Special Program Ideas for Online Communities

Creating special programs for your online community is great fun. This responsibility is where you, as the online community manager, really get to dig in to your community’s personality, theme, and sense of adventure. It’s also where members in return can help to spread a message and get a great word-of-mouth marketing campaign going.

You’d love to think members join communities because they dig your sparkling personality or have a passion for the brand. The truth is, most people join a community because there’s something in it for them. As community manager, it’s up to you to provide an answer to “What’s in it for me?”

A warm and fuzzy vibe doesn’t always fly. When you show the community they’re appreciated in other ways, the love is reciprocal.

Here are a few examples of some special programs you can create:

• Sponsorships: Many brands now offer a variety of sponsorships, especially to bloggers. They advertise on blogs and help fund trips to conferences. Sponsorships can also mean sending someone on a junket or helping fund a project, such as a book.

  
  



• Scholarships: Very few things are more important than a good education, but not everyone can afford higher learning. By offering scholarships to community members, you’re giving a chance to someone who might not have otherwise been able to do something, whether it’s travel on a mission or donate books for children.

  
  

  Scholarships don’t have to be all-expenses-paid Ivy League college stays. They can also be funding for an educational conference or a one- or two-day course. Determine a program that best fits your community and budget.

  
  



• Mentoring: Some career-oriented communities offer mentoring for newer or inexperienced members. Mentors might be fellow employees, volunteers from within the community, or professionals who don’t mind sharing a little of their time and wisdom.

  
  



• Charitable giving: There’s nothing more beautiful than a community coming together for a cause. Choose a charity that everyone has an interest in, and see if you can get a campaign going within your community. Match funds to give more incentive.

  
  



• Webinars: Online conferences and seminars are called webinars. Catchy, right? If your brand has something to teach or provides a service that can be tied into learning, try putting together a webinar. It doesn’t have to be sales-y. Most people use webinars as online courses and classes. Besides leading to good feelings among your community, webinars lead to growth in sales and community.

  
  



• Conferences: Your brand might be in a position to host a conference. If you’re niche-y and want to have a meeting of the minds and collaboration of community, conferences truly bring people together.

  
  



• Meetups and tweetups: Meetups are community gatherings held in restaurants or pubs, and tweetups are the same but put together via Twitter for communities gathered on Twitter.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/special-program-ideas-for-online-communities.html

Twelve Soundtracks for Travel Experiences with your iPad, iPod, or iPhone

Half the fun of listening to your iPad, iPod, or iPhone comes from being able to do it on the road. While everyone has differing musical tastes, you might consider some of the following list while enjoying the wide open spaces:

• The Joshua Tree, by U2: Cruising Death Valley. (If you start the album at the entrance, you hear “In God’s Country” at an appropriate spot, no matter how fast or slowly you drive.)

  
  



• Anthem of the Sun, by the Grateful Dead: While you’re driving over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco at sunset.

  
  



• “Across the Great Divide” on The Band, by The Band: When you reach the crest of Donner Pass in the California Sierras on I-80, or the crest of Monarch Pass on the Continental Divide on U.S. 50 in Colorado. “Just grab your hat / And take that ride.”

  
  



• Magical Mystery Tour, by the Beatles: Taking the Number 77 double-decker out of Liverpool to Grove Street, Dale Street, Smithdown Road, and yes, Penny Lane (where you can walk to Strawberry Fields, if you get directions from Maps on your iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone).

  
  



• “All Aboard” on Fathers and Sons, by Muddy Waters: Taking a train heading north to Chicago, and then following this tune with Junior Parker’s “Mystery Train” and John Lee Hooker’s “Peavine.”

  
  



• “East-West” on East-West, by the Butterfield Blues Band, or “Eight Miles High” on Fifth Dimension, by the Byrds: Traveling on a plane, heading east or west.

  
  



• The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, or Jan and Dean: Roller-skating on the Venice, California boardwalk.

  
  



• “Walk on the Wild Side” on Transformer, by Lou Reed, and Paul’s Boutique, by the Beastie Boys: Jogging in Central Park.

  
  



• “Wooden Ships” on Crosby, Stills & Nash, by Crosby, Stills, and Nash; anything by Jimmy Buffett; and “Sail Away” on Sail Away, by Randy Newman: Sailing around the Florida Keys and up the east coast into Charleston Bay.

  
  



• “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” on Feats Don’t Fail Me Now, by Little Feat, and “I’ve Been Everywhere” on Unchained, by Johnny Cash: Driving an 18-wheeler, rolling through northern New Jersey into New York City.

  
  



• Miles Davis, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, or Sonny Rollins: Hiding backstage in the Green Room at the Village Gate.

  
  



• Pink Floyd: Hopping around in an astronaut suit on the dark side of the moon.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/twelve-soundtracks-for-travel-experiences-with-you.html

How to Instruct Staff in Cultural Competency

Doing business with sensitivity to cultural differences may require staff training and education. Employees who interact with publics from a variety of cultures should be competent in their cultural awareness, along with their other business skills.

Here are some key areas in which business people should be in touch for cultural competency:

• Development of culture: How cultures develop and their impact on the workplace, including relationships with customers and other businesspeople.

  
  



• How cultures think and act differently: If your employees come from a uniquely Anglo American background and experiences, they think and act differently from those outside their own culture. The same holds true, regardless of what culture your employees belong to.

  
  



• The cultural lens: Americans tend to look at the world through their own lenses and, as a result, tend to believe that what others think and do differently from them is wrong. Everyone on staff needs to realize that differences are merely differences.

  
  



• The cross-cultural opportunity: By becoming culturally competent, staff members can more effectively serve customers and boost sales and profits. By presenting facts and figures about the multicultural market potential in your area, you can get staff members to buy into your plan to expand into this market and contribute to the business's success.

  
  



• The cross-cultural challenge: By developing an understanding of other cultures, staff members are less likely to insult or disrespect customers or visiting businesspeople by mistake.

  
  



• Time differences: How different people view time and the importance of being on time for scheduled meetings and events can seriously affect business relationships:

  
  
  
  

  • Polychronics: Hispanics, Asians, and Middle Easterners are among those who are group oriented and future oriented. They tend to view deadlines as suggestions rather than as impenetrable barriers, so they may not show up for appointments on time. They often view monochronics as aggressive and pushy when it comes to time.

    
    
  
  

  • Monochronics: Americans, the Swiss, and Germans are individualistic and present focused. Deadlines are hard and fast. They tend to view polychronics as passive, disorganized, and perhaps even unreliable and disrespectful of their time.

    
    
  
  
  
  



• Competitiveness versus cooperation: Some cultures, such as Americans and Brits, tend to be competitive, while Hispanics and Asians are cooperative. Cooperative cultures usually make business decisions as a group, whereas competitive cultures are more likely to make decisions as individuals.

  
  



• Individualist versus collectivist: In individualistic cultures, such as those in the U.S., Australia, and England, you’re expected to look after yourself and your family. These cultures value directness and freely speak their minds. In collectivist cultures, such as Asia and Latin America, people are integrated into strong, cohesive groups that protect everyone in the group in exchange for unquestioned loyalty.

  
  



• High-context versus low-context cultures: High-context cultures, including the Japanese, Chinese, Arabs, and Greeks, rely more on context and subtle cues for communications. More is implied than overtly stated, and words are secondary to context. Low-context cultures, including Americans, Scandinavians, Germans, and the Swiss, tend to be more obvious in their communications. Words are explicit and are crucial to understanding.

  
  



• Meeting and greeting: People don’t all meet and greet in the same way. Your employees must know how to properly welcome customers or businesspeople. This important ritual sets the tone for a successful business relationship.

  
  



• Proxemics: The science of personal space, which affects how close you stand to another person while conversing. Proxemics may be culturally determined. Let customers and businesspeople set their own comfort zones.

  
  



• Physical contact: People around the world differ in the amount of physical contact they make during a business interaction. Staff must adjust to the level of physical contact that the customer or businessperson sets.

  
  



• Negotiating versus non-negotiating cultures: One big challenge that staff must be trained to overcome is the constant negotiating of some cultures. They must understand that haggling is a way of life in many parts of the world, and they need to be prepared to handle it.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-instruct-staff-in-cultural-competency.html

How to Sort Out Your Spotify Tracks

Spotify makes it easy to sort track listings by presenting search results, playlists, and local files in a list of columns, which you can swiftly arrange in ascending and descending order.

For example, click the title of the Track column to sort the column in alphabetical order (an arrow pointing up appears next to the word Track). Click Track again to sort the columns in reverse alphabetical order, (with the arrow next to the word Track now pointing down). The sort fields include

• Track/Artist/Album title: View these fields alphabetically or in reverse alphabetical order.

  
  



• Popularity: When you conduct a Spotify search, you can click Popularity to see the most-listened to tracks first. The number of white bars that appears next to the track shows you the relative number of Spotify users who have listened to it. You can also sort by least-popular results, if you feel like helping out the stragglers.

  
  



• Time: Sort results from the longest songs to the shortest ones. Handy if you’re a Spotify Open user and don’t want to use up too much of your free listening time!

  
  



• User: This column is visible in all playlists to let you see who added what songs to those playlists (and when). This sorting field is useful for collaborative playlists in work scenarios. You can also see who has (in your opinion) the best and the worst taste in music! Sort the users out alphabetically or in reverse alphabetical order.

  
  



• Added: Viewable in playlist results and in Local File view. This column lets you see when a track was added to a playlist or to your local files. Again, you can sort this column by date added, in either ascending or descending order.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-sort-out-your-spotify-tracks.html

How to Get Around the IRS Wash-Sale Rule

At an extreme, the wash-sale rule can mean that day traders who are in and out of the same securities over and over may be taxed on all their winning trades, without being able to subtract their losing trades for tax purposes. If your winning trades gained $300,000, and your losing trades cost you $200,000, you cleared $100,000 — but the IRS may tax you on the $300,000. Ouch!

There are ways around the wash-sale rule. The obvious solution is to qualify as a trader for IRS purposes and then take the mark-to-market accounting election.

Other methods for avoiding the wash-sale rule include trading a given security only once every 60 calendar days and doing all your trading within a qualified retirement account such as an IRA. Some securities are handled differently. Futures contracts are considered to generate investment income and losses, not capital gains. Profits on options contracts are 60-percent long-term capital gains and 40-percent short-term capital gains, which reduce the wash-sale rule effect.

If you have any more clever ideas about how you can make money without taking a tax hit, be sure to run them through an experienced tax pro first.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-get-around-the-irs-washsale-rule.html

Engaging Dyslexics in Memorizing, Visualizing, and Rhyming

Because dyslexia makes it hard to remember how words are put together, rhyming and visualization strategies — like turning letters into lively, more concrete characters — are great tools for jogging the memory and helping dyslexics remember word formation. To help your child master many words and fix them better in the mind, try these strategies:

• Help your child with short-vowel sounds by having him draw images into the vowels while saying their short sounds. For example, he can create an apple out of a; draw an egg inside the top part of e; convert a pen with a blob of ink on top into i; change o into an octopus; and draw an arrowhead on each of the two top ends of u so it represents up.

  
  



• Help your child read and spell words like late, hole, and cute by showing him the Bossy e rule: When e is on the end of a short word, it bosses the earlier vowel into saying its name (but stays silent itself).

  
  



• Help your child read and spell long-vowel words like meet, neat, nail, and boat by teaching him this rule: “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking (and says its name).”

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/engaging-dyslexics-in-memorizing-visualizing-and-r.html?cid=RSS_DUMMIES2_CONTENT

How to Eat Sensibly When Traveling

Eating healthy, nutritious food and sticking to a diet are especially hard when you are away from home — for business or pleasure. You’re at the mercy of the food service industry, which offers foods high in fat and low in nutrients.

The job of restaurants is to get you to buy, and eat, more than you planned. Your responsibility is to your health. Advertising is seductive, and your resolve may be weak. But you can win the battle for your dinner dollars if you follow these suggestions.

• Control your portions. Go for the children’s menus at fast food chains. The portions are small but as filling if you eat slowly. One caveat: Don’t drink even the kid’s-size regular soda: It’s too much — 15 oz. milk or diet soda or juice is better and all are allowed with the kid’s meal. Add a salad, if available.

  
  



• Stick to your regular meal schedule. If you normally have lunch at 1:00 p.m., then pull over at that time and get something to eat. This is particularly important when you’re traveling with kids. Hungry children quickly become cranky children. Also, by not letting yourself get completely famished, you’ll be better able to make smart food choices.

  
  



• Get out of the car to eat. You will pay more attention to what you’re eating and have more healthy foods to choose from if you skip the drive-through and sit down at a table for lunch. If you eat too quickly, overeating is easy.

  
  



• Eat with a fork and spoon. Order foods that force you to slow you down. You can’t eat salad or chunky soup easily with your hands.

  
  



• Travel with plenty of water. The air conditioning in cars and plane cabins is really dehydrating. Bring plenty of water for you (and your kids) to drink along the way.

  
  



• Pack plenty of fruits and vegetables. Eating in the car can easily become a bad habit if food is a way to occupy bored children. If you must pack snacks because you’re traveling at snack or mealtime and can’t stop, make them fruit and vegetables. It’s much better to keep your hands and mouth busy with apples and baby carrots than crackers and potato chips.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-eat-sensibly-when-traveling.html

Understanding the Auditors’ Report

Auditors make sure that the financial statements give a true picture of how a company has performed over the year. The auditors’ report in the financial statements contains their opinion on the financial statements. The opinion is one of the following:

• Unqualified (clean): All’s well! The auditors are reasonably happy that the financial statements are free from material mis-statement.

  
  



• Qualified (unclean): Uh-oh. The auditors aren’t impressed. A qualified opinion (which sometimes follows with the words except for) generally means that the auditors don’t agree with the way you treated something in the financial statements.

  
  

  If the report shows an adverse opinion, you’re in hot water: the auditors feel that your financial statements don’t show a true and fair view. If the auditors show a disclaimer of opinion, you’re in boiling hot water: circumstances mean that the auditor can’t form an opinion on the financial statements (for example, you’ve lost all the accounting records).

  
  

You may also see an Emphasis of Matter paragraph in the report, which flags something in the financial statements that the auditors thinks the user needs to know about.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-the-auditors-report.html

Picking a Bike that’s Right for You

Deciding to ride a bicycle (or start riding again or more often) is a big step forwards. Well done. But before you can pop down to the bike shop, make a purchase and ride off into the sunset, you have to give the purchase some thought. Most bike stores have a bewildering array of bicycles to choose between, so give some thought to the kind of riding you’re planning on doing before visiting a store. Here are some types of bike and some of the things they’re good for:

• Road bikes: These bikes are meant to be ridden fast, in a bent forward position, on roads. They have curved handlebars and can be very light — and very expensive. Road bikes are good for racing, training and fast commuting.

  
  



• Mountain bikes (MTBs): These are tough bikes that either have front or dual (front and back) suspension. They have wide, knobbly tyres to grip any surface and gearing to help with steep uphill climbs. They’re great for trails and off-roading, but can also be used for a comfortable, less speedy commute (although you might want to think about getting smoother tyres for commuting).

  
  



• Cruisers: The curvy frames, wide saddles and colours of these bikes create a style statement that can’t be denied. Cruisers generally have no gears, or just three, and a back-pedal rear brake. They’re great for short trips but not usually designed for fast or long journeys.

  
  



• Comfort bikes: These bikes are safe and steady option for anyone who wants a gentle — and comfortable — ride. They usually have a wide, low saddle, often with seat suspension, and allow you to ride in an upright position. Some are made with better quality components that enable longer rides.

  
  



• Hybrids, city bikes, exercise bikes and flat-bar road bikes: While the definitions for these bikes may blur and merge a little, they’re all designed for medium-paced to slightly faster cycling. They have straight handlebars and allow a more upright riding position than a road bike.

  
  



• Folding bikes: You can fold and pack up these bikes in a matter of seconds — and you can ride pretty fast and far on them, too.

  
  



• BMX bikes: These bikes may be small, but they’re not just for kids. BMXs are great for flips, rolls and grinds, but not the best for travelling further than the local skateboard park.

  
  



• Fixies: These bikes look like road bikes, but they have no gears and the fixed-wheel system means you can’t freewheel — so if the back wheel is turning, so are the pedals. Fixies are great for being cool and urban.

  
  



• Tandems: These bikes offer two saddles, two sets of pedals and handlebars, two wheels and two riders. While often chosen by lovers, tandems are also great for people who can’t (for medical or physical reasons) ride a bike on their own.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/picking-a-bike-thats-right-for-you.html

High-Tech Methods for Assessing Body Fat Percentages

Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist size allow you to quickly compare your weight to the healthy weight range for your height and judge your relative “fatness.”

But other, high-tech ways are available to determine how much fat you have, which is often referred to as your percent body fat. They’re not the methods of choice because they're impractical, imprecise, or both.

Here's a closer look at these various methods and their limitations:

• Underwater weighing: This is the most accurate method for determining your percent body fat, but it’s the least practical, because it’s done with sophisticated equipment at university research facilities. This method is based on the premise that fat floats.

  
  

  To determine your percent body fat in this manner, you sit in a large tank or tub full of water in a special chair with a weight belt around your waist. A trained technician then submerges you beneath the surface of the water as you force all the air out of your lungs. You must remain underwater for about 10 seconds so that the technician can record your weight.

  
  

  The technician repeats this procedure eight to ten times to determine an average. To measure your body’s volume, the technician computes the difference between your body’s weight measured in air and its weight underwater. The technician then calculates your body density by dividing your body mass by the volume of the water that it displaces, minus any air left in your lungs. After computing density, the technician uses another formula to determine your percent body fat.

  
  



• Skin-fold thickness: To find out your percent body fat using the skin-fold test, a doctor, dietitian, or trained health club staffer, measures your skin-fold thickness using skin-fold calipers at the upper arm, upper back, lower back, stomach, and upper thigh.

  
  

  The technician takes two sets of measurements and obtains an average at each site. Then he converts the millimeters that the calipers measure and places those numbers in a formula to arrive at the percent body fat of your entire body. This method can yield inaccurate results if a less-than-skilled individual takes the measurements or if the test is performed on an older person or on someone who is severely overweight.

  
  



• Bioelectrical impedance: Bioelectrical impedance is another relatively simple method for determining percent body fat, but it can produce inaccurate results if a person is dehydrated, overhydrated, severely overweight, or older with little muscle mass.

  
  

  Using bioelectrical impedance, a trained technician takes readings from a machine that delivers a harmless amount of electrical current through your body to estimate total body water, which reflects the amount of muscle or lean tissue you have. (Muscle contains water, and fat contains little water.) To determine the amount of body fat you have, the technician finds the difference between your body weight and your lean tissue.

  
  

After you get your percent body fat measured by underwater weighing, skin-fold caliper, or bioelectrical impedance, use these estimated guidelines to assess your weight.

Percent Body Fat
Women	Men
Normal (optimal)	15 to 25 percent	10 to 20 percent
Overweight	25.1 to 29.9 percent	20.1 to 24.4 percent
Obese	Over 30 percent	Over 25 percent

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/hightech-methods-for-assessing-body-fat-percentage.html

Boston Terrier Health Watch: Teeth, Gums, and Jaw

With their short, broad heads and flat faces, Boston Terriers don't have a lot of space for their jaws and teeth. As a result, their jaws may develop abnormally and their mouths tend to be crowded, causing misaligned teeth and jaw problems.

The technical terms for these conditions are prognathia and teeth crowding:

• Prognathia: This condition occurs when the dog's mandible, or lower part of the jaw, is longer than his maxilla, or the upper jaw. This malocclusion, or abnormal bite, is considered normal in dogs with flattened faces.

• Teeth crowding: Crowding occurs when there is inadequate space for the teeth in the lower or upper jaw, resulting in tooth contact or overlap. Because your Boston must fit 42 teeth in his shortened mouth, it's likely that his teeth will be misaligned.

A Boston with prognathia or crowded teeth requires you to be diligent about his oral hygiene. A secondary effect of teeth crowding is increased plaque with resulting gingivitis, or inflammation of the gums, and a predisposition to periodontal disease, the most common cause of tooth loss in dogs (and humans).

Brush your Boston's teeth regularly to rid his mouth of plaque buildup and bacteria that can lead to halitosis (bad breath), behavior changes linked to oral pain, and gum infection.

If your Boston develops halitosis, chews his toys less frequently, paws at his mouth, changes his eating habits, stops grooming himself, or shows any other signs of oral pain, contact your veterinarian. She won't recommend braces to straighten his teeth, but she may inspect his mouth, give it a thorough cleaning, and treat any localized infections.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/boston-terrier-health-watch-teeth-gums-and-jaw.html

Getting the Most from Your Autistic Child's Educational Experience

Your child with autism can thrive in school. You may need to be more involved in the educational process of your autistic child than with an unaffected child, but the rewards of that extra investment can really pay off for you and your child.

The following tips can guide you and your child’s teachers to a good educational experience:

• Insist on specific and measurable goals for your child’s IEP (Individualized Education Program). Involve your child in the process.

  
  



• Develop strong relationships with educational professionals. Keep it friendly, not adversarial.

  
  



• Stay informed about educational laws, your district’s policies, and your child’s progress. Know your options.

  
  



• Visit your child’s classroom to confirm that it’s an effective learning environment. It should have distinct areas for different subjects, comfortable lighting, good ventilation, appropriate noise level, and right-sized furniture, and the teacher should be approachable and fair.

  
  



• Support your child at home by reinforcing what educators are teaching at school. Develop your child’s strengths; don’t just remediate.

  
  



• If possible, get at least 25 hours a week of early intervention before age 3.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/getting-the-most-from-your-autistic-childs-educati.html

Signs Your Cat Needs Immediate Veterinary Attention

If your cat gets injured or becomes ill, you may need to make a quick trip to the vet or to the emergency care facility. Following is a list of some symptoms that require your cat to see a veterinarian now:

• Seizure, fainting, or collapse.

  
  



• Eye injury, no matter how mild.

  
  



• Vomiting or diarrhea — anything more than two or three times within an hour or so.

  
  



• Allergic reactions, such as swelling around the face, or hives, most easily seen on the belly.

  
  



• Any suspected poisoning, including antifreeze, rodent or snail bait, or human medication. Cats are also especially sensitive to insecticides (such as flea-control medication for dogs) and petroleum-based products.

  
  



• Snake or venomous spider bite.

  
  



• Thermal stress — from being either too cold or too hot — even if the cat seems to have recovered. (The internal story could be quite different.)

  
  



• Any wound or laceration that’s open and bleeding, or any animal bite.

  
  



• Trauma, such as being hit by a car, even if the cat seems fine.

  
  



• Any respiratory problem: chronic coughing, trouble breathing, or near drowning.

  
  



• Straining to urinate or defecate.

  
  

When in doubt, day or night, don’t wait: Call a veterinarian!

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/signs-your-cat-needs-immediate-veterinary-attentio.html

How to Look at Price Bar Data over Different Time Frames

Looking at price bar data in different time frames can help you make a sound trading decision. You can zoom out to a higher time frame (such as weekly) or zoom in to a shorter time frame (hourly).

Price bars are fractal, meaning you can’t tell by looking at a chart what time frame the bars represent. You can’t tell a chart of 15-minute price bars from a chart showing daily bars. They both show the same bar components acting in the same ways. If a chart isn’t labeled, you can usually assume that the bars are daily bars.

Using daily data

Most beginners at technical analysis start with the daily price bar. Daily data is widely available and free or cheap. Daily data is the standard because

• Most of the commentary in newspapers, magazines, and Web sites refers to daily bars. It’s the “base case.”

  
  



• Embracing daily price bars puts you on the same page with the majority of people in the market.

  
  



• Even people who use intraday data (such as hourly bars) also look at the daily price bars.

  
  

Technical analysis writers are sensitive to the increased use of intraday data and usually speak of periods rather than days. Changing the vocabulary has the unfortunate effect of making some technical analysis writing sound formal or pompous — but it’s more accurate.

Zooming out to a higher time frame

You can display prices in a weekly or monthly format. A week has an opening price (the first trade on Monday morning) and a closing price (the last trade on Friday afternoon), with a high and a low somewhere in between. The weekly close is a summary of the sentiment of the majority of market participants for the week, just as the daily closing price summarizes sentiment for the day.

You can often see trends and patterns over longer time frames that are hard to see on a daily chart. If you’re using charting software, make the habit of toggling the chart from a daily time frame to the weekly and monthly time frames to see whether anything pops out at you. In addition, you can use, say, a weekly chart to confirm a new trend that you discover on a daily chart.

Zooming in to a shorter time frame

Many traders today track and trade prices on shorter time intervals, like the 60-minute bar.

• Getting the data: Live, real-time data used to be too expensive for the little guy and only big firms could afford to buy it for their professional traders. Now anyone can buy it for a few hundred dollars per year. With a 10- or 15-minute time delay, you can get intraday price bars for free on many Web sites. Most brokers give you free live data in return for your opening an account.

  
  



• Choosing an interval: The only logical way to select an interval is to treat it like a new pair of jeans. Try them all on your favorite security and see how they look. Selecting the interval to use in displaying bars is subjective. For example, you might

  
  
  
  

  • Use an odd number of minutes (such as 13 or 73) because those bars regularly show patterns that give you insights.

    
    
  
  

  • Look at what everyone else is looking at, on the principle that following the crowd is usually the right way to forecast.

    
    
  
  
  
  

  If you’re watching a traditionally heavily traded security, you get a complete bar for every 1-minute interval, and each bar contains the open, high, low, and close of that minute. Be careful not to sabotage your analysis by selecting a time frame that’s out of sync with the normal flow of trading in the selected security.

  
  

The key to selecting the right interval is the liquidity of the security you’re trading. Liquidity refers to potential volume in this context — kind of like a bench of buyers waiting around for their chance at bat, meaning a price that pleases them, with an opposing bench of sellers willing to throw balls until somebody takes a swing. A liquid security has a lot of buyers and sellers, with some of them active at all times. Liquidity results in real trades that are measured as volume. A security with only one or two interested parties is not liquid, as you may have discovered if you ever tried to sell a thinly traded penny stock.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-look-at-price-bar-data-over-different-time-.html

U.S. Time Zone Chart for eBay Sellers

Successful eBay sellers are always aware of the time zone differences across the United States. When you have an item listed for auction on eBay, you want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to see it. Remember that eBay officially runs in the Pacific time zone. Keep this time chart handy and refer to it when you post an eBay auction to make sure it doesn't close while part of the country is asleep.

U.S. Time Zone Chart

eBay/Pacific	Mountain	Central	Eastern
00:00 (midnight)	1:00 a.m.	2:00 a.m.	3:00 a.m.
01:00	2:00 a.m.	3:00 a.m.	4:00 a.m.
02:00	3:00 a.m.	4:00 a.m.	5:00 a.m.
03:00	4:00 a.m.	5:00 a.m.	6:00 a.m.
04:00	5:00 a.m.	6:00 a.m.	7:00 a.m.
05:00	6:00 a.m.	7:00 a.m.	8:00 a.m.
06:00	7:00 a.m.	8:00 a.m.	9:00 a.m.
07:00	8:00 a.m.	9:00 a.m.	10:00 a.m.
08:00	9:00 a.m.	10:00 a.m.	11:00 a.m.
09:00	10:00 a.m.	11:00 a.m.	Noon
10:00	11:00 a.m.	Noon	1:00 p.m.
11:00	Noon	1:00 p.m.	2:00 p.m.
12:00 (noon)	1:00 p.m.	2:00 p.m.	3:00 p.m.
13:00	2:00 p.m.	3:00 p.m.	4:00 p.m.
14:00	3:00 p.m.	4:00 p.m.	5:00 p.m.
15:00	4:00 p.m.	5:00 p.m.	6:00 p.m.
16:00	5:00 p.m.	6:00 p.m.	7:00 p.m.
17:00	6:00 p.m.	7:00 p.m.	8:00 p.m.
18:00	7:00 p.m.	8:00 p.m.	9:00 p.m.
19:00	8:00 p.m.	9:00 p.m.	10:00 p.m.
20:00	9:00 p.m.	10:00 p.m.	11:00 p.m.
21:00	10:00 p.m.	11:00 p.m.	Midnight
22:00	10:00 p.m.	Midnight	1:00 a.m.
23:00	Midnight	1:00 a.m.	2:00 a.m.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/us-time-zone-chart-for-ebay-sellers.html

How to Encrypt Your Files or Folders

In the Advanced Attributes box, select the Encrypt Contents to Secure Data check box.

>

Encrypting your files makes sure that no one who intrudes on your files (or your wireless network) can read them.

>
dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-encrypt-your-files-or-folders.pageCd-storyboard,pageNum-4.html

Defending Your Roses from Insects and Disease

Successful rose gardeners are good observers. Check your roses daily for harmful insects and common rose diseases. If you find either, pesticides exist that are effective, are pretty safe to use, and have a mild impact on the rest of your rose garden's life forms.

In general, these products are short-lived after you use them in the garden — that's what makes them good. But to get effective control, you have to use them more frequently than you do stronger chemicals.

Here are some to consider:

• Biological controls: This pits one living thing against another. Releasing beneficial bacteria is an example of biological control. The most common and useful to rose growers are forms of Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, which kills the larvae of moths and butterflies (caterpillars). However, some strains of Bt control other types of pests. One type (sold as milky spore) kills the larvae of Japanese beetles.

• Botanical insecticides: These insecticides are derived from plants. The following two are especially useful against rose pests.

• Neem kills young, feeding insects and deters adult insects, but it is harmless to people. Neem works slowly and is most effective against aphids and thrips, but it also repels Japanese beetles.

• Pyrethrin is a broad-spectrum insecticide, which means that it kills insects, both good (spray late in the evening to avoid killing bees) and bad. But this insecticide kills thrips and beetles quickly; breaks down rapidly in sunlight; and has low toxicity to mammals, which means that it's essentially harmless to people, pets, and the environment.

•Pyrethroids are synthetic compounds that resemble pyrethrins but are more toxic and persistent. Consequently, avoid pyrethroids for home garden use.

• Horticultural oils: When sprayed on a plant, these oils smother pest insects and their eggs. They are relatively nontoxic and short-lived. Two types exist:

• Dormant oils are sprayed on roses when they are leafless in winter. These oils are often combined with a fungicide to help kill wintering disease spores.

• Summer oils usually are thinner than dormant oils. They can be used on roses during the growing season, as long as the plants have been well watered and temperatures are not above 85 degrees F.

• Insecticidal soaps: These kill soft-bodied pests like aphids, spider mites, and whiteflies. They can also be effective against Japanese beetles. They work fast, break down quickly, and are nontoxic to humans. Soaps sometimes burn tender foliage.

• Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate): This is a popular mildew remedy (partially effective against black spot). Mix 1 rounded tablespoon of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of summer oil in a gallon of water. Apply weekly to well-watered plants. Baking sods can also burn leaves, so apply early in the morning and not at all during really hot weather.

• Antitranspirants: When sprayed on plant foliage, antitranspirants form a thin, waxy layer that prevent fungal disease from invading the leaves. Antitranspirants don't kill disease, but they may prevent one from getting worse.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/defending-your-roses-from-insects-and-disease.html

Tips for eBay Sellers

Selling on the eBay site has its complexities, and eBay sellers compete in a vast online marketplace. Here are a few rules that will help make your sales a success:

• Find out as much as you can about your item’s value, history, and condition.

  
  



• Answer all questions posed by prospective buyers via e-mail within several hours. Don't let too much time pass, lest you appear uninterested in their queries.

  
  



• Check out your eBay competition. If a ton of other listings are on the site for the same kind of item and the bidding is competitive, wait until the competition is fierce for a few select items.

  
  



• Make sure your item isn’t prohibited or considered questionable by eBay. If you’re in doubt, read eBay’s guidelines and check your local laws.

  
  



• Use pertinent keywords in your listing title. eBay gives you only 55 characters to draw eyes to your item; so select your words smartly.

  
  



• Add a picture (maybe more than one) to spruce up your auction. Make sure that your title highlights the item’s keywords — but don’t gloss over its flaws in the description. Being direct, informative, and concise shows potential buyers that you’re honest and easy to work with.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/tips-for-ebay-sellers0.html

Exploring Your Singing Resonators

When you sing, you want to open the space in your throat and mouth to generate sound in all your resonators (mouth, throat, and nasal passages). Opening the space allows the tone to resonate in the space, but tone needs to move forward when you sing for everyone to hear you; otherwise, you’re just staging your own private concert inside your head.

Moving the sound forward means taking advantage of the resonators and allowing the sound to really ring in each resonating space while you intentionally propel the sound forward and into the room.

Try to propel the sound forward by visualizing the tone moving out of you and into the room. Some singers intentionally visualize that they swallow the tone to understand the opposite of moving the tone forward. When you feel that sensation, you can compare it to what you feel when you visualize the tone moving forward and into the room.

Knowing how to access all that resonance can help you fill an entire concert hall, instead of just your car, with great tone.

Swallowing vowels moves the sound into reverse — it’s the opposite of propelling the sound forward to achieve the resonance you want. To create resonant tones that resound around the room, allow the sound and sensations of the resonance to move forward. Follow these steps:

1. Sustain an M consonant.

   
   

   Notice the buzzing sensation in your lips and around your face.

   
   



2. Sustain an M consonant again for a few moments, and then sustain an ee vowel.

   
   

   It sounds like “MMMMMMeeeeeeeeee.”

   
   



3. Now sing the same “MMMMMMeeeeeeeeee.”

   
   

   Note whether the ee buzzes or resonates in the same vicinity as the M. Most people say that sustaining the M consonant creates a buzz of vibrations around their lips or in the front of their face, so look for that same sensation when you move to the vowel ee.

   
   



4. When M–ee is easy and you’ve explored the buzzing sensations for both sounds, try M–ooh, M–oh, and M–ah.

   
   

   M–ah may be harder to feel, but try to sing ah and keep the same vibrations you found in M–ee.

   
   



5. When that’s easy, roll between consonants and vowels, singing words like many and moment.

   
   

   Maintain the same ring or buzzing sensation of resonance each time as you go from the consonant to the vowel.

   
   

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/exploring-your-singing-resonators.html

Investing in Crude Oil Refineries

Given the importance of crude oil derivative products, you can make a lot of money investing in refineries. To be useful, crude oil must be refined into consumable products, such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, automotive lubricating oil, propane and kerosene, and a myriad other products. For this reason, refineries are a critical link in the crude oil supply chain.

When considering investing in companies that operate refineries, pay attention to three criteria (included in a company’s annual or quarterly reports):

• Refinery throughput: The capacity for refining crude oil over a given period of time, usually expressed in barrels.

  
  



• Refinery production: Actual production of crude oil products, such as gasoline and heating oil.

  
  



• Refinery utilization: The difference between production capacity (the throughput) and what’s actually produced.

  
  

Most major integrated oil companies, like ExxonMobil and BP, have large refining capacities. One way to get exposure to the refining space is by investing in these major companies. A more direct way to profit from refining activity is by investing in independent refineries, such as the following:

• Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO): Valero is the largest independent refining company in North America, with a throughput capacity of 3.3 million barrels per day.

  
  



• Sunoco Inc. (NYSE: SUN): The second largest refiner in terms of total refinery throughput, Sunoco refines approximately 1 million barrels of crude a day. It distributes its products primarily in the eastern United States.

  
  



• Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO): Tesoro is one of the leading refiners in the mid-continental and western United States. Its refineries transform crude oil into gasoline distributed through a network of about 500 retail outlets in the western United States.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/investing-in-crude-oil-refineries.html

Cisco IOS Basics for the CCENT Certification Exam

The CCENT certification exam will test you on the basics of the Cisco Internetwork Operating System (IOS) and how to configure the IOS. The following are some key points that summarize the IOS basics to remember for the CCENT certification exam:

• 
  

  Types of Memory: There are different types of memory on a Cisco device:

  
  
  
  
  • 
    

    ROM: The Read-Only Memory (ROM) on a Cisco device is like the ROM on a computer in the sense that it stores the POST and the boot loader program. The boot loader program is responsible for locating the IOS.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    Flash: The flash memory is used to store the Cisco IOS.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    RAM: RAM is used to store things like the routing table on a router, or the MAC address table on a switch. It is also used to store the running-config. RAM is also known as volatile RAM, or VRAM.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    NVRAM: Non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) is used to store the startup-config, which is copied to the running-config on bootup after the IOS is loaded.

    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  

  The Boot Process: For the CCENT certification exam, you need to know the high-level steps that occur when a Cisco device starts up. The following is a quick review of the boot process of a Cisco router:

  
  
  
  
  • 
    

    POST: The first thing that occurs when a Cisco device boots up is the POST routine, which is responsible for performing a self diagnostic to verify everything is functioning on the router or switch.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    Locate IOS: After the POST, the bootloader program, which is stored in ROM, locates the IOS in flash memory and loads it into RAM.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    Startup-config applied: After the IOS is loaded into memory, the bootloader program then locates the startup-config and applies it to the device.

    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  

  Configuration Modes: When making changes to the Cisco device, there are a number of different configuration modes, and each change is made in a specific configuration mode. The following summarizes the major configuration modes:

  
  
  
  
  • 
    

    User Exec: When you connect to a Cisco device, the default configuration mode is user exec mode. With user exec mode, you can view the settings on the device but not make any changes. You know you are in user exec mode because the IOS prompt displays a ">".

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    Priv Exec: In order to make changes to the device, you must navigate to priv exec mode, where you may be required to input a password. Priv exec mode displays with a "#" in the prompt.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    Global Config: Global configuration mode is where you go to make global changes to the router, such as the hostname. To navigate to global configuration mode from priv exec mode, you type config term, where you will be placed at the "(config)#" prompt.

    
    
  
  
  • 
    

    Sub Prompts: You can navigate to a number of different sub prompts from global configuration, such as the interface prompts to modify settings on a specific interface and the line prompts to modify the different ports on the device.

    
    
  
  
  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/cisco-ios-basics-for-the-ccent-certification-exam.html

How to Create a Hyperlink to Another PowerPoint 2007 Presentation

Creating a PowerPoint hyperlink that opens another PowerPoint presentation is much like creating a hyperlink to another PowerPoint slide, but with a couple important differences. Follow these steps to link to another presentation:

> 1 Select the text that you want to make into a hyperlink. > You could also use a graphic as your hyperlink	> 2 Click the Hyperlink button in the Links group on the Insert tab. > The Insert Hyperlink dialog box appears.	> 3 Click the Existing File or Web Page icon. > The list of icons is located on the left side of the dialog box.
> 4 Click Current Folder. > The current folder displays.	> 5 Select the file that you want to link to and click OK. > Browse to the file to link to.

>

To remove a hyperlink, right-click the hyperlink and choose Remove Hyperlink from the menu that appears. To change a hyperlink, right-click it and choose Edit Hyperlink.

>
dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-create-a-hyperlink-to-another-powerpoint-20.html

How to Clean Masonry

If you have a brick home, you probably have some problem spots in your masonry, such as mold growth or oil and paint stains. If these unsightly areas bother you, you can clean them. The most common masonry-cleaning problems and solutions are listed here:

• Fungus, moss, and mildew: One quart of household liquid bleach mixed into 1 gallon of warm water, applied with a stiff-bristle brush, usually takes care of these unsightly problems. (Don’t forget to rinse the solution off with clean water.) However, sodium hypochlorite, the active ingredient in bleach, may not dissolve large masses of these types of growths. In such cases, scrape off as much of the crud as you can with a broad-bladed putty knife (or wire brush); then scrub on the killer mixture.

  
  

  When trying to eliminate fungus, it’s the bleach that does the job — not the elbow grease. Make sure you give the bleach plenty of time to work before scrubbing and rinsing away. If not, fungus spores will remain and can grow back quickly.

  
  



• Oils, soot, and mineral residue: Oils, soot, and white, powdery mineral residue pose a slightly more difficult problem. They’re embedded more deeply than moss or mildew into the pores of the masonry. You need a solution of 1 part muriatic acid to 9 parts water to get rid of this hard-to-remove crud. Add the acid to the water and apply the solution; allow it to set for about 15 minutes; then use a bristle brush to clean the affected area and rinse with fresh water.

  
  



• Paint: Sandblasting, wash-away, or peel-off paint removers; hand or electric wire brushing; muriatic acid washing; and power-washing are just a few of the ways that you can remove paint from masonry. Sandblasting or wire brushing is hard, messy work, and paint removers sometimes create more mess than they eliminate. Instead, you can rent a commercial power washer for about $50 per day. It’s easy to operate, mess is kept to a minimum, and you don’t have to be a chemist to make it work. Be aware, however, that a power washer works fine on the outside of your home, but all that water could wreak havoc on the inside of your house. Therefore, when it comes to removing paint from brick or stone, your best bet is a chemical stripper such as Peel Away.

  
  

Applying a sealer can minimize brick or stone damage from salt air and severe weathering. It can even work to prevent efflorescence. Just as you would with concrete, you need to thoroughly clean your brick and stone before applying a sealer.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-clean-masonry.html

How to Check for New Mail in Mac OS X Lion

Mail is a program in Mac OS X Lion for sending, receiving, and organizing your e-mail. How do you check and open your mail? In OS X Lion just click the Get Mail button at the top of the main Mail window or press Command+Shift+N.

• To read a new message, select it. Its contents appear in the Message Content pane.

  
  



• To delete a selected message, click the Delete button on the toolbar.

  
  



• To retrieve a message you accidentally deleted, click Trash on the left and drag the message into the Inbox or other mailbox.

  
  



• To configure Mail to send and check for your mail every X minutes, choose Mail→Preferences and then click the General icon at the top of the window. Pull down the Check for New Mail pop-up menu and make a selection — every 1, 5, 15, 30, or 60 minutes — or choose Manually if you don’t want Mail to check for mail automatically at all. (The default setting is to check for mail every 5 minutes.)

  
  



• To add a sender to Address Book, when someone who isn’t already in your Address Book sends you an e-mail message, simply choose Message→Add Sender to Address Book (shortcut: Command+Y).

  
  

  Adding a sender to your Address Book has an additional benefit: It guards messages from that person against being mistaken for junk mail. In other words, your Address Book is a white list for the spam filter; if specific senders appear in your Address Book, their messages will never be mistakenly marked as junk mail.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-check-for-new-mail-in-mac-os-x-lion.html

Network Administration: Windows Server Installation Preliminaries

After you’ve made the key planning decisions for your Windows Server 2008 R2 server installation, you should take a few precautionary steps before you actually start the Setup program. The following sections describe the steps that you should take before you perform an upgrade installation. Note that all these steps except the last one apply only to upgrades. If you’re installing a Windows server on a new system, you can skip the first steps.

Backing up

Do a complete backup of the server before you begin. Although Windows Setup is reliable, sometimes something serious goes wrong, and data is lost.

Note that you don’t have to back up the drive to external media, such as tape. If you can find a network disk share with enough free space, back up to it.

Checking the event logs

Look at the event logs of the existing server computer to check for recurring errors. You may discover that you have a problem with a SCSI device or your current TCP/IP configuration. Better to find out now rather than in the middle of setup.

Uncompressing data

If you’ve used DriveSpace or any other disk compression software to compress a drive, you have to uncompress the drive before you run Setup. Neither Windows 2003 Server nor Windows Server 2008 supports DriveSpace or other disk compression programs.

Disconnecting UPS devices

If you have installed an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) device on the server and connected it to your computer via a serial cable, you should temporarily disconnect the serial cable before you run Setup. After Setup is complete, you can reconnect the serial cable.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/network-administration-windows-server-installatio0.html

Customize the DragonPad Window

In case you were wondering, you can change the appearance through the View menu in NaturallySpeaking's DragonPad. “Appearance” means stuff like toolbars, text wrapping in the window, and units of measure on the ruler (metric, English, or typesetting).

To view all the toolbars in the DragonPad, click View to get a list of available toolbars. Click next to a toolbar in that list to put a check mark beside it to turn on whatever toolbar you check. Click again to clear any check mark.

To control how text wraps (continues onto the next line) on your screen, how your mouse selects text, or what units of measure you use, choose View→Settings. The Settings dialog box springs into action, where you can customize any of the following:

• NaturallySpeaking normally uses inches for measurement units (used on the ruler and in paragraph formatting). To change measurement units, click the Options tab of the Settings dialog box. You can then choose Inches, Centimeters, Points, or Picas.

  
  



• When you select with your mouse, NaturallySpeaking (like many Windows programs) normally selects entire words when you stretch the selection highlight to more than one word. If, instead, you want to be able to set the end point of your selections in midword, click the Options tab, then click to clear the check box labeled Automatic Word Selection.

  
  



• To control how text wraps on your screen, click Rich Text. (Click Text, instead, if you intend to save your file as plain text.) Then click either Wrap to Window (to fill your window with text) or Wrap to Ruler (to force lines to break at the right margin on the ruler).

  
  

  No Wrap makes your text hard to read. Choose Wrap to Ruler if you intend to print from the NaturallySpeaking window and want to see exactly how your printed lines of text will break while you type.

  
  

None of the wrap settings affects how lines of text break when you print, copy, or save a document as a file. The DragonPad always prints according to the page margins you set up, regardless of wrap settings.

It never puts line breaks in text that is saved as a file or copied to another program’s window. It always leaves the line breaks to that other program, and so avoids any ragged-right margin problems.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/customize-the-dragonpad-window.html

Ten Web-Publishing Dos and Don’ts

When you write Web content, you might think that anything goes, but following guidelines will help you create a better Web site. After all you want to keep your readers coming back to your site.

• DO think about your target audience: Before you begin creating your Web site, choose the right look and feel, and a style of presentation that is appropriate for your audience.

  
  



• DON’T forget the basics: Your site may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if you forget to include contact information for yourself in the site, how will you find out that you misspelled “bureaucracy” all over the place?

  
  

  More basics:

  
  
  
  

  • Have a useful, search-engine-friendly title for each page.

    
    
  
  

  • Include your e-mail address on your Web page or Web site.

    
    
  
  

  • If you create a Web site of more than 5 to 7 pages, add a site map.

    
    
  
  

  • Make the important information prominent.

    
    
  
  

  • Include a copyright notice, usually in this form: © 2008 MyCo Inc.

    
    
  
  
  
  



• DO think before you create: If you want to make a good impression on the Web, sitting down and thinking about the following things really pays off:

  
  
  
  

  • Page layout

    
    
  
  

  • Graphic design

    
    
  
  

  • Relationship between pages

    
    
  
  

  • Target audience

    
    
  
  

  • Content structure

    
    
  
  

  • Link grouping

    
    
  
  
  
  



• DON’T “borrow” without asking: If a Web page doesn’t explicitly say that its content can be freely borrowed, assume that it’s copyrighted.

  
  



• DO use links to outside sites: No matter how great your content is, you’re wasting the most important feature of the Web if you don’t include links to sites outside your own.

  
  



• DON’T abuse graphics and multimedia: Many folks around the world still receive Web pages via a more limited 56K or slower dialup connection. Keep your page size — including text and graphics — under 50 KB.

  
  

  Here are ways that you can keep down your page size:

  
  
  
  

  • Resize photos and convert them to JPEG format.

    
    
  
  

  • Use simple icons and banners in GIF format.

    
    
  
  

  • Combine small graphics into one physical graphic that includes the white space

    
    
  
  

  • Limit the graphics on any one page; add pages if you need to display more graphics.

    
    
  
  

  • Provide text alternatives to meaningful graphics.

    
    
  
  

  • Use thumbnail icons to give access to larger images.

    
    
  
  
  
  



• DO test your pages: Look at your pages on your own machine before posting them on the Web and test them in different browsers.

  
  



• DON’T break netiquette rules: Avoid spamming, flaming, or posting potentially offensive material without a warning.

  
  



• DO ask for feedback: Put your e-mail address on your home page and ask for comments. You’ll be amazed by what people say about your pages.

  
  



• DON’T let your site get stale: The best sites are those that continually provide new and interesting content. Include pointers to information that’s frequently updated, such as “Thought for the day” or “Links to new, cool sites.”

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ten-webpublishing-dos-and-donts.html

Strategic Planning: Recognize Past Achievements and Failures

Everyone wants to feel successful and recognized for a job well done, but human nature is to brush by achievements. By listing what you achieved last year as an organization, you help motivate and inspire your team to work smarter and harder in the coming year. Additionally, why not try to replicate what worked well last year?

Success and failure are like peanut butter and jelly; you can’t have one without the other. You likely didn’t achieve everything you expected to last year. You may even have a goal or project that rolls over from one year to the next. You’ve identified it as important, but you can’t seem to move the ball down the field. Now is the time to figure out why.

Here are some questions to get the conversation started:

• What goals did we achieve? Why?

  
  



• What hurdles or challenges did we overcome? How?

  
  



• What new customers did we acquire? How?

  
  



• Who joined our team?

  
  



• What were the bottom-line results we achieved?

  
  



• What projects were successful? Why?

  
  



• What have our customers said about us — both positive and negative?

  
  

List your successes on a white board and leave them posted for a few weeks. Ask your employees to add to them as they see fit. By displaying your successes, you let your team know that last year’s achievements were important. Dig in to the hows and whys of your actions to make the list as specific as possible. When you have your list, use it to guide your planning efforts in the coming year. You can add the achievements to your list of strengths in your SWOT.

As with your successes, use the following questions to identify last year’s failures and determine what you need to do this year to prevent a repeat performance.

• What lessons did we learn last year?

  
  



• What decisions from the past year would we change?

  
  



• What goals or projects did we not accomplish? Why?

  
  



• What roadblocks or hurdles do we keep stumbling into? Why?

  
  



• What challenges did we fail to meet over the past few years? Why?

  
  

Use the responses to these questions to fill out the weaknesses section of your SWOT. Pull out the ones that may need a deeper dive and add those to your strategic issues list.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/strategic-planning-recognize-past-achievements-and.html

How to React to Member Online Community Feedback

As online community manager, you have to find a balance in how you react to feedback in your community. If you have an issue that affects everyone in a negative way, you want to avoid taking too long to act. There’s the potential here to make one of two mistakes; either rushing into a situation without giving it enough thought, or taking too long to mull things over.

When you do react to member feedback:

• Avoid being all things to everyone. Don’t fall into the trap of changing the way things are done every time someone complains or remarks. This makes you look a little wishy-washy and as if you really don’t know what direction to take.

  
  

  Just because someone complained on a blog doesn’t mean you have to tear things down and start all over again. Also, not every complaint is valid. Sometimes people complain just to complain or nitpick because they’re disgruntled. Carefully weigh the merit of each remark.

  
  



• Know that you can’t please everyone. The sad truth is that everyone won’t be happy with you or what you’re trying to do, and it’s not always your fault. Do consider constructive criticism but also know that certain things aren’t doable or in the budget.

  
  

  It’s also important to remember that some people complain no matter what direction you take. You can’t make everyone happy, but you can make most people happy.

  
  



• Don’t dismiss small issues: It’s a funny thing about nitpicks. They seem really small and not worrisome, but then you discover that they bother a lot more people than you think. Don’t wave something off as being minor. Every comment at least deserves the benefit of consideration.

  
  



• More than one person escalates a concern into an issue. If one person complains or offers a suggestion, it’s noteworthy and worthy of investigation. When more than one person complains about the same thing, it’s an issue having to be dealt with in one form or another.

  
  

Avoid the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. There’s a reason people upgrade technology on a regular basis. It may not be broke, but it can always be better.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-react-to-member-online-community-feedback.html

How to Combine Multiple Digital Photos into One

Open both the source image (the one where the content you want currently resides) and the target image (the one that will receive the copied content) in your image editor.

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This figure shows a source and target image on in Photoshop.

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dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-combine-multiple-digital-photos-into-one.html

Network Administration: IP Lease Commands

Follow these steps to quickly release and/or renew the Internet Protocol (IP) address, otherwise known as the lease, of a computer running Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows NT.

Renewing an IP lease

If you’re having an IP configuration problem, you can often solve it by renewing the computer’s IP lease. To do that, use a /renew switch, like this:

C:\>ipconfig /renew
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.110
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
C:\>

When you renew an IP lease, the ipconfig command displays the new lease information.

This command won’t work if you configured the computer to use a static IP address.

Releasing an IP lease

You can release an IP lease by using an ipconfig command with the /release parameter, like this:

C:\>ipconfig /release
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
C:\>

As you can see, the DNS suffix and default gateway for the computer are blank, and the IP address and subnet mask are set to 0.0.0.0.

After you release the DHCP lease, you can use an ipconfig /renew command to obtain a new DHCP lease for the computer.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/network-administration-ip-lease-commands.html

Making Use of Headers in Your E-Mail Marketing Messages

When used appropriately, the header of your e-mail marketing message lets your audience identify you as a trustworthy sender and helps them determine whether your e-mails are worthy of immediate attention.

E-mail headers don’t display the same way on mobile devices as they do on computer screens. A mobile device displays portions of your e-mail’s header information so users can sort and prioritize their e-mails and decide whether to view and open each e-mail.

Although you can’t control all the information in your e-mail headers, you can control the three important pieces of information most useful to your audience and to the deliverability of your e-mails:

• 
  

  From line: Your From line is a line of text that tells the recipient of your e-mail whom the e-mail is from. Most e-mail applications and EMPs allow you to add a line of text to the header of your e-mail to identify yourself or your business.

  
  


• 
  

  From address: Your From address is the e-mail address that’s associated with you as the sender of the e-mail. Some e-mail programs display your From e-mail address along with your From line, but others display one or the other.

  
  


• 
  

  Your e-mail server’s From address: A server address, also known as an Internet Protocol (IP) address, is a unique number that identifies the server you use to send your e-mail. Most Internet service providers (ISPs) look at your e-mail server address in your header to see whether your server is recognized as a sender of legitimate commercial e-mail or whether your server has been blacklisted. If you send e-mail from your own e-mail server or if your e-mail hosting company sends your e-mails from a server that’s unfamiliar to the major ISPs, you can change the servers you send your e-mails from by switching to an e-mail marketing program.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/making-use-of-headers-in-your-email-marketing-mess.html

Protecting Your Money and Your Identity Online

When you're buying and selling investments online, it pays to be extra careful to make sure your personal and financial information doesn't get stolen by cyberthieves. At the very minimum, you should protect yourself by

• Locking down your computer. You'll want to install antivirus software — software that protects your files from malicious code — on your computer at the very least. Better yet, install firewall software or enable the firewall software built into your operating system. A firewall puts a fence around your computer, letting you control what data comes in and what goes out.

  
  



• Be extra careful of wireless connections. If you're online using a public wireless Internet connection, you need to be especially cautious.

  
  



• Checking up on your brokerage. Before you give money to anyone, be sure to run the broker or brokerage firm through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's online BrokerCheck tool. This simple search will only take a few moments and will tell you if the broker or brokerage firm is permitted to sell you securities.

  
  



• Knowing what's reasonable. You should have a grasp of what kind of returns you can expect from investments. Knowing what legitimate investments return will help you smell a sham a mile away. If someone promises "guaranteed" or "risk free" returns that exceed the return of stocks, you know you're most likely being lied to.

  
  



• Getting familiar with regulators' resources. The Securities and Exchange Commission offers free and tremendously helpful tools and tips to investors. Take the time to explore the site and you'll be a much better investor. A great place to start is by checking out brokers and financial advisers. It's easy. Just click on the Check Out Brokers & Advisers link on the right-hand side of the page under where it says Investor Information.

  
  



• Another great resource is the North American Securities Administrators Association, which puts you in touch with your state regulator in two clicks. Just click the Contact Your Regulator link on the left-hand side and then click on your state on the map.

  
  

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/protecting-your-money-and-your-identity-online.html

Macrobiotics For Dummies

Adopting the basic macrobiotic life and awareness principles will help you get in touch with a more intellectual and spiritual way of living, boosting health and happiness. By using the macrobiotic food principles, staying away from certain foods, and following the standard macrobiotic diet, you can enhance your overall physical well-being.

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Universal Macrobiotic Life Principles

A macrobiotic lifestyle reaches beyond nourishing the body through healthy food choices. Macrobiotics is a comprehensive way of life. These macrobiotic life principles are the road by which we discover direction that leads to truth — our personal compass to self-discovery.

• The Principle of Opposites: Everything exists in opposition.

  
  



• The Principle of Change: Everything changes!

  
  



• The Principle of Cycles: All beginnings have endings.

  
  



• The Principle of Non-Identity: Nothing is identical.

  
  



• The Principle of Front and Back: Every front has a back.

  
  

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The Standard Macrobiotic Dietary Model

Here are some basic guidelines for choosing foods that fit within your macrobiotic diet plan. This dietary model outlines principle foods, secondary foods, and pleasure foods.

Principle foods

• Whole grains: Approximately 25 to 30 percent by volume for the amount of food consumed for one day

  
  



• Grain products: Approximately 5 percent per day (as in 1 to 2 slices of bread or 1 to 2 servings of pasta)

  
  



• Vegetables: Approximately 35 percent of the day’s total percentage of food from greens, roots, and ground varieties

  
  



• Beans: Approximately 5 to 10 percent beans or bean products (tempeh, tofu, so on), either canned or dried

  
  

Secondary foods

• Fruits: Approximately 5 to 10 percent as fruits, according to sweet cravings

  
  



• Beverages: Grain-based teas, herbal teas, vegetable juices, and so on

  
  



• Oils, nuts, seeds, and limited dairy products: Approximately 5 to 10 percent natural vegetable oils, nuts, seeds or limited dairy products.

  
  



• Reduced animal protein: Approximately 5 to 10 percent of fish (preferable) or meat (optional)

  
  



• Swing percentage: Additional percentage of whole grains or more vegetables, according to your needs

  
  



• New foods: Devote a small percentage of your dietary template to exploring new foods, such as sea plants or fermented foods (sauerkraut, pickles, miso, and so on)

  
  

Pleasure foods

• “WYW”: Whatever You Want means exactly that. Enjoy the best quality and control the volume of what you eat.

  
  

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Stuff to Avoid in Your Macrobiotic Diet

You'll need to make changes in the way you eat to achieve the best results in a food plan based on macrobiotics. By avoiding the following foods, you may increase energy, sleep better, stabilize blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and tame cravings. These positive effects contribute to a healthier, happier you.

• Any food containing white, brown, or any other refined sugar

  
  



• Maple syrup, barley malt, rice syrup, and agave syrup

  
  



• Fruit juice

  
  



• Milk, cheese, cream, butter, ghee, yogurt, and ice cream

  
  



• Refined oils

  
  



• Caffeine

  
  



• Alcohol

  
  



• Recreational drugs

  
  



• Medications (with some exceptions for current prescriptions)

  
  



• Heavy use of spices

  
  



• White rice and white flour

  
  



• Foods containing chemicals, preservatives, dyes, and insecticides

  
  

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Food Principles of Macrobiotics

Applying macrobiotics food principles can help you build a healthy foundation for renewed well being. These principles, if you use them daily, are effective ways to control and sustain your health, balance nutrition, and condition your body.

• Enjoy principle, secondary, and pleasure foods.

  
  



• Emphasize seasonal and local foods.

  
  



• Be mindful of quantity and quality.

  
  



• Avoid dietary extremes.

  
  



• Become a chewsy eater by chewing your food thoroughly.

  
  



• *Reduce the volume of what you eat.

  
  



• Use the Power of Five in food preparation: The five food groups, flavors, textures, cooking styles, and colors.

  
  

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Macrobiotic Principles of Awareness

By becoming more aware and developing a better understanding of your feelings, you have the chance to change your life into something more meaningful. To develop a personal philosophy that leads to a more creative and fulfilling life, apply the following macrobiotic principles of awareness:

• Develop a generous spirit: The Principle of Abundance.

  
  



• Embrace responsibility and admit faults.

  
  



• Discover life via personal experience.

  
  



• Develop your intuition.

  
  



• Cultivate active appreciation.

  
  



• Make friends everywhere.

  
  



• Respect your elders.

  
  



• Be mindful of ecology.

  
  



• Practice economy of life: Vivero parvo.

  
  



• Discover humor.

  
  



• Practice self-reflection.

  
  



• Perfect the art of living.

  
  

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dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/macrobiotics-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html