Archive for August, 2008

Kids & Crafts

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

When it comes to kids and crafts, there is no such thing as too much. When kids spend as much time as they do focused on electronics and the internet, daily or weekly craft time can be just the thing they need to get those brain cells working. Some kids gravitate naturally into the craft environment and have plenty to bring to the table. Others may be slower to excite and need some prodding. However, all kids can benefit from crafts and time spent in creative thought.

Start crafts by planning out ahead of time what you

Great Archaeological Finds- A Wicker Basket in Pompeii

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Most people in the world have heard of Pompeii, Italy, the site of one of the worst natural disasters of ancient times. One of the greatest finds in the history of the city was made in July, 2005, when an archaeologist checking on the progress of a new motorway being built in the area dug up the remains of a man lying next into an ancient Roman basket containing silverware. While the silverware and numerous articles such as pottery and paintings have been commonly found amongst the ruins, this was on of the few times that a Roman basket had been unearthed, although the container and its contents were somewhat melted together.

To understand the significance of this find, you must first understand what happened in Pompeii on August 24, 79 A.D. The city was a busy seaport and a summer resort area for wealthy Romans who wished to get away from the demands of living in Rome itself and was located at the base of Mount Vesuvius, an active yet mostly quiet volcano. Estimations of the population at the time of the disaster vary, although most experts agree that thee probably approximately 20,000 people living in the area at the time. In the past few years, earthquakes were a common occurrence, so when the ground began to shake on that fateful August day, most of the residence ignored it (much as Californians do today). Suddenly, Vesuvius awoke and began to erupt.

The people became panicked as they tried to reach safety. While many fled to the seaport, others took their chances trying to journey overland. Still other individuals sought shelter within their homes, not realizing that they would remain there through eternity. The high intensity heat and the amount of ash in the air soon eliminated anyone who had remained in the area.

The volcano eventually buried the town with layers of ash and pumice, where it remained buried for 1700 years, until it was rediscovered in 1748 and excavation was begun. The buildings were the first to be exposed, as well as statues, fountains, and gardens. As the archaeologists began to explore deeper into the structures and streets, they began to uncover the heartbreaking remains of the residents of this ancient city, laying sprawled face down or, as in one case, appearing to be sitting and praying. It seems that the ash had formed a casing around the individuals that had been buried in the eruption. Although their remains had long since decomposed, the outlines of their bodies were still visible, some of these even showing the looks of suffering that was apparent on these poor souls

The Meaning and Beauty of Angel Tattoos

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

When deciding what kind of tattoo to put on your body, it

The Proper Way to Set Up Your Bedroom

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

You spend more time in your bedroom than anywhere else, so it

Touching the Future - Touch Screen Interfaces and Mobile Phones

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

The touch screen interface is one that has been a long time developing. The first touch interfaces used in computers were Wacom graphics tablets, which were developed by a Japanese company to support writing Japanese ideograms as a text input method. Wacom’s means to measure both the pressure area and direction of a touching pen or stylus has led to the innovative handsets and touchscreens we have today.

As a smart phone interface, touch screens started out with the original Apple Newton, but unfortunately it didn’t take off - the form factor was too large to be convenient, and battery technology made them heavy. It was greatly improved by the Palm Pilot, which enjoyed immense popularity in the late 1990s, becoming more powerful but requiring less battery power to operate. Their modern day descendant the Palm Treo has since foregone the touch screen in favour of a thumb-driven keyboard.

Touch screen phones started taking off again in the first half of 2006 - nearly a year and a half before the iPhone made it “the must have” feature on any mobile phone. The phones got some dedicated followers, but the overall prospect of using the touch screen for carrying out any significant data work was daunting and frustrating - mostly because the software wasn’t up to it, and the menus weren’t built around the user experience.

With the iPhone, we saw the first example of someone creating a touch interface right - the touch screen on an iPhone or iPod touch is amazingly sensitive to both multiple points of contact and to noting the direction of travel. It’s this software/hardware integration that makes the iPhone such an elegant piece of equipment, with the ability to pinch to zoom out, stretch to zoom in, and a fingertip flick to roll through your contacts or playlist.

New Smartphones, new touch technology

With the popularity of the iPhone, it’s no surprise that other mobile phone companies are going to be hitting the market soon with their own touch screen models. Samsung, for example, is releasing the Tocco which is smaller and thinner than Apple’s model. It has a touchscreen and allows for the dropping and dragging of widgets for the user’s convenience.

Still at the forefront of mobile phone sales, Nokia isn’t going to be left out of the smartphone race. They are currently working on a touchscreen model prototype currently referred to as Tube. With built-in GPS and a nice widescreen display, the phone will fit in nicely with the competition. It’s also believed to support handwriting recognition.

Clearly, Apple has led the touchscreen revolution and it promises to be a great year in smartphones both for consumers and for the industry.

What’s next? Well, probably two things taken from gaming consoles - sensitivity to direction of motion for the unit as a whole (think of the Nintendo Wii), and something called haptics. Haptics is all about the study of touch. Integrating haptic technology within a touch screen could enable phones and other devices to allow us to experience a whole new set of senses.

Cell Phone Usage in France

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

If you are planning to travel to France and wish to have the use of a cellular phone, there are several features that your phone will need to have to ensure that is will be compatible with the French cellular system.

Like many other European countries, France still uses the GMS, which stands for the Global System for Mobile communications. As this system is second generation cellular technology and North America uses third generation, your regular cell phone may not be compatible. Many service providers still offer GMS phones upon request, so you may need to purchase one of these types specifically for your overseas travel.

You will also need to check with your service provider to ensure that your GMS cell phone can function using the 900 and 1800 frequencies that is also prevalent in Europe. The Untied States uses the 850 and 1900 frequencies.

To use your cell phone in France, you will need to switch the setting to the

Cell Phone Usage in Italy

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

If you are planning a trip to Italy, you may be wondering if your cell phone will work in that particular country. The truth is that your phone has less than a 50% chance of functioning due to the different frequencies that we use in this country. In Europe, GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) phones use 900 and 1800 frequencies. In Canada and North America, we use 1900 and 850. So even if you have a GSM phone, it is probably not designed to be compatible with these European frequencies.

Many newer cellular phones that are now available on the American market may be functional in Italy, although this will also depend on the company that provides your cell phone service. Many providers do not carry GSM phones, such as Sprint, Nextel, and Verizon. Some of these businesses do have phones that they rent or sell that may work in this foreign country. If they do provide these international phones, you need to ensure that they function with both 900 and 1800 frequencies or you may find that you will not be able to use these devices in most parts of the country. You also will probably pay an additional fee that will allow you to use your

Cell Phone Usage in Russia

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

If you are planning to travel to Russia, you may be wondering if your cell phone will work in that particular country. To begin with, your phone must be the GMS (Global System for Mobile communications) type. As many American providers do not carry these phones regularly, you may have to contact yours in order to rent or purchase one. As with many other countries, the Russian cellular phone system operates using the 900 and 1800 frequencies. Since the United States and Canada use the 1900 and 850, you will need to make sure that the GMS phone that you have can operate at these particular frequencies.

Once you have obtained a phone that is compatible with the Russian phone system, you will need to contact your service provider to make sure that you have a

CRM

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

CRM, or customer relationship management, is something that a lot of businesses are once again realizing the importance of. They used to be interested in this type of relationship with their customers because they saw how important it was, but this was in the days of mom and pop stores and smaller companies. Before things got too big. Once companies started to grow and develop at a rapid rate, the way that business was done started to change as well. There weren’t as many people who showed that they were concerned about their customers. The bottom line became more vital and customers felt like they were ignored. Business owners still cared about their customers, but they weren’t able to show it because they were too busy trying to figure out how to handle the increased business.

With CRM, that can change. Businesses that care about their customers are better able to work with them and make sure that they feel appreciated. They are also better able to keep track of what their customers want and need, which makes it easier for everyone involved to work with one another. Customers want to feel as though more than just their money matters to a company, and being remembered is one of the ways that this can take place. Another advantage to CRM is that customers can have their information stored more easily by a company and they don’t have to keep giving the company their information every time they make a purchase or a phone call. This helps to make things a lot easier for both the customer and the company and avoids a lot of confusion. There will always be customers who do not want their information stored because they’re worried about issues like identity theft, but these people are generally in the minority.

CRM saves a lot of work for both customers and companies since the information that they need is usually already there. It’s one of the best ways to help companies that are getting big and busy treat their customers more like the mom and pop stores that used to be around. There is no going home again, of course, but there are ways to improve things for people, and this can happen all over the world with some simple software. Companies are sometimes concerned about this because they think they can’t afford the software, but they really can. As long as they take their time and pay attention to what they have and what they need, there shouldn’t be any reason for a company to have trouble with CRM affordability. There are a lot of different options out there for what’s offered, and smaller companies don’t need some of the options and features that larger companies want. Since that’s the case, they can avoid spending as much. As long as they get software that allows them to grow as a business at a later date, they don’t have to spend thousands of dollars right now to have a good CRM system that will keep customers happy and coming back.

Canister Vacuums

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

A lot of people still stereotype the canister vacuum. They see it as something that was used by women in the fifties and sixties to clean their carpets and drapes and upholstery. While canister vacuums were used then, there is a lot more to them than that. These kinds of vacuums were replaced in the eyes of many people with the upright vacuum cleaners of today, and they are about all people think of when someone says the words ‘vacuum cleaner’ to them. For wall to wall carpet, these are definitely the right cleaning machines to use. When people have hardwood floors and tile, however, they still want to use canister vacuums. These machines have come a long way from the original models that were so popular years ago and they can do a lot more than they used to be able to do. People who own them know this, but people who just move into a home with hard floors or someone who has hardwood and tile put into their home might not be aware of it.

While not designed to work well on wall to wall carpet, canister vacuums have their place in the world. They work best on hardwood floors and tile, but there are other advantages to having one around. These include cleaning draperies, upholstery, and area rugs. The upright vacuums can’t be used on these more delicate fabrics. The suction is too strong and because of that items can become damaged if vacuuming is too rigorous or too often. Some more delicate items can actually become damaged the first time because they get sucked into the machine or the vacuum stretches their threads, ruining the fabric. For these people, canister machines are the only ones that work properly and keep their delicate items from being destroyed. When people clean their homes they want to make things look better, not worse, and the wrong kind of cleaning machine can be a serious problem for them.

It is easy to damage a lot of things in a person’s home and people often don’t realize how quickly this can happen. It can be especially problematic for people who just got something new