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Ten Powerful Plugins for WordPress Design

WordPress offers hundreds of powerful plugins that provide multiple ways to extend your website’s functionality. Many more plugins can be found on the WordPress Plugin Directory page.

All in One SEO Pack: Good SEO (search engine optimization) practices help the major search engines (Google, Yahoo!, and Bing) easily find and cache your site content in their search databases so that when people search using keywords, they can find your site in the search results.

The All in One SEO Pack plugin helps you fine-tune your site to make that happen; it automatically creates optimized titles and generates HTML keywords for your individual posts and pages.

WP-Print: WP-Print is an easy-to-use plugin that provides a clean, printable version of your blog posts and pages. WP-Print strips most of the style from your theme design (images and formatting, for example) and outputs a clean print of your article with black text on a white background.

PluginBuddy Mobile: PluginBuddy Mobile is a premium WordPress plugin that starts at $45. This plugin adds a feature set and functionality to your website by creating a mobile-ready version that displays correctly in many major mobile web browsers, such as iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android devices.

Subscribe to Comments: The Subscribe to Comments plugin lets your visitors subscribe to individual posts you’ve made to your blog. They receive a notification via e-mail whenever someone leaves a new comment on the post. This feature goes a long way toward keeping your readers informed and making the discussions lively and active.

ShareThis: ShareThis allows visitors to share content through e-mail and popular social bookmarking services, such as Technorati, Delicious, and Digg.

WP Super Cache: WP Super Cache creates static HTML files from your dynamic WordPress content. A cached version simply means that the content is converted to static HTML pages (as opposed to dynamically created content pulled from your database through a series of PHP commands) that are then stored on the server. This process eases the efforts the web server must take to display the content in your visitors’ browsers.

WP Security Scan: This plugin is relatively simple to use; it scans your entire WordPress installation and looks for any security vulnerabilities that may exist and then suggests corrective actions that you can take to improve the overall security of your WordPress installation.

Backup Buddy: With this plugin, you can determine a schedule of automated backups of your site on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. You can store those backups on your web server, e-mail backups to a designated e-mail address, or store the backups in Amazon’s Simple Storage Service, if you have an account there.

WordPress.com Stats: With the rise in popularity of the hosted WordPress.com service came a huge demand for the statistics that it provides in its Dashboard pages. This plugin collects all the important statistics, including the number of hits on the site per hour, day, or month; the most popular posts; the sources of the traffic on the site; and the links people click to leave the site.

WPMU Premium: WPMU Premium isn’t just one plugin; it’s an entire collection of plugins that are geared toward and developed for users who take advantage of the multisite feature with WordPress, as well as the users who have developed a social community website using the BuddyPress plugin for WordPress.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/ten-powerful-plugins-for-wordpress-design.html

How Managed Preferences Are Inherited, Combined, and Overridden in Lion Server

Because managed preferences can be applied to all types of accounts, you have a specific hierarchy for inheritance, combining, and overriding preferences in Lion Server. Some settings, such as controlling which items are opened at login, are cumulative because no one particular setting overrides another — any number of items can be opened at login.

Some settings are inherited from workgroups to the user level or from within nested workgroups. Settings with only one ultimate outcome — such as the position of the Dock onscreen — use an order of priority to override the same setting for different account levels. The prioritization of conflicting preferences to override the same setting also applies for inheritance. The order of inheritance and overriding preferences is

Workgroup (the least specific level)

Computer group

Computer

User (the most specific level)

For example, a preference set at the workgroup level can’t override the same preference set for the computer group, computer, or user level. In this sense, a preference set for the user always wins when overriding other levels.

However, setting preferences at the user level can be time-consuming and complicated to manage. Managing at the workgroup or computer-group level saves time and energy, and making your life a little easier is always welcome.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-managed-preferences-are-inherited-combined-and.html

How to Plan for Final Expenses when Terminating a Trust

When terminating a trust, you need to put money aside to pay final taxes and fees. The trust income needs to be reduced by any expenses accrued as of the termination date. If you decide to pay the income beneficiary before paying the expenses, deduct the estimated cost of expenses from the income before making a distribution. Keep the money reserved for expenses in an account that does not earn income.

The following are some examples of expenses that a trust may have accrued:

Trustee’s and investment advisor’s fees

State, local, and foreign taxes on income received and accrued

Miscellaneous expenses

Probate court costs (for filing annual accounts)

Any other such fees attributable to the income earned in the trust as of that date

If you’ve collected all the income but haven’t yet paid all the expenses, you don’t need to keep all that income in the trust. Determine how much you think you’ll need to pay the expenses and then pay out what remains to the income beneficiary.

Estimate the expenses on the generous side; nothing is worse than having to ask the income beneficiaries to repay money they’ve already spent.

You can hold the money you set aside for future expenses in a separate, non-interest-bearing, non-trust account or keep one of the trust accounts open. Remember, though, that you don’t want to earn any additional income, especially after you’ve filed the final tax return. After you finish paying the expenses, the rest of that money should be sent to the beneficiary to close out the income side of the account.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-plan-for-final-expenses-when-terminating-a-.html

Common Shortcuts in VBA-Access 2007

Knowing the most popular keyboard shortcuts in VBA-Access 2007 will help you work more efficiently. Use this shortcut chart until you learn the keyboard combinations and their functions:

To Do This	Press This
Switch between Access and the VBA editor	Alt+F11
Get help	F1
View Object Browser (VBA Editor)	F2
View properties and events	F4
Close VBA Editor and return to Access	Alt+Q

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/common-shortcuts-in-vbaaccess-2007.html

Recognizing Common Health Issues in Beagles

Your Beagle will probably stay pretty healthy throughout most of his life but every dog can experience health problems. By recognizing common Beagle health issues, you can get your dog the right treatment right away. When treated promptly, most conditions can be treated successfully.

As a breed, Beagles are predisposed to certain conditions, but that doesn't mean that every Beagle will get one of these illnesses. But if you recognize any of these symptoms, call your Vet immediately.

Beagle puppy problems

Beagle puppies are usually in the best of health, but occasionally, a Beagle under the age of 1 year may encounter one of the following conditions.

Cherry eye: This condition results when the tissue that holds the tear gland in the third eyelid weakens, causing the gland to pop out of place and become visible.

The symptom of cherry eye is the visible gland — it looks like a cherry: round and bright red. The tear gland can become infected or even cease to function. Call to your vet as soon as possible so that surgery can be schedule to repair the condition.

Chondrodysplasia: A relatively rare disease that causes a Beagle to be very small and can result in deformed vertebrae and legs, and joint pain.

Symptoms appear around 3 to 4 weeks of age. The puppy won't develop as quickly and will have trouble moving. By 6 months the puppy will move better but might be deformed. There is no cure but there are medications that can help with pain or discomfort.

Puppy pyoderma: This is a skin condition that looks like mild acne on the abdomen but is actually a bacterial infection.

Puppy pyoderma can be treated with a medicated shampoo and sometimes antibiotics.

Adult Beagle Health Problems

Until old age sets in, most Beagles are very healthy, but there are some conditions that can affect their health.

Allergies: Like people, Beagles can develop allergic reactions to a number of things. Symptoms include constant scratching or long-term ear infections. Common treatments include antihistamines and changes in diet.

Hypothyroidism: If your Beagle's thyroid isn't functioning properly, you may notice a dull coat, hair loss, lethargy, extreme intolerance for cold weather, weight gain, and chronic skin disorders. This condition can be treated with a daily thyroid hormone supplement.

Idiopathic epilepsy: A fairly common condition among Beagles that is believed to be genetic. When a seizure occurs a dog might fall down, arch her head and neck, open her mouth wide, extend her limbs and shake in a jerky manner. Seizures usually only last a couple of minutes after which the dog ill probably sleep.

The vet will want to check her out and run some tests to see if there is something else causing the seizures. If there is nothing else going on, the vet will give you medicine to help control the seizures.

Intervertebral disc disease: This condition occurs when the disc (the cushion between the vertebras) is injured causing it to leak or swell.

If you notice your dog exhibiting any of the following symptoms, call the vet immediately.
- Shivering, especially when combined with unusual inactivity
- Refusal to get up and play, even for food
- A yelp when you pet your Beagle or try to pick him up
- A pulled-in head, arched back, or any other strange position
- A refusal to bend down to the food or water dish to eat or drink
- Limping of any kind
- A "drunken" rear end, which moves but looks as if it isn't completely under control
- Dragging of the back legs

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/recognizing-common-health-issues-in-beagles.html

Language to Use in Your Online Community Welcome Letter

As online community manager, you should try to make the welcome letter to your community sound more like news than a sales pitch. Write in a conversational tone to make new members feel comfortable and invite them to take part in your community’s many experiences rather than push them into a sale. Use words that entice rather than pitch. Try these examples of enticing words:

Invite (“I’d like to take this time to invite you to view this week’s discounts.”)

Enjoy (“Enjoy the conversation with other members of our community.”)

Experience (“Why not experience the many positive benefits that come with participating in our community?”)

Appreciate (“We truly appreciate your faith in us.”)

Welcome (“Welcome to the Brand X community.”)

Share (“I’d love to share some of the many community resources…”)

Community (“As a community member, you’ll enjoy…”)

Thank you or thanks (“Thanks for joining our community.”)

Entertain (“You’ll find our discussion topics both enlightening and entertaining.”)

Conversation (“I hope you’ll join the conversation.”)

The point of your welcome e-mail is to remind your new members that they signed up to join in the first place and also to eliminate confusion.

You want to guide them so that they find all the necessary information, without an obnoxious sales pitch or even pushing them into taking an action they’re not interested in. The key is to invite or suggest, rather than tell someone where to go.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/language-to-use-in-your-online-community-welcome-l.html

Shopping List for Your Jack Russell Terrier Puppy

Before you bring your Jack Russell Terrier puppy home, you need to go on a pre-puppy shopping spree. Following is a list of items you need when you bring your puppy home. As your puppy gets older, you can add more items to the list.

A harness (not a collar) suitable to your puppy’s size	Toys such as balls or Frisbees (latex is best) — avoid toys with small parts that your puppy may pull off and swallow accidentally	A first-aid kit for emergencies
A nylon or web leash (the adjustable kind is best)	Chewies made of hard nylon for teething and keeping teeth clean	Nail clippers
A retractable leash for when you start taking your puppy for walks	An antichewing preparation or spray to keep your puppy from chewing on your furniture, slippers, and the like	A sweater for chilly days
A long training leash for obedience training	A doggie bed (a padded box will do) with plenty of soft cloths or blankets — avoid wicker because your puppy undoubtedly will chew on it	Shampoo
A cage or crate large enough for your puppy to stand up in when inside	A brush and comb	Flea and tick products
Housetraining pads if you choose to use them	A pooper scooper	An exercise pen if you want to keep your puppy confined within the house in an area that’s larger than his crate
Two sets of flat-bottomed bowls for food and water — one big enough for home and a smaller set for travel	A baby/child gate to keep your puppy confined	A collar and a tag (that contains his name and your name, address, and phone number) for when the puppy is a bit older
A bag of the same type of food that your puppy was fed at the breeder’s facility

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/shopping-list-for-your-jack-russell-terrier-puppy.html

Exploring Frequently Asked Questions about WebEx

Technicians working WebEx support lines say they hear some of the same questions regularly. Check out the following for a handy common-problem solution list. Perhaps one of these items will help you in your learning curve as you explore all WebEx has to offer.

How do I share a presentation or document?

First things first: You have to have started a meeting or session of some sort (such as a training session) to do this. Then, from within your meeting window, choose Share --> Presentation or Document. An Open dialog box is displayed; select the file you want to share and click Open.

How do I join a meeting?

You can join two types of WebEx meetings: listed and unlisted. A listed meeting appears on the public meeting calendar. An unlisted meeting (logically enough) doesn't.

To join a listed meeting, follow these steps:

1. Go to the WebEx URL provided by the meeting host.

2. Click the Join link next to the meeting you want to join.

3. Enter your name, e-mail address, and password, if the host assigned one.

4. Click OK.

You'll now be connected.

If there is no Join link next to your meeting, it could be because you're too early and the meeting hasn't started. Click the Refresh button on your browser to check again in a minute or two. Be sure you've got the time zone for the meeting time right; there is time zone information near the top of the meeting listing page. Finally, if you've been clicking Refresh for what seems like hours, you might just want to call the meeting host and make sure the meeting hasn't been cancelled.

To join an unlisted meeting, follow these steps:

1. Go to the WebEx URL provided by the host.

2. On the left side of the Navigation bar, click the Unlisted link.

3. Enter the meeting number, which is required to join an unlisted meeting. (Your host should provide this to you.)

4. Enter your name, e-mail address, and password, if any.

5. Click OK.

You are now connected.

How do I share remote control of My Desktop?

Sharing control of your desktop is a great way to provide technical support for a software product or to let your customer view a graphic, animated demo, or document on your computer.

First you have to start a meeting, session, or event. Then follow these steps to share your desktop:

1. Choose Share --> Desktop.

2. Select a user you want to share control with.

3. Click OK.

How do I distribute a WebEx Recording File?

When you record a WebEx meeting or presentation, it's saved in WebEx Recording File (.wrf) format. You have a few options for saving or sending these files to others. You can save the file, along with the WebEx Player, which is required in order to play .wrf files, on a CD, or send the file by e-mail.

To send a .wrf file to CD, first download the WebEx Player from your WebEx site by choosing Support and scrolling to the Record/Playback section of the page. Add the .wrf files and player executable file to your CD.

To send a .wrf file by e-mail, follow these steps:

1. Create a new e-mail and include in the body the message that recipients will have to install the WebEx Player to view the files.

2. Include a link to the WebEx Player on your company's WebEx site so the recipients can go there to download it.

3. Using the Attach feature of your e-mail program, attach the .wrf files.

The link to download the WebEx Player typically looks something like this: company_name.webex.com/client/latest/atplay.exe.

How do I invite attendees from within a WebEx meeting?

Sometimes you're in the middle of a meeting and you realize Bob Whatshisname from Accounting really should have been invited. You can invite him during a meeting easily by following these steps:

1. Choose Participant --> Invite.

2. Select the By E-mail option.

3. Enter the invitee's e-mail address in the dialog box that appears and click the Send Invitation button.

Can I start a meeting before the scheduled start time?

A host can start a meeting at any time before the scheduled start time. There are two possibilities here:

If starting the meeting a significant amount of time before the scheduled start time, for example the day before or an hour before, once the host starts the meeting, only then will attendees have the option to join it. Basically it's like the host unlocking the meeting room door prior to the meeting for attendees to enter on their own accord.

If the host has allowed people to join, say, 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time in setting the meeting up, people can join early, but no earlier than the time increment the host has designated (in this example, 15 minutes before schedule start time).

Why did my connection get interrupted?

WebEx provides a really reliable connection thanks to the WebEx MediaTone network, so you might have to take the blame if you lost a connection. Doing any of these things could interrupt your connection:

Refreshing the Web page

Typing in another URL

Clicking the Back or Forward buttons

The bad news: If you do one of these actions and your connection is lost, you'll have to close all open browser windows and join the meeting all over again. The good news: This only takes a minute or so to do.

What is the difference between a call in and call out teleconference?

Essentially, getting involved in a teleconference can happen in a couple of ways. A participant can call a number to access an online meeting, or the WebEx service can call out to attendees to hook them up with the meeting. The host makes this choice when scheduling a meeting.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/exploring-frequently-asked-questions-about-webex.html

How to Set Up an iPad PC-Free

It is now possible to set up and use an iPad without involving a computer. Unless your iPad is brand spanking new, and fresh out of the box, chances are you’ve performed these steps before. If you choose to use your iPad “PC free,” these steps comprise the entire setup process.

Some tasks that are easy using iTunes on your Mac or PC are difficult or impossible on a stand-alone, PC-free iPad.

Follow these steps to set up a new iPad without connecting it to a Mac or PC:

Turn the iPad on or wake it if it’s sleeping.

The first thing you see on a new iPad is the Language Selection screen.

Tap the name of the language you want this iPad to use and move to the next screen.

Tap the blue arrow button in the upper-right corner to advance to the next screen.

Tap your country or region and then tap Next.

Tap to enable or disable Location Services and then tap Next.

Location Services is your iPad’s way of knowing where, precisely, you are geographically. The Maps app, for example, relies on Location Services to determine where in the world you are.

You can turn Location Services on or off globally or for individual apps in Settings.

Tap to choose a Wi-Fi network, provide a password if necessary, and then tap the blue Join button. Then tap Next.

Tap Sign In with Your Apple ID or tap Create a Free Apple ID. Then tap Next.

If you have an Apple ID, sign in with it here; if you don’t have one, tap the Create a Free Apple ID button. If you tap Skip This Step and proceed without supplying an Apple ID, you can’t take advantage of myriad excellent and free features. Obtain an Apple ID if you don’t already have one because you’ll need it to take advantage of iCloud.

If you have an existing MobileMe account (iCloud’s predecessor), you must first move your existing mail, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks from MobileMe to iCloud by visiting www.me.com and logging in.

Tap the blue Agree button in the lower-right corner to agree to the terms and conditions.

What happens if you disagree? You don’t want to know. And, of course, you won’t be able to use your iPad.

Tap Automatically Send or tap Don’t Send to either send or not send anonymous diagnostic and usage data to Apple. Then tap Next.

Tap Start Using iPad to start using your iPad.

Your iPad’s Home screen appears in all its glory.

If you’re a PC-free iPad, that’s the end of the story. Instead of using iTunes on your Mac or PC, you’ll have to make do with the available options in specific apps and in the Settings app.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-set-up-an-ipad-pcfree.html

How to Speed Up Windows 7 on a Laptop or an Older PC

Both Windows Vista and Windows 7 love slick graphics, but all those smooth edges, dimensional effects, and fancy colors can bog down a laptop or an older PC. Follow these steps to speed up Windows 7.

The process involves striping away the eye-candy, but the result will be a much faster and more efficient Windows experience.

Click the Start button, right-click the Computer icon, and choose Properties.

The Computer icon lives on the Start menu’s right side.

Click Advanced System Settings, found in the window’s left pane.

You may need to type a password from an Administrator account to enter this mysterious settings area.

In the Performance area, click the Settings button, click the Adjust For Best Performance button, and click OK.

These steps revert your system to the look of previous Windows versions that didn’t rely so heavily on fancy graphics. To return to Windows 7’s normal look, repeat the steps, but in Step 3, click the button called Let Windows Choose What’s Best For My Computer.

When the final panel asks you to sign up for a Windows Live ID, ignore what it says and click Close.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-speed-up-windows-7-on-a-laptop-or-an-older-.html

Key Components of Microsoft SQL Server

The Microsoft SQL Server product is made up of four primary components, three of them sporting acronyms. Use this list to identify the components of SQL Server and tell them apart.

Database Engine: This part of SQL Server actually creates and drives relational databases.

SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS): SSAS is the data-analysis component of SQL Server. It can create OLAP (OnLine Analytical Processing) cubes — sophisticated programming objects for organizing data inside a relational database — and do data mining (pulling relevant data out of a database in response to an ad-hoc question).

SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS): SSRS is a component of SQL Server that provides reporting regardless of a database’s operating system.

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS): SSIS is a component of SQL Server that does the Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process that cleans up and formats raw data from source systems for inclusion in the database as ready-to-use information.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/key-components-of-microsoft-sql-server.html

How to Microchip Your Goat for Easy Identification

If you live in a state that doesn't require identification, you don't have to permanently identify unregistered goats. If you get a registered goat, it should already have a microchip or tattoo, and if you want to register a goat that is eligible for one of the registries, you will be required to permanently identify it to prove that the goat is who you say it is. You also may want to permanently identify your goats even if you aren't required to. You never know when you might have to prove that they're yours — if they get lost or stolen, for example.

Microchips come in sterile, individual injectors that look like a large syringe and needle. Each is sealed, has a unique number, and includes several stick-on labels imprinted with the number. The microchips can be read only with a special microchip reader.

The best place to insert the microchip is in the tail web (the loose, hairless area under the tail on either side of the anus). Always use the left side to make finding the microchip easier.

You need a cotton ball, some rubbing alcohol, a microchip in its injector, a microchip reader, and registration papers and/or another form to record the number. (A reader is not required for microchipping, but by having one, you avoid the small chance of error in recording the number.)

Here are the steps you take to microchip your goat:

Get your supplies together.

Remove the microchip injector from its container, being careful to keep the needle up so the chip doesn't fall out, and scan it. Confirm that the number scanned is identical to the number on the stick-on labels.

Secure the goat on a milk stand or have a helper hold the goat on her lap.

If you're using a helper, have her hold the goat with the head to one side, the legs secured between her legs, and her arm wrapped around the goat's side holding the tail up. She can hold the legs with the other hand for more stability.

Clean the insertion area with alcohol.

If you have a goat that may have been microchipped previously, scan the area several times to verify that no chip is implanted.

Insert the needle just under the loose skin for several inches, pressing upward at a nearly parallel angle.

Press the plunger until it stops.

Remove the needle and apply pressure for a few minutes at the injection site to prevent the microchip from coming out and to stop any bleeding.

Scan to locate the implanted microchip.

Verify the number against the stick-on labels. Place a label on your form and registration papers, if applicable, and record the animal's name.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-microchip-your-goat-for-easy-identification.html

How to Deal with Toxic Employees

Because negativity and toxicity spread like germs in the workplace, you need to recognize the characteristics of the toxic worker. Whether it’s gossip, unconstructive criticism, drama, bitterness, constant complaining, or blaming others, toxicity can be as harmful to your workplace as germs can be to your body. If your organization is suffering from lower productivity, lower emotional intelligence, lack of enthusiasm, personal agendas, or loss of key employees, it may be time for detox.

Discovering what makes people toxic is the key to creating a better work environment. Anytime a person feels so uncomfortable that he needs to be toxic in order to function, the fight or flight response is in effect — he is in a survival mode.

A toxic person’s behavior interferes with her own work and the work of others. The following are some possible causes of toxicity:

Not understanding the company’s vision

Having become disconnected from the purpose of the organization

An unfulfilled need to connect with others

Nonexistent emotional intelligence skills

Problems at home

Feeling underappreciated

To begin detoxing your business, work to uncover the root problems of the negativity by opening the lines of communication. Speak individually with each person who is bringing negativity to the workplace, and speak to those who are caught in that negativity and may be spreading it as a result. Take the time to find out what they feel is expected of them and reiterate your expectations. Clarify and emphasize your vision. Show them where they fit into your vision and your mission. Find out how things are for them at home. Offer counseling or other resources if the problem does stem from somewhere outside the office.

After you have face-to-face conversations with the toxic people in your company, meet with each team or department. Review your vision and your mission at the beginning of every meeting. If you find that other employees don't know where they fit in, begin individual meetings with everyone, both toxic and nontoxic. Make your presence known throughout your organization. Be present. Observe. Listen.

As you look for solutions, note that you may be part of the problem. Are you modeling the behavior you want to see? Are your words or actions negative? Meet with the executive team and discuss the problem. Make sure that they have an opportunity to speak up if they’re having difficulty with expectations, purpose, or next steps.

Just as toxic people spread their negativity in the workplace, they may also spread it to their mentors. Choose strong mentors who understand the problem. Be certain that the mentors have strong positive attitudes and can explain to the toxic mentee that he’s valued and how he fits into the vision and mission of the organization.

But, on the bright side, the ripple effect works both ways. Just as negativity spreads throughout the company, so too can a positive attitude. If your employees know that you are going to look into this problem and do something about it, they will be willing to work with you.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-deal-with-toxic-employees.html

Getting Your Game Published

Millions of people still like 2-D games despite the "coolness" factor that you get with 3-D. People who play 2-D don't care whether a game is 2-D, 3-D, or virtual reality; if it's fun, they'll play it. If you want to write serious games and have a chance to market them, know the competition and make sure that you pick a game genre that you have a chance at as a beginning designer. After you do that, then try self-publishing your program.

So, you've written your first game, and you want to publish it yourself. The process isn't that complicated. First, make sure that the game is solid (bug-free) and has a simple installation and setup. Then compress all the game files into one archive file with WinZip (or a similar product) or self-extracting .EXE. Also, in your game files, include these documents (in simple MS-DOS ASCII format):

VENDOR.DOC: This file describes what your terms are for other people to distribute your game. For example, someone in another country may want to put your game on a CD bundle, so use this document to specify the conditions they must agree to.

FILEID.DIZ: This file is read by BBSs (bulletin board systems) as a short description of your game. Limit this document to a few lines of information about you and the product.

ORDER.DOC: If you want to sell your game and get money for it, use this file to provide ordering information.

README.TXT: This standard READ ME file contains information that you want the user to read before using your program. Typically, you include last-minute changes, bug fixes, and other similar notes.

Now that your game is ready to go, the quickest way to get it out there is to upload it to as many BBSs as possible and create a Web page for it (if you have your own Web site). This way, people can get access to your game. In addition, it won't hurt you to buy some shareware CDs and call the producers of the CDs to see if they'll put your game on their next CD.

Next, you must decide on a price for your game; don't be too expensive, but don't be too cheap. A good price range is usually $39 to $49, and that amount is commensurate with most other games. Don't sell your game for $5. It's guaranteed that everyone will think that it's bad —after all, how could anything that's just five bucks be any good?

Getting the money is the next problem. At first, you probably can only handle checks or money orders, unless you have a credit card merchant account. If you do decide to have people send you checks, get a post office box so that you don't divulge your street address. Additionally, you can use PayPal or Yahoo! PayDirect to do simple e-commerce for you.

However, you can contract a company to handle e-commerce for you. The company's staff takes credit card orders, allows people to download your product from their site, and sends the money to you once a month. The cost for these services ranges from free to up to a 50 percent commission on the profits, so shop around! Here are a couple of companies you can try:

RegNow

SoftWrap

If you have an Internet account, create a Web site for your company and place your product on the Web for downloading. Don't worry if you can't afford a full-blown domain name and 50MB Web site with CGI scripts and FrontPage extensions. Most Internet accounts include 3MB to 5MB for a personal Web site that you can put your game on for free. The address may look something like www.provider.com/~you, but that's life. And of course, you can use free Web hosting services running under providers such as Yahoo! GeoCities, but the ads that are displayed to the customer are annoying, so use a real Web site.

To do everything by the book, start up a small sole proprietorship and get a business license and bank account. Starting a small company costs anywhere from $30 to hundreds of dollars per year, depending on your state. The bank account is usually free to open for sole proprietorships (a small fee or initial deposit for some banks). Call your local county clerk's office or Chamber of Commerce to find out about your local laws. You may want to consult a tax advisor or read a good book on the subject before you do anything.

That's it. Write the game, make a .ZIP file with the added information and ordering documents, then upload your game to every site you can (start by searching for game sites on the Web and link from there). Try these Web sites:

Happy Puppy

CNET

Download.com

The Adrenaline Vault

In addition, you may want to download or purchase a Web spider or bot that uploads your information to hundreds of Web sites for you! You can find a number of spiders or bots just by typing bot or spider into your favorite search engine.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/getting-your-game-published.html

Noise Gates in Home Recording Music

A noise gate is basically the opposite of the limiter. Rather than limiting how loud a note can get, the gate limits how soft a note can get. The gate filters out sound below the threshold while allowing notes above it to pass through unaffected.

Gates are useful to filter out unwanted noise that may be present in the recording environment. A classic place to use gates is when you record drums. You can set the gate to filter any sound (other drums for instance) except for the sounds resulting from the hits to the particular drum that you have miked.

The following settings are similar to the ones for compressors/limiters:

Threshold: The threshold sets the level (in dB) at which the gate opens (stops filtering the signal). The gate allows all signals above the threshold setting to pass through unaffected, whereas signals below the threshold setting are reduced by the amount set by the range control.

Attack: As with the compressor/limiter, the attack time sets the rate at which the gate opens (in milliseconds). Fast attacks work well for instruments with, well, fast attacks, such as drums, whereas slow attacks are better suited for instruments with slow attacks, like vocals.

For the most part, try to match the gate’s attack time with that of the instrument you’re gating. If you don’t do this well, you may hear a click when the signal crosses the gate’s threshold. This is generally a result of having the attack set too slow for the instrument. Adjust the attack time until this click goes away.

Hold: The hold setting controls the amount of time that the gate stays open after the signal drops below the threshold. After the hold time is reached, the gate closes abruptly. This parameter is listed in milliseconds (ms). The hold parameter allows you to get the gated drum sound that was so popular in the 1980s (Phil Collins, anyone?).

Release: The release setting dictates the rate at which the gate closes after the signal hits the threshold (listed in milliseconds). Unlike the hold feature, the release setting doesn’t close abruptly; rather, it slowly closes (according to the release setting). This produces a more natural sound.

You should set the release time so that it matches the natural decay time of the instrument. Otherwise, you can get a clipped-off sound. (If you want the clipped-off sound, use the Hold feature.)

Range: The range is similar to the ratio setting on the compressor except you choose the amount (in dB) that you want the gate to attenuate (reduce) the signal. For example, a setting of 40dB drops signals below the threshold setting by 40 decibels.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/noise-gates-in-home-recording-music.html

How to Lock MacBook Files

Every MacBook owner needs to know how to protect files and folders from accidental deletion or editing. By locking a file, you allow it to be opened and copied — but not changed, renamed, or sent to the Trash. Locked items appear in the Finder with a small padlock attached to the icon.

To lock or unlock a file, you have to have ownership of the file. But on a MacBook where you’ve configured only one administrator account, you should already have ownership.

If you’re considering changing the ownership of a system-owned file, don’t do it. You could throw a serious monkey wrench into your Lion system.

To lock a file, follow this procedure:

Display the Info dialog for the item.

Select the Locked check box to enable it.

The Locked check box is in the General section of the dialog.

Close the Info dialog to save your changes.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-lock-macbook-files.html

Move to HTML5 and CSS 3 for Web Design

When planning a new web design, remember that many different versions of HTML are now in use on the web. All the most recent versions work in the iOS (Apple’s operating system on the iPhone and iPad), so you have to decide which one to use.

Many are diving into HTML5 because they think that the upside of all the new features is too good to wait for and they believe that the W3C is right in making HTML5 the next standard.

If you’re concerned about anyone who visits your site using an older web browser, such as Internet Explorer 7 or 8, keep this point in mind: Older browsers don’t display the new features of HTML5 or the new styles in CSS 3. As a general rule, if a browser doesn’t understand a new tag, it ignores it, so if you design your pages well, you can create designs that degrade gracefully.

For example, if you use the new text drop shadow features in CSS 3, you see drop shadows around your text in the Safari browser on an iPad but no drop shadows in IE7 on a Windows computer. As long as the text is still readable in IE7, it’s worth adding the enhancements, such as text drop shadows, that CSS 3 brings to newer browsers.

Similarly, most designs that work well on the Apple iOS on an iPhone or iPad also look good on phones and tablets that run the Google Android operating system, because the browsers on most Android devices also support many HTML5 and CSS 3 features.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/move-to-html5-and-css-3-for-web-design.html

Factors that Affect Tone in Singing

The shape and size of your body and your body coordination partly determine your tone. In addition, your tone changes with your moods or emotions. Check out the following list for factors that affect tone:

Body coordination: Coordinating the muscles in the body is important for creating lovely tone for singing. That coordination includes breath coordination, alignment, and articulation.

Emotions: Your emotions directly affect the tone of voice. You know when someone is happy or sad by the tone of voice. When you’re acting, you want to tap into your emotions so that the tone of your voice reflects the story you’re telling. Of course, it’s also possible to go overboard and let the emotions overtake you.

If you go too far emotionally, you end up crying and won’t be able to sing your song. Or maybe you’ll be so angry that you tense up and can’t sing well. Using your emotions is good, but allowing emotions to overtake you isn’t good.

Work on singing exercises to develop your technique. When your technical skill is solid, you’ll be able to maintain your technique even during the more emotional sections of your song.

Shape and size of your head and throat: If your mouth and throat are small, you have smaller vocal cords and probably a higher voice type. Singers with large mouths and heads tend to have bigger voices and can make bigger sounds.

Size of your body: Singers with a big, round chest tend to have a large lung capacity for nailing those high notes. You don’t need to have a big body to sing well, though — good singers come in all shapes and sizes.

Space: The amount of space you open for tone to resonate is a key element in the tone of your voice. If the space is tight, the tone is tight. If the space is open, the tone has room to resonate.

Tension: Even body parts far from your singing voice need to be free of tension to keep the tone of the voice free.

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/factors-that-affect-tone-in-singing.html

Finding the Wind's Direction

The world of sailing revolves around the wind. Your boat can't go anywhere without wind (unless you fire up the engine, which, at this point, would be cheating).

But before you head out to sea, you need to keep safety in mind. Whether you're an old salt or a beginning sailor, being safe on your boat is integral to enjoying the sport. Remember that no sailor should go out in conditions that exceed his or her ability. A beginner's first sail should be in light to moderate wind conditions in protected waters. Furthermore, the best and safest way to start sailing is to take instruction from an experienced and qualified individual. As you grow in experience, you can expand your limits.

Assessing the wind's direction is of utmost importance to a sailor. The wind's direction is a sailor's North Star, the center of his sailboat's universe. Where he goes, how he trims his sails, whether the ride is wet or dry, fast or slow — all these depend on the wind and its direction.

The wind changes all the time, and your ability to accurately sense changes in the wind speed and direction is the single most valuable skill you bring aboard a sailboat. Increasing your sensitivity and awareness of the wind is the first step in becoming a sailor.

Feeling the wind

The best way to track the wind is simply to feel it. Your body, especially your face, can feel the exact direction of the wind if you just let it. Here's how:

Close your eyes and turn your face until you think that the wind is blowing straight at you. Rotate your head back and forth slightly until you sense that the wind is blowing equally hard across each side of your face, and the "sound" of the wind is the same in each ear.

Practice "feeling" the wind whenever you can. The wind can keep shifting direction and strength. A key to sailing is staying aware of the wind's changes.

Using other clues to find the wind

Besides feeling the wind, you can look around and see clues to the wind's direction. A flag or wind vane on top of a mast can show the wind direction, and so can a flapping sail, which waves in the wind like a flag. On your own boat, short pieces of yarn or cassette tape tied to the shrouds, the wire rigging supporting the mast, can provide crucial information about the wind's direction. Also look for sailboats under way or anchored boats that point at the wind (except in strong currents). Another way to see the wind direction is to look at the ripples on the water. Watch the movement of a darker patch of water caused by a puff of wind. Seagulls stand facing into the wind, and cows point their behinds into the wind — but unless you're sailing next to a farm, this bit of trivia is probably useless.

After you gain more experience, you're also able to assess the wind speed by looking at the water. For example, whitecaps generally begin to form on waves at 12 knots of wind speed. Being able to gauge the wind strength is important for safety, because beginning sailors should head for shore if the wind is above 12 knots (unless you have an instructor on board).

If you find yourself getting overwhelmed by which rope to pull and what to call a piece of equipment, relax and just feel the wind on your face. A sailor's world revolves around the wind, and you're becoming a sailor.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/finding-the-winds-direction.html

Figuring Out What XML Is Good For

Case studies of XML never fail to mention new and exciting possibilities where XML adds value to existing environments — or solves previously intractable problems. That's probably why XML applications are widely used for everything from displaying chemical formulas to setting up a family tree. So how can you use the power of XML?

Classifying information

One of the more useful functions of XML involves classifying information. To see how this would work, imagine yourself in the business of selling books.

Books can be classified in many ways, but we kind of like the following classification scheme:

Title

Author

Publisher

Price

Content Type (Fiction, Nonfiction)

Format (Paperback, Hardback)

ISBN

Using XML, you can create tags to classify this information. The following code shows a possible XML format for one book:

<book>
<title>Night Fall</title>
<author>Demille, Nelson</author>
<publisher>Warner</publisher>
<price>$26.95</price>
<contentType>Fiction</contentType>
<format>Hardback</format>
<isbn>0446576638</isbn>
</book>

Giving your tags meaningful names that actually reflect the content makes it easier to work with the information.

Classifying the information as shown here makes it possible for you to search for — and retrieve — any item with ease. For example, after the information on all the books for your imaginary book business is collected and tucked away in XML format, you can create a list of all the authors — or authors and titles, or titles and ISBNs, whatever information you want to access. (Talk about power at your fingertips!)

Enforcing rules on your data

XML excels at allowing you to create rules for the format of your data. Using either Document Type Definitions (DTDs) or XML Schemas to validate your data gives you two immediate advantages:

It helps ensure the accuracy of the information you collect.

It helps ensure that the information gathered is in the most usable format for your business needs.tabmark

Outputting information in a variety of ways

Outputting your data means releasing it from its storage locker — presumably somewhere inside the guts of your computer — and getting it to some other place where it can be a bit more useful. The great thing about XML documents is that they're not limited to any particular form of output; they can end up in a variety of different places, in whatever form is appropriate — for example, in a database, a computer monitor, a printer, or a PDA.

XML documents are at home in a wide range of processes. The phrase post-processing was practically tailor-made for XML; it means taking information from a document and using it in some other process or program. For example, suppose you receive a purchase order in the form of an XML document. An application that understands XML purchase orders can use that data to determine which items (and in what quantities) have been ordered — and can even send instructions to another piece of software to generate a pick list so the order can be picked, packed, and shipped from the warehouse.

In many cases, XML documents are used with stylesheets to provide high-quality output on-screen. You can use the same data, however, to send information to a speech-synthesis program that reads the text to a person who is vision impaired. Alternatively, that same data might also create output on a Braille reader. The same document with a layout program and a stylesheet also might be used for high-quality printouts.

The beauty of this concept is that you never need to fuss and fidget with the XML data to create output for different devices. You need only use different pieces of software that can read XML and can provide the output for a particular format or output device.

Using the same data across platforms

The good news looks, at first, like no news: XML documents are not specific to any particular platform or programming language. Okay, why is that something to e-mail home about? Think versatility. Suppose you want to exchange database information across the Web — say, use a Web browser to send information from a user questionnaire back to a Web server. To accomplish this task (and many others), you need a document format that is

Extensible: An extensible format is one that can be tailored or customized for specific applications.

Open: It's well documented and widely available.

Nonproprietary: It's expressed in an accepted or standard form of notation that isn't the exclusive property of some individual, company, or organization.

These characteristics enable the document to adapt to changing conditions, to take best advantage of the work of others, and to avoid incurring extra expense or legal liability.

Guess what? XML meets all three requirements for a document format for exchanging data — it's open, extensible, and nonproprietary. No surprise, then, that XML is the best choice for data exchange; those three magic characteristics make it a handy, consistent way to hand data around among multiple applications and multiple platforms with the most efficiency and least hassle.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/figuring-out-what-xml-is-good-for.html

How to Make Gluten-Free French Baguettes

When was the last time you bit into a piece of really good French bread with a light, soft, airy center and a crunchy crust? If you don’t tolerate gluten, it’s probably been a while.

This bread is perfect for making French toast, bread pudding, and stuffing mix because the center is porous. If you like, sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the dough before baking.

Tools: Electric mixer

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Rising time: 40 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Yield: 2 baguettes (10 slices per loaf)

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup sorghum flour

1 1/3 cups gluten-free flour mixture (scroll down for the recipe)

2 tablespoons light flaxseed meal

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried onion flakes

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 egg, at room temperature

2 egg whites, at room temperature

3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)

Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. When the oven reaches that temperature, turn it off.

Place the cornstarch, sorghum flour, gluten-free flour mixture, flaxseed meal, salt, garlic powder, onion flakes, sugar, and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Blend the ingredients together with a whisk.

Stir in the vinegar, honey, oil, egg, and egg whites.

Stir in the warm water last.

Turn on the mixer and slowly increase the speed to high. Beat the ingredients for 4 minutes.

Spray the cooking spray on a large baking sheet.

Divide the dough in half. Place half of the dough on one side of the baking sheet. The dough will be very sticky.

With wet hands, form the dough into a long, thin loaf approximately 11 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide.

Repeat Step 8 with the remaining dough, placing it on the other side of the baking sheet.

Cover the loaves with a sheet of wax paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and let the dough rise for 40 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

If you want a crisp crust, stir 1/2 teaspoon of salt into 1/4 cup of water and brush it on top of the loaves. For a hard crust, brush the loaves again with this mixture halfway through baking.

Bake the loaves at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until golden and baked through.

Per slice: Calories: 94; Total fat: 2g; Saturated fat: 0g; Cholesterol: 11mg; Sodium: 126mg; Carbohydrates: 17g; Fiber: 1g; Sugar: 2g; Protein: 2g.

Gluten-free flour mixture

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Yield: 5 cups

2 1/2 cups rice flour

1 cup potato starch flour

1 cup tapioca flour

1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 1/2 tablespoons xanthan gum

1.Sift all the ingredients into a large bowl.

2.Stir ingredients together with a whisk.

3.Spoon the mixture into a self-seal freezer bag and freeze until needed.

Per 1/4 cup: Calories: 138; Total fat: 0g; Saturated fat: 0g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 1mg; Carbohydrates: 32g; Fiber: 2g; Sugar: 0g; Protein: 1g.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-make-glutenfree-french-baguettes.html

Controlling How Payroll Works in QuickBooks 2011

You can control and set various payroll settings in QuickBooks 2011 with the Payroll & Employees Preferences, which includes Company Preferences. The QuickBooks Payroll Features radio buttons let you tell QuickBooks how you want to handle payroll: using an outside payroll service such as Intuit Complete Payroll (select Complete Payroll Customers in this case), using QuickBooks payroll features (select the Full Payroll radio button), or not using payroll at all (select the No Payroll radio button).

The Pay Stub & Voucher Printing button lets you tell QuickBooks what employee information to print on the payroll check: employee address, company address, sick pay information, vacation pay information, and pay period information.

The Workers Compensation button lets you fiddle with the way that QuickBooks tracks information related to your workers' compensation tax. The Sick and Vacation button lets you fine-tune how QuickBooks monitors employee sick and vacation pay accrual and usage. Click either of these buttons to see information about how the button works.

In roughly the middle of the Company Preferences tab of the Payroll & Employees Preferences set, QuickBooks supplies several other check boxes and radio buttons:

Copy Earnings Details from Previous Paycheck: Pretty self-explanatory.

Recall Quantity Field on Paychecks: QuickBooks recalls or reuses paycheck quantity information from the last pay period's paychecks.

Recall Hours on Paychecks: QuickBooks fills in the same number of paycheck hours from the last pay period's paychecks.

Job Costing, Class and Item Tracking for Paycheck Expenses: QuickBooks lets you track payroll expenses not just by account, but by job, class, or item.

The Assign One Class Per radio buttons (Entire Paycheck and Earnings Item): You can indicate that you want to use a different class for each item that appears on an employee's paycheck.

The Display Employee List By radio buttons let you choose how employee lists are sorted on reports — by first name or by last name.

If you click the Employee Defaults button, QuickBooks displays a dialog box that you can use to set employee payroll default information, such as deductions for taxes or health insurance.

Finally, at the bottom of the dialog box, QuickBooks provides two other options for handling payroll. The Mark New Employees as Sales Reps check box and the Display Employee Social Security Numbers in Headers on Reports check box, if selected, do exactly what you'd expect.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/controlling-how-payroll-works-in-quickbooks-2011.navId-410521.html

Soldering 101

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Create Natural Light for Close-Up Photography

In some cases the type of natural light you have isn’t the one you want for your close-up subject or your message. This is nothing to worry about, so long as you’re prepared with field lighting equipment.

Natural light is a readily available source that’s free, reliable, and beautiful. Too bad you can’t always rely on the sun or the weather to do exactly what you want. There are some tips and tricks that professional macro and close-up photographers use to manipulate, enhance, and redefine natural light so it works best for you.

Redirecting direct sun

If the sun is out and shining, but it’s coming from the wrong direction for your subject (often the problem in the middle of the day when it sits high in the sky), you might need to block the sun from your subject and create a more flattering direction for it.

In this case, you need at least two pieces of equipment to redirect the sun: a piece of cardboard or foam core (known as a black flag, or a gobo) to block the sun from your scene and a reflective surface to bounce sunlight back into your scene.

If you’re lucky enough to have a friend to help out, that person can hold the black flag and reflector in place. If not, you have to use grip to hold these materials in position. If you’re by yourself and have no grip to work with, then a third option is to set your camera’s 10-second timer and handhold the two items in place.

You can use this same method (without having to block the sunlight from your subject) when your subject is positioned in open shade and you want to get some sunlight on it.

Creating a softer light without waiting for clouds

Clouds have a knack for coming when you don’t want them and disappearing when you need them. In some parts of the world the weather may be fairly predictable, but even so, a professional never relies on the weather unless it’s absolutely necessary.

To photograph a subject in soft, diffused light, you should never have to wait for the clouds. If the sun is out and shining, place a diffusion scrim between the sun and your subject to soften the light. In macro and close-up photography a small scrim will suffice.

Diffusion materials come in a variety of strengths, enabling you to determine the quality and intensity of your light. A scrim with a thicker cloth produces a less intense and softer light, while a scrim with a thinner cloth produces a brighter and less diffused light.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/create-natural-light-for-closeup-photography.html

Measure Strategic Plan Success with Performance Management Systems

After you have a strategic plan in place, a powerful tool to monitor your progress and communicate company direction is performance management software. Before you choose a system for managing performance, you want to make sure that you’ll get the most out of it. In order to make the most of your software, you need to avoid some common strategy pitfalls by putting in place some of the following time-honored business practices.

Executive sponsorship: Leadership teams must use and support your performance management software or it can become just another IT program.

Accountability: Expensive performance management software doesn’t ensure success; implementation of your plan depends on solid accountability.

Process first: The software just supports the strategic management process, so put a process in place and hold those monthly strategy review meetings.

Rollout training: Instead of buying a system and expecting it to work, a plan must be in place to encourage adoption and manage the system for success.

Performance management applications or systems come in many shapes and colors. Regardless of your final choice, note that you’ll need to select some type of system to manage your plan if you plan to drive toward continuous execution. Largely, organizations adopt the system that’s the best fit for the corporate culture and IT strategy.

With that in mind, use the following potential options as a guide to help determine what’s best for your organization right now.

Spreadsheets: For small plans, you can use spreadsheets or word documents. Consider creating one document that’s your strategic plan and a second document that highlights the progress of your strategic plan. A fatal flaw is producing too many documents.

Web-based applications: For medium- to larger-size plans with multiple teams and/or departments, use a web-based application for easy access to all planning components. Great systems include MyStrategicPlan.com, Rhythm, Active Strategy, and Executive Strategy Manager (ESM).

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) modules: For organizations that have an ERP system in place, use the strategic management model that’s already built-in. Although the deployment can be lengthy and difficult to secure IT resources, the outcome will be stronger because of the direct link to the underlying data. Market-leading ERP systems with these models include SAP, MS Dynamics, and Oracle.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/measure-strategic-plan-success-with-performance-ma.html

Sizing Up Fuel Source Choices

When assessing energy sources, you can’t simply say, nonrenewable energy is bad and renewable is good. Each source has its pros and cons, which means that this green issue isn’t a black-and-white choice. Sustainable energy issues to mull over include:

Cost: It doesn’t matter how beneficial an energy source is for the environment if it costs so much extra that it’s no longer affordable. However, if the additional cost for environmentally friendly energy is only a small amount and you can afford it, it’s worth paying. Supporting government initiatives that fund alternative energy research and technology development is one way to help bring costs down.

Practicality: Some alternative energy sources, such as hydrogen fuel cells, aren’t yet at the point where they’re practical for everyday use. In other cases, an energy source may not be available in your area because of climate limitations (solar and wind power aren’t practical in all geographic areas, for example).

Environmental impact: It’s important to go beyond the issue of greenhouse gas emissions to assess all the environmental issues involved in energy sources. Hydro power, for example, is green in terms of greenhouse gas emissions but can create other problems in terms of the flooding needed for reservoirs and the challenges that dams pose for fish.

Life cycle issues: Energy sources need to be assessed on a cost, practicality, and environmental viewpoint from their initial construction, through their energy-producing life, to their eventual decommissioning and dismantling. Nuclear power, for example, is considered relatively clean in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, but mining for its fuel — uranium — and dealing with its radioactive waste is expensive, energy intensive, and potentially harmful to the environment.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/sizing-up-fuel-source-choices.html

Buying Basic Beagle Supplies

Equip your home for your Beagle’s arrival by picking up the right puppy gear. These pet supplies will help the homecoming go more smoothly for both you and your dog.

Dog crate

Baby gates and/or exercise pen

Dog dishes

Dog food

Collar and leash

Grooming gear including a brush, nail clippers, doggy toothbrush and toothpaste, doggy shampoo

Plastic bags to pick up poop

Pet stain cleaner

A doggy first aid kit

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/buying-basic-beagle-supplies.html

Cisco Networking: Static ARP Entry Managment

A static Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) entry is a permanent entry in your ARP cache. A static ARP entry can be managed from a Cisco device or a Windows workstation. Even though it is rarely called for, you can add or delete an entry from your cache.

One reason you may want to add static ARP entries is if you have two hosts that communicate with each other constantly throughout the day; by adding static ARP entries for both systems in each other’s ARP cache, you reduce some network overhead, in the form of ARP requests and ARP replies.

The additional management work you need to do in adding and maintaining static ARP cache entries usually exceeds the network bandwidth that you save because ARP traffic consumes very little bandwidth. To add a static ARP cache entry, simply use a command like this:

C:\>arp -s 192.168.1.30 20-cf-30-3a-f7-c9

This command creates a static entry in your ARP cache, so to start a communication session with the host that has a 192.168.1.30 IP address, you do not need to start the process with an ARP request; you already know the target host’s MAC address. If a similar ARP entry has not been added to the target host, the target host needs to send an ARP request to your computer to find out your MAC address.

After adding the static ARP entry, the ARP cache on your computer looks like this (notice the static entry that has been created):

C:\>arp -a
Interface: 192.168.1.137 --- 0x60005
  Internet Address      Physical Address      Type
  192.168.1.30          20-cf-30-3a-f7-c9     static
  192.168.1.254         00-1d-7e-f8-23-d6     dynamic

Communication with the host at 192.168.1.30 would work fine until the MAC address of the target computer changes, which could be because of a network card being changed or some other operation that changes the MAC address. When this happens, you need to delete the invalid ARP entry with an arp -d command, such as arp -d 192.168.1.30.

If you are using a Cisco router, it will also have an option to examine your ARP information. Connect to your Cisco router and enter Privileged EXEC mode. From here, you can run the command show arp to display your current ARP cache:

Router#show arp
Protocol  Address          Age (min)  Hardware Addr   Type   Interface
Internet  192.168.1.1             -   0005.32af.8d72  ARPA   Ethernet0

The preceding code shows that only the router’s own information is in the ARP cache, and thus that there have not been any other local devices talking to this router. Note the dash in the Age column, which indicates the age of the entry. The hyphen denotes that this entry will not age-out of the cache. If your router has been routing traffic for several computers, the ARP cache looks like this:

Router#show arp
Protocol  Address          Age (min)  Hardware Addr   Type   Interface
Internet  192.168.1.8             0   000c.2960.4479  ARPA   Ethernet0
Internet  192.168.1.1             -   0005.32af.8d72  ARPA   Ethernet0
Internet  192.168.1.3             2   0021.2f31.0c64  ARPA   Ethernet0
Internet  192.168.1.5            13   0022.15ba.931c  ARPA   Ethernet0
Internet  192.168.1.254           1   001d.7ef8.23d6  ARPA   Ethernet0

Unlike Windows workstations, which keep ARP entries for a maximum of ten minutes, the ARP entry on a Cisco router remains in the cache for four hours (240 minutes), which is not uncommon because routers tend to spend most of their time dealing with the same hosts. Each time there is a communication session with that device, the counter is reset to 0.

A router is often configured as a default gateway for network devices, which is why they see the same hosts communicating with that for most of a day, and as long as those hosts keep sending data through the router, they will remain in the ARP cache. For a router connected to large network segments, this would result in a rather large ARP listing or ARP table.

A large ARP table consumes more of the router’s memory, so the caching time (or age) that Cisco has chosen was the result of a tradeoff of memory consumed by the ARP cache versus ARP’s need for fresh MAC information.

Similar to the earlier discussion on using ARP for the workstation, there may be times when you want to specify a static ARP entry for a router. This can be done by entering Global Configuration mode. From that mode, the arp command looks like this:

Router(config)#arp 192.168.1.30 20cf.303a.f7c9 arpa

After typing that command, your ARP cache includes that IP-MAC address pair, which would not age-out of the cache. This can be seen by the dash in the Age column. Static ARP entries are not usually identified to an interface like the dynamic entries are.

Router#show arp
Protocol  Address          Age (min)  Hardware Addr   Type   Interface
Internet  192.168.1.1             -   0005.32af.8d72  ARPA   Ethernet0
Internet  192.168.1.30            -   20cf.303a.f7c9  ARPA

If you no longer need the entry, or if you need to change to something else, remove the original entry with the no arp command:

Router(config)#no arp 192.168.1.30

After removing the entry, you can re-run the show arp command to see that it has been removed from the table:

Router#show arp
Protocol  Address          Age (min)  Hardware Addr   Type   Interface
Internet  192.168.1.1             -   0005.32af.8d72  ARPA   Ethernet0

dummies

Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/cisco-networking-static-arp-entry-managment.html

Motorola Atrix For Dummies

Getting to know all of your Motorola Atrix 4G smartphone’s features might seem daunting, but you can use this handy Cheat Sheet to give you a great start. Get acquainted with the soft menu buttons and learn the layout of the Atrix 4G’s various home screens. Also check out a host of shortcuts, tips, and tricks, along with a listing of Atrix 4G Help and Support resources.

Atrix 4G Home Screens

The main screen on the Atrix 4G smartphone is called the Home screen, but not everything you have loaded on your phone can be displayed in just one screen. There are actually seven Home screens to choose from on the Atrix 4G:

Soft Buttons on the Atrix 4G Smartphone

The Atrix 4G features four soft buttons, found below the touchscreen. These are the buttons you will use the most on your new smartphone. The following table gives you a peek at what the buttons look like, what they’re called, and what it takes to make them perform their intended actions.

Atrix 4G Smartphone Touchscreen Operations

Your fingers — and a little know-how — is all you need to carry out a variety of day-to-day operations on your Atrix 4G’s touchscreen. With just a touch, here's what you can do with you Atrix smartphone:

Action	How to Do It
Touch	In this simple operation, you touch the screen. Generally, you’re touching an object, such as a program icon, a button, or a control (for example, a gizmo you use to slide something around).
Double-tap	Touch the screen in the same location twice. Double-tapping can be used to zoom in on an image or a map, but it can also zoom out. Because of the double-tap’s dual nature, you’ll probably find yourself using the pinch or spread operation instead.
Long-press	Touch and hold part of the screen. Some operations on the Atrix 4G, such as moving an icon on the Home screen, begin with a long-press.
Swipe	Start with your finger in one spot and then drag it to another spot. Usually, swipes are up, down, left, or right, which moves material displayed in the direction you swipe your finger. Swipes can be fast, flick-like actions, or they can be slow. This operation is also known as a flick.
Pinch	Start with your thumb and a finger separated, and then bring them together. The effect is used to reduce an image or a map. The pinch is used to zoom out.
Spread	In the opposite of a pinch, you start out with your thumb and a finger together and then spread them. The effect is used to enlarge an image or a map. The spread is used to zoom in.
Rotate	Place two fingers on the screen and turn them around a central point as if you’re turning a combination lock.

Atrix 4G Smartphone Tricks to Remember

You can perform several basic actions with just your voice or fingers on your Atrix 4G’s touchscreen. Consider your everyday operations with these smartphone options:

Dictation! You can speak into the phone as an effective, quick alternative to using the onscreen keyboard.

Use the Swype keyboard for rapid text entry.

Press and hold a key on the multitouch keyboard to confirm that your stubby fingers have selected the correct character.

Quickly put the Atrix 4G into vibration mode by pressing the Volume down button until the phone jiggles.

When you’re on the phone, press the power button to lock the phone and turn off the touchscreen.

After initially touching your finger on the screen, use the magnifier to precisely move and locate the cursor.

When downloading updates or new apps, or for faster Web browsing, activate the Atrix 4G’s Wi-Fi. This trick is particularly useful in areas where 3G or 4G wireless is not available or to avoid data surcharges.

Use the Search soft button to look for items on the phone, on the Internet, or in a specific app.

Atrix 4G Smartphone Help and Support

If you ever happen to find yourself in really serious phone trouble, here are a few of the trusted places to turn to for help with your Atrix 4G smartphone.

Motorola — (866) BUY-MOTO, which is (866) 289-6686

Atrix 4G support forum

AT&T — 611 (from your Atrix 4G)

Google support

Market Android support

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dummies

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