Electronics Measurement: Inductance and Henrys

Inductance is only a momentary thing. Exactly how much of a momentary thing depends on the amount of inductance an inductor has. Inductance is measured in units called henrys.

The definition of one henry is simple: One henry is the amount of inductance necessary to induce one volt when the current in coil changes at a rate of one ampere per second.

As you might guess, one henry is a fairly large inductor. Inductors in the single-digit henry range are often used when dealing with household current (120 VAC at 60 Hz). But for most electronics work, you'll use inductances measured in thousandths of a henry (millihenrys, abbreviated mH) or in millionths of a henry (microhenrys, abbreviated μH).

Here are a few additional things to know about inductors and henrys:

• The plural of henry is henrys, not henries.

  
  



• The letter L is often used to represent inductance in formulas. Inductors in schematic diagrams are usually referenced by the letter L. For example, if a circuit calls for three inductors, they will be identified L1, L2, and L3.

  
  



• The henry is named after Joseph Henry, the person who discovered self-inductance and invented the inductor.

  
  



• This is the symbol used to represent inductors in a schematic diagram:

  
  
  

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When to Choose RAW Files for Your Dog Photos

When photographing dogs, you need to consider capturing images as RAW files. The RAW file format is an uncompressed digital file that’s usually much larger than JPEG in size. For example, a JPEG photo that’s 2MB could be 8MB when taken as a RAW file, so if you use the RAW file format, be sure to have a decent sized memory card on hand!

After you snap a dog photo with your camera set to the RAW file format, your camera saves the information from your image sensor directly to your memory card. This means that your computer, not the software inside your camera, processes the data into an image file.

Because computers are more powerful than internal camera software, they always do a better job of processing image data. Plus, you have the advantage of being able to manipulate that image data before you even process it into an image file!

The major advantage to using the RAW file format reveals itself in postprocessing. Because RAW is a lossless file format, you can actually make exposure adjustments after you take the photo. It’s as if you had made those adjustments in-camera at the moment you took the photo.

You’re literally working with the raw data of your photo. It’s kind of like the difference between having an original document on your computer screen versus a photocopied one in your hand. With a JPEG file, you have only so much leniency with postprocessing and you see a degradation in quality much faster than with a RAW file.

Another aspect of the RAW file workflow to consider is that these are not actually image files that are viewable or printable right from the camera. In this way, a RAW file is akin to a film negative; it’s a step away from the final product (the print).

Before you can work with your RAW files, you need to bring them into a special program like Adobe Lightroom to make your edits and then process them into a digital image file, whether that be a TIFF, JPEG, or any other file format you can think of.

If you don’t plan on editing your photos, stay away from RAW, because the format can actually produce somewhat dull results if the photos aren’t postprocessed at all.

Don’t get scared though. If you’re really serious about taking the best photos possible, choosing the RAW file format is always your best bet. After you try RAW for yourself and see the final results, you may be reluctant to ever go back to JPEG.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/when-to-choose-raw-files-for-your-dog-photos.html

Enterprise Mobile Device Security: Personal Device Loss or Theft Precautions

If your IT policy allows personal mobile devices to access network resources, prevention of loss or theft and remediation of any damage is likely to be part of your responsibilities. Here are some precautions you should advise users to take to prevent losing vital data on a personal mobile device if it's ever lost or stolen:

• Add a device password. Every device needs to be protected by a password. Not setting one is simply too risky, because a thief can easily access all the phone’s information without having to guess the password. Also, users need to make sure that the phone is set to lock automatically after a certain duration of inactivity.

  
  



• Back up often. The contents of the device must be backed up regularly, including photos, contacts, and videos. In the unfortunate circumstance that the device is lost, the phone’s contents may need to be wiped remotely to prevent a thief from accessing the information.

  
  

  As an IT administrator, you can choose to either deploy a corporate backup and restore system or advise users to manage their own backups and restoration. Having backups is particularly useful if a user loses his device and the device needs to be remotely wiped. When the user gets a new device to replace the lost one, the backed up data can easily be restored to the new device.

  
  



• Store the device’s IMEI number. The device’s IMEI, or International Mobile Equipment Identity, is a 15-digit number that uniquely identifies it. Carriers use this number to identify and track the device. Ask device owners to locate the IMEI number using appropriate techniques for their phones and store it in a safe place.

  
  

  Different devices have different techniques for locating the IMEI number. For example, an iPhone’s IMEI number can easily be retrieved by using iTunes.

  
  



• Deploy antitheft services. Several carriers offer insurance or other antitheft services for smartphones, including the ability to remotely lock, locate, or wipe devices. Device owners can purchase many such services from the carrier directly. Some device vendors also offer these services for their specific device types.

  
  

  Enterprise-grade services are available from vendors like Good Technology, McAfee, Juniper, and many others. The Junos Pulse solution from Juniper includes corporate remote access along with mobile antitheft and security services. Depending on the scale and nature of your need, you'll find an appropriate solution out there.

  
  

The difference between a personal (consumer) solution and an enterprise-ready solution is that the latter lets you — the IT administrator — enforce mobile policies from a central management console. A personal solution relies solely on users doing the “right thing” in terms of setting passcode policies or remotely wiping the device if it's been lost or stolen.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/enterprise-mobile-device-security-personal-device-.html

What Is Call Buying in Stock Trading?

Call buying is different from call writing, because it isn’t usually used by traders as a hedge against risk. Instead, call buying is used to make money on stocks that are likely to go up in price.

Call buying is the most common technique used by individual investors, but beware that success in this form of trading requires good stock-picking skills and a sense of timing.

The main attraction of buying call options is the potential for making large sums of money in short amounts of time, while limiting downside risk to only the original amount of money that you put up when you bought the option. Here are two reasons for buying call options:

• You expect the stock to rise. ABC stock is selling at $50, and you buy a six-month call, the December 55, at $3. You pay $300 for the position. For the next six months you have a chance to make money if the stock rises in price.

  
  

  If the stock goes up 10 points, or 20 percent, your option also will rise, and because of leverage, the option will be worth much more. If the price drops below $55 by the expiration date, all you lose is your original $300 if you didn’t sell back the option prior to that.

  
  



• You expect to have money later and don’t want to miss a move up in a stock. Say, for example, that you expect a nice sum of money in a couple of weeks, and a stock you like is starting to move. You can buy an option for a fraction of the price of the stock. When you get your money, if you’re still interested, you can exercise your option and buy the stock. If you’re wrong, you lose only a fraction of what you would have by owning the stock.

  
  

When you buy a call option, you pay for it in full. You have to post no margin.

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Taurine: For a Healthy Heart and Nerves

Taurine is one of the most important, useful, and safest amino acid supplements. Your body can produce this nutrient from cysteine with the help of vitamin B-6. Dietary sources of taurine are fish and meat. Vegetarians are more likely to get reduced levels of taurine in their diets.

Taurine is best known for its beneficial effects on the heart and cardiovascular system. Here’s a list of some other significant benefits:

• Most frequently found in the central nervous system, retina, skeletal muscle, and heart, taurine is potentially useful in treating seizure disorders, cardiovascular problems, and some eye problems.

  
  



• Taurine functions in electrically active tissues, such as the brain and heart, to help stabilize cell membranes.

  
  



• This amino also appears to have some antioxidant and detoxifying effects.

  
  



• With the support of zinc, taurine aids in moving certain minerals in and out of cells and thus helping generate nerve impulses.

  
  



• As an inhibitory neurotransmitter, taurine’s main use has been to help in the treatment of epilepsy and other excitable brain states, where it functions as a mild sedative. Doses for this effect are 500 to 1,000 mg three times daily.

  
  



• Often prescribed in Japan and other countries for heart ailments, taurine assists your body’s healing process after a heart attack. Heart rhythm problems and heart weakness associated with congestive heart failure often respond to high doses, from 2 to 6 grams, three times daily.

  
  



• People with high blood pressure and high cholesterol also benefit from taurine in some cases.

  
  



• If you have heart disease, discuss the use of taurine with your doctor. Taurine is beneficial for various cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks, arrhythmias, congestive heart failure, and coronary heart disease.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/taurine-for-a-healthy-heart-and-nerves.html

For Seniors: Use AirPlay on Your iPhone 4S

The AirPlay streaming technology is built into the iPhone 4S, iPod touch, and iPad. Streaming technology allows you to send media files from one device to be played on another. You can send (for example) a movie you’ve purchased on your iPhone or a slideshow of your photos to be played on your TV — and control the TV playback from your iPhone.

You can also send music to be played over speakers.

You can take advantage of AirPlay in a few ways: Purchase Apple TV and stream video, photos, and music to the TV or purchase AirPort Express and attach it to your speakers to play music. Finally, if you buy AirPort Express you can stream audio directly to your wireless speakers.

Because this combination of equipment varies — if you’re interested in using AirPlay — visit your nearest Apple Store and find out which hardware combination will work best for you.

If you get a bit antsy watching a long movie, one of the beauties of AirPlay is that you can still use your iPhone to check e-mail, browse photos or the Internet, or check your calendar while the media file is playing.

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When Must You File Estate Form 706?

2 of 8 in Series:
The Essentials of Filing the Estate Tax Return (Form 706)

The executor, administrator, or personal representative of the decedent’s estate is responsible for filing Form 706 if the gross estate is larger than the applicable exclusion amount for the year in question. Generally, the estate’s representative must file Form 706 within nine months of the decedent’s death. But it is possible to postpone this deadline.

If no representative of the estate has been appointed, the trustee in actual or constructive possession (having control over the property even if it’s not held in the trustee’s name) of any of the decedent’s property is responsible for filing any required Form 706.

The estate tax is due in full nine months after the decedent’s date of death unless you request and are granted an election under section 6166 of the IRS Code to pay in installments, or under section 6163 to pay the part of the tax attributable to a reversionary or remainder interest at a later time. You may also file an extension of time to file Form 4768 by the due date for filing the return

If the tax you’re paying with the return differs from the amount that the return shows is due, attach a statement to the return explaining the difference. If you’ve already made payments to the IRS, attach a statement to the return to that effect.

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Reporting eBay Selling Abuses

If you’re on eBay long enough, you’re bound to find an abuse of the service. It may happen on an auction you’re bidding on, or it may be one of the sellers who compete with your auctions. Be a good community member and be on the lookout for the following:

• Shill bidding: A seller uses multiple user IDs to bid, or has accomplices place bids, to boost the price of his or her auction items. eBay investigators look for six telltale signs, including a single bidder putting in a really high bid, a bidder with really low feedback but a really high number of bids on items, a bidder with low feedback who has been an eBay member for a while but who’s never won an auction, or excessive bids between two users.

  
  



• Auction interception: An unscrupulous user, pretending to be the actual seller, contacts the winner to set up terms of payment and shipping in an effort to make off with the buyer’s payment. This violation can be easily avoided by paying with PayPal directly through the eBay site.

  
  



• Fee avoidance: A user reports a lower-than-actual final price or illegally submits a Final Value Fee credit.

  
  



• Bid manipulation: A user, with the help of accomplices, enters dozens of phony bids to make the auction appear to have a lot of bidding action. Let the experts at eBay decide on this one; but you may wonder if loads of bids come in rapid succession but the price moves very little.

  
  

If you suspect someone of abusing eBay’s rules and regulations, go to the Security Center (the link is at the bottom of every eBay page) and click Report a Problem on the Security & Resolution Center main page. You are presented with a form in which you can click the appropriate link for your issue.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/reporting-ebay-selling-abuses.html

Five Mac Features to Check Out

Macs are full of fun and useful applications. Check out the following features as you need them or have the time. Your Mac adventures await.

• Macs play chess. Challenge the computer or watch the computer challenge itself (Applications).

  
  



• Macs are multilingual. Display menus and dialog boxes in more than a dozen foreign languages. (Choose Language & Text in System Preferences.)

  
  



• Macs recognize speech. Use your voice to open applications, choose menu items, and send e-mail. (Choose Speech in System Preferences.)

  
  



• Macs enable you to use parental controls. Specify Web sites your kids can visit, people they can e-mail or chat with, and applications they can run. (Choose Parental Controls in System Preferences.)

  
  



• Macs allow video conferencing. Hold a video conference with up to three people through iChat AV (Applications) or eyeball pals on video calls to iPhones and iPod Touches through FaceTime.

  
  

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What Is an Exchange Traded Fund?

If you are new to online investing, you may not be familiar with Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). ETFs are baskets of stocks, much like mutual funds, that trade like stocks. You can buy and sell them using your online broker just like you would with other stocks.

All ETFs have trading symbols and qualify for the low commission rates from online brokers. Several online brokers, including Fidelity and Charles Schwab, even let you trade some ETFs for no commission. You can even get price quotes by using your favorite stock-tracking Web sites.

You can buy and sell ETFs by using the online broker you’ve already signed up with. Just enter the ETF’s trading symbol, and you can buy and sell just like you would shares of a company’s stock.

Online investors like ETFs because they’re easy to buy without the hassle of signing up for accounts with mutual fund companies or checking to see whether they’re transaction-free. ETFs have the same advantages of mutual funds. That includes diversification and access to specific corners of the stock market, including certain sizes of stocks or industries. ETFs, though, offer several advantages over mutual funds, including the following:

• Intraday trading: Mutual funds price once a day, meaning that you don’t know how your portfolio has done until the markets close and the fund companies get around to publishing the net asset value (NAV) for the day. The prices of ETFs constantly update during the day just like stocks.

  
  



• Access to tougher areas of the market: Investors interested in buying commodities, bonds, and currencies can buy them easily, just like buying a stock, thanks to ETFs. And because ETFs are priced during the day, speculators can get in and out of risky positions anytime they want. ETFs are a great way to add foreign exposure to your portfolio.

  
  



• Low fees: If you thought the fees on index mutual funds were low, ETFs in many cases are even lower. It’s not unusual for ETFs to charge lower maintenance fees than mutual funds that mirror the same stock index by owning all the stocks in the index. The average expense ratio of ETFs is roughly 0.5 percent, well below the 1.0 percent charged by mutual funds.

  
  



• Tax advantages: Due to their structure, ETFs rarely stick investors with capital-gain distributions. That helps investors plan tax strategies. Keep in mind, though, many ETFs still pay dividends, which are usually taxable.

  
  



• Offer advanced trading options: Most ETFs offer options. That’s attractive to investors who want to do more than just buy or sell the investments. ETFs can also be shorted.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-is-an-exchange-traded-fund.html

How to Fix Gouged, Cut, or Scratched Sheet Vinyl

Sheet vinyl has far fewer seams than tile, so when it comes to making a patch, it can be a little trickier than replacing a single tile. Obviously, the best patch is a piece of the original flooring material, and one that gives you a chance to make an unnoticeable repair. (Look for squares or distinct patterns or lines you can use to hide your cuts.) If you or the previous homeowner didn’t save a scrap, you can steal a patch from under the refrigerator or stove.

1. Place the patch over the damaged area, match up the pattern or lines exactly, and then tape the patch in place.

   
   

   Again, it’s best to place your cuts in the lines that define squares in the pattern or something (anything!) other than “blank” areas.

   
   



2. Cut through both the patch and the damaged area.

   
   

   Use a utility knife with a fresh blade. Set aside the patch and make sure the cuts went all the way through the damaged vinyl. Carefully deepen any cuts that are too shallow.

   
   



3. Make two corner-to-corner diagonal cuts in the repair area.

   
   

   Doing so makes it easier to remove the damaged section.

   
   



4. Peel back the damaged section from the middle.

   
   

   You might have to use the old iron-and-towel (or hot-air gun) trick to loosen the glue. Work slowly and carefully. If you’re using a pristine, never-been-glued patch, make sure to remove as much of the glue and stuck-down backing material as you can. If you’re using a “borrowed” patch that has some of the backing torn off, it’s okay if you leave some of the backing material stuck to the floor — it’ll help even things out.

   
   



5. Apply vinyl adhesive to the floor.

   
   

   Tub-and-tile caulk works great, too.

   
   



6. Carefully place the patch in the hole. Cover the patch with wax paper; then place several heavy books on top.

   
   

   The bottom book should be bigger than the patch to avoid pushing the patch below the level of the surrounding floor.

   
   



7. After 24 hours of curing time, remove the books and use mineral spirits to clean excess adhesive.

   
   

   Older vinyl floors may have been waxed, and wax tends to yellow (especially in exposed locations). To make sure your patch matches the surrounding vinyl as closely as possible, remove all the wax from the entire floor using a commercial-strength wax remover (available at a janitorial supply house) and floor scrubber. It’s a good idea to remove the built-up wax and re-wax every few years anyway.

   
   



8. Apply clear vinyl seam sealer and let it set a day before allowing traffic in the area.

   
   

   The key to applying seam sealer is to apply just enough to cover the seam. Again, less is more. The material is self-leveling, will bond with the vinyl, and is designed to disappear.

   
   

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Eid al-Fitr: Focusing on Charitable Acts

At the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, families break the fast and celebrate during a three-day festival called Eid al-Fitr (Eid means "recurring event,"and Fitr means "break"). The festival is also known as HariRaya Puasa in Southeast Asia and Seker Bayrami in Turkey. Greetings of "Eid-Mubarak!" ("A Blessed Eid!") fill the air.

Although festivities include family gatherings, new clothes, and feasting, a strong focus remains on giving alms. Charity, especially to the poor and needy, is central to Islam, as represented by its inclusion in the Five Pillars of Islam (the basic tenets of the religion). An economically self-sufficient Muslim is expected to give alms in an act called zakat in Arabic. Giving to charity shows that one's faith in Allah is true and that material possessions do not control his or her life.

In Islam, this "charity" isn't so much giving because of sympathy for a cause or because of a catastrophe. Rather, it's a regular, sacrificial giving (much like charitable offerings at church) that — in addition to helping the needy — reaffirms the following Islamic ideas:

• Everything belongs to Allah, even those material possessions that people think they own. By sacrificing these things for the sake of Allah, people are just giving things back to their rightful owner.

• Nothing should be hoarded. Society works best when things — including money and resources — flow naturally. By giving things away that you don't need or use, you give people who can use them or may need them the opportunity to do so. In this way, you save yourself from greed, and you prevent envy and jealousy in others.

Islam also developed another element of charity called waqf. The waqf is a way of endowing money or land to be devoted to the maintenance of mosques, shrines, schools, hospitals, and other public works in Muslim lands.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/eid-alfitr-focusing-on-charitable-acts.html

Paying Attention to a Song's Punctuation

The punctuation in a song tells the singer where the big thoughts are. As with written and spoken text, periods indicate complete thoughts and commas point to lists and auxiliary phrases. Punctuation indicates an opportunity to take a breath, so a song’s punctuation can help you with phrasing and interpretation.

A series of questions in a song provides you with a different task than a series of commas. In your everyday speech, the inflection of your tone of voice usually goes up when you ask a question and goes down when you make a statement.

In singing a song that has a list with a series of commas, you want to reflect that continuing thought. You can practice this by taking a breath in the middle of a sentence when you’re speaking. Notice how the inflection of your voice stays up. That same idea happens when you sing; the inflection of your voice tells the listener that you’re continuing on the same train of thought.

In contrast, a period needs a sense of finality. Say the following two sentences: “You did that.” and “You did that?” Notice the change in the tone of your voice when you read the question. This difference of inflection helps the listener know that you’ve just made a statement or asked a question while singing.

Breathing in a series of commas takes a little planning. You can breathe after every comma, but you may not need to. You can take a slight pause, just like you do in speaking when you pause in the middle of a sentence but don’t take a breath. A series of questions is similar: Breathe where you need to, and use a slight pause in places where you don’t need a breath.

You can breathe after a comma as long as you remember that your train of thought doesn’t stop as you take the breath. The same train of thought continues, just as when you take a breath between phrases in a conversation.

The places where you don’t want to breathe are between syllables in a word, in the middle of a grammatical phrase that needs to be kept as one thought, and between a noun and modifier. Look at the text to determine where you take a breath while speaking the words. If it doesn’t sound logical to breathe when you’re speaking the lyrics, try to find another place to take the breath when you sing.

If you’re struggling with a phrase because you need a breath, cheat the last note of a phrase instead of trying to hurry in on the first note of the next phrase. If the last note is a half note, you can cut the note off a half beat early to catch your breath.

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Common Migraine Triggers

Whether internal or external, anything that sets a migraine attack in motion is a trigger. Take a look at the following categories of common migraine instigators so you can track potential triggers for your headaches and steer clear of them in the future:

• Environment: Weather changes, high altitude, bright lights, fluorescent lighting, strong odors

  
  



• Food and drink: Alcohol, MSG, aged cheese, nitrites, skipped meals

  
  



• Hormones: Menstruation, menopause, hormone replacement therapy, birth control pills

  
  



• Sleep: Irregular sleep patterns, excessive or too little sleep, sleep disorders

  
  



• Odds and ends: Stress, fatigue, certain prescription drugs

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/common-migraine-triggers.html

Featuring Photos and Slides on Your Business Website

Photos and slide shows are excellent ways to showcase your products, services, activities, and expertise. Although photos can be posted on your own business website or blog, photo- and slide-sharing sites allow other people to comment on them, forward them to others, and find out more about your company.

Use the search function on any of these image-sharing sites to see how many, if any, of your competitors use them. The presence of many competitors is a strong hint that your business needs to be there, too. The absence of competition is ambiguous: It can give you a temporary advantage or indicate that this effort isn’t worth it. Being first isn’t always the best idea.

You can achieve multiple marketing goals by following this advice for using image-sharing sites:

• Cast a wider net for prospective customers. Some prospects prefer looking at pictures to reading words! It’s all part of finding new prospects where they are. Display images of your company, products, or services, accompanied by informative descriptions, to attract customers’ attention.

  
  



• Entice viewers with samples of your products. For example, see Bleeding Heart Bakery. Whether you’re selling scarves or hookahs, candles or cupcakes, you can use image-sharing to lure visitors with representative products.

  
  



• Display photos of completed projects. Photos sites work exceedingly well for architects, builders, construction companies, and home painters as well as for interior, landscape, product, and packaging design companies and any other business with highly visual work results. This advice is excellent for service companies such as Wojcik Lawn Care & Landscaping or McClain’s Painting Service.

  
  



• Build awareness of creative work. In perhaps the most obvious application for photo-sharing, creative folks can display their portfolios to a broad audience. Because these sites make it easy to upload, catalog, and remove images, many artists use image-sharing sites as a free alternative to modifying websites. See ceramic artist Marylou Newdigate for an example.

  
  



• Enhance branding and site traffic. By using your logo, tags, web address, and links on profile pages on these services, you can build name recognition.

  
  



• Improve search engine optimization. Photo- and slide-sharing sites can be helpful to your search engine optimization strategy. Every site may be a bit different. I talk more about SEO in the later section “Optimizing images for SEO.”

  
  



• Supplement your website or social media pages with additional photos. For example, you might display thumbnails on your website or one image from a set or a slide sequence of photos, with supplemental photos on a photo-sharing site.

  
  



• Advertise to photographers. Photo-sharing sites are a wonderful way to offer goods and services to photographers, such as cameras, lenses, photo-editing software, lighting equipment, workshops, studio space, or travel packages for photo safaris.

  
  



• Improve customer service. Upload images that are limited to use by specific customers or invitees, perhaps marking them private for limited visibility. You can post pictures of works in progress, images of prospective sites or buildings, or photographs of optional product features. This feature is particularly useful when photos interest a smaller audience than the one served by your website.

  
  



• Collaborate on content. Shutterfly has the special Share Sites feature to help people easily collaborate on the creation of photo albums, whether private or public. For example, the American Youth Soccer Organization uses Shutterfly for online registration, to share pictures and videos, manage schedules, access volunteer assignments, and do even more.

  
  



• Build community participation and buzz. In a novel interactive application, Marvel Comics created a Flickr group for movie lovers to post photos of themselves with statues of the Incredible Hulk that had been placed in movie theater lobbies to promote the film.

  
  



• Establish your expertise with presentations and slide shows. Slide shows and PowerPoint presentations are extremely valuable tools in the B2B world. To increase your visibility and reputation as an expert, post your presentations from webinars, speeches, product demonstrations, and technical support directions on sites such as Slideshare.

  
  

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Add JavaScript Comparison Operators to Condition Statements

JavaScript uses comparison operators inside conditions to make numeric or alphabetical comparisons of variables to other variables or values. Using these operators, you can determine whether a variable is greater than, less than, or equal to another variable or value. You can also use combinations of these comparison operators.

Name	Operator	Example	Notes
Equality	==	(x==3)	Works with all variable types, including strings.
Not equal	!=	(x != 3)	True if values are not equal.
Less than	<	(x < 3)	Numeric or alphabetical comparison.
Greater than	>	(x > 3)	Numeric or alphabetical comparison.
Less than or equal to	<=	(x <= 3)	Numeric or alphabetical comparison.
Greater than or equal to	>=	(x >= 3)	Numeric or alphabetical comparison.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/add-javascript-comparison-operators-to-condition-s.html

Background and Perspective during Dog Photography

The dog you're photographing should always remain the star of the show. A big part of that is making sure your background is just that — the background. The background shouldn’t pull attention from the key elements in the photograph but rather support them in a meaningful and tasteful way.

Say you and Lucky are at the park after a rousing game of fetch, and you want to capture her post-play bliss. Before you even plop down, do a quick scan of the area to find the best, least-distracting background.

Choose a grassy patch out of the way instead of that bench right in front of the basketball court. Having a blanket of green behind Lucky allows her to shine as the subject while still telling a story about where she is (as riveting as it is, you don’t want the shirts versus skins throwdown pulling attention away from Lucky).

After you’re in your spot, look through your lens so you can home in even further on the exact scene your camera is capturing. Pay attention to distractions like litter, sticks, or dirt patches. Some distractions are okay, but try to keep them to a minimum.

You determine perspective by where and how you place your camera in relation to the subject and other key elements you’re photographing, and perspective determines a lot about the story you tell. Decide which element is most important and highlight that.

Say you’re still in the park with Lucky and you want to communicate how much she loves playing fetch. You could put her mangled ball in front of her and focus on that while she lies behind it.

The viewer would see the details of the ball — doggie slobber, teeth marks, and bits of grass — and would also see Lucky in the background, gazing lovingly at it. Such an image conveys how much she plays without her even needing to be in action.

Alternatively, you could leave the ball out of the picture and instead focus on the details of Lucky’s face, like her lolling tongue and smiling eyes. Position your camera lower than Lucky and photograph upwards to capture the full feeling of triumph Lucky has after conquering the ball. Viewers don’t need to have the ball in the photo to understand the feeling Lucky has; the angle takes care of it.

In general, if you want to celebrate your subject, you can use the technique of positioning your camera low and photographing upwards. Getting above her and photographing downwards helps you incorporate environmental elements. Try from the side and see what happens. Let your imagination run wild!

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/background-and-perspective-during-dog-photography.html

Ten Strategies for Cutting Calories

Whether your goal this New Year is to lose a lot of weight or just a few pounds, cutting your calorie intake will help you achieve your goal. Eating low-fat food important, but cutting calories is more important. Here are some strategies to make cutting calories easier:

• Read nutrition labels: Healthy foods can contain plenty of calories and fat. A container of ramen noodles, for example, packs 15 grams of fat and 400 calories; a bran muffin can top 10 grams of fat and 250 calories. Portion sizes can be deceptively small, too. A serving of sugar-sweetened iced tea contains 60 calories, but each bottle often contains two servings.

  
  



• Limit alcohol: Alcohol, although fat-free, delivers 7 calories per gram or about 70 calories per ounce (2 tablespoons). The higher the proof, the more calories alcohol has: 80-proof alcohol averages 65 calories per ounce, and 100-proof alcohol comes in at 85 calories per ounce. The average light beer or 5-ounce glass of wine contains about 100 calories. A typical beer has about 150 calories.

  
  



• Use smaller plates: Serve yourself on a salad-size plate, about 8 inches in diameter, rather than on a dinner plate, which is larger. Your portion sizes will be closer to those suggested in the USDA Food Guide Pyramid.

  
  



• Ask for the kid size: Kid-size popcorn at most movie theaters contains 150 calories, but a large size can top 1,000 without the butter-flavored topping. A child-size soda (8 ounces) has about 95 calories; a large soda measuring 36 ounces or more contains at least 400.

  
  



• Eat proper portion sizes: Nibbling from packages of crackers or eating forkfuls of cake from the platter can add up. Portion out everything you eat onto a small plate or bowl.

  
  

  Use measuring cups and spoons to portion out a serving onto your dinnerware.

  
  



• Eat in the dining room: When you bring plates to the table already filled, you won’t be tempted to pick from serving bowls and platters in front of you.

  
  



• Eat slowly: Your brain takes a full 20 minutes to register the fact that your stomach is full. Try putting your fork down and taking a sip of water between bites. Chew your food well and don’t load up your fork or spoon until you swallow what’s in your mouth.

  
  



• Fill up on plant food: Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains without butter, dressings, or sauces take up stomach space, leaving less room for denser, high-calorie foods. They also take more time to chew and eat. Consider the fact that a teeny little pat of butter has as many calories as 3 cups of broccoli or that a 1-inch cube (1 ounce) of cheddar cheese has the same number of calories as 1 cup of bran flakes.

  
  



• Switch to low-fat dairy products: An 8-ounce glass of whole milk contains 150 calories, but the same amount of fat-free (skim) milk has only 85. One ounce of regular cheddar cheese has 114 calories, but reduced-fat and low-fat varieties contain 80 and 49 calories, respectively.

  
  

  Dairy products, such as ice cream and flavored yogurt that are marketed as reduced-fat, low-fat, or fat-free often contain added sugar to make up for the loss of flavor and texture that fat provides. Don’t be fooled into thinking that they provide fewer calories.

  
  



• Cook meats with methods that start with the letter B: Broil, barbecue, bake (on a rack), or braise meats, and you save many calories over frying, sautéing, and stewing, because the fat (and therefore its calories) has a chance to drip away from the meat.

  
  

  Cooking chicken and other poultry with the skin on and removing it after it’s been cooked is fine, because the meat absorbs little of the fat but stays moist.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ten-strategies-for-cutting-calories.html

How to Survive a Surprise Early Retirement

A surprise early retirement is becoming an increasingly common occurrence. The challenging economy has forced many companies to lay off workers. One strategy for cutting back on expenses is to offer early retirement to senior staff members. Being thrown into retirement when you are unprepared can create undue stress and anxiety. Here are a few tips for surviving early retirement.

• Meet with a financial professional: If you do not already work with a financial planner, there is no better time to start. If you do not have a retirement plan in place, put one together now. If you've already developed a plan, it will need to be reviewed accounting for this change in circumstances.

  
  

  Talk to your advisor about Social Security, health insurance, 401k plans, pensions, and severance packages you may have received. Confirm that this is an appropriate time for you to retire at the financial level you envisioned.

  
  



• Define your retirement: If you have not spent any time yet deciding what you want your retirement to be, there is no better time. Do you want to work part time doing something you enjoy? Spend more time with Grandkids? Volunteer with a charity? Play more golf? This is the time to live your life, your way; take some time to figure out exactly what “your way” is.

  
  



• Take some time off: Enjoy some downtime. Go on a vacation or just relax for a few weeks to spend some time mulling over your future. You have embarked on a new stage of life, one that will take you wherever you want it to. Don’t rush to any decisions. Enjoy some time to decompress and think clearly about your future. It is best to make your decisions with a clear head.

  
  



• Communicate with your spouse: Spend some time talking with your spouse about your options and ideas. Make sure you are both on the same page when defining retirement and your future. This journey should be a joint effort.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-survive-a-surprise-early-retirement.html

Developing a Personal Code of Ethics for Consulting

Ethics are important for anyone in business. They're particularly important to consultants because of the high level of trust that organizations grant them and because of the access that many consultants have to the confidential and proprietary inner workings of the firms that employ them.

No single code of ethics is appropriate for everyone, but some very basic ethical beliefs can and should form the basis for your personal code of ethics. Consider the following:

• Account for your time accurately and honestly. Your client expects and trusts you to be truthful in your billing practices. Anything less is not only unethical but also a violation of your client's trust.


• Don't make promises you can't keep. Although you may really want to impress a potential client with your amazing abilities, don't make promises you can't keep in hopes of landing the account. Not only is this unethical, but you set yourself up for failure. There's nothing wrong with a little good old-fashioned optimism, but don't blatantly make promises that you know you can't keep.


• Follow through on your promises. Part of becoming a successful consultant is doing what you say you're going to do. If you say that you'll complete the project on March 31, then you should deliver the results on (or before) March 31 — not a day later. If, for some reason, you can't keep your promise no matter how hard you try, then inform your client as far in advance as possible and present a plan for curing the problem.


• Don't recommend products or services that your clients don't need. You may speak with clients who are absolutely certain that they know what is wrong with their organization. You could land a very lucrative contract just by proposing to do what they say you should do. However, if you know that the course of action the client suggests is not the proper remedy, you should tell your client so and decline the offered work. In most cases, your client will appreciate your honesty, and your reputation will be elevated a few notches.


• Be candid and give your honest opinion. Your clients pay you good money for the benefit of your skills and many years of experience. When your clients ask for your opinion, be frank and honest, and don't try to sugarcoat the truth.


• Protect your clients' confidentiality, and don't misuse insider information. Consultants are often placed in situations in which they have access to proprietary information, the release of which could cause a client serious financial or other damage. Your clients have placed you in a position of trust; don't violate that trust.


• Disclose conflicts of interest. If you're a popular consultant in your field, preventing conflicts of interest can often be difficult. As organizations vie for your expertise, you may find yourself working on the same problem for two competing companies. However, as soon as you discover a conflict — potential or actual — you should disclose it to the affected client(s) and then take action to resolve it. This may mean signing information nondisclosure agreements. If the conflict can't be resolved through these means, then you may have to drop one of the two firms as a client.


• Don't break the law. At times, a client may ask you to do something that is not only against your personal sense of ethics but also obviously and blatantly illegal. Do not pass go and do not collect $200. Just go. And don't come back.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/developing-a-personal-code-of-ethics-for-consultin.html

Design a Flower Bed with Color and Fragrance

When planning flower beds for a garden, pay attention to color, shape, height, and the texture of plants. Even fragrance can play a large part in flower bed design. Annuals vary in form as they develop. Some flowers grow tall; sunflowers, for example, reach heights of 8 to 10 feet. Other annuals, such as sweet alyssum and lobelia, prefer to hug the ground, making them perfect for trimming edges of beds and borders.

Contrary to what you may think, no rule specifically states that you must plant the shortest flowers in front and the tallest flowers in back. Annuals can quickly add height to a garden, with towering sunflowers or foxgloves creating screening or providing color at the back of the border. As you hike in the woods, notice how nature layers plants: tall trees, understory trees, large shrubs, ferns, and then ground cover plants carpeting the forest floor. Such complexity pleases the eye, and you can mimic that pattern by planting low-growing annuals in front and taller ones in the rear. You can blend annuals in with other plants to create this same effect in your garden beds.

Texture adds another element to the garden. For example, the droopy, chenille-like softness of love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus) adds a striking note to a planting scheme; the feathery foliage of love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) knits together varied plantings in the front of a border.

Combining colors in a garden design

The color wheel that you studied in grade school comes in handy when planning your garden. You may recall that the color wheel is divided into the same colors and in the same order as a rainbow. Keep these color combinations in mind when designing your annual garden:

• Primary colors: These three colors — red, blue, and yellow — are equidistant on the wheel. All other colors result from mixing these three.

  
  



• Complementary colors: These pairs of colors are opposite each other on the wheel — orange and blue, yellow and violet, or red and green, for example. Complementary colors can be jarring if overused in mass plantings. Rather than alternating yellow marigolds and purple petunias in a large bed, consider intermixing yellow and orange marigolds, using purple sparingly as a bold accent color.

  
  



• Harmonious colors: These colors blend gradually between two primary colors, such as red to orange to yellow. Harmonious colors unify a landscape without creating the monotony of using a single flower or color. A garden that moves like a sunset from yellow to orange to red or various shades of blue like the clear sky creates softer impressions on the viewer.

  
  



• Shades of color: Shades refer to lighter and darker variations of the same color.

  
  

Incorporating fragrance in a garden design

The fragrance of annual flowers can add another dimension to your garden. Floral fragrances are a personal preference, so take the time to choose the flowers that most please your sense of smell. Then mix those flowers in throughout the garden. Plant generously so that you have plenty of flowers to pick for bouquets. As a rule, choose the old-fashioned varieties of flowers, which usually tend to be the more fragrant. (You may need to order seeds by mail to find the older, most strongly scented varieties.)

Here are some favorite easy-care annuals that add fragrance to the garden:

• Heliotrope: Vanilla-scented purple or dusky white flowers.

  
  



• Mignonette: Easy to grow from seed with a strong, sweet fragrance.

  
  



• Flowering tobacco: White, pink or purple flowers with a nearly tropical scent.

  
  



• Night-scented stock: Old-fashioned favorite with a clove scent.

  
  



• Scented geraniums: The leaves come in a variety of scents.

  
  



• Sweet alyssum: Masses of tiny scented flowers.

  
  



• Sweet peas: Older varieties retain the sweetest of scents all day long.

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/design-a-flower-bed-with-color-and-fragrance.html

How to Quiet Noisy Water Pipes

A water hammer, loose mounting straps, or high water pressure can cause water pipes to clang and clatter. Never fear, here are tips for quieting your water pipes, no matter what is causing all that noise.

Combating water hammers

Imagine a fast-moving stream of water traveling down a narrow pipe. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the water finds a closed valve in place of what, moments earlier, was an escape point. All of a sudden, the water has nowhere to go. As it comes to an abrupt stop, a loud thud results, and it can be heard throughout the entire house. This deafening sound is known as a water hammer. The hammering action that creates the horrible racket is actually capable of damaging joints and connections in the pipe.

An air chamber is a vertical pipe located in the wall cavity at the point near a faucet or valve where the water-supply pipe exits the wall. Air chambers act as cushions to prevent water from slamming against the piping. Because air compresses, it absorbs the shock of the fast-moving water before it has a chance to slam against the end of the pipe. Many household plumbing systems have air chambers built into them at critical locations — like the clothes washer and dishwasher — where electric shut-off valves close rapidly. In some homes, air chambers exist at every location where water is turned on and off — even the toilet.

To eliminate a water hammer, you need to replenish all the air chambers with air. You can’t inspect the air chambers, so this procedure is a must whenever you notice a faint noise in the pipe:

1. Shut off your home’s main water supply valve.

   
   



2. Open the highest faucet inside your house.

   
   



3. Find the lowest faucet on the property — it’s usually on the first floor somewhere outside or in the basement — and turn it on to completely drain all water from the pipes.

   
   

   As the water drains from the pipes, air automatically replaces it.

   
   



4. The moment the water is completely drained from the piping, turn off the lowest faucet and reopen the main valve.

   
   

   Air pushes out of the horizontal and open vertical water lines, sputtering as it exits the faucets inside. However, air remains in the air chambers, eliminating water hammer.

   
   

Tightening loose mounting straps

Sometimes a water hammer can occur when a pipe-mounting strap is loose. These straps consist of metal plumber’s tape or the vinyl-coated nail-in hooks and hangers that attach pipes to framing. A loose pipe strap allows the pipe to freely vibrate against framing members as water is turned on and off. Check all accessible pipes to ensure that they’re properly and tightly connected.

Never use galvanized plumber’s tape or galvanized straps on copper pipe. When different metals contact one another, electrolysis can occur, which can lead to a plumbing leak.

Adjusting too-high water pressure

Another reason for banging pipes is excessively high water pressure. You can adjust water pressure with a water-pressure regulator or pressure-reducing valve. Most modern homes have a regulator mounted at the location where the main water supply enters the home.

If you don’t have a regulator, consider having one installed. A professionally installed pressure regulator can cost several hundred dollars, but it’s a good investment in the long run. (Only do-it-yourselfers with some serious plumbing skills should try to install a pressure regulator themselves.)

Not only is high water pressure wasteful, but it can damage dishwashers, icemakers, washing machines, and other water-supplied automatic appliances. In fact, many appliance warranties are voided when water pressure exceeds 100 pounds per square inch (psi).

Testing water pressure is important regardless of whether you have a pressure regulator. You can test the water pressure yourself using a water-pressure gauge that screws onto a hose bib; in most communities, the water department will conduct the test at no charge. Normal water pressure runs between 30 and 55 psi. If you already have a regulator, use a screwdriver or wrench to adjust it so that the pressure doesn’t exceed 50 psi.

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Strategic Planning, Phase 5: Align Your Resources

Now that you’ve established a clear direction and the road map to get there, your strategic planning team is ready to align the strategy to resources. Specifically, in Phase 5, you align financial resources and people to the strategy. Accomplishing this task can be simple or complex, depending on how detailed your team wants to get.

The simple approach is to review your goals and objectives and look for any areas where you need additional budget or people to successfully accomplish the activity. The more complex approach is to align each goal or objective to a budget line item and review your organizational structure for skill and capability gaps.

After you’ve completed your alignment, you’re ready to roll out your plan to the whole organization. The duration of this phase depends on your budgeting process. During this time, you answer these business questions:

• Do we have our resources aligned to our business objectives?

  
  



• Do we have the right people to execute the strategy?

  
  



• What are our communication methods, channels, and frequency?

  
  

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/strategic-planning-phase-5-align-your-resources.html

Taking Charge of Your Business’s Accounting Policies

As a business manager, you should get involved in setting your company’s accounting policies. Business managers should take charge of accounting decisions just like they take charge of marketing and other key activities of the business.

You may have heard the adage that war is too important to be left to the generals. Well, accounting is too important to be left to the accountants — especially when choosing which accounting methods to use.

Measuring profit and putting values on assets and liabilities boils down to choosing between conservative accounting methods and more liberal (or aggressive) methods. Conservative methods record profit later rather than sooner; liberal methods record profit sooner rather than later. It’s a “pay me now or pay me later” choice.

Some business managers defer to their accountants in choosing accounting methods for measuring sales revenue and expenses. Don’t! You should get involved in making these decisions. The best accounting method is the one that best fits the operating methods and strategic plan of your business. As the manager, you know the business’s operations and strategy better than your accountant.

Many businesses choose conservative accounting methods to defer paying their income tax. Keep in mind the following:

• Higher expense deductions in early years cause lower deductions in later years.

  
  



• Conservative, income tax-driven accounting methods make the inventory and fixed assets in your balance sheet look anemic.

  
  



• Recording higher cost of goods sold expense takes more out of inventory, and recording higher depreciation expense causes the book value of your fixed assets to be lower.

  
  

Nevertheless, you may decide that deferring the payment of income taxes is worth it, in order to keep your hands on the cash as long as possible.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/taking-charge-of-your-businesss-accounting-policie.html

Common CSS Properties in Microsoft Expression Web

This table represents the Expression Web properties you specify to use in the New/Modify Style dialog box and the CSS Properties task pane. (This table does not include all CSS properties available in Expression Web).

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Gay Teens: Coming Out to Family and Friends

Revealing one's homosexuality is never easy — for young or old — but the process can be particularly difficult for teens, who are dependent on their families and have not yet established their own private lives with their own place to live and a job to provide financial support. In fact, the rates of suicide for young homosexuals are much higher than for heterosexuals of the same age, in great part because many can't cope when faced with rejection from their families.

No two families react the same way when a son or a daughter comes out of the closet.

• Some parents may have suspected their child's homosexual orientation for a while and learned to accept it, so they have a general sense of relief that the subject is out in the open.

• Other parents react very negatively, upset that many of their expectations for their child — the traditional heterosexual marriage followed by grandchildren — have suddenly disappeared. They may also react negatively, in part because they feel that their child's homosexuality reflects badly on them (and the way they raised that child) in the eyes of the rest of the family as well as friends and neighbors.

• In some families, the reaction is split, with one parent accepting the son or daughter's announcement and the other going so far as to cut off all contact.

Teens should understand that being a parent isn't easy, and because the expectations of most parents are turned topsy-turvy by the announcement that their child is gay, it's normal for them to have some mixed emotions in the beginning. Getting past those feelings and working with your parents, and perhaps a counselor, to rebuild family unity is the key — and to do that, you need to be prepared. If you're forewarned about how your family may react, and have been told ways to handle these reactions, you're much more likely to end up being accepted by your family.

If you're gay and haven't revealed your sexual identity to your family, immediately find a counselor who has worked with other gay teens facing this problem to give you guidance. The counselor's experience in this area can be invaluable to you in obtaining the best possible results from your circumstances.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/gay-teens-coming-out-to-family-and-friends.html

Setting Up a Printer for the First Time in Mac OS X Panther

After you connect your computer and printer with a compatible cable, provide a power source for your printer, and install the software for your printer, you need to configure your Mac so that it and your printer can talk to each other.

The Print Center application is the tool that you use to tell your Mac what printers are available. Note that many of the steps involving Print Center require that your printer is turned on and warmed up (that is, run through its diagnostics and start-up cycle).

Follow these steps to set up a printer for the first time:

1. Launch Printer Setup Utility.

You'll find Printer Setup Utility in the Utilities folder, which is inside your Applications folder. Click the Applications button in the Sidebar of any Finder window to open the Applications folder. Now open the Utilities folder and double-click Printer Setup Utility.

2. Choose Add Printer from the Printers menu.

3. From the Printer List window that appears (see Figure 1), click the Add button in the window's toolbar.

If you have never set up a printer on this Mac, Steps 2 and 3 may be superfluous — the dialog box/sheet shown in Figure 1 should open automatically.

If the dialog box/sheet appears, click the Add button, as shown in Figure 1.

4. In the sheet that appears in front of the Printer List window, click the pop-up menu to select your printer's connection type.

Most printers are either connected directly to your Mac via a USB port — or over a network, using AppleTalk.

Many USB printers (such as most of the compatible printers from Epson, Canon, Lexmark, and Hewlett-Packard) will be recognized immediately without you having to perform this step.

If your printer isn't recognized at this point, you may need to install its driver software first, either from the CD that came with the printer or by downloading the latest driver software from your printer manufacturer's Web site.

AppleTalk and USB are by far the most common kinds of printer connections for Macs. Another option available in the Add Printer window is IP Printing. If your printer is on a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) network, you need to configure the printer by using its network address. IP printers usually connect via Ethernet and are almost always found on large corporate networks. Fortunately, such large networks are almost always maintained by a network administrator, who should be able to help you set up an IP printer.

If you encounter trouble setting up a printer for Mac OS X, you may want to contact your printer's manufacturer about getting the latest, greatest driver. Many printer manufacturers are offering new drivers with enhanced functionality. You may find new drivers for your printer on the Web or a major Internet Service Provider, such as America Online. Apple often includes such new drivers in the Software folder on your iDisk. And Disk 2 of the Mac OS X 10.3 Installer disks has additional printer drivers as well. Check with your printer manufacturer for details.

After you choose your printer connection type, you see the names and kinds of available printers in the Printer List window. In Figure 1, the Stylus Photo 900 appears.

>

Figure 1: Available printers with the specified connection type appear here.

5. Click the name of the printer that you want from the list and then click the Add button.

This window closes and the Printer List window reappears, containing the printer that you just added. If you've added printers before, they appear here, too.

Now you can print your first document! Make sure, though, that you have the document set to look how you want it to print.

>
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Animating Digital Video Clips

Now wait a minute; don't you call these things "movies" because the pictures are already moving? Why would you need to animate a video clip? You may not need to animate the actual subjects in the video, but you can move the video image across the screen. For example, a small picture-in-picture image can sail across the screen to give a hint of action that will happen later in the movie. You can move a clip across the screen along a fixed path or a zigzag pattern, you can rotate clips, and you can distort them.

To prepare a clip for animation, follow these steps:

1. Click the clip in the timeline that you want to animate to select it, and make sure that the play head appears somewhere over the clip.

You want just about any clip that you animate in track Video 2 or higher.

2. Choose Window --> Properties to open the Properties window for the selected clip.

3. Click the arrow next to the Motion heading to expand the Motion controls.

4. Click the clip's video image in the Monitor.

When you click the clip in the monitor, cross-hairs appear in the middle of the clip and square handles appear on the sides and corners of the video image.

5. Click and drag the square handles to change the size of the image.

6. Click and drag on the middle of the image to move the image to a new location on the screen.

The preceding steps help you only resize a clip, not animate it. If you play the timeline to preview your change, you see that your clip has been resized, but it doesn't go anywhere. To actually animate the clip and make it go somewhere, you just use keyframes. To animate your resized clip, follow these steps:

1. Click the Toggle Animation button next to Motion.

2. Click the Add/Remove Keyframe button next to the Position control.

A keyframe appears at the current video frame for the current size and position of your clip.

3. Move the play head in the timeline to a different location in the clip.

4. Click and drag the resized clip in the monitor to a new location.

This step automatically creates a new keyframe. If you want, you can even drag the clip completely off-screen. This causes the clip to appear to exit, stage left (or right, or up, or . . . ).

Now play the timeline. The resized clip moves across the screen as it plays between the two keyframes that you created. Unhappy with the results? Play around with it! Animation is one of those effects that you really need to fiddle around with to get just the right look.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/animating-digital-video-clips.html

What Is Market Equilibrium?

Buyers and sellers interact in markets. The market equilibrium price, p*, and equilibrium quantity, q*, are determined by where the demand curve of the buyers, D, crosses the supply curve of the sellers, S.

In the absence of externalities (costs or benefits that fall on persons not directly involved in an activity), the market equilibrium quantity, q*, is also the socially optimal output level. For each unit from 0 up to q*, the demand curve is above the supply curve, meaning that people are willing to pay more to buy those units than they cost to produce. There are gains from producing and then consuming those units.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-is-market-equilibrium.html

How to Diagnose Problems If Your Car Won't Start

If your car won’t start and you left your lights on after you turned off the engine, your battery is dead. But your conventionally fueled vehicle may not start for a number of reasons. The following list outlines the most common circumstances and tells you what action you can take to try to remedy each situation:

• The car is silent when you turn the key in the ignition: Check the battery terminal cable connections. If they look really corroded, you need to clean the battery posts and cable connectors or replace the cables and try to start the engine.

  
  



• The car makes a clicking noise but won’t start: This sound usually means a dead battery. If not, check the wiring to and from the starter for a loose connection.

  
  



• The engine cranks over but won’t start: You may be out of fuel, or the fuel isn’t getting to your engine. If it’s not a fuel problem, the electrical spark isn’t getting through to the spark plugs.

  
  



• The engine starts but dies: If you have fuel injection, you need professional help.

  
  



• The car won’t start on rainy days: If you have a non-electronic ignition system or an electronic ignition with a distributor cap, check inside the cap for dampness.

  
  

  Be sure the ignition is off and the vehicle is in Neutral or Park before you raise the hood and remove the distributor cap.

  
  

  If you find moisture, get some mechanic’s solvent from your friendly service station — they use it to clean car parts — or buy an aerosol can of it at an auto supply store. To evaporate any dampness inside the distributor cap, turn the cap upside down and pour or spray some solvent into it. Swish it around and pour it out. Then dry the cap as best you can with a clean, lint-free rag, and replace the cap.

  
  

  Use only clean solvent; even a tiny speck of dirt can foul the points. Gasoline won’t do because a spark can ignite gasoline fumes and cause an explosion or a fire.

  
  



• The car won’t start on cold mornings: If you have fuel injection, you need to have a professional diagnose the cold-start problems.

  
  

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Successful Time Management For Dummies

Making the most of your time at work means learning to make productive decisions quickly and asking effective time-saving questions at meetings. Save time on the road by keeping a list of your important travel details with you so you can get to them easily. Before you call it a day at work, take a few steps to prepare for tomorrow so you can start your day off on the right foot.

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How to Make Confident Decisions Quickly at Work

If you work in a busy environment, making quick, confident business decisions can be challenging if priorities aren't clear. This problem can be particularly difficult for employees who fill the "worker bee" role and who haven't been given clear direction on business priorities. Try assessing your options in the following order:

1. Which task creates the most financial benefit for the company?

   
   



2. Which task serves the customers best?

   
   



3. Which task best supports the company's business vision, core values, core purpose, and goals?

   
   



4. Which task best supports my boss's goals and objectives?

   
   



5. Which task best aligns with my personal goals and objectives?

   
   



6. Which task affects other areas the most?

   
   
   
   

   • How many departments will this affect?

     
     
   
   

   • How many people will this involve?

     
     
   
   

   • What effect will this task have on my time or my boss's time?

     
     
   
   

   • What will this task cost?

     
     
   
   
   
   

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Questions to Lead a More Effective Meeting

Whether you attend meetings organized by you or scheduled by someone else, you can help guide the meeting to a successful and timely conclusion, or find out if you're actually needed in the discussions, by asking certain questions. To direct your meeting to a more valuable and less time-consuming direction, try asking these questions:

• What is our agenda for this meeting?

  
  



• What are we hoping to accomplish by the end of the meeting?

  
  



• What action point do you want me to record?

  
  



• Whom do I assign this to?

  
  



• What time frame should we attach to this?

  
  

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Time-Saving Travel Checklist

Before you leave for a business trip, make a list of your travel details and keep it with you. This will maximize your time when traveling and keep you from fumbling around later searching for your information. Some of the details you should include (in chronological order) in your travel itinerary are:

• Airline information

  
  
  
  

  • Flight numbers

    
    
  
  

  • Departure and arrival times

    
    
  
  

  • Record locators

    
    
  
  

  • Seat assignments

    
    
  
  

  • Phone number for the reservation line

    
    
  
  
  
  



• Terminal information for connecting flights

  
  



• Ground transportation details (for each leg of your trip)

  
  
  
  

  • Car-rental reservation numbers or car service information

    
    
  
  

  • Costs quoted when making reservations

    
    
  
  
  
  



• Hotel information

  
  
  
  

  • Reservation number

    
    
  
  

  • Address and contact details

    
    
  
  

  • Map if you're driving to the hotel

    
    
  
  

  • Shuttle details if applicable

    
    
  
  

  • Room information (type or preferences) requested and rate quoted

    
    
  
  
  
  



• Meeting details

  
  
  
  

  • Location description and address

    
    
  
  

  • Contact information

    
    
  
  

  • Driving directions

    
    
  
  

  • Start and stop times

    
    
  
  
  
  

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How to Start Tomorrow Right

Before you call it a day, take a few moments to get ready for tomorrow. Organizing and prioritizing your tasks will make for a more efficient and successful tomorrow. Apply these helpful steps for getting ready for the next work day:

1. Clear your desk.

   
   

   Put everything back into a file drawer, even if you plan to take those items right back out in the morning. Eliminate items to be filed or thrown away.

   
   



2. Make tomorrow's to-do list.

   
   

   List all the projects, tasks, telephone calls, meetings, and objectives you want to accomplish the following day.

   
   



3. Prioritize the tasks on your to-do list.

   
   

   Be sure to complete the prioritizing, from A-list activities (those with heavy penalties if they're not completed) to lower-level tasks that can be delegated (D-list) or eliminated (E-list).

   
   



4. Delegate all tasks, projects, and calls that someone else can do.

   
   

   If you can't completely delegate the tasks because of their complexity or because a staff member is gone the next day, at least send a quick memo or e-mail letting the person know the assignment's coming.

   
   



5. Determine what you need to accomplish to make tomorrow a great day.

   
   

   By determining a goal, you increase your intensity, focus, and urgency from the time you walk through the door.

   
   



6. Prepare your workspace for tomorrow's A-1 priority task.

   
   

   Assemble all the materials you'll need and neatly stack and organize them on your credenza or desk.

   
   



7. Rate your day.

   
   

   To get better use of your time tomorrow, set aside time to reflect on today. Ask yourself the following questions:

   
   
   
   

   • What went well today? What didn't go well?

     
     
   
   

   • Did you complete everything on your to-do list?

     
     
   
   

   • What did you learn today?

     
     
   
   

   • What would you have done differently?

     
     
   
   
   
   

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