If it can get dirty, chances are that someone will be willing to pay you to clean it. And that's why few industries can claim the variety and depth of opportunities that professional cleaning can. This in-depth guide shows you how to start three hot cleaning businesses: residential maid service, commercial janitorial and carpet.

Most cleaning service businesses can be operated on either a part-time or full-time basis, either from home or from a commercial location, and the best part is you can build an extremely profitable business that will generate revenue very quickly.

Our easy-to-follow guide will teach you:

Who your customers and competitors will be.
The ins and outs of finding clients.
What equipment and supplies you'll need to get started.
How to hire and train employees.
Where to find start-up funds and how to set prices.
And much more.

The cleaning industry has two primary market groups: consumer and commercial. The consumer arena consists primarily of residential maid services, along with carpet cleaners, window cleaners and a variety of other cleaning services required on a less-frequent basis. The commercial arena is dominated by janitorial services, which typically provide a wider range of services than maid services, along with other cleaning companies, such as carpet and window cleaners, that target businesses rather than individual consumers. While it’s recommended that you decide on a niche and concentrate on building a business that will serve your chosen market, it is entirely realistic to expect to be able to serve multiple markets successfully.

With all this opportunity, what does the competition look like? Glance through your telephone directory—the number of cleaning services may make you think the market is already flooded and there’s no room for you. That’s not true.

First, anyone can get a listing in the Yellow Pages just by having a business telephone line. A mere listing doesn’t mean the company is offering quality service to the market you’re targeting.

Second, the demand for cleaning services is tremendous. Plenty of maid service companies have waiting lists for clients because they simply can’t serve the entire market. Many carpet cleaners and other types of specialized cleaning services are not full-time operations and therefore don’t offer serious competition. And a significant number of janitorial services are mom-and-pop operations run by people who want just enough work to earn a living.

Third, cleaning service customers want quality, and many operators are unable to deliver that. Ask anyone who has ever hired a company to clean something in their home or office if they’ve had any bad experiences, and chances are you’ll hear some nightmarish stories of poor-quality work, damage to property and even theft. If you offer quality service, operate with integrity and charge reasonable prices, you will be a success in a cleaning service business.

Crafts Business

2008-12-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

If you're creative and enjoy working with your hands, a crafts business could be your path to financial independence. With a minimal investment, you can start grossing up to $100,000 a year doing something you love. This guide starts with an overview of the industry, looks at some specific crafts businesses, and then through the step-by-step process of setting up and running your new venture. You’ll learn about basic requirements and start-up costs, daily operations, and what to do when things don’t go according to plan. You’ll gain a solid understanding of the sales and marketing .

Process, as well as how to track and manage the financial side of your business. Throughout the guide, you’ll hear from crafters who have built successful operations and are eager to share what they learned in the process. This guide from Entrepreneur.com is necessary before diving into this home business venture.

Assembly lines around the world are churning out mass-produced items that are purchased almost as fast as they can be made. But consumer acceptance of low-cost look-alike goods hasn’t eliminated the demand for handcrafted items—although those items are likely to have a much different function today than in the past.

Many handcrafted items are now valued as works of art, but historically their value was primarily utilitarian. For example, baskets and pottery were essential for transporting food, water and other items. And weaving produced fabrics that could be made into clothing and blankets.Because of the industrial revolution, the need for functional handcrafted items is not as extensive as it once was. But Americans who want quality artistic and decorative items turn to modern-day craftspeople who produce a variety of items such as jewellery, ceramics, wood carvings, furniture, crocheted and knitted goods, decorated clothing, toys and much more.

In this book, craft refers to any handmade item that can be given as a gift or sold—and if you’ve attended a crafts fair, you may have been surprised by what craftspeople sell and what people are willing to buy. The unpredictability of the crafts market is one of the intriguing and challenging aspects of the business.

The question of whether crafts are art or a separate medium may never be definitively answered. In The Crafts of the Modern World, Rose Slivka writes, “Throughout their long history, crafts have produced useful objects which are later considered fine art. Time has a way of overwhelming the functional value of an object that outlives the men who made and used it, with the power of its own objective presence—that life-invest quality of being that transcends and energizes. When this happens, such objects are forever honored for their own sakes—they are art.

Of course, for someone wanting to start a crafts business, the question of whether the products are art may not be particularly important. A more critical question is whether you can make money.

The nature of the crafts industry makes it difficult to define and quantify, but industry experts estimate that sales revenues exceed $10 billion annually, and hundreds of thousands of working artisans earn their entire income from the crafts they produce. Most professional craftspeople start making their handcrafted goods as a hobby, and begin selling items to friends and family. From there, they typically expand to selling in crafts shows and fairs several times a year. Sometimes they’re content to keep this as something they do on the side; others are eager to move from part-time to full-time status. Still other artisans tackle their work as a full-time career from the beginning, often renting studio or retail space, or both.

Start-up costs for a crafts business range from literally a few dollars to several thousand dollars, depending on what you are making, what type of equipment and raw materials you need, and whether you already own equipment when you start. Crafters earn as little as a few dollars an hour for part-time crafters who are not particularly interested in profits to as much as $20 or $30 an hour and sometimes more if they learn how to market and manage their businesses efficiently.

Virtual Assistant

2008-12-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

Virtual Assistants are well-trained entrepreneurs that provides professional assistance to clients. These entrepreneurs attends to their clients needs with the use of communication technologies such as Internet and email
Time saving.

Businesses save time in hiring, training and supervising new employees since VAs are well-trained and considered experts in their fields. They can handle their tasks without extensive supervisions nor instructions.
Provides better project management.

Virtual Assistant switching or changing is much easier compared to the usual firing and hiring process of employees. The skills of your virtual assistants has been known to you from the start of the project and if a needed change arises and the required skills that this change needs doesn’t match up with your current VA’s skills, you can easily switch into a more capable VA to have the project finished.

Higher business financial efficiency. Expenses, cost or outflow is more manageable when having a Virtual Assistant since VAs’ cost will immediately be allocated to the project while in having regular employee, parts of the project cost will go to training and other benefits.

Virtual Assistants are more committed. Clients satisfaction is highly valued by VAs and with that they provide genuine interest in helping their clients to succeed. Compare to employees, they rarely share the same vision because of less risk as that with Vas.

Software Usage

2008-12-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

The software industry in India has a unique distinction - the revenue from domestic projects, as of now account for less than 50% of the total turnover of the software industry. Though in this day when there is a heavy emphasis on exports, this may sound good, it actually is also a potential source of concern.

The reason is that the software industry is essentially a support industry. The
fundamental role of software is to improve the functioning of some organization in some form, or solve some problem which will be hard to solve manually.

The improvement may be in form of improved service, problem solving capability, information management, efficiency, or something else. In other words, the real success of the software industry should not be measured in terms of how much revenue they have generated, but how much enhancement they are able to induce in other industry segments. In this light, the high ratio of exports to domestic consumption of software is a disturbing trend - in exports the multiplying effect of the software goes to some other country.

A main reason for the domestic consumption not being high is lack of understanding of software, its processes, and its costs by the consumer organizations. For a long time consumers of IT goods thought that software is ``free'', and the main thing in IT is the hardware. Little was it realized that hardware, without proper software is almost literally a piece of metal and silicon junk. This mentality, unfortunately, was also reinforced by some hardware vendors, who at the time of selling their machines, either promised to ``give software for free'' or convinced the buyer that software is
something that the buyer can easily do himself. And this is as far from truth as it can be!

BROADLY speaking, software can be broken into three categories - system software, software packages, and application software. System software comprises of operating systems compilers, editors, etc., which typically come with the machine. Software packages like DBASE, LOTUS, ORACLE etc. are general utility programs that can be used to develop applications in some domain more easily. Application softwares are those that that are used to provide a computer based solution to some problem of an organization.

Some examples of such softwares are, software for payroll processing, banking, railway/airline reservations, inventory management, decision support system, etc. It is the application software that makes the IT investment useful to an organization.

Generally, a typical application software depends on the needs, characteristics, and methods of the organization, and has to be developed specially for the organization and cannot be bought as an off-the-shelf product. And as things stand today, getting software developed is not cheap.

Data Conversion

2008-12-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

Now a day’s paper has become outdated and organizations are using online services to avoid paper work. For any organization, its biggest and most important asset is its data and more important is perfect accessibility of that data when it is needed. Sometimes it becomes really very difficult to manage such a large amount of data, especially for firms with large amounts of information, multiple formats, and complex system requirements. In order to avoid such situations of mismanagement conversion services are like bliss. Conversion services allow these organizations to systematize their data by putting it into one format which can be used across many different platforms.

However, with the coming of conversion service, the task of converting data in a desired form has become much easier. In fact, these days, most of the business and work is conducted over the Internet and maintaining data and records in a hard copy has just become a formality thanks to the conversion service. This is how we acquire any information on internet through this service at a click of a mouse. It helps in a simple search on one of the popular engines and the results will be available at a moment’s notice. The same efficiency expectancy holds true for any information regarding conversion service that offers the conversion values for various measurements such as area, length, mass, temperature, speed and volume.

Moreover, by using modern technology and highly skills professional staff, your unstructured data, no matter how voluminous it is, can be converted into series of digital formats on time, that too cost effectively. Conversion services not only save or convert data but it also save time and money of the company. Data Entry Process converts data into PDF formats, JPG formats, word processor, power point, and all type of documents formats, and paper into HTML, XML, SGML and also structured formats.

Data conversion services offers flexibility, responsibility and ability to cater to any new process. If you have a data conversion requirement or want to convert bulk documents than take advantage of conversion services. That enables you to handle large volumes of data. As conversion services cover a multitude of formats it is ideal for corporations, educational institutions, library and business. In conversion quality of work is very essential to get outstanding result. Data conversion service prevents access, downloads or copying of confidential documents or information as it customize software for data capture and workflow.

By Converting Data into many different formats like mainframe data, excel worksheets, FoxPro, dbase, paradox, text files etc. Data formats deliver output through FTP, VPN. For privacy and security purpose, we make use of the encryption techniques. Our Data entry professional have expertise to key in alphanumeric characters in a wide range of data format with high accuracy and speed.

Tips To Start Home Business

2008-12-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

Set up a separate working space in your home. It doesn't matter if this is a small bedroom, one part of the garage, or a corner of the living room. The important thing is to have some space that you can designate as your working area. This will give you the space and room you need to craft your dream.

Stock you’re working space with materials. This sounds basic, perhaps, but one underlying element of success is that you have easy access to the tools, materials, and other resources you need. Gathering everything close by also keeps you from wasting time searching for it, so this step can be considered a time management strategy, too.

Speaking of time management, your third step is to define the parameters of your business. What days and hours will you work? When will you market? When will you provide services or products to clients? How will you keep all of this straight?

Balance action with planning. One of the most common pitfalls to successful entrepreneurship is getting too caught up in action without enough planning. Stated another way, this means that you confuse "being busy" with "working on important projects." The best approach is to plan your next couple of goals and then work backwards to create step by step action plans to reach them. Once you have the plan, then it's time to take the action.

Network like crazy. One of the fastest ways to grow any business is to make connections with other people. Be sure to share your passion and enthusiasm with others at every opportunity. Let people know who you are and what you offer. Remember, people can't buy if they don't know you're selling.

Present a professional image. If you want to be treated professionally, present a professional image. Set up a separate bank account for your business. Install a separate phone and fax line. Create professional marketing materials. Be courteous and pleasant in all your customer facing interactions. Basically, be someone people want to do business with.

Automate your business as much as possible. Granted, you are just one person and might have a lot of extra time to take care of all the details. This might work for now, but won't work into the future as you get busier and busier. It's best to set up automatic systems and processes right from the start to free up your time to concentrate on the most profitable activities.

Online Jobs

2008-12-15T09:52:00.000-08:00

Finding Online Jobs, Jobs from Home, and Part time jobs is not always as easy as you might think that it is. It is often a very attractive proposition to be able to work from home as it will allow you to spend the time that you would like to spend with your family and to make your own schedule. However, there appear to be many jobs out there, it can often be hard to find the perfect online jobs for your needs. However, there are a few things that you can do to make sure that you find the best jobs for yourself and that you are not going to be stuck in jobs that are not right for you.

The first thing that you should do when you are looking for online jobs or work from home jobs, is to remember to focus on things that you are good at and things that you already know how to do. This will help you find jobs that are better suited to you, and jobs that will truly help you make a living out of what you are doing. If you can try to do something similar to what you are doing now, but turn it into online job, you will find that this is where you are happiest and where you make the most money. Also you will see that this is the situation that works best for you. Many people use the Internet to find that special job they have been looking for. The internet is a fascinating world where you can obtain just about anything that you need, including an income. There are many ways tools available to help you find an ideal internet based job. Finding it may not always be easy, and it may not happen right away, but it is possible.

The Internet is bursting with so many online jobs. There is a job for everyone, and surely, there is a job out there for you. If you don’t have much time to spare, you can still make extra money with some easy and effortless online jobs. If you are looking for ways to earn extra cash, there’s no need to look far. All you have to do is go online and choose from the myriad of online jobs out there. Don’t worry, because the online jobs come in different shapes and sizes. You will certainly find one that suits your financing needs and your available time. If you are just looking for some simple, effortless ways to make money, here are some online jobs that can work for you.

First thing you will need to do is consider what type(s) of job(s) you are looking for. Do you want to sell products, or provide services? If you’d rather be selling, what types of products are you interested in and knowledgeable about? Figuring out a general field of interest is probably the hardest part in searching for your dream internet job. Once you have decided what you’re looking for, you’ll need to determine whether you already possess the necessary skills and experience to be successful. If not, you’ll need to research and/or obtain further education or training before you can make the full move to working online. You may wish to consider keeping your current position while you get everything in order. This is especially important when looking at online jobs, as it will be harder to avoid scams and dishonest people when you won’t have any face to face interaction.

While there is no set-in-stone answer to the question of which internet job you’ll be successful in, the steps outlined should greatly increase your chances of finding one that you’ll be happy with. Remember to always research a company before providing them with your personal information. Don’t believe everything you read in one short little classified ads. Avoiding rip offs and scams is the most important element to finding the internet job that may very well be perfect for you.

Executive Business

2008-12-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

Executive Business Approach reminds you that to lead your business, you must be constantly learning, always looking for those executive management approaches that smooth the bumps and pave the road to your continued success. We find the experts to take you up a notch; to challenge you to move forward and upward. At EBA we find the experts, we hire the leading authorities that can make a difference in your personal growth, which is essential for you to guide your managers, employees, and, ultimately, your business to the next summit followed by the next peak of outstanding performance and profitability.

Of course you do! You would not be where you are today unless you had done most things right. Nearly everyone hits a lucky streak from time to time. But you know that luck just does not hold out over the long term. Long-term success is attained and sustained by making more right decisions than wrong decisions—many more! One seriously wrong decision can cost you more than you want to remember in time, money and productivity. That is why you decided a long time ago to keep learning, keep advancing, and keep on keeping on by making fewer mistakes and optimizing your time and energies to do the right thing the first time.

You have the information you need to make your decision. Right? Or do you? Do you weigh all your options carefully before making your move? Too many times, busy executives—just like you—have to make on-the-spot decisions that are driven by emotions and before all the facts have been gathered and analyzed. EBA provides the resources you need to sort out the facts, examine the data and make the best decision for your business based on strong business principles, not spur of the minute choices that can cost you more than just money.

The Internet And Network Marketing

2008-12-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

They should go together, hand-in-glove. And yet, Network Marketers have struggled to realize the near-infinite networking and lead-generating potential of the Web.

Instead of building wonderful, relationship-growing sites that generate warm, original and genuine MLM leads, Network Marketers are reduced to buying cold, overused MLM leads at high prices with zero conversion rates.

Did you know that many of those "get rich quick" ads on TV are actually run to generate leads, to sell to you? And they sell the same Network Marketing leads to others... over and over and over again! Why do they do that? Because Network Marketing is a huge failure online.

It does not have to be that way. The key is to build your business, the right way, and the natural way. Instead of being controlled by the restrictions of companies you represent and by government regulation, build your own business and control your own destiny.

The Benefits Online Data Entry Work

2008-12-15T09:47:00.000-08:00

You've seen it, those ads on the internet that read, “Online Data Entry - Make Hundreds Per Day." You may have even answered one of those advertisements only to find it's nothing more than instructions on how to place the same advertisement you just answered. Yes, many of those types of data entry positions are scams. However, there are legitimate data entry jobs online and many people are making a healthy living working from the comfort of their homes.

Generally, if you have a family where it would benefit your lifestyle and your income to have a person stay at home with your children, then a job doing online data entry might be right up your alley. After all, it is always easier to incorporate a good online position at home where you can earn extra spending money. Once you are set up at your home office, you can then begin to take on extra online jobs here and there and have more time to spend with your family too.

The thought of going to work in your pajamas is initially appealing to many people. However, even with an online data entry position, people soon realize it really is work. When you do a work at home job such as an online data entry job, you will have clients and deadlines to hit and you'll still have the same responsibilities around the house. However, what you save in childcare and commuting costs, and the ability to work your own hours is the biggest selling point for doing data entry jobs from the home.

There are times that having a degree is a necessity but some people find that they are lacking in that department. They may be a quick typist but not have that slip of paper from a university. Data entry jobs are a great way to break into the Administrative field. Most data entry jobs do not require a college degree and some even offer the comfort of working from home as your own boss. The internet and job vacancy websites are a great way to begin.

Aromatherapy

2008-12-15T09:44:00.000-08:00

Aromatherapy is a generic term that refers to any of the various traditions that make use of essential oils sometimes in combination with other alternative medical practices and spiritual beliefs. Popular use of these products includes massaging products, medicine, or any topical application that incorporates the use of essential oils to their products. It has a particularly Western currency and persuasion. Medical treatment involving aromatic compounds may exist outside of the West, but may or may not be included in the term 'aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy is the treatment or prevention of disease by use of essential oils. Two basic mechanisms are offered to explain the purported effects. One is the influence of aroma on the brain, especially the limbic system through the olfactory system. The other is the direct pharmacological effects of the essential oils. While precise knowledge of the synergy between the body and aromatic oils is often claimed by aromatherapists, the efficacy of aromatherapy remains to be proven. However, some preliminary clinical studies show positive effects.

In the English-speaking world, practitioners tend to emphasize the use of oils in massage. Aromatherapy tends to be regarded as a complementary modality at best and a pseudoscientific fraud at worst.

On the continent, especially in France, where it originated, aromatherapy is incorporated into mainstream medicine. There, the use of the antiseptic, antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties of oils in the control of infections is emphasized over the approaches familiar to North Americans. In France some essential oils are regulated as prescription drugs, and thus administered by a physician. French doctors use a technique called the aromatogram to guide their decision on which essential oil to use.

First the doctor cultures a sample of infected tissue or secretion from the patient. Next the growing culture is divided among Petri dishes supplied with agar. Each Petri dish is inoculated with a different essential oil to determine which have the most activity against the target strain of microorganism. The antiseptic activity manifests as a pattern of inhibited growth.

In many countries essential oil are included in the national pharmacopoeia, but up to the present moment aromatherapy as science has never been recognized as a valid branch of medicine in the United States, Russia, Germany, or Japan.

Essential oils, phytoncides and other natural VOCs work in different ways. At the scent level they activate the limbic system and emotional centers of the brain. When applied to the skin may stimulate the immune system.

The Periyar National Park in Kerala

2008-12-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

Periyar is a protected area, and a Project Tiger nature reserve in the South Indian State of Kerala, set high in the mountains of the Western Ghats at the border to Tamil Nadu. It lies in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta. The protected area covers an area of 777 km², out of which a 350 km² part of the core zone was made into the Periyar National Park and Tiger Reserve, sometimes dubbed the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. The park is often called by the name thekkady also. Thekkady is located four km from Kumily, approximately 100 km east of Alappuzha, 110 km west of Madurai and 120 km southeast from Kochi.

The Periyar protected area lies in the middle of a mountainous area of the Cardamom Hills. In the north and the east it is bounded by mountain ridges of over 1700 metres altitude and toward the west it expands into a 1200 Meter high plateau. From this level the altitude drops steeply to the deepest point of the reserve, the 100 Meter valley of the Pamba River. The highest peak is the 2019 Meter high Kottamalai.

The sanctuary surrounds picturesque 26 km² Periyar Lake, formed by the building of Mullaperiyar Dam in 1895. This reservoir and the Periyar River meander around the contours of the wooded hills, providing a permanent source of water for the local wildlife.

Periyar Tiger Reserve is one of the 27 tiger reserves in India.
Periyar Tiger Reserve is located in the Western Ghats in Idukki District of the Kerala state in India. The terrain of the Reserve is undulating and the drainage is dendrite. North-eastern boundary of the Reserve is a ridge, which also forms boundary between Kerala and Tamil Nadu states for 90 km.
It’s a must to go for Jungle Track during your visit to the Periyar National Park.

There are different kinds of options available for the Jungle Track. One can under track the night patrol with the forest guard through the jungle and if you are not really that courageous there are options available for the short track of 4 hours starting in morning and afternoon.

During the track the flora and fauna can be experienced at close quarters and if one is lucky enough there are chances to sight the bigger animals of the cat family.

Varieties of Cake

2008-12-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

Cakes are broadly divided into several categories, based primarily on ingredients and cooking techniques.

Yeast cakes are the oldest, and are very similar to yeast breads. Such cakes are often very traditional in form, and include such pastries as babka and stolen.

Cheesecakes use mostly some form of cheese and have very little to no flour component. Cheesecakes are also very old, with evidence of honey-sweetened cakes dating back to ancient Greece.

Sponge cakes are thought to be the first of the non-yeast-based cakes and rely primarily on trapped air in a protein matrix to provide leavening, sometimes with a bit of baking powder or other chemical leaven added as insurance. Such cakes include the Italian/Jewish pan di Spagna and the French Génoise.

Butter cakes, including the pound cake and devil's food cake, rely on the combination of butter, eggs, and sometimes baking powder to provide both lift and a moist texture.

Beyond these classifications, cakes can be classified based on their appropriate accompaniment, contents or occasion.

Cakes may be small and intended for individual consumption larger cakes may be made with the intention of being sliced and served as part of a meal or social function. The cutting of a wedding cake constitutes a social ceremony in some cultures. The Ancient Roman marriage ritual of confarreatio originated in the sharing of a cake.

Some varieties of cake are widely available in the form of cake mixes, wherein some of the ingredients like flour, sugar, flavoring, baking powder, and sometimes some form of fat are premixed, and the cook needs add only a few extra ingredients, usually eggs, water, and sometimes vegetable oil or butter. Such mixes are available under a number of brand names, including Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, and Pillsbury; while the diversity of represented styles is limited, cake mixes do provide an easy and readily available homemade option for cooks who are not accomplished bakers.

Hot Air Ballooning

2008-12-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of ballooning include the exceptional quiet, the lack of a feeling of movement, and the bird's-eye view. Since the balloon moves with the wind, the passengers feel absolutely no wind, except for brief periods during the flight when the balloon climbs or descends into air currents of different direction or speed.

Most hot air balloon launches are made during the cooler hours of the day, at dawn or two to three hours before sunset. At these times of day, the winds are typically light making for easier launch and landing of the balloon. Flying at these times also avoids thermals, which are vertical air currents caused by ground heating that make it more difficult to control the balloon. In the extreme, the downdrafts associated with strong thermals can exceed the ability of a balloon to climb and can thus force a balloon into the ground.

Before a safe hot air balloon flight can begin, the pilot must check the weather and select a suitable take-off point. The current and forecast weather must have sufficient visibility for the pilot to see and avoid obstructions and sufficiently slow winds to allow take off and landing.

The take-off point must be large enough to lay out and inflate the envelope and clear of obstructions such as power lines and poles, trees, and buildings to allow lift-off under the predicted wind conditions. Finally, the take-off point must be situated such that the predicted winds will move the balloon in the direction of suitable landing sites. Taking off from a location that is directly up wind of a hazard, such as a large body of water, a large metropolitan area, or a large uninterrupted forest, without sufficient fuel to pass over the hazard is not safe.

The next step in a hot air balloon flight is unpacking the balloon from its carrying bag, laying it out on the ground, and connecting it to the basket and burner. A fan is used to blow cold air into the envelope. The cold air partially inflates the balloon to establish its basic shape before the burner flame is aimed into the mouth heating the air inside. A crew member stationed opposite the mouth holds a rope tied to the apex of the envelope. The "crown-man" role is twofold: one is to prevent the envelope from excessive sway, and two is to prevent the envelope from rising before it is sufficiently buoyant. Once the balloon is upright, pilot and passengers climb into the basket. When the pilot is ready for launch, more heat is directed into the envelope and the balloon lifts off.

During the flight, the pilot's only ability to steer the balloon is the ability to climb or descend into wind currents going different directions. Thus, it is important for the pilot to determine what direction the wind is blowing at altitudes other than the balloon's altitude. To do this, the pilot uses a variety of techniques.

Pilots are also looking for other visual clues such as flags on flagpoles, smoke coming from chimneys, etc. To determine wind directions above the balloon, the pilot will obtain a weather forecast prior to the flight which includes upper level wind forecasts

Coral Reef

2008-12-15T09:35:00.000-08:00

Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms, found in marine waters with little to no nutrients in the water. High nutrient levels such as those found in runoff from agricultural areas can harm the reef by encouraging the growth of algae.

In most reefs, the predominant organisms are stony corals, colonial cnidarians that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate. The accumulation of skeletal material, broken and piled up by wave action and bioeroders, produces a massive calcareous formation that supports the living corals and a great variety of other animal and plant life.

Although corals are found both in temperate and tropical waters, shallow-water reefs are formed only in a zone extending at most from 30°N to 30°S of the equator. This zone is very important to whales because many types of plankton live there. Tropical corals do not grow at depths of over 50 m. Temperature has less of an effect on the distribution of tropical coral, but it is generally accepted that they do not exist in waters below 18 °C. And that the optimum temperature is 26-27° Celsius for most coral reefs. The reefs in the Persian Gulf however have coral adapted to changing temperatures of 13° Celsius in winter and 38° Celsius in summer, thus having significantly colder and hotter ambient environments respectively than most coral reefs. Also, deep water coral is more exceptional still as it can exist at greater depths and colder temperatures. Although deep water corals also form reefs, very little is known about them.

Coral reefs support an extraordinary biodiversity; although they are located in nutrient-poor tropical waters. The process of nutrient cycling between corals, zooxanthellae, and other reef organisms provides an explanation for why coral reefs flourish in these waters: recycling ensures that fewer nutrients are needed overall to support the community.

Hard Drive

2008-12-15T09:33:00.000-08:00

Your PC's internal hard drive is a real workhorse--the most critical component of your system after the CPU and memory. The hard drive is the hub where your operating system, programs, and data are permanently stored and accessed.

If you edit movies, take lots of digital photos, play games, or listen to music files on your PC, a big, fast internal Parallel or Serial ATA hard drive can dramatically improve your overall computing experience. If you need more storage or a means to back up your PC's internal drives, you can add an external hard drive--available in USB 2.0, FireWire 400 or 800, or external SATA flavors. And if you want centralized storage, consider buying a network-attached storage device. NAS devices are continually improving, and can be a convenient way to add storage that all of the PCs on your small or home network can share.

Today's hard drives have stunning capacities: With the advent of perpendicular magnetic recording, 1 terabyte is the current maximum capacity for a single drive. As always, the drive you buy today will give you more storage capacity for less money than the one you could have bought a year ago.

This increased storage capacity has made it economical to turn your PC into a high-powered multimedia machine with plenty of room for accommodating all of your digital photos, a raft of digital music files, and the video files from your digital camcorder or from a TV tuner card. A single 1TB hard drive can store nearly 120 double-layered DVDs' worth of video.

In the end, hard drives are all about capacity or they're all about speed--depending on your needs. Our tests show that all of today's hard drives perform adequately when running regular business applications. Nevertheless, capacious, speedy drives particularly benefit people who process large files, images, and digital video.

Shopping Tips for a Laptop

2008-12-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

The most highly evolved species of computer, the laptop computer allows you to work without being tethered to an office. Portability and good performance make notebook PCs an essential part of the daily lives of millions, from college students to business travelers. Even the least-expensive of today's laptops are better equipped than they have ever been, and may be all you need for everyday work.

If you've ever shopped for a notebook, you know that the factors to consider go far beyond performance and connections. Notebook buyers have to mull such additional variables as size, weight, screen dimensions, battery life, and keyboard quality--plus options such as built-in wireless.

If you want more time away from an outlet, buy a higher-capacity supplementary battery when you purchase the notebook, or buy a notebook that has a modular bay capable of holding a supplementary power pack.
A screen larger than 12.1 inches eases eyestrain. Unless you're really pinching pennies, bigger is better.

Pointing devices are a matter of taste. Most people, however, find a touchpad easier to use than a pointing stick. For people who can't decide between a touchpad and an eraser head pointing device, some notebooks include both. If you buy one of these, make sure that it provides two sets of mouse buttons--one for the touchpad and the other for the eraser head--so you don't have to stretch to reach.

Many notebooks now come with two or more USB 2.0 ports, useful for connecting more of the latest peripherals.
Unless you need a lightweight notebook, opt for one with an internal bay for the optical drive. This design enables you to swap in other devices, such as an extra hard drive or a second battery.

Digital Camera - Key Features

2008-12-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

Resolution: If you intend to take pictures only to e-mail them to distant friends or to print at snapshot size, a camera of most any resolution will do. Even so, having more pixels gives you greater flexibility -- you can print sharper pictures at larger sizes, or crop and print small sections of pictures. These days most cameras offer a resolution of at least 5 mega pixels, which is enough to make a sharp 11-by-14 print.

Size, weight and design: To some users, how much a camera weighs and whether it fits in a pocket may be more important factors than resolution. PC World has tested cameras that weigh as much as 2.3 pounds and as little as 4.2 ounces. Small cameras are convenient, but they frequently have tiny dials and few buttons, which make changing settings somewhat trying.

Zoom lens: Inexpensive cameras often lack a powerful optical zoom lens. If we had to choose between a camera with more optical zoom and one with higher resolution, we'd take the model with the more powerful zoom lens -- it means you won't have to magnify your subject and then use software to crop the image. A few cameras now offer zoom ratings of up to 15X. These lenses are great for nature or sports photography, but you may need a steady hand or a tripod to avoid blurry pictures at extreme telephoto lengths if the camera doesn't have image stabilization. You should try a camera's auto focus at full zoom: We've tested some models that were slow to focus at full zoom in low light.

Be wary of advertised zoom ratings -- many vendors combine the optical zoom with digital zoom, which merely captures fewer pixels and magnifies those. Optical zoom gives you all the benefit of the camera's maximum resolution, combined with the ability to get closer to the action.

Manual focus: For close-ups or situations in which the camera can't get a focus lock, switching to manual focusing can help you get the shot. Low-end cameras often omit manual focusing or allow only stepped focusing, which forces you to choose from a few preset distances.

Storage: At its highest resolution, a typical 5-megapixel camera can store six to eight images on a 16MB "starter" memory card. The size of the memory card that a camera ships with isn't terribly important, because you'll almost always have to buy another one.

Uses Mahogany Wood

2008-12-15T09:28:00.000-08:00

Mahogany has a generally straight grain and is usually free of voids and pockets. It has a reddish-brown color, which darkens over time, and displays a beautiful reddish sheen when polished. It has excellent workability, and is very durable. The size of the trees meant that wide boards were once available. These properties make it a favorable wood for crafting furniture.
Much of the first-quality furniture made in the American colonies from the mid 1700s, when the wood first became available to American furniture makers, was made of mahogany. Mahogany is widely used for fine furniture; the rarity of Cuban mahogany restricts its use. Mahogany resists wood rot, which makes it suitable for boat construction. It is also often used for musical instruments, particularly the backs of guitars.

Mahogany is used for drum making, because of its integrity and capability to produce a very dark, warm tone. Today, several drum manufacturers have rediscovered the features of mahogany shells, resulting in several high end series offering shells made in this wood.

A wide variety of electric guitars are also made from mahogany, like Gibson's Les Paul line and most of the PRS guitars among others. It is noted, again, for its dark properties, as well as its weight, the combination of which produces a warm, rounded tone with huge sustain, for which the guitar is famous.

Mahogany is also commonly used in acoustic guitars. The wood is most often used to make the back, sides, or neck of a guitar, but it is sometimes used to make the top as well. Guitars with mahogany soundboards tend to have a softer, darker tone than those made from spruce.

Mahogany is now being used for the bodies of high-end stereo phonographic record cartridges and for stereo headphones, where it is noted for “warm” or “musical” sound.

MP3 Player

2008-12-15T09:27:00.000-08:00

MP3 players--available in a wide variety of styles and sizes and capable of storing thousands of songs--capitalize on digital technology to supplant traditional Walkman-style cassette-tape players and portable CD players.

Today's players pack loads of songs, and the devices are easy to manage, too. We'll help you figure out which one is best for you. The storage capacity and battery life of an MP3 player can have a big impact on how much you enjoy it. We'll explain what's behind these and other specifications.

A portable digital audio player sets your music free so you can easily mix and match songs in any order and take the tunes with you. MP3 players use one of two storage mediums: hard drive or flash memory. Hard-drive players offer the greatest amount of storage space but tend to be larger and more susceptible to damage due to the fragile nature of hard disks. Flash-memory models hold a more limited number of songs, but their lack of moving parts makes them more durable than hard-drive players.

An alternative technology beckons as well: Portable media centers, made by companies such as Archos, Creative Labs, and IRiver, play both music and video (on LCD screens about the size of a playing card). Exclusively hard-drive devices, these handheld entertainment consoles tie in closely with desktop PCs and let you watch hours of recorded television shows or movies.

Nearly all MP3 players require that you have a reasonably modern PC with a free USB 1.1 or 2.0 port. Your songs will load much more quickly with the latter. As you begin creating your music collection on the computer, you may want to upgrade your hard drive to be able to store more files.
Specialized MP3 players are not the only devices you can buy to listen to your music.

You can now get mobile telephones, thumb drives, digital cameras, personal digital assistants, and car stereos that can store and play back MP3 music files. Many pocket-size voice memo recorders can now also record and play back MP3 files. But a word to the wise: Dedicated MP3 players usually sound better and have more user-friendly controls than hybrid devices.

Persian Cat – Origin and Characteristics

2008-12-15T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Persian is one of the oldest breeds of cat. In Britain, it is called the Longhair or Persian Longhair. A Persian without an established and registered pedigree is classed as a domestic longhair cat.

Hundreds of years of selective breeding made Persians cobbier cats with drastically shorter muzzle. It's not clear when longhair cats first appeared, as there are no African Wildcats with that kind of fur. There have been claims that the gene responsible for long hair was introduced through hybridization with Pallas cat. Recent research however refutes this theory.

A show-quality Persian has an extremely long thick coat, short legs, a wide head with the ears set far apart, large eyes, and an extremely foreshortened muzzle. Their eyes are often gooey, and the owner should clean their eyes at least once every day. The breed was originally established with a short muzzle, but over time this feature has become extremely exaggerated, particularly in North America, and Persians with the more extreme brachycephalic head type are susceptible to a number of health problems caused by it. Their short muzzle also causes them to have dust and debris cover the inside of their nostrils more often, which makes it very difficult for them to breathe.

Persian cats can have any colour or markings including pointed, golden, tortoiseshell, blue, and tabby. Tipped varieties are known as Chinchilla. Point varieties are called Himalayan in the United States and Colourpoint Persian in Europe.

Longevity is usually between 10 and 19 years on average. The White Persians eye-colour can be orange-eyed, blue-eyed, or odd-eyed. The blue-eyed type is prone to deafness.

Digital Pets

2008-12-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

A digital pet, is a type of artificial human companion. They are usually kept for companionship or enjoyment. People may keep a digital pet in lieu of a real pet.

Digital pets are distinct in that they have no concrete physical form other than the hardware they run on. Interaction with virtual pets may or may not be goal oriented. If it is, then the user must keep it alive as long as possible and often help it to grow into higher forms. Keeping the pet alive and growing often requires 'feeding', grooming and playing with the pet. If the interaction is not goal oriented, the user can explore the character of the pet and enjoy the feeling of building a relationship with it. Often these games use realistic visual effects or interaction to make the pet appear alive and give a sense of reality to users.

Digital pets can be "simulations of real animals, as in the Petz series" or "fantasy ones like the Tamagotchi". Unlike biological simulations, the pet does not usually reproduce.

They generally do not die.To increase user's personal attachment to the pet, the pet interacts with the user. Interactivity can be classified into two categories: Short-term and long-term.

Short-term interactivity includes direct interaction or action to reaction from the pet. Example: "touch" a pet with mouse cursor and the pet will give a direct response to the "touching".

Long-term interactivity includes action that affect pet's growth, behavior or life span. Example like training the pet may have good effect on pet's health. Long-term interactivity is quite important for a sense of reality as the user would think that he has some lasting influence on the pet.

Teddy Bear – The Soft Toys

2008-12-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. It is an enduring, traditional form of a stuffed animal, often serving the purpose of comforting children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become expensive collector's items.

Commercially made, mass-produced teddy bears are predominantly made as toys for children. These bears have safety joints for attaching arms legs and heads. They must have securely fastened eyes that do not pose a choking hazard for small children

Some teddy bear artists specialize in the production of bears made from recycled materials. These artists hunt thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales and trash collection centers as well as their own and their families' basements and attics in search of forgotten treasures to be turned into a collector's dream. Old quilts, dresses, fur collars, coats and stoles as well as beaded bags and garments are quickly transformed into stunning teddy bears.

Some other teddy bear artists specialize in crochet bears made out of thread. They are called Thread Crochet Bears. For these bears artists do not use fabric; they make the fabric crocheting and at the same time make the bear. Thread Crochet Bears are fully jointed, miniature bears. Some are even micro, less than 2 inches tall. Thread crochet bears may be made out of crochet cotton thread, Perle cotton thread, Mohair thread, Punch thread, some thin fancy yarn, like eyelash, or any other fiber that can be.

Visual Arts

2008-12-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

The visual arts are art forms that focus on the creation of works which are primarily visual in nature, such as painting, photography, printmaking, and filmmaking. Those that involve three-dimensional objects, such as sculpture and architecture, are called plastic arts. Many artistic disciplines involve aspects of the visual arts as well as other types, so these definitions are not strict.

The current usage of the term "visual arts" includes fine arts as well as crafts, but this was not always the case. Before the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain and elsewhere at the turn of the 20th century, "visual artist" referred to a person working in the fine arts and not the handicraft, craft, or applied art disciplines.

The distinction was emphasized by artists of the Arts and Crafts movement who valued vernacular art forms as much as high forms. The movement contrasted with modernists who sought to withhold the high arts from the masses by keeping them esoteric. Art schools made a distinction between the fine arts and the crafts in such a way that a craftsperson could not be considered a practitioner of art.

Computer usage has blurred the distinctions between illustrators, photographers, photo editors, 3-D modelers, and handicraft artists. Sophisticated rendering and editing software has led to multi-skilled image developers. Photographers may become digital artists. Illustrators may become animators. Handicraft may be computer-aided or use computer generated imagery as a template. Computer clip art usage has also made the clear distinction between visual arts and page layout less obvious due to the easy access and editing of clip art in the process of paginating a document, especially to the unskilled observer.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

2008-12-15T09:20:00.000-08:00

The innovation and new user experience has been created for consumers on the Xperia™ X1,” The in-depth demonstration on the web cast will showcase how this handset is truly unique. The nine panel eco system puts the user in total control of the primary experiences available on the phone and allows consumers to personalise the panel interface to suit their needs and lifestyle. TheXperia™ X1 has the highest quality screen on the market, four-way navigation keys and optical joy stick to give a stressless browsing experience and, with its super fast processor and network speed the Xperia™ X1 really bridges the gap between personal, entertainment and work mobile needs.”

The Xperia™ X1 is the first product under Sony Ericsson’s new premium sub-brandXperia™. Designed to meet consumers’ needs for a converged entertainment and mobile web communication experience, the Xperia™ X1 is an extremely stylish handset encased in a real stainless steel body, with a striking arc-slider design, supported by a powerful multimedia ecosystem.

Consumers can access a world of experiences by tapping on one of the unique customisable panels on the three-inch high resolution touch-widescreen. Windows Mobile® lets you choose from a dynamic range of activities anytime and anywhere; from enjoying your music, watching a video, checking email, shopping online or working with Windows Mobile Office on-the-move. The full QWERTY keyboard and quality metal casing completes this premium handset.

Developers can use the Windows Mobile SDK, free of charge, to produce a wide variety of panels to meet the consumer’s demand for a rich, individualised multimedia experience on their phone. Users of the Xperia™ X1 will be spoilt for choice as they personalize their handset with panel applications to suit their mood and lifestyle. Whether it is a search engine, advanced calendar or social networking application, music or film catalogue, sports or news related content, the panels enable you to access any information – quickly and directly – with a simple tap on the 3” super high resolution touch screen.

Greek Mythology

2008-12-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece. Modern scholars refer to the myths and study them in an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece and on the Ancient Greek civilization, and to gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.

Greek mythology is embodied explicitly in a large collection of narratives and implicitly in representational arts, such as vase-paintings and votive gifts. Greek myth explains the origins of the world and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and other mythological creatures. These accounts were initially disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; the Greek myths are known today primarily from Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, the epic poems Iliad and Odyssey focus on events surrounding the Trojan War.

Myths are also preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the works of the tragedians of the 5th century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and in writers of the time of the Roman Empire, for example, Plutarch and Pausanias. Archaeological evidence is a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with Gods and heroes featuring prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the 8th century BCE depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the succeeding Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear to supplement the existing literary evidence.

Greek mythology has had extensive influence on the culture, the arts and the literature of Western civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in classical mythological themes.

Automated Teller Machine

2008-12-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

An automated teller machine (ATM) is a computerized telecommunications device that provides the customers of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a human clerk or bank teller. On most modern ATMs, the customer is identified by inserting a plastic ATM card with a magnetic stripe or a plastic smartcard with a chip that contains a unique card number and some security information, such as an expiration date or CVC (CVV). Security is provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN).

Using an ATM, customers can access their bank accounts in order to make cash withdrawals and check their account balances as well as purchasing mobile cell phone prepaid credit. ATMs are known by various other names including automated banking machine, money machine, bank machine, cash machine, hole-in-the-wall, cash point, Bancomat in various countries in Europe and Russia, Multibanco after a registered trade mark, in Portugal, and Any Time Money in India.

ATMs are placed not only near or inside the premises of banks, but also in locations such as shopping centers/malls, airports, grocery stores, petrol/gas stations, restaurants, or any place large numbers of people may gather.

These represent two types of ATM installations: on and off premise. On premise ATMs are typically more advanced, multi-function machines that complement an actual bank branch's capabilities and thus more expensive. Off premise machines are deployed by financial institutions and also ISOs or Independent Sales Organizations where there is usually just a straight need for cash, so they typically are the cheaper mono-function devices. In Canada, when an ATM is not operated by a financial institution it is known as a "White Label ATM".

Many ATMs have a sign above them indicating the name of the bank or organization owning the ATM, and possibly including the list of ATM networks to which that machine is connected. This type of sign is called a topper.

Materials of Sculpture through History

2008-12-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and or plastic material, sound, and or text and or light, commonly stone, metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built up and fired, welded, molded, or cast. Sculptures are often painted. A person who creates sculptures is called a sculptor.

Sculptors have generally sought to produce works of art that are as permanent as possible, working in durable and frequently expensive materials such as bronze and stone: marble, limestone, porphyry, and granite. More rarely, precious materials such as gold, silver, jade, and ivory were used for chryselephantine works. More common and less expensive materials were used for sculpture for wider consumption, including glass, hardwoods, terra cotta and other ceramics, and cast metals such as pewter and zinc.

Sculptures are often painted, but commonly loose their paint to time, or restorers. Many different painting techniques have been used in making sculpture, including tempera gilding, house paint, aerosol, enamel and sandblasting.

Many sculptors seek new ways and materials to make art. Since the 1960s, acrylics and other plastics have been used as well. Some sculpture, such as ice sculpture, sand sculpture, and gas sculpture, is deliberately short-lived.
Sculptors often build small preliminary works called maquettes of ephemeral materials such as plaster of Paris, wax, clay, or plasticine.

Pottery Glazing and Decorating

2008-12-15T09:11:00.000-08:00

Pottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. It also refers to a group of materials that includes earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries.

Additives can be worked into the clay body prior to forming, to produce desired effects in the fired wares. Coarse additives, such as sand and grog a fired clay which has been finely ground are sometimes used to give the final product a required texture. Contrasting colored clays and grogs are sometimes used to produce patterns in the finished wares. Colorants, usually metal oxides and carbonates, are added singly or in combination to achieve a desired color. Combustible particles can be mixed with the body or pressed into the surface to produce texture.

Agateware: So-named after its resemblance to the quartz mineral agate which has bands or layers of color that are blended together. Agatewares are made by blending clays of differing colors together, but not mixing them to the extent that they lose their individual identities. The wares have a distinctive veined or mottled appearance. The term 'agateware' is used to describe such wares in the United Kingdom; in Japan the term neriage is used and in China, where such things have been made since at least the Tang Dynasty, they are called marbled wares. Great care is required in the selection of clays to be used for making agatewares as the clays used must have matching thermal movement characteristics.

Glaze is a glassy coating applied to pottery, the primary purposes of which include decoration and protection. Glazes are highly variable in composition but usually comprise a mixture of ingredients that generally, but not always, mature at kiln temperatures lower than that of the pottery that it coats. One important use of glaze is in rendering pottery vessels impermeable to water and other liquids. Glaze may be applied by dusting it over the clay, spraying, dipping, trailing or brushing on a thin slurry composed of glaze minerals and water. Brushing tends not to give an even covering but can be effective as a decorative technique. The color of a glaze before it has been fired may be significantly different than afterwards. To prevent glazed wares sticking to kiln furniture during firing, either a small part of the object being fired is left unglazed or, alternatively, special refractory spurs are used as supports.

These are removed and discarded after the firing. Special methods of glazing are sometimes carried out in the kiln. One example is salt-glazing, where common salt is introduced to the kiln to produce a glaze of mottled, orange peel texture. Materials other than salt are also used to glaze wares in the kiln, including sulfur. In wood-fired kilns fly-ash from the fuel can produce ash-glazing on the surface of wares.

Archaeology of Pyramids

2008-12-15T09:08:00.000-08:00

Archaeology is the science that studies human cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, features, biofacts, and landscapes. Because archaeology's aim is to understand mankind, it is a humanistic endeavor.

Many giant granite temple pyramids were made in South India during the Chola Empire, many of which are still in religious use today. Examples of such pyramid temples include Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram. However the largest temple pyramid in the area is Sri Rangam in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu. The Brihadisvara Temple was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1987; the Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram were added as extensions to the site in 2004.

A number of Mesoamerican cultures also built pyramid-shaped structures. Mesoamerican pyramids were usually stepped, with temples on top, more similar to the Mesopotamian ziggurat than the Egyptian pyramid. The largest pyramid by volume is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla. This pyramid is considered the largest monument ever constructed anywhere in the world, and is still being excavated. There is an unusual pyramid with a circular plan at the site of Cuicuilco, now inside Mexico City and mostly covered with lava from an ancient eruption of Xictli. Pyramids in Mexico were often used as places of human sacrifice.

The most famous pyramids are the Egyptian pyramids — huge structures built of brick or stone, some of which are among the largest man-made constructions. There are 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of 2008. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest in Egypt and one of the largest in the world. Until Lincoln Cathedral was built in 1300 A.D., it was the tallest building in the world. The base is over 52,600 square meters in area.

It was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the only one of the seven to survive into modern times. The Ancient Egyptians capped the peaks of their pyramids with gold and covered their faces with polished white limestone, though many of the stones used for the purpose have fallen or been removed for other structures.

Politics and Political Spectra

2008-12-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

Politics consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and refers to the regulation of a political unit, and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy.

Political science is the study of political behavior, and examines the acquisition and application of power. Related areas of study include political philosophy, which seeks a rationale for politics and an ethic of public behavior, and public administration, which examines the practices of governance.

Most political analysts and politicians divide politics into left wing and right wing politics, often also using the idea of center politics as a middle path of policy between the right and left. This classification is comparatively recent, and dates from the French Revolution era, when those members of the National Assembly who opposed the monarchy sat on the left, while those who supported it sat on the right. The original meaning disappeared quickly.

The meaning of left-wing and right-wing varies considerably between different countries and at different times, but generally speaking, it can be said that the right wing often values tradition and free markets while the left wing often values equalitarianism.

One of the major exponents of this distinction, the Left believes in attempting to eradicate social inequality, while the Right regards most social inequality as the result of ineradicable natural inequalities, and sees attempts to enforce social equality as utopian or authoritarian.

Dishware

2008-12-15T08:59:00.000-08:00

Dishware is the general term for the dishes used in serving, and eating food, including plates and bowls. Dinnerware is a synonym, especially meaning a set of dishes, including serving pieces.

The broader term Tableware includes dishes, cutlery, and drinking vessels. Flatware refers to plates and cutlery. Hollowware refers to containers like bowls and pitchers, especially if made of metal.

Modern dishes may be made of earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, glass, and durable plastics, such as melamine resin. Disposable dishes made of paper or lightweight plastics may be used for casual eating. Historically, dishes have also been made of wood, metals such as pewter, and even animal skulls.

During the last 1940s a number of companies started to make standardized dinnerware with "atomic" or "futuristic" designs, leading into the Mid-Century Modern period. Two of the most popular and prolific designs were the Starburst dinnerware design by and Temporama, the latter of which could be "purchased" by turning in stamps, the history of which is not specific - some say the stamps were given away by gas stations, other say it was grocery stores, and likely it was both.

The designs used in these dinnerware sets continue to survive today, a major iconographic design from the 1950s that is still used today.

Types of Gardening

2008-12-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

Gardening is the practice of growing plants for their flowers or foliage, and vegetables or fruits for consumption. Gardening is a human activity in which plants are used to produce edible foods or to beautify the environment. Its scale ranges from fruit orchards, to long boulevard plantings with one or more different types of shrubs, trees and herbaceous plants, to residential yards including lawns and foundation plantings, to large or small containers grown inside or outside. Gardening may often be very specific, with only one type of plant grown, or involve a large number of different plants in mixed plantings. It involves an active participation in the growing of plants and tends to be labor intensive, which differentiates it from farming or forestry.

Residential gardening takes place near the home, in a space referred to as the garden. Although a garden typically is located on the land near a residence, it may also be located on a roof, in an atrium, on a balcony, in a windowbox, or on a patio or vivarium.

Gardening also takes place in non-residential green areas, such as parks, public or semi-public gardens, amusement and theme parks, along transportation corridors, and around tourist attractions and garden hotels. In these situations, a staff of gardeners or groundskeepers maintains the gardens.

Impact Gardening is a way of using small space to great effect, keeping plants close together, which blocks weeds and requires very little upkeep once started.

Indoor gardening is concerned with the growing of houseplants within a residence or building, in a conservatory, or in a greenhouse. Indoor gardens are sometimes incorporated as part of air conditioning or heating systems.

Water gardening is concerned with growing plants adapted to pools and ponds. Bog gardens are also considered a type of water garden. These all require special conditions and considerations. A simple water garden may consist solely of a tub containing the water and plant(s).

Container gardening is concerned with growing plants in any type of container either indoors or outdoors. Common containers are pots, hanging baskets, and planters. Container gardening is usually used in atriums and on balconies, patios, and roof tops.

Community gardening is a social activity in which an area of land is gardened by a group of people, providing access to fresh produce and plants as well as access to satisfying labor, neighborhood improvement, sense of community and connection to the environment. Community gardens are typically owned in trust by local governments or nonprofits.

Recreation and its Benefits to Health

2008-12-15T08:19:00.000-08:00

Recreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind. While leisure is more likely a form of entertainment or rest, recreation is active for the participant but in a refreshing and diverting manner. As people in the world's wealthier regions lead increasingly sedentary life styles, the need for recreation has increased. The rise of so called active vacations exemplifies this.

A few individuals view recreation as largely non-productive, even trivial. Excessive recreation is not considered healthy, and may be labeled as escapism. However, research has shown that recreation contributes to life satisfaction, quality of life, health and wellness, and that the use of recreation as a diversion may have clinical applications to individuals with chronic pain and other health impairments.

In some cultures and religions, recreation is encouraged on certain days and discouraged on others. For example, in Judaism, the Shabbat is a day for recreation and relaxation; some Christian churches use the Sabbath. However, others interpret the Sabbath to be a day of worship, in lieu of recreation.

Recreation is essential to the longevity of human beings, especially because it helps counteract stress.

Space Station

2008-12-15T08:18:00.000-08:00

A space station is an artificial structure designed for humans to live in outer space. So far only low earth orbit (LEO) stations are implemented, also known as orbital stations. A space station is distinguished from other manned spacecraft by its lack of major propulsion or landing facilities — instead, other vehicles are used as transport to and from the station. Space stations are designed for medium-term living in orbit, for periods of weeks, months, or even years. The only space station currently in use is the International Space Station. Previous ones are the Almaz, Salyut series, Skylab and Mir.

Space stations are currently as of 2007 used to study the effects of long-term space flight on the human body as well as to provide platforms for greater number and length of scientific studies than available on other space vehicles. Since the ill-fated flight of Soyuz 11 to Salyut 1, all manned spaceflight duration records have been set aboard space stations. The duration record for a single spaceflight is 437.7 days, set by Valeriy Polyakov aboard Mir from 1994 to 1995. As of 2008, three astronauts have completed single missions of over a year, all aboard Mir.
These stations have various issues that limit their long-term habitability, such as very low recycling rates, relatively high radiation levels and a lack of gravity. Some of these problems cause discomfort and long-term health effects. In the case of solar flares, all current habitats are protected by the Earth's magnetic field, and are below the Van Allen belts.

Future space habitats may attempt to address these issues, and are intended for long-term occupation. Some designs might even accommodate large numbers of people, essentially "cities in space" where people would make their homes. No such design has yet been constructed, since even for a small station, the current as of 2008 launch costs are not economically or politically viable.

Possible ways to deal with these costs would be building a large amount of rockets reusable rockets, In Situ Resource Utilisation or if space elevators are ever able to be constructed.

Prothonotary Warbler

2008-12-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

The Prothonotary Warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. It is the only member of the genus Protonotaria.

The Prothonotary Warbler is 13 cm long and weighs 12.5 g. It has an olive back with blue-grey wings and tail, yellow underparts, a relatively long pointed bill and black legs. The adult male has a bright orange-yellow head; females and immature birds are duller and have a yellow head.

It breeds in hardwood swamps in southern Canada and the eastern United States, nesting in a cavity, sometimes using old Downy Woodpecker holes. The male often builds several incomplete unused nests in his territory; the female builds the real nest. It winters in the West Indies, Central America and northern South America.

The preferred foraging habitat is dense, woody streams, where the Prothonotary Warbler forages actively in low foliage, mainly for insects and snails.

The song of this bird is a loud repeated tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet.

These birds are declining in numbers due to loss of habitat. They are also parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird or outcompeted for nest sites by the House Wren.

This bird was named after officials in the Roman Catholic Church known as the protonotarii, who wore golden robes.

The prothonotary warbler became known in the 1940s as the bird that, in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, established a connection between Whittaker Chambers and Alger Hiss. Chambers had testified that Hiss enjoyed bird-watching, and once bragged about seeing a prothonotary warbler. Hiss later testified to the same incident, causing many members to become convinced of the pairs' acquaintance.

Origin of the Circus

2008-12-15T08:07:00.000-08:00

In Ancient Rome the circus was a building for the exhibition of horse and chariot races, equestrian shows, staged battles, displays featuring trained animals, jugglers, and acrobats. The circus of Rome is thought to have been influenced by the Greeks, with chariot racing and the exhibition of animals as traditional attractions. The Roman circus consisted of tiers of seats running parallel with the sides of the course, and forming a crescent around one of the ends. The lower seats were reserved for persons of rank; there were also various state boxes, eg. for the giver of the games and his friends. In Ancient Rome the circus was the only public spectacle at which men and women were not separated. The Latin word circus comes from the Greek word kirkos meaning “circle or ring”.

The first circus in Rome was the Circus Maximus, in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills. Next in importance to the Circus Maximus in Rome was the Circus Flaminius, the Circus Neronis, from the notoriety which it obtained through the Circensian pleasures of Nero. A fourth, the Circus of Maxentius, was constructed by Maxentius; the ruins of this circus have enabled archaeologists to reconstruct the Roman circus.

Following the fall of Rome, Europe lacked a large and animal rich circus. Itinerant showmen traveled the fair grounds of Europe. Animal trainers and performers are thought to have exploited the nostalgia for the Roman circus, traveling between towns and performing at local fairs. Another possible link between the Roman and modern circus could have been bands of Gypsies who appeared in Europe in the 14th century and in Britain from the 15th century bringing with them circus skills and trained animals

In China's Eastern Han Dynasty scholar Zhang Heng was one of the first to describe acrobatic theme shows in the royal palaces in his writing "Ode to the Western Capital". A grand acrobatic show was held by Emperor Wu of Han in 108 BC for foreign guests. Most western text describes the circus as a "Chinese Circus". The Far East generally see it as a separate performance art called Chinese variety art, and is not believed to be a direct predecessor to "Western Circus" despite many stunts and performances being similar.

Aamir Khan – The Perfectionist

2008-12-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

Aamir Khan was born to Aamir Hussain Khan on March 14, 1965. He is an Indian actor, film director and film producer. Khan was part of several commercially successful movies and has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema, delivering a number of highly acclaimed performances.

Appearing as a child actor in his uncle Nasir Hussain's film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973), Khan began his professional career eleven years later, with the film, Holi (1984). He received his first commercial success with his cousin Mansoor Khan's film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and won a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for his performance in the film. After eight previous nominations during the 1980s and 1990s, Khan received his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his performance in Raja Hindustani (1996), his biggest commercial success so far.

He later earned his second Best Actor award at the Filmfare ceremony for his performance in the 2001 Academy Award nominated Lagaan. After a four year break from acting, Khan made his comeback with Ketan Mehta's The Rising (2005). In 2007, he made his directorial debut with Taare Zameen Par, for which he received a Filmfare Best Director Award. Khan is the founder-owner of Aamir Khan Productions.

Khan began his film career as a child actor in a home production, produced and directed by Nasir Hussain, titled Yaadon Ki Baraat (1973) and Madhosh (1974). Eleven years later, he made his adult acting debut in a role that went quite unnoticed in Ketan Mehta's Holi (1984).
Khan's first notable leading role came in 1988 in the film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak which was directed by his cousin and Nasir Hussain's son Mansoor Khan. This film was a breakthrough commercial success, effectively launching Khan's career as a leading actor. Having the typical 'chocolate hero' looks, he was publicised as a teen idol. After that, he went on to appear in several other films in the late '80s and early '90s: Dil (1990), which became the highest grossing film of the year, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991), Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992), Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993) (for which he also wrote the screenplay), and Rangeela (1995). Most of these films were successful critically and commercially. Other successes include Andaz Apna Apna, co-starring Salman Khan. At the time of its release the movie was reviewed unfavorably by critics, but over the years has gained a cult status.

His 2007 film, Taare Zameen Par (about a teacher who befriends and helps a dyslexic child), which Khan produced and also starred in, marked his directorial debut. The film, which was the second offering from Aamir Khan Productions, opened to excellent responses from critics and audiences alike. His work won him two awards at the Filmfare, the Best Movie and the Best Director awards, and established his status as a competent director and a story-teller. The film was also selected as India's official entry to the 2009 Oscars.

In 2008, Khan launched his nephew Imran Khan's debut in the film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. The film was a major critical and commercial success.

Film Industry

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The making and showing of motion pictures became a source of profit almost as soon as the process was invented.

The Oberammergau Passion Play of 1898 was the first commercial motion picture ever produced. Other pictures soon followed, and motion pictures became a separate industry that overshadowed the vaudeville world. Dedicated theaters and companies formed specifically to produce and distribute films, while motion picture actors became major celebrities and commanded huge fees for their performances. Already by 1917, Charlie Chaplin had a contract that called for an annual salary of one million dollars.

In the United States today, much of the film industry is centered around Hollywood. Other regional centers exist in many parts of the world, such as Mumbai-centered Bollywood, the Indian film industry's Hindi cinema which produces the largest number of films in the world.

Though the expense involved in making movies has led cinema production to concentrate under the auspices of movie studios, recent advances in affordable film making equipment have allowed independent film productions to flourish.

Profit is a key force in the industry, due to the costly and risky nature of filmmaking; many films have large cost overruns, a notorious example being Kevin Costner's Waterworld. Yet many filmmakers strive to create works of lasting social significance. The Academy Awards are the most prominent film awards in the United States, providing recognition each year to films, ostensibly based on their artistic merits.

There is also a large industry for educational and instructional films made in lieu of or in addition to lectures and texts

Publication Formats of Comics

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Over time a number of formats have become closely associated with the form, from the comic book to the webcomic. The American comic book originated in the early part of the twentieth century, and grew from magazines which repackaged comic strips. Eventually, original material was commissioned, and the material developed from its humorous origins to encompass adventure stories, romance, war and superheroes, with the latter genre coming to dominate the comic book publishing industry in the latter parts of the twentieth century.

Although referred to as comic books, these publications are actually more akin to magazines, having soft covers printed on glossy paper, with the interiors consisting of newsprint quality paper or higher grade. In Europe, magazines were always a venue for original material in the form, and such comic magazines or comic books soon grew into anthologies, in which a number of stories would be serialised. In continental Europe a market soon established itself to support collections of these strips.

All of these publications are generally referred to as "comics" for short, with typical American and British comic books or magazines running 32 pages, including advertisements and letter column. European comic magazines have wildly varying page numbers, currently ranging mostly between 52 and 120 pages, while European comic albums traditionally had between 32 and 62 pages.

In the United States, when a publisher collects previously serialised stories, such a collection is commonly referred to as either a trade paperback or as a graphic novel. These are books, typically squarebound and published with a card cover, containing no adverts. They generally collect a single story, which has been broken into a number of chapters previously serialised in comic books, with the issues collectively known as a story arc. Such trade paperbacks can contain anywhere from four issues to as many as twenty. In continental Europe, especially Belgium and France, such collections are usually somewhat larger in size and published with a hardback cover, a format established by the Tin Tin' series in the 1930s. These are referred to as comic albums, a term which in the United States refers to anthology books. The United Kingdom has no great tradition of such collections, although during the 1980s Titan publishing launched a line collecting stories previously published in 2000 AD.

The graphic novel format is similar to typical book publishing, with works being published in both hardback and paperback editions. The term has proved a difficult one to fully define, and refers not only to fiction but also factual works, and is also used to describe collections of previously serialised works as well as original material. Some publishers will distinguish between such material, using the term "original graphic novel" for work commissioned especially for the form.

Webcomics, also known as online comics and web comics, are comics that are available on the Internet. Many webcomics are exclusively published online, while some are published in print but maintain a web archive for either commercial or artistic reasons. With the Internet's easy access to an audience, webcomics run the gamut from traditional comic strips to graphic novels and beyond.

The comics form can also be utilized to convey information in mixed media. For example, strips designed for educative or informative purposes, notably the instructions upon an airplane's safety card. These strips are generally referred to as instructional comics. The comics form is also utilized in the film and animation industry, through storyboarding. Storyboards are illustrations displayed in sequence for the purpose of visualizing an animated or live-action film. A storyboard is essentially a large comic of the film or some section of the film produced beforehand to help the directors and cinematographers visualize the scenes and find potential problems before they occur. Often storyboards include arrows or instructions that indicate movement.

Ancient Olympics

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There are many myths surrounding the origin of the ancient Olympic Games; the most popular of which identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the Games. According to the legend, Zeus held sporting events in honor of his defeat of Cronus, and succession to the throne of heaven. Heracles, being his eldest son, defeated his brothers in a running race and was crowned with a wreath of wild olive branches. It is Heracles who first called the games Olympic, and established the custom of holding them every 4 years. The legend diverges at this point. One popular story claims that after Heracles completed his 12 labors, he went on to build the Olympic stadium and surrounding buildings as an honor to Zeus. After the stadium was complete, he walked in a straight line for 200 strides and called this distance a "stadion", which later also became a unit of distance. Another myth associates the first Games with the ancient Greek concept of Olympic truce. The most widely held estimate for the inception of the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC.

From then on, the Olympic Games quickly became very important throughout ancient Greece. They reached their zenith in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance. They featured sport events and ritual sacrifices honoring both Zeus, and Pelops, divine hero and mythical king of Olympia. Pelops was famous for his legendary chariot races with King Oenomaus of Pisatis.The number of events increased to twenty and the celebration spanned several days.

Winners of the events were admired and immortalized in poems and statues. The Games were held every four years, known as an Olympiad. The Greeks used Olympiads as one of their units of time measurement.

The Games enjoyed immense success. Victors were treated as conquering heroes, their statues adorned Athens and their home towns. Gradually though, the Games began to declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece. In 393 AD Emperor Theodosius I proclaimed Christianity the religion of the Empire. After over 1000 years in existence, the Olympic Games were banned due to their roots in paganism. The Olympics were not seen again until their rebirth 1,500 years later.

Traditional Animation

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Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways. The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program, although several other forms of presenting animation also exist.

Traditional animation was the process used for most animated films of the 20th century. The individual frames of a traditionally animated film are photographs of drawings, which are first drawn on paper. To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one before it. The animators' drawings are traced or photocopied onto transparent acetate sheets called cells, which are filled in with paints in assigned colors or tones on the side opposite the line drawings. The completed character cells are photographed one-by-one onto motion picture film against a painted background by a rostrum camera.

The traditional cel animation process became obsolete by the beginning of the 21st century. Today, animators' drawings and the backgrounds are either scanned into or drawn directly into a computer system. Various software programs are used to color the drawings and simulate camera movement and effects. The final animated piece is output to one of several delivery mediums, including traditional 35 mm film and newer media such as digital video. The "look" of traditional cel animation is still preserved, and the character animators' work has remained essentially the same over the past 70 years. Some animation producers have used the term "tradigital" to describe cel animation which makes extensive use of computer technology.

Traditions of Astrology

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There are many traditions of astrology, some of which share similar features due to the transmission of astrological doctrines between cultures. Other traditions developed in isolation and hold different doctrines, though they too share some features due to drawing on similar astronomical sources.
Vedic and Western astrology share a common ancestry as horoscopic systems of astrology, in that both traditions focus on the casting of an astrological chart or horoscope, a representation of celestial entities, for an event based on the position of the Sun, Moon, and planets at the moment of the event. However, Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, linking the signs of the zodiac to their original constellations, while
Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac. Because of the precession of the equinoxes, over the centuries the twelve zodiacal signs in Western astrology no longer correspond to the same part of the sky as their original constellations. In effect, in Western astrology the link between sign and constellation has been broken, whereas in Vedic astrology it remains of paramount importance.

Other differences between the two traditions include the use of 27 or 28 nakshatras or lunar mansions, which have been used in India since Vedic times, and the system of planetary periods known as dashas.

In Chinese astrology a quite different tradition has evolved. By contrast to Western and Indian astrology, the twelve signs of the zodiac do not divide the sky, but rather the celestial equator. The Chinese evolved a system where each sign corresponds to one of twelve 'double-hours' that govern the day, and to one of the twelve months. Each sign of the zodiac governs a different year, and combines with a system based on the five elements of Chinese cosmology to give a 60 year cycle. The term Chinese astrology is used here for convenience, but it must be recognised that versions of the same tradition exist in Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand and other Asian countries.

In modern times, these traditions have come into greater contact with each other, notably with Indian and Chinese astrology having spread to the West, while awareness of Western astrology is still fairly limited in Asia. Astrology in the Western world has diversified greatly in modern times. New movements have appeared, which have jettisoned much of traditional astrology to concentrate on different approaches, such as a greater emphasis on midpoints, or a more psychological approach.

Global Warming and Greenhouse Effect

2008-12-15T07:53:00.001-08:00

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation.

Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C during the 100 years ending in 2005. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that most of the temperature increase since the mid-twentieth century is "very likely" due to the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations. Natural phenomena such as solar variation and volcanoes probably had a small warming effect from pre-industrial times to 1950 and a small cooling effect from 1950 onward. These basic conclusions have been endorsed by at least 30 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. While individual scientists have voiced disagreement with these findings, the overwhelming majority of scientists working on climate change agree with the IPCC's main conclusions.

Increasing global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, likely including an expanse of the subtropical desert regions. Other likely effects include increases in the intensity of extreme weather events, changes in agricultural yields, modifications of trade routes, glacier retreat, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.

The causes of the recent warming are an active field of research. The scientific consensus is that the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases due to human activity caused most of the warming observed since the start of the industrial era, and the observed warming cannot be satisfactorily explained by natural causes alone. This attribution is clearest for the most recent 50 years, being the period most of the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations took place and for which the most complete measurements exist.

The greenhouse effect was discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1824 and first investigated quantitatively by Svante Arrhenius in 1896. It is the process by which absorption and emission of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases warm a planet's lower atmosphere and surface. Existence of the greenhouse effect as such is not disputed. The question is instead how the strength of the greenhouse effect changes when human activity increases the atmospheric concentrations of particular greenhouse gases.

Themes And Patterns Of Cave Painting

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Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest known European cave paintings date to 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the cave paintings is not known. The evidence suggests that they were not merely decorations of living areas, since the caves in which they have been found do not have signs of ongoing habitation. Also, they are often in areas of caves that are not easily accessed. Some theories hold that they may have been a way of transmitting information, while other theories ascribe them a religious or ceremonial purpose.

The most common themes in cave paintings are large wild animals, such as bison, horses, aurochs, and deer, and tracings of human hands as well as abstract patterns, called finger flutings. Drawings of humans are rare and are usually schematic rather than the more naturalistic animal subjects. Cave art may have begun in the Aurignacian period.

The paintings were drawn with red and yellow ochre, hematite, manganese oxide and charcoal. Sometimes the silhouette of the animal was incised in the rock first.

Fishing Techniques

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Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include netting, trapping, angling and hand gathering. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, frogs, and some edible marine invertebrates. Fishing is not usually applied to catching aquatic mammals such as whales, where the term "whaling" is more appropriate, or to commercial fish farming. In addition to providing food through harvesting fish, modern fishing is both a recreational and professional sport.

There are many techniques for fishing. Fishermen may use hooks and fishing line and a fishing rod. Fishing nets, fish traps, and trap nets may be used to capture fish. Lobster and crab pots use a similar method. Hand fishing consists of fishing with the hands or through the use of minimal equipment. In spear fishing, the fish is killed using an ordinary spear or a specialized variant thereof. Closely related to spear fishing is bow fishing. Trained animals can assist in fishing; one notable example is Asian cormorant fishing.

Kite fishing allows the fisherman to cast far into the water, even without a boat. Dredging is sometimes used to scoop scallops or oysters from the seabed. Poisonous plants can be used to stun fish so that they become easy to collect by hand; cyanide can also be used. Other fishing techniques include electrofishing and dynamite fishing. Bottom trawling, seining, driftnetting, handlining, longlining, gillnetting and diving are widely used techniques. A recent non-traditional approach using a radio-controlled boat is called remote control fishing.

Wine Tasting

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Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onwards. Modern, professional wine tasters use a constantly-evolving formal terminology which is used to describe the range of perceived flavors, aromas and general characteristics of a wine. More informal, recreational tasting may use similar terminology, usually involving a much less analytical process for a more general, personal appreciation.

A wine's overall quality assessment, based on this examination, follows further careful description and comparison with recognized standards, both with respect to other wines in its price range and according to known factors pertaining to the region or vintage; if it is typical of the region or diverges in style; if it uses certain wine-making techniques, such as barrel fermentation or malolactic fermentation, or any other remarkable or unusual characteristics.

Whereas wines are regularly tasted in isolation, a wine's quality assessment is more objective when performed alongside several other wines, in what are known as tasting "flights". Wines may be deliberately selected for their vintage or proceed from a single winery, to better compare vineyard and vintages, respectively. Alternatively, in order to promote an unbiased analysis, bottles and even glasses may be disguised in a "blind" tasting, to rule out any prejudicial awareness of either vintage or winery.

Medieval Cuisine

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Medieval cuisine includes the foods, eating habits, and cooking methods of various European cultures during the Middle Ages, a period roughly dating from the 5th to the 16th century. During this period, diets and cooking changed across Europe, and these changes helped lay the foundations for modern European cuisine.

Cereals became the most important staples during the early middle Ages. They were eaten as bread, porridge, gruel and pasta by virtually all members of society. Vegetables were important supplements to the cereal-based diet. Meat was more expensive and therefore more prestigious and was more common on the tables of the nobility. The most popular types of meat were pork and chicken, while beef, which required greater investment in land, was less common. Cod and herring were mainstays among the northern population, but a wide variety of other saltwater and freshwater fish were also eaten.

Slow transportation and inefficient food preservation techniques made long-distance trade of many foods very expensive. Because of this, the food of the nobility was more prone to foreign influence than the cuisine of poorer people. As each level of society imitated the one above it, innovations from international trade and foreign wars gradually disseminated through the upper middle class of medieval cities. Aside from economic unavailability of luxuries such as spices, decrees outlawed consumption of certain foods among certain social classes, and sumptuary laws limited the conspicuous consumption among the nouveau riche. Social norms also dictated that the food of the working class be less refined, since it was believed there was a natural resemblance between one's labor and one's food, so manual labor required coarser, cheaper food.

A form of haute cuisine developed during the late Middle Ages that set the standard among the nobility all over Europe. Common seasonings included verjuice, wine and vinegar in combination with spices such as black pepper, saffron and ginger. These, along with the widespread use of sugar or honey gave many dishes a sweet-sour flavor. Almonds were very popular as a thickener in soups, stews, and sauces, particularly as almond milk.