How To Customize A Profile Best With MySpace Backgrounds?

While being a member on MySpace, it is important to customize the profile. If the profiles are customized, it will make the usage much more interesting. Not only that, the profiles will also have a unique look for people who visit the profile. There are many ways with which the profiles can be customized best with MySpace backgrounds.

First the use of the backgrounds needs to be checked. As they could be used for various parts in the profile, first the themes must be selected. They could probably be selected based on the theme of the profile, that is, the information on the profile. This should be well thought of before applying the backgrounds. They must also be checked on the sites, as there are bound to be various options.

Sometimes there could be a repeating background, and sometimes there could be a large image. The member must choose what he needs on his profile. The next thing he has to do is ask him whether he wants a fixed background or one that moves. While some users do like MySpace backgrounds that can be scrolled, there are also some that are fixed.

The fixed backgrounds allow reading easier, and the ones that scroll are more creative in look wise. Thus all the backgrounds must be taken a look at by the members before they apply it. Through the use of the backgrounds it is very easy to find the interests of people. This is the main reason that anyone would want to use a background in the first place.

Sometimes there will be MySpace backgrounds, which will take time to download because of the heavy graphics that are used in it. However it all depends on what the user wants. His purpose of presence on the MySpace community will also be varied, it could be personal and it could be professional. Thus all users must ensure that they are applying the right backgrounds.

Obviously no one wants to visit a profile and find that there is nothing interesting about it. As long as the MySpace backgrounds load easily onto the profile, there should be no need to worry at all. All the members of the community have to do is; pick the backgrounds of their choice. Then they can apply it instantly and they can do it with the help of the codes that are listed with them.

You will also have to simply add the code to the place where the background has to be added. If it is for the blog section, then all the users have to do is apply the code in that specific area. Nothing will be more exciting than this, as it is simple as well as versatile. No one needs to use MySpace backgrounds for too long either.

How to cure Agoraphobia

Many people in the world have a disorder known as agoraphobia. This disorder brings on extremely strong panic attacks when in crowded places. Most agoraphobics eventually wind up trapped in bed or institutionalized.

The definition for agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder. The main manifestation of the disorder is a fear of having an embarrassing situation that the person can not escape from
Someone with Agoraphobia will sometimes have panic attacks when they are in a situation where they feel trapped, uncomfortable or when they are not in control or are too far away from their comfort zone, which are usually their homes. In extreme cases an agoraphobic may only be able to exist in only a room or two of their own home and may even become unable to get out of bed.
Sufferers of Agoraphobia are often overly sensitive to bodily sensations and over react to everyday occurrences, like climbing a flight of stairs. The effort it takes to climb stairs can cause a full blown panic attack, because their hart rate rises as does their breathing. The sufferer may see this is the onset of an attack and actually causes the attack to start, instead of seeing it as a natural reaction to climbing stairs.

With the invention of the internet many agoraphobics have found they are able to have contact with the world while still at home in their "safe place" and one thing that many agoraphobics have in common is that many of them enjoyed being able to gamble with other people in online casinos.

Many doctors feel that online casinos is a great form of therapy for people suffering from agoraphobia because they can interacts with several people at the same time, and it gives them the ability to interact and be relaxed at the same time and in many cases the agoraphobic has been able to lessen their fears and eventually leave their home with the goal of eventually getting to a real casino with other people.

But after October of 2006 when president George Bush Signed the Unlawful internet gambling ban into law he took away the best form of theory doctors have found to help Agoraphobics re-enter society.

Doctors found that in games like poker and blackjack where the player's game depends on the moves of the other players; have a tendency to be better for patients rather then on online roulette or craps game, where you can easily have no interaction with other players.

The interaction is healthy because the agoraphobic is not concentration on themselves they are actually concentration on the game and the other layers moves. For a sufferer of this disorder this is a huge step in being able to re-enter society, but unless the online casino ban is overturned doctors will have to find other ways of helping their patients.

How To Create Software Without Knowing How...

In many ways software is the key to the future because it is the means by which people are going to set up and manage every aspect of their business whatever that may be. As our economy moves more and more onto the internet the need for the ability to create software is going to increase dramatically. As you know from economics 101 this large increase in demand will cause a proportional increase in the price of the service or skill of programming and the geek programmers are going to make loads of cash. This will then all level out but it will take a long time--so basically prices for "necessary" software soar and stay high for a good long period of time.

The resulting increase in the price of software will almost certainly be prohibitive to some companies and "only the strong will remain." So what is my basic message then? Well it's simple either develop the ability yourself to create software, save up a lot of money so you can pay for it later, or develop the ability to see into the future to know all of different software tools that you will need to effectively run your company in 10 years and have it developed ahead of time for today’s prices. None of these options sound good if you aren't tech smart do they? Well that's because they are either wasteful or impossible save some sort of superhuman power. So is there another way?

Why of course there is! That's because people are always thinking into the future to try and come up with something that answers future problems and will make them a lot of money. Basically programmers have recognized the need in the future for software development and they have also recognized that if they can create something now they can get a leg up on all of the other programmers out there who have to wait to get there cut of the looming trend. In short they have developed software to create software!

Basically this software is able to take instructions from a person that knows how they want a tool to work but doesn't know how to write the code to make it happen. So more or less its a translator of the English language into a computer language. The great thing is that it also includes the ability to test the product and correct things automatically in order to create software that runs efficiently and is able to conform to the owners specifications even if they change over time.

How to convert AVI to WMW?

With so many different video files available today, there is going to be an instance when you need to convert one format to another in order to enjoy the presentation. AVI has been around for some time, while WMW is newer and not as well known. Here is some information you need to know.

What is AVI and WMW?

Both AVI and WMW are Microsoft formats. They are used to save audio and video clips into a specified format that can be shared and played. AVI is a format that will work on the Windows Media Player and many of the more popular plug-in media players on the market today.

By contrast, WMW is not used as often and tends to work only on newer versions of the Windows Media Player. This means someone who is using a multimedia player that does not support WMW or has an older version of WMP will not be able to make use of a WMW file.

Why Would I Want To Convert an AVI file to WMW?

The main reason may be that your player seems to like a WMW file better than other formats. Perhaps you just prefer to keep all your video clips in one format, and WMW is your format of choice.  However, unless there are some sort of technological restraints, there is really no value to using one format over the other, in terms of quality.

How Do I Go About Converting a File From AVI To WMW?

The easiest method for the novice is to purchase conversion software that will convert one multimedia format into a different one. As with all software, make sure that the product is compatible with the resources on your hard drive, and the operating system you use.  Also double check to make sure your media player will support viewing of a WMW file before you do anything else.  

Does Conversion Software Cost A Lot?

Actually, no. In fact, a quick look around the Internet may provide you with some basic downloadable software that will convert one media format to a different one. Make sure that the software will manage the conversion you have in mind before downloading. If you can't find free software that will convert AVI to WMW, then a trip to the local computer store will provide you with several options.

How to Concentrate in 4 Magic Steps

One of the main problems that deter a person's success is their lack of concentration. Lapses encourage disturbances to get in the way and stall progress. If ones wishes to proceed on their road to success, it is imperative they learn how to concentrate. Here, we show you some easy to learn exercises that are easy to implement.

1) Silence or Noise:
Most people cannot concentrate when it is too noisy, but others work better with music or others in the midst of a crowded room. If you are not aware as yet what best suits you, then try out the different environments. How? Take a notepad and a pencil or pen with you and try and write down a letter in all the three circumstances in a set amount of time. Ten minutes. That is all you will need to determine where your source of concentration lies. How? Check not only for length but also for development as that is more important.

2) Focal Point:
Every morning, before you leave for work or on the way, stare at any object for ten minutes. You can do this while in the toilet, car or bus. You will find this difficult, but whatever happens, do not move your gaze away. Hold it. Wait. And then, as the minutes pass you will find yourself deeply meditating about things that happened to you yesterday or challenges you have to face in a few minutes. Congratulations. You have just conquered the art of meditation.

3) Deep Breathing:
In the beginning, you can do this while staring at the object from tip number two, but if you wish to move towards real concentration, do this separetly. Sit down on the floor. If its hard, place a cushion. Close your eyes. Breathe. Count the number of inhales. When you have reached 100, start counting backwards but this time count the exhales. Mastering this will take you a while, but once you do move on to other kinds of mathemathical calculations such as naming the months of the year from December backwards or alphabetically. After that, make up exercises as you like.

4) Movement:
Focus on an animal: cat, dog or even ant or bird. Follow their every movement as if they exist in a vaccumm. Study every tiny spot on their body. The point of this is to learn how to diversify your concentration in such a way that movement does not deter you from your goal.

Conclusion:
Practice the above four tips and like magic, you will start enjoying life to its fullest because you will be able to focus on the things you want to focus on and disregard those that disrupt. Practive the above tips daily and you will be that much more closer to achieving your dreams and goals. Best of Luck!

Headsets - An overview

Headsets are headphones with a microphone attached, making a device that you can wear on your head to easily hear and record sound. Their popularity has risen sharply with the recent growth of voice chat on the Internet, both on Internet phone services such as Skype and in online games such as Xbox Live.

As a consequence, most electronics shops now sell headsets. As most headsets at the cheap end of the market are unbranded, however, it can be very difficult to know exactly what you’re getting for your money.

As a rule, you should try to avoid buying headsets from the big High Street electronics retailers, as they will generally sell very cheap headsets for much more than they’re worth. Smaller computer shops are a better bet, as are independent music stores and games shops. The best place to buy a headset, though, is one where you can compare features objectively – and right now, the only place you can really do that is on the Internet.

Since you can’t see or touch the products on the Internet, shops have to go to a bit more effort to provide you with technical specifications, which allows you to compare what you’re getting for your money across different sites. On shopping sites like Amazon that have reviews, you can read opinions from people who have actually used the headset already, which saves you the fear of buying a dud, and will often give you information about what the package does and doesn’t contain that no other source will tell you.

The best way to buy a headset, though, is probably to compare them at the big shopping sites first, and then write down the model number of the one you like best and try to find it at a discount on auction sites like eBay. This way you get the headset you want for the best price.

Headset - No Longer Wired For Sound

Plantronics with its GN Netcom wireless headset creates the next generation of wireless headset and other products such as wireless amplifiers, and wireless headset telephone.

You can get a wireless headset that is completely without wires or one that requires a belt pack. The ones that are completely wire free are made up of a headset worn on your head that talks to a base unit that is attached to your telephone with no wire connections between your headset and your phone. These wireless headset products represent the latest in sophisticated technology for communication or listening. Examples of wireless headset models are the  Plantronics CS50, Plantronics CS55, the Plantronics 510S and the GN Netcom 9120.

Now everything you need to make your truly wireless headset a terrific piece of equipment is all combined in one package. This package is called the GN 9120. Completely wireless, this headset package gives you a range of up to 300 feet. It has a frequency of 2.4 GHz to deliver that much range. You can also purchase a lower priced GN9120 LR for a more limited but still quality wireless headset.

The Plantronics CT12 2.4GHz wireless headset is an example of a Plantronics products that offers a great combination of size, convenience and mobility with its hands-free concept.

Completely cordless, the The Plantronics CT12 is a one-line 2.4 GHz telephone system. Its ultra compact remote dialer unit makes it possible for you to make or receive calls more than one hundred feet from the wireless headset base unit with great digital sound and security.

This wireless headset telephone has a display for your caller ID, a speed dial feature as well as redial capability, a mute button and volume control.

Standard with your order of the Plantronics CT12 wireless headset phone is a two in one headset that is convertible so you can use it over the head for stability or over the ear for convenience. It has a microphone that is especially designed to cancel out background noises as well as top notch clarity of sound.

Firefly is part of this wireless headset phone package as well, so those who try to reach you will be able to tell you are on the phone.

Other wireless headset features of the Plantronics CT12 are a headset stand that is built into the base, a charger on the base, a remote pad for dialing with a battery pack that is rechargeable.

One thing that is important to note with this model of wireless headset phone is that it could interfere with a WiFi computer network, and if so you might prefer the CT10 model or the GN Netcom 7170 instead.

Headphone Essentials

If you want to escape from the outside world, eliminate the noise around you and just lose yourself in your music, what better way is there to do it than by using headphones?

Headphones are great to use when listening to music or when watching TV or a movie. You may also use them to study, if you have those audio lessons on tape, or when you want to read a book but do not have the time, you can just listen to the audio books.

Professionally, headphones are used in editing videos and incorporating sound, or for recording purposes. In communications, there are headsets which combine the functionalities of a microphone, a telephone, and a headphone.

There are hundreds of applications for headphones. If you want to choose the type of headphones that will best suit your needs, take a look first at its parts and structure:

- Driver - the part of the headphone that produces the sound.

- Earpiece - this holds the driver up to your ear. There are earpieces that cover the entire part of your ears, while some are small, rounded pieces that would fit the inner part of your ear. Several earpiece types are available, depending on the appllication.

- Attachment system - depending on the type of headphones, the attachment system ensures that the earpiece will securely fit your ears.

- Finally, the other parts are the headands, for types which require one, and the wires and jacks which will attach the earpiece to the music player or device where the headphones are attached to.

Headphones are typically attached to devices such as mobile phones, CD or MP3 players,walkman, mobile phones and personal computers.

There are two types of headphones:

1. Sound-proof

This type of headphone is used when you want to isolate youuself from the sounds of the outside world.

You can use this in loud environments so that the sound coming from your music player or any other device is the only sound that you hear.

Sound-proof headphones are mostly the types which have headbands and the earpiece surrounds the entire area of your ear.

These have monitors designed to fit the inner ear. They have a sealed design, and if you want to go for this type of earphones, make sure that the brand offers a good sound quality.

They are designed to "cancel" outside noise.

Generally, the open type design offers better sound quality than the sound-proof variant.

2. Open-type

This type of headphones generally have a greater sound quality than the enclosed, sound-proof ones.

The open design makes for a more effective listening device.

In terms of design, there are also hundreds of types to choose from. Here are some examples:

- Clip-ons

This type does not have headbands. The attachment system of clip-on headphones comprise of two ear-buds that you can easily 'plug" into your
ears.

- Wireless

This is convenient because it frees you up from wires and lets you move around freely while listening to your music.

- In-ear-monitor.

These are tiny headphones which conveniently fits into your ear canal. This type of headphone is more expensive and has a more sophisticated design. It can be used for professional and surveillance purposes.

- Earbuds

These are small earphones with two small, rounded earpieces that fits the inner part of your ear.

- Headsets

This is composed of a microphone and a headset, and is mostly used for communicating.

- Noise-canceling

The attachment system of sound-proof headphones contain a suspension system in the headband. This characteristic prevents outside noise from interfering with the sound produced by your audio or video device.

- Street style

This has is mostly used for listening to your MP3 files, and has a headband that you can fit at the back of your head.

- Earpad

This type of headphones have soft, flat pads which serve as earpieces.

There are several types and styles of earphones which are available in the market now.

When choosing the right headphones to fit your lifestyle, make sure that you know what is important to you. You may choose it based on design,
application or brand.

Finally, make sure that you do not compromise the sound quality, since this is your purpose for owning headphones: to have a reliable listening device that will produce the best sound possible.

Have You Seen LCD Projection TV?

Have you seen LCD projection TV? No, really. I don’t just mean a picture online or in an advertisement on a normal tube television, but have you actually seen projection TV? It really is completely different that what even the hardest of hardcore couch potatoes have ever witnessed. It is impossible to properly describe the effect of LCD projection TV, but roughly it is to normal TV what the CD is to the cassette tape. Leagues of difference, I say. It is the bee’s knees, the cream in your coffee, the sprinkles on your donut, the…aw, enough. Let’s cut to the chase.

Big yet sleek and impressive without ostentatiousness, Toshiba has a pair of outstanding 42” LCD projection TV sets to draw the consumer’s eye. The featured Toshiba LCD TV, the 42” LCD projection TV, is but one representative of the “Diagonal Cinema Series” bunch. Just under thirty-five hundred dollars (see Toshiba.com for ordering information), this 42” LCD TV comes replete with Toshiba’s “adaptive LCD projection TV technology,” which makes feasible the addition of innumerable extensions to this LCD projection TV, thereby allowing all your favorite doodads all the benefits of it, up to and including Dolby-based sound systems.

Speaking of sound systems, have you heard the Sony projection TV line? No, I mean have you really heard of it? Well, it’s Sony and that right there says a lot. Audio has been at the heart of Sony business since time immemorial (okay, the 1950s to be precise), thereby levering projection TV sets against the competition as in other audiovisual fields.

Sony product information promises that their products will be at center of a complete audio “suite.” Stuff like Focus technology, TruBass and SRS 3-D dot the T’s and cross the I’s of the projection TV experience. It is said that good sound can save an average movie, but poor sound can ruin a great movie. If one of the prime selling points of LCD projection TV in general is the technology’s presentation of movies, Sony LCD projection TV should be a must on any serious TV shopper’s priority list. See Sonystyle.com for the entire LCD TV line, not to mention a tantalizing description of SRS WOW technology; you can rest well assured that this will warm the movie goer’s cockles.

Have The Pimpest Myspace Profile Using Free Myspace Layouts

You have various options with MySpace profiles, as you can pimp them out as you please. Since this is a networking site, there will be millions of users. So naturally there has to be a great variation with the look and feel of all profiles. Imagine if all the profiles had the same images. It would become boring for all the users, so using various free MySpace layouts will make the use more exciting.

There are many readymade layouts to choose from, and they are completely free of cost. These layouts will also be unique, as there are thousands of choices. Sometimes if you look through other profiles, you will find that hardly any two profiles are the same. Such is the variety of free MySpace layouts, so you can have a unique profile yourself.

There is the need to use the right theme, as this will help your profile stand out. You can also enjoy yourself with this activity, as there will be plenty to look at and choose from. According to the content of your profile, you can choose layouts accordingly. This will make it more interesting, as it is theme based. This way, people will also understand easily what the profile is all about.

They will know what your interests are and will easily be attracted to your profile. You can build a network of friends and associates faster and you can also have many groups as well. Free MySpace layouts will offer you the opportunity to do the above. You can find various suggestions and tips on many sites to pimp the profile using layouts.

Since free MySpace layouts are completely free, there might be spam, so users should use the right sites to enhance their profiles. Once you take a little effort to set the right layout for the profile, you can do wonders for the publicity. There will be thousands of people who would become part of your friends groups. The use of free MySpace layouts helps a great deal with building plenty of contacts.

People with same interests as well as those who are curious will be part of the group. You could also begin various groups with the help of the layouts. For example, you could choose a celebrity if you are a fan, and you could begin a fan club for the same. All these activities will make everything more exciting, instead of just having some boring plain layout on your profile.

While you are pimping the profile, do not be afraid to experiment. That does not mean that you should be picking odd layouts, it means that you can choose a variety and keep changing them. This will make the profile better, and you can also enjoy talking to all the new visitors who come your way.

Get Connected To Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi, short for wireless fidelity refers to a set of wireless networking technologies more specifically referred to as any type of 802.11 network, 802.11b and 802.11a, dual band. The word Wi-Fi was built by an organization called the Wi-Fi Alliance. They overlook tests that confirm the production.

A product that undergoes the alliance analyses is given the name “Wi-Fi certified”. In earlier times, the term “Wi-Fi” was used only in place of the 2.4 GHz 802.11b.standard. It rapidly gained in fame with access points across the Unites States.

These standards are generally in used around the world, and allow users that have Wifi capable device, like a laptop or PDA to connect anywhere there is available Wi-Fi access point.

There are three standards referred to signify the speed of connection. Both the 802.11a and 802.11b are the ones capable of 54 MBPS with 802.11a additional capabilities.

802.11b are the most common of the three standards because it can transmit at 11 Megabits per Second even though the faster WI-Fi standards are quickly changing it. However, all these Wi-Fi standards are fast enough to generally allow a broadband connection.

Wireless Fidelity is an appearing technology that will probably be as common as electric outlets and phone lines in a few years. It adds great levels of convenience and high level of production for workers whose offices have a Wi-Fi access.

It is intentionally planned to be use for wireless devices but is now often used for Internet access. You can connect computers anywhere, in or out your home or office without needing wires. They are just connected to the network that uses radio signals. Even travelers can progressively equip Wi-Fi in airports, coffee shops, Internet cafes, malls, and hotels around the world.

How does W-Fi work?

Wi-Fi is the wireless way to handle networking. Wi-Fi allocates a worldwide Internet connection to be transmitted through radio waves. Radio waves are the ones that make Wi-Fi run and exist. They permit Wi-Fi networking occurs between many people. These waves are transmitted from antennae and Wi-Fi receivers are picking them up. The moment a device receives signal within the range of a Wi-Fi network, an Internet connection is produced without a chord and with the use of a Wi-Fi card that reads the signal. The user will be incited with login screen and password if needed once the connection is established between the user and the network.

How secure is Wi-Fi?

Wi-Fi maintains and continues to have numerous security issues. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is used in the physical and data link layers. It was planned to provide wireless security by protecting the data while it travels from one point to the other. Contrasting with the wired LANs, their networks are usually inside the building.

Even if it is protected by wireless LANs, they are more exposed due to the fact that the data travels over radio waves which are much easier to capture. One of the reasons why WEP is vulnerable, some other corporations do not even change their shared keys for a long time. The keys are too long to be used. With that much time, the key can get into other hands and use it in a wrong motive, which could be disastrous for the corporation.

Get away from it all

Haven't you ever had time you wanted to get away from it all? In March/April 1978, www.motherearthnews.com published a story about a couple who bought McLeod's Island — a 90-acre island off the coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.

They have a few animals, spend very little on groceries, and are pretty well sustained by the island itself. Although it does present them with some challenges:

    "The sea, you know, is not called "restless" for nothing. A glass-smooth bay (as we've learned so well!) can churn-sometimes seemingly in seconds-into a windswept chaos of currents and combers. We've also seen that same bay (the one in which our island is located) thaw and then completely refreeze in just hours on a single December day.

    Winters up here can be especially variable. Continual spring-like thaws throughout 1976's cold season, for instance, kept our bay filled with slushy ice that was too thick to push a boat through ... but too dangerous for even a fox to walk on. We were marooned for three full months, from the first of January until the end of March. Last winter's record cold snap, on the other hand, filled the bay so solidly with pack ice that we could hike back and forth to the mainland for our mail and toboggan loads of supplies any time we wanted."

For some of us, we find the Internet gives us the freedom to be able to work and live almost any place we want to. These people didn't have that luxury. I use the past tense as I can't find any current information about them. Who knows? Maybe the tide swept the out to sea.

Life is full of sacrifices. Some are just more dear than others. Still, I don't think buying an island is in my future.

You can read the whole article here.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1978_March_April/We_Homesteaded_an_Island

Geek Christmas gift

I received a very geeky Christmas present this year - Ubuntu! Ubuntu is a linux distribution (Debian I believe) that includes the Gnome desktop, Evolution Groupware and the OpenOffice suite. (I bet my brother would have loved the math formula editor back in the day when he was teaching physics.)

The package has two CDs. The first is a ¡°live cd¡± that sets up a RAM disk (remember those?) and then boots into linux with touching your hard drive! Very creative! This is a great way to show non-technical execs what linux can bring to the table.

The second CD is a bootable install disk, with a character-based installer. I loaded into a Virtual PC machine (refer to this How To from the Ubuntu site) and have been working in the corporate environment for a few days. WSS sites are mostly usable. There is a Citrix client for Linux, so all of the ¡°corporate¡± apps are available.

Being a .Net guy now, there is probably not much more to do. If I had time, then perhaps Mono would be fun to try...

Gangs as Cults

On the History channel there is a new series called "Gangland" which covers the history and practices of various gangs The Arian Brotherhood, La Eme, The Hells Angels and The Mongol Nation to name a few. Many of these gangs are "blood in, blood out", meaning one must commit violence to join and must be killed to leave.

After watching a few episodes it became clear what no one else is seeing from these gangs is that they constitute a form of cult. What is unique about this form of cult is their overt willingness to do violence and engage in illegal activity.

What these gangs/cults provide to it's members highlight what a good functional cult should provide:

    * A sense of family
    * A feeling of uniqueness
    * A feeling of superiority
    * It gives its members a special place to feel at home within the cult
    * Huge amounts of reward in the form of money, drugs, sex and freedom as well as an outlet for them to practice whatever talent they have.
    * if the leader gets removed the cult/gang can keep going, and possibly no one feels vulnerable or unworthy just because they are at the bottom of the pyramid within the group.


The main thing that makes these gang/cults different from a religious cult is that the focus is not on God or the Leader but on the gang itself. This creates a powerful sense of brotherly love and comradeship.

The leaders themselves differ from most cult leaders in that their priority of values is not to God, the cause, or spreading the word or even their own ego gratification. Instead they value the protection and comradeship the family gives them. That said they get their personal needs well met.

An act of violence  or criminal act does two things to the mind of the member who commits them:

1) It creates a concrete sense of commitment. This is an act that demands absolute commitment which extends itself to group. Afterwards they are well rewarded for "taking care of business" in a celebration of their success. Cult experts call this love bombing.

2) An act of violence also forces them to make a commitment to NOT be part of the rest of society. They are now committing to alienate themselves by their affiliations (the gang) and their actions.

As a side note, It is claimed that there is a "sealing ceremony" within some cults in which a young child is force to witness a murder (which, unbeknown to them, is actually staged) then told they will be killed if they leave the group and that they are accomplices to this murder.

A simple rule within all these gang/cults is "we protect our own". Each member knows that anyone else in the gang will "take a bullet" for him and he will do the same for them.

In order to further bond these people to the group and alienate them from the rest of society they often sport tattoos and wardrobe that proclaim their gang affiliation.  This is somewhat reminiscent of how the Mormon "cult" isolated themselves from the rest of society by 1) practicing polygamy and 2) moving from New York to the isolated regions of Utah.

A gang is not something easily joined, one has to be 'Initiated' into the gang, be it elaborate ritual, or simply having the gang members beat the crap out of you for 13 seconds (Why 13 seconds, the timing varies amongst some groups, but one theory is that its for the letter "M" which is the 13th letter of the alphabet, standing for Mexico, something for Latin based gang members).  When a person is initiated, they learn the special hand signals and lingo only the gang knows, and in part its identification and helps bring together members into the world of the gang as family and the rest as outsiders.  Its an interesting idea to link them to a cult grouping, not many have ventured in that direction intellectually.

Gaming Laptops - The Five Essential Features To Consider When Buying A Gaming Laptop

Gone are the days when you would have been laughed at if you walked into an all-night LAN party carrying your trusty laptop and expecting to hang with the giant computer towers standing at everyone’s feet. The gaming laptop computers of today sport huge, crisp LCD screens, cutting-edge video cards and full-size keyboards. Not only can these gaming laptop computers hang with the standard clunky computer tower, but they can also be ordered fully custom to meet the exact specifications of any gamer.

Since there are so many customizable components in these laptops, a standard practice has been to create what some call a “system builder.” This is the page where you get to add and subtract components through drop-down menus in order to create the best gaming laptop computer for your needs and your budget. This type of page can be overwhelming to someone just starting the gaming laptop shopping process, but it is very manageable if you take it just one component at a time.

The Gaming Laptop GPU

This is the heart of a gaming laptop computer. The GPU – graphics processing unit – is a component that will make or break your gaming experience. If your GPU isn’t up to snuff, your games won’t play.

Without getting into specific models since they change all the time, the key is that the graphics card not share resources with the computer. A gaming laptop video card must have its own memory on board. Generally speaking, standard off-the-shelf laptops will not have this feature. The two current makers of laptop video cards are nVIDIA and ATI.

Without the Screen, You Don’t Have Much

What good is a gaming laptop without a screen that can actually render your games? Now certainly, you can connect an external monitor, but if you can’t actually play on your gaming laptop without that external monitor, then your laptop isn’t all that mobile.

While the technology and terminology for LCDs (liquid crystal displays) could take up an entire article in itself, there are a few key points to keep in mind when choosing from available LCD options for your new gaming laptop computer: native resolution, aspect ratio, rise and fall time, contrast, viewing angle, and size.

Native Resolution. The native resolution is simply the setting at which your screen will render the clearest images. Since games are constantly in motion, slightly soft edges may not bother most gamers, but keep in mind that while this is your gaming laptop, you will likely also use it for other things like surfing the Internet. If the resolution isn’t comfortable, you aren’t going to enjoy using it.

Aspect Ratio. As you probably know, a movie theater screen and a TV screen have different proportions. Likewise, there are widescreen format gaming laptops and there are laptops that have a standard aspect ratio – like that of a TV. A widescreen format gaming laptop has advantages and disadvantages. Many games today do not have a widescreen mode. This means that the game may stretch across the screen and become distorted or you may run it with black bars that fill in the sides. There are ways to get around this, but if you want an out of the box perfect experience, the widescreen format may not be for you.

That said, a widescreen LCD does offer plenty of screen real estate for web surfing and other type of computer activities, and a game played in a wide format setting offers an expansive field of view. For this reason, there are some very loyal widescreen-loving gamers out there.

Do your best to find a balance between current and future technology and what your computer habits are beyond gaming. Even with its limitations, the widescreen format is found on most of the best gaming laptop computers.

Rise and Fall. The phrase ‘rise and fall time’ is used to describe how fast the LCD can respond to changes. In the past, LCDs have been plagued with the inability to render images as fast as computer games can spit them out. This presents a major problem for laptop gamers because if they can’t see the images properly, they can’t play the game properly. This lag can mean the difference between playing to win and barely playing.

Fortunately, gaming laptop LCDs have come a long way and they are only getting better. While once it was impossible to game on a laptop screen, the gaming laptop LCDs of today offer 25 milliseconds or less rise and fall time while generally off-the-shelf laptops have 40 milliseconds or less rise and fall time.

Contrast. If a gaming laptop LCD has poor contrast, that means that the black areas aren’t quite as black as they should be and the white areas aren’t quite as white. This is important to a laptop gamer because you have to see the game properly – as it was intended to be seen – in order to compete effectively. Look for a contrast ratio of 400:1 or higher in a custom gaming laptop computer.

Viewing Angle. This is an often-overlooked LCD feature, but it must be considered if you are building a gaming laptop computer. Many high quality LCDs on the market are difficult to see clearly at any angle other than straight on and at the right height. This can be a big drawback to gaming on a LCD screen because a screen with poor viewing angles won’t allow others to watch the screen as you play and also hurts your view when doing something as simple as adjusting your seating, which can require you to then adjust to position of your laptop screen to see it properly again.

But gaming on a laptop does not mean that you are doomed to have poor viewing angles. There are LCDs on the market that have amazing viewing angles – up to 120 degrees. These screens not only allow gaming onlookers, but they also allow you to use that giant, crisp screen to do things like play movies and even make presentations.

Size. In a gaming laptop computer, size is everything. Most gaming laptops are large, robust pieces of electronics. Having a machine of this stature means you also get to have a large screen. The best gaming laptop computer LCD screens out there are at least 15 inches. A crowd favorite is a 17 inch widescreen (even with the challenges that widescreens present). Largr 19 inch laptop screens are just starting to be talked about with consumers expecting to see 19 inch or even large models on the market in the near future.

The best way to really get a feel for what laptop LCDs are all about is to take a trip to a local box store and play with the LCDs on the display laptops while keeping in mind what you have read here. While these laptops are not custom gaming laptops, you can see what the sizes really look like, what different resolutions look like, and what the viewing angles truly are so you can start to develop your own preferences.

The RAM – What Type and How Much?

The RAM (random access memory) found in laptops is called SODIMM (small outline dual inline memory module). The RAM is responsible for your processing power. If you are shopping for a custom gaming laptop, you will generally be offered DDR2 RAM with the choice of how much you want in your computer. Most high-end games being released today need 1GB of RAM for optimum, lag-free game play. Some people are going with 2GB to ensure that they can run multiple applications along with the game and not experience any slow down in response time. This is a large investment and you want to be able to use this gaming laptop for some time in the future. Most custom laptops are user upgradeable, but this should be left up to professionals.

The CPU – Not Just Mobile Technology

The CPUs (central processing units) found in many custom gaming laptops are identical to those found in desktops. These chips require a great deal of cooling power, which in turn can make your laptop louder than light weight, lower power ultra portables when the fans kick on and it can become somewhat warm to the touch. Don’t be alarmed by this – it is normal. And with these desktop processors comes screaming power! Don’t waste your money on the latest CPU release that likely has an inflated price tag (and that price will likely come down before long). Stick with a current CPU speed that is offered by a reputable custom gaming laptop reseller, and you really can’t go wrong.

The Gaming Laptop Hard Drive

This is the final component to consider when building a gaming laptop. Laptop hard drives come in a variety of speeds and capacities ranging from 4200 to 7200 RPMs and 40 to over 100 GBs. For the most part, this is user preference. Whenever possible, go for a 7200 RPM hard drive, but if you need a capacity not offered in this speed, it’s okay to go for the 5400 RPM drive. Take a look at your current computer, and buy your capacity based on this. Also keep in mind that with many custom gaming laptop manufacturers, you have the ability to upgrade or add another hard drive at a later date.

At the end of the day, gaming laptop computers are all about power. Don’t expect a twelve-pound notebook with a desktop processor, numerous fans, a giant heatsink, and independent video card to last on battery power all that long. But do make sure to enjoy the jawdrops that you’ll get as you walk into your regular LAN party location with your new, screaming-fast gaming laptop computer. Crack that puppy open, fire it up, and stand clear of the drool as you take on your favorite game with fellow gamers gathered around to take in the action. Gaming is not just for desktops anymore!

Games: Which are the Easiest to Play

Here is a guide to the best online games. Find yourself winning, or at least not necessary losing in the long run. The best casino games are games that have a low house edge or games where by practicing your skill you can have an advantage over the casino. Those with the lowest house edge are blackjack and video poker. By improving the skill with which you play poker and blackjack, you gain an advantage over the other player or over the casino.

House Edge:
First, here is an explanation about the term house edge. The house edge is the way the casinos create an artificial advantage over the player to ensure their profits. The advantage is created by not paying the true odds. The house edge is the gap between the true odds and the odds the casino actually pays out for a winning.

Here is an example for clarification. The true odds in an American roulette game are 37:1. However, if you place a one dollar bet, you would be paid 35 dollars instead of 37 dollars, which are the true odds. The two dollars gap between the true odds and the actual payout is the casino house edge. You can calculate American roulette house edge by dividing 2 dollars by 38. The result is 5.26 percent.

Poker:
This is an exceptional casino game. It is the only casino game where you play against the other players instead of competing against the casino. There is not a house edge in poker. Instead, most casinos ensure their profits by collecting a rake, which is a certain percentage of the pot used to cover expenses. Other casinos charge each player by the hour.

Poker is the best casino game to play if you are a skilled player. A skilled player with experience, excellent knowledge in certain game rules, smart strategy and an ability to read facial expressions would have an advantage over the less skilled poker players, especially those who rely on their good fortune.

Blackjack:
This is the only casino game where the advantage can be shifted from the player to the dealer. When you are <a href="http://www.gambling-portal.com/blackjack.html">playing blackjack</a> and using an optimal strategy, the house edge can be lower than 0.5 percent. You can increase your odds of winning and lower the house edge by learning the strategy based on the mathematics of the game.

Another way to lower the casino advantage in blackjack is by card counting. A skilled card counter can adjust his bets and his strategy according to the proportion between high cards and low cards. Mastering card counting requires skill and practice. In addition, since casinos are not especially welcoming card counters to their blackjack tables, you should also practice your hiding skills.

Video Poker:
The resemblance between video poker and slot machine sometimes causes confusion. Nevertheless, contrasting to slot machine, video poker is a game of skill. Playing video poker using an optimal strategy can lower its house edge to less than half percent. As opposed to slot machines, in video poker machine the pay table on the front of the machine enables you to determine the expected return of the game.

For example:
1) In a 9/6 Jacks or Better video poker machine, the expected return percentage can be as high as 99.5 percent.
2) In a 8/5 Jacks or Better machine the return percentage can be 97.3 percent and 95 percent in a 6/5 Jacks or Better video poker machine.
3) In a full paying Deuces Wild  machine, the expected return percentage can be 100.17 percent.

Gagner A la Roulette

Depuis que la roulette est considérée comme un jeu de chance, tout le monde pense qu'il doit exister plus ou moins de trucs pouvant vous faciliter vos jeux. Mais ceci n'est pas toujours vrai. Bien que quelques conseils d'experts puissent vous être donnés, sachez que nulle stratégie n'est fiable à 100%. En voici cependant quelques une.

Essayez la Roulette Européenne: généralement, vous trouverez sur les sites de casino en ligne deux types de roulettes: l'européenne et l'américaine. La seule différence entre les deux et le nombre de cases de zéro existant sur le cylindre. L'européenne n'en comprend qu'une, alors que l'américaine en dispose de deux. Cette différenciation s'explique par l'avantage pris par la maison ( ou casino). Avec un seul zéro, l'avantage de la maison est diminué de moitié, ce qui vous permet d'accroître vos chances de gagner.

Apprenez à bien miser: les paris sur numéros simples sont la pire chose à faire dans tous les jeux de casinos existants. L'avantage de la maison est si important lorsque vous pariez sur un nombre simple qu'il vous est presque impossible de remporter quelque gain que ce soit. De plus, avant de pouvoir gagner, il vous faudra miser énormément auparavant. Les meilleurs paris restent donc ceux dont l'avantage de la maison est le plus faible.

Jouez pour le plaisir. Quand vous jouez pour le plaisir, vous êtes d'avantage détendu et plus apte à prendre de bonnes décisions, ce qui est loin d'être le cas lorsque vous vous trouvez en état de stress, soumis à la pression de devoir remporter de l'argent. Dans ce cas ci, vous pouvez le payer très cher car votre compréhension du jeu est altérée et vous pousse à commettre d'inévitables erreurs.

Etablissez votre budget. Ce conseil est valable pour tous les jeux d'argent, sans restrictions aucune. Ne jouez jamais sans avoir au préalable déterminé votre budget. Ne jouez qu'avec la somme prévue et jamais d'avantage. En effet, si vous pensez jouez d'avantage que cela, il ne s'agira plus dès lors d'un simple petit problème financier à court terme mais d'un véritable gouffre sur le long terme, et la limite est fine avant d'être considéré comme joueur problématique et se retrouver interdit de casino.

Mettez de coté ce que vous venez de gagner. A nouveau, ce conseil, avec le précédent, est l'un des meilleurs. En remisant ce que vous venez de gagner, si le tour précédant vous perdez, rien de dramatique n'est arrivé à votre budget. En revanche, si vous misez tout le temps avec vos gains et que vous perdez à chaque coup, il ne vous restera dès lors plus rien. Et entre nous, il vaut mieux repartir avec un petit quelque chose que rien du tout. Ne laissez jamais vos gains sur le tapis car en cas de perte, vous perdrez tout, très vite.

Entrainez vous. Rendez-vous sur un casino en ligne et jouez des parties gratuites en mode démo afin de vous familiariser avec le jeu. Il n'y a rien de pire que de se rendre à un jeu dont on ne maîtrise pas les règles et de pariez au bon vent la chance.  Lisez avant tout les règles des jeux, puis allez sur le mode démo et jouez y régulièrement jusqu'à ce que vous vous sentiez prêt à passer le cap du mode réel.

Future Shock: Voice Recognition Identification Technology

<b>Dateline:</b> Tuesday, July 13, 2010

<b>Location:</b> Teterboro, New Jersey

<b>The Schedule:</b> N714JA, a Gulfstream V in Jet Aviation's Private Fleet, is scheduled to take off at 0830 for LAX. Crew of three with fourteen pax.

<b>Backgrounder:</b> Kay Hughes, flight attendant for today' s non-stop coast-to-coast flight is busy checking her catering order and prepping the cabin. Bob Harmon is the captain and Jeff Mortowski is his first officer. Both are situated in the cockpit going over the pre-flight checklist. The pax are from various companies in the New York area or individuals on personal business who have bought seats on his flight.

<b>The Story:</b> Kay woke up with a start as the alarm on her clock radio blared. Reaching across her pillow, she noticed the time, 5:15, and hammered the snooze button in the hopes of grabbing another five minutes of sleep. Tired as she was, her mind began to race as she considered the day ahead. In less than four hours she would be enroute to L.A. with an aircraft full of passengers. Slowly the thought of additional sleep became less important as she considered all that she had to do before leaving Teterboro. Quietly she slipped on her robe and slippers, poured herself a cup of coffee, and slinked into the shower.

As Kay walked across the tarmac, she saw the fuel truck pulling up to her aircraft and the caterer at the gate waiting for a security clearance. It was 6:48 and already she could feel the heat lifting off of the pavement. Another scorcher she thought; at least L.A. will be cooler.

Kay greeted Jeff who was busy overseeing the fuel delivery; she then climbed onboard the G-V and gave a similar greeting to Bob who was occupied with updating paperwork. Bob finished what he was doing and briefed Kay with the day's schedule. Minutes later Kay turned to assist the approaching caterer with the day's order. Within the hour, the first of the passengers began to arrive. Each sat in the lobby of the FBO waiting to be boarded. At precisely 8:00 a.m., Kay left the aircraft and walked down the ramp to the FBO. She whispered to the waiting security agent who signaled to the FBO customer service representative to make the boarding announcement. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Jet Aviation Flight #001 departing TEB for LAX is now boarding. Please present your identification card and boarding pass to the security agent. Once you are cleared, you will be boarded. Thank you for flying Jet Aviation and enjoy your flight."

Kay turned and left the FBO and walked back to the aircraft. Both pilots were onboard completing their preflight preparations. Kay stood at the bottom of the steps leading up to the aircraft waiting for the security agent to bring the passengers to the plane. She knew that with fourteen passengers the security clearance would take a bit longer than normal.

Kay considered waiting inside the cabin to keep cool, but knew that it was important that she greet the passengers at the base of the steps in case one of them needed assistance climbing up." It must already be 85 degrees out here," she thought as she watched the heat vapors rise off the pavement.

After what seemed like an inordinate delay — Kay's hair was slowly losing style in the heat — Bob poked his head out of the cockpit and said, "Sorry for the delay, but we caught another one." Startled, Kay stammered, "You mean one of the passengers failed security clearance?" Bob replied, "Not only that but he is on the FBI's wanted list of suspected terrorists. The remaining passengers checked out okay, but we'll be delayed until the agents finish interviewing them to see if they knew the guy." Despite the heat, Kay shivered as she thought of the potential chain of events a terrorist onboard the aircraft might unleash.

Her fears gradually subsided when Jeff reminded her that the VOICE RECOGNITION IDENTIFICATION TECHNOLOGY (VRIT) unit in the FBO was flawless in the nearly six months of use. Over that time, twenty-six people with a criminal element were pulled, most of whom had been charged previously with petty crimes [such as tax evasion] and were either on the run or would be in violation of their parole restrictions had they left the state. Today marked the first time that a suspected terrorist was caught and as the squad car sirens wailed, Kay knew that this day would be anything but normal.

<b>The above account is fiction</b>, but it pre-supposes a couple of things that could occur in the intervening years that would bring about similar results, i.e., additional and more widespread terrorist attacks being a primary consideration. In addition, a change in the way we do business, i.e., selling seats to individuals instead of selling the entire flight to a company or an individual would have to occur — no longer would you have a lead passenger who could identify all of the other passengers. VRIT is now within reach and will, more than likely, become the norm of the day. Essentially, it works this way: a person speaks into a device that immediately matches the voice pattern with one in the database. The database identifies the person and when a match is made, the person is cleared [unless the database turns up a warrant for their arrest].

Naturally, in order to get onboard a flight we would require passengers to be part of that database. This could occur if VRIT becomes as mandatory as holding a social security number or a driver's license. Foreign nationals would have to be keyed into the same system to make it work, so the potential for a worldwide Orwellian-type system would be great.

Recently, I had the opportunity to meet with Russ Cooper, a managing partner with COMPUTEK, a Wall Street company that has developed the latest generation of VRIT. He shared with me that both the FBI and CIA use an older generation of VRIT and his company is marketing the current one. Their customer base potential is impressive: government agencies, security firms, airports, airliners, automobile manufacturers, you name it. Wherever a positive i.d. on a person is needed, their technology might be utilized.

According to Russ, the technology is fail-safe. When I mentioned that a voice impersonator like a Richard Little type could sneak by, he claimed that VRIT would still know who he was even with the "Richard Nixon" voice. Apparently, voice patterns are distinguishable even when disguised.

We did not discuss "price" as he was not marketing his product directly to me. I can only imagine that the costs involved would be significant, but then I began to think that they could possibly be offset by lower insurance premiums if insurance companies see the benefit of “guaranteeing” passenger security.

So what role could the flight attendant play in utilizing VRIT?  Perhaps in lieu of a security agent [especially in out of the way places like Bozeman, Montana], a VRIT unit would be assigned to your aircraft — much like a cardiac defibrillator monitor — and you would greet each passenger as they boarded the aircraft. Before the aircraft could be cleared for takeoff, the passengers would speak into the handheld VRIT and be given a security clearance on the spot.

<b>Let's return to our story and amend it with the security check being placed directly in the flight attendant's hands:</b>

Kay walked down the G-V's steps carrying her mobile VRIT device and waited as the passengers exited the FBO and made their way to the aircraft. She announced, "Welcome onboard Jet Aviation flight #001 bound for Los Angeles. Please speak your name into the VRIT unit. Once you have been cleared, you may proceed up the steps. The first officer will take your boarding pass and you may be seated. If you need additional assistance, the captain will be glad to help you."

One by one the passengers filed by, stating their name and waiting for the green clearance light to flash. As they spoke, a signal was transferred to an orbiting satellite and then beamed to VRIT headquarters in Washington, DC. As the last of the passengers approached, Kay continued to greet each one and wait for clearance. Finally, when all passengers were cleared, she climbed the steps and had both pilots speak into the VRIT unit. At last, Kay placed the unit in the First Officer’s hands in order to have him run clearance on her. Kay cleared her throat, spoke her name, but after an extended pause, the VRIT beeped loudly and signaled red. The color in Kay's face drained away and she turned to flee. Within moments several arms reached forward to apprehend her as sirens wailed in the background.

All she could think about was running away...

Startled, Kay awoke from her dream as the snooze alarm blared away.

FTA keys

In the last five to six years the FTA satellite receiver has become an everyday household electronic device.  People all over the world are buying free to air receivers because of their growing and always evolving features and capabilities.  FTA receivers these days are gaining popularity all over.  Starting initially in Europe, the craze spread globally shortly after.  With FTA satellite TV being available in almost every country across the globe, FTA satellite is the wave of the TV future.

Free to air satellite TV channels are free.  You can connect your receiver up to multiple satellite dishes and point your dish at different satellites in space.  There are thousands of 100% free satellites in space with limited channels per satellite.  Some free to air channels include PBS, International channels, and locals.  These companies broadcast their signal for free.  The majority of people with FTA receivers don't point their dishes at these satellites.  Infact, people all over the world including North America are reprogramming their boxes so they can point their dishes at real satellite TV and watch channels for free.   This is actually where FTA keys come into play.  In order to watch FTA satellite TV this way.  You need to be constantly entering what are called FTA keys or Dish keys into your receiver so that your receiver can keep itself updated with the satellites in space.  This enables you to watch TV.

Because the keys are constantly changing and always need to be entered manually each time a key change occurs, this presents a problem and inconvenience to the user.  This is why people program files called autoroll bins on to their receivers.  Autoroll files automatically roll the keys over to the new keys everytime they change.  These are what people often refer to as FTA fixes.  FTA fixes fix your receiver essentially by getting your channels to work with very little human interaction other than initially programming the new FTA file to your receiver a few times a year.  FTA files don't work forever, they also go down from time to time and the user will have to load the new autoroll bins.

Usually people get their autoroll bin files from sources like FTA Support websites.  FTA Support sites offer a complete support service to their members giving them all the software, files, keys, and online technical support they'll ever need to keep themsselves always up and watching TV.  FTA support sites usually include online support and troubleshooting via email and they usually have all the downloads and setup instructions you'll ever need to get your receiver working all the time.

FTA receivers are getting bigger and better offering new innovative and experimental ideas and technologies that keep them interesting all the time.  Many new features FTA receiver owners have learned to love are 7 day EPG (electronic program guides), PVR functions (record, pause, and rewind live TV), DivX movie watching capabilities, and many more little features and add-ons that keep things very interative and enjoyable.

Friendship- Celebrate With Desktop Wallpapers

Friendship- a friend is very precious. Ask those who have no one to call their friend. They know that not having a friend makes one feel very lonely. Those who have friends are very lucky. How desktop wallpapers can help you celebrate the spirit of friendship day that is arriving on 6th of August? Why not rejoice in the joy of friendship forever. It is said that friends are better than relatives. What you think about it is your personal opinion. But today we are talking of desktop wallpapers on friends and friendship. Just read on.

Friendship Desktop Wallpapers:

Good friendship wallpapers will have a message on friendship or text describing the bliss of friendship. Some friendship wallpapers also have famous quotes made by eminent people from over the centuries. These are quite meaningful. Most of these wallpapers have lovely images of nature or small children. That gives peace to the mind and relaxes the eyes. One gets tired of working on the computer all the day. These wallpapers will remind you that you are also human and not a work machine.

Friendship Wallpapers Sizes:

You will get free Friendship wallpapers in sizes suitable for most of the monitor sizes. Download one that fits your monitor. After downloading the friendship wallpaper, set it on your desktop as the background. Share some of them with your close friends. They will appreciate your gesture.

Friendship Wallpapers Cost:

Some websites offer free Friendship wallpapers while quite a few websites charge money. Select from free websites if you do not want to spend money. You will get good wallpapers at no cost. Why pay when they are free?

Precautions While Downloading:

Avoid adware and spyware. Don't download exe. files if you are only looking for a normal desktop background image (wallpaper). Download light-weight wallpapers. Friendship wallpapers will make you feel connected with your friends in the loneliness that many of us feel when we are working without break on our computers like a zombie.

Free Screensavers - How To Select?

Most of the Internet users download screensavers. With many sites offering screensavers, how does one select the right screensavers? Downloading any screensaver can harm your computer, because most of websites wrap screensavers with spyware and adware. Both of these additions can considerably slow down your computer speed. Here are few tips about selecting the right screensaver.

<strong>Select free</strong> - Internet offers two varieties of screensavers. One that will cost you and the other that is free. Try free. You will get a large collection.

<strong>Adware And Spyware</strong> - Please read the instructions before downloading. If anywhere, they have written, that some adware will be added so that they can offer you free screensaver please get away. Those who add spyware, don't mention it. Prestigious websites avoid using spywares. Take care about these two additions and you will be safe.

<strong>Designs</strong> - The latest variety is Video Screensavers in Flash. These are beautiful screensaver, not high in weight and look lovely. The three dimensional Variety may weigh quite a lot and will take away lot of hard disk space and also take much more time downloading. Search for screensavers designed with themes of nature such as - Clouds, Birds, animals, Beaches, Oceans, rivers, waterfalls, Leaves etc.Andd you can view them any time you wish. During Holiday, download specific Holiday screensavers and double your enjoyment of holidays at no cost. Screensavers are a easy way to relax on the computer. Whenever you feel tired or tense, click one and watch it for some time. It will take your tiredness away.

Free MySpace Layouts to perk up your life

If you were to go to a friends or another members' page on one of the social networking sites and discover tons of fun stuff and pictures, wouldn’t that surprise you?  You would also want to incorporate free MySpace Layouts in your page. So, you need to make use of the free MySpace Layouts to find a profile or a layout that is a reflection of who you are and not just something to ad color to your page.

An easy way to personalize your page is by using any of the free MySpace Layouts available on the net and custom design a cool contact box for your page for this, you can select from the wide choice of fonts available, create your own text and insert a picture of your choice to place in the text. Now, you are ready to bring all these pieces together and find a suitable background from free MySpace Layouts to finish the page.

So, the next time one of your friends or family members visit your page, the free MySpace Layouts will give them a lovely surprise. Using similar logic for the contact box, and comments area, you can even create your own background using an image you found on the net or from your saved folders.  This gives you complete freedom and the ability to come up with something original instead of searching from the millions of websites with free MySpace Layouts. This way your page will reflect who part of your family are and what kind of a person you are. This will help people connect with you, and makes more sense when talking to someone who is just an online friend.

Some of the users might be familiar and comfortable using HTML coding, while others would not have a clue. This does not mean that you cannot make use of free MySpace Layouts or create your own layouts. Yes, it is true that having some knowledge in HTML can make it easier in creating your own MySpace profile; but you can take the help of someone who knows how to play around with the coding to help you out.

If you want to express your individuality and allow others to know what your interests are, you can make maximum use of free MySpace Layouts and create miracles. If you are not the risk taking kind of a person, you can stick to one of the pre- made free MySpace Layouts. And once you are comfortable with finding or making changes to the existing ones, you can create your own range of free MySpace Layouts. After all, it makes more sense to have something that has you written all over it. A little bit can go a long way with free MySpace Layouts, and this goes to show that it is not rocket science, but just needs a bit of time and patience.

Free Myspace backgrounds have multiple options for features

Free backgrounds are available in a variety of formats on the Internet. Just search for them on the Internet and seek favorable downloads. Though the options under free downloads are limited, they are in great use because of the flexibility they offer. There are hundreds of web pages that offer free Myspace backgrounds.

The free Myspace background and themes are widely available on the Internet for use. Check them using the search and engines and download them. The free background is available in two formats. They are basic free backgrounds and complex free backgrounds. The free backgrounds have a rich background schemes and a number of features. The free backgrounds are also attractive and brightly colored, but have limited options.

The free background of the Myspace page comes in all shapes and sizes. They can be installed as a web page as whole or installed in the form of tiled. They can also be used in multiple formats. Check the Internet site offering the Myspace free backgrounds. The free backgrounds come in all colors of nature, the natural colors and various shades that go well with the web page of the Myspace. There are artificial and synthetic colors that can be added to the web page. Visitors to the site will be provided with a set of tools using which the colors can be decided. The color mix choice will be given to the users. They can mix the colors of their choice that go well with the web page of the Myspace. The colors can be mixed using the tools provided. The next resultant colors are thrown up on the web page. Click on the particular color that goes well with your preference. Then, bring it on to the Myspace page by dragging it using the tools provided.

There are two options to download the free backgrounds for the Myspace page. The first option is free downloads from popular sites and the second option is to go for complex free backgrounds. There are number of rich features under free backgrounds. Users also have the option of customizing the free backgrounds according to the wishes of the users. There are plenty of tools available for the user to download from the site and opt for the preferred free backgrounds. The options provided are user-friendly. If the user does not find the tools to be in accordance with the preference, there are multiple options to change the preferences. The free backgrounds have a number of options that are available in the form of license. Therefore, the best form is to go in for free backgrounds. The free backgrounds are also available on the Internet.

The backgrounds are based on themes and patterns. For instance, the theme based on butterfly comes with a preset template. More images of butterflies or designs of the insects can be added on to the background. The color of the butterflies can be natural. Images of butterflies, large or small, can be hosted on the background without altering the layout. But make sure the colors do not provide a negative effect.

Free Myspace Backgrounds Can Do Wonders

Myspace allows any member to be very versatile, and they can set up their profile in various ways. They have access not only to free layouts in Myspace, as there are free Myspace backgrounds too. Almost any member with this online community will know that there are plenty of free backgrounds to be used from various sites.

Getting access to these free Myspace backgrounds is also an easy task, where users may look at various sites to get what they want. The variety is also stunning, and there would seem a never-ending flow of backgrounds, out of which any one of them will be creative for the profile. However, if chosen well to blend with the theme of the profile, it will be much better to look at.

Free Myspace background work very simply, which is a reason for the popularity of its use. Besides being accessible to all members at no cost, the application is easy as well. It works the same way as layouts, and all members have to do is copy paste the particular code of the background to the home page of the profile.

The free backgrounds for Myspace are sorted out categorically and that is why it can do wonders. As it has such a large variety, they seem to be very confusing, but in reality they offer innovative options. The number of backgrounds that a user can use will be endless. These free Myspace backgrounds can do wonders for a person’s profile, as it will break away from the monotony of the regular ones.

The profile parts will also be colorful and versatile, compared to what is offered initially. Those used these free Myspace background will understand that the use will give a totally different look and feel to the profile when applied. They will not only create individuality, it obviously speaks of what the person is interested in too.

All members should try out these free Myspace backgrounds, as the options are amazing. No other social networking site offers such options, and the users must make the most of these sites. Various categories are offered too, with cartoons, flowers, special backgrounds for occasions etc.

Don’t forget, what make Myspace backgrounds unique are its various features. A profile should be touched up with these backgrounds, as they are of so many various categories that it would be impossible to ignore. Free backgrounds can be checked with support forums if any members have doubts about how they have to be used. They might encounter problems with the usage of some free backgrounds, and they can do the same.

No matter what occasion it is, you can decorate the profile, as you need. Thus it allows the profile to get a lot of variety and different looks as well. The backgrounds are available in such large numbers that it would perfectly suit the profile in any way.

Free ISP

Is There Such A Thing As Free ISP?

As a matter of fact, there really is such a thing as a free Internet Service Provider or free ISP, for short. Most Internet service providers offer service for a small monthly charge. Most people are surprised to learn that there are companies that offer free Internet service. This is much more than the free trials offered on the discs everyone receives in the mail. These ISPs actually offer free Internet service, and not for just a trial period.

You might wonder how it is that these ISPs can offer free service when everyone else is paying for it. The answer to that is really no surprise at all. It is advertising, the funding that is behind nearly every free product. For example, there are a variety of sites that offer free MP3 downloads. The catch is that these downloads arrive with a ton of pop-up advertisements, just like the free ISPs. These pop-ups can create a real problem on free Internet service because there are so many of them. They can even cause your computer to freeze up and generally make it extremely difficult to navigate the Internet.

Another concern with these free ISPs is that they may not offer the free Internet deal in your area. If there is no local dial-up number for you, it can turn into big charges on your telephone. Some of these free ISPs also put a limit on the number of hours you can spend on the Internet. Also, the features available with commercial ISPs are often lacking in the free ISPs. An ISP that charges for their service is always coming up with new and better features for their customers. Free ISPs do not make that kind of effort. The quality of the connection can also be a problem with free ISPs. You may find you have poor connections with constant interruptions.

Still, you may want to find an ISP that is a step up from the free ISPs. The answer may actually be with the free ISP company. Many of them offer a better package for paying customers. This is often at a lower cost than other commercial ISPs. Many companies offer free Internet service as an incentive to try out their service. What they are hoping is that customer will like their service more than a competitor and decide to upgrade to unlimited Internet access.

It is always a good idea to read and fully understand the terms and conditions of any ISP before you sign anything. This is especially true when you are making an agreement for free Internet access. Make sure that they are offering exactly what they say they are, and you are aware of any conditions. Double-check any time limits on your Internet access, and know the fees for going over your limit. Last of all, make sure you know ahead of time about any long distance charges or other charges that may actually apply for your free ISP.

Free Iphone Games & Movies-The Full Story

Do you want to download free Iphone games and movies? I think every Iphone user I have ever met has been head over heels in love with their Iphone, but none of them get any real value from it. If you want to get real value from your Iphone, read on!

If you've gotten over the post Christmas boredom by downloading stuff from Itunes, you probably know how expensive it can work out to be. The costs of a single download isn't much, but whoever stops there? Instead of throwing away your precious income like that, check out these tips to make sure you aren't taken to the cleaners.

Tip 1
Torrent Sites- these sites can be useful, but only if you are smart about it. Firstly though, a word of warning – downloading something you don't already own from these sites is against the law – you can use them to download MP3s of your current CD collection no problem, but to download anything else is unlawful. Before you do anything like that check out the laws in your area. That's not all, sites like this can be a real breeding ground for hackers/spammers, so make sure your computer is super super secure before using them.

Tip 2
Use the membership sites – would you like to pay $50 and get unlimited access to every musical album you've ever wanted, or every computer game or DVD? Well here's your answer. The memberships are usually lifetime, and the downloads are very high speed and in very good condition. These sites are probably your best bet for building up a large catalog of downloads in the shortest time.

Tip 3
Avoid the scam sites. If you've spent any more than about 10 seconds on the net searching for free Iphone downloads you can't fail to have noticed the amount of websites competing for your attention. Unfortunately not all of these guys are as honest as you would hope. It's quite common to come across a site that promises the earth, only to find that there is nothing at all worthwhile there. The reason for this is that those types of sites get paid for people to click on their advertising, so it's in their interest to get as many people to visit their site as possible, regardless of whether they can actually provide any of the free downloads they claim. Not very cool, but it happens.

Hopefully these 3 tips have helped you open your eyes to the pitfalls of downloading free stuff for your Iphone.

Free Iphone Downloads

If you own an Iphone, the chances are that your are going to be interested in getting some free downloads for it. The Iphone is already outstripping the early successes of the Ipod, and looks like it may go on to become one of the most successful electronic devices we have yet seen. This article will show you how to  make the most of your Iphone.

Iphones are a tremendously versatile piece of kit. Not only is it a cellphone, but it will also allow you to listen to music, much like an Ipod would, and also watch movies and play games on the move-and if that wasn't enough, it can even access the internet. It really is quite an achievement. Like the Ipod before it, you are able to transfer all your existing CDs and DVDS to the Iphone, but perhaps the best part is that you can download media from the internet to use with your Iphone. If you know where to look these downloads can often be found at no cost at all!

Most people simply use the torrent sites or peer to peer sites as they are known, to obtain their free downloads. This seems like a great idea at first, and they have been very popular for a number of years now. Did you know that using sites like that is illegal though? It's recommended that you check the law in your area and your own rights before downloading anything at all.

If that wasn't enough to put you off for life, torrent sites can be very very dangerous for your computer. Many torrent sites are a popular place for hackers and identity thieves to hang out, so there's a good chance that your next download will contain a lot more than you bargain for. It's not unheard of for hackers to use torrent sites to enable them to get innocent web users to download their viruses and trojans etc. Scary stuff.

Thankfully, as technology progresses, there is now a wonderful alternative to the peer to peer and torrent sites. The way these new sites work is by asking you to pay a one off fee, and then allowing you access to their huge database. The downloads are usually unlimited, so once you are a member, you will be downloading there for the rest of your life. As well as that, you usually find that the servers etc are very fast, and these sites can offer tremendous value for money. Sites like these are definitely the way to go if you are looking for free Iphone downloads.

Downloading free stuff for your Iphone can be tricky, and can land you in jail or kill your computer if you aren't careful-hopefully this article will help you find out what way to go.

Free EMR Solutions by Medicare

Is anything ever free these days? Maybe so.

Instigated by the incredibly slow adoption of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) by doctors across the nation, Medicare is announcing it will begin offering doctors free electronic medical record software solutions.

Both upfront and ongoing costs have been critical factors in the lagging EMR adoption rate. Medicare hopes that by providing doctors with a free or very low-cost system, doctors will readily adopt EMR putting healthcare providers in America on a common system, thereby, providing Medicare and the general public  with obvious, health, reporting and billing benefits.

The proposed system is VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) the widely popular system built by the Veterans Administration. The adoption of VistA has resulted in the VA achieving a pharmacy prescription accuracy rate of 99.997%. Due to the implementation of VistA, the VA also outperforms most public sector hospitals on a variety of criteria. The VistA system is public domain software, available through the Freedom of Information Act directly from the VA website or through a network of distributors.

Installed in over 1300 inpatient and outpatient facilities, the system is well-established and quite successful by EMR standards. But can a system designed for a large organization like the VA also work for a solo practitioner family practice office?

A doctor in a New York Time article writes:

“It is one thing to use a system that someone else installed and someone else maintains. It is another to get a set of disks in the mail and do it yourself."

Those who have tried to install Vista on their own would agree.

“Giving out a version of VistA is a great idea," said Dr. David Kibbe, director of the Center for Health Information Technology at the American Academy of Family Physicians, a group that has been working on the project. "But at the beginning, there was a lot of wishful thinking. They said, 'We'll just release it.' I said, 'Where's the fairy dust?' "

The problems with the healthcare sector and its slow adoption of electronic medical records are much deeper than some would like to admit, and viable solutions have been hard to come by.

The healthcare system is extremely fragmented, with thousands upon thousands of practices all practicing differently, using different billing systems, with different levels of computer proficiency, and different workflows. Building a one-size-fits-all system has failed in the past and will likely continue to fail. The fact that over 300 different vendors currently develop and market EMR software attests to the need for customization. The need for pre- and post-sale customization is a reality in every practice since every practice operates differently. Even practicing physicians within the exact same specialty do things differently and run their practices differently.

A key challenge for systems with large installation bases is often that the system becomes rigid simply due to the vendor trying to please too many different practices. Customization gets repeatedly delayed or shelved altogether. Another concern is that when medical records are stored on servers that Medicare can access and control as they please  practices may be hesitant to use the system regardless of the benefits to the practices and their patients.

While Medicare's plan is to offer the software for free, one must ask what free is.  Currently, free is software but not training, installation, and ongoing support. Even if Medicare did make it 100% free, a free EMR is not free if it fails. The costs involved with a failed implementation can far outweigh the costs of purchasing an EMR at market price due to productivity losses, and hardware  and implementation costs.

Maybe Medicare could focus more of their resources in the development and promotion of better standards for integrating already proven EMR systems  and integrating EMR systems with electronic personal health records, managed by the patient. Why not offer patients a free electronic health record which can easily interface to all the major EMR vendors in the market? Wouldn't a record they control, that can communicate with all their health providers, and be accessed by any other provider in the event of an emergency be more beneficial?

After all, isn’t the patient’s best interest the goal of healthcare in the 21st century?

Free Desktop Freebies – Get them now

Are you looking for some free desktop freebies?

The Internet is hampered with free things and desktop freebies are no exception to it. Today one can find number of sites through which you can get free desktop freebies for your computer. All these freebies are easily downloadable on your computer. A proper search can help you download freebies that are totally safe and virus free. All you need to do is relax and select the best of desktop freebies for your PC.

Some of desktop freebies that can be downloaded free are:

a) Free Desktop Screensavers: Get a mixture of freebie screensavers that can be easily downloaded on your PC. You can find a list of screensavers including 3-D style screensavers, cartoons, sports, movies, fantasy, nature, cars, and the list goes on. All these screensavers can give a new realistic look to your computer. At the time of downloading any screensaver you will be notified about the time the screensaver will take to load. Find a site which is easy to navigate and ensures good quality screensavers.

b) Free Desktop Wallpapers: Today one can download different varieties of wallpapers for their computer. You can find a list of wallpapers including digital wallpaper, free terminator 3 wallpaper and freeloader wallpapers. You can also download digital wallpapers which include 3D and abstract wallpapers, animal’s wallpapers, people wallpapers, theme wallpapers, nature wallpapers and many more. Get digital car wallpapers in two screen resolution sizes including 1024x768 and 800x600. You can also download free cool wallpapers, which include images of celebrities, models, animations and so on.

c) Free Desktop themes: Today one can find different varieties of desktop themes for your computer. You can download desktop themes like actors, actresses, models, TV shows, TV personalities and so on.

d) Free Fun Buddy Icon: Desktop freebies also include fun buddy icons. You can choose from thousands of custom icons and use them in your AOL, Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger chat programs. Once you download fun buddy icons in your computer you will notice an addition to your Internet explorer toolbar.

e) Free Smiley: Looking for some cool smiley to express your feelings while chatting. Today one can find number of sites that provide free smiley of different emotions and style. All you have to do is just choose from a wide list of smiley.  You can find animated smiley, cute smiley, fixed smiley, fixed non smiley, picture smiley, animated non smiley, board smiley, Unclassified funny smiley and lots more.

f) Free Cursor: Are you bored using the same cursors installed in your computers. Get free cursors for your computer through different desktop freebies sites. You can download autumn cursors, Christmas cursors, 3D Cursors, Angels Cursors, Beach Cursors, Cars Cursors, Funny Cursors, Cute Cursors, Golf Cursors, Food Cursors and lots more.

Free church management software - is it worth trying?

<b>Use Free Church Management Software - to save you time in the office</b>

Are you looking for church management software that fits your ministry and your pocket?  Would you like to try out the latest applications but don't want to commit yourself?

Whether you're looking a solution for a small church with just a few members or a sophisticated solution for a church with hundreds of members, there will be a software solution to match your needs.

Before you start surfing the net looking for a solution, consider what exactly you are looking for.  Do you need it primarily to manage your accounting function, are you looking for something that will create your church website, or maybe you just want something to manage the task of creating your church directory (groan!).  Make a list of the essential and desirables that you are looking for <I>first</I>.

<b>Free Church Software</b>

Many of the most reputable companies providing church management software solutions offer a free trial to enable you to try their system for yourself.  This is an ideal way to try out, without risk, the latest softwares that may offer the solution that you have been seeking.

Traditional uses of church software include management of financial and accounting functions.

It is now possible to find software that will manage your membership, create a church calendar, keep records of donations, manage your church library, publish your church bulletin, update your church directory, integrate church music, worship songs and data projection.

In short, if there is something you need done in your church, there's almost certainly software that will do it for you!

For further information and reviews on all the free trials & church management software providers , visit www.church-software-home-page.com/free-church-management-software.html