pitch black contact lenses

How to Get the Most Out of Your Speakers

2010-02-22T05:56:00.001-08:00

It is important to know how to get the most out of your speakers. Speakers are an integral part of your home's media equipment. They provide audio outputs such as ambiance sounds and dialogues. Speakers give an edge to clarity, pitch, and depth of sound. A quality speaker enhances the quality of any musical experience.

If you are interested in getting the most out of your speakers without breaking the bank, then here are few tips on which areas ensure a better speaker performance.

Speakers are the keystone of audio output. In a home theatre system there are basic types of speaker placements: The right and left front speakers, the direct centre speaker, the surround sound speakers and the sub woofer system speakers. It is important for all of the speakers to provide the optimum output to ensure a realistic audio experience.

Front speakers produce the soundtrack and the effect sounds. There are different types of front right and left speakers categorized by their placement in the room. The most common types of front right and left speakers are floor speakers, book-shelf speakers and the satellite speaker system.

Floor speakers - These speakers are used with a home theatre system. They are usually large and the sound quality of these speakers is superb. The form, color, and material of the floor speakers can be planned to match with the decor of the room. A decor with traditional furniture and tapestry should have floor speakers with wood finish. Black colored speakers are good for a room with modern furnishings. The floor speakers can also be custom made for your requirement. On the downside, they are usually expensive and can take up lot of space.

Bookshelf Speakers - These speakers are smaller than floor speakers and work very well in a limited space. They are less expensive than their larger counterparts. There is a disadvantage with them, bookshelf speakers cannot produce low-pitched frequencies very well, but there is a solution, you can attach a powerful subwoofer system to enhance the bass.

Subwoofer and satellite speaker systems - These speakers are little geniuses. Tiny yet superbly equipped to give you the experience of full sound. The subwoofer is little bigger than the satellites but can be placed anywhere in a room and their performance will not be hindered. The satellites are small enough to fit anywhere, from walls to ceilings, tabletops to shelves. The most important advantage of the Subwoofer and satellite speaker system is that it matches different types of interior decorations.

Direct channel speakers do the majority of the work of producing the audio output, as it provides the dialogue and almost half of the soundtrack.

Surround sound speakers provide the ambient sound of an audiovisual presentation. These speakers give the experience of a movie theatre. The surround sound effect provides a 360-degree sound experience. The most popular types of surround sound speakers are in-ceiling and in-wall speakers. These are no different from the other speakers. In-ceiling and in-wall speakers as the names suggest, are installed within the walls and the ceiling. These speakers have been used for commercial purposes for a long time and now they are used for residential purpose. These speakers blend easily with the decor of the room as they are available in a variety of colours. It is important for in-ceiling and in-wall speakers to be installed properly to enhance the output of the speakers.

Not only the speakers themselves, but also other factors such as the placement of the speakers and the quality of the accessories help to enhance the output of the audio system. These factors are,

Inter-connections and Cables - It is crucial for the audio signals to be transferred from the source to the speakers for an audio output. As the signals go through different components there is degradation in the quality of the audio output. Therefore it is important for you to ensure that the cables used for connecting the various pieces of equipment are of very good quality and you can also use contact enhancers to be sure of a good connection. It is also important to use the best quality audiovisual equipment connection that is supported by your system.

Acoustic Improvements -Making the rooms more acoustic by the use of acoustic materials can be a good solution to get the most out of your speakers. The acoustic treatment of the rooms effectively enhances the bass response and clarity of dialogue. It is also important to cut out the noise emitted from the other components of the multimedia console like projectors and other components. Sometimes such noises hamper the performance of the speakers. There is a simple solution to this problem. Build a hush box around the noisy equipment out of special acoustic material to contain the unwanted noise.

The strategic placement of acoustic panels in the room can also enhance the audio output. To ensure that the panels are placed at the perfect position, you can run a simple test. Sit down where you would usually listen to the equipment e.g. on the sofa (the listening position) and place a mirror on the wall. Move the mirror until you are able to see the speakers' reflection. Mark that spot and there would be the perfect place to position your acoustic panel.

The placement of the subwoofer system is also important. Though the low bass is non-directional, the volume of bass and its tonal quality is affected by the improper placement of the subwoofer. To get rid of this problem use a simple trick. Place the sub woofer in the listening position outlined above. Move around the room listening for place with best quality of bass. Place the sub woofers in that position.

These hints and tips will help you if you would like to know how to get the most out of your speakers.

Sam Goddard has is a semi-professional singer and has spent many years researching the biological and physical properties of sound from a human and a technological perspective.
Get more information regarding speaker stands.

home theater projector screen promotional pads pride mobility scooters

Successful Travel Photography

2010-02-20T04:52:00.001-08:00

Travel photography is quite different from other photographic endeavors especially if you plan to make a living from it.

Most successful travel photographers are writers as well. Actually in the print world, you can't separate words from pictures. They complement each other.

What the picture can't show, the words explain in greater detail. So it's no surprise that some travel articles are sometimes from husband and wife teams.

That's the perfect job for couples. Think exotic locations, the love of your life with you and endless adventures together.

My biggest problem with travel photography is that a lot of the imagery you see have been so photographed that they're the equivalent of visual clichés. What comes to mind when you think of China? Great Wall of China, or the Forbidden City in Beijing? Egypt? The Great Pyramids. India... the Taj Mahal. Indonesia...Borobodur. Cambodia...Angkor Wat.

As in most printed media, the pictures tend to be more important than the words. A visually striking image will draw a casual browser of publication into reading an article even if the headline is not well-written.

A great selection of pictures of one destination can save a article with mediocre writing. But the same can't be said if the pictures are of poor quality.

No matter how good and compelling the writing, if the pictures are just mediocre, readers will not be drawn to the story.

Poorly composed images, especially ones with lots of technical flaws like low resolution, artifacting and digital noise cannot be rescued. As powerful as Photoshop is, it simply can't fix or add something that isn't in a picture.

Even if it can, there is the ethical question of are you allowed to? Most magazine have strict guidelines against such manipulation of images especially in their editorial content.

But poorly written articles can be "massaged" and fine-tuned by editors into some quite readable.

Tips for a successful trip:

1. Careful planning and research of your destination.

Obvious yet a lot of people don't consider this when making their plans. Festivities like Oktoberfest in Germany, Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, California takes place annually at the same time.

And by planning I don't just mean planning for the length of time you are going to be at your destination. If you're a digital photographer, you'll need power to charge your batteries and a way to download and clear off your memory cards or you will be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

If you're headed abroad where electrical power is different from home, you'll also a voltage converter. I recommend the Kensington 3317 International All-in-one Travel Plug Adapter.

2. Precise note-taking.

Whether you use a laptop or pen and paper, having good habits like keeping receipts and other bills incurred during the trip is important.

Even if you're not writing the article, precise notes on how to get from town A to town B, how much the fare was, the duration of the drive are all details which add value to your pitch to magazines or collaborative effort with a writer.

Remember your recall will not be so good once you're home. Foreign names have a way of sounding the same when you get home, so good note-taking is critical.

Your article will have more credibility if you provide details since a travel article is part "how-to" and part narrative. Another reason for those notes is documentation when you claim the trip as a business expense.

3. Digital SLR with wide and telephoto zoom lens

Think "light." If you're lugging around a lot of gear, you'll be too beat to use your camera. Traveling light doesn't mean you leave essentials like a healthy supply of extra memory cards, batteries and flash units at home.

If you're bringing along a laptop, then a supply of writable CDs or DVDs is important.

Even if you don't have a chance to edit your images after you download them to your computer, you should burn those images as a backup and mail them to yourself.

That way if all your gear is stolen, you'll still have images to show when you get home.

Prior to his arrival in the US, before attending college, Riverside portrait photographer Peter Phun traveled extensively, documenting his travels through photography.

He specializes in location portraits, weddings and editorial work. He writes about photography, Macs & the internet. He also designs websites and is a stay-at-home dad.

pride wheelchair rj45 network cables cheap crazy contact lenses

Did Paul McCartney Really Die

2010-02-18T03:50:00.001-08:00

Did Paul McCartney Really Die? Some crazy theories never seem to want to fade away. This is the case with the famous Paul McCartney’s death rumor that started at the time that the Beatles were recording the “Sgt. Pepper’s” album.

The rumor seems to have started when in 1969 a listener to a Detroit radio station called into the station, claiming to be somebody named Tom, and told the Disc Jockey, Russ Gibb, that a few of the Beatles records contained clues that were evidence to the fact that Paul had died in a car accident, supposedly mangling the singer/bassist so bad that dental records had to be used to identify the body. Other theories said that he was actually decapitated, so it depends on whom you believe.

Here’s where it gets really good. According to the myth, after McCartney’s death, the band held a contest to find a Paul McCartney look alike to replace the singer so that fans would not know that he had died and the band could carry on without missing a beat.

The winner of this contest was supposed to have been a guy named William Campbell, an actor who looked enough like McCartney that the band would be able to get away with the whole charade.

Luckily for the remaining members of the band, Campbell happened to be an orphan from Edinburgh so he would never be missed, and actually have the same voice and played bass amazingly just like Paul. Plastic surgery was used to smooth out the minor differences. They failed to fix a scar on Campbell's upper lip - this is how you can tell authentic McCartney photos from the Campbell ones.

According to many, there were numerous clues to Paul’s death found on various albums and album covers to prove this theory. A few worth mentioning were on the Abbey Road cover.

This is the famous cover (probably made much more famous from this radical theory actually) where the four members of the Beatles are walking across the street on a zebra crossing on Abbey Road itself.

One of the trigger giveaways was the fact that they were lined up in a row, which seemed to represent a funeral procession. Another clue was the clothing that the four members wore in the picture.

Lennon was leading in all white, which represented the church, and in the back was Harrison who wore what looked to be work clothes, representing the gravedigger of the bunch.

McCartney was barefoot indicating that like other cultures he would be buried barefoot, as well as the fact that he was holding a cigarette in his right hand when everyone knew that the real Paul McCartney was left handed.

Many other clues were found, of course, within song lyrics and in other places on album covers. The debate actually grew to be pretty huge, and finally the band, and McCartney himself had to do an interview himself to disband the rumors.

Some suspect that the band was probably subsequently feeding into the ridiculousness of it all adding tidbits of their own clues here and there, but no member has yet to ever admit to doing so.

The Clues in FullButcher Album

The bloody meat and assorted baby doll parts represent the horrible nature of the car accident.
Notice the set of teeth of Paul's right arm. They signify that Paul's teeth were knocked out in the car crash. This rendered dental records unavailable as a means for identifying the body.
George is holding the head of a baby doll next to Paul's head, to signify that Paul was decapitated in the accident.

'YESTERDAY' "I believe in yesterday, suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be, there's a shadow hanging over me. Yesterday came suddenly..." Paul is no longer himself. Or He's not who we think he is. 'DR. ROBERT' "He does everything he can, Dr. Robert." Dr. Robert did everything he could to save Paul's life after the accident. 'NOWHERE MAN' "you don't know what you're missing, nowhere man can you see me at all?" Paul's is no longer around, and from where he is (buried) he can not see anyone. 'AND YOUR BIRD CAN SING' "you can't see me" "you can't hear me" Another reference to Paul being buried. Yesterday & Today

Paul is sitting inside the trunk. The trunk represents a coffin.
This is one of the first photographs showing a scar on Paul's upper lip. A sign that this is the imposter William Campbell sitting in for photograph sessions.

Rubber Soul

The photograph is taken from the prospective of the real Paul McCartney looking up from his grave.
The title of the album is written in the shape of an upside down heart.

Revolver

Some people say that since Paul is the only Beatle not facing forward, that it means that he is not 'one of them' anymore.

'TAXMAN' "If you drive a car *Paul*" Reinforces the fact that Paul died in a car accident."If you get too cold *Paul*" A reference to the state of a body after death. "My advice to those who die - Taxman" Think of 'Taxman' as a Taxidermist - one who preserves the remains of the dead. 'YELLOW SUBMARINE' "...sky of blue, sea of green in our yellow submarine" The yellow submarine represents a coffin, buried beneath a sea of green which represents the grass. "... in the land of submarines" In a cemetery - in the land of coffins. 'GO TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE' "I took a ride, I didn't know what I would find there" Another reference to a car ride. "...and then suddenly I see you" Once you read the Sgt. Pepper clues you will realize that he saw Lovely Rita. 'TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS' "*Paul* played the game existence to the end" Life is the 'game of existence' and when you die the game ends. The song title is taken from the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead.' Sgt. Peppers

The people are looking at what appears to be a freshly dug grave.
The yellow flowers (directly below the flowers that spell Beatles) are in the shape of a bass guitar. Paul was the bass player for The Beatles.
There are three sticks on the yellow flowers that represent the strings of the bass. There are only THREE sticks to represent the THREE remaining Beatles.
Also, notice that the yellow flowers spell out 'PAUL?'; questioning Paul's existence.
The doll on the right of the cover (in the white, black, and red stripes) has a small white car, with a blood red interior, on her lap. This is a model of the car that Paul died in.
Directly below the doll's left foot is a white vase with yellow flowers in it. If you look closely it resembles a car plummeting over a cliff with flames coming out of the back end.
Below the 'T' in Beatles is a statue of the Hindu God Shiva 'The Destroyer.' Its hand points directly to Paul.
Notice The Beatles standing behind the drum in the center of the photo. They are standing sideways except for Paul who is facing directly forward. John, Ringo, and George look *three dimensional* while Paul looks like one of the cardboard cutouts.
Paul is the only one holding a black instrument. Black is associated with death. This may seem insignificant now, but it turns up a few more times.
This is the first occasion where we see an open palm above Paul McCartney's head. There are many different theories as to what this signifies. It is generally taken to mean either that the person under the open palm will soon die or has recently passed away. As you will see, this turns up quite a few times.
Take a small mirror, or the bottom of a CD will work, and place it perpendicular to the center of the drum, so that you split 'LONELY HEARTS' in half. Now read the combined writing on the drum and the mirror. It says 1 ONE 1 X HE | DIE. '1 ONE 1' equals three, another reference to three Beatles. The 'X' crosses out Paul because he is no longer alive. And the arrow between 'He' and 'Die' points directly to Paul.
The Fab Four are sitting facing the camera. On Paul's left arm is a patch that says O. P. D. (Officially Pronounced Dead), much like D. O. A. (Dead on Arrival).
The photo was taken at such an angle, and with Paul's sleeve folded, so that it appears to say O. P. D. when in reality it reads O. P. P. This stands for the 'Ontario Provincial Police.'
Another interpretation is that William Campbell was once a police officer in Canada. The lyrics to 'She Came in Through the Bathroom Window' explain this.

For those of you who do not have the LP, it should be stated that the album had the the lyrics printed on the back cover, layered over a photograph of the Beatles. Those of you with the CD will find that picture on pages 12 and 13 of the CD booklet.

Paul is facing backwards, to signify that the man in the photograph is an imposter.
Paul, George, and John were all about the same height, but in this photo Paul appears higher than the other two. This represents that he is *rising up,* ascending if you will.
The words "Without You" are coming out the side of Paul's head, from the song title "Within You, Without you."
George's thumb is pointing to the lyrics "Wednesday morning at 5 o'clock," the time of Paul's death.
George's (in red) hand makes an L, John's (in green) a V, and Ringo's (in pink) an E. Paul (in blue) is the HOLE where the O would be in the word LOVE. 'SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND' "Let me introduce to you the one and only Billy Shears" As I mentioned earlier, Paul was supposedly replaced by William Campbell. Billy is a nickname for William. Also, Billy Shears can be seen as a play on words. Billy Shears-> Billy'S hears-> Billy's Here. As though they were introducing William (Billy) to the world.
'SHE'S LEAVING HOME' "Wednesday morning at five o'clock" The time when the car accident occurred.
'LOVELY RITA' "When I caught a glimpse of Rita" Paul was looking at Rita and not paying attention to the road.
'GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING' "Nothing to do to save his life" " You are own you're own, you are in the street" References to the car accident. "People running around, it's five o'clock" Another reference to the time of the accident."Watching the skirts, you start to flirt, now you're in gear" Refers to Paul watching Rita. "In Gear" refers to driving.
'A DAY IN THE LIFE' "He blew his mind out in a car, he didn't notice that the lights had changed" Describes, in more detail, the accident.
Yellow Submarine
The yellow submarine looks as though it is buried inside the hill that the Beatles are standing on. (read the Lyric Clues below to better understand)
This is the first occasion where we see an open palm above Paul McCartney's head. There are many different theories as to what this signifies. It's generally taken to mean either that the person under the open palm will soon die or has recently passed away. As you will see, this turns up quite a few times. 'YELLOW SUBMARINE' "...sky of blue, sea of green in our yellow submarine" The yellow submarine represents a coffin, buried beneath a sea of green which represents the grass. "... in the land of submarines" In a cemetery - in the land of coffins.
'ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE' "Yes he's dead... we loved you yeah, yeah, yeah." If you listen closely to the end of the track, you can hear John Lennon sing the two lines mentioned above
'ONLY A NORTHERN SONG' "When you are listening...you may think that the band is not quite right... the band is a little dark and out of key, you're correct, there's nobody there" Paul played the bass guitar. Generally the bass player keeps the rhythm for the band. The band would not sound right if Paul was playing.
Magical Mystery Tour
Paul is the Walrus. He is the only one in black. We know Paul is the Walrus from the song 'Glass Onion.'

This booklet came with the original album, and is not included in subsequent reprints nor is it in the CD.

Throughout the booklet Paul is shown without shoes. Generally, people are buried without shoes.
Page 1; Paul's magicians hat is pulled down over his face. Hiding his face because it is not really him.
Page 3; Paul sits under crossed flags. Crossed flags are placed over the casket in British Military funerals.
Page 3; A sign sits on the desk in front of Paul that reads "I WAS YOU."
Page 3;In this photo Paul has the scar on his lip.
Page 4; Paul's hat is crushed, indicating that he suffered head injuries in the car crash.
Page 9; A cartoon of Paul shows a crack in Paul's head. Again a reference to the head injuries.
Page 13; Ringo's drum reads "LOVE THE 3 BEATLES."
Page 23; Paul is the only Beatle wearing a Black carnation.
Page 24; An open Palm is photographed above Paul's head.
Page 2; Paul's magician hat is pulled down over his face. Hiding his face because it is not really him.
Page 2; Paul's magicians hat is the only one with black flowers on it.
Page 2; "AWAY IN THE SKY, beyond the clouds, live 4 or 5 Magicians." There were only four Beatles, unless you count William.
Paged 4 & 5; Ringo's drum reads "LOVE THE 3 BEATLES."
If you turn it sideways the people in white spell out "RIP."
'I AM THE WALRUS' "Bury me, bury me, bury my body" "Oh untimely death" This can be heard if you listen closely to the person speaking in the background at the end of the song. "goo goo goo joob" These are said to be the last words of Humpty Dumpty's before he fell and cracked his head. 'STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER' "I buried Paul" John Lennon says when the song fades back in. The Beatles Anthology #2 states that John Lennon really said "Cranberry Sauce." But if you listen to this version you can clearly hear that this phrase has been manipulated to sound like "I buried Paul."
'ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE' "Yes he's dead... we love you yeah, yeah, yeah." If you listen closely to the end of the track, you can hear John Lennon sing the two lines mentioned above
White Album
Page numbers are for the CD booklet. The booklet is a reassembled version of the poster that came with the original LP.
Page 7 Bottom right: A picture of Paul dancing. If you look closely you can see what appears to be two skeletal hands reaching for him.
Page 14: A large picture of Paul clearly shows the scar on his lip. Those of you with the LP received this photo as an 8x10.
Page 18: (bottom right corner, near the photo of George Harrison) A picture of William Campbell before the plastic surgery.
'GLASS ONION' "Looking through a glass onion." A glass onion is a term for a coffin with a glass top. "I told you about the Walrus and me - man. We are as close as can be - man. Well here's another CLUE for you all, the WALRUS was PAUL" John tells us the Walrus on the cover of the Magical Mystery Tour was Paul.
'WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS' "Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul......" At the fade out of the song you can hear George sing this. He is crying out for Paul.
'I'M SO TIRED' Played forward it is gibberish, but backwards it says "Paul is Dead man, Miss him, Miss him" Those of you with albums simply spin the album backwards. For those with CD's, utilize the CD-ROM drive on your computer.
'REVOLUTION #9' Played forward "Number nine, number nine..." but backwards it says "Turn me on dead man, turn me on dead man..." This one is quite audible and very clear. Also, there are nine letters in the name McCartney.
'DON'T PASS ME BY' "You were in a car crash..." Another reference to a car crash. "...and you lost your hair" Yet another reference to head injuries.
Abbey Road
In the procession across the street, John represents the Preacher (or God), Ringo represents a Pall Bearer (or undertaker), Paul is the Deceased, and George is the Grave Digger.
Paul's eyes are closed and he is in his bare feet, both representative of a corpse.
Paul is out of step with the other Beatles - his right foot is forward, the others are leading with their left foot.
Paul is smoking with his right hand. Paul played the bass as a lefty. This shows that an imposter was brought in for the photograph.
An ambulance, or a morgue wagon, is parked on the right side of the street.
The car in the background appears to be headed directly at Paul.
The VW bug that is parked on the left side of the street has a license plate that says '28IF'. Paul would have been 28 when this album was released, IF he would have lived.
The license plate also says 'LMW' which stands for 'Linda McCartney Weeps.' Or “Linda McCartney Widow”
If you connect the dots they form a 3 - the three remaining Beatles.
There is a crack in the letters that spells 'Beatles.'
If you turn the album sideways you can see a white skull in the upper left corner.
The woman that you see on the right edge is Rita, the meter maid.
'COME TOGETHER' "Come together right now over me" Over Paul's grave. "One and One and One is Three" Another reference to three Beatles, not four. "He got monkey fingers" The fingers of dead people curl up like monkeys. "He got hair, down below his knees." When people die the hair continues to grow.
'SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW' "So I quit the police department and got myself a steady job" Explains that William must have been a police officer. This also explains the OPD patch from Sgt. Pepper's.

Final Thoughts Some people may believe this or not but I think most people take it in fun. Paul himself has mentioned this in interviews in a light hearted way. No one will ever know if this was created by PR people to promote the Beatles records or if the Beatles themselves added clues for a laugh to play along with the joke?.

Read the clues and make up your own mind.

Jason Hobbs has been a fan of Paul McCartney for over 25 years and runs a Paul McCartney related lens at Squidoo - CLICK HERE to view Lens

cheap crazy contact lenses

What Does Today's Music Show About Us As a Society?

2010-02-16T02:47:00.001-08:00

Many of you might not have thought about this question, or even about this topic. But the fact is that the type of music that is present in today's times defines us as a society. The situation is the same if we take into consideration the clothing, hair styles and other aspects of visual identification of the individuals.

But what I am talking about, is actually something which is more important - especially since music is based upon rhythm, and as you might be aware, everything in our world is also based upon rhythm. As an example, the heart beats at a certain rhythm, the cells transduct signals at a certain rhythm etc.

Anyways, if we take a look about the popularity of different song types in today's world and we compare it to the music from all the way from the 18th century, until today - we can see that there is a very big difference. Why is this so? And furthermore, what kind of value does today's music have?

You may or may not agree with what I say, but the fact is, that music from the 18th century is still present in today's times - and the most popular hits from the late 90's and early 2000's has long been forgotten. This must mean one thing - that today's music is mostly based upon what the distribution companies feel is worthy being published - thus it is based upon money.

I hope that this article has in some way helped you to witness the negative things, and the positive things as well, in regards to what development our society as a whole has chosen in the topic of music.

The only thing that I can urge you to do is to start thinking about what you can do to change this. Thus, what you can do to make this world a slight better place for all of us. Because, as I mentioned, music, thus rhythm, is the basis of everything.

John R. Edwards is a photographer. He has been one for 15 years and is known for pictures of Swedish wildlife. You can find out more about camera lens filters and about canon macro lenses since he has been using them extensively.

jenn air water filter promotional pads

Mirror Tinted Contact Lenses: Wild, and Practical Too

2010-02-14T01:44:00.001-08:00

As a contact lens wearer, if you have searched the various
lens options available on the market today, you've probably
noticed that there are a lot of features to choose from. Some
are fairly standard, and are mainly related to your eyesight
correction and comfort. However, many features are now
offered that are designed for your personal preferences and
style. One such type of lenses are mirror tinted contact
lenses. At first, you may think they are some kind of wild
and crazy idea. But when you learn more about them, you
realize they take care of some very real and important
needs, and you may just decide that you'd like to try a pair
yourself.

For example, if you're involved in sports, you know how
important eyewear can be. In many sports, players who
need vision correction often struggle when trying to find
eyewear that can help them see the way they need to, but
which is still comfortable and doesn't interfere with their
performance. Many athletes have trouble with sun glare,
when they need to focus on a ball while playing outdoors
and facing the sun. Some people experiment with tinted
goggles or sunglasses that strap on, but most of them end
up missing the convenience of wearing nothing but contacts
which are barely noticeable.

With mirror tinted contact lenses, an athlete can have the
best of both worlds - convenience and sun protection. A
baseball pitcher can pitch a game facing into the sun, and
with mirrored contacts they don't have to hassle with the
irritation of sweaty, clouded goggles, or sunglasses that
partially block their field of vision. Goggles or glasses can
also be dangerous if they are struck by a ball or another
player during play. A soccer player wearing mirror tinted
contacts can block out the sun, but still be agile and
aggressive, not having to working about having sunglasses
or goggles knocked off.

Even if you're not an athlete, you may be one of those
people have an extreme sensitivity to light. Perhaps
standard tinted contacts don't help and you need the extra
protection of mirror tinting, but you'd like to avoid the
discomfort of wearing sunglasses for long periods of time.
Or, you may not have extra sensitivity, but you are
involved in activities where you will spend lots of time in
bright sun, like at the beach or on long road trips. In either
case, mirror tinted contact lenses may be the perfect
solution.

Not only are mirrored contacts practical, they can also be
wild and fun. Even if you don't need to block the sun, you
may want to experiment with them as a cool effect at
parties or other occasions. You can be the life of the party
when people see your shiny mirrored eyeballs. If you really
get into it, you'll even find that there's a whole variety of
colored contacts, special effects contact lenses ("Special
FX"), theatrical contacts, and novelty contact lenses that
you can play around with.

You can have a lot of fun with mirrored contacts. Just
remember, they can be extremely practical, too. You will
definitely want to try them if you're sensitive to light, will
be involved in activities exposing you to the sun for long
periods, or you're into sports and want the convenience of
contacts and sun-blocking that you've previously gotten
only from sunglasses and goggles. Try out mirror tinted
contact lenses for yourself and you'll be pleased to find that
you can finally have the best of both worlds, and have fun
at the same time.

For more information visit http://www.aa-contact-lenses.com

promotional pads 3 wheel mobility scooter jenn air water filter

How to Shoot Video of Your Kids Sports Team So That Anyone Else Will Watch it!

2010-02-12T00:25:00.001-08:00

Break out that video camera, there is a game this weekend!

1. You bought a video camera

2. You want to shoot sports of your kid

3. Here is how to do it right!

What a wonderful age of technology we live in. You can buy the greatest gadgets now days to record video and music and play them in all sorts of ways on other great technology gadgets from computers, DVD's, MP3 players, VCR's, and many more. It is all great stuff. But they all come with thick owners manuals that do not always get you going the right direction. You may eventually learn to use your great new camera for instance, but that does not mean you will necessarily take pictures that are worth looking at down the road. Rolling tape in your camera is one thing and creating video that is high quality and interesting is another thing. The goal of this product is to bring you up to speed with using your video camera (whatever format, and whatever brand) to get the best results for recording those precious moments of your kid's athletic achievements.

We as parents spend plenty of hours out on the field, court, pool, or track watching our kids take part in and compete in youth sports. If you have a video camera you are going to want to record some of these events for posterity and perhaps education. Following the simple steps in this guide will help you to capture them in the best possible fashion so that it is watch able but also usable down the road.

My video expertise stems from two decades as a network television cameraman and as a parent with several kids actively involved in youth sports. In my years of shooting video professionally I have been around the world and seen just about every type of news event. I also spent 15 years covering pro sports events for my employer. These were the best type of assignments as far as I was concerned. In my entire career the things I have enjoyed most is being able to go to places where the average person cannot. In sports that usually means being on the field, next to the court, in the press box, or in the pit. I have shot football games of all levels up to and including NFC and AFC championship games. Living in the Bay Area has allowed me to cover many baseball pennant races and several World Series. I was right behind home plate the night the earth shook in the 1989 World Series. Talk about a shock. I had to give up covering a World Series between the two Bay Area teams to go and cover a huge news event. Baseball seemed small for a while after the magnitude of the earthquake. The point in this is that I love sports, have been around sports my whole life and I know how to shoot video of sports. With that in mind I will do my best to give you advice on how to do the same.

Gear

Now whether you have the latest DV camera in your hands or an old VHS format camera there are basic things you will need to keep in mind if you are going to shoot sports. As we say in the video business your camera is only as good as the glass that you hang in front of it. The better the lens the better the results will be no matter what kind of recording format you use. Now you already have a camera in hand and may never have heard this particular bit of advice so it is too late to factor it into the equation. However if you have camera in hand and it has any limitations on what it can do due to the lens being less than wonderful there are things you can do to mitigate the situation. We will discuss those things in more detail later on.

The key factors before setting out on your game day video assignment are to make sure you know the operating functions of the gear, have a tape supply in hand (soon to be DVDs with the revolution in gear design that is taking place right now), and batteries fully charged. I know these may seem like the simply obvious things but even the pros have to constantly remind themselves to check and double check these items.

A little aside here about preparation. Over the many years of covering news I learned lots of little tips from other photographers in the field and applied them to my work regimen. In the early days of video we always had to carry around a portable hair dryer because the record decks would seize up if the moisture levels got to high. So in the winter time if you came in from the cold outside into a nice warm building the air would condense inside the machine and cause moisture build up. The warning light would come on and bang we were dead in the water. One of us would have to run to the car and get the hair dryer, fire it up and chase the water away from the record heads of the deck. It caused some very funny moments in public places I can assure you. (This by the way can still be a problem even today with electronics/VCRs/lenses. Too much moisture can cause havoc. So just remember a portable hair dryer can save your day)

Another thing I learned from others is the value of backup. A few years ago I was out on assignment and we had a young eager college intern along with us in the field. This young man wanted to learn all about what we did in our job. He was very interested in how to take pictures, unlike most of our interns who only wanted to become reporters or anchors. He asked many questions and after seeing that he was really paying attention I decided to take him under my wing and really fill him up with information. One tidbit that I shared with him was to always have an emergency stash of tape in his car when out on assignment. He didn't quite understand the importance of this at first since I had already drilled him about always bringing tape stock with him when going out on assignment. I filled him with stories of times when something or other happened and I'll be darned if you didn't need another tape and there under the seat of the car was that emergency spare. So anyway he went off to graduate from college and get a job in a small market TV station. He would send us progress reports from time to time, which I really enjoyed. Then lo and behold one day he sends me a letter telling me how he got into a jam one day on a story and needed that emergency tape. He had dutifully tucked one under the back seat and it was there to save the day. I hope that what you learn in this book will in some way keep you from having a video failure down the road. What I learned in my career is that video production is 80% of it is dealing with the curves and problems that are thrown at you and 20% talent. If you can learn to trouble shoot then you will always be successful.

My first suggestion for shooting your kids sports activities is to go watch TV. Yes sit down put your feet up and watch some sports on TV. Really watch how they make it interesting at the top level. Then watch the news and see how they cover the games from a news perspective. Don't pay attention to the content; just watch how it develops visually. Now of course you can never duplicate what the networks are doing with just your one camera. However if you can glean anything from watching it should be how they try to bring intimacy with the athletes out in the broadcast. All the new improvements in covering sports have to do with getting you the viewer as close to the athlete as they can. Bring you into their world. From cameras on wires overhead that swoop along the field to cameras in the net of a hockey game to cameras inside the cars at Daytona, it brings you into the game. Now you cannot stand on the pitchers mound at your kids' baseball game but you can learn some techniques that can make your baseball video more intimate and therefore more compelling to watch.

A side note here, if your task is to capture the whole game or sporting activity for review as a coaching tool you should focus mainly on getting a good high view and putting the camera on a tripod. Pan slowly to follow action and don't zoom in and out. My main goal here is not to teach you this skill since it is pretty darn basic. However if this is what you are doing you should do it right. Find the right framing to keep as much of the activity in the frame and follow it carefully. Some sports move quickly from one end to the other and you will have to be smooth. Resist the temptation to follow the ball on full zoom. You will lose. Those guys that shoot sports on TV are full on pros using much better gear than you will ever have at your disposal.

Now in order to get a good video of your child's game you need to find that emotion and excitement that exists in any game. Think of it as capturing a few of the things that occur and making those golden. Does the team do a pre game cheer? Get up close, stick your camera wither way up high over their heads looking down or get underneath looking up and shoot it in a way that takes the viewer where they can't go. Capture an at bat in baseball by taking a full pitch cycle in close-up of the pitcher, and then one of the catcher and then as close as you can of the hitter. Show their face if you can. If they get the big hit don't go crazy rushing to zoom out. Follow the runner down the line. It will be almost impossible to follow the ball so stay with the runner. Look for the angles that will give you these emotional shots.

Some sports are more of a challenge due to the size of the field and the amount of movement up and down the field. Take soccer of instance, if you follow the ball the camera is moving all over the place and the viewer gets queasy. To capture some good video of your kid playing you need to focus on specific shots and not try to follow the play. Look for moments such as throw ins, free kicks, kick offs when things are predictable and you can get closer to the action. Walk down the sideline and wait for the action to come to you. If you child is playing right forward then get ahead of the play and when you see the ball moving towards you then you can find you child and roll tape in anticipation of them playing the ball. Be sure to get some shots of the crowd cheering, the coach watching (not yelling I hope) the goalie waiting in anticipation.

Hold your shots steady for 6-10 seconds at a time. If you are taking a shot of someone watching the game actually count it out in your head (thousand one thousand two...) This will ensure that you get good solid shots and that you don't run on and on with the shot. Brace your arm against your chest for stability and use your other arm across your belly underneath to create a stabilizing platform. This is in lieu of a tripod of course. If you have a tripod it can always be a good thing to use if it does not get in the way.

Use creative angles as much as possible. Get down low and wait for the action to run by you. Don't pan with it but rather let the action race through the frame. At a swim meet get the camera down on the deck for more of a swimmers perspective of the action. Of course you may not want to stay there when the swimmers approach for a turn. Digital electronics do not like water inside them. I was getting the most awesome low angle shots of some open water ocean swimmers one time and the boat lurched on me and salt water sprayed over the camera. I had a cover on the camera but salt water seeped into the crannies and it caused us much grief getting it cleaned out so as to avoid damaging the electronics of the camera.

Kevin Rockwell worked as a network TV cameraman for 20 years shooting news and sports. Now a devoted fan of digital photography and video he works to gather information, tips and news for digital camera users. Oh and he loves to shoot pictures of his kids playing sports.
Great Digital Cameras http://www.greatdigitalcameras.info

jenn air water filter

Hydrogenics 60 Color Contacts - Fact or Fiction

2010-02-09T23:19:00.001-08:00

When I saw how many people were searching for Hydrogenics 60 color contacts on the Internet, I had to do some of my own research. I am familiar with the brand of contact lenses, but I was not aware that they made color contacts.

And guess what?

I couldn't find any! At least not in the sense of color lenses as are usually available on the internet, for cosmetic wear. So don't expect any pitch black mirrored contact lenses!

For the record, what Hydrogenics DO make, are 1-2 week disposable soft contact lenses. The normal package consists of 6 lenses immersed in a buffered saline solution. For the more technically minded amongst you, they Hydrogenics 60 contact lenses are made from 40% polymer (ocufilcon F). The other 60% is of course water. The manufacturer is Ocular Sciences, Inc of San Fancisco, California, in the United States. What you CAN do with these lenses, is to provide a prescription online, so that you can obtain true prescription lenses, as opposed to color contacts which are usually obtainable with a 0.00 power, which means that they are normally only for cosmetic purposes.

What the contact lenses do provide is UV filtering against rays which can be harmful to the cornea. The lenses got approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration in 2002. Here is an extract from their report.

"Approval for the Hydrogenics 60 (ocufilcon F) UV In-monomer tint contact lens indicated for extended wear (up to 7 days / 6 nights between removals for cleaning and disinfection). The device, as modified, will be marketed under the trade name referenced above with the following indications: SPHERICAL: Hydrogenics 60 (ocufilcon F) UV Blocking Contact Lenses are indicated for the correction of visual acuity in persons with non-diseased eyes that are myopic (nearsighted) or hyperopic (farsighted) and may exhibit refractive astigmatism up to 2.00 diopters that does not interfere with visual acuity.

TORIC: Hydrogenics (ocufilcon F) UV Blocking Contact Lenses are indicated for the correction of visual acuity in persons with non-diseased eyes that are myopic (nearsighted) or hyperopic (farsighted) and may exhibit refractive astigmatism of up to -6.00 diopters.

The overall power range is +8.00D to -10.00D sphere and pl to -6.00D cylinder. The lens may be prescribed for Daily or Extended Wear in not-aphakic persons.

When prescribing for extended wear, the eye care practitioner may recommend lens wear up to 7 days / 6 nights between removals for cleaning and disinfection.

The eye care practitioner may prescribe the contact lens for either single use disposable wear or for scheduled replacement wear, with cleaning, disinfection, and schedules replacement. When prescribing for scheduled replacement wear, the contact lens may be disinfected using a chemical (not heat) disinfecting system. Hydrogenics 60 (ocufilcon F) UV Blocking Contact Lenses help protect against transmission of harmful UV radiation to the cornea and into the eye"

The article was written by Charlie Cory, who is the owner of FX Eyes, a website dedicated to providing advice about buying special effects contact lenses online.

You can visit his website about special effects contact lenses.

cheap crazy contact lenses pride wheelchair 3 wheel mobility scooter

Vintage Prints and Antique Maps on a Budget

2010-02-07T22:10:00.001-08:00

Collecting of vintage prints works best if one starts by understanding his/her motivation. If the desire is to own rare items in the original, this is unlikely to happen on a budget, so start by learning how to get rich. If the goal is to buy art for pleasure, consider titles that were originally mass produced, by such methods as woodcut or woodblock, lithograph. Then, the choices are for originals of antique prints or modern reproductions of old prints.

Once the collector finds examples that please, one might seek out similar examples by type or artist or print house, study their history, read guides on pricing and availability, et cetera. Persons who are thrilled by the hunt can visit estate sales, used book stores, and so forth, but that can be a low-yield process, often finding only damaged goods. If time for the pursuit is limited, a definitely powerful tool is internet searches, for knowledge about the art, sources of reproductions, stores and brokers for vintage prints.

If authenticity is a prime consideration, one should do a lot of study and seek out good dealers. This specialization is probably best left to well-to-do persons with professional advisors.

If pleasure in the viewing is the main focus, fakes can be as satisfying as authentic works, and modern reproductions at least as acceptable as old prints. In fact, the reproductions can be greatly preferred, because digital editing can do a lot to offset damage and aging, such as fading, darkening, dirt, hand writing or stamps not made by the artist, tears, cracks, even some repairs of gaps. Repairs can be a touchy subject, if the one doing the repairs has not the knowledge or skill to follow the original artist's intentions, such as might be achieved from merging different copies of the same original. Colorization of black and white originals is also very touchy, whether achieved with a brush or modern software, due to guessing and subjective standards.

Be aware that the major online bookstores often have used copies of items that can help in your studies. For long out-of-print items, better success might be had at Alibris-com.

What was achieved before modern technology can be fascinating!

Oldcolorprint.com is an example of an online store offering digitally repaired reproductions of antique prints. Selections are 99.9999% in color, though sometimes of limited spectrum. Titles span the years 1690 (Japanese woodcut) to 1921 (circus poster lithograph), and include color photographs made before the existence of color film (Photochrom and work by Prokudin-Gorskii). Inks are rated to 100 years and waterproof paper is optional. Pages include brief history of color prints and printing technogogy, examples of restorations.

Author
D.A. Miller, PhD, is a physicist who is fascinated by mass produced color prints achieved before color film was available. His digital restorations can be viewed at http://oldcolorprint.com.

cheap crazy contact lenses 3 wheel mobility scooter portable massage chairs

Cash From Your Camera - 5 Steps to Write Your Way to Successful Photo Sales

2010-02-05T21:03:00.001-08:00

If you are able to write quality articles on a variety of subjects and then shoot quality images you are far more likely to be able to find a market for your images. The magazine market especially are looking for good articles that have the associated images as part of the deal. If you can do this then you can storm to the front of the queue.

One of the problems that magazine editors face today is shrinking budgets. Getting together a great article on a relevant subject and then sending out a staff photographer to shoot it or pay a freelancer, is always a budgetary headache. If you can solve that problem then you will stand a great chance of finding someone who will buy your images together with a quality article. So how do you write your way to success?

1. Find a niche

Here you'll have to do a bit of a self evaluation. Find out what you enjoy doing and what your passions are, something that really interests you. Something that you have already been shooting for fun. Write articles around what you have already shot. If you like boating or dogs then you'll probably know which magazines focus on these topics. If you don't then research your market. Find out what magazines are available in your specific area of interest and what types of articles they focus on. Do they have photos in the articles? You want to ascertain whether a good article contains how many images. Then once you know this you will be able get ideas for articles. Of course it's better if you are a regular reader of the magazine and know what articles have appeared and when.

2. Contact the magazine editor

This is often the most difficult as we are not partial to rejection. What you need to do is come up with a few story ideas and then pitch them to the editor. Give a brief outline or summary of the story so that it gives the editor an idea of the article structure. If you already have images, work the story around them and then shoot any additional to fill in the gaps. With these ideas you may just give the editor some ideas that he hadn't thought of. Don't go to the editor and ask what they need. Remember that you are an unknown and a risk at this stage as they don't know what you can deliver.

3. Work on your ideas

Create something that is dramatic and outstanding that will catch the editor's ear first. If he can picture a finished article once you have submitted it then he will be far more open to looking at the photos that accompany it. The article needs to be professional and polished although the editor may refine it and cut out bits that aren't relevant or make the story too long. Don't rely on the magazine's editorial staff to make corrections to spelling and grammar. This may be the cause for the article getting rejected. Once your article is formulated, corrected and polished then it's ready to go to the next level.

4. Work on your images

Look through your portfolio of appropriate images. Select only the ones that are outstanding, that is, your best. If the image doesn't cut it or you are not sure, leave it out. You are showcasing your images, in some cases, to a national magazine who have very high standards. If you aren't sure then reshoot an image. Rather have too few that are of high quality than including one or two extras that lower the standard of the portfolio. If the editor likes your story they may ask you to provide additional or specific photos of a subject.

5. Evaluate the final product

Look at the article you have just created and visualise it in a magazine. Would it catch your attention. Would you read it? It's imperative that you evaluate the article carefully. Get a friend or associate to read through it with the images in place and give their opinion. Don't use family as they might give an emotionally biased opinion. You only have one chance to give a great first impression. This might be the break you have been waiting for so give it all you have.

If you really give you heart and soul to writing great articles, they will give you a foot in the door for your photos. But, make sure that your photos are as good as your articles and would deserve to be published in a quality magazine.

Do you want to learn more about photography in a digital world? I've just completed a brand new e-course delivered by e-mail. Download it here for free: http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/ To learn how you can take your photography from ordinary to outstanding visit http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/21steps.htm

Wayne Turner has been teaching photography for 25 years and has written three books on photography.

cheap crazy contact lenses promotional pads rj45 network cables

Dog Training Ideas With Dog Training Whistles

2010-02-03T20:02:00.001-08:00

In the past, dog whistles were used mainly by gun dog and herding dog handlers. They are now being incorporated into use by many different varieties of dog trainers. Pet dog owners seeking to obtain better control with their dogs have also implemented their use.

Traditionally distance trainers would shout commands at their dogs at distances during hunting or shooting. Today the dog whistle is more efficient because it maintains distance control over the dog without scaring off the prey. It has a high frequency which dogs' ears can tune in on more easily than they can the human voice. There are many varieties of dog whistles sold today. Some are made of plastic and metal. The dog handler's choice will depend on the breed.
The thunder whistle and the silent whistle are two examples. The thunder whistle is similar to a referee's whistle. The silent dog whistle performs at a high frequency and is heard more easily by dogs than by humans.

Using the Whistle to Make Your Dog Return

You should possess the ability to recall your dog regardless of the circumstances. No matter what type of activity your dog was involved in when you call him to come back, never punish him. The dog always needs to feel that the experience of returning to you is a pleasurable one.

Getting your puppy to return during your recall training is much easier because they are afraid to wander long distances away. During this training period be sure to create a positive experience out of it for the puppy. Capture your dog's interest in while trying to get him to return. Use a high pitch voice, jump up and down and clap your hands to get your dog's attention.

The most important way of choosing which commands to teach your dog is to choose the ones that are going to be of the most benefit to you. Always be consistent with your signals. Some of the fundamental dog whistle commands are teaching the dog to sit at a distance, making the dog return to you, and sending your dog in a different direction.

The primary command for you to achieve during your training process is the distance sit. The dog is at his best attention when he is sitting. He is more likely to follow up on any command while in this position. Remember that when you are teaching your dog to sit y distance training take it slowly. Start with a short distance and as the dog learns his command increase the distance a step at a time.

Excluding the gun and herding dog handlers the majority of people are delighted to accomplish distance sits and distance recalls with their dog whistles.

Matt D Murren operates a Squidoo lens on dog training ideas Dog Training Ideas

mesh back office chair cheap crazy contact lenses

Room Acoustics Basics

2010-02-01T18:18:00.001-08:00

Why Does the Room Matter?

Ever been watching TV and no matter how loud you made the volume, it was still hard to hear? Ever walk down a long, narrow hall and clap your hands to hear a strange twang echo? Well, those are just some of the effects that rooms have on sounds and yes, they play a role in your recordings. So, it is important to first consider the acoustic quality of a room before you start recording your awesome, will-change-the-world songs. Once the tracks are recorded, it is very difficult or near impossible to undo the effects of the room in the mixing and mastering stages. So, deal with this before you start recording.

There are volumes and volumes of information written on the subject of acoustics and most of us don't have time or energy to absorb that. The focus here is to give you enough information to understand what makes a bad room for recording and how to identify problems before the record button gets pressed. Ways to fix room acoustic problems without spending a fortune are covered in another lens, "Finding and Fixing Room Acoustic Problems," but first, a handle on room acoustics will be a valuable tool in getting high-quality recordings. Plus, knowing a little about room acoustics will help you pick a room that is already a good choice or needs little adjustment for recording. You just have to know what to listen for in a room.

There are essentially three acoustic properties that dominate the quality of a room, 1) room modes, 2) reverberation and absorption levels, and 3) reflection, combing and diffusion properties. There are certainly other acoustic properties but you're not going to earn your PhD in acoustics here. Let's just try to keep it simple so we can do what we really want to do, get a quality recording of some great music.

I. Room Modes and Resonance
Ever play a particular note on your instrument and something in the room vibrated as a result? Well, that note hit the "resonance" of that object. What does resonance mean? If you take a piece of string and tie one end to something and then shake the string until you get the string to vibrate with a single arc, you are at the point where the least amount of energy is required to shake the string. This is why when you pluck an instrument string, it vibrates at a specific rate or frequency (i.e. the tuned note). The energy easily transfers back and forth from the bridge to the nut at this rate. Everything faster or slower just dies out quicker. Take the tie piece of string and try to change the rate at which you shake it and see how erratic it becomes. Well, rooms also have resonances and just like the energy in the guitar string that transfers back and forth from the bridge to the nut, sound in a room bounces back and forth from wall to wall. So at the resonant frequency, the sound will take much longer to die out compared to other sounds not at the wall-to-wall resonant frequency. There are other types of resonances created from more than just two walls (known as mode types), but the wall-to-wall modes almost always dominant the room.

Why should you care about room resonance? Well, say you are recording a song that is predominantly in the Key of A and the room resonates at a frequency that is near E-flat. After a recording of the song in the room, there is now this strange flat sound in the recording you just can't put your finger on and so, the room has ruined the recording. Typically, if you can't hear people talking on TV no matter how loud you make the volume, it's because of the room resonance is covering the sound. The same thing will happen to your recordings if the room has heavy resonances.

The way to tell how many modes are in a room is based on the number of parallel surfaces. For example, in a rectangular room there are three modes: front wall to back wall, left side wall to right side wall, and ceiling to floor. Again, there are other modes but these are typically much less of a nuisance compared to the wall-to-wall type.

The frequency at which they resonate at can be determined by the distance (D) between each wall using the formula,

F = 565/D (resonant frequency of wall-to-wall room mode)

Depending on where you place a microphone, a room resonant can make a played pitch (or component of the pitch) louder OR softer. In any case, it "colors" the sound and distorts the intended recording.

Remember the example with the E-flat resonance? A room that has two walls about 14 ½ feet apart will produce a resonate frequency of about 39 Hz, which is a very low pitch E-flat.

Are there any good distances from wall to wall? No. Your enemy is parallel surfaces and in particular, rooms that are square or cubical. What if I just put a lot of stuff in the room? Won't that help? Not necessarily; particularly if you just randomly do this. Rugs, drapes and furniture do not provide much mode damping (they do affect reverb and imaging, but not modes). There are ways to dampen mode frequencies (e.g. bass traps, wall wedges) but this will be covered in a separate article, "Finding and Fixing Room Acoustic Problems."

Here is the Take-Away for this section:

Avoid recording in rooms with lots of parallel walls (especially square and cubical)

Irregular room shapes will provide much better recording quality

If you can't avoid parallel walls (like the ceiling to floor), then at least know what the approximate resonant frequencies are so you can use that information to fix or avoid these modes

Just because you found a room that doesn't have many parallel walls, doesn't mean the room is recording-friendly. There are still two other factors to consider, reverberation and diffusion.

II. Reverberation and Absorption
What is reverberation? Sound bounces off of all surfaces whether it is a full reflection or a partial one. However, unlike direct echoes or resonances, these reflections hit other surfaces and still other surfaces until the sound dies out. This is known as reverberation and summation of the reflections result in a different coloring of the sound based on the size and shape of the room. This is why the reverberation in a church sounds different than in a concert hall. In fact a room with no reverberation at all is not real pleasing to listen to music in, but a room with excessive reverberation will make the music sound blurry and lack real clarity. So, the goal is to find the right balance of reverberation. However, if there were a situation where you had to choose a room with too much reverb versus a room with very little reverb, choose the room with very little reverb (i.e. a very "dry" room). Why? Thanks to the development of software technology and process power, artificial reverb can be added to tracks after recording. This is particularly appealing since different types and levels of reverb can be auditioned for the same track. Beats packing up the equipment and moving to another room just to see if you like the reverb better. However, sometimes we find a room that has such a nice reverb quality to it and you want to capture it with your recording. If not, the goal will be to make the room a dry as possible and ideas for getting a room dry are covered in the article, "Finding and Fixing Room Acoustic Problems."

So how do you know a room has too much reverb for recording? Good reverb to the ear typically does not translate the same for multi-track recording; always go for a little less, particularly if the music is a faster tempo and more rhythmic. Nevertheless, the first thing to consider is the overall spatial volume of the room. Based on typical professional recording studio rooms and other sources, rooms no smaller than 3,000 cu-ft should be used for recording. This is mostly because any smaller, the resonant modes become too difficult to reduce using absorption and other methods. Not to mention, it's going to be pretty cramped (e.g. 3,000 cu-ft = 8-ft ceiling x 20-ft front-to-back x 18-ft,9-in side-to-side). For recording, a maximum of 30,000 cu-ft should be the limit; this would be a typical basement with a 10-ft ceiling, 75-ft long by 40-ft wide. Any bigger and it will get more difficult to reduce the reverberation without professional grade treatments. Once you have a room that is a good size for recording, you have to figure out if the reverb is too much for a clear, professional sounding recording.

There are two answers to the question, "How much reverb is too much for a room that you will record music?" The first answer is the more professional approach that requires you to set up a microphone and a speaker for recording a "white noise" that you turn off to have a recording of the decay of this sound. The time it takes for the reverb to drop 60 dB (decibels) is known as the RT60 time of the room. If you go to some of the musical instrument and audio equipment websites, they sell audio analyzers that measure the RT60 of a room. However, they are not cheap and there is a quick and dirty way to do it if you have recording software that displays tracks in a dB scale (covered in Section IV). So, good reverb RT60 levels for recording music should be in the range of 0.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds. The second answer is the less sophisticated approach and that is to just make the room as dry as you can. Then once the tracks are recorded you can add reverb digitally in the mixing. Making a room dry requires a little understanding of absorption and damping.

As much as some materials reflect sound, there are other materials that absorb sound. The problem is that most absorptive materials do not absorb sound the same at different frequencies. For example, curtains might absorb mid-range sounds (200 Hz to 1000 Hz) well but do not impact the lower range much. So, although you reduced the reverb in the mid-range the room now sounds boomier. The bottom line is that thick is better. Fluffy pillows and drapes with a lot of folds will provide better sound absorption in the lower ranges. Carpets are good for mid to high frequency ranges (1 kHz and up). Room modes are a different animal and things like bass traps and wall wedges will be needed but the same idea of thicker-is-better still applies. Overall, try to have a balance of materials for all the frequency ranges. A little adjustment of how many items and where they are in the room will make a big difference in how dry the room will get. If the room starts to sound like you're in a tin can, the high range needs more absorption and if the room gets too boomy, you need thicker, fluffy items to reduce the lower range. More on this will be covered in the article, "Finding and Fixing Room Acoustic Problems."

The last topic I want to mention related to room reverberation is the sense of spatial placement. If a listener is standing in one spot in the room and the instrument is played at several different locations, the location change is audible to listener and NOT just because of the volume different between each ear of the listener. The reverberation build up will be different based on where the instrument is placed. One of the key aspects of this is the arrival gap. This gap between the direct sound of the instrument and when the reverb arrives creates a sense of space. Thus, sounds that have different arrival gaps and reverbs give the listener a better sense of spatial placement of the instruments in the room. So, when recording in the room (particularly rooms that are not very dry), record the different instruments as far apart from each other as possible to give them better separation in the mix-down of the tracks. Even though in a live performance the instruments are closer, placement of them further apart when recording will make the total mixed down recording feel much bigger and more live. For much drier rooms, this is not as important but this same effect can be achieved with digital reverberation if you know how to manage the settings to emulate the feeling of spatial placement.

Here is the Take-Away for this section:

Rooms with less reverb are better for recording than ones with more, even if the reverb has a good sound to it.

Rooms between 3,000 cu-ft (e.g. larger living room) and 30,000 cu-ft (e.g. large unfinished basement) are the most suitable sizes for recording.

Thicker and fluffier materials for lower frequency absorption and carpets, rugs and flat curtains for higher frequency absorption.

Record each instrument at different locations to achieve a better sense of separation on the mixed down track (further apart the better).

So, at this point you know that irregular shape room with some materials to absorb sound are the best candidates for recording. However, there is one more consideration that is related to echoes know as imaging that can ruin a recording even in a mode-free, low-reverb room.

III. Reflections, Combing and Diffusion
Although reverberations can be considered a kind of sound reflection it is really a full blend of many, many reflections in a decaying pattern. A direct reflection is a single reproduction of the direct sound and in cases where the reflection is coming from a far enough away location, it is called an echo. In very close scenarios, the effect is not audibly heard as a second copy of the original sound. One result is a blurring of the source and second is a flanging or combing of the sound. It's that twangy sound you get when you clap your hands in a narrow, hard-wall hallway. In recording, this can happen if your instrument is too close to a hard flat surface that sends a reflected image of your instrument to the same microphone you are recording. This can also happen when you record two tracks at the same time and each track has the same instrument recorded but with a slight delay between them. After mixing them down together, the flanging will occur.

The solution to preventing combing to occur in your recordings is the THREE-TO-ONE rule. If your instrument is 1 foot away from the microphone you are recording, then every other microphone and flat, reflective surface must be at least 3 feet or more away to prevent the combing filtering effect. For example, if you are in a room with an 8-foot dry-wall ceiling and you have a vocal microphone that is 5 feet above the floor, the furthest distance your singer can be away from the mic is 1 foot before the potential for flanging will occur in the recording. Another example is overhead mics for drums. Say you had two microphones for hanging over the kit for recording and the distance from the left crash cymbal to the mic directly over that is 1 foot. Then the other mic over the right crash cymbal has to be more than 3 feet away from the left crash cymbal. Plus, a flat dry-wall ceiling has to be more than a foot above the microphone. The drawing at the beginning of the section illustrates this. I'm not going to lie to you, drums are very hard to record. So it may take you a little while to find just the right placement and number of the mics and location of the kit in a room. However, sometimes placement and separation of the mics are not enough or the room constraints limit your options.

Any flat surface (even ones with a lot of absorption) can generate a reflection and therefore a potential for combing (or flanging). So, one way to reduce the amount of reflections that could create problems like combing, is to diffuse the reflected sound by changing the surface from flat to something that would better scatter the sound. Something as simple as a piece of wood or stiff cardboard bowed outward from the wall would provide good diffusion of the sound. Diffusion also helps improve the quality of the reverberation as well. Another idea is to have things on or against flat surfaces with random angles and shapes to force reflected sound to disperse in every direction instead of the same direction as a flat surface would. If caves had more absorption to them, they would make great locations to record since the cave walls are so filled with random shapes, sizes and curves.

Here is the Take-Away for this section:

The THREE-TO-ONE Rule: for every 1 foot your instrument is way from the recording microphone, all other microphones and flat surfaces should be at lest three feet away from that microphone.

Rid the room of as many large flat surfaces as possible by adding things against them to scatter the sound in random directions or even just an outward-bowed piece of wood or cardboard will make a big difference.

By applying these simple ideas to selecting and setting up a room for recording, you will notice a tremendous difference in the quality of your recordings. The more professional sounding your recordings are the more listeners will view you as a serious musician. You don't want somebody saying, "This sounds like you recorded it in your garage." A great song deserves a great recording and it all starts will the right room.

If you want to know a little more about the room you want to record in, the next section covers some simple ideas for taking acoustic measurements to evaluate the room and how well you did in treating it to sound better.

IV. Quick, Cheap and Dirty Acoustic Measurements
This section is a little more advanced in terms of being able to take advantage of the digital recording software to do your own acoustic measurements. If you have software packages like Cakewalk SONAR, Steinberg Cubase, DigiDesign ProTools, or other package that you can record and mix audio tracks, then you have the ability to do some basic acoustic measurements and analysis. Everyday, I'm seeing more and more plug-ins (e.g. VST, DXi) for these types of room measurements. I have even seen a number of "free" spectrum analyzers as plug-in modules for most recording software programs. The point is that more and more people are beginning to realize the value in making sure the room you record in gives you the best results and a little understanding of room acoustics will help you get the most out of these emerging tools. Nevertheless, with just your recording software you can make a few simple checks about the room before you start recording.

Find Those Modes

The first types of measurement that we will try to get with a quick and dirty technique are the room mode resonances. To do this you, you will need:

A "white noise" wave file (>5 seconds long) to play on your audio player.

A good microphone that has a low-frequency response (e.g. big condenser type used for vocals or bass drums).

An audio spectrum analyzer plug-in for your recording software. Particularly one that lets you change the frequency range so you can set it below 1,000 Hz.

This measurement procedure is more for before-and-after testing to see if you were able to reduce the room modes. However, in the least you should be able to locate the modes in the frequency spectrum. In case you are not sure what a "frequency spectrum" is, this is a plot of all the frequencies that are being picked up by the recording microphone. If you record a single note, you will find that it is not just that pitch but many other tones and frequencies that appear in the plot. If you record a single snare drum hit, you will see a very wide spread of frequencies in the plot. White noise shows up on the frequency plot as a complete flat horizontal line of frequencies. So, any effects of the room such as the modes will show up as peaks in this horizontal line, which is why we use white noise to find the room modes.

First Step: you need to estimate where the biggest room modes are in the frequency spectrum by finding the largest parallel surfaces in the room. If the room was rectangular, it would be the ceiling-to-floor, front wall-to-back wall, and left side wall-to-right side wall distances (in feet). Using these measured distances, apply the formula:

Frequency = 565/Distance

for each measured distance between large parallel surfaces.

Second Step: Place a larger speaker (e.g. woofer-type) connected to your sound system in the middle of the room and a large condenser-type microphone (e.g. vocal or kick drum mic) about three feet away from one of the corners in the room (modes are strongest in the corners). Play the white noise sound file through the larger speaker and record this using the large condenser-type microphone you placed in the corner. Make sure you note the exact positions of the speaker and microphone for later reference.

Third Step: Feed the recorded sound file into your frequency analyzer and zoom in on where you calculated the room mode frequencies. Note: some frequency analyzer programs (or plug-ins) don't let you change the range to compute the spectrum of frequencies and this may make it difficult to see the mode frequency bumps in the plot (i.e. the low-resolution at low frequency has "smoothed" out the modes in it's calculation of the plot). Thus, find a frequency analyzer program (or plug-in) that lets you set the range so you can get better resolution down at the lower frequencies (10's of hertz) where the modes are likely to be. FYI: a drop in the peaks of only 3 dB means the volume has been cut in half and a drop of 6 dB means the volume is now only 1/4th the original.

Fourth Step: Add bass traps, corner fills and other mode reducing materials to cut the modes and repeat the measurements in the previous step. Compare the before and after spectrum to see how much reduction you have been able to achieve.

Good Reverberations

Let me just reiterate that the drier the room (i.e. less reverb) the better for recording and this is mostly due to the advances in computer technology and digital emulation that makes it easier to create very realistic sounding artificial reverberation. This assumes the user of the reverb application knows what they are doing (see the Mixing lens in this series). However, you may still want to see how dry the room is before you start setting up your gear and bringing everybody in for the recording. So, this section shows you a quick little trick for getting a rough estimate on the reverb level of the room. I also want to again point out that there is a growing number of programs and plug-in for this and it might be of some value to you to do a quick internet search for your own benefit.

To do the quick and dirty reverb level check, you'll need set of drum sticks or some balloons (yes, I did say balloons) and a microphone. Given the option of balloons or stick, pick the balloons. Set the microphone up somewhere near the center of the room and start recording when the room is very quiet. As you are recording, pop a balloon with a pin or bang the sticks together once. Do this every 5 seconds to have a series of pops/bangs to look at in your recording software.

In your recording software, there should be a way to set the scale in the wave view window to be in decibels (dB). Once you have the scale set, zoom in on one of the pops in the wave view window.

In the dB view, the pop (or stick snap) will not completely drop out to zero; the remaining wave data is the background noise of the room and electronics (i.e. the noise floor). The RT60 is the time it takes for the pop to decay 60 dB, but in most practical situations the decay disappears into the noise floor before it decays the full 60 dB. So, you need to draw two horizontal lines, one from the start of the pop waveform and a second 60 dB below that that line (e.g. if the first was at -10 dB then the second would be at -70 dB). Using a straight edge, try to line it up with the peaks of the drop off and the intersection of the second horizontal line with the straight edge will approximately indicate the RT60 time. In the picture above, the RT60 time is about 0.33 seconds; this is a dry room and good to record in. Keep in mind, you are just trying to get a rough idea of the RT60 time; there are more accurate methods but we're trying to keep it simple and cheap.

About Author

I am a musician and songwriter living on the road. http://www.jimkoz.com However, I'm by no means professionally trained in music or recording, but as a regular guy I've managed to learn how to write my own music and do my own recordings that sound professional. I've received a number of awards for my songwriting from Billboard Magazine, SongOfTheYear, SongDoor, and the Great Lakes Songwriting contests. Nevertheless, the real test is that you hear for yourself and I welcome you to go to my website http://www.jimkoz.com and listen to the songs posted there to judge for yourself. My style of music may not be what you are into but it doesn't mean you wouldn't find ideas that could still help you. What I'd like to do here is post articles on recording music at home, tips and ideas on songwriting, and ways to improve your practicing and rehearsal time.

pride wheelchair

Professional Makeup Artists Not Just For Celebrities: How to Choose One

2010-01-30T17:00:00.001-08:00

Liz Taylor has always had them, and so do the new crop of film femmes. In fact they rarely go anywhere without them. They are personal makeup artists. And they are the latest Hollywood elite to come along. In fact many are upstaging the personalities signing their paycheques. Five years ago, few people knew the name Kevyn Aucoin, the famous artist to the stars who passed away in 2002. But now, you often hear either a name like Kevyn’s, or star artists Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier, who have their own cosmetic lines, or you witness a celebrity thank their makeup artist during awards broadcasts—either way, we are getting the message loud and clear that professional artists are lurking behind the famous faces we dream of having.

Most women can transform themselves with the flick of a well-directed makeup brush. And they can get professional help. In fact, just “internet” your way to “google”, type in makeup artist and you are on your way. Freelance makeup artists who come directly to your home abound, not just in major city centres but all over now. The training and hatching of seedling artists is on the rise big time, as the nation’s focus on beauty continues to escalate.

Maybe you’ve been so busy planning your hair, nails, massages, waxing, and facial appointments to think of how a makeup artist can add the icing to your beauty cake, but why all the fuss if you are left with a squeaky clean but blank canvas? Think about how an artist can turn your entire look around with a specialized makeup lesson tailored just for you. No time to master the skill for ongoing “do-it-yourself” applications? Then have an artist on speed-dial for those dinner parties, client meetings or impromptu get-togethers. You just need to know where to find them and how to know if they are worth their weight in lipstick.

Not all artists are created equal. To find an artist to come to you, follow a few key guidelines. Find someone who is trained by a reputable school or program known for specializing in the art of makeup not cosmetics sales. Watch out for artists who’ve been trained to sell products and who only use one line of makeup on you. You’ll be up against a big sales pitch to drop a lot of cash on products you end up shelving later because you break-out or your face rejects the horrific colour choices. Also ask to see photos of an artist’s work—preferably pictures from professional photographers who are fussy about the artists they work with. Expect the artist to speak with you before your appointment about everything that will make your session together successful—skin care, your colouring, your makeup preferences, the products and shades you currently use, your skin condition, the reason for getting together and what you want to get out of the makeover.

Beyond makeup, a great makeup artist doesn’t just show you where the colour goes. She looks at you and sees the shape of your face and how to showcase its features—she can tell you how to shade and highlight areas to make them stand out or disappear, how to shape your brows to suit your face or to make your eyes seem further apart or closer together, how to line your lips to reshape and balance their look, and more. A great makeup artist also looks at a clean face and sees the finished product. The transformations can be theatrical.

Colette Cormier is a freelance makeup artist serving Toronto area. She graduated from one of North America’s prestigious makeup schools and is an award-winning published writer. Colette has worked with world-known celebrities, as well as Toronto and New York models, film producers, fashion shows, video producers and has a variety of personal clients including brides, business executives, lawyers, accountants, Moms and teens. She offers services at your location—home, office or event.

To try that something new or to get makeup advice from Colette, you can reach her at 905-841-5250. You can also see her work at www.facemaker.ca

3 wheel mobility scooter jenn air water filter pride wheelchair

Essential Pieces of Your Modeling Portfolio

2010-01-28T15:51:00.001-08:00

Your modeling portfolio works as both your resume and your sales pitch, so it must be done professionally. This is not the place for amateurish penny-pinching. Young models have many opportunities open up to them simply because of a high quality online modeling portfolio or a well constructed comp card. In the same way, poorly put together portfolios can eliminate any career possibilities as a child model, simply because you have not marketed yourself well enough. Also, be sure to invest in an attractive portfolio case that will showcase your photographs.

Industry Standards

By looking at online modeling portfolios, you will see that the industry standard young model portfolio consists of ten to fifteen 8" x 10" glossy photographs that include a headshot, a ¾ body shot and a full body shot, among others. Use both color and black-and-white photographs. You will want to include several different poses, backgrounds and outfits to demonstrate your full range of ability and adaptability.

The clothing you wear for your young model portfolio shoot should neither be baggy nor too revealing. It is important to have your hair and make-up professionally done, keeping in mind that it is better to demonstrate your natural beauty, rather than appear heavily made up.

Different aspects of the young model world dictate that different types of photographs are included in your portfolio, depending upon which direction you want your young model career to go. If you are focusing your young model career toward commercial and print, your portfolio must contain those types of photographs.

If you prefer the high fashion route for your teen model career, then your portfolio must reflect that image. Your portfolio, or book, must meet the industry standards if it is to be looked at. If you are already signed with an agency, follow their recommendations. If you are a freelance model, there are many online modeling portfolio opportunities.

Tear Sheets

As your young modeling career develops, you will begin to collect published images of yourself. These images are torn from the magazine or other publication in which they were published and added to your portfolio. These pages are called tear sheets and they are a vital component of your portfolio, proving to prospective clients that you are able to get the job done and that other clients have found your work useful and marketable.

Comp Cards

Comp cards, also known as composite cards, z cards or set cards, act as your business card by providing prospective clients with a convenient, 8.5" x 5.5" card that displays a full sized portrait on one side and one or more smaller shots on the reverse, along with contact information, height, weight, bust, waist and hip sizes, shoe size, eye and hair color and nationality.

Your comp card is an inexpensive and highly effective marketing tool for your career as a teen model. They should be kept with you at all times. You simply never know when you are going to meet the next most important career contact. Be prepared.

Your career as a child model or teen model can be made far more successful if you have an up to date, professionally prepared portfolio that includes a range of photographs, your tear sheets and comp cards. Your poise and professionalism will result in more frequent and higher paying modeling jobs.

Author is a freelance writer. For more information on online modeling portfolios, visit http://onlinemodelworld.com/

home theater projector screen pride mobility scooters portable massage chairs

7 Tips to Healthy Halloween Contact Lens Wear

2010-01-26T14:49:00.001-08:00

Halloween contact lenses are an amazing way to spice up any costume. And, in some cases can make a great costume all on there own. Unfortunately in today’s market place, Halloween contact lenses have been promoted as an accessory rather than a medical device.

As it stands today, any theatrical or cosmetic contact lenses purchased without the written approval of a licensed eye care professional are considered illegal. Just because they are sold illegally does not mean they are safe.

If you are considering wearing cat eyes or mirrored contact lenses this year, see your eye care professional. This will ensure you get the best lenses for your eyes and will be properly instructed on their use. Once you get that perfect pair of costume lenses, remember they are for fun and furthermore, these are your eyes. A few guidelines will help ensure you have a safe and exciting time wearing your new lenses.

Tip 1 - Get your contact lenses from a licensed professional. In the United States sale of all contact lenses is restricted to licensed professionals. Think before buying lenses at a flea market or gas station. Ask yourself: has someone else already worn theses lenses? What kind of solution are they stored in? Who made them? What kind of paints were used, are they safe to put on my eyes? If you see a licensed professional you can rest assured that everything will go smooth and you will have an FDA approved lens that is fit specifically for your eye.

Tip 2 - Your contact lenses were fit for your eyes only. Never trade contact lenses. Once they have been put on your eyes, they should never go on anyone else’s eyes. Swapping contact lenses is a sure recipe for infection.

Tip 3 - Follow the recommended care regimen for your new cosmetic lenses. There are many different care systems available for contact lenses. Some are compatible with soft theatrical contacts, and some are not. Some are safe to put directly on your eye, and some are not. Play it safe and only use what your eye care professional recommends for your eyes and lenses.

Tip 4 - Only wear your lenses as long as is suggested by your contact lens specialist. Many of the theatrical lenses available today are designed to be worn for only a few hours at a time. Especially for eyes that are not used to contact lenses, put on your lenses before your affair and remove them after. Do not attempt to wear them all day and all night. Your eyes will not be pleased if you over wear your lenses.

Tip 5 - If using face makeup, put your lenses on first, then the makeup. You want to avoid getting makeup on and especially under your contacts. Simply put your lenses on first, and then you can apply any face makeup.

Tip 6 - Never sleep in your novelty contact lenses. Lenses used for overnight wear are designed specifically with extended wear in mind. Colored and painted lenses are designed to be worn for shorter periods.

Tip 7 - Have fun with your lenses. Depending on what style you choose, from spooky dragon eyes or pitch black mirrored contact lenses to cute pink temptress lenses you are sure to amaze and dazzle your friends.

Following these simple tips will help ensure a fun and safe costume that will leave your eyes happy and healthy.

Steve Cogger is a contact lens specialist from New York City and a fellow of the Contact Lens Society of America. In order to provide a resource for all lens wearers, he is also the webmaster of http://www.All-About-Contact-Lenses.com.

promotional pads 3 wheel mobility scooter home theater projector screen

How to Choose Photo Paper For Your Project

2010-01-24T13:22:00.001-08:00

If you have taken some photographs and are trying to determine which photo paper is best for your particular project then you should be aware that the most obvious choice is often the best one. There are so many options available that if you aren't careful the project can begin to look overwhelming to you. Unless you are a professional photographer, it's best to keep things simple and follow some basic rules.

Each printer manufacturer has their own line of products and each manufacturer naturally recommends that you use their brand of paper with their printer. This may just sound to you like a good sales pitch. But, the truth is that using your printer manufacturer's paper is most often the best choice you can make when looking for the best quality photograph. This is true because the manufacturer designs its photograph paper to work with its specific printers. If you fail to use the manufacturer's paper you might end up with bad color quality or a dull finish.

Once you decide which brand of photo paper to utilize, you will have to make additional decisions about which kind of paper is the best one for your project. This is because each manufacturer has a variety of paper options. However, there's really no reason to make it a complicated decision. The fastest and easiest method of choosing your photograph paper is to match the paper type to the ink type that you use in your printer. So, for example, if you utilize DuraBrite ink in your Epson printer then you will most likely desire to choose DuraBrite photograph paper for your project.

If you just need paper for everyday use and you are not trying to create a high quality framed piece of artwork then there are a variety of low cost photo paper alternatives. If this is the case then you don't need to look for the manufacturer's brand of photo paper. You can simply choose just about any paper. The cost will be lower which is, of course, fantastic. The trade off is that your print and color quality will also be somewhat lower. But if you don't need high quality paper for your project, just look for any "photo paper" regardless of brand name.

Visit us at http://www.photopaperpro.com to find the perfect photo paper for your project.

jenn air water filter rj45 network cables pride wheelchair

Baseball Sunglasses - Protect Your Eyes and Enhance Your Vision While Playing Baseball

2010-01-22T12:17:00.001-08:00

Baseball sunglasses are usually worn by players during baseball games to reduce the glare from the sun as well as to enhance their vision so they can spot the ball easily. There are also sunglasses for evening games that are tinted to enhance the lighting from stadium lights.

Characteristics

These sunglasses have polarized frames to increase the contrast between the playing field and the ball for a clearer view. Some frames are made of tough glass or plastic and the lenses and frames are curved to match the contours of the player's face. Furthermore, they have a snugger fit compared to regular sunglasses so they can match the rough movements in the game.

Other purposes

Aside from glare protection, they also protect the eyes and the surrounding area from impact against bats, balls, and rough contact from other players. Tougher frames can withstand hard impact.

Kinds

Baseball sunglasses can be classified in the following groups:

1. Structure – flip-up, clip-on, and slip-on

2. Color of the lens – yellow, blue, and graz

3. The type of lens – polycarbonate and glass

4. Frames – Carbon-fiber, polyurethane, and metal

Criteria for buying

When it comes to buying baseball sunglasses, make sure you check on the following things:

1. Ultraviolet protection: Make sure it offers 99% up to 100% UV protection and can block both UVB and UVA radiation that are responsible for sunburns and skin cancers. Darker tints don't necessarily mean more UV protection so be careful in choosing the tint.

2. Fit: Make sure they fit snugly over your face. There should be little or no room for sunlight to get through and the frame should curve around your ears while the ends should be tipped downwards.

3. Durability: Make sure your sunglasses can endure hard impact and harsh weather conditions.

Shopping help / Consumer information

A complete Guide to BASEBALL SUNGLASSES is available in Picky Guide, one of the fastest growing online magazines giving free consumer advice and product information.

jenn air water filter mesh back office chair rj45 network cables

An Acre of Glass - The History of the Telescope

2010-01-20T11:16:00.001-08:00

The history of the telescope makes for interesting reading. During the development of the telescope, practical experiments with reflectors had already begun in 1639, but it was not until 1663 that they gained any prominence.

The Gregorian Telescope

In that year a Scottish mathematician, James Gregory, at the age of 24, published a treatise entitled Optica Promota. In this he gave a description of a compound reflecting telescope employing two concave specula (metal mirrors). The larger one was to be perforated, and to have a paraboloidal surface; the smaller was to be ellipsoidal. High magnification could be had with this instrument, the second reflection amplifying the focal length of the primary in the ratio of fs to Fs.

Construction of the telescope was undertaken, but whatever chance it may have had of performing creditably was lost by polishing the speculum on a cloth lap - putty (tin oxide) being used as the polishing agent. The unyielding lap was an insurmountable barrier to parabolizing, interest apparently ebbed, and about 60 years were to elapse before a workable model was finally produced.

The Cassegrainian Telescope

Sieur Cassegrain, a Frenchman, in 1672 designed a second compound reflector, differing from Gregory's in that it employed a convex secondary, to be of hyperboloidal figure, placed inside of the focus of the paraboloidal primary .

While the Gregorian is seen to be capable of higher magnification, all that is necessary can be had from the Cassegrainian, and it has the advantage of being a much more compact instrument. Although little was heard of this telescope for the next two centuries, it is worth observing that it survived the Gregorian, and is still widely used in observatories.

The Newtonian Telescope

The history of the telescope takes an interesting turn at this point. In the same year, Newton designed and constructed two small reflectors, of the type so popular with amateur astronomers today and which still bears his name. They were not large, as we know telescopes today, the effective apertures of the concave specula being about 1 1/3". Their focal length was 6", making the focal ratio f/4.5.6

Newton, according to his Opticks (1704), polished his specula on pitch, using putty as the polishing agent. His methods were ingeniously calculated to yield a spherical surface, and it is quite probable that a close approach to that figure was attained. But the performance of even a spherical mirror of the proportions of Newton's could hardly be satisfactory because of the great amount of spherical aberration present.

Although Newton thought that his mirror might fail of good definition, he "despaired of doing the work" (parabolizing the speculum), yet he "doubted not but that the thing might in some measure be accomplished by mechanical devices."

It might be concluded that if the center of the mirror were properly deepened, that is, given a shorter radius, or if the radii of the outer zones were progressively lengthened, or if a little of each were done, all the reflected rays could be brought to a common focus. That is a practical solution, and the resulting surface in each instance is a paraboloid.

The standard practice is to deepen the spherical mirror so that, for a 6-inch f/8 mirror, the glass removed in the operation is but half a wave length of light in thickness at the center. Incredible though it seems, this represents the difference between poor and good definition.

The single-lens eyepiece of Kepler's had already been improved, with the addition of another element, by Christian Huygens, a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, about the year 1650. The field lens, like Galileo's concave lens, is placed before the focal plane of the objective. As it is convex, however, it further converges the rays to form' a slightly smaller image in a new focal plane, which is then magnified by the eye lens. Thus, a much wider field of view is encompassed by the eyepiece.

These were important developments in the history of the telescope on the way to our present-day powerful telescopes

You'll Soon Be Gazing At The Stars Through Your Very Own Telescopes

Visit: http://www.maketelescopes.net

pride wheelchair promotional pads

The Classic Rules of Photography

2010-01-18T10:00:00.001-08:00

People often refer to "the classic rules of photography": "This photo follows the classic rules..." or "he/she broke all the classic rules..." etc. But what are those "classic rules" anyway? I gave it some thought and came up with the following five rules, all longstanding and time-honoured, like you would expect when something is called classic. But nothing is set in cement and rules such as these have been violated with superb results over and over again. But they are also there for a reason, since they probably represent something that most people mostly find pleasing most of the times. Not everybody all the time. So what are they, these classic rules of photography:

Rule #1: F/8 And Be There!

This is rule number one and it has little to do with your camera and technical proficiency, as is the case with the other four rules. Read this rule again, breath it and live it. As simple as it sounds, it is the most important of all rules in photography.

The part about f/8 refers to a camera setting, or rather a lens aperture setting. It's a technical detail and it's not really important. But at the same time it's what makes this rule so memorable.

It's not a bad advice using f/8, it's a pretty standard value and often safe to use if you want to be sure to get your subject in focus without giving it much thought.

But it's true value is that it boils all the complicated art and tech issues down to that simple 1-letter-1-number statement, f/8 (simply read f eight), the hidden message being: Forget the technical aspects, concentrate on the subject. Simple and brilliant.

In my experience it's mostly used in the context of spot news photography, where it's certainly important to be on the spot when something happens. But I wouldn't forget about it in the context of normal peoples lives, peaceful landscape photos and even photos for the family album. Whatever photo you want to capture, you have to be there first. You have to get up and go out, walk that extra mile, lose that hour of sleep, do whatever it takes for you to get there with your camera.

A talented, but lazy photographer is not necessarily as successful as a very active, less talented one. Because you have to be there.

Rule #2: The Decisive Moment

A term coined by photography legend Henri Cartier-Bresson. Sort of a time-version of rule number 1. Together we could call these two rules: "Being in the right place at the right time".

But there's more to this rule than just being there at the right time. You have to press the shutter button at exactly the decisive moment, when all the elements of the photo (perhaps including the photographer himself) suddenly come together in a fraction of a second. A blink of an eye and it's gone again. The man jumping over the puddle has touched down again, the guy in the background has turned his head away from the kissing couple and the dying soldier has fallen flat to the ground.

It happens so fast that it's hard for us to see and react to before it's over. But that is one of the big charms of photography. It can capture these fleeing moments and make them last forever -- on print. For Cartier-Bresson it was an intuitive thing. "Think before and after you take a photograph, not while you are doing it."

Sports photography arguably has a lot of decisive moments, but in my book they don't really count, since it's just a game and not truly a slice of reality. I know Cartier-Bresson in his book set off with quoting someone "there's nothing in the world that doesn't have a decisive moment", but I don't want to get into the discussion here. Many people who are more sports enthusiastic than me would probably disagree with me, but I do think that there's more real decisive moments to be had on the stadium seating than on the pitch.

Rule #3: Go Close

-- And when you've done that, go even closer! Coined by another photography legend, Robert Capa, who died following this rule, camera in his hand, as he stepped on a landmine in the French-Indochinese war. But not all situations of course are life-and-death situations. So use it whenever you reasonably can, and your photos will in many cases have a stronger appeal and give a more intimate connection between the subject and the viewer.

Again, it's not just for spot news photography. If you are portraying normal life, it is equally important to get close to people. Get into their homes and into their private lives where they are themselves. Do it in a way that isn't prying and offensive. It will give you an honest and intimate view of life.

This rule usually implies using a wide-angle lens, which tends to give a more "open" perspective. Much good can also be said about the long tele-photo lenses as well, and they have their place. Especially in fields like wildlife and sports photography, where it is often impossible to be up close to the action.

Rule #4: The Rule Of Thirds

This is one of these rules that are great to follow and equally great to break. But photography would be a lesser thing without it. Briefly stated, it tells you to place you main subject, not in the center of the frame, but a little to the left or right side, a third into the frame. And also to place any dominating horizontal lines in your photo, like for instance the horizon, a third into the frame from the top or bottom. Just not in the center.

This will arguably give your photo a more appealing look, pleasing to the eye by leaving a significant space on one side of the subject for the surroundings. The rule, also known as the divine proportion and the golden mean, have been used by painters for thousands of years. Having survived that long, there's got to be something about it!

Rule #5: Use The Light

The magic hours, the hour around sunrise and the hour around sunset have a particular pleasing, soft light that works particular well for landscape and outdoor photography. It's always the light that creates the photograph. For indoor and portrait photography, use a barn door or, if you don't live on a farm, a big window without direct sunlight will also do. Place your subject close to the window and you will get a nice, soft light from different angles falling onto your subject. You can get the whole studio lighting set-up as well if you prefer not to rely on the constantly changing natural light.

The author, Morten Svenningsen, is an international photographer in Nepal, Asia Visit his web site http://www.mortensvenningsen.com to see hundreds of documentary photos, travel photos and portraits. It's even possible to order a few posters.

mesh back office chair

Cold Kindness (Chapters 12 and 13: Breaking Glass)

2010-01-16T08:45:00.001-08:00

Günter Sanders was cleaning up the restaurant with Gertrude Fephr, both putting away everything from the night before, largely, dishes left out, and unwashed dishes in the kitchen. The floor was swept clean, both thinking since it was Saturday, Carmen would be in, but often she came in late on Saturday’s, as Friday’s were a testy evening—frequently—with much drinking going on.

Beer bottles were now being picked up and leftover pizza—not eaten from the night before—was being thrown into the garbage cans by Gertrude. Then all of a sudden, Gertrude got a phone call, it was Carmen, she was not feeling well, and asked Gertrude to close the place for her this evening, she’d not be able to make it in.

“Ja” (Sure) she told Carmen, with a voice that was more concerned about her well-being than about making money.

She’d [She being: Carmen] often rewarded her for such things as this with an extra bonus a few times a year; and if her boss didn’t give it to her, Adolph, she’d take it out of her own money and give it to Gertrude for her loyalty. —For the most part, Gertrude did it for her when asked, but it was becoming a biweekly task now, before it was perhaps once or twice in a three month period. She never did give Günter a bonus though—and he never complained, I suppose he felt lucky to still be working.

The previous night had been a gathering of old friends after the few customers in the guesthouse had left. Adam had shown up, and Laszlo and Koln Lindeual were there and they met Adam. When Carmen was gone, they tried to talk to Adam about her poor health, and not to take it as serious as to blame her for things she couldn’t help. And Gertrude was present, as she was most times when there was a get together; and Gyorogy and Bernard were present; all trying to assure Adam, life would be better as soon as she could put the pieces together of her father’s death. But Adam felt it was much more than that, it was something imbedded inside of her at a much younger age, and it, whatever it was, had not healed and was not going to heal.

(At present, Carmen had sharp but still some soft contours; and smooth dark shot hair; still attractive; kind of a ripeness which was possibly more of a poise than shape. She also had tension in her face and body, flatness to her once pretty smile. She seemed chilled and tired most of the time.)

Adam was at the PX, pleasantly talking with his two employees, and Frantisek, a German gal, married to a GI, whom stopped by to pick up some soda, milk, bread and tin goods; kind of a preplanned stop for her. For she really wanted to talk to Adam, but felt she should first bring up Carmen so it wasn’t so obvious, she was very attracted to him. Carmen was well liked in the community, and knew the gate guards, knew them as well as anyone I suppose, and had met several of Adam’s customers. And yes, Frantisek knew Carmen as well.

“Looks like you’re going to be closing up early?” said Frantisek with an interesting smile, one that said, ‘I like what I see… (with dilated pupils)’.

“No, no…oo…not really, I close up at 3:00 PM every Saturday; you just normally come in, in the mornings, if I recall right.” It was close to three.

“How about you and I going out when the base closes down and all the GI’s go out for training next month?” It was twice a year the whole compound would have to go to training up north for thirty days, and during this time many of the housewives were left alone on base and they’d fill up the two clubs on base, many cheating on their husbands. She was twenty-three years old, and married to a Captain in his early thirties, and quite lovely, with a foxy face, a face that seemed to blow smoke into yours, with a sexual invitation attached to it; and curves in the right places.

“Sounds like nice music, if I’m not going with Carmen I may take you up on that, if you’re not kidding?” She looked at Adam, smiled, and then kissed him on the cheek. It’s what she wanted to hear, if not more.

“You’ll just have to find out, won’t you?” Adam took in a deep breath and nodded ‘yes’. He wasn’t even sure if he meant what he said, she had asked before, but he just blushed and walked away. This time for some reason he didn’t, he took it a bit further.

[The Apartment] As Adam entered Carmen’s apartment, the kitchen was full of smoke, and staleness seemed to bounce off the walls. As he walked over to the kitchen window—for he had a key for such occasions when she’d not answer the door—; thus, he pulled down the shade in the kitchen and closed the curtain, locked the door behind him. He threw his jacket on the floor, she was by her bed, sitting on the edge of it face down. He then turned off the lights in the kitchen and main room; a light still glowed slightly from the door being open in the bathroom. The sky was low this evening thought Adam, and her again, his girlfriend, was in the dumps, melancholy. Her face was in a twisted form, as if she had a stroke, but it wasn’t a stroke, it was distorted from crying, and anger. Tucked inside her head was that voice he knew, the voice only she knew, nobody else but her and God.

[Breaking Glass] The house seemed still, for both Adam and Carmen, an absolute stillness—a stone stillness. There was no movement for the moment in the bed; a light thud in the hallway, along with a cracking of the wood sounded, as if someone was pacing. Now and then a giggle of keys hitting against one another reverberated.

Adam tilted her head back put his hand under her neck to hold it firmly in place. He figured the landlord was most likely someplace outside the door of the apartment, he was a snoop. But then Carmen often lost her temper and would break things, and so he might had been worried about damage to his apartment building, and just checking things out.

Ivan, he was almost hugging the door now—trying to catch a sound, but couldn’t—couldn’t hear a thing. He didn’t trust Adam, but then he couldn’t figure out Carmen’s behavior lately either. He blamed Adam for it for the most part, because she wasn’t this way eighteen months ago, when she came to live at his place, and now she was. So guilty or not, he got the blame.

A bodily pain came to her, and she said several undesirable words, she tried to make no noise but her head hurt again, as if an explosion had taken place. Out of not-thinking—an automatic response, she went into the kitchen, found a set of half-inch thick, drinking glasses, picked one up after the other (there were six) and threw them against the wall trying to break them. They didn’t break, she wanted to break them badly, and tried a second time. The old man got scared, ears next to the apartment door, and ran downstairs, not sure what to do. Then she threw them again, and again and again. Next he felt he had no choice: he came back up the stairs, “What’s going on in there?” he yelled. Adam opened the door and there was Carmen sitting on the chair next to the window with two of the six glasses in her hands. She saw him, and put them down gently on the kitchen table. Ivan looked at her strangely, not quite knowing what to make of it all; almost in disbelief.

“I was trying to break these glasses,” said Carmen almost in a stupor, as if she didn’t know what she was saying. The Landlord looked at the glasses, “You can’t break them they’re made to be unbreakable. What is wrong with you two?” Adam looked at him.

“Nothing with me Sir, it’s her, I never threw anything.”

Said Carmen with a tearful voice: “Ich…es tut mir leid…wirklich…!” (I, I am sorry, really!),” Ivan looked mystified at her, “…really I am sorry Ivan. I’ll pay for the wall damages, really I will. Just fix it and bill me,” she added.

He then smiled, “You getting them headaches again?” That’s what she called them when he’d ask before.

“Yaw, it was real bad this time, I couldn’t think.”

“Well, o…ok, but Adam, you, you need to leave, let her sleep it off, and stop feeding her booze.” Adam shook his head, and didn’t say a word, Ivan figured he needed an excuse to tell to his wife, and adding him into the crazy zone of behavior, well, it made Carmen not look as bad as she was, that was as good as anything he supposed, why not use that.

For some odd reason, Carmen arose from bed early, got ready to meet Adam for a ride with him into the Black Forest; She put on a long skirt, with nothing under it, frankly she was naked, and her breasts were exposed—to a high degree, thus, her whole body was chilled, as she felt the cool wind of the morning.

Adam had met her down by her car, at her apartment. He noticed she was looking a little different today, almost promiscuous. There was a slit in her dress all the way up to her upper thigh. It was almost rude, if not sluttish, Adam thought, but he got into the car with her. He had a little green Volkswagen, and he liked driving in her sportier looking car, so as always they used hers. As he sat in the front seat, and she drove, he kept thinking this was going to ruin the day, that is, this new look of hers. What was it she was trying to prove, or say [?] he asked himself.

“What is it,” asked Carmen, “why are you staring at me so much?”

“Can’t figure you out, you’re looking…I mean your look: why did you dress like a whore?”

“Like a what!” she bellowed, “A whore…?” She slammed the brakes of the car, pulled over to the side of the road—ready to slap his face.

“You got deep red lipstick on, and all this makeup, and your breasts are popping out of your blouse.”

“You haven’t taken me to bed like you used to, thought you’d like to have a whore today, so I dressed like one, and if you want, we can do it right here in the car.” She smiled with geeing anger—hand open ready to slap at the right moment. What she couldn’t say, but was thinking at this moment was, was coming out in her dressing up as she had—like a whore as he described her, or so it seemed. But all in all, to Adam it was just bazaar behavior, and getting worse by the week; no looking for reasons why.

“Did you have that same dream again?” He asked.

“F*ck the dream, and f*ck you for asking, this is not what it’s about, it is now, today, this moment: about you making love to me, me! …and not doing it enough.” She was right, he was avoiding her lately. Adam got out of the car and walked up the street; as far as he was concerned the day had ended for him with her, it would not get better he figured, and with her and the way it was, ready that is to slap, he’d be forced to confine her and that would be a mess.

—Just over a week later, Frantisek had gotten a wild idea, and slipped out of her apartment, in the Off-Post-Housing area (off post housing being an area where the American military families lived, which was close by the military compound, yet outside of it); about four blocks outside of the military compound, where she lived, she dashed down the street to check out and see if she could meet Adam before he left the PX. It was a fleeting thought, and it was evening, Saturday evening; which he often stayed late, and so what the heck she figured. It was dark, the back door of the PX was locked, and a light in the backroom was on; it was pouring rain, she hid under a small overlapping part of the roof of the PX, enough to keep her a little dry, but not much. He could not hear her from the thudding rain. Frantisek felt Adam would be favorable to her little game of surprising him when he came out. If not, no harm done. ‘Silly idea,’ she mumbled, but she had done sillier things in her life. Just then from out of the store the door opened and Adam stepped out, but before he put his foot down he saw Frantisek and caught his breath, she gave him a little fright; the rain was but a drizzle. He grinned, and then a moment passed for them both to settle their insides.

“You look cold,” came out of Adam’s mouth, he had not shut the door yet, and he couldn’t think of another thing to say, she was shivering. He extended his hand and somewhat pulled her into the store, turned on the light. It was pitch dark outside. She quickly weaved her hands through Adam’s hair, promptly so she would not lose the spirit of the eventful moment. Her fingers were now pulling his head to her lips, and like a python, she wound her body around his as they stood erect. There was a little disbelief on his face. She noticed him grow thick and large, against her thigh.

“I should die if you do, and I should die if I don’t,” he said in a breathless way. She chuckled a bit, and pushed harder into his body; the offense was over, they were both comfortable it seemed with the rhythmic and hypnotic environment being produced.

The drumming of the rain started again and she was now hissing in his ear, as his leg became saturated and overflowed with substance, then she knew, and stopped, smiled and said, “You really are Adam, I mean, good for me.”

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

home theater projector screen pride mobility scooters rj45 network cables

Event Photography - If You Enjoy Parties and Photography, Here's a Free Guide to Earning From It!

2010-01-14T07:38:00.001-08:00

If you are considering becoming an Event Photographer this guide may be useful. I spent a long time researching all the kit needed to be a successful Event photographer, testing and costing carefully. It's all current gear available now so it's up to date unlike some of the guides I read.

I've been on training courses and I've done quite a few different Events now, so this is to help others avoid some of the common mistakes. This guide to Event photography is based on my personal experience and you are welcome to reproduce it as long as you credit this article with the website address

I do recommend anyone interested in Event photography going on the excellent training course supplied by Systems Insight, speak to Mike Orr, Stuart or Darren at systems insight. I've also found the Event Photographers Society really useful.

It is divided into sections as follows:

1, Camera Equipment needed for Event Photographers;
2. Lighting equipment for Event Photography;
3. Printers for Instant Event Photos;
4. Mitsubishi Click system for Event Photography;
5. Green Screen Event Photography;
6. Starting an Event Photography Business.

1. Camera Equipment for Event Photographers.

You don't NEED the latest high-end professional DSLR with pro glass lenses to shoot an event! It's nice to have good kit but that should be a given for any Pro Photographer. In reality the customer at a football tournament, school prom or black tie event doesn't care what kit you have as long as the results are good, and you don't want to be carrying a heavy camera with fragile glass in an environment that is often boisterous and busy!

You don't need to shoot huge resolution RAW files and won't have time to post process or mess about with hundreds of settings.You are aiming to get a sharp, vibrant and well lit photograph of enough resolution to print at your final output size. Concentrate on making the people look great!

I do recommend a wireless work flow which I cover later, and again you need the files to be small enough to send quickly. I use a Nikon D700 but that's only because I have one for Property photography as I need the full frame and low light capabilities.

I shoot jpg at just medium resolution for most events, and use a Sigma 24-70mm HSM lens so I can quickly zoom between individuals and groups. A Nikon D40 with a kit lens will do just as well. and I always carry one as a backup. It also takes my Nikon flashguns and is much lighter than a D700.

It is important to have a backup camera, I've even made do with a Nikon Coolpix P6000 when my D700 was being used pitch side at a Cricket Event. With proper lighting (see lighting section) I got almost identical results shooting people in front of a green screen. You must have at least one fully charged spare battery for each camera at an event, a couple of spare and preformatted memory cards, and spare batteries for your flashguns. I use the new Duracell rechargeables for the flashguns as they stay

So don't go mad on the camera kit, it will get bashed around at an event! As for settings, indoors I shoot at around f7.1 to f8 for groups so I get good depth of field, I use shutter speeds of around 125 to get sharp shots as I don't like a tripod, too restrictive, and I use ISO 400 to get enough sensitivity. White balance is easy on a Nikon, see lighting but the flash setting will do. For individuals and couples I open up to around f5 and shoot full length, head and shoulders and a close-up. Outdoors events are more dependent on the available light and the lens.

One tip, using a wireless transmitter to send the images straight to your PC, Mac or Click system avoids the pitfall of people (the ladies mainly) wanting to see each shot on the back of the camera as you take it! That gets them through quicker and lets your team at the workstation show the images properly at full size. I do actually keep the images stored in the camera as a backup though in case the wireless system stops working.

Another tip, if you are shooting groups at a School Prom or Corporate event, take a stepladder! If you get above them and shoot down it changes the angles and stops the people at the front looking much larger than those at the back! This lets you squeeze bigger groups in as well, especially useful if you are shooting in front of a green screen at an event.

Also, if you ever get a large group of girls at a School Prom or Sweet Sixteen event, take LOTS of shots! It is very hard to get a single photo where every girl is happy with how she looks, guys really are not as fussy. The girls will buy the photo that they look best in.

We tend to charge the standard rate £10 per shoot including a 6x9 mounted photograph, but do offer incentives for groups such as discounting copies of the same photograph, or offering 3 for the price of 2 if they are different shots that need processing.

2. Lighting Equipment for Event Photography

I don't use studio lighting for indoor events! Initially I used the standard large softbox above the camera and shot in front of a grey, back or white backdrop. But that's boring and old hat nowadays, the lighting is very flat and there is always the risk of people tripping over cables and the hassle of finding a nearby power socket.

At School proms, Bar-Mitzvahs and especially Sweet Sixteen parties it gets very busy and although we carry full insurance I don't want a heavy studio light falling on a guest. It's the same at Corporate events and Black Tie dinners, there's usually a huge rush after dinner for photos and even a taped down light can get pulled over by an inebriated partygoer!

So now I use a Nikon SB-900 on the camera with the wide-angle flap down and the soft diffuser fitted. This controls two other Nikon SB-600's also with the wide-angle flaps down using Nikon's excellent CLS lighting system. The two SB-600's are mounted on sturdy but portable stands and shoot through white umbrellas for lovely soft lighting.

At an Event you don't want to be messing around changing lighting when you have queues, but this setup is flexible and light enough to be safe to move quickly if you need to. The Nikon system lets me control the brightness of each flash directly from the camera without having to touch the lights.

As we use Green Screen backdrops at most events to add effects and digital backgrounds, I have to ensure the backdrop is evenly lit to avoid problems when chromakeying out the green. By mounting the umbrellas high up at either side and shooting through them, the green (or blue) backdrop gets evenly lit where it matters. The guests get a nice flattering lighting setup which I can easily adjust for large groups or closeups. I

I shoot on full manual with the on camera flash at about 1/32 power to give a little fill light, but mainly to trigger the two mounted lights. These are usually on about 1/8th power which is plenty! Recyling is very fast and I've never had to change batteries yet at an event, although I have charged spares on hand.

If I get a large group like a football or cricket team at a sporting event I can quickly move the two sidelights back and up the power.If it quietens down and we get a guest who wants some special shots, the lights can be moved so one acts as a keylight and one as a fill for classic Rembrandt lighting. We have professional makeover software running on the workstations so can enhance pictures quickly if someone wants portfolio shots.

The SB-900 on the camera can also be removed and used as a slave for hair lighting or other effects, triggered by the on canera flash. So we can do a three light setup easily! White balance is crucial, on Nikon cameras just stand where the subjects will be, set the white balance to "pre" then hold down the wb button for three seconds. When the display flashes, point the camera back between the lights and shoot. If it says "good" in the display, you are set to go. If not, try shooting again straight at one of the sb600, it will work!

The real beauty of this system is that it all fits in one calumet rolling case and is easily portable! It is very flexible for other types of photography. These flashguns are just as powerful as studio lights, and we even carry Fong diffusers and softboxes just in case we get a chance to do some glamour photography. (and yes, you can book us for private shoots!)

3. Printers for Instant Event Photos.

I used to to run a large independent company selling calibrated colour printers, scanners and displays into the corporate design market and previously worked with Canon, Xerox, Mitsubishi and Tektronix as a colour consultant. So choosing the best Event printers was an interesting exercise!

Inkjets and colour lasers were instantly dismissed as I needed portability, reliability and photographic quality. Plus I needed to know exactly what each print would cost. An inkjet will produce the quality with a bit of tweaking but will never match the quality, speed or durability of a dedicated dye-sublimation printer.

I don't believe in compatible inks as I've seen first hand the amount of R&D that goes into a manufacturers own ink. So ink-jet prints are going to be too expensive for event printing. Lasers are fast but lacking in colour quality, and extremely tricky to transport. After testing all the current offerings I decided on the Mitsubishi 9550 DW linked to the Mitsubishi Click system as our basic workhorse for producing large 9 x 6 inch photographs.

As I use a full frame camera this is exactly the size the camera shoots at, so no cropping needed! The photographs are fast and very accurate thanks to the dedicated colour profiling we use supplied by Systems Insight and fine-tuned by me!

The dye-sub process basically involves heating the ink on a ribbon until it turns into a gas and sublimates into the special paper. This is a true continuous tone process so the colour gamut is much wider than other processes, giving smooth and accurate skin tones with no dot patterns.

You can actually roll a photograph up and stand it in a pint of coke, leave it for hours and then wipe dry without any signs of running or fading, as demonstrated on the training course by Stuart! These photographs really won't fade and are fingerprint proof thanks to the special coating. They will last longer than any other photograph!

The fixed cost per photograph allows us to offer discounted pricing for pre-paid events like weddings or school proms as we know exactly what our costs will be per photo regardless of how much of each colour is used.

But we also offer a unique digital make-over service for events using a very special PC with professional retouching software so needed a printer we could connect directly. And we wanted to be able to offer instant 12" x 10" photos and other large sizes for Sporting Events like football and cricket events where team shots are popular.

So we decided on the larger format Mitsubishi as well as we have now found out it also works on the Click! Consumables for the Mitsubishi Event printers are readily available and therefore discounted prices help bring the costs down. Some of the more obscure brands like Shinko and Olmec are often tricky to source.

We are happy with the speed, quality and reliability of our printers, but more importantly, our customers love the results.

4. Mitsubishi Click System for Event Photographers.

My background is in colour technology as mentioned, but prior to that I was a DEC system manager, I have a HND in Computer Science and am a qualified programmer. Yes, I'm old enough to have done all that and spent 7 years in the Army controlling Artlillery fire by computers and by slide rules and log books when those systems were taken out.

So I'm probably more of a technical geek than most photographers. So why did I choose a dedicated turnkey solution for producing event photographs rather than use my expertise in PC and Mac solutions?

Laziness really, why re-invent the wheel! I quickly realised that to make any money at all in Event Photography you have to produce very good photographs to a very high standard very quickly! Work flow is very important. Initially I was either going to use a big 27" Mac with a studio display for quality to handle all the incoming pictures, or go down the Windows 7 route with a couple of fast Sony Vaio AW notebooks with their gorgeous Adobe RGB 18" monitors, with either system linked to a dye-sub or two.

But once I started looking at the workflow and software required I realised the Mitsubishi Click would cover all the bases. Yes, I could run either system quickly and use dedicated green screen software and professional retouching software to produce stunning results. But then who would take the photos? I needed a system that was streamlined and simple to use so I could train others to use it.

My first event was a corporate Xmas dinner and the only person available to do the green screen effects, printing, mounting and sales was my wife! The Click system is very straightforward, you set up a new event and pictures are sent wirelessly from the photographer. Selecting them by just touching the screen allows for full screen previews, once the customers have decided which photographs they want it is quite easy to drop in a green screen background and print, all by touch!

Camera cards and CD's can be easily read or burnt, multiple printers are supported and the whole system runs smoothly and look very professional. We've even had customers connect their own cameras or mobile phones by bluetooth and print their own photos! My wife managed well on our first event, and we had over thirty satisfied customers that evening, in a very short period of about 2 hours from when the meal ended to going home.

Many purchased multiple photos, with different backdrops and effects, but she handled it all while I took the shots. Now we have more trained assistants as it did wear her out a bit:) But I still wanted the flexibility and power to use more specialised green screen software to drop in overlays and fine tune some of the more tricky effects.

So with a bit of help from the techies at System Insight I worked out how to access the system directly, and underneath the smooth software front end is a powerful windows PC. So now if we get a really special request (like "put me in the Oval Office with President Obama") I can jump in and alt tab to Photokey or Portrait pro running in the background! And yes, you can print directy to the dedicated 9550DW by dropping jobs straight into the queue, email for details:)

You can also boost the processor speed, add more RAM, put in a HDMI graphics card to support external displays, even change out the motherboard if you are brave enough and don't mind voiding your warranty!

I'd recommend this system to anyone starting out, and would also recommend you buy it from Stuart or Darren at Systems Insight as they know the system well!

5. Green Screen Event Photography

To be successful in Event Photography as in any business you need a key differentiator, something to make you unique. We all provide basically the same service, photographing people having a good time and offering prints or downloads. Some specialise in niche markets like weddings or school photographs, or certain types of events like Equestrian or Motorcycling. I chose Green Screen Event Photography for a variety of reasons.

I like the portability of our lighting system and didn't want to spoil that by having to carry around various huge coloured backdrops for different occasions. I find it boring having dozens of people shot the same way, and I'm sure most people who go to events are getting fed up of the same bluey grey backdrop, or the "ultra modern" white or black high or low key shoot.

I want to have fun at an event and want the guests to experience something new. So we shoot everyone in front of a blue or more usually a green screen and then our special software can replace that colour with any of our 2500 digital backgrounds! This gives us the flexibility to add classy studio backdrops to Black Tie and Corporate Events, and lets us choose appropraite colours to enhance what the guests are wearing.

For School proms and Sweet Sixteens we can get the guests flying through space, on stage with their favourite rock bands or in the latest movies. Bar and Bat-Mitzvahs are great fun as we can transport the guests anywhere in the world, and for all events we offer free personalised overlays and designs so the event is memorable and unique.

The secret to Chromakey Event Photography is keeping the workflow fast! If you offer a guest 2500 choices, expect a huge queue or a lot of disapointed people. We tend to design 10 choices for each event and will print an example of each so they can decide before we shoot. That way if they are going to be posing alongside a Twilight Vampire or on the dance floor with John Travolta, they can strike an appropriate pose! It does slow things down having to add backdrops but we prefer the interaction and the guests enjoy the experience.

It's not all about getting them shot and printed to us, some event companies work like a slaughterhouse concentrating on quantity rather than quality, that's what the auto cameras at theme parks are for, we would rather spend a little time earning our money!

We prefer green screens to blue screens as less people wear the actual shade of green we use. Blue clothing, eyes and jewellery are more common and can cause probems unless you know how to mask out those areas. We use very special green screen material now, direct from the film studios. This is a special white backed material that absorbs light and glows evenly. Ordinary green muslin will reflect light and cause problems especially with very blonde hair. Contact me for details, it's twice the price but worth it!

Don't worry about evenly lighting the backdrop as many claim, that will just cause more spill and you need more lights power and cabling! You can't get your guests the recommended 10-12 feet away at an event, which you need to if you light the backdrop! Imagine if you were shooting a group and they all had to be 12 feet in front of the cloth!, how big would it need to be! Using pro software lets you quickly adjust for spill and reflected green light.

The trick is to light the people not the backdrop, that should only appear in the gaps anyway and if you have a light enough green it will work. Less is more, light from the sides and above so any shadows are still green and they will disappear.We use overlays and backgrounds to get realistic Magazine covers and special effects.

People don't notice that usually the models on magazines go in front of the title heading but behind the informative text! And watch out for copyrights, design your own magazine covers that are similar but not identical, you can buy these from the USA as overlays..PNG files are best but won't work on the Click, you need to do what we do and switch.

The President Obama shot is a good example, He is in the background, the guests are dropped in on top, then the desk is added as an overlay in front.

6. Starting an Event Photography Business.

Don't believe some of the salesmen out there who claim it's a licence to print money! That is their job and they do it well, but like any business you need to really work at it. Most pro photographers woudn't dream of doing a photoshoot AND supplying a framed large photograph for a tenner! And don't think just because you get a booking at a black tie event for example with 100 people that you are going to sell 100 photos!

30% of those people won't even want a photo taken! That's just the way it is. There won't be many single people wanting a photo on their own, and there's always a large group who want just one shot of all of them, but will buy additional copies at a discounted rate. That leaves the couples, so that brings you down to around five singles, a large group and twenty couples.

You will earn about £300 at an event of this size. Ok, that's a small event but just about possible for two people to cover so that's only one assistant to pay. Then there is the cost of the prints, mounts and bags, travelling costs, insurance costs not to mention an hour to setup and an hour to pack down plus sometimes many hours of waiting for a dinner speech to end.

Don't forget the website you need, the adverts to get bookings, the expense of all the gear, marketing your website, the admin and post production work to get the images online. The usual business costs of stationery, phone bills, promotional gear and all the insurance.

Also remember there are a lot of excellent photographers out there, and anyone can buy a good camera, lens, and a fast printer and go out and do this. The big companies will already have the big events sewn up, So you need to use your contacts, ask around, advertise and promote. Offer to do some small events free for the practice, but still charge the going rate. Even if you only sell 10 shoots in a night, the experience is invaluable before you tackle a busy event.

Once you get a booking, splash out on some pop up banners showing what you do, flyers and business cards. When you get there and setup, take a few test shots of the bar staff, waitresses and event organisers to test everything. Frame these up and give them out as gifts, asking them to show the guests! Great advertising! Get the DJ to tell guests where you are and what you are doing. Work the tables if it's quiet. Above all enjoy it and be polite and professional as you are representing us all!

That's enough secrets revealed for now, if anyone wants to ask any questions feel free. This is just my opinions and experience so far, I'll add more as I get time. If you find this at all useful, please tell others, I'm not charging to write all this, nor am I selling anything, but links to my site will really be appreciated, or a mention in any blogs etc. Cheers, Paul Harrison

I've been a keen photographer for many years, but at the age of 50 decided to go pro. Great excuse to buy the best gear! After a lot of research I brought a new Nikon D700, a Sigma 24-70 HSM lens, a Nikon SB-900 main flashgun with two SB-600 flashguns to use as slaves.

Then I went for the Mitsubishi Click system with 9550 dedicated photo printer churning out nine inch by six inch photographs really fast! I've since handled quite a few events, especially over Xmas, and have earned well from them. More importantly to me, the event organisers have loved what we do, and the guests have been amazed by our green screen effects and very happy to buy what we've produced.

I've now got a website http://www.fullframeevents.co.uk where you can see examples of what we do. It's great fun, hard work, but very rewarding and I love it!. It's all going well so i decided to share some of what I've learned. Hope it's helpful, Paul.

pride wheelchair

Book Excerpt: Pete and Ole (A Horse Story)

2010-01-12T06:33:00.001-08:00

Dad finished pouring a cup of coffee and gathered a handful of oatmeal cookies from the rows spread out on the cutting board to cool. After Mom baked bread or cake, or when Loretta baked cookies or pies or bars, they pulled the cutting board out from its slot beneath the kitchen counter and used it as a place to set the pans they had taken out of the oven. And then the cutting board stayed pulled out until the baking had cooled. My mother also used the cutting board to slice bread, of course, which anybody could see by the dozens of thin lines scored into its surface from the sharp knife edges.

I helped myself to two cookies and sat by the table next to Dad.

"It's no wonder I have to bake cookies every time I turn around,"Loretta grumbled. She frowned and tried to look fierce and grumpy, but it didn't work. It never did. With her dark curly hair and smiling blue eyes, she was too pretty to look fierce and grumpy.

Dad shrugged and picked up another cookie. "Can't help myself. These cookies are awwww-ful good.”

Loretta often baked cookies on Sunday afternoons, and she was in the middle of making a triple batch of oatmeal. She would take some of the cookies with her when she left for her apartment later today.

"What's that book about?"Dad asked, pointing at the book I had laid on the table before getting my cookies.

I finished chewing a bite of cookie. "There's this girl who goes out West to visit her cousins for the summer,"I explained. "They give her a horse to ride, and it has a brand. She thinks the brand is weird because she's never seen one before."

"Pete had a brand you know,"Dad said, dipping a cookie into his cup of coffee.

"Pete had brand?"I said.

"Sure did,"Dad replied.

Pete and Ole, the last team of workhorses my father owned, had been gone from our farm for quite a few years by the time I was born. I didn't think Pete was such an unusual name for a horse, but Ole was a Norwegian name, and I could not figure out why the horse would have a Norwegian name. Mom was Norwegian. Dad was not. But my father had been the one who worked with the horses and fed them and took care of them, and it seemed unlikely to me that my mother would name the team. One time I had asked Mom how ‘Ole' was spelled. Since it rhymed with ‘holy' I thought it was probably ‘O-l-y.' But Mom said no, that Ole was spelled ‘O-l-e.'

"What did Pete's brand look like?"I asked.

I loved to watch Westerns on television. I knew that brands were markings burned into the hide of a horse or a cow with a hot iron so the ranch owners would know which animal belonged where if they got mixed up on the open range, and that when it came time to do the branding, every ranch hand had to pitch in and help -- sort of like haying time on our farm where sometimes even my big sister became a tractor driver.

I was hoping the brand would be something interesting like a Circle Bar D, or a Double B, or a Triple R. The brands in the Westerns on television were like the name of the ranch. If the ranch was Circle Bar D Ranch, then the brand was a circle with a ‘D' in the middle and a line over the ‘D.'

"Pete's brand was nothing special,"Dad replied. "Only a little squiggly mark on his hip."

"But Pete and Ole weren't really workhorses, were they?"I asked as I nibbled the edge off another oatmeal cookie. I knew all about the workhorse breeds from reading the H volume of our World Book Encyclopedia set. There were Clydesdales and Belgians and Percherons and Shires.

"Nope,"Dad said. "Pete and Ole were just ordinary horses.”

"What color were they?"I asked, although I already knew the answer to that question.

"They were brown,"Loretta said.

"Yes, they were brown horses,"said Mom, who had come out to the kitchen a minute ago.

"But what kind of brown?"I asked.

I knew horses could be many different colors of brown: sorrel (a reddish brown), chestnut (a darker brown), bay (reddish brown with a black mane and tail), roan (also a reddish brown but with white hairs mixed in), dun (yellowish brown with a dark brown stripe along the spine), and buckskin (a light brownish beige).

"I guess you could say they were sorrels,"Dad replied.

"They still looked like plain old brown horses to me,"Mom said.

"Would you like a cookie, Mother? And some coffee?"Loretta asked.

"Yes, please,"Mom replied.

My sister put a cookie on a small plate and poured a cup of coffee for Mom.

I glanced at Dad. He was grinning.

"What's so funny, Daddy?"I asked.

"I was just thinking about Pete and Ole. Pete was thin and kind of nervous. Ole was fat and slow. When I hooked them together, I had to be careful about saying ‘gid-up' and slapping the reins, because Pete would take off like he'd been shot out of cannon.”

"What would Ole do?"I asked.

"Not much,"Dad replied. "Not any more than he had to. Ole didn't want to move that fast. It didn't matter how many times I slapped the reins, he'd hang back, and if we were plowing or something like that, it meant Pete was doing most of the work. I think Ole figured he was just out for a walk. Or to keep Pete company.”

My mother took a sip of coffee and set the cup on the table. "I was always surprised you ever got any work done with those two,"she said.

I turned toward Dad again and nibbled some more off the edge of my cookie. If it had been left up to me, I would have eaten half the batch by myself this afternoon. But I knew Mom wouldn't like that, and plus, if I ate so many cookies now, I wouldn't have enough during the week while Loretta was at her apartment. Eating the cookies reminded me that Loretta would come home again on the weekend. I missed my big sister when she was gone.

"How did Pete and Ole get their names, anyway?" I asked.

"See, there were a lot of Norwegians around here back then,"Dad said. "Not like now, where people say they're Norwegian because of their folks, but real Norwegians, people who came from the old country.”

Dad reached for his coffee cup. "They had this newspaper that was written in Norwegian. I couldn't understand a word of it, but Nels could.”

Nels was my mother's father, and I knew he had died many years before I was born.

"And in this newspaper,"Dad continued, "they had a comic strip. The characters' names were Pete and Ole. Nels would read it and laugh, and so would Sigurd if he happened to be over here. And then I'd ask what was so funny, and they'd tell me what Pete and Ole were doing that week.”

Sigurd was Mom's uncle.

"Did you like Grandpa Nels, Daddy? And Uncle Sigurd? Were they nice?”

I could remember Uncle Sigurd. He had died when I was five years old. He had lived in town, and I would go with Loretta to bring him out to the farm to eat Sunday dinner with us.

"Yeah,"Dad said, "Nels and I got along fine. Same with Sigurd. They were both nice guys. I used to cut pulp with Sigurd. When Ma got polio, Nels helped me take care of your brother and sister.”

"But what about the comic strip, Dad?”

"The characters were always getting themselves into one situation or another, and so, when we got this team of horses, I thought it sounded like good names for them. Turned out to be accurate, too, because Pete and Ole were always doing funny things.”

Dad went to the stove to fill his cup and came back to the table with another handful of cookies. If it was one thing Dad liked, it was sweets, but he said he couldn't understand it because the Norwegians were the ones who were supposed to like sweets, and his father came from Scotland and his mother came from Germany. He figured that liking sweets must mean lots of Norwegian had rubbed off on him, seeing as he had lived around them for so long.

"What else do you remember about Pete and Ole?"I asked.

Dad dipped another cookie into his coffee. "When I worked at the canning factory,"he said, "I didn't have time during the week to fool with the horses.”

For as long as I had known my father, he had been a farmer, and I had a hard time picturing him at work in a factory.

"Why were you working at the canning factory?"

"We needed the money,"Mom said.

"But what about Pete and Ole?"I asked.

"All week long while I was at the factory, they'd stand around, eating. Getting fat. Doing nothing. When I was home, I'd walk out to the pasture to see ‘em. And there they'd be. All over me. Nuzzling my arm. Nudging my cap. Following me around like big puppy dogs.”

He reached for another cookie.

"Although,"Dad continued, "it was a different story entirely if I wanted to get some work done.”

"Then what happened?"

"They'd take one look at me -- and they'd run!"Dad recalled. "Tails in the air. Kicking up clods of dirt. They'd gallop around and around the pasture. You'd think they were race horses instead of workhorses.”

My sister pulled another cookie sheet out of the oven. "I remember that,"she said. "Especially the part about them kicking up big hunks of dirt when they ran away.”

"How'd you ever catch them?"I asked.

"Oh -- once they got it out of their system, they'd settle down,"Dad said. "Then they'd let me catch them just as nice as you please.”

My father rubbed his ear. "You know, sometimes I thought it seemed like Pete and Ole missed me when I was gone all week.”

"Thenwhy did they run away?"

"That's a horse for you,"Mom said. "You can't get a hold of them when you want them.”

"Horses are smart that way,"Dad said. "They know the difference between when you want to catch ‘em for work and when you're only coming out there to see them.”

"Pete and Ole must not have liked working,"I said.

"Actually,"Dad said. "I don't think Pete and Ole minded working. Everybody likes to feel useful, you know. It's just that it was a trick they enjoyed playing.”

"Sort of like a game?”

"Exactly like a game,"Dad replied.

He picked up his coffee cup, saw that it was empty, and stood up.

"And then, too, there was that time Loretta and Ingman took Pete and Ole for a ride,"he said, as he headed for the coffee pot.

"You want some more coffee, Ma?"he asked.

My mother held up her hand, as if to say ‘no,' but then thought better of it. "Maybe a half a cup,"she said.

I turned toward Loretta. "How come you were riding the horses? Were you going out to get the cows?"

My sister ran water into the cookie batter bowl. "I don't remember why we decided to take Pete and Ole out for a ride,"she said. "Ingman rode Pete because he liked to go fast. I liked Ole because he was slow.”

"What happened?"I asked.

"When we came to a tree, Ole was much too lazy to go around, so he walked right under it,"Loretta said.

"Then what?"I asked.

"A tree branch knocked me off,"Loretta said as she started to put the cooled cookies into a canister.

"How come you didn't duck?”

"Duck?"Loretta asked, turning to stare at me. "I was too scared to think about ducking.”

"Why were you scared?”

"Ole was a big animal.”

"Did he run away after you fell off?”

"Oh, no. He just stopped and stood there.”

"How come you didn't turn him away from the tree?”

"Me? Try to turn that great big thing?"Loretta asked, looking horrified at the very thought.

Turning was easy. You pulled on the rein in the direction you wanted to go. That's what I did with Dusty.

"Wasn't it fun to ride the horses?"I asked.

If Pete and Ole were still here, I knew I would want to ride them every day. When it came to the workhorses, I was jealous of Loretta and Ingman because they had known Pete and Ole personally.

Loretta turned toward me and shook her finger. "I've never ridden a horse since then,"she declared, "and I haven't wanted to, either!”

Dad sat back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. "And then there was the time Pete and Ole came home all by themselves,"he said. "Some people we know wanted to use them during the week while I was gone at work. Pete and Ole came home, in the middle of the night, all by themselves.”

"By themselves?"I said.

"But nobody knew it,"Mom said, "not until Loretta and Ingman came home from school the next day.”

"Why not?"I said.

"Because they stayed behind the barn, where I couldn't see them,"Mom said.

"When Ingman and I were on our way back from school and got over the hill, we could see them behind the barn,"Loretta explained. "We hurried the rest of the way home because we wanted to know why Pete and Ole were back so soon.”

My mother shook her head. "When they came in the house and said Pete and Ole were behind the barn, I thought they were seeing things.”

"I guess Pete and Ole didn't want to be someplace else,"Dad said. "They wanted to come home. They traveled quite a few miles to get here, too.”

He sighed, and a far-away look came into his blue eyes. "Yup—Pete and Ole were quite the pair. . ."

"What happened to them?"I asked.

"I sold them,"Mom said.

"You what?”

"Sold them. While your father was away at work.”

"Why?"I said.

"Oh, it wasn't as bad as it sounds,"Dad said. "By that time we had a tractor, and we really didn't need the horses anymore.”

"But your father couldn't stand to see them leave. So, I told the guy he had to take them before my husband came home from work,"Mom said.

A lump rose in my throat. I knew how I would feel if I came home from school one day and found out Dusty was gone.

"What happened to Pete and Ole after that?"I asked.

"Don't know," Dad said. "Didn't see nor hear anything of ‘em. It was so long ago now, I'm sure they're both dead.”

Later that evening while we were doing the chores, in between carrying milk to the milkhouse for Dad, I got Dusty out of her stall and tied her in the barn aisle so I could brush her.

"Well, Dusty, are you enjoying getting brushed?"Dad asked.

He had finished putting a milker on a cow and had come over to see my pony. At the sound of his voice, Dusty turned her head toward him.

"You're a good girl, aren't you,"Dad said as he rubbed her forehead.

Dusty's forelock had not grown back much yet after her haircut last fall when it was full of cockleburs. Instead of a thick, white foretop hanging down between her eyes, it was a clump of bushy white hair sticking up between her ears.

Dad stopped scratching Dusty's forehead, and she pushed her nose under his arm and nudged him hard enough to make his arm bounce up and down.

Dad laughed and patted her neck. "You're as bad as Pete and Ole. Do you know that?”

"Daddy?”

"What, kiddo.”

"Do you wish Mom hadn't sold Pete and Ole?”

Dad didn't say anything for so long that I thought he wasn't going to answer my question. Instead he stroked Dusty's velvety brown nose with one calloused hand. When he turned to look at me, my father's blue eyes had lost their usual twinkle.

"I would have liked to keep Pete and Ole forever,"he said. "They were my friends.”

Before I could think of another question to ask, he turned and walked back to the cow so he could check on the milker.

I put my arms around Dusty's neck and buried my face in her thick hair. Dusty's reddish brown winter coat felt as soft as the fur trimming on the winter boots my sister wore when she was dressed up for work or for church. Dusty's dapples, I had noticed, were not nearly as easy to see during the winter when her hair was longer. I took a deep breath and held it. If I lived to be four hundred years old, I would never grow tired of the smell of horses.

"Smells good, don't she,"Dad said.

I looked up and saw that he was taking the cover off a full bucket of milk.

"Daddy, I'm sorry you didn't get to keep Pete and Ole.”

Dad put the cover on an empty milker bucket. "It's all right, kiddo,"he said. "That was years ago. Water under the bridge, as they say.”

My father's words said it was all right, but I could tell by the way he said it that it was not -- not really.

And even though I knew Pete and Ole had both probably died years ago, I couldn't help wishing they were still alive so I could find them and bring them home again.

Pete and Ole

From the book: "Cream of the Crop (More True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)" by LeAnn R. Ralph (trade paperback; October 2005; 190 pages; $13.95; FREE! shipping) -- http://ruralroute2.com

"Highly recommended reading" -- The Midwest Book Review

"(Cream of the Crop) was extraordinary from the first story to the last. I laughed, cried and sighed at the way you bring the emotions of people and animals to the page." (R.S. -- Clintonville, Wisconsin)

About The Author
LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the books "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm); "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" and "Cream of the Crop (More True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)." To read sample chapters, order the books and to sign up for LeAnn's FREE! monthly newsletter from Rural Route 2, visit -- http://ruralroute2.com.

pride wheelchair promotional pads

Sports Photography - How Most Pros Work

2010-01-10T05:30:00.001-08:00

In Sports photography, access is key. Without access, you won't succeed even if you have the most comprehensive array of lenses out there. So if you have access, you've already improved your chances of success by at least 40%. The other keys to success?

You have to be able to anticipate and concentrate for long periods. Being knowledgeable and following a variety of sports, not just the popular ones, is crucial. And finally a good ounce of luck doesn't hurt either. What exactly should you be looking for besides shooting great action?

Faces

Back of heads are not terribly engaging. I think we are so in tuned to seeing faces, we don't realize it. We do want to see faces of athletes whenever possible. Grimacing faces add to the drama and excitement. Unfortunately some athletes hardly show any emotions even when they win. Faces in sports can be the difference between a good picture and a great picture.

Timing

Peak action is probably what you're after. There may be some luck involved but a softball picture without a visible ball is not as exciting. The ball, be it a hockey puck or shuttlecock tells your viewer what sport it is. Without the ball, you don't get a sense of how close the play was, how bad the throw was et cetera. With baseball and softball, the play at a base has to be close. If the throw is early or too late, the ball is either in the glove or out of your picture. But that's not your fault. It's just how the game goes. So the element of luck is there for sure.

A Different Viewpoint

Strive for a different viewpoint to surprise your viewers and to give them a fresh look of a "tired-looking" sport. This may be something as simple as shooting when weather is not so good sometimes. Or even simply being creative with your photographic technique. It may mean working harder by bringing in more equipment but your efforts will be rewarded. If it it doesn't work, you'll at least learn something new.

Backgrounds

Related to viewpoint but just as important is backgrounds. Shooting with wide open apertures on long lenses can only do that much sometimes, so be on the lookout for what's behind the subject at all times. If you're serious about sports photography, you should try photographing different sports.

Golf

Just the same way most Americans don't get soccer, I don't get golf. I do know I would enjoy the sport if I play it. It's more interesting to play than to watch. That said, I don't particularly like covering golf. Here's why:

expect to be hauling at least a 300 mm lens with a monopod and 2 bodies, maybe a flash, and a 70-200 mm zoom.

you will be walking all 18 holes, more if it goes into playoffs.

you don't get to hang out with just the same foursome

if the leader boards are not kept current, you will be in a world of hurt trying to find a certain golfer when the lead changes suddenly.

besides that, the light is usually extremely harsh. Faces are inevitably shielded by visors or baseball caps. You're never close enough to be able to fill flash or anything of that sort.

Restrictions. You can't stand directly in the line-0f-sight of the golfers. You can't trip your shutter until they actually hit the ball if they're on the green during the short game. Don't forget you have to be absolutely quiet.

if the game goes into playoffs, all those "great pictures" you took in the early rounds don't mean much anymore. It's like starting all over.

Soccer

My favorite sport soccer happens to be pretty tough to shoot because of the lens requirement. A 300 mm lens is probably the minimum and a 400 mm is more ideal. But that also depends on the sensor size of your camera body.

If you're shooting with a camera with full frame sensors, you might even need something longer.

Most of the time, depending on the lens you have, you park yourself on the field and just hope you're in the right place at the right time. So covering soccer is not as physically demanding as covering golf or football. You might move around when there's a chance for a set piece like a free-kick or corner kick. It helps if you understand terms like "in-swinger" on corner kicks. The rest of the time, because the action is non-stop and the ball moves around the pitch so quickly, it's difficult to physically move around.

Badminton

Anytime you step indoors to cover a sport, you are heading into low light and very limited options. The world's fastest racquet sport is also hardest to photograph because of the lighting conditions and how the indoor stadiums are lit. Understanding how a game like badminton or tennis is scored is crucial. How else would you know when it's the "critical match point' or the significance of a tie-break?

ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed & White Balance

Up till this point, I haven't mentioned these camera settings because these are variable depending on the lighting conditions and how well your camera handle digital noise. Generally speaking, the newer your camera, the better it handles low ISO and digital noise. Most sports photographers have at least a 300mm f2.8 lens at a minimum.

They will also carry a 70-200 f2.8 lens and most likely that has built-in image stabilization. And the majority of sports photographers take their pictures at f2.8 to blur out the background but also to get the highest possible shutter speed to freeze action.

Every now and then, they may need more depth-of-field but very rarely. That by the way, is why under the one of the Auto modes, you see the icon for Sports or someone running. It's also exposure mode that favors high shutter speed, Shutter Priority or Tv (Time value according to Canon)

So 2 camera bodies are pretty standard. One body is attached to the long telephoto which is mounted on a monopod for support. Depending on the camera body, the image sensor may be full frame or may have a 1.6x, so a 300mm will be 480 mm lens.

To successfully hand hold a lens like that with little camera shake would require you to make sure you have a minimum shutter speed of 1/500 sec.

But even professionals don't handhold long lenses, they use monopods. The one good thing about shooting in artificial lighting like a soccer stadium at night is this: once you have the exposure down, it doesn't change very much, unlike a daytime game.

In day games, you have to keep an eye on light levels especially if the game is in the evening. The other advantage is the crowd in the stands are not lit, so they aren't as distracting.

Since "Sports Photography" is a highly specialized field, there is just too much to cover in one article. These tips will hopefully get you on your way to getting better pictures.

Peter Phun teaches photography at Riverside City College. He does portraits, weddings and editorial work. Read an illustrated and more detailed article about sports photography on his blog. He writes about photography, Macs and the internet. He also designs websites and is a stay-at-home dad.

Previously, Peter worked as a staff photographer for 18 years at The Press-Enterprise, Southern California's 4th largest daily newspaper. He is the webmaster for the Mac user group in the Inland Empire. For more information about this Riverside based photographer, visit http://www.peterphun.com

promotional pads jenn air water filter

Digital Photography Online

2010-01-08T04:29:00.001-08:00

The fight for original content on the internet is at it's height. Search engines are cracking down hard on sites who do not update their content in some way over a period of time.

Thats a hard reality for many online businesses. Text that has served them well in the past and is indeed still bringing in the punters is changed with great reluctance but the reality still remains that the search engines want a dynamic and varied content on the internet.

Search engines such as google and yahoo are constantly devising new ways to test content and to religate those who would rather spend time on new projects rather than investing in sites they created a year or more ago.

What a lot of site owners don't realize is that there is more than one definition of content. It can be very costly to have a copy writer write new articles or pitch content for web pages, sometimes running into hundreds, in some cases thousands of dollars.

What a lot of businesses and webmasters don't realize is that they can easily and cheaply add or change the content of web pages through the use of photographs.

For as little as $20 dollars per photo the difference between maintaining those high ranking positions and dropping to inconsequential places, can be determined.

Photographs play many roles in the advertising world. We tend to think of a picture as something that shows us what we may want to buy but that is only part of the usage of photos. Photos are used to illustrate in much more subtle ways.

Photographs are often set to create moods and general interest in a subject that is designed to associate the visitor to the particular theme. A bit like bait to a fish. Fashion companies often use this type of photograph to make statements that will draw sympathy and support from their target market.

For the search engine spiders that crawl through the internet content at regular intervals, a photograph is as much a piece of content as a piece of text. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Andrew Routledge MA . Hi, how would you like to know how you can put a unique article like this one onto the internet with a URL that you create in less than five minutes and for free. Wait, there's more. You also get tools to help you add interesting sections to your web page that are just so easy to use. Plus, you can advertise on the pages and interlink with your other websites or affiliate sites all at no cost to you. Follow this link to see how. http://www.squidoo.com/snake

jenn air water filter pride wheelchair

Is 'Arbitron' Too 'Arbitrary?'

2010-01-06T03:20:00.001-08:00

When David Lee Roth replaced Howard Stern on several FM radio stations (mostly on the east coast and some in the midwest) a flare went up. Not a tiny one, either. This was big news.

Huge radio news.

And the light from the flare illuminated one question in particular...how long was parent company, Infinity, going to take to 'decide' if the Roth Show was profitable enough for them to hang onto? Tough to answer because radio's Arbitron ratings only come out 4 times a year. That's right, radio listeners. Spring. Summer. Fall. And winter.

That's it.

As often as you find yourself changing wardrobes, radio finds itself having to release its precious numbers. Numbers which certainly affect lives. Especially the lives of people starting new shows, no doubt.

So, while movie executive release their box office numbers for the entire weekend on FRIDAY nights (which is just amazing and incredibly accurate) and while television honchos hang onto their golden 'overnights' and while we all every day experience what Google has done in terms of instantaneous results for internet advertising...there stands radio. Defiantly reporting its ratings a scant 4 times a year.

So what's the reason for this media madness? Why is radio so s-l-o-w?

It seems that radio listeners have stronger and longer habits than do television and movie audiences.

What we tend to do as listeners is 'surf the dial' and VERY slowly become VERY attached to certain programs and stations. This is habitual. Just as insurance companies know how many 78 year olds will die of cancer this year (sorry for the thought) radio insiders know exactly how long 46 year old moms listen to "Easy Listening" every afternoon.

Radio stations pitch advertisers MUCH differently than TV stations and their ad agencies do.

To put all of that into perspective, even after Roth had gotten fired after just one Arbitron book had come out, Stern himself admitted that Roth hadn't been given the time to 'get found.' That not enough traction had been established.

That's radio ratings for ya. Surf's up.

Kevin Browne is a former Creative Director and Senior Copywriter at agencies including J Walter Thompson, McCann Erickson and Young and Rubicam. Kevin now runs WhitehavenWeb.com where he shows web owners how to FINALLY make big website sales [http://www.whitehavenweb.com]

rj45 network cables jenn air water filter 3 wheel mobility scooter

The Green Sea of the Amazon (Part Two of Two: Afterward: Enthrallment of the Amazon#8)

2010-01-04T02:04:00.001-08:00

So yes, the Amazon was oblivious to my being charmed by it, as perhaps I was living in those passing moments, and didn’t know it myself, but it was fabulous. But fabulous is of course just a word, it does not describe its meaning. When we had first went down the Amazon, we stopped at what I’d call a luxury lodge, with TV and all the amenities one may wish to have in the Amazon. We simply used the facilities for prepping for our adventure into the thicker part of the Amazon, perhaps we stayed three hours. The we came to our lodge, which had none of the refinements the previous one had. And had we gone to the third one, which was deeper into the Amazon, we’d have been sleeping on a dirt floor, and ours might have looked like the Hilton, in comparison.

There were familiar flashes of darkness while going down the Amazon, which were simply shifts in the weather, from sunny, to sunny-pale with rain. I tried to enjoy the moment, grab the sky, and I suppose impolite a times in doing so, but I was busy writing down thoughts also. That is perhaps why it took five years to write a simple story as this one. The subconscious has its own knee-deep pitch-black waters, where it hides its treasures until its time to pull them up, and write them out.
The good thing I’m trying to say here, is the Amazon is made for everybody to visit, and has degrees one can subject themselves to. As I previous mentioned, for those wanting to visit, and not rough it at all you got the first lodge, just got to endure the boat ride. And the third one is for those madmen who what to live like apes, you can go to that hole in the ground and live; for myself, I prefer the in-between, and got it.
It is so true; you get what you pay for.

The overall feeling was mythological; the Amazon gives you no time to think of anything else, besides God and her. The passengers around me, on my way down the Amazon to the lodges were immobile, subdued by her.

Fastidiousness, is not necessary a quality in the Amazon, and if you’ve read about my yellow-bird in one of the previous chapters he was the point of fact to this, but it fit well in creating this story, and even he had a charm that belonged to the Amazon, I hold him no grudges, he was as he was: he wanted attention, like my wife, like our God wants, and like I like. So it is all in the gamut of things, is it not?

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

pride wheelchair rj45 network cables cheap crazy contact lenses

How to Create a Successful Business Card Design

2010-01-02T00:32:00.001-08:00

What does your business card design say about your business? After meeting with a potential customer or a business associate, your card is many times all that is left to represent your business or product. This is why it is important to seek an image that best represents you and your company.

Of course, during these economic times, many businesses just don't have the resources to hire a graphic designer. Business owners faced with this task should keep some important rules in mind. For starters, there are internet sites where you can build your cards and design from the beginning to the finished product.

What is it that sets you apart from your competitors? Your aim should be to make a business card design that stands out and grabs the attention of your customer or client. Design your cards in a way that will make your services unique and will captivate and be impressive to the market you are trying to reach.

Your new business card design should not only include who you are, what you do and how you can be contacted, but it is a chance to include more than just your basic contact details. Grab your customer's attention with a catch phrase, and sell your product with your words. What can you do for your customer?

This seems like a no brainer but many people miss putting important contact information on their business cards. Don't forget to include an email address, a phone number, an 800 number, a cell phone number, a FAX number, and your address. Also remember to include your website address; this is a great way for people to find out more about your business.

Use a font that is easy to read, and 2-3 colors (plus black and white). The color red doesn't work with all designs, but really stands out. Try highlighting part of the text to make the words jump out at your prospective buyer. Find an image or a clip art that is related to the business or theme. Your business card design should be neat, and convey an image of trust.

Your theme (or logo) is the cement between you and your company. Your logo should reflect the professionalism your business is known for. Whatever you decide to use should be a clear symbol of high quality to enhance the image of your company. This symbol will become an important element in building brand recognition.

Keep in mind; you could be using both sides of the card. Improve your image by adding a checklist, a quote, or a testimonial to the back of the business card design. The cost to use both sides in not that much more, and sets your card apart from most business cards.

Don't bore your customers or clients by telling them how great you are. People don't care about that. They want to know what it is you have to offer. Give people a reason to contact you by knowing what it is that makes them buy. Develop an image of quality and professionalism with a great business card design.

David Dumas
Squidoo: This is my Squidoo Lens On Business Card Design.
Blog: http://bestprintpro.com/blog
Email: dave@bestprintpro.com

pride mobility scooters

The History of Early Telescopes

2009-12-30T22:58:00.001-08:00

An investigation into early telescopes makes for interesting reading. In 1722, John Hadley, an English mathematician, completed a form of reflector for the telescope in the style of Newton in which the mirror evidently was suitably figured. This instrument attracted considerable attention, and presently other makers were turning out Newtonian reflectors, following Hadley's technique, which consisted of removing the spherical aberration as it was revealed by the extra-focal diffraction rings of a star image.

Hadley then turned his attention to a design by James Gregory and in 1726 he produced an instrument slightly over 2" in diameter and 12" in focal length. This proved so successful that construction was undertaken by others.

Notable among these was James Short, who made both Newtonians and Gregorians in great numbers, from about 1732 to the time of his death in 1768. Observatories purchased his larger instruments, a tribute to his skill, and the smaller ones were marketed chiefly among the aristocracy and amateur astronomers.

The principal attraction of the Gregorian design was the erect image it gave, which made it suitable for terrestrial use. This circumstance influenced its preference over the Newtonian, notwithstanding the fact that its images must have been pretty dull. Well into the 19th century, however, the Gregorian rode a wave of popularity that no type of telescope has known, until overwhelmed in comparatively recent years by the flood of amateurs who have flocked to Newton's design.

From the time of the invention of the telescope, and the startling discoveries of Jupiter's moons and the rings of Saturn, interest in astronomy had become something infectious. Each new discovery was accorded the widest publicity, stimulating a desire among those of learning to gain at first hand a glimpse of these celestial wonders. It was not practicable as yet for the average individual to make his own speculum, but many contrived to fit spectacle lenses into tubes, much as Galileo had done some 150 years earlier. This in fact was one of the first of the early telescopes.

Those whose means permitted bought telescopes, and envied was the gentleman who possessed one of three or four inches aperture, by an "exclusive" artist. But, judged by present-day standards, many of those reflectors were tiny. There is one (maker unknown) in the Fugger Collection at Augsburg, barely 1" in diameter and 6" in focal length, that was concealed in a walking stick! Eyepiece lenses of 1/6" or less in focal length were quite common.

The metal used in those early mirrors was an alloy of copper and tin, the usual proportion about 75 to 25, which could be given a beautiful polish. But the metal was extremely hard to work, and a prodigious amount of labor was involved in grinding and polishing the curve. To facilitate the work, the comparatively thin disks were cast to the approximate curve, the backs also being curved to give uniform thickness and equalization of temperature effects. Grinding was done on convex iron tools of similar radius, using emery, and sometimes sand. Polishing was done on a pitch lap, with rouge.

Manufacturers usually devised their own machines to do the work of grinding and polishing. Except where the utmost perfection was imperative, figuring seems to have consisted for the most part of a final brief variation of the stroke, in an unguided attempt to concentrate the polishing at the center. Critical testing, undoubtedly seldom indulged in on account of its laboriousness, could as yet only be performed on a star. In reflective ability, speculum was only about 60 per cent efficient, and the surface tarnished rapidly, effecting a further serious light loss. This meant frequent repolishing, and repolishing meant refiguring.

It is interesting to inquire into the prices that were asked for telescopes in that period, the latter half of the 18th century. Listed below are prices and sizes of a few of the Gregorians made by Short, selected from his catalogue. Newtonians in similar sizes were priced only slightly lower.

Diameter (inches)	Focal Length (inches)	Magnification	Price (guineas)*

1.1			3			18		3

1.9			7			40		6

4.5			24			90-300		35

6.3			36			100-400	        75

18			144			300-1,200	800

*An English gold coin, issued until 1813, equivalent to 21 shillings, or about five dollars.

The early telescopes were certainly gaining popularity by this time.

You'll Soon Be Gazing At The Stars Through Your Very Own Telescopes
Visit: http://www.maketelescopes.net

mesh back office chair rj45 network cables

Roland AX 7 Review - Perfect Way For Relaxing Your Soul

2009-12-28T20:40:00.001-08:00

Music for many is the ultimate mode of relaxation. You can either play an instrument or simply listen to the music and it is bound to soothe your nerves and will give you a sense of relaxation. Roland AX 7 is a keyboard that allows you to play the same without an electrical chord, as it has the ability to run on battery. It gives you the freedom to either perform on stage or take your Roland AX 7 for a beach party.

Roland AX 7 is portable and you can strap the instrument around your neck and it therefore gives you the freedom to perform anywhere and everywhere. There are 45 keys in this instrument, but there are no built in sounds. It is an advanced version of AX 1 and is basically used by people, who have to perform on stage as it allows the person to move around the stage with ease. D beam controller has been incorporated in this version and it allows the MIDI data to be controlled through the optical sensors. Just by moving your finger/ hand on the D beam allows the MIDI data to be changed. MIDI data is used to control the volume, pitch and filter of the instrument. This MIDI keyboard controller allows the person to perform in a much better and sophisticated manner. The keyboard can be used for two different sounds, the upper part and the lower part as and how you wish.

The main advantage of Roland AX 7 s that it runs on batteries and you can strap it around your neck and play freely and comfortably. It has five different controls on the board that allows the player to alter the sound accordingly and also enables the MIDI data to be transferred to another keyboard. The on-board LED display is very helpful and has seven sections. You need six dry batteries to run the instrument. You always have the option of using the keyboard on AC power. You also get a shoulder strap as well as an owner's manual that helps you to understand the instrument in a better and simple way (in case you are not familiar with the instrument). It gives the satisfaction and confidence required by stage artists.

Roland AX 7.

Midi Keyboard.

home theater projector screen cheap crazy contact lenses

LCD Televisions - A Real Beauty For Your Walls

2009-12-26T19:01:00.001-08:00

Do you want your houses to look fantastic by having LCD installed? Don't you to want to look at the same picture, serial or any other of your favorite programs in a more creative way, with a sense of style? What are you waiting for? Just go and get you desires fulfilled and enjoy a late night party with your family in your home watching a wonderful movie on your home theaters or LCD's.

It is all different watching your favorite documentary or soap operas on your plasma, LCD or home theaters. You will do well to give your eyes a break from that 21 inches or 24 inches colored television, and indeed go on to watching the wonderful things on a giant flat screen. You will now have the walls of your living rooms adorned with slim and sexy home theater installations so that you can now live, dance and enjoy life in your own home.

Preventive steps to opt concerning your LCD installation

As you are most likely not acquainted with these installations, you are advised to certain preventive steps to ensure safety for you and all your household and guests. This will culminate in the fulfillment of your dreams and equally impress the visitors.

• The primary concern is that while installing a wall type, you need to be careful not to drill into the wiring and it is advisable to go for electricity cable calculator.
• You are advised to use LCD wall mounts, because with them you can mount them at any desired place while without them then you are going to face problems.
• As it is highly advisable to look for an qualified personnel to install the equipment for you. This is because your plasma slim as it appears is quite heavy and again you you might not be able to install it in any of the walls
• At the same time you can also opt to use some decorative and fashionable tables where you can install your LCD.
• It is better to mount your plasma on wooden studs, spring loaded fixtures and better still to install them on dry walls.
• You need to be very careful regarding your LCD installation otherwise you will not be to have your LCD hung on your walls. The easiest and best option is to call a professional to your house and have him do all the installation. This option is cheaper in the long-term since it is a one-time cost. It is better to get the installation right the first time.
• After surveying your location, the expert would also give suggestions as to some other better installation places and also other precautionary measures that would need to be taken.
• The professional would not only get your LCD install but also integrate all of your accessories and other components.
• Then professional would get you acquainted with most of the new options as well as providing you with the educational demonstration and answering back all of your queries.

As it has been demonstrated, you need to have no worries about the installation. There are many qualified technicians who will be all too willing to do the installation properly for you. Some sellers will also offer to install it for you as an after sales service or recommend somebody to do it for you.

Do you want to know more, about an LCD installation? Do you want to enjoy it with the perfect Home theater installation? Then visit custom-installations.co.uk.

promotional pads jenn air water filter pride mobility scooters

Learn and Master Guitar - What Can You Do To Improve the Way You Play Guitar?

2009-12-24T17:55:00.001-08:00

From the beginning, you should be focusing on gradually and continuously improve the way you play guitar. What I mean is that learning new exercises, pieces and techniques is not the only thing you should care about to learn and master guitar. Of course you have to do that. Learning to play more exercises is not all you need to do. You must focus on other things too.

First things first

First of all, you should never forget about sound quality. I wrote about it in a previous article. Stress on this point will never be excessive. Then you must always perceive a gradual and continuous growth in finger dexterity. I am talking about the fingers of both hands, left and right. You should notice, too, that you find it easier to play previously learned exercises, studies and pieces. And that you can learn, with somewhat less effort, new ones.

What you should be discovering

But, you are learning to play music on your guitar. Not just guitar sounds. Though it may be the best sound. So, along with your finger mastering, you will need to develop musical sense and taste. Musical sense is a lot more than hearing skills to determine a good instrument tuning or the technical perfection of a performance. Musical sense is more feeling than acoustics. It is emotion. It is kind of hearing with the soul. If you do not feel something pressing in your guts, it is not music; it is just sound. If you do no get a sense of peace, joy, sadness or reverie, you are not listening to music; you are listening to just sound.

How to develop musical perception

Now, as you keep a steady growth about your technical skills, start defining and increasing your appreciation of the musical value of all the music you listen to, and of course, the music you play. Avoid the habit of turning the CD player on, to play some music (sounds) you do not listen to. Set apart some daily time (a few minutes will do fine) when you will listen to music. Choose a music type matching your mood at the moment. Then relax, sit down comfortably and start trying to discover every emotional trait of what you are hearing.

Emotions may be fired up by a particular instrument pitch, by a melodic phrase, by a harmonic combination of notes, by a rhythmic sequence. Or even by a precise silence. Listen very carefully, trying to be aware of all of them, and catching the moment when one or several of them push the emotional button within yourself. It will not be easy, on the beginning, but if you keep trying, you will get it. Take it for sure.

So, if you want to learn and master guitar, go and start right now!

Luis BONVIN has a life of guitar playing and teaching. To further discover how quickly and easily you can learn and master guitar, please visit his Free Guitar Lessons Online For Beginners Website at Learn and Master Guitar, and his Free Easy Guitar Lessons Online Squidoo Lens.

mesh back office chair portable massage chairs

Tonium Pacemaker Pocket DJ - Our Review For 2009

2009-12-22T16:48:00.001-08:00

In a world filled with iPod's, laptop's and portable DVD players it only makes sense that portable DJs were soon to come. Yes, you will now be able to mix music on a portable device and then create widgets so you can share your musical genius with everyone you know!

People in the know have already figured out that you can use your iPod at parties to play your favorite tunes. Now you will be able to mix your own unique sound if you are good you could quickly become the life of every party.

The innovation is this small device is truly extraordinary. Along with the massive 120 GB hard drive is support for OGG, FLAC, and AAC, this is in addition to the current standbys like WAV, MP3, and WMA.

Good news for digital musicians everywhere. Should you decide to get one of these beauties when they become available here are some features you will enjoy: Line out and Headphone cross fade, Equalizer - 3 band with treble mid and base frequencies of -26 to +6 db, Sound Effects, 18 hour battery in play mode; 5 in DJ- System charges in about 2 hours, USB, Pitch, loop, cue, and bend, Compatible with both MAC and PC, Display: TFT- 262,000 colors and 166 ppi screen resolution, PC requirements- Windows XP or Vista; USB 2.0 port; Pacemaker Editor

Plus a whole lot more! In a Nutshell..

If the designers and manufacturers pull off everything they promise the Pacemaker Pocket Pro DJ promises to be the must have for DJ's and digital music creators alike. Creators have built in mixing features into a portable mp3 player!

Touch pad controls allow you to easily bend a track, change equalizer values or gain levels. Mix and play on your way to functions and parties and never have to worry about leaving music behind, your entire library will fit on the huge hard drive.

The company catch phrase "Anyone can become a DJ!" looks to be a promise they will keep. The simple controls, major storage and tons of options make the art of mixing music something that anyone can do.

Amanda Is A Work From Home Mum Of 3, Researching Unique New Products. For all of the latest products, news, videos and case studies please visit Tonium Pacemaker Pocket DJ

home theater projector screen cheap crazy contact lenses

The Magic of Karaoke

2009-12-20T15:34:00.001-08:00

When it comes to entertainment, karaoke machines have been there for a long time now. Originally came from Japan, this type of entertainment machines have even reached western countries such as in the northern part of America and in the European countries. But mostly, karaoke machines are most popular in Asia where it was first introduced and invented.

The first karaoke machine was invented by Japanese musician Daisuke Inoue in Kobe, Japan, in the early 1970s. After becoming popular in Japan, karaoke spread to East and Southeast Asia during the 1980s and subsequently to other parts of the world.

Karaoke machines were initially placed in restaurants and hotel rooms; soon, businesses called karaoke boxes, with compartmented rooms, became popular.

Karaoke soon spread to the rest of Asia and then to the United States in the 1990s, as well as to Canada and other Western countries.

As more music became available for karaoke machines, more people within the industry saw karaoke as a profitable form of lounge and nightclub entertainment. It is not uncommon for some bars to have karaoke performances seven nights a week, commonly with much more high-end sound equipment than the small, stand-alone consumer versions.

In the Philippines, Karaoke machines became so popular that Filipinos have developed a new type of karaoke machine that they call the "Magic Mics" or popularly know for a lot of Filipinos as the extreme magic sing.

Magic mics or the extreme magic sing microphones are a portable karaoke machine capable of delivering the same amount of entertainment that a normal karaoke can have.

A basic karaoke machine consists of a music player, microphone inputs, a means of altering the pitch of the played music, and an audio output. But instead of a bulky piece of machinery, the extreme magic sing microphones consists of only a microphone in which hundreds of songs are embedded within it.

Also, instead of using CD's or DVD's, extreme magic sing microphones use computer chips that usually have hundreds upon hundreds of songs in it so people could just easily plug and then play their favorite songs.

Christine Layug writes articles for Philippine Online Shopping Site, Express Regalo.

home theater projector screen rj45 network cables pride mobility scooters

No Tripod? Lesson Twenty-Four - Television Production

2009-12-18T14:29:00.001-08:00

You are covering a parade, a festival, something, some kind of event where you need to keep moving around. You have brought one camera, perhaps digital, perhaps some film and a regular SLR, and that heavy, out-of-date, cumbersome tripod. Don't you wish that you could just ditch that old dinosaur piece of equipment? You could if you really wanted to. I know. I know. All the rules of photography say, bring a tripod, use a tripod. But the people that wrote that rule did never try to follow a parade with a tripod, nor did they cover a parade with only one camera and one single photographer. Try running with the tripod and catching all the action, all the great shots with a big, old, tripod. Ditch the dinosaur!

What are your options if you ditch the dinosaur? You have so very many options and I will tell you about some of them, and after that, you need to decide which option best fits your lifestyle. Here are some options that are open for you when you are doing a field show of parades, festivals and other moving subjects:

First plan ahead and find out what other equipment is available to you. Take the lightest camera that you can find and then take the lightest newer, more modern tripod that is available.

(Better choice, for parades): Weeks ahead of time, go to the store and find the most compact, lightest, yet most steady monopod that is available and make that an investment in your future in television production. You have a choice of a regular monopod with the screw top.

Or, another choice you have is the monopod that has the swivel-ball type connection at the top. (Some call it a swivel head or something like that).

(Not the best option): Just take the camera, and find permanent, solid places where you can lean your entire body on while you focus for your videos. If you take this option, take the camera in hand, find your leaning place, brace your entire body against it. Remember to take three short breaths, then take one long breath in and as you let your breath out slowly and evenly, that is the time you press the shutter button (if you are taking still photography).

Those are your options. Of course, the rules say, take that horrible, old, dinosaur of a tripod. But if you want to actually enjoy shooting this film and you still want to do your best, you can try these other options. The best way to begin like this --minus the tripod, is to practice, practice and do more practice. With all that practice, you will be surprised how still you can keep your camera even without a tripod.

(If you must use the larger and heavier zoom lenses, you might need a tripod if you are working for someone else who is paying you. But if the show is for you, and it is all your choice, opt for packing and traveling light. That means leave the tripod at home!

You might still have some jumpy shots, but sometimes those jumpy shots are due to people jumping in front of you, or due to some vehicle motion. Just be sure to practice, practice and practice and you will master the process of using a monopod rather than bringing a small tree (tripod) with you.

Linda A. Perry, aublished author, creator of genuine, unique television shows that air on Time Warner and on Cablevision in New York City. A warm-hearted individual who gives a voice to those who have been silent all along. This author produces television shows about almost all topics that help people in their lives. Many of the shows are entertainment; some are information and resources and still others are festivals, fiestas, and community events that bring all people together in one place in the city or in the country.

home theater projector screen Shoes review guide promotional pads

The Canon Powershot SD 1200 - Fun, Stylish and Packed Out With Powerful Features

2009-12-16T03:15:00.001-08:00

The Canon PowerShot SD1200 IS Digital ELPH has everything you could wish for in a camera - breathless color, the sculptured cleverness of Canon's famed ELPH series - and the new features that takes you to a whole new level of picture-taking. Great fun, capable and a technical brilliance that follows you all round.

In the many different digital cameras you will find that there are different brands and models. Of these many different brands and models of digital cameras Canon Powershot are a good point and click brand which you might want to look into. With the different types of cameras accessible to purchase it's simple to become lost in the little details and lose sight of the big picture.

To give you an idea, Canon SD Digital camera is called Digital Ixus Camera in Europe and South East Asia, and the Ixy Digital camera in Japan. That's why, when you buy any one of the Canon digital cameras, you're assured of getting the best possible camera for the money. And of the many models you get of the Canon cameras the Canon Powershot SD 1200 is a fantastic choice. The range available from the Canon powershot range of cameras gives you the facility to select something relatively simple and easy on the pocket, but which will also help you to take professional looking photographs.

You also have the option of using fully automatic mode, fully manual mode, aperture priority mode, or shutter priority mode to take your photographs, as well as the option available for you to use one of the pre-programmed modes such as Kids and Pets, Sports, Indoor, Beach, Fireworks, Snow, Underwater, Portrait or Night shot. For instance you will discover that the Canon digital camera PowerShot SD 1200 has a large CCD, and a new Night Display which lets your LCD and EVH to become brighter in low light. These include stereo sound recording, which is superb for wonderful sounds and pitch. Additionally for the wannabe short-short film maker, one of the main features included on this Canon Powershot SD 1200 includes the capacity to take short video clips in the movie mode.

Max resolution - 3648 x 2736 (10 Megapixel)

Sensor size (type) - 1/2.3" (CCD)

Zoom capability - 3X optical + 4X digital

Focal length (35mm equiv.) - 35mm - 105mm

Optical image stabilization - Yes

AF-aid lamp - Yes

Macro (min distance) - Yes (3 cm)

Built-in flash - Yes

External flash support - No

Supports conversion lenses - No

LCD display - Yes/2.5"

LCD resolution - 230,000 pixels

LCD position - Fixed

Viewfinder - Optical

Manual controls - Exposure compensation, white balance

ISO sensitivity - 80/100/200/400/800/1600

Movie mode (format) - Yes (AVI)

Movie resolution (max) - 640 x 480

Sound recording - Yes

RAW/TIFF mode - No

PictBridge support - Yes

Storage method - SD/SDHC/MMC/MMCplus/HC MMCplus

Video out - Yes

HDMI port - No

USB support - Yes (2.0)

Dimensions (W x H x D) - 3.5 x 2.2 x 0.9 in / 88.9 x 55.9 x 22.9 mm

Weight (empty) - 4.2 oz / 120 g

Bundled software - Canon Digital Camera Resolution
If you look through the many Canon digital cameras available you will realise that they all have a host of main features such as digital macro mode, night shot, AE compensation, Exposure lock, and changeable image formats are mostly standard, as are such things as the ability to alter ISO ratings, Histograms, Center-weighted and Evaluated metering, and adjustable white balance. Besides these features on the Canon powershot SD 1200 has some more interesting capabilities. With this many main features packed into the Canon powershot SD cameras and more, you would be forgiven for thinking that they would be very weighty and bulky, when in fact the opposite is true.

This diversity in features and models is also reflected in the price of the many Canon cameras as they can start from about $100 and go up wards. The actual price of the cameras should be looked into carefully at the time you are thinking of buying it, as the prices will be subject to fluctuations, advances in technology and special offers.

More information and pictures on Canon Powershot SD 1200 is available here.

pride wheelchair

Marilyn Manson Demented Master of Horror Rock is Shocking the World

2009-12-13T19:24:00.001-08:00

As a child, Manson was molested by a neighbor several times before confessing what was going on to his mother. It seems that his sexual actions have developed since he was very young since that event. The young Manson got into all sorts of adventures and impish behavior, including looking at his grandfathers' collection of sex toys and creating porn magazines for classmates. As an adult he exhibits these characteristics in many of his music videos.

While in college, Manson studied acting and journalism, the latter benefiting him with a job as a reporter for a rock magazine after he was fired from his job at a record store. While a reporter he interviewed Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails who would eventually become Mansons' co-producer for a while. As a result of studying theater, Manson has acted in several movies and created music videos with experience.

The band Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids came to life in 1989 while Manson was working as a reporter for a magazine in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he lived during his college career.He attended rock clubs frequently in addition to his job and became influenced by musicians like Ozzy Osbourne and the band KISS. He made the band with a few other musicians that had the same interests as he did and excelled. Eventually the original name of Manson's band was shortened to Marilyn Manson in 1992.

The members of The Spooky Kids all took first names of girls and last names of murderers to complete the set, although many of the original members quit and were replaced sometime after. Manson and Trent Reznor came together a second time and collaborated to produce Manson's first three albums: Portrait of an American Family, AntiChrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals. To date, Mechanical Albums is the most popular and successful of Manson's albums.

Manson has said that the band's purpose was to push the laws of censorship to the brink, which has obviously been done. As a young man he was very interested in the debate about censorship and freedom of speech that was going on at the time and strive to break through the restrains of these laws. The band has been named one of the most controversial bands in history and some of the videos and album covers produced have been banned or changed in areas of the world. For example, the album cover for Mechanical Animals was edited in Japan because of Manson having six fingers on his left hand and (interestingly) not because he was posing as a naked alien.

Other projects that Manson contributed to were the bands Jack Off Jill, Satan on Fire, and Mrs. Scabtree. Jack Off Jill was to allow Manson to play in clubs that, by contract, his own band could not play in. He also helped name the band and worked as the producer for it before going into his own musical desires. Manson has also acted in several movies and performed for the Queen of the Damned soundtrack.

Although Manson seems to be a scary person, he has admitted to becoming everything that he was scared of as a child. This, he says, is part of what makes it so easy to be this person. He confesses that he is actually a bit frightened by shopping malls (although saying that it's the ONLY thing he's scared of).

In addition to being a musician he is also a poet, author, and artist. He enjoys making watercolor paintings at 3 AM with a chilled glass of absinthe to drink. He has sold his artwork to celebrities like Jack Osbourne during art exhibits.

Marilyn's interesting hobbies include collecting prosthetic limbs and old metal lunch boxes. A while back, a lawsuit was issued to Manson for "buying a child's skeleton and masks made of human skin". It seems that his actions have earned him five lawsuits known to the public so far, mostly with charges of misconduct. Most of the lawsuits ended in Manson's favor or were unresolved.

Due to his trademark black leather pants, the PETA named Marilyn as one of the worst dressed celebrities of 2008. That's a little harsh, don't you think? His other trademarks, which are heavy makeup and the colored contact lenses he wears in his left eye, have caught much less flack. The white face makeup, or "pancake makeup" is ruining his skin, however. I've seen pictures of him without his makeup on and his face is suffering. The lipstick is definitely my favorite part because of his perfect, full lips. Manson also sports a silver grill every once in a while.

Not surprisingly, he has a load of tattoos, spanning from 1994 to the present, the latest being the trademark spiral heart. There have been people calling him "The Illustrated Man". Some people speculate that the tattoos on his inner arms are to cover the scars from his youth when he self-harmed and that getting the tattoos is of the same nature as self-harming for him. Manson himself says that it was like a "permanent Halloween costume" for him. He used to dress in Halloween attire all the time when he was a kid and thinks it may have been brought over into his adult life. What could be better fitting for Marilyn Manson?

For More On Marilyn Manson And More About Your Favorite Rock Bands And Music, Visit http://AudioFlip.Com

home theater projector screen

Lighting a Fine Craft Trade Show Booth - Options for the Budget-Conscious Artist

2009-12-11T17:00:00.001-08:00

Good lighting is a main ingredient of a successful trade-show booth. Just the right lighting system can help an artist create the atmosphere of a fine-craft gallery. This will lure gallery owners off the isles and into your booth – the first step toward making a sale.

Lighting is a relatively expensive investment. So how does the budget-conscious artist find the right solution?

When it comes to choosing a lighting system, artists new to the trade show circuit often become overwhelmed. Prices vary wildly, and each convention center may have its own lighting rules. Lighting technology is changing rapidly, making the choices harder still.

This article details what I learned while tackling the challenge of lighting my 10’X10’ booth at the American Craft Retailers Expo (ACRE), a large wholesale show for American and Canadian craft artists. As I am new to trade shows, this information is meant only as a pointer for artists in the process of choosing lighting, and perhaps also for more seasoned artists looking to update their systems.

In examining many different lighting options, my objective was to illuminate my glass jewelry beautifully but inexpensively. I wanted the lights to be lightweight and modular, to fit in boxes for shipping to the show. I was looking for contemporary styling, in silver or black. And I wanted to have at least one special lighting effect – not too flashy – to give my booth a unique element.

In his CD on booth design, art business consultant Bruce Baker suggests 1,000 watts will light up a 10’X10’ booth very effectively. I decided to stay at or under 500 watts, however, because the ACRE show includes 500 watts with the booth price, and the halogen lighting I ultimately decided upon illuminates my displays very well. Since I bought the lights at a “big-box” store with sites in virtually every city in the U.S., I can add more lights once I’m at the trade show if necessary.

The Battle of the Bulb

Contractors Choice Lighting (www.ccl-light.com) says a light fixture is simply a “bulb holder.” The bulb, therefore, should drive one’s choice of a fixture. This is somewhat true for trade-show lighting, although the fixtures may dictate the types of bulbs, depending on the choices available at the store where one shops for the lights. The CCL website offers a “Bulb Photometrics” page (http://ccl-light.com/photometrics.html), whose graphical representation is a refreshing departure from the complex descriptions of lighting options that have proliferated on the web.

Halogen is the bulb of choice for many trade show exhibitors. It offers a crisp, white light. Although people commonly refer to halogen as non-incandescent, it is in fact a kind of incandescent lamp. It generates light by using a thin filament wire made of tungsten, heated to white by passing an electric current through it. According to General Electric, the first halogen lamp was developed in 1959 – not too long ago for many of us!

Halogen bulbs differ significantly from the traditional type of incandescents we grew up with. The halogen bulb’s filament is surrounded by halogen gases (iodine or bromine, specifically). These gases let the filaments operate at higher temperatures. The end result is a higher light output per watt.

The gases also do something rather miraculous: Tungsten tends to evaporate off the filament over time, and the gases actually help re-deposit the tungsten onto the filament. This extends the bulb’s life way beyond that of the traditional incandescent bulb, whose evaporated tungsten clings to the walls of the bulb like a smoky apparition and eventually the uncoated filament snaps. Who hasn’t rattled a burnt-out light bulb and enjoyed the jazzy cymbal sound of the broken filament inside?

In addition to giving off more light than traditional incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs emit a whiter light that provides better color rendition. “For highlighting and bringing out true colors, use halogen lamps,” suggests USA Light and Electric’s website (www.usalight.com). “Nothing looks better than the drama brought in with halogen lamps.”

Baker also suggests halogen lights – floodlights in particular – for a contemporary look, especially for jewelry and glass. It’s important to consider that other fine craft materials such as ceramics and wood might be better enhanced with halogen spotlights, or even with some of the more traditional incandescent lights that emit a warmer color.

Having decided upon halogen lighting, my next task would be to choose bulbs. The ACRE show takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which has instituted a strict halogen lighting policy. Each light cannot exceed 75 watts, and all halogen bulbs must be factory sealed in glass (not in a removable lens or linear shape).

Thankfully, there is plenty of factory-sealed halogen lighting, in the form of PAR halogen bulbs. PAR is an acronym for “parabolic aluminized reflector.” PAR bulbs have a built-in reflecting surface made of pressed glass. The glass provides both an internal reflector and prisms in the lens for control of the light beam.

PAR bulbs are numbered, as in PAR 16, PAR 20, PAR 56. The PAR number refers to the bulb shape. Bulbs.com has a halogen section of the site where you can quickly compare the various PAR bulbs visually. Within a given category of PAR bulbs there are various wattages, wide and narrow spotlights and floodlights, different base sizes, and even different colors.

Fortunately I was able to skip the process of deciding on a PAR bulb by deciding first where to shop for my lights (more on that below).

Power Issues

When you go to shop for track lights, you’ll notice there’s a choice between 12-volt and 120-volt fixtures. 120 is the standard voltage that comes directly into most homes and offices – and convention centers.

For a lamp using 120 volts, no additional parts are necessary beyond a regular socket. 120-volt fixtures generally are lighter than 12-volt fixtures because they don’t need a transformer. They also cost less and can use halogen or regular incandescent bulbs.

I stopped short of investigating 12-volt fixtures, except to find out that they step down the amount of energy being used to a lower voltage, and thus are more energy efficient. They require a transformer to convert the 120-volt household current to 12 volts, and they may require hardwiring (although one artist I know found a 12-volt fixture with a built-in transformer which she was able to plug into a 120-volt outlet. A 12-volt fixture accommodates very efficient bulbs that offer a variety of wattages and beam spreads, including the 50-watt MR-16, which is popular in galleries.

I decided on 120-volt lighting for the trade show, because I wouldn’t have to worry about transformers and could just plug it in.

Choosing a Store and Track Lighting

I read the ACRE online forum for clues about where to buy lighting. What one artist said struck me as eminently sensible: He buys all his lighting at Home Depot, because if anything goes wrong at the show, he can find a store nearby for replacement parts.

This was something to consider: Tempting as the gorgeous designs might be, special-order lighting of any kind introduces the risk of having a malfunctioning light for the duration of a show.

Another artist on the ACRE online forum said he buys his lights from Lowes. It probably doesn’t matter which big-box store one chooses, as long as there’s one in every city.

Since I was new to trade shows and this was to be my first lighting kit, I resisted choosing from the many good suppliers on the web. I settled on the limited but attractive selection at Lowes. A side benefit of this was that my choices were comfortably narrowed.

Within the category of halogen lighting, you can get either track lights or stem-mounted lights (with arms extending outward). I went with track lights. This was partly because the stem lights I found on the web were relatively expensive and Lowe's didn’t offer them, and partly because with track lights I could have one cord instead of several hanging down.

The Lowes lighting salesperson was helpful in putting together a full package from the track lighting on display and in stock. I decided on four, two-foot tracks to keep the size of my shipping boxes down. Here’s a rundown of what I bought:

· 4 two-foot track sections, Portfolio brand, black finish, Item #225678. Each section holds 2 lights, for a total of 8. Total: $23.12

· 8 Flared Gimbal Track Lights, Portfolio brand, Item #120673, with a satin chrome finish for a contemporary look. They are easy to attach to the track by following the directions. Total: $80.76

· 8 halogen bulbs, Par 20, 50-watt, for bright, crisp light. I bought several floodlights and a couple of spotlights. The bulbs are very packable, at a little over 3” long and 2.5” in diameter. Total: $60.00

· 2 Miniature Straight Connectors by Portfolio, Item #120716, for joining two of the track sections end to end. The idea is to have only one cord to plug in from a row of four lights. Total: $5.92.

· 2 Cord and Plug Sets, Portfolio brand, Item #120827, to power track from a standard AC wall outlet. I connected these to the end of the two of the track sections by unscrewing the covering on one side of the track. Total: $17.06

· Various Multi-Purpose Ties (cable ties), by Catamount, for attaching tracks to booth pipes. Total: $5.00

· 2 heavy-duty extension cord/power strips – 14-gauge, 15-feet, with three outlets each, Woods brand, from Lowe’s, Item #170224, model 82965. Total: $22.00

Grand total: $213.86

The Gimbal lights I chose only accept a 50-watt, PAR 20 bulb, which made it easy to pick out the bulbs. So in this case, the fixture drove the choice of bulb, not the other way around.

According to the Bulb Photometrics page at Contractors Choice Lighting, a PAR 20, 50-watt halogen flood bulb will emit a beam of light with a 5’4” diameter when it reaches 10 feet away. It offers about 12 foot-candles worth of light at 10 feet away from the bulb (a foot-candle is the level of illumination on a surface one foot away from a standard candle.)

For the sake of comparison, a PAR 30 beam offers a diameter of more than 8’ at 10 feet away, and you still get about 14 foot-candles at that distance. What happens if you notch it up to a 75-watt bulb? You get a lot more foot-candles (38) at 10 feet away. This suggests that larger trade-show booths might want to take advantage of higher PAR and higher watt bulbs.

All together, the track lighting system I chose uses 400 watts of electricity. This left me another 100 watts to add specialty or accent lighting to my booth, while still remaining at the 500-watt limit.

Cords, Plugs and Hanging Lights

The Las Vegas Convention Center has very strict rules for cords, plugs, and hanging lights.

The two-pronged, 18-gauge cords that the manufacturer has attached to your lights are acceptable (leave the UL tags and labels intact). These lighting cords cannot be plugged into the convention center outlet, however. Instead, you must plug them into a three-pronged, heavy duty, 14-gauge extension cord – or a breaker strip with a 14-gauge cord. You can then plug that 14-gauge extension cord into the convention center outlet.

A 14-gauge extension cord is capable of handling 1,825 watts. It’s helpful to read the brief extension-cord sizing and safety information on the web pages of the Underwriters Laboratories (www.ul.com/consumers/cords.html) and the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FY800) before purchasing a cord.

Bruce Baker suggests the cord be 20 feet with six outlets, and that it include a cord reel. I couldn’t find this type of cord at Lowe’s, so I decided on two 15-foot, heavy-duty, 14-gauge extension cord/power strips, each offering three outlets. If you have a larger booth, you can find a 25-foot cord with three outlets at Lowe’s.

There are so many different approaches to hanging lights, and so many variables to consider, that it could be a topic for another article. In general, you can hang or clip lights onto a cross bar or onto the “hard walls” of your display if you have them. Depending on the rules of a particular trade show and the size your lighting system, you may be permitted to attach the lights to the booth’s existing pipe and drape.

Since my booth design does not include my own walls, my lights will attach either to the existing pipe or to a cross bar. Cable ties (commonly called “zip ties”) appear to be tool of choice for attaching tracks to the pipes or bars, and even for attaching additional cross bars to existing pipe and drape. One artist I know uses Velcro strips, followed by cable ties to secure the attachments. There are a few entire websites for cable ties. One of them is http://www.cabletiesplus.com .

I purchased Multi-Purpose Ties from Home Depot. They can bundle 4 inches in diameter, withstand temperatures up to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, and hold up to 50 lbs.

Accent Lighting: LEDs

There are many ideas for accent lighting – although a fair treatment of the topic is beyond the scope of this article. Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting is one technology that is experiencing breakthroughs and growing fast. It takes many LEDs to equal the light output of a 50-watt bulb, and LEDs are fairly expensive, so LEDs aren’t ready for prime time when it comes to lighting a whole booth.

There are several close-up applications for LEDs, however, that are worth looking into now. An example is the in-counter light bar sold by MK Digital Direct at http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com (at a whopping $175 per foot). The more affordable MK Sparkle Light Pocket ($30) is a portable device that has extra long-life of over 100,000 continuous hours and promises to give jewelry “maximum sparkle and scintillation.”

The Nexus mini LED light system (www.ccl-light.com), meanwhile, offers a lot of illumination for its size – a puck shape not much bigger than a quarter. The company says it is for direct display lighting of crystal and glass, and it can even be submerged in water. The light is attached to a 12’ cable that ends in a plug, and has “mode switch” with seven different color choices. Unfortunately, white is not one of the color choices, and at $25 it’s a bit expensive. Still, a few of these lights combined with room lighting could draw viewers into your booth and toward your most dramatic displays.

LEDS also include tube lights, flexible lights, linear lights, and bulbs. Superbright LEDs (www.superbrightleds.com/edison.html ) has a collection of 120-volt screw-in LED bulbs for accent and other low-lighting applications, as well as a host of other fascinating products such as “plant up-light fixtures.”

At this writing, the search was still on for accent lighting to give my booth an extra special glow. Stay tuned for a future article on the results.

Online Resources

The following list is not an endorsement, but rather a starting point for research on lighting systems, cable ties, and accent lighting.

http://www.ccl-light.com - inexpensive and many choices, has “Bulb Photometrics” page to help determine how much light and what kind you want from a bulb

http://www.direct-lighting.com - stem-mounted and track lights

http://www.usalight.com - large selection of lighting and bulbs

http://www.bulbs.com - quick visual comparison of PAR bulbs (in halogen section)

http://www.cabletiesplus.com - Cable (zip) ties for securing track lights to pipe

http://www.mkdigitaldirect.com - LED lights for jewelry cases

http://www.american-image.com/products/lights/lights.html - a nice selection and visual layout of stem-mounted and other lighting (but not cheap)

http://www.brightmandesign.com/products/wash-super.html - good technical information and images of lights set-ups for trade shows; several stem-mounted clip-on designs

http://www.superbrightleds.com - LED accent lighting, including screw-in bulbs and light bars

Alice Horrigan is a glass artist living in Ithaca, New York

[http://www.pamadesigns.com]

http://www.wholesalecrafts.com (Artist #23436)

Retailers may see Alice's work at the American Craft Retailers Expo (ACRE) wholesale show, May 2-4, 2007, Booth #333. Pre-show appointments call 607-351-3284, or write to alice@fingerlakesgifts.com .

portable massage chairs promotional pads

New Nike Maxsight Contact Lenses, Maximize Your Sporting Performance

2009-12-09T10:46:00.001-08:00

The brand new sports performance enhancing contact
lens has finally become available to amateur
athletes. But where exactly does one go to buy the
nike maxsight? Because they are contact lenses,
you will not find them at the local sporting goods
store or favorite team shop.

All contact lenses are considered medical devices
and need to be fit by a licensed professional. So
if you are interested in trying out the Nike
Maxsight lenses, simply contact your local eye
care provider.

As of today, the lenses come in spherical powers
ranging from +4.00 to -9.00 including plano. Plano
is simply a lens with no vision correction. They
come in one base curve, 8.7, and a diameter of
14.3. Your eye care professional will be able to
decide if the lens is healthy for your eyes.

Nike and Bausch and Lomb have teamed up to create
two varieties of the Maxsight, an amber tint and a
green/grey tint.

The amber tint is designed for sports with a
moving ball, such as baseball, softball, and
soccer. The entire lens is amber in color and does
show on the eye when worn. Most people find the
color gives them a competitive look. Plus, if your
team colors are orange or red, your eyes will
match your uniform. Baseball players have reported
increased ability in tracking the spin on a pitch
and tracking any moving ball. Soccer players claim
the ball essentially pops out from the grass
background.

The green/grey tint is designed for individual
sports such as running and golf. The main purpose
is to reduce glare and increase contrast. This
means less squinting and more focus. These lenses
also show on the eye and basically give the
appearance of large, dark, corneas. Runners can
enjoy the eyes ability to relax, as opposed to
squinting, which reduces fatigue and strain.
Golfers find the ball easier to track when
swinging the club and easier to follow once hit.

The end result is fantastic vision, UV protection,
and an enhanced sporting experience, not to
mention one mean looking set of eyes.

home theater projector screen mesh back office chair Shoes review guide

What Is The Best Hair Dryer?

2009-12-07T09:41:00.001-08:00

With so many types and even more brands on offer, deciding on what hair dryer to buy can be a difficult decision. If you want that salon perfect, shiny, smooth and healthy look with lots of body, you're going to have to put some thought into the subject and do some research.

There are five main types of hair drier on the market today: traditional, ionic, ceramic, tourmaline and nano-silver. Quite frankly, don't waste your money on a traditional appliance that comes with a metal heating coil, plastic casing and simple motor. These will certainly dry your hair but will also leave it feeling 'frizzy' and 'blow dried'.

The keywords to look out for are 'negative ions'. Negative ions break down large water droplets into much smaller, micro-droplets. This has two benefits. First, drying hair is much quicker; meaning you hair is subjected less to damaging high temperatures. Second, the micro-droplets are easily absorbed into the hair shaft, which helps to hydrate your hair, leaving it shinier, smoother and healthier.

Nano-silver, ceramic, tourmaline and ionic hair dryers all emit negative ions. It's common for two or three of these materials to be used in the components of a hair dryer. Therefore, make sure the appliance - whichever brand you choose - is one of these types.

By far the best way of deciding which brand and model is best for you, is by talking to friends and family. Find out what appliance works best for them and why. Talking to those you trust costs you nothing and you'll get 'real' opinions and not the sales pitch of a company sales department.

After that, you should read reviews off the internet and in style magazines. Again, this advice is free and, especially on the internet, the opinions expressed are from real people. One word of caution: some reviews state that they were given a product to test by the manufacturer. Such reviews are universally favourable - wouldn't you give a nice, glowing review if someone gave you something for free?

Talking to professionals is always a great idea. After all, they use hair dryers more than anybody else, and chances are, they've used dozens of different brands over the years. Don't be afraid to ask them their opinion; most people love to be asked their opinion and like to give their opinion even more. Again, it'll be honestly given with no sales pitch.

Oftentimes, demonstrations of beauty products are given freely by companies in department stores and shopping malls. Don't be shy; go and get your hair done. Of course, they'll try to sell you the product but you don't have to buy on the spot. The really great advantage to this is that you actually get to see the results and can judge for yourself if your hair looks the way you want it to. Another great advantage is that the demonstrator will also be able to show how to use it.

Finally, decide on your budget and stick to it. You can get a very good but cheap hair dryer like a Conair Infiniti Hair Designer that can do just as good a job on your hair as a more expensive brand like the T3 Tourmaline Featherweight.

Follow the links to find what is the best hair dryer for you whether it be a Conair hair dryer, T3 hair dryer or other.

pride mobility scooters cheap crazy contact lenses

Akiles DuoMac C51 Plastic Comb and 5-1 Pitch Spiral Coil Binding Machine Review

2009-12-05T08:34:00.001-08:00

Overview:

Sometimes just one binding style isn't enough. From internal documents to client presentations, binding needs and materials change depending on the project. The answer? The Akiles DuoMac binding machine. The DuoMac line allows you to combine two different binding styles quickly and easily into one machine with plastic combs or 5:1 pitch spiral coil, for maximum flexibility.

Features:

Among its many, innovative features, this versatile machine has the only plastic comb / 5:1 pitch spiral coil combination machine available on the market, including a punch for the plastic comb pattern and for the 5:1 pitch spiral coil pattern, with a comb opener to help page insertion. In addition, the DuoMac C51 includes a wire closer , like other DuoMac wire binding machines, allowing you use it for binding documents with 19 loop spiral-O wire.

With most binding machines built to offer one binding style, the DuoMac C51 offers three completely different looks for your documents - from cost-effective plastic-comb binding for combs from 3/16" to 2" in diameter, to .5:1 pitch spiral coil binding. This 5:1 pitch (or 5 holes per one inch) is a special variety of spiral coil more tightly wound than standard 4:1 pitch coil. Many prefer this style for its tightly wound professional look.

Finally, the DuoMac C51 includes the same great features as are found in other Akiles binding machines such as depth of punch margin controls, continuous punching guides and multiple handle operation for added control and functionality. These features are the hallmark of Akiles binders and make the DuoMac C51 a best-in-class option.

Limitations:

Although this machine is extremely versatile and offers many benefits, there are a few noteworthy limitations. Though this machine has almost everything else you could want in a binder, it is noticeably missing an electric spiral coil inserter. For users who do a great deal of spiral coil binding, the addition of a stand-alone inserter such as the Roll-A-Coil is highly suggested.

With so many features added to single machine, it can be a little confusing to operate and takes on the appearance of an octopus (a four-armed octopus, that is). It also has a fairly large footprint, which can make storage inconvenient. It is not the machine for you if you are looking for easy, tuck-away storage.

The spiral-o wire binding and 5:1 pitch coil binding that the machine uses are not nearly as common as other binding systems. This can be a problem when it results in increased lead times, which can sometimes happen. This is especially true when attempting to order non-standard colors or sizes of wire binding material.

Construction:

The Akiles Duomac C51 is extremely well-built, made almost entirely of metal and is designed to stand up in a professional environment. In fact, these machines are often chosen by print shops, binderies, copy centers and corporate offices, for maximum volumes and high quality binding ability.

In addition, the Duomac C51 includes a free pair of coil crimpers for finishing your 5:1 pitch coil bound documents. These coil crimpers are necessary and highly effective for cutting and bending the ends of the coil for a perfect finish - every time.

Recommendation:

TheAkiles DuoMac C51 is highly recommended for users who are looking for a high quality 5:1 pitch coil binding machine or a comb binding machine. This machine includes all of the features you will need to bind with combs, coil and wire. In addition, the DuoMAc C51 is an excellent machine at an excellent value.

If coil binding is your preference, you will probably want to you purchase a stand-alone coil inserter. Also, unless you are looking specifically for the 5:1 pitch coil, you might want to consider the Duomac C41 which offers the same features with a 4:1 pitch coil punch instead of the 5:1. It just depends on your binding needs, but both choices work well and are easily available. Either way, you will end up with a highly efficient, well-constructed and versatile binding system that you can use for years to come.

For more information or to purchase the Akiles DuoMac C51 Plastic Comb and 5:1 Coil Binding Machine visit MyBinding.com

Jeff McRitchie is the director of marketing for MyBinding.com. He writes extensively on topics related to Combination Binding Machines, Binding Covers, Bookbinding Supplies, Binding Machines, Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators, Laminating Pouches and more.

promotional pads pride mobility scooters

History Trivia Questions & Answers - Famous Last Words

2009-12-03T07:32:00.001-08:00

Whose last words were "I am still alive?"

Answer: Gaius Caligula.

Caligula has been dubbed, Rome's most tyrannical emperor. His reign was noted not only for cruel and treacherous acts but also of truly insane ones. His more insane acts included attempting to have his horse, Incitatus, inducted as a senator and after marching his troops to the coast of France, he ordered them to gather seashells on the beach. He also began publicly appearing dressed as a god and insisted that he be treated as one. His peers also accused him of both incest and murder. It is hardly surprising that his own guard eventually assassinated him.

"I'm bored with it all" were the last words of which famous person?

Answer:Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill was born on November 30th 1874 and was the Prime Minister of Britain during WWII. Winston served in the military in both India and Cuba before beginning his life in politics. Churchill is one of only two people to have received the distinction of being made an Honorary Citizen of the USA. Also, among his many distinctions was a Nobel Prize for literature. Churchill died nine days after having a major stroke on the 24th of January 1965.

Who said on their deathbed, "All my possessions for a moment of time"?

Answer:Elizabeth the I

Elizabeth was born on September 7th 1533. She ascended to the throne in 1559 after the death of her sister Mary. She was the only child of Henry the 8th and Anne Boleyn. Her mother Anne was executed by her father Henry when she was only two years of age. Elizabeth never married despite many proposals and petitions. She died in 1558 on the 17th of November.

"Go on, get out - last words are for fools who haven't said enough" are said to be the last words of which famous person?

Answer:Karl Marx.

It is reported that he said these words to his housekeeper who wanted to write down his dying words. Karl Marx was born in Germany in 1818. He was a noted philosopher, historian, communist and revolutionary. He died in March, 1883. He was buried in Highgate Cemetery in London. His tombstone reads "Workers of all Lands Unite".

"Go away. I'm all right" was the last thing said by which famous person?

Answer:H. G. Wells

Novelist H. G. Wells was born in Bromley, England on September 21st 1866. He is probably best known for his works in science fiction, which include such classics as the Time Machine, the Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. Wells died at his home in Regent's Park in 1946. He had wanted his epitaph to read, "I told you so. You damned fools."

If you are someone who enjoys history trivia, you can find many different history trivia questions, games and other related resources at Triviachamp.com

If you would like to print out some free printable quiz sheets, you might also enjoy TriviaChamp's sister site at: -- Printable Trivia Questions

promotional pads

Watch Soccer Games Online - Watch MLS Soccer and International Soccer Games, No Monthy Fees

2009-12-01T05:50:00.001-08:00

Every soccer fan wants to follow their favorite team and watch all their best games. But sometimes this is not possible, due to many reasons. I myself am a sports fanatic (arsenal fan), but I am always very busy and I never used to be able to follow my team the way I wanted, that was until I found a way to watch soccer games online.

I had been searching for ages way to be able to watch soccer games online. I first came across the free services. I soon found out that all of these were GARBAGE, for many reasons (quality, lag, ect.) Eventually I gave up on the idea that I would be able to watch soccer games online for free and I decided to try out some of the paid services. I hurried into buying a very bad service because they had an amazing sales pitch, but I learned something from that experience.

After my mistake, I decided to do my research, and from all the reviews I read I came across "Satellite TV for PC" proved to be the best service out there. Many people were watching soccer games online with the service and the feedback was extremely positive. After more research I decided to buy "Satellite TV for PC" because the reviews proved it to be a good deal for $50. What I didn't know was how good of a deal it really was. I got to watch every single soccer game online with perfect satellite audio and video quality, with no delays and good resolution. Not only soccer,I was also able to watch every NFL, CFL, NBA, and NHL games as well as every channel and program that I would have gotten from a service like dish network. The best thing of all is I don't even pay any monthly fees. Another advantage is that I am able to watch it on my portable laptop where ever i wanted.

I have had this program for 8 months, and it is probably one of the best products i have invested in. Also if my family wants to watch, i hook my laptop up to the TV and watch on my big screen, it cant get better than this. One time fee of 50$, compared to ongoing monthly fees.

If you want to watch your games online, and never miss another soccer moment. The best service for your needs is Satellite TV for PC service. You can either invest in 3000 channels for a one time charge $49 or 4000 channels plus channel bonuses for $99. Do not waste a second, here:

3000 Channel Package ($49) - Watch Soccer Games Online - ELITE EDITION

4000 Channel Package ($99) - Watch Soccer Games Online - TITANIUM EDITION

rj45 network cables pride wheelchair promotional pads

Sony Ericsson C905 - Cell Phone Review

2009-11-29T04:41:00.001-08:00

The Sony Ericsson C905 is a CyberShot phone equipped with a 8.1 megapixel camera that comes with a wide array of advanced photography functions. It embodies the true essence of multimedia and connectivity on the go with its powerful capabilities.

Let me start with the camera: The name cyber shot should give you a clear indication about the quality of the camera. The xenon flash and Carl-Zeiss lens have been synonymous to the cyber short cameras. The picture quality is absolutely great when compared to any other types in its class. Xenon flash means crystal clear photography even in pitch darkness.

The most outstanding feature of this phone would be the 8.1 megapixels picture solution with a spacious display screen size. The pictures taken with this camera will look great even after uploading it on your personal computers.

Apart from that, the camera comes with features like Smile Shutter, 16X digital zoom, Red Eye Reduction, Video Light with Stabilizer, Autofocus with Image Stabilizer, Face Detection, Photo Fix, Video Recording and lots more. The Sony Ericsson C905 promises a real photgraphy experience.

Check out the music features: Undoubtedly, the phone's audio quality is one of the better ones around. You can even use your MP3 files as your ringer tones. Apart from that, you can play the 3gp video files with the inbuilt media player. You can also use Bluetooth for a wireless stereo experience. These features are complemented by several audio and video applications.

Connecting to other devices and networks: Sony Ericsson C905 is WiFi compatible. You can store your files on the extended memory. Connecting to the computers with the data cable is quite easy with the USB port. Similar to smartphones, it enables quick transfer of data through Bluetooth.

Other connectivity features on Sony Ericsson C905 are aGPS, Synchronization, Modem, Wayfinder and Navigator, and Google maps. This device is DLNA Certified for quality assurance. You can connect easily to the networks in many different ways with this phone.

Organize yourself: Our lives could get chaotic unless we get it well organized. What better way to get our life organized than with the gadget which we carry in our pockets always?

Sony Ericsson C905 comes fully loaded with organizing features like Clock Timer, Notes and Task Reminder, Stop Watch, Phonebook, Alarm Clock and Calendar.

Other common features: More features of Sony Ericsson C905 include Sound Recording with Text and Picture Messaging along with emailing features.

The phone supports automatic screen rotation for hassle free and better viewing orientation. Other common features include Video Calling, Polyphonic Ringtones, Speakerphone and Vibrating Alert.

If you are considering a replacement for both your old camera and phone, this all in one device would be a natural candidate. For those who like their phone to look trendy, it is available in four colors namely Tender Rose, Copper Gold, Ice Silver and Night Black.

Sam Lee is a mobile enthusiast and runs the popular website Cellular Deals. For more cell phone deals and recommendations on choosing your next cell phone, go to => http://www.cellular-deals.com

pride mobility scooters pride wheelchair

Learn Digital Photography - Which Digital Camera Is For You?

2009-11-27T03:40:00.001-08:00

Before deciding on purchasing a digital camera, it is important that you set yourself a budget. This should happen before going online or visiting an electronics shop. It is just like purchasing any other large item else such as a computer. There are a lot of options, and you don't want to get stuck biting off more than you can chew, expense-wise. High-end cameras offer the great zoom, more extra features and more megapixels.

Having more megapixels doesn't mean you will have the great picture quality. Unfortunately these cameras can also take a huge bite out of your wallet if you are not careful. When you are starting out in the wide world of digital photography, it is easier to not spend a huge amount of money on the high-end SLR cameras. Look for cheaper, yet effective, compact digital cameras that are a lot easier to hold. The best thing to do is learn the basics with this digital camera and make sure you enjoy the hobby before spending the cash for higher-end digital cameras.

Some people don't really enjoy going on airplanes or helicopters, how do they take those spectacular aerial photos? Guess what you don't have to use planes or helicopters! Sometimes aerial shots on planes can sometimes get expensive unless you have a friend with a plane. Flying in a little plane around a city a couple of times can be quite frightening for some people. The little secret that few photographers know is: some "in-flight" photos are not actually taken from a plane. Quite the contrary, they are taken from a countryside or city vantage point. Being in the observation deck of a skyscraper will actually get you just about as high as a low flying plane would. Your photographs will look like aerial shots that were taken as you were flying around, but in fact you didn't even enter in any aircraft.

Fall is one of the most pleasurable times for photographers. It brings beautiful orange, brown, and red leaf colors. If you plan on traveling to take advantage of nature's yearly fireworks display, you need to ensure you get to your destination at the peak period to enjoy the best fall leaves. If you live in the US, the US Department of Agriculture has a website that displays fall foliage information by geographical area. Finding out the best times to visit areas is crucial.

A good place is New England. A well planned trip could be the best way to get some really extraordanary pictures. Information is updated as soon as conditions permit. If traveling is out of the question for you, check with your government agriculture website to see the best times. Good research results in spectacular pictures. Here is a good source for US photographers: The Foliage Network - http://www.foliagenetwork.com/

When you are taking fireworks photos a good location is always essential with your digital camera. As in any other type of digital photography, when shooting fireworks, composition is necessary. Before the show begins, find a good angle that will provide you with a clear picture of the upcoming fireworks. Having people in front of your camera is completely unacceptable, avoid it at all costs. Streetlights will fade out the fire works phenomenally; therefore it is best to avoid streetlamps. Basically finding the best possible shot, with few lights, few people and not against the law is difficult but doable. Sometimes have a view on a boat is helpful if the water is calm.

Sometimes taking photos at night is more difficult than it seems. Shooting photos at dusk may provide your camera with just enough light to take fantastic cityscape photos. The sky is decently dark at dusk, but not so dark to prevent some degree of sunlight entering your digital camera, making it easier to take hand-held photos that do not result all blurry due to 'camera-shake'. If you are looking for a superb nighttime photo, it would be better to consider taking your photos at dusk instead of in the pitch black of night. Dusk only lasts for an hour or so. Research your shot locations and time beforehand. Keep your eye on the weather in the location you selected and make sure its not raining the day you decide to go out.

When you are taking pictures of a parade it is best to not ruin time by trying to focus after every picture. It is best to shoot as many photos as possible during a parade, think about buying a focus lock. This keeps your shutter button held halfway down and don't completely release it after taking a photo. Or you might want to set your camera up for manual focus. This way, you can take several photos in succession, or use your camera's "drive" mode for multiple shots within a small range of time. This would enable you to take a bunch of photos without having to refocus for each shot and your digital camera should function much quicker. Though you may want to set up and refocus for certain special shots, other times you may have just as much fun continuously shooting as the action in a parade can happen very fast.

When you are taking digital pictures on sunny days, you must be careful. Sometimes the sun can completely damage your electronic camera. Taking pictures of sunsets and rises can be amusing and enjoyable, but pointing your lens directly at the sun may damage it. Try to keep your lens pointed a little bit away from the sun directly. There is a similarity between your eye and the camera lens, they both can see and both can be damaged by the sun. As a little kid your parents told you never to look at the sun or you will see spots. The same concept applies to your camera. When you are not capturing fantastic views, turn off your camera and store in someplace room temperature so you don't damage it. It is best and easiest to take photos in increments, and then allow your camera to relax by enclosing it somewhere cool.

Let me Dan Feildman, Author of "Your Guide to Digital Photography" answer your questions. Are you looking for answers about check out my digital photography basics

vampire contact lenses Hd tv review Shoes review guide

Medical Practice Marketing - All Doctors Need PR

2009-11-25T02:38:00.001-08:00

Consumers want the latest style in automobiles, the latest fashions from Paris, and the cutting edge in technology. But patients are gun-shy about embracing experimental medicine or cutting edge technology when it comes to improving their health or enhancing their bodies.

That’s why doctors on the cutting edge in their area of specialty need public relations. The message of safety, convenience, and success must be conveyed because medical consumers are much more reluctant to be among the first to accept a new medical technique than are buyers of automobiles, computers, furniture or fashion.

Of course, sick people want to be treated with the very latest drug, equipment or method. They just don’t want to be the first! And so an innovative doctor introducing new equipment or a new treatment method needs the assistance of a public relations/marketing professional to be successful.

No one will agree to eye surgery without being convinced the procedure is absolutely safe. No woman will ever agree to breast augmentation or vaginal rejuvenation without feeling absolutely comfortable about the practitioner. The more sensitive the procedure the greater the need for public relations.

It has been my experience that a well-thought out and executed public relations/marketing plan will overcome reluctance by patients to embrace medical innovations. In my practice that certainly has been the case.

While working with prominent doctors over the past several years, I have developed successful marketing campaigns for plastic surgery, LASIK surgery, dental surgery, liposuction and BOTOX. Among the most successful methods is to arrange for radio, television and sports personalities to have the surgery or treatment free and then give testimonials on how great this new surgery or treatment has been for them. I’ve also arranged for endorsements by popular sports, TV and radio celebrities to help convince customers that it is safe and desirable to use the elective medical procedure.

One of my earliest medical clients, who serves as an insightful test case for the theme of this article, is the Windsor Laser Eye Institute (WLEI) founded by Dr. Fouad Tayfour who today is a household name in the Detroit-Windsor market.

But when the WLEI became my client Dr. Tayfour was not a household name in Southeast Michigan. The FDA had not yet approved laser eye surgery and so it was only available in Canada. Dr. Tayfour, a pioneer in Canada and the U.S., opened a clinic in Windsor across the river from Detroit. Thus, because of Windsor’s close proximity to Detroit, Dr. Tayfour wanted to reach out to the Greater Detroit metropolitan area.

While there was interest in laser vision as a substitute for prescription glasses or contact lenses, initially there was not a flood of traffic over the Ambassador Bridge to the clinic. People are very sensitive about their eyes and very hesitant about being among the first to embrace this revolutionary approach. What about side effects or complications down the road? How uncomfortable is the procedure? How long will the correction last? Will it damage my eyes? And added to these concerns was the fact that the procedure did not have FDA approval and was not covered by health insurance.

One of the first steps was to prepare a set of documents for a press kit to explain what the laser procedure involved, what the benefits were, and facts to overcome concerns about side-effects, pain, discomfort, etc. The press kits were distributed to television, radio and newspaper reporters, and to sports figures, talk show hosts, and other celebrities in the Detroit market. News reports were filed and radio celebrities began talking about this new procedure across the river. Dr. Tayfour then performed the procedure free of charge to sports figures, celebrities, and media personalities who then spread the word further. These well-known and respected celebrities also issued endorsements for laser vision. As part of this campaign I arranged for two laser vision surgical procedures to be televised live, which really had a positive impact on patients!

We created a buzz campaign and soon everyone was talking about laser vision and how wonderful it was. The trips became so frequent from Detroit to Windsor that when the immigration officials in the booth asked, “Why are you coming to Canada” and heard “to get laser eye surgery” they just waved them on by Dr. Tayfour then launched an intense television advertising campaign that cemented his status as a household word in the region. But the groundwork to that happening was a targeted media campaign and selected endorsements.

This was not just a classic textbook approach to media promotion and niche marketing where you tear out a page and cover the bulleted points. The media coverage particularly was successful because I have invested the hard time needed cultivating media contacts and establishing their trust. Now when they get a pitch from me, the editor/reporter trusts me and knows the facts presented will be accurate. If you don’t establish the relationship and trust first, your carefully planned press kit when landing on the editor’s desk will end up in the wastebasket within 20 seconds. PR is not about gloss and glitter; it’s about relationships and trust.

As part of cultivating media relations I regularly attend major media events in New York City where I have face-to-face meetings with journalists, editors, writers and producers from top national magazines, newspapers and radio/TV programs. I have successfully pitched such media outlets as 20/20, Prime Time, CNN, People, Good Morning America, Newsweek, Time Magazine, Dateline NBC, The View, Oprah's O magazine, Cosmopolitan, Fox News, Good Housekeeping, Newsweek to name a few.

The same things that worked for Dr. Tayfour also worked for:

 The TLC Laser Eye Centers of Michigan to arrange FOX and ABC TV coverage promote their new Custom LASIK procedure,

 Dr. Joseph Berenhotz, Director of the Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute of Michigan promoting a new vaginal laser treatment covered by the Detroit Free Press, NBC and ABC TV in Detroit, and an Indianapolis TV station

 To promote Plastic Surgeon Dr. Gregory Roche of Bloomfield, Michigan, when he launched BOTOX in Michigan

 Media coverage and advertising for Dr. Fiander of the Farmington Laser Eye Clinic

 For laser plastic surgeon Dr. Lawrence Castleman I placed dozens of articles, and arranged TV and radio news coverage, and gained newspaper coverage for everything from Ultrasonic Liposuction to BOTOX for sweating, and hair transplants

 Targeted marketing for Cosmetic Surgeon Dr. Michael Gray when he launched an endoscopic breast augmentation program in Michigan

 And placed print articles and arranged TV news coverage on dental implants and a tooth friendly Easter Basket for Dr. Timothy Kosinski, DDS

(By the way, I never represented two LASIK surgeons or two plastic surgeons at the same time. My company and personal code of ethics does not allow representing clients who are in competition).

In addition to PR and marketing campaigns aimed at television, radio, newspapers, professional and trade publications internet marketing is very effectivce. One of the first things I check when meeting with new clients is whether they have a web site and how good it is at marketing their product, service or message. Nine times out of ten one of the first things we schedule is a redesign and revamping of the content to make the web site the viable marketing tool it should be.

With that done, I then strategically place electronic press releases and EzineArticles on the Internet and employ sound, state-of-the-art search engine techniques and drive traffic to the client’s web site. The increased traffic to the newly rejuvenated web site will subsequently result in phone calls or email inquiries to the client’s medical practice that then drives new traffic to the medical clinic.

Another technique that is key to promoting professionals in the medical fields is to establish the client as an expert in his/her field of specialty. The executive biography included in the press kit is geared toward promoting the client’s expertise. I also make sure that the client is listed as an expert in a valuable online expert service. Editors consult this service when looking for experts on developing stories. To gain an interview in a news story as an expert in the field is worth a pot of gold and that makes subscribers to this service, such as my firm, a valuable ally to the media by providing just what they need… an expert.

A major strategy in establishing a medical professional as an expert is to schedule interviews on television, radio, and radio talk shows. To do this the client must be equipped to deal with the media, and most clients are not skilled in being interviewed. Therefore, while the client’s web site is being boosted, and the press kit is being developed, I sign the client up with a well-respected media coach.

Media training will give doctors, dentists and surgeons the skills to learn how to use the media, not just to convey their message but to compel people to try the medical procedure or treatment plan. As a marketing expert, I can pitch a doctor’s story and line up a TV or Radio interview but the author won’t be able to amaze listeners and capitalize on the interview without being trained by a media coach

Before investing in a PR firm it is prudent to find a PR professional who knows his or her way around the newsroom and has body of work with successful medical placements in all forms of media. When shopping for a PR firm consider the following:

• Does the firm have a track record of medical and health placements?

• Does the firm have extensive media contacts and an ongoing relationships?

• Does the firm have a good reputation with journalists?

• Are the sample press kits from other medical clients professionally written?

At the end of the day, sign up with someone who can demonstrate the results you want. My clients have been featured by Good Morning America, CNN, ABC Nightly News, The New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Family Circle, Woman's World to name a few.

Scott Lorenz, is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that has a special knack for working with doctors and entrepreneurs to help them get all the publicity they deserve and more. Lorenz has handled public relations and marketing for numerous authors, doctors, lawyers, authors inventors and entrepreneurs since 1980 and is an integral part of the strategy for many doctors in their medical practice marketing. Learn more about Westwind Communications’ medical marketing approach at http://www.westwindcos.com/medical or contact Lorenz at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090.

Hd tv review jewelry guide review

Taking Care Of Your Vision

2009-11-24T02:09:00.001-08:00

It is so fascinating how far the eyes can see sometimes beyond the physical and the imminent. Imagine the colors of the world, the spirit of life all in pitch black. After 10, 20 or 30 years of your life you lived within the colors of the world. How would you feel if at the prime of your life you found yourself in darkness, going to be blind?

Blindness or vision loss has become a major public health concern in the United States in recent years. Over 3.3 million 40-year old or over Americans suffer blindness and loss of vision and it was predicted that this might reach to 5.5 million by the year 2020.

Eyesight killers are usually caused by age-related diseases such as cataract (clouding of the lens of the eyes), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration (deterioration of the macula – the structure of the eye that makes you see). In other situations, pregnant women are at a higher risk of eyesight problems due to unstable hormone levels, high blood pressure and diabetes.

It is wise that before any of these happens to you, proper care for the eyes should be strictly observed. The first thing you need to do is to identify the common risks that your eyes might encounter especially outside or if you are at work:

- irritants and corrosives;
- splashes;

- ultraviolet radiation from electrical work and welding;

- tree branches;

- dust and dirt;

- particles from cutting, drilling, digging and other operations;

- fibers from fiberglass and any other similar materials.

If you are a driller, welder or a carpenter, much care should be given to your eyes. First you have to apply the use of protective eyewear suited for your job and there are some ways you can prevent eye hazards from work or even at home:

- Separate dangerous operations and other work-related processes in isolated areas.

- Use of a good ventilation system may also control fumes and dust.

- Cover dusty surfaces.

- Ensure the proper keeping for sources of mists or vapors and fine dusts.

- Build glass guard around the machines to prevent flying particles and splashing of hazardous liquids.

- Install movable shields around lathes, grinders and similar machines to safeguard other workers.

- Make use of protective screens and wire mesh grids.

Moreover, the protective eyewear you use at work should be in perfect condition and should pass the set standards and these are:

- scratch-resistant and should have good quality;

- follow the international safety standards set for protective eyewear;

- good ventilation;

- can clearly see from the eyewear;

- does not obstruct your vision;

- can prevent harmful radiation going to your eyes;

- can follow your working position easily;

- light and can fit well to you.

Furthermore, your eyes can be protected not only from physical and external factors such as flying particles but also by eating foods that will strengthen your eyesight such as those rich in antioxidant minerals and vitamins. Another protection is through supplements that help in increasing the antioxidant levels, avoiding choices that contribute to a harmful lifestyle and by following and developing good habits.

Eye infections may occur so be sure to prevent the situation from happening by:

- Keeping a habit to wash your hands regularly.
- Avoid sharing your eye make-up with anyone else or your eye drops.
- Avoid touching the tip of the bottle of your eye drops so as not to contaminate it with germs.
- Do not wet your contact lenses with your mouth. Your mouth is where most bacteria and viruses are found and by using it, they can spread the bacteria and virus so easily in your eyes.

Other suggestions which you can apply in caring for your eyes are:

- Wear your protective eyewear in case needed in your work.

- Always wash your face and never leave your make up on when going to sleep.

- Wash your hands thoroughly before you touch your eyes.

- Be more careful in dealing with household products like detergents, bleach and other cleaners.

- In wearing mascara, always make sure that you replace it regularly and do not keep it in places with extreme temperature.

- Regularly have your eye check up.

- Do not use preservative free or natural cosmetics because these allow bacteria to live longer.

- Eat foods that are antioxidant and rich in zinc.

Keep on following all these and you are sure to continue enjoying the colors of the world even after you turn 40.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://vision.health-webzone.com where you can learn more about eye care and eye health.

exotic contact lens

Selling is Not Natural - Market with Soul Instead

2009-11-23T02:01:00.001-08:00

Do you find it challenging to discuss your fees or prices with potential clients? Does traditional sales language such as "front end," "back end," "up sell" - even "sell" - make you cringe?

If your answer is "Yes," this may be very good and I'll tell you why. But first rest assured that "YOU ARE NOT ALONE." In fact, you are in the majority. Why do you think selling is so hard? It's because selling is not natural - it goes against our desires to be genuine, to connect with others and to create authentic relationships.

Don't Worry: You Don't Have to Sell to Succeed

There is a key to getting your products and services out to a wider audience that will sky rocket your success. It is something that is 100% natural, more powerful than any sales pitch you could ever master and so effective that it leaves selling in the dust.

This key is not even in the same paradigm as selling. And here is an insider's secret - selling is becoming the dinosaur of our age. Before I get to this key, there are three pre-requisites for its effectiveness.

You have to honestly believe in the value of your service or product.

You have to connect with your innate desires to be in relationship and to serve. AND

You have to be willing to be authentic.

Here's the Key You've Been Waiting For

The key is Soul Marketing.

When you market with soul, the relationship with the person in front of you becomes paramount and you have a desire to contribute to the quality of their life.

You become a gift bearer. You offer prospective and current clients your services, products, financial information and agreements. And you offer the gift of your authentic presence and attention. This natural key to success can be measured both in dollars and in soul satisfaction.

First, the real reason we are in business is to serve. As entrepreneurs, artists, speakers, writers or CEO's we do that by contributing to the abundance, fulfillment and joy of our clients.

Second, we each have a Divine Mission to fulfill. No one else can do what you do the way you do it. You may have the same product or the same service to offer but your way of offering it will be entirely unique. If you know what your Divine Mission is, wonderful.

Use this as the lens through which you do everything. If you don't yet know simply follow your passion for now and do what you love, what makes you come alive. You'll always be on the right track if you do.

And third, there is a specific population that you are meant to serve. You may have heard this called your target market, your ideal or your choice clients.

I call this population "your people." It is "your people" who are ready for your message, your services and/or your products. It is they who will connect with you and for whom you will make the biggest difference. And imagine this - they're looking for you whether they know it or not.

They will only find you, and you can only have the impact you are meant to have if they know about you and what you have to offer. A part of your job is to let them know. You were never meant to "sell" your services or products but to offer them in the spirit of love and service.

Then There's the Money

The money part of the transaction fulfills the universal principle of exchange. You discuss your prices and offer your invoices in the same spirit. It's a natural part of the relationship.

Money is simply an exchange for value given. It allows people to invest in themselves and in what matters most to them. And it allows you to care for yourself and get your services and products out to a wider audience - to serve and to have a greater impact. So forget selling! Market with Soul instead by creating relationships - letting people get to know you and what you have to offer. You have a mission; you have a unique message, services and products; and you are meant to serve. Market with Soul and you'll have the time of your life.

Step Into Your Greatness and Market with Soul: Succeed in a soul satisfying way, without selling.

Reggie Odom CPCC, PCC, founder of Inspired Works, is known as the Passion and Authenticity Coach. She is a lecturer at the Simmons College School of Social Work and faculty member of the National Institute of Whole Health. Reggie is considered a master teacher and unforgettable speaker. She inspires and empowers professionals and solopreneurs to create a passionate, authentic life and business! She can be contacted at (617)524-6153, reggie@reggieodom.com, or you can visit her web site at http://www.reggieodom.com

exotic contact lens jewelry guide review vampire contact lenses

How to Photograph the Beauty Around Us?

2009-11-22T01:34:00.001-08:00

"The painter draws with his eyes, not with his hands. Whatever he sees if he sees it clear, he can put down.... Seeing clear is the important thing." The book The Painter's Eye, by Maurice Grosser

Photographers have studied how painters have used light and colour and other techniques to create a masterpiece. Unlike painters, photographers have to know how to use a camera and the various tools associated with photography. If the photographer is not fluent in the use of his tools then no matter how well he sees the subject to be photographed, it'll be beyond his ability to craft an image that will do justice to the beauty in front of him.

How often a beautiful scene is photographed only to be a great disappointment when it is seen on a print. Why couldn't the photographer translate successfully what he saw? A good image is composed of many elements working together. In this article I'll analyse one important aspect. In future essays I'll cover other ingredients of a successful photograph.

Meanwhile, I'd like to elaborate the point that Maurice Grosser made and apply it to photography.

"Seeing clear is the important thing."

Seeing Photographically

For a photographer seeing clear means more than for a painter. To explain, let us imagine we're admiring a beautiful scene or moment in nature. The time is the early part of the afternoon when the sun's brilliance creates excessive contrast. As we observe the scene, we focus our attention on the deep shadows - we can clearly see detail and texture in there.

Next, our eyes move to study the high lights, these are the brighter areas of the scene - our eyes can also detect detail. Even though the scene is bathed in harsh light we can pick up meaningful information throughout the different tones.

We decide to take a picture. We raise our camera to eye level; by the way, in this example we're using the best camera money can buy. We carefully take note of the overall exposure and click the shutter.

When we see the photographic print we are disappointed; what's on the print doesn't do justice to what we saw. The shadows are pitch black devoid of any detail, the highlights are burnt out, meaning that the highlights have no detail, they are paper white.

Most photographers on the road to photographic fluency have likewise been disappointed. Why does this happen?

Yet, as Dr. Miller explains, camera film or digital sensor, "doesn't even begin to compare with the versatile sensitivity of the retina." With the same "film" we can see by moonlight or in sunlight 30,000 times more intense. Furthermore, the retina can discern fine details of an object part of which is bathed in light and the rest of which is in shadow. "The camera," explains Professor Guyton in his Textbook of Medical Physiology, "cannot do this because of the narrow critical range of light intensity required for proper exposure of film or sensor."

This explains the two versions of the same scene, what the photographer and what the camera saw.

Seeing as the Camera Sees

For a photographer, "seeing clear" requires seeing as the camera sees. The human eye and brain can detect detail over a very large dynamic range in comparison with the best cameras and films available. When confronted with a similar situation, the photographer has a number of important decisions to make if he's going to come away with a successful image.

If we don't learn to see how the camera sees, we'll end up with mishaps, such as the proverbial pole appearing to grow from someone's head. In this instance, to the photographer the pole didn't appear to come out of the person's head because his two eyes allowed him to see that there was distance between the pole and the subject. Binocular vision reveals the scene in three dimensions length, height and depth. On the other hand, the camera sees with one eye, its vision is flat; there is no depth.

Conclusion

There remains one simple exercise. When you reach the end of this paragraph, please raise your head from the computer screen and look around. Probably you're very familiar with the different objects in the room. Now, close one eye. In an instant separating objects and judging distances are not straight forward - you are now seeing as the camera sees - monocular vision.

As a camera focuses an image on photographic film or on a digital sensor, our eye focuses on the retina an image of what we see, (the retina is a small membrane that fits over the back of the eye. As thin as paper, it contains over a hundred million neurons arranged in different layers.)

Carlos Pereira received a qualification from the Institute of Professional Photographers. He developed a successful business in the UK as a wedding and portrait photographer. He received further training in the USA from Monte Zucker, a master photographer. He concentrates his photography as a traveling photographer selling landscapes and wildlife images from his website of Uk, Europe and Africa. His vision has been molded by the classic portaiture that was his business for a number of years.

website: http://www.mountain-light.co.uk

Fashion guru blog

Take Spectacular Nighttime Photos with your Digital Camera - Part I

2009-11-21T01:13:00.001-08:00

Night photographs express a special something that cannot be seen in normal daytime photography. Whether it is a photograph of a moon and starlit sky over a windy deserted beach, the excitement of a downtown cityscape when the lights go on, or just a picture of you and some friends in front of a favorite hangout, nighttime photos, when done right, are sure to attract attention.

However, even for experienced photographers, nighttime photography can be a tricky situation. Photos often look unfocused, blurry, or lacking crucial details, and many may not come out at all. There are some tricks, though, to taking spectacular nighttime photos with your digital camera, tricks that can be explained yet only completely learned through practice.

This first part of a three-part series on nighttime photography will cover tricks not necessarily related to digital camera settings, but tricks nonetheless that can result in better photographs or a more pleasing photo-taking experience.

* Although more expensive digital cameras do not necessarily result in better photos, realize that the cheapest cameras may not be capable of taking great photographs at night. It requires more work, both on your's and the camera's part, to take spectacular shots in very low-light situations. Though you don't have to spend over a thousand dollars for night photography, don't expect too much out of a sub-two hundred-dollar camera, either.

* Especially if you are not completely familiar with your camera's settings to enhance nighttime photography, consider first taking some photographs around dusk, when the sun has not yet completely left the sky. Dusk photos can sometimes be even more dramatic than those taken in the pitch-black sky, as the added light helps illuminate details easily missed in a completely dark environment Check your local newspaper where you are shooting photographs or a website such as http://www.weather.com for sunrise/sunset times, and be ready to shoot around a 20-30 minute window for best results.

* Plan your photos before you shoot! While it is always a good idea to study an area first, this is crucial if you are planning on snapping photographs around dusk! You will not have much time to plan, and if you spend five or ten minutes just getting a perfect angle or framing the perfect shot, the overall lighting will change as the sun slowly sets. And of course, remember when composing your photos that the sun sets in the west.

* Be prepared for the environment. If you're heading out by yourself, especially in a semi-deserted wilderness area, always carry a map so you remember how to get to your home, camp, or hotel. Check the weather before you go and wear a poncho or coat if necessary. Carry a flashlight, or, in the most extreme environments, a flare, to help others find you if you become lost. Also, bring along a WELL-CHARGED cell phone in case of emergency! You're taking photos at night to have fun and create spectacular results. Be prepared for unexpected situations so they don't ruin your experience.

While the results can be outstanding, night photography presents its own unique benefits and hazards. Not just any digital camera will do; lower-end models may not have the capability of taking spectacular shots. Timing is crucial, especially when taking pictures in the brief time between dusk and total darkness. And, the environment and weather can play havoc with your plans. By purchasing the correct equipment, studying the subject area before nighttime falls, and dealing with unexpected situations with the correct nighttime gear, you can be better prepared to take amazing nighttime photos.

Andrew Malek is the owner of the MalekTips computer and technology help site at http://www.malektips.com. Visit his digital camera page at http://malektips.com/digital_cameras_help_and_tips.html for more digital photography advice.

Shoes review guide cheap crazy contact lenses

Full Eye Contact Lenses For Fun? - Is it Really True Or Just a Myth?

2009-11-20T00:35:00.001-08:00

What everyone these days desires is a completely different look just for fun. People dress up in entirely bizarre dresses to stand out in the crowd. But the real effect comes from changing the appearance of your eyes. The best way about this is by wearing those eerie full eye contact lenses.

Theses lenses cover the complete eye and not just the pupil part of it, as all the other contact lenses do. This gives the eyes of the wearer a uniform color.

The most popular products in this category are the pitch black and the pure white full eye contact lenses. These give the eyes a complete black or white appearance. These lenses are getting popularity day by day as they totally change the appearance of the person and give that freaky look which people enjoy at parties and when out for a prank.

When buying full eye contact lenses, remember that everyone has a different eye size. Unlike the simple contact lenses, which are designed to cover the cornea of the eye which is the colored part of the eye, any variation in the eye size will not make much of a difference, but in this case all lenses are supposed to be custom made exactly for your eye size, otherwise you might find them to be uncomfortable.

It is best to get yourself checked out by a reliable optician for your eye measurement before ordering a full eye contact lenses.

One thing to know about these lenses is that they are basically cosmetic in nature and they do not have any corrective power. They just change your appearance and that is about all. Some dark colored lenses even reduce your vision in the dark as the color has its effects, especially the pitch black ones. So keep these considerations in mind before you go for these lenses.

Want Tips And Discount On Contact Lenses? All You Have To Do Is Click http://www.FastcontactLens.com/ Now!

Hd tv review Shoes review guide

How to Buy a Wedding Dress

2009-11-19T00:30:00.001-08:00

Desperate, with mere days left to my second wedding, I persuade my chic younger sister to help me find something discrete and sleek, not frothy and fluffy. Mimi lined-up Beverly Hills and Newport Beach shops, then kissed her finger-tips like a 5-Star Chef, "You'll have the perfect confection tomorrow."

The next day, filled with relief, and outfitted in pristine white pique and Chanel sunglasses I pick-up Mimi up in a shiny white convertible ready to zip this task off my to-do list.

"Slight detour," Mimi hops in wearing a pink shift, with her long blond hair in a ponytail. "The dog died and we have to pick it up at the vet's and bury it in Nana's backyard." Her charm bracelet tinkles as she slams the car door. "It shouldn't take too long." Mimi pushes in a Beach Boys CD and fast-forwards to, California Girls. I turn-on the ignition and look at her dumbfounded.

"What?" She shrugs. "He was a incontinent rescue dog who enjoyed a long, spoiled life." She surfs her hand out. "Go."

At the whitewashed cinderblock building, a teenager with an iPod and greasy hair pushes an aluminum cart to the car. Buddy the dog is on the cart wrapped in visquine and stiff as a silver drinks tray. His tail points out like the directional signal.

The fellow whistles to Jimmie Hendrix and angles the dog onto the small back seat, then gives the car two loud pats and us a half-salute.

We arrive at our grandmother's house and walk-in with the shrink-wrapped dog. "Don't you girls look lovely," Nana says, eyeing our package.

"We're off to Beverly Hills to find Suzanne a wedding dress. And, Buddy died." Mimi flips the stereo to Aunt Simmie's favorite Frank Sinatra record. "Since I don't have a yard, thought I'd bury him in that dirt patch by the alley," she nods out the picture window.

"Don't you dare!" Aunt Simmie rockets-up from the sofa and waves her just lit Menthol Cool. "Animals will dig it up!" she screeches.

"Simmie." I shake my head softly and use the half-pleading, reasonable coo reserved for crazy people and men. "We can't drive around with a dead dog in this heat."

"Oh, let them, Sim," Nana's tone underscored it's such a trifle. But then she'd let us bury Godzilla and Dick Cheney together if our dresses subtly referenced Jackie-O.

"The dog will dissolve into the water table! Is that what you want? Bits of Buddy floating in Father O'Reilly's daiquiri when he visits?" Simmie harrumphs realizing she's outnumbered. "Fine," she takes a drag off her cigarette. "Shovel's in the garage."

An hour later, dusty, disheveled and faintly scented with formaldehyde, Mimi and I stop for pasta in Westwood. She buys a Movie Star Map from a street vendor and studies it at the restaurant table as the waiter brings our wine.

"I've always wanted to do this," she giggles. "Hmmm. Cher, Barbara Streisand, Robert frickin' de Niro!" She turns the map over and knocks red wine across her dress and mine. Across from us Jacqueline Smith from Charlie's Angels offers me a "too bad" grimace.

Back in the car, with bright red splashes of wine across our bodices and resembling escaped extras from a soap-opera scene we weave through Bel Air, as Mimi navigates from the map. "James Stewart's house on the right, hmm. Oh, my god. Oh, my god, turn here, turn here. Blast! Turn around. I have to get a picture in front of Liz Taylor's."

"Liz Taylor? The Gloved One's number one amigo?"

"Oh, yeah, smirk now, but when they roll the obit," she holds up one finger after another. "National Velvet. Father of the Bride. Cleopatra, Cat on a frikin' Hot Tin Roof! I'll have a photo of me at La Liz's place, one of the truly greats."

We park down the street.

Mimi poses in front of the iron gates. "Don't get the wine stain. Oh! Damn-It!" For 20 minutes we trample flowerbeds seeking her contact lens until a dark-blue security cruiser pulls-up, and a mechanical voice advises us to move along.

Back at the car a citation waves in the windshield. "Bel Air Street Sweeping Day," Mimi reads. "Whoa," she whistles. "$227 bucks." I sigh, she clicks her seat-belt, and we take a leafy back-road over to Beverly Hills.

The salesclerks of Rodeo Drive have savant ability to calculate your probable net-worth, concurrent with their own commission potential, faster that you can clear their threshold. If your self-presentation includes formaldehyde, garden dirt and red-wine it'll earn a sniff that says, "I'd frown, except for the Botox."

After zipping, lacing, and fastening myself into thirty-two dresses at six different locales, I offer, "You know, Mimi, this a garden wedding not a Debutant Ball." She rolls her eyes and we're back in the car for the 90 minute drive to Newport Beach. We detour to Jolly Rogers on Balboa Island to refortify ourselves with burgers, fries, daiquiris and hot fudge cakes. Then with our optimism restored by alcohol, chocolate and grease we hit Fashion Island in Newport Beach.

Mimi storms the glistening glass shops like Generalissimo Franco. I follow limply like a Death March survivor thinking if my son weren't in Catholic school I could just live in sin.

I'm in the dressing room in a strapless bra and white bikini panties when she rushes in, a semi-frothy ecru number in her arms. She slips it over my head, smoothes it down, then turns me to the mirror.

A chorus of angels sings Hallelujah. Bluebirds fly in with beribboned bowers of baby white roses. Golden-pink light breaks through the sprayed asbestos ceiling. White butterflies kiss me on the cheeks, and fairies curl up my hair.

"A Miracle!" sighs Mimi.

"You need a bustier," says the sales lady with sensible shoes and dollar-signs in her eyes.

Wedding day arrives. My pre-ceremony relax in the tub went down the drain after a parking valet ran over the cat, my new bustier was MIA, the first guest arrived an hour early and managed to stop-up a toilet and heave-up her breakfast on the guest-bath floor. Then we all had to pitch-in after the florist flaked-out. Still, my parents' backyard was movie-set perfect when the violins, harps and flutes began to play as Dad and I stroll past one hundred guests in white chairs, toward a canopy of flowers.

I look up at my Gregory Peck-like betrothed with hope and anticipation. He smiles at the dress, "Elegant."

Then I realize that in this anxious, tenuous world, festivity and magic and celebrations are always worth the effort. I secretly pledge allegiance to the Froth Brigade as the audience leans forward to share in a dream.

"I do," I say. "I do."

© 2008 -Suzanne de Cornelia. All worldwide rights apply. This article may be reprinted on websites as long as the entire article, including website link and resource box below are included and unchanged. Suzanne de Cornelia is a freelance writer, and author of "French Heart." Contact Suzanne on Facebook, or Twitter @SuzanneDeC. And click-on her site now for a blogroll of free and fascinating resources: http://suzannedecornelia.com

Fashion guru blog cheap crazy contact lenses

Fun With Theatrical Contact Lenses

2009-11-18T00:24:00.001-08:00

Contact lenses have generally been thought of as an aid for vision impaired people. They have always been an implement to help correct vision, but today's contact lenses are used for many different purposes and fooling or surprising friends and family is just one of those purposes. The designs available today is far greater than simply corrective lenses. They have floral designs, different colors, beastly and even comical.

Having fun with theatrical contact lenses is probably one of the most harmless ways to surprise your family and friends. You can wear them for fun or for dress up for Halloween, raves and even holidays such as 4th of July. Many of these contacts are made from the same materials, or very similar, as the prescription contacts therefore they are safe for you to wear any time. When Kiefer Southerland wore his vampire contacts in The Lost Boys they were thick and covered the entire eye so they could only be worn for three seconds at a time. His scene after Marco died was an honest to goodness cry due to the pain the contacts caused him.

Today's contacts are thin and flexible making them comfortable to wear for many hours. The designs that are available at many online retailers range from vampire to patriotic to completely black or completely white. Many actors have worn theatrical contact lenses like Vin Diesel in Pitch Black as Riddick. His contacts were a mirrored type of sun blocking lens. If you look close in his eyes, you can literally see a reflection of the person taking the photograph. Others such as the stars of Twilight and The Incredible Hulk used theatrical contacts as well. These are probably the movies that made most of these versions of freaky eyes popular.

Using these contacts can be fun, especially when others are expecting to see you beautiful green eyes and you look at them with animal teeth eyes. Manufacturers have gone to great lengths to design special lenses for just about every occasion. They even have some that are called hypnotic lenses because they are a black or red lens with a spiral of white or black leading into your pupil. An American flag would be the hit of the party at a 4th of July party and pink, yellow, red or blue glowing contacts would look great under the black light at a club.

No matter what reason you have for wearing them, theatrical contact lenses are fun to wear. Wear them as part of a costume or simply to change your appearance. You can buy these special contacts online at multiple retailers and eye care centers. There are also some mail order companies that carry them but you must make certain that they are made of approved materials. Some contacts can damage your eyes if they are not cared for properly so make sure you take care of them as you would a normal pair of prescription contact lenses. They must be cleaned after each use and kept in a solution to prevent them from drying out.

For more information about the various Theatrical Contact Lenses available, pay a visit to http://www.besttheatricalcontactlenses.com

cheap crazy contact lenses Hd tv review

Industrial Enzymes

2009-11-17T00:22:00.001-08:00

Historical background

Most of the reactions in living organisms are catalyzed by protein molecules called enzymes. Enzymes can rightly be called the catalytic machinery of living systems. The real break through of enzymes occurred with the introduction of microbial proteases into washing powders. The first commercial bacterial Bacillus protease was marketed in 1959 and major detergent manufactures started to use it around 1965.

The industrial enzyme producers sell enzymes for a wide variety of applications. The estimated value of world market is presently about US$ 2 billion. Detergents (37%), textiles (12%), starch (11%), baking (8%) and animal feed (6%) are the main industries, which use about 75% of industrially produced enzymes.

Enzyme classification

Presently more than 3000 different enzymes have been isolated and classified. The enzymes are classified into six major categories based on the nature of the chemical reaction they catalyze:

1. Oxidoreductases catalyze oxidation or reduction of their substrates.

2. Transferases catalyze group transfer.

3. Hydrolases catalyze bond breakage with the addition of water.

4. Lyases remove groups from their substrates.

5. Isomerases catalyze intramolecular rearrangements.

6. Ligases catalyze the joining of two molecules at the expense of chemical energy.

Only a limited number of all the known enzymes are commercially available . More than 75 % of industrial enzymes are hydrolases. Protein-degrading enzymes constitute about 40 % of all enzyme sales. More than fifty commercial industrial enzymes are available and their number is increasing steadily.

Enzyme production

Some enzymes still extracted from animal and plant tissues. Enzymes such as papain, bromelain and ficin and other speciallity enzymes like lipoxygenase are derived from plants and enzymes pepsin and rennin are derived from animal. Most of the enzymes are produced by microorganisms in submerged cultures in large reactors called fermentors. The enzyme production process can be divided into following phases:

1. Selection of an enzyme.

2. Selection of production strain.

3. Construction of an overproducing stain by genetic engineering.

4. Optimization of culture medium and production condition.

5. Optimization of recovery process.

6. Formulation of a stable enzyme product.

Criteria used in the selection of an industrial enzyme include specificity, reaction rate, pH and temperature optima and stability, effect of inhibitors and affinity to substrates. Enzymes used in the industrial applications must usually tolerant against various heavy metals and have no need for cofactors.

Microbial production strains

In choosing the production strain several aspects have to be considered. Ideally the enzyme is secreted from the cell. Secondly, the production host should have a GRAS-status. Thirdly, the organism should be able to produce high amount of the desired enzyme in a reasonable life time frame. Most of the industrially used microorganism have been genetically modified to overproduce the desired activity and not to produce undesired side activities.

Enzyme production by microbial fermentation

Once the biological production organism has been genetically engineered to overproduce the desired products, a production process has to be developed. The optimization of a fermentation process includes media composition, cultivation type and process conditions. The large volume industrial enzymes are produced in 50 -500 m3 fermentors. The extracellular enzymes are often recovered after cell removal (by vacuum drum filtration, separators or microfiltration) by ultrafiltration.

Protein engineering

Often enzymes do not have the desired properties for an industrial application. One option is find a better enzyme from nature. Another option is to engineer a commercially available enzyme to be a better industrial catalyst. Another option is to engineer a commercially available enzyme to be a better industrial catalyst. Two different methods are presently available: a random method called directed evaluation and a protein engineering method called rational design.

Enzyme technology

This field deals with how are the enzymes used and applied in practical processes. The simplest way is to use enzymes is to add them into a process stream where they catalyze the desired reaction and are gradually inactivated during the process. This happens in many bulk enzyme applications and the price of the enzymes must be low to take their use economical.

An alternative way to use enzymes is to immobilize them so that they can be reused. Enzyme can be immobilized by using ultra filtration membranes in the reactor system. The large enzyme molecule cannot pass through the membrane but the small molecular reaction products can. Many different laboratory methods for enzyme immobilization based on chemical reaction, entrapment, specific binding or absorption have been developed.

Large scale Enzyme applications

1] Detergents

Bacterial proteinases are still the most important detergent enzymes. Lipases decompose fats into more water-soluble compounds. Amylases are used in detergents to remove starch based stains.

2] Starch hydrolysis and fructose production

The use of starch degrading enzymes was the first large scale application of microbial enzymes in food industry. Mainly two enzymes carry out conversion of starch to glucose: alpha-amylase and fungal enzymes. Fructose produced from sucrose as a starting material. Sucrose is split by invertase into glucose and fructose, fructose separated and crystallized.

3] Drinks

Enzymes have many applications in drink industry. Lactase splits milk-sugar lactose into glucose and galactose. This process is used for milk products that are consumed by lactose intolerant consumers. Addition of pectinase, xylanase and cellulase improve the liberation of the juice from pulp. Similarly enzymes are widely used in wine production.

4] Textiles

The use of enzymes in textile industry is one of the most rapidly growing fields in industrial enzymology. The enzymes used in the textile field are amylases, catalase, and lactases which are used to remove the starch, degrade excess hydrogen peroxide, bleach textiles and degrade lignin.

5] Animal feed

Addition of xylanase to wheat-based broiler feed has increased the available metabolizable energy 7-10% in various studies. Enzyme addition reduces viscosity, which increases absorption of nutrients, liberates nutrients either by hydrolysis of non-degradable fibers or by liberating nutrients blocked by these fibers, and reduces the amount of faeces.

6] Baking

Alpha-amylases have been most widely studied in connection with improved bread quality and increased shelf life. Use of xylanases decreases the water absorption and thus reduces the amount of added water needed in baking. This leads to more stable dough. Proteinases can be added to improve dough-handling properties; glucose oxidase has been used to replace chemical oxidants and lipases to strengthen gluten, which leads to more stable dough and better bread quality.

7] Pulp and Paper

The major application is the use of xylanases in pulp bleaching. This reduces considerably the need for chlorine based bleaching chemicals. In paper making amylase enzymes are used especially in modification of starch. Pitch is a sticky substance present mainly in softwoods. Pitch causes problems in paper machines and can be removed by lipases.

8] Leather

Leather industry uses proteolytic and lipolytic enzymes in leather processing. Enzymes are used to remove unwanted parts. In dehairing and dewooling phases bacterial proteases enzymes are used to assist the alkaline chemical process. This results in a more environmentally friendly process and improves the quality of the leather . Bacterial and fungal enzymes are used to make the leather soft and easier to dye.

9] Speciality enzymes

There are a large number of specialty applications for enzymes. These include use of enzymes in analytical applications, flavour production, protein modification, and personal care products, DNA-technology and in fine chemical production.

10] Enzymes in analytics

Enzymes are widely used in the clinical analytical methodology. Contrary to bulk industrial enzymes these enzymes need to be free from side activities. This means that elaborate purification processes are needed.

An important development in analytical chemistry is biosensors. The most widely used application is a glucose biosensor involving glucose oxidase catalysed reaction.

Several commercial instruments are available which apply this principle for measurement of molecules like glucose, lactate, lactose, sucrose, ethanol, methanol, cholesterol and some amino acids.

11] Enzymes in personal care products

Personal care products are a relatively new area for enzymes. Proteinase and lipase containing enzyme solutions are used for contact lens cleaning. Hydrogen peroxide is used in disinfections of contact lenses. The residual hydrogen peroxide after disinfections can be removed by catalase enzyme. Some toothpaste contains glucoamylase and glucose oxidase. Enzymes are also studied for applications in skin and hair care products.

12] Enzymes in DNA-technology

DNA-technology is an important tool in enzyme industry. Most traditional enzymes are produced by organisms, which have been genetically modified to overproduce the desired enzyme. The specific order of the organic bases in the chain of DNA constitutes the genetic language. Genetic engineering means reading and modifying this language. Enzymes are crucial tools in this process.

13] Enzymes in fine chemical production

In spite of some successes, commercial production of chemicals by living cells using pathway engineering is still in many cases the best alternative to apply biocatalysis. Isolated enzymes have, however, been successfully used in fine chemical synthesis. Some of the most important examples are represented here.

13 A] Chirally pure amino acids and aspartame

Natural amino acids are usually produced by microbial fermentation. Novel enzymatic resolution methods have been developed for the production of L- as well as for D-amino acids. Aspartame, the intensive non-calorie sweetener, is synthesized in non-aqueous conditions by thermolysin, a proteolytic enzyme.

13 B] Rare sugars

Recently enzymatic methods have been developed to manufacture practically all D- and L-forms of simple sugars. Glucose isomerase is one of the important industrial enzymes used in fructose manufacturing.

13 C] Semisynthetic penicillins

Penicillin is produced by genetically modified strains of Penicillium strains. Most of the penicillin is converted by immobilised acylase enzyme to 6-aminopenicillanic acid, which serves as a backbone for many semisynthetic penicillins.

13 D] Lipase based reactions

In addition to detergent applications lipases can be used in versatile chemical reactions since they are active in organic solvents. Lipases used in transesterification and also used for enantiomeric separation of alcohols and separate racemic amine mixtures. Lipases have also been used to form aromatic and aliphatic polymers.

13 E] Enzymatic oligosaccharide synthesis

The chemical synthesis of oligosaccharides is a complicated multi-step effort. Biocatalytic syntheses with isolated enzymes like glycosyltransferases and glycosidases or engineered whole cells are powerful alternatives to chemical methods. Oligosaccharides have found applications in cosmetics, medicines and as functional foods.

Future trends in industrial enzymology

Industrial enzyme market is growing steadily. The reason for this lies in improved production efficiency resulting in cheaper enzymes, in new application fields. Tailoring enzymes for specific applications will be a future trend with continuously improving tools and understanding of structure-function relationships and increased search for enzymes from exotic environments.

New technical tools to use enzymes as crystalline catalysts, ability to recycle cofactors, and engineering enzymes to function in various solvents with multiple activities are important technological developments, which will steadily create new applications.

Dr. Prashantkumar Kudli Shrinivas has a vast industrial experience of Aroma chemicals, Essential oils, Perfumery and Flavour formulations. He is a permanent member of Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers & NMR Association of India.

E-mail: prashantkudli@yahoo.co.in

jewelry guide review

Understanding Night Vision Technology

2009-11-15T23:58:00.001-08:00

Anyone who has ever watched a movie or television show that involves warfare, surveillance, or covert operations is probably familiar with images seen when operating night vision devices. Does anyone remember the "The Silence of the Lambs" where Jodi Foster is being chased by her adversary in a pitch black basement? Or maybe you have used a unit yourself and are familiar with the illuminated images on a green screen, but have no idea how it all works. How are you able to see in the dark, and why does everything appear to be green?

There are two types of night vision that are typically used: 'image enhancement', and 'thermal imaging'. Image enhancement works by amplifying small amounts of light in order to see an image. The second type, thermal imaging, captures the heat of an object and projects it as an image. Image enhancement is commercially available and has the familiar green glow that most people are familiar with.

Image enhancement works by capturing visible and infrared light in an image intensifier tube. The light is captured by the objective lens, or the lens furthest from the user's eye, and is then sent to the image photocathode. The photocathode then turns the photons from the light energy into electrons.

Once the light energy is converted to electrons, they are paced through a plate made with fiber-optic technology called a micro-channel plate, or MCP. Once they have paced through the MCP they strike a screen that has been coated with phosphorus. As the electrons strike the phosphorous it releases green photons which are viewable to humans by looking through the ocular lens of the night vision unit.

Several generations of night vision technology have been invented since the inception of night vision. Each generation has brought an improvement in the quality of the image, while decreasing the amount of light that is needed to achieve that image. Generations 1 through 3 are currently available for commercial use.

People buying night vision devices should know that although generation 2 and 3 optical devices do offer much clearer images at lower light levels, the technology improvements enabling these images come with a price tag. While you can pick up a low magnification night vision scope for a few hundred dollars, you can also easily spend $3,000 for a top end 3rd generation unit. Discerning which one is right for you is really a matter of what you need the unit for and what you are willing to spend.

As night vision technology continues to improve you can expect the images that are projected to become even clearer, and the light requirements to decrease. You should also expect the price of later generation models to continue to decline.

Vincent Saponar lives in North Western New Jersey, and has been an avid birder and outdoorsman for many years. He owns many different binoculars and has considerable knowledge and expertise around not only binoculars, but other sports optics instruments as well, i.e., night vision devices and rangefinders. For more helpful information on binoculars and other sports optics instruments, I recommend visiting http://www.onesourceoptics.com

vampire contact lenses

White Contact Lenses Are Cool - What You Should Know Before Getting One For Yourself

2009-11-14T23:49:00.001-08:00

In fact the most popular contact lenses today are the white contact lenses. They fall in the category of crazy contact lenses and are one of the gimmicks to freak people out of their minds.

The white contact lenses are quite similar to the pitch black contact lenses as they cover the complete eye and give the weirdest look to the wearer. The black ones do not look natural but these white contact lenses are so real in appearance as if the cornea of the person is missing and the person is blind or something.

These days there are several different versions of the white lenses available, like the white cat eye and the white zombie. They are also great to wear and give the wearer a real freaky look.

Actually these white contact lenses are so good that if you are wearing on Halloween you don't really need to wear anything else with that. They will be enough to scare out anybody out of his mind.

The white lenses are available in both the full eye and the one size fit all, the cornea covering version. Both are great and easy to wear but in case of full eye version, you will have to get your eye size checked as eyes also have different sizes.

So check on your eye doctor today and get your eyes checked for lens wearing. If you have any vision imparity you can still get these lenses according to your prescription.

But remember to take very good care of your lenses as this way you will be having fun for a longer time as lens care ensures longer usable period for your lenses and at the same time protects your eyes from any infection which a dirty and un disinfected contact lens would cause

The Author is an expert in article writing and has done a lot of research online and offline. Come visit his latest websites on Cheap Contact Lens and Acuvue Color Contacts

Shoes review guide

Eye Doctor Finds Hidden Hazards From Blind Spots That Night Car Mirrors Produce

2009-11-13T23:36:00.001-08:00

Most of us are still using the reducing prismatic rear-view mirror designs in our cars that we move to a different position at night. This adjustment greatly reduces the glare from the headlights of automobiles behind us. With the advent of xenon headlights, the illumination increased up to threefold making the glare even worse. Many cars now incorporate leveling systems to help reduce this problem but night glare is still a serious safety issue.

At night on a dark highway the eyes pupil is dilated to it's maximum size allowing more light to enter and more optical aberrations (curvature irregularities and imperfections) to degrade your vision when a car with bright headlights pulls up behind you. The recovery time after the night rod cells in the retina have had their pigment bleached out by all of the light can be daunting when driving 75 miles per hour on a pitch black road. Also, with aging, the optics of the eye have become altered and degraded.

In the 16th century the Venetians invented the method of making mirrors out of plate glass (glass that has parallel sides and does not change the size of what you are viewing). They achieved this by applying a thin film of mercury to the back of the glass. Today, automotive mirrors are clear glass with reflective coatings on the back that are not toxic.

Today, reducing prismatic rear-view mirror designs utilize a prism shaped piece of glass in front ot the mirror. This means the glass is thicker at the top than the bottom. In daytime alignment almost all of the light goes through the glass and reflects off the mirror giving you a clear view of the area behind you. This is a vast improvement from the early years of automobiles when hand held mirrors were carried at times. At night fall, the mirror is flipped so it is reflecting away from the eye allowing the lower level of reflections that arise from the back of a clear pane of glass to show up with greatly reduced intensity. The fact that these reflections exist in the first place is why we highly recommend anti-reflective coatings on most eye glasses today.

Last year I discovered a flaw in the current technology we use. In not anticipating the stoppage of traffic I was caught in the middle of a major intersection and could not tell for sure if there was a car behind me (more on that in a minute). After getting barked at by a police officer who had obviously had something else bothering him beside me blocking his progress I was given a choice. I could leave or I could go park on the shoulder and he would call someone from that precinct to come and haul me off. I politely declined his offer to wait. Several months later I was backing up in a parking lot and tapped another car. So lightly in fact that I didn't feel it, but my daughter insisted I had. We drove around the block and came back. As it turned out, somehow I had only bumped the tire of the car, no harm done.

Pondering these two incidents I had an epiphany; glare reducing rear mirrors used improperly can be hazardous. In fact, they may do a lot to make us more comfortable but I would like to find long term good studies on how they have effected accidents rates.

The issue in both instances involved a stopped vehicle with night mirrors and cars pulled up close enough behind that their headlights were not visible. I have tested this at night and it is a frequent occurrence. The dimness of the refection from the glass plate which often is combined with a dirty rear window from winter sanded or muddy roads makes it extremely difficult to see the vehicle without the lights. In essence, night mirrors may actually create a blind spot under the right conditions.

The solution I use is to automatically flip the mirrors back to day when I park, and in high traffic, dark areas with slower traffic flow I may do the same. There is a trade off between glare recovery and overall reduction of vision that needs to be balanced.

The advent of mirrors that are electrically adjusted by light sensors is promising, and the new rear view camera systems will eliminate all of these pitfalls in the future. Until then, I highly recommend you flip your night mirror back to day when you stop,so you can see if you pull out again later in the night.

The best thing you can do for safe night driving is keeping your eye glasses or contact lenses prescription up to date with quality anti-reflection coatings and keep the car windows clean. See your eye doctor / optometrist for regular preventative eye care and drive until you are 100!

Do you need help with Pinkeye, dry eyes, glaucoma, contact lenses, Lasik Questions, nutritional eyecare needs or general eye care? If you live in Northern Colorado and are interested in what a Fort Collins Eye Doctors Office can do to help you let me know. If your have dry eyes that are gritty,sandy, burning and disrupting your life we are the Expert Fort Collins Optometrist Eye Care Center in Northern Colorado. Relief is on its way when you contact our patient centered office where your needs come first.

Central location for Fort Collins, Loveland, Wellington, Timnath,co, Windsor, LaPorte and Nothern Colorado at 181 West Boardwalk Suite 201. Parking couldn't be any easier!

exotic contact lens cheap crazy contact lenses

Top Tips on Buying a Wire Binding Machine

2009-11-12T23:18:00.001-08:00

Wire binding machines are becoming one of the more preferred forms of binding for booklets and reports. Wire binding machines, often referred to as twin-loop wire binding, use a special type of wire element to keep dozens to hundreds of sheets bound together. The tricky part of finding the right wire-binding machine is sifting through the different terms and determining which of the three wire binding hole formats is the right one.

To start, wire binding machines are available in three different hole formats / alignments. These are referred to commonly in the binding industry as the "pitch." The three pitches wire binding comes in are 3:1, 2:1 and Spiral-O. The 3:1 pitch format has three holes punched per inch of paper. The 2:1 pitch format has two holes punched per inch of paper. The Spiral-O format has a total of 19 holes along the 11-inch side of an 8 ½ x 11-inch sheet of paper.

These three different hole formats use three entirely different types of binding elements. These elements are not interchangeable between different format machines. The "pitch" terminology, with regards to wire binding, is probably the most difficult thing to learn. Once you realize there are three different punching patterns, and what they are, you are ready to start looking at individual machines. Be aware that, however uncommon, some wire binding machines include multiple punching dies that allow them to punch 2:1 & 3:1 or a combination of all three.

The pitch you choose depends on the look you prefer and how thick the books need to be. There is give and take between the punching formats. A 3:1 pitch has more holes, and thus more loops. Many people like the "tight" look of the 3:1 pitch. A 2:1 pitch, because the holes are spaced farther apart, is perfect for binding thicker books and allows the pages to turn more easily. The Spiral-O is a good format if you will also be comb-binding books. The 19-hole punch format of the Spiral-O wire is exactly the same as comb binding.

Once you have determined your preferred wire binding "pitch," you will need to determine how many sheets you want to be able to punch at a time and whether or not you want electric or manual punching in your machine. For high-volume jobs, it is usually recommended to go with an electric machine. Electric punches help cut down on fatigue. Manual punch machines are perfect for low- to medium-volume jobs.

Some wire binding machines feature something called disengageable or disengaging punching dies. This feature allows the user to selectively disable specific punches to accommodate odd sizes of paper. It helps to eliminate half holes on the edges of paper. If you only plan on punching and binding standard 8 ½ x 11-inch paper, this feature is not necessary.

Once the holes have been punched by the wire-binding machine, the binding element is inserted through the holes. The wire binding machine, by use of a wire closer, bends the wire-binding element shut. The end result looks professional. Most wire binding machines will include a wire closer. This is a great binding machine to use in a copy shop, college, school, church or business.

Many ask which brand or model is the preferred choice. While there is no "best" binding machine, the brand Akiles has grown a name for itself as some of the more reliable and dependable binding machines on the market. For more information on wire binding machines, please contact OfficeZone.com.

Dave Stuart is an industry expert on binding machines.

exotic contact lens cheap crazy contact lenses vampire contact lenses

Projection HDTV - What Technology is Behind A Projection HDTV?

2009-11-11T23:02:00.001-08:00

There are four main components to the Projection HDTV concept - the projector, screen, control panel, and the sound system. Each of these components can be purchased in one easy to install unit or individually. The main part of the set up is the projector. This is where all the system information is entered. There are two methods used to form the screen images. The most common is the LCD panel and the alternative is the reflective where a light is based off of a reflective chip.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is a digital micromirror that works with liquid crystals on silicon to cause the reflections to take place. Both of the methods are collected by the use of a lens. They are enlarged and then displayed on the TV screen. The transmittive and reflective projection in the projector is responsible for this process.

With projection HDTV the screen is very comparative to that found in a movie theatre. The control panel is a built in feature that you can control with the remote. There are core units that you can assess including a home theatre system and the video receiver. If you are using the projection HDTV in a conference room then the core will be the audio and your computer.

The projection HDTV speakers offer an advanced sound system that includes Home THX, Dolby 5.1 surround sound, and the Dolby Digital EX. The biggest selling projection HDTV on the market right now is the Samsung Tantus HCL473W. It features a 47" screen, auto focus, a fine pitch screen, and the 1,000 line resolution.

If you found this information on Projection HDTV useful, you'll also want to read about HD Plasma TV.

exotic contact lens Hd tv review

How to Take Award-Winning Pictures - A Complete Guide

2009-11-10T23:00:00.001-08:00

Nothing is as easy as writing about something and make it sound easy. Take this for example "Shoot the model with some nice light and make her pose with a natural smile - and you have a winner". Could be right next to the word "Easy" in the dictionary. If only life was a piece of written advice. Well, fear not - we will get down to business and get cranking with some real world tips and tricks of how to get great pictures.

First up we need to make sure we have what it takes:

Camera

Pen and paper (or laptop for the ones who have fear of papers)

A friend or no fear of talking to one self

Be ready to plan ahead - the cost is in not knowing what you need

Photoshop or equivalent application for editing our masterpiece

Start with the camera - check if the battery is 100% loaded with juice. If not, put it in the socket that connects to a wall and let that baby recharge while we sit down with that paper and pen. Write down cool concepts - don't let real life get you down just yet - nothing is impossible at this stage. Right now you are Annie Leibovitz and the world is your oyster. Your imagination is your limit. Damn I'm starting to sound like that cheap "life-coach" tape stuck in the tape deck in the garage. But truly only the imagination is the limit here. Let it out. If you need inspiration think about contrasting subject - a giant in a class room or a colorful leaf in a black and white photo. Don't fall for the temptation to surf the web. The web is your enemy right now - can you spell unoriginal? Don't feel bad if you can't I'm just trying to make a point. There are gazillions of similar images on the web and you are not in the business of adding to the list and become a gazillion and one. Let the concepts grow on you, take one paper and use it to draw some figures, see potential angles for the image. Try another - is that even better? Cool go with that. Call a friend - a good friend that is ready to help out for no pay. Tell him/her your idea. Do you get the response you want? If not invite the friend over to help out with ideas.Good, now you might have (in your minds eye) a football-team of rhinos standing in a pretty line to buy lemonade, high noon, from a bossy little girl with freckles and a Leia hair due.

(Amazing how everyone thinks of that exact image huh?) You think I'm going to shoot you down with your crazy concept? I'm not. Let's use this example to see how it could be executed.

For this image I would use:

1 camera with a wide lens

1 masquerade mask of a rhino head (a few dollars at tops if you give them the right to use the image one-time-only in the store)

1 American football dress

A Suburb in the summertime

A girl with long hair (camera facing her back, over her shoulder where we see the lemonade table and the queue)

A table with a bowl of lemons and a pitcher.

A tripod

Photoshop

Put a guy (that friend you always help move but who never got around to help you move is prime for this job) in the mask and the football gear. Get the table and lemonade ready where it should be. Walk around holding up the camera or thumb and index-finger in a rectangle until you find the perfect angle. Put the camera there on the tripod. Make that sucker stand against wind and hurricanes with a big rock or something. Direct your assistant (that is the first friend you called - you might need to call him/her "creative director" but that's cool) to put things where you want them. Now you need to carefully put the camera in Manual mode and find a exposure that works in the whole image. If the sky is in the frame, you might take just one "OK" exposed frame of that and let the sky be over-exposed in the rest. But keep that "sky"frame! Take a picture of the "front" rhino where he gently puts a coin in the girls hand and she is holding his glass of delicious lemonade, with her other hand, teasingly far away until he pays up. Make sure your happy with that frame as it is the most important one. After that, direct your rhino friend to step one step back and hold a new pose, then one step back, and so on until you have a long cue of very hot (as in warm) rhinos standing in queue. Give the guy in the suit a pizza, thank the girl, pack up your table and go back to wherever you keep your computer. Open your RAW-files in Adobe Camera Raw (or your choice of RAW-processing application) and make the same "development" on all the pictures.

Then open them all as layers in the same Photoshop file. Put the First image (with the rhino-player giving coin) at the bottom, take the second in line and put it in 50 opacity - and start masking around the bottom layer. When the mask is top-notch put layer in 100% opacity again. Keep doing this until you have your award winning picture. Mask in the potential sky-frame. Done. total cost? Not more than 70 bucks. And you have an award-winning image. The real cost would have been 25 guys in Rhino/football gear. With Photoshop we eradicate that need but get exactly the image we want. There is no cost to developing photos - all you need is your brain, your hands, and some time to practice the pitch in the mirror before entering the costume store.

Linus Öhman is a Photographer and Entrepreneur living in Sweden. Having worked as a graphic designer and photographer both at large corporations and magazines and as a freelance for many years he recently started a network for "quick guides to the best of the best" with initial focus on photography. Websites:

http://www.mememe.se - The photographer page. http://www.mostawesomephoto.info - How to shoot like a pro.

vampire contact lenses exotic contact lens cheap crazy contact lenses

Advanced Birding and the Spotting Scope

2009-11-09T22:55:00.001-08:00

Most of us begin birding with a field guide and a pair of binoculars. Yet, we eventually realize that certain situations demand our acquisition of a spotting scope. It may be that we find ourselves at the wetlands and can not quite tell if we are looking at a White Faced or Glossy Ibis. Or, we spot a raptor across the canyon and can not say if it is a Red Tail or some other hawk. Or, maybe, we just would like a better look at the Black Throated Green Warbler high up in the oaks.

Your advancement in birding does not mean you are becoming an elitist. Your expertise is growing and should be cause for celebration. Owning a spotting scope doesn't make you an elitist either. In fact, many manufacturers have improved their processes to accomplish advances in construction and image quality while making their product more affordable. The spotting scope is now considered as essential as the binoculars.

There are many elements in the choice of a scope. Many are personal preferences. One such is whether to buy a scope that is straight through (ST) or angular (AN) sighted. It is probably easier to find and focus on some distant bird using the ST configuration. With practice, one can adjust to an AN scope and become just as proficient. However, if you find that you are often in a group and sharing a scope the AN may be the better choice. You can set the height to the shortest person in the group and everyone can easily view whatever bird is the subject of inquiry.

Light gathering ability is a major consideration in a scope. Generally, the larger the objective lens the greater the ability to gather light. An 80 mm objective gathers more light than a 60 mm lens. However, with a larger lens also comes added weight and cost. For most of us, and in most circumstances, objective lenses in the 60 to 65 mm range are quite adequate.

The eyepiece, or ocular, can be fixed or variable. A 20x ocular is good for fixed eyepieces, but variable magnification are either 15x-45x or 20x-60x. The lower magnification on the variable ocular is used to locate and focus the bird while the greater magnifications can be zoomed in to gain detail for a sure identification.

Eventually, one has to make a decision as to what amount to spend. For those whose budget is limited the Cornell Laboratory Scope Quest 2008 becomes an excellent source of information and advice. Ken Rosenberg organized this event and compiled data on a number of scopes. In this, the Stokes Sandpiper Scope did quite well. Ken writes, "An even nicer surprise was the Vortex Stokes Sandpiper, which at $359 or less could be the best buy of any model we tested. This small, lightweight scope is fully waterproof, works well with eyeglasses, and provides an image nearly as nice up to 45x as the more expensive [models]."

Considering image quality, ease of transport, magnifications, objective lens size and, of course, cost, it all comes down to what fits your personal needs and preferences. Once you have made your choice, enjoy it to the fullest.

Roy Smallwood is the owner of Kingbirdfeeders.com. Roy began this enterprise after a 26 year career as a teacher of science. His love and enjoyment of the outdoors and birding in particular is the impetus for the company. He is an active member of the Central Texas Audubon Society. He encourages everyone to participate and enjoy birding whether in the backyard or in the field. Visit http://www.kingbirdfeeders.com and happy birding!

cheap crazy contact lenses exotic contact lens vampire contact lenses