The Eternal Individual

You’ve decided to start up your own website. You’ve weighed all of your options, and have come to the conclusion that you want to purchase web space for your site. Good job; you’re one step closer to having your name on the world wide web.

You’ve looked at different hosting companies, comparing all of the plans and packages they have to offer, and have chosen the perfect one for you. You’ve filled in all of the important information pertaining to you and your site, and have come to the screen where you’re asked to come up with a domain name for your site.

Now what? What are you supposed to put in the box? Do you choose a .com or .net? .org, .biz, .info–what are you supposed to do? So you decide to move on and choose that later. Maybe one will sound better with the domain name you’re about to choose.

What next? If your website’s titled “My Super-Duper-Brand-Spanking-New Site”, are you going to have a domain name like “mysuperduperbrandspankingnewsite.com”? No. That would be ridiculous to type and even harder to remember. You want something that is catchy and easy to remember. Something that’ll stand out, but is still relevant to the content of your site.

You decide that “superduper.com” would be perfect for your site. But lo and behold, it’s already been taken. Now what do you do? You spent hours deciding that “superduper.com” was the best domain name for you. It just doesn’t have that same zing to it when you say “superduper.net” or .info. So now what are you supposed to do? Try adding a hyphen in between the words to see if the name’s taken that way. It’s a little harder to type because the hyphen’s a little awkward when one’s typing in a URL quickly, but it’ll do the trick if you really want certain words.

So now you’ve come to the conclusion that “super-duper.com” is the perfect domain name for your site and buy it. Congratulations, and welcome to the world wide web, “super-duper.com”!

Alisha Annas is an 18-year-old student at California State University, Fresno. She’s currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. She’s used computers since she was two years old and has been designing her own websites since the age of ten. She likes music, reading, writing, and surfing the web.

For those of you who are making our very first iPod purchase, the variety of choices can truly appear vast. Because of this, there are plenty of things to think about when purchasing an iPod. The most vital trait for many is memory. Like your works desktop PC or notebook, an iPod contains internal storage space that dictates how much info it can keep saved. From the smallest iPod Shuffle, to the biggest iPod Classic, memory size can be anywhere from 1 Giga Byte to a considerable one hundred and sixty Giga Bytes! With that capacity of storage space your iPod can stored anywhere from 240 to 300,000 songs and has up to one hundred & fifty hours of video files. Furthermore, there is broad range of iPod Speakers to procure in different sizes and features to match your specific requests.

The iPod Classic, with memory capacity of up to one hundred and sixty GB can store practically all of your beloved music tracks & videos. Playlists can also be automatically selected based upon your very own listening preferences. The 2.5 inch display panel of the Apple iPod Classic will play your very own videos in superb colour. A small recharge of the iPods internal battery yields up to thirty six hours of audio or six hours of video playback. Find a large range of technology products such as; iPods, LCD TVs and netbooks from leading brands online.

The opposite of the iPod Classic is the trendy and small iPod Nano. The Nano presents an assortment of neat qualities usually found in the iPod Classic and the iPod Shuffle. The Nano includes flash memory like that of the shuffle, yet has a colour display panel and controls just like the iPod Classic. What’s more, the iPod Nano also has a shake to shuffle ability like the one found in the iPod Shuffle. Simply just shake your Nano to shuffle to a randomly picked music song. With storage capabilities of either 8 Giga Bytes or sixteen Giga Bytes as well as a 2 inch wide-screen panel, the iPod Nano is a superb middle range MP3 player. It is also available in a range of 9 separate colours.

By merging features from the iPod Classic and the Nano & adding World Wide Web capability, Apple produced the iPod touch. With storage of eight GB to sixty-four Giga-Bytes along with internet surfing and a never-ending amount of added apps, you undoubtedly have the best of both worlds!

The tinniest item of the iPod music family is the simple yet magnificent iPod Shuffle. With a size of only one point eight inches by 0.03 of an inch, the shuffle is now tinnier than a door key! The most up-to-date model of the iPod shuffle contains controls that are incorporated directly into the ear bud cord. With flash storage of 4GB, this minute powerhouse can store up to 1,000 audio files and is a great choice for use whilst undertaking your exercise. As you can see above there is without doubt an iPod to meet your demand. The options are nearly endless!

Remarkably wary annotations brought out from the Bank of England not particularly long ago led straight to the rather surprising recent Sterling renewal people have beheld being stopped. The surprising choice through the British Central Bank was undisputed for interest rates to stay put on hold and to maintain the present intensity of quantitative moderation. Even so, rather surprisingly, the vocal members of the Monetary Policy Committee otherwise known as the MPC, alleged Sterling’s new rise in value was probably not unquestionably the ‘green shoot of recovery’ many are also predicting and additionally might well in actuality harm trade and thus, deter the United Kingdom economic recuperation.

These remarkable remarks saw the UK pound fall down a US cent against both the Dollar and the European Single Currency and over one sent and a half against the Swiss Franc.

Today, UK retail figures and additionally publically available finance data might provide continued clues as to the vigour of the United Kingdom economy and additionally might well set off continued precariousness in the markets. Thus, make absolutely certain you are in frequent and close contact with your foreign currency account handler so that they can keep you in the loop and informed with regard to significant market movements. Exchange foreign currency only when the time is right - don’t squander your hard earned cash.

News made known yesterday through the Office of National Statistics (ONS) verified that joblessness in the United Kingdom had risen significantly to over two point two million the highest height ever since Nov 2006 Despite the increase the figure was certainly not as weak as some had assumed nonetheless, with the unemployment level lingering more that 0.07 it was seen as negative for the sterling. This news, on top of the cautious comments by the Monetary Policy Committee merely went to multiply UK Stirling’s difficulties. David Kern, the chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, stated: “These jobless figures are slightly better than feared, but the overall situation remains grim… It is much too early to talk about the end of recession”

The worry at this point is that these data might get worse as school and additionally uni leavers come into the job arena at the worst possible point in time which is possibly going to deposit farther weight on the UK pound. Thus, if you have an upcoming foreign currency exchange speak to a specialist foreign currency broker who can often be able to elucidate every one of the available options presented to you including fixing your currency exchange rate for a specified period of time in the future for merely a tiny deposit on a forward contract great to assist you budget.

I have a small website where I try to sell custom-made lapel buttons. In addition to these made-to-order buttons I also offer several specialty lines of off-the-shelf items and at this time of year I’m usually concerned with one of those lines in particular: Irish heraldic buttons. St. Patrick’s Day approaches.

I’m in no sense an expert on heraldry. Still, although there are many button sites like mine I’m not aware of any other with a line of products like that one and I don’t know why that should be true. It struck me the other day that heraldry might offer a wide range of opportunities for specialization–and to craftspersons in almost any field from pottery to needlepoint to weaving, rugmaking, and even quilting.

It’s true that we no longer live in the age of chivalry and that not all Americans are caught up in the study of their ancestry and ethnic heritage, but surprisingly many of us are. For example, Overture reports that in November of 2004 the exact phrase “Irish heraldry” was searched for on the web 140 times. Note that this doesn’t include possible searches for related terms like Gaelic, Celtic, shields, crests, coats of arms, etc. And it says nothing at all about searches for heraldic information from any other part of the world or for heraldry in general. As a matter of fact, during the month of November the word “heraldry” was used in 11,869 searches, so it seems that a market may well exist.

On the other hand, heraldry may be considered a rather nerdy topic in the modern world. I’ve noticed that many people today fall below the snuff-line when it comes to their basic knowledge of heraldry. There’s no reason why they should know anything about it if their objective is merely to copy an occasional coat of arms onto some products that they’ve made, like, for instance, some dinner plates or a sampler. Yet a few paragraphs of information about coats of arms may be interesting to any who can see the possibilities in the use of heraldic themes as a quasi-specialty in their work.

A discussion of heraldry must begin, first and foremost, with the idea of the shield. The shield, I would guess, is probably the oldest piece of weaponry other than the club. The earliest shields were made of tough skins stretched over wooden frames. Their shape was probably roundish, and the round shield served very well at least through the days of the Roman Legions.

As body armor grew more cumbersome, it became more and more difficult in the heat of hand-to-hand combat to determine who was who. An early step towards solving this problem came when warriors began painting identifying symbols on their shields. By the time of the Middle Ages these symbols were becoming strictly codified and proprietary. The persons charged with keeping track of them were high government officials called heralds and a technical language, something that looks to us today like a strange mixture of English and French, was growing up around them to describe them.

In all probability this language was really not strange at all, but very similar to the ordinary speech of the times, that is, the period after the Norman conquest of England. Yet people who discuss heraldry seriously still use these terms today, and that is no doubt one more reason why the study is no longer cool. It should of course not be obligatory to use “or” for gold or “vert” for green when writing in modern English, but that’s how they insist on doing it.

To satisfy a herald, a full “coat of arms” had to include many things besides the basic shield. By the time that the practice of heraldry had spread throughout Europe a coat of arms included at least the shield, the motto, the helm, the wreath, the crest, the mantling, and possibly several other things as well.

Surprisingly, the shape of the shield didn’t seem to matter much. Books on heraldry often show ten or fifteen different common shapes. And not every heraldic shield was even intended to resemble an actual shield from the field of battle. The right to a coat of arms, for example, was often granted to females, and the shield in such cases was typically drawn as a lozenge or diamond-shaped object. Many shields such as the so-called “jousting” shields are sometimes drawn as crazy, free-form, asymmetric shapes.

Very often a shield’s area was divided, maybe to signify the merging of two powerful families. In such cases, all the charges (pictures, or “bearings”) shown on both original shields would usually be retained, each group confined to its own partition of the merged shield. There were, naturally, technical terms for any number of different ways to divide the area of a shield: per pale, per fess, per chevron, per saltire, etc. There were even different stylized lines used to separate the segments. A simple straight line might do the trick, but it could also be “engrailed,” “embattled,” “indented,” “wavy,” “dovetailed,” etc.

As for the charges, they merit a separate treatment. They include not only lions and eagles in various poses, but a wide variety of birds, mammals, fish, and mythological beings. Parts of the human body. The sun, the stars, and many forms of vegetation. Structures and ships, books and bells. And each of them has its own specialized meaning. For instance, a dragon stood for vigilance, a snake for wisdom, a boar for a fierce fighter, a swallow for someone who had been dispossessed of land. A cross might indicate that the bearer or one of his ancestors had fought in the crusades, and the arms of a sailor would often show a ship.

As is obvious from those few examples, the meaning of some charges still make at least some sense to us, while in other cases their meaning is baffling. Different kinds of crowns can indicate different ranks of nobility; that’s logical enough. But a finger ring, for instance, might symbolize a fifth son, and a tower might stand for wealth.

Heraldry is a colorful topic in every sense. One continually runs into larger-than-life characters. Here’s one, chosen more or less at random:

Sir Francis Drake was definitely a sailor, and his arms definitely showed a ship. And what a ship! Most ships that I’ve seen in heraldic designs seem to have one mast but this one has three. There’s a dragon or griffin seated in the stern with wings outspread. The ship rests atop a large globe of the world showing us the Atlantic Ocean, and above the ship a hand emerges from a cloud pointing at the ship something that looks very much like a microphone plugged into the bow. (I don’t know what it is.)

All of that constitutes merely the crest and, as is to be expected, the crest is resting on a wreath and the wreath is above the helm. Below the helmet we finally reach the shield, an amazingly simple shield, given the complexity of its surroundings: on a black background, a silver wavy fess (horizontal area) represents the sea between two wavy stars representing the pole stars. The whole thing commemorated Drake’s circumnavigation of the earth in 1577.

These arms were granted to Francis Drake by Elizabeth I, but he seems to have been a fairly headstrong individual and kept adding bits and pieces to which he had no real right. This tendency got him into a long feud with an unrelated Drake family from whom he swiped elements for his own arms. (In fact, he did that twice. After the other family had successfully defended its claims against him and he had removed the offending bearings from his arms, he later decided to put them back where they didn’t belong.)

All of the major online bookstores have, or can locate, many pages full of books on heraldry, from modern works to out-of-print classics and intended for experts or beginners.

Jim Donnelly is based in Fresno, CA. He offers to produce pin-back lapel buttons of any description at all, with any photo or drawing and any wording that will fit and that doesn’t include treason. You can sign up for his free newsletter on the home page of his website, http://www.badgecrafters.com

With the likelihood of holiday company, loads of people will definitely worry about the current miserable state of their visitor bed. Frequently an ignored room, the guest room can definitely be confused with a room to put things no longer essential by the dwellers, like that of a worn down fridge freezer. Denying your guests a night of excellent sleep by giving them a sub-standard sleeping space is kindly not talked about often, even so can cause some hard feelings. Avoid this from occurring by taking care of your visitors by offering them an excellent quality place to put their weary heads. Even if your area allows for a separate visitor bed or fold out bed that can easily be packed away when not in use, having a proper room for guests is a brilliant and understanding gesture that will not be forgotten.

A sofa bed can be a terrific option for friends when living in a small house. Sofa beds by design are able to fold away into the sofa when not in use, & for that reason can be an exceptionally practical item of household furniture to have. This changeable item can drastically increase the space of a specific room, not only a visitor’s bedroom, but also the space can be utilised as an office when no one is staying. Wise shoppers will surely see the added benefit of a multi-use piece of household furniture, both as a functional daily use sofa and as an infrequent visitor bed. If possible try to plan for family when decorating your room as this makes for a very welcoming place to stay. Another choice for those that do not have a surplus room to dedicate to family & friends is the fold out bed. The ‘hide-a-bed’ or cot as it might also be called is a piece designed to be got out when required and stowed away when not needed. Fold out guest beds & sofa beds might also be great in flats with visitor rooms to allow for more guest sleeping areas in the case that your apartment becomes a popular vacation spot amongst friends. Find a range of home products including; guest beds, sofas and single mattress from leading brands online.

Showing your worry for your visitor’s well-being through acquiring a fine sofa bed for their use undeniably lets them know you do care. A proper night’s sleep can be really tricky to get when in an unknown atmosphere, however with a lovely sofa bed it can be much better. By carefully looking at your options, acquiring the correct bed for your home will be thanked scores of times over by your thankful houseguests. Even if your home allows for a sofa bed, a folded bed, or a full visitor’s room with a traditional style bed, the proper way in which you care for your guests will be remembered for an exceedingly long time to come.

Podcasting: Everyone is talking about it. But what exactly is it, and how does it work? Simply defined, podcasting is the dissemination of syndicated files, either audio or video in content, over the Web for use on handheld audio/video equipment and computers. The term itself is a combination of two words, “iPod” and “broadcasting.” The word refers to both the file that’s downloaded and the technology to transfer it. Keep in mind that an iPod is not necessary for accessing podcasts. A podcast is also known as an audio subscription service. Listeners can subscribe to and download as many podcasts as they want. As a new method of downloading and transferring information, podcasting is revolutionizing the way we communicate. Podcasts differ from streaming video and audio. Podcasts are usually a continuous series of programs, with many episodes featured in serial format. Podcast subscribers can listen to the content on MP3 players or computers whenever they want. Unlike streaming video, no Internet connection is necessary to review the content of a podcast. But, due to their nature as stored files, podcasts can never be experienced live, in real time - again, unlike streaming video.

Podcasters, or people who create podcasts, have Web sites where their content is available for downloading. Can any old Joe start his own podcast? For better or worse, the answer is yes. All a would-be podcaster has to do is put his files on a web server that’s accessible to the public. The file should have an internet address (URI). Podcast files can be any kind of files, from a PDF to a text file. The files can contain audio or video content. The would-be podcaster begins to create a series of files, creating a feed or list of URIs, so the entries in the series can be easily found and downloaded. Each entry is usually accompanied by a date, a title and some kind of content overview. The podcaster links the file to an identifiable place on the web server. This place is usually permanent, and it’s called the feed URI.

The popularity of these informational feeds has grown astronomically since 2004, when podcasting first became popular among bloggers and software developers. Podcasts cover all sorts of subjects, from technology to politics, to art and literature. Apple made podcasting part of its iTunes package in 2005, and last year, Sony Entertainment released a statement saying that its Play station Portable would be compatible with podcasts.

Now, podcasting has become a part of conventional media. The technology is being used by news stations and newspapers around the world, including The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, the BBC, ABC in Australia, and Sirius satellite radio. The popularity of podcasting is expected to continue to grow, as print media becomes a less vital part of day-to-day communication. Check out New Technology TV for more information.

John Richardson is a popular reviewer of consumer electronics and has served as a product development consultant for several consumer electronics manufacturers including Dish Network, visit his website: Big Mouth TV

What is podcasting and why should you care?

I have been reading a lot about podcasting. I even attended a teleclass on the subject, Podcasting for Coaches given by Ramon Williamson. I learned so much about podcasting from that one class, that I decided to write an article about it for this week’s ezine. So here goes…

First of all, what is podcasting?

According to wikipedia, podcasting is “the practice of making audio files available online in such a way that allows software to automatically detect new files and download them.” In English that means that you put audio files on the Internet for people to save to their computer or ipod or mp3 player. The way I look at podcasting is that it is the audio equivalent of blogging.

So now you know what podcasting is. I know you are wondering, so why should I care about podcasting. Simple, podcasting is in its early stages now. It’s where blogging was 4 years ago. If you get in on podcasting now, you will be light years ahead of your competitors in your niche.

You don’t have to be a techie geek to know how to podcast either. If you can talk on the phone then you can record a podcast. Blogger.com has a service that allows you to call a number and record your post instead of typing it. You do have to be registered with them, but it’s free to register with them. Another way to get your podcast set up is to use audioblog.com There is a fee associated with this service, but you can record longer posts with this service. Blogger’s service only allows you to record a 5 minute post. Audioblog’s service allows you to record a 60 minute post. Of course you could always do some digging and find sophisticated equipment, but that is beyond the scope of this article.

Here’s what you need to do next. Go to blogger and sign up for an account. Once you have your blog set up, go to audioblogger.com and follow the directions they give you. The site is very user-friendly. Do it Now.

Copyright 2005 by DeAnna Spencer

This article may be freely reproduced as long as the resource box at the bottom of the article is included.

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Obviously, the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina has had a major impact on fuel supplies. The IRS is temporarily waiving regulations that ban the sale of certain diesel fuels to address shortages.

Dyed Diesel Fuel No Longer Banned

Diesel fuel comes in two general forms, clear and dyed. Dyed diesel is not environment friendly. Under laws passed by Congress, the IRS effectively bans the sale of dyed diesel fuel for use on highways. Put another way, the trucking industry must use clear diesel for transports.

In the wake of serious fuel shortage issues caused by Hurricane Katrina, the IRS is immediately waiving the tax penalties applicable to the use of dyed diesel on highways. This surprisingly quick policy decision is a reflection of exploding fuel prices and a stark lack of supply.

The order issued by the Commissioner of the IRS is only effective until September 15, 2005 at this time. It is anticipated that the Commissioner will extend this time period since it is clear the fuel issues will not be overcome by the deadline.

While the penalties associated with dyed diesel are waived, the IRS has chosen to keep a basic diesel fuel tax in place. All sales of dyed diesel fuel are subject to a 24.4 cent tax per gallon. Either the retailer or purchaser can pay. The IRS, however, has indicated that it will waive any penalties and interest assessments associated with failure to make bi-weekly deposits of the tax. In addition, users of dyed diesel fuel need not concern themselves with any EPA restrictions related to its use during this temporary waiver.

In Closing

Typically criticized for reacting slowly, the IRS should be commended for taking quick steps to free up fuel from a tax perspective. To support the trucking industry, let us hope the deadlines are extended well past September 15, 2005.

About The Author

Richard Chapo is with http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com - recovering overpaid business taxes for small businesses. Visit our article page - http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articles - to read more tax articles.