May 26th, 2011
When you’re trying to establish a professional identity, you need to be savvy about the various networking sites online and how they work. These are the places that people look these days when trying to find out more about a person. Each of the social and professional networking sites have different strengths. Understanding what those are, will help you in creating your online image.
- Facebook – Most people have a personal facebook page. If you are a professional in the arts or in business for yourself, you should also have a facebook page that focuses on you as the professional. It’s easy and its free.
- Linkedin – This is the premier business professional network site. Whether you are self-employed or a lead employee in your company, you should be listed and connected on Linkedin. It is the place where you make contacts with most anyone in the business world.
- Twitter – Creating a following on Twitter can bring you a surprising amount of recognition. This little sound bites called Tweets are the marketing tool of today.
- MySpace – Although MySpace is not in the news the way Facebook is today, it still is one of the largest social networks on the Web. You don’t want to overlook this opportunity. Make sure your information is available and up to date on your MySpace page.
- Ezine Articles – Posting Ezine articles about your niche can be a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field and also drive traffic to your website or blog.
- Manta – Manta is a directory listing of businesses and individuals in business. It ranks high in search engines and is free to join. Just another simple way to get your name noticed.
- Google Profiles – Where better to tell the world who you are, and what you want them to know about you, than right on Google itself. Fill in your information and allow Google to assist you in self-promotion.
- Social Harbor – This site will do the promotional networking for you. With a paid membership, they will make sure that you have profiles set up on all the major networking sites, and that they are all consistent.
- Visible Me – Visible.me was formally known as Naymz. It is a personal branding site that will assist you in establishing yourself consistently across the Web and also help you to connect with other members of their free service.
- Xing – This is a business and professional networking site established in Europe but with a very global outreach. If you’re looking to establish new connections within the global business community, this site provides you with a very large membership to draw from.
These are just the top ten sites for promotion on the web. There are plenty of other sites that target niche markets that you should also consider, as you attempt to establish your personal and professional brand.
Posted in HighSpeed | No Comments »
May 15th, 2011
Youtube videos can be very entertaining. Beautiful music, funny humor, amazing video captures of unexpected situations. But there are a few types of videos that really should be banned from the Youtube site for the sake of the rest of us.
- Infomercials – Really? Does anyone really want to watch super long commercials on the internet? By choice? Save the space on the internet and confine them to the television set.
- Boring rants – One person sitting in front of a video camera talking about nothing. What is the purpose of this? If it was funny or interesting, engaging in some way, that would be fine; but usually it isn’t. It’s just somebody who is bored that is willing to sharing his boring life with the rest of us.
- Miss-matched music – If you’re going to add background music to your video, at least pick something that fits the video. And if you’re adding still pictures behind music… make sure the pictures don’t continue on for 3 more minutes after the song is finished. These types of things should remain in the original practice folder on your computer, not be uploaded for the world’s displeasure.
- Videos of TV – Puhh-leeease! We’re very happy to know that you love that TV show, but uploading this to Youtube is not the way to share your joy. Start a blog and WRITE about it. Don’t waste video on it.
- Song Parodies – Of the thousands of these out there, there may be a handful that are worth watching; the rest are just ‘more of the same’. Song parodies are not unique. And parodies of parodies? Now that is just uncalled for.
- Animal Sex – Turtles seem to fascinate people, for some reason, there are way too many of those. But to make it simple, just ban the entire category, OK? Go visit a zoo or a barnyard, if that’s your thing.
- Teenagers making out – So you’re impressed that you can get a girl to mesh her lips with yours on camera. I know it does seem like a big deal at the time, but you teeny boppers all look alike. Post the video on your facebook wall if you like, but spare the public of Youtube.
- Dogs driving cars – Small dogs driving cars, large dogs driving cars, you can find them all on Youtube. And we all believe that the dogs are driving cars down the street. I’m afraid not.
- Videos of computer screens – This is similar to the video of the television screen, though maybe one step further into the idiot zone. If we are on the internet, we can find and view whatever it is you have found and are viewing. Join Stumbleupon and share the site. It’s much simpler.
- Graduation speeches – Yes, we know that you are SO PROUD of your valedictorian son/daughter; and that speech was pure genius. Save it for your next summer party and show it to your guests. They’ll be thrilled!
You probably have your own list of unnecessary wastes of Youtube’s cyberspace. Or…maybe, this is your list of favorites. To each their own, I guess.
Posted in HighSpeed | No Comments »
May 5th, 2011
Today, and back through the annals of time, the title of “World’s Fastest Human” has been revered, valued as highly as a claim to royalty. Does anybody remember who the King of Norway was during the 1930′s? Probably not, but ask which American athlete almost single-handedly took over the 1936 Summer Olympic Games Games, ostensibly a showcase for Hitler’s Germany, and the name “Jesse Owens” pops right out.
The cheetah is the fastest mammal on the planet, capable of short bursts in the 70mph range. Human sprinters, particularly 100-meter runners like Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, today’s “Fastest Human”, reach speeds of nearly 30mph. In the animal kingdom, that ranks us at about #30, comparable to house cats. For reference, the wildebeest clocks in at 50mph, an elk can hit 45mph, and then, of course, we have the Mongolian Wild Ass, capable of hitting the 40mph mark.
Top sprinters can live like royalty, too, and competition is fierce for the coveted spots among the elite. Hundredths-, even thousandths-, of-a-second, can be the razor-thin difference between riding the bus, and flying first-class. In order to gain the extra inch, and cut off a nano-second, athletes go to extraordinary lengths, some legal, others not-so-legal.
Performance Enhancing Drugs, or PEDS, are nothing new in the world of sports. Strychnine was used, with approval, in the 19th Century, to aid struggling Olympic marathon runners make it to the finish line. Ancient Greeks also used strychnine and hallucinogens to increase endurance.
Today, however, we have tried to establish a level field for competitors, after substance use and abuse warped that competition. Subsequent testing programs, along with severe penalties, have only slowed the use of these various substances.
Many great athletes, sprinters among them, have achieved great feats without the use of PEDS. So, which of our famous speedsters has retained the innocence we demand? We will discount un-founded rumor, presuming innocence til proven guilt, because no modern runner eludes the wide brush of innuendo.
- Usain Bolt: The aptly named Usain “Lightning” Bolt, current world-record holder, and reigning Olympic 100 metre champion, with a personal best time of 9.58 seconds.
- Asafa Powell: Powell held the world title for almost three years, lowering his own record twice, with a best time of 9.74.
- Tyson Gay: Gay has been running in the shadows of Bolt and Powell for a number of years,though he does own the second fastest 100 metre time in history, a blistering 9.69.
- Leroy Burrell: Twice set the world record, recording a 9.85 in 1994.
- Carl Lewis: Lewis ran 9.86 in 1991, and won 10 Olympic medals, for running and long-jumping.
- Calvin Smith: A contemporary of the more famous Carl Lewis, Smith was, nevertheless, one of the world’s top sprinters in the 1980′s, setting a world record 100 metre time of 9.93 in 1983
- Jim Hines: The first man to break the ten-second barrier, and he set a record time (9.95) in 1968, a record that stood for almost 15 years, until Smith broke the mark in 1983.
- Charles Greene: Greene ran in the same race that saw Jim Hines win, in record time, in 1968. Greene also dipped under ten-seconds in that race, in Sacramento, California. The race,known as “the Night of Speed”, also saw Ronnie Ray Smith, who finished third, break the til-then elusive ten-second mark.
- Bob Hayes: Known as “Bullet” Bob, Hayes set a 100 metre mark in the 1964 Olympics, and then went on to a Hall of Fame football career with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys
- Jesse Owens: In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Owens shined, winning four gold medals, which greatly annoyed Adolph Hitler, who had counted on the Olympics to be a triumphant display of Aryan supremacy.
We don’t know how much faster humans can run, but, doubtless, we will continue to idolize the great runners, whoever they are.
And the King of Norway from 1905-1957? He was the illustrious King Haakon VII.
Posted in HighSpeed | No Comments »
May 1st, 2011
According to speed-readers.com, the average reader is able to read approximately two words per second, or 120 words per minute. But with practice, readers have been able to increase their reading speed to upwards of 1,000 words per minute. The following is a list of 10 ways reading speed can be increased, while not missing any important information.
1. Skim the whole text first: Take a few minutes to get to know the lay-out of the reading material. If you are reading a book, read through the Table of Contents to learn what the main ideas of the material will be. Think about what you already know about the information you will be reading, so as to make connections with the text as you read. Speed-reading should not reduce your comprehension of the text.
2. Read the last sentence of the first paragraph: Typically, this sentence is called the “thesis sentence,” which is a one sentence summary of the main point of the paper, or chapter, if reading a book.
3. Read first sentence of each paragraph: This sentence is called the “topic sentence” and the following sentences in the paragraph will contain supporting material or examples. Reading this sentence will determine if you need to read the rest of the paragraph or if you can skim the content, or skip ahead.
4. Read the first and last sentences of the last paragraph: Typically, the last paragraph will summarize the whole chapter. It is the “conclusion.” Read the last paragraph to determine if you have noted all the information, or if you need to review content for an important point you may have missed.
5. Do not speak each word as you read: eyes can move faster than the mouth, in speed reading the less movement, the better.
6. Read everything written in Bold Print, ALL CAPS, italics, or underlined: If the author of the article thinks the information is important enough to use some unusual format to make it stand out from the rest of the printed page, then the information is important. Read it. If the information jumps off the page, it will be quick and easy to read.
7. Read all numbered or bulleted lists: Lists are another technique writers use to convey a lot of information in an easily accessible way. Lists are quick and easy to read since they do not have to follow grammatical rules of sentence structure.
8. Read all the sidebar information: Here again, is information that is supportive or repetitive of the text. It is also noticeable and easily accessible, and can oftentimes be a replacement for reading the text.
9. Read graphs and picture captions: Because people learn in many different ways, writers often include graphs or other visual supports of the information they are trying to convey. These are all excellent ways to reinforce the information from the text to ensure comprehension.
10. Instead of reading each word at a time, practice reading whole sentences at a time: When we learn to read be start by recognizing letters, then syllables, then whole words. Most people do not stop there, but continue to read by seeing phrases, or small groups of words that make up an idea. Draw this technique out to include whole sentences by using peripheral vision and reading speed will increase.
If you are really interested in speed reading, you could go back through this list, read only the bold print (which is also a numbered list). Everything else is supporting information as to WHY reading those particular parts of any text is important.
Posted in HighSpeed | No Comments »
April 14th, 2011
Offsite backup for your hard drive has become very convenient and affordable due to the growth of online backup services. There are both free and paid services available, each with their own data size packages. Each service also has it strengths and weaknesses.
- Mozy 2.0 Online Backup This service gets high points for its ease of use, for both PC and Mac users. Mozy recently dropped its free plans and its unlimited storage, but still has very affordable plans for either one or multiple computers. Mozy is also capable of backing up your external hard drives, as well as your computer. Its backups are scheduled rather than continuous real time backups, but it does provide archiving support through the last 30 days. For backup recover it also provides paid options for DVD or usb recovery files in addition to its online restore.
- Carbonite Online Backup This service has a restore assistant feature that is especially helpful for Mac users, though its online viewer of packages does not work as well for Macs, as the file viewer does for Windows users. The service provides unlimited realtime continuous backup, though it does have some limits on individual file sizes. Pricing is quite affordable with discounts for purchasing longer plans.
- CrashPlan Automatic Online Backup Service This service provides you with many options, including the capability of backing up to your own local hard drive. Like Mozy this backup service is NOT a continuous realtime solution. The pricing plans for this service are a bit complex, but very affordable and the storage is unlimited.
- IDrive Online Backup Another realtime, continuous backup solution, IDrive is priced comparatively with Crashplan, Mozy and SugarSync. However, it provides archiving support for up to 30 versions of your files, not just the 30 days offered by Mozy, and does cap a single users storage at 150GB rather than the 50 provided by Mozy.
- SOS Online Backup This solution provides similar realtime continuous backup and archiving capabilities as IDrive. It is more expensive than the first four on this list at almost double the price for only 50GB of storage. In calculating your storage, the service does only count one version of each file towards your data limit, however, even though it is storing up to 30 versions.
- SugarSync This service is priced per amount of data storage used, starting at 30GB and going up to 150GB. This service has its strength in its mobile apps that are available for the iphone, Blackberry and Android phones, allowing you mobile access and sharing of your files that are backed up online.
- Backblaze This service runs quietly in the background and then uploads your backup files while you are not using your computer. It has a powerful recovery and restore system, which can even be from a Mac to a Windows computer. In addition to the normal online restore it does provide paid options for DVD or USB recovery files. Its pricing structure is simple, one set fee regardless of the amount of data stored, and very inexpensive.
- RemoteDataBackups This backup service provides some of the smallest amount of storage for the highest prices. The storage plans run from 1 to 100GB of storage. It has the same 30 day archive feature as Mozy but 1 GB of storage will cost you double what you’d pay for Mozy’s unlimited storage service.
- Egnyte This service provides real time continuous or scheduled backups and focuses its marketing towards small and large businesses. It does provide mobile sharing of your backed up files on iphone, ipad, Blackberry and Android mobile devices. Because of its focus on businesses, its packages for larger businesses tend to be a better value than what it would provide for a singe user or household.
- Dropbox If you’re looking for something free to keep your home documents backed up, Dropbox does have a 2GB free version as well as it paid versions with increased storage sizes. It does have mobile apps developed for the iphone, ipad, Blackberry and Android devices to allow you to share and access your files from them as well. Besides backup with a 30 version history, this is a syncing service as well. Anytime you change a document remotely, the new version will be synced back to all places that file is being accessed from.
Options, options, options! These are only ten of the many different online backup services currently available. Their features and pricing are continually changing in this highly competitive environment.
Posted in HighSpeed | No Comments »
April 11th, 2011
If you’re building a website that you are hoping will attract families, and/or children in particular, you will want to make sure that your site is family friendly. The site should be attractive to children as well as adults. Also, if there are any elements that parents might find offensive or dangerous for their children, they won’t let their kids access your site.
- Bright Colors. Kids are attracted by bright colors and movement. If you want your site to capture the attention of kids when they log onto it, use a rainbow of colors on your home page.
- Parental Permission. Requiring an email verification in order to login can help reassure parents that you are on their side. This little step communicates to the parents that you recognize their authority and their desire to protect their children, and that you will not circumvent it.
- Family Friendly Web Host. Be selective in choosing your web host. There are many free web hosting sites that are family friendly and even more that are not. A small amount of research will enable you to find out which are which. One easy clue is to find out what other types of sites are being hosted by the service.
- Free Games. Offer free children’s games on your site that are appropriate for a variety of age levels. This is another subtle means of communicating to parents that you value children.
- Advertisers. If there will be ads on your website, make sure that you are in control of what those ads will be. If your advertisers aren’t family friendly, then your site won’t be considered family friendly. This is a very critical point in setting up your website.
- Parenting Tips. Providing helpful tips and information for parents will also communicate the fact that your site is interested in reaching out to families. If parents find value in the information on your site, they will keep coming back.
- Fun Facts. Keep your website light-hearted, fun and educational. Lists of fun facts for different ages can be great connecting points on your homepage.
- Screen your links. If you provide links to other websites from your website, take the time to carefully screen those other sites yourself before adding the link. Make sure those websites meet the same family friendly criteria that you have set for your own website.
- Privacy Protection. Carefully think through what information from your users will be visible on your site. If you are wanting a family friendly site, that means you want a site where children’s identities and contact information is hidden from other users. You will also want your privacy policies stated clearly on the site to reassure parents that their information is safe.
- Limited interaction. This fits into the privacy protection arena as well. Parents need to be assured that their children will not be interacting with people they do not know. The safest way to do this is to have no interaction with other users at all.
If you want your website to be family friendly, think about each aspect of your site from a parent’s perspective. What are their concerns? What are their needs and desires for their kids and themselves? Then do your best to fulfill those expectations to the best of your ability.
Posted in HighSpeed | No Comments »
April 4th, 2011
The internet is such an integral part of so many people’s lives that it is hard at times to imagine there are those who don’t spend time that way. Yet, there are some who just have not found the motivation or need to use the internet in their daily lives. So what would their reasons be for avoiding emails or other net functions the rest of us use constantly? Here are the five top reasons given by people for why they are never online.
- Lack of Interest. This might seem impossible for some to believe, given the variety of things offered on the internet. Between news, special interest web sites, emails, shopping and so many resources that would make the internet like a library and mega-mall rolled into one, there are still some who just don’t feel a need to go online. They may have been exposed to the horror stories of those whose experience on the internet carried risks, such as disastrous relationships tales or the lack of factual information. Or it may be, that they are simply content with books, movies and television. That might not appeal to everyone, but in this day there are still those who like to keep their lives simple.
- Don’t own a computer. The home computer today is another common tool most households would not be without. Still there are those, in many cases of the older generation, who have never learned to use a computer and don’t have the desire to even buy one. Cost can also be a consideration. People on a fixed income might not feel they can afford the expense of a computer, plus monthly internet fees.
- Lack of confidence. For those who have limited education or other situations that affect their confidence in learning new skills ,or how to use different technologies, the computer can seem like a foreign world. They can look at all the terms used with computers and feel overwhelmed. It can also be embarrassing to admit you feel that you feel intimidated by the thought of using a computer or the internet.
- Too Old To Use The Internet. If a person grew up before the development of home computers and many other conveniences we now take for granted, they may never be comfortable exploring them for themselves. Sitting in a retirement home and only doing what is familiar, and that you understand easily, is a definite factor in why some just treat the internet as unnecessary. They feel they are too old to start learning something new.
- No need. While many would not think this doesn’t make sense, some people simple never spend time in ways that require use of the internet. They are busy with work and other demands. They just never get around to seeing the value of using the internet.
Although the five reasons given might not apply to the majority of people today. They are still the leading reasons given by those who do not go on the internet.
Posted in HighSpeed | No Comments »
March 29th, 2011
There are so many benefits to shopping on line that make it appealing to many. You don’t have to leave your house and stand in any long lines. No annoying clerks to deal with, and no pressure from a salesman. You can just browse and pick out what you need, and then order it by phone or online. Sometimes it is even cheaper despite the cost of delivery.
So that makes online shopping an option that is really great for a number of items you might wish to purchase. However, it doesn’t mean it is the best choice in all situations. That’s why there are some things that are seldom purchased online. Here are ten purchases that normally are not made online.
- Luxury Accessories. While you might find some real bargains on those expensive goods like watches or handbags on the internet, you have no way of making sure they are the genuine article. There have been many incidents of imitation goods being sold on the internet. So when it comes to that major purchase of a luxury item, it is better to go where you can actually see the product first.
- Prescription Medications. You might be looking for a way to save money on the high costs of medications. But the problem is you can’t be guaranteed about the quality of the drugs you get from some web sites. There have been sites closed down for selling medications that actually had no active ingredients at all.
- Jeans. It’s all about how they fit. So, unless you go and try on the exact same pair of jeans at a store first, buying them online always has the risk of having to return them because of how they fit. Sizes just don’t run the same from one brand and style to another.
- Fresh Produce. There is no way to tell the condition of fruit by looking at them in a picture. You just can’t be sure they will be ripe. The same is true of fresh vegetables.
- Intimate Clothing. Online sites don’t have dressing rooms. You can’t try on the item before you buy it. There are too many variables in terms of the cut of fabrics and designs that you can’t tell without actually trying the item on.
- Degrees. As much as a college degree will help your career, buying one from a web site that is not accredited can come back to have consequences later. It might look great on a wall, but it will not really benefit you as much as a good education.
- Real Estate. While you can check out realtor web sites for pictures of homes for sales, that is different than buying property without actually visiting it. Unless you can personally visit the property, it is best to not invest in real estate based on a person’s recommendation over the internet.
- Vehicles. Plenty of people shop online for vehicles, but very seldom will someone actually buy one, sight unseen, over the internet. Such a large expense, just needs to be seen in person first, before spending the money.
- Fresh meat. People buy processed meats, like sausage and jerky on the internet. People even buy frozen meats and have them shipped to their homes. But fresh meat isn’t going to be ‘fresh’ anymore, if you ship it without freezing it or processing it in some way.
- Shoes. Pretty much the same situation as with jeans. Without trying them on, it is always a risk to buy shoes simply by size and a picture. People who don’t mind having to return pairs from time to time, will purchase shoes online, but it isn’t a popular choice with most people.
We all are looking for ways to save money. However, with some items, no matter the savings if you can’t actually examine them before buying, then you are better not making the purchase online.
Posted in HighSpeed | No Comments »
February 17th, 2011
Computer history doesn’t go back very far in time, less than a century. However, it has been such a fast paced progression that the means of data storage have changed several times during those few short decades. As data compression increased the physical area needed to store data has continually gotten smaller and smaller, just as the computers themselves have.
For a little computer nostalgia, we’ve provided a list of ten types of portable data storage that have been used in the past and their progression from one to another.
- Tape reels – Early computers were very large, filling entire rooms. Their initial means of storing information was magnetic tape that wound around large open reels over 10 inches in diameter. Not exactly what we would think of as a ‘portable’ size. For the ‘main frame’ computers these reels of tape were the standard storage base from the 1950′s’ until the early 1980′s.
- Punch cards – This form of data storage has been around longer than computers themselves and have been used in a variety of applications. The typical IBM format was made of smooth card stock that was exactly sized in height, width and thickness. A card had 80 columns and 12 punch areas in each column. Data was entered onto the cards by a card punch machine. Punch cards were used well into the 1970′s.
- 8” floppy – The first ‘floppy disk’ was 8 inches in diameter and held 80 kilobytes of data. It was released in 1971 and called a memory disk. To avoid dust contamination of the disk, it was enclosed in a plastic envelope lined with fabric. In 1976 Verbatim improved the disk by adding a teflon coating to the disk itself, eliminating the need for the cleaning sleeve. Verbatim’s disk was a SSSD format, or Single Sided Single Density and held as much data as a box of 2000 punch cards. The disks quickly evolved to a double-sided format, and a double density format as well.
- 5-1/4 floppy disk – Because of the large size of the 8 inch disks, their disk drives were quite expensive. As computers continued to decrease in size the need to decrease the size of the storage medium and the disk drive itself, became evident. Disks were soon developed at a more manageable size of 5-1/4 inches, which made the drives much smaller and more affordable. They became the standard for the newly developing, compact computers and were holding up to 1,200 KB of data by 1984.
- 3” floppy – Almost simultaneously with the 5-1/4” floppy, smaller 3 inch floppies were being developed. Besides being smaller, and holding the same amount of data as the 5-1/4 disk, the 3” floppy was encased in hard plastic to protect the disk. It was a two-sided disk, but only one side could be read at a time. Several different types were developed by different firms, as each looked to achieve what would be eventually adopted as the new standard.
- 3-1/2 floppy – Sony had gone with a 3-1/2 inch encased disk, which became the market standard after they were able to convince Apple Computers to install their drives in their new Macintosh computers in 1984. In 1988 the 3-1/2 inch disk had increased its data storage capacity to 1.44 MB of high density data.
- Tape cartridges – In spite of the popularity of the floppy disks, they were still very limited in their storage capacity. When a larger storage capacity was needed, such as for backups on an entire computer system, magnetic tape was still the ideal. However, the tape medium had also decreased in size. Tape cartridges were small and enclosed in plastic, with one reel inside.
- Cassette tapes – As the two-reeled audio cassette tape became popular for recording audio sound, it also became the tape medium for larger computer data storage, as well.
- Compact Disks – As program sizes increased and multiple floppy disks were being required to store and install software programs, the need for a new storage medium became evident. The compact disk, or CD became the newest medium, able to store many times more data than the floppy disks and in a non-magnetic format.
- Flash drive – Currently the most popular portable storage is the usb flash drive. The amount of data storage on one of these small units would boggle the mind of those early computer programmers who worked with the large open reels of magnetic tape.
Posted in HighSpeed | No Comments »
