The first step in reducing your debt is to work out exactly how much you owe. Now, this may sound obvious but you’d be surprised how many people know they have have debts with various credit cards, store cards and loans, know they’re paying monthly towards them, but don’t know what the outstanding balance is (or are too afraid to look).
Make a list, separating out each individual debt. Be sure to include all your:
- credit cards
- unsecured loans
- loans secured on your house, e.g. mortgage
- other secured loans
- store cards
- bank overdrafts
- car finance
- other hire purchase (furniture, electrical goods etc)
Next you need to write down further details of each one. Find out what the interest rate is for each of the debts, how much you are paying each month and how much longer the debt has to run, either by checking your statements or by calling the companies.
Now write a new list; put your mortgage (if you have one) at the top of the list, followed by any other loans secured on your house. The reason for this is that these are the repayments with the highest priority: the last thing you want to do is concentrate on paying off other debts, but have your home reposessed in the process. Underneath these draw a line then write your other debts, in descending order of interest rates, i.e. the highest at the top. Your list should now look something like:
Abbey Mortgage - 6% - £126,000 - 22 years - £850/month
Ocean Finance Loan - 7.9% - £28,250 - 4 years - £625/month
—————————————————————
Debenhams Store Card - 29% - £1250 - indefinite - £80/month
NatWest overdraft - 17% - £900 - indefinite - £0/month
LloydsTSB overdraft - 18.7% - £850 - indefinite - £0/month
NatWest Visa - 16.9% - £3700 - indefinite - £85/month
Barclaycard - 14% - £5250 - indefinite - £95/month
Car hire purchase - 10.5% - £9,500- 3 years - £222/month
NatWest Loan - 7% - £6300 - 3.5 years - £142/month
Total debt - £182,000Total payment/month - £2099
The plan now is two-fold: pay off debts with the highest interest rates first and, where possible, move debts to a lower interest rate without extending their life.
This last point is very important. Although your monthly repayments will be lower you will stay in debt for longer and could end up paying more in total over the life of the debt. For example, £10,000 over 3 years with a 10% interest rate is £322/month; over 5 years at 7% it is only £198/month. However, with the second option you would have stayed in debt for 2 years more and paid an extra £264 in interest. Only if you are stuggling to make repayments should you ever consider extending the life of a debt.
Source: http://www.debtassistant.co.uk/
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Efficient ways to pay off your debt more quickly or reduce the amount you pay out each month!
What you should be aiming to do is move as much of your debt to as low a interest rate as possible, whilst paying as much as much as you feel comfortable with each month.
Mortgage and Loans Secured On Your House
Of all of your debts these are the most important, as if you default on monthly payments you run the risk of losing your home. Unless you only have a few years left on your mortgage (less than 5), do not be tempted to either increase the size of it to pay off other debts or extend the length of it. In the first instance you will end up paying off your debts over many years, and in the second you will be in debt for longer. Both mean you will pay end up paying more in interest.
Remortgaging is one way to reduce the amount you pay on your mortgage, and if you are on a standard variable rate it will certainly be worth investigating. This may involve some upfront outlay in arrangement fees from the new lender and early repayment penalties from your existing lender, so these will have to be weighed up against the savings you will make. My advice is to speak to an independent mortgage advisor, who will be able to tell you whether this is the right course of action for you and, if it is, find the mortgage that is best suited to you.
There is little you will be able to do with other debts secured on your home. If you can afford it you may be able to reduce the term of the loan (and therefore increase the monthly payment), but secured loans are usually the cheapest way to borrow money. If you have extra money available to put towards your debts you would be better off paying off credit cards and overdrafts first.
Credit and Store Cards
After loan sharks, store cards are one of the most expensive ways to borrow money, with monthly interest rates of 2% not uncommon. If you have available balance on your credit card you should immediately transfer your store card balances over, and then cancel your store cards.
Many companies offer 0% introductory rates on credit cards, so if possible you should transfer as much of your debt as possible to one of these. However, make sure you know what the minimum payments is, how long the introductory rate lasts for and if there are any penalties for transfering debt to another card once the introductory rate has finished.
Unsecured Loans
Depending on when you took out the loan and the type of loan you have, it may be possible to move it to a different provider at a lower interest rate. This may be to a 0% credit card or another loan.
You should, however, be careful not to extend the length of the loan. As with mortgages, the longer the loan, the more interest you will pay, so even with a lower interest rate you may end up paying more for it. If you transfer it to a credit card, be sure to pay at least as much each month as you were previously; this way you will finish repaying it quicker. Also check with your current lender for any penaltys for paying off the loan early. If there are any this may negate the benefits of moving it for a better deal.
Hire Purchase & Finance Agreements
As with unsecured loans, you can pay off a hire purchase or finance agreement early, usually subject to a penalty, without being liable for future interest. The way to work out whether it is worth doing this and transfering the debt to another provider is to ask the finance company for an early settlement figure. If you can obtain a loan for this amount at a lower interest rate, and not extend the length of the debt, then you should do so. You can then choose whether to carry on paying the same amount each month to clear the debt earlier, or put the savings towards paying off any more expensive debts.
Mortgage and Loans Secured On Your House
Of all of your debts these are the most important, as if you default on monthly payments you run the risk of losing your home. Unless you only have a few years left on your mortgage (less than 5), do not be tempted to either increase the size of it to pay off other debts or extend the length of it. In the first instance you will end up paying off your debts over many years, and in the second you will be in debt for longer. Both mean you will pay end up paying more in interest.
Remortgaging is one way to reduce the amount you pay on your mortgage, and if you are on a standard variable rate it will certainly be worth investigating. This may involve some upfront outlay in arrangement fees from the new lender and early repayment penalties from your existing lender, so these will have to be weighed up against the savings you will make. My advice is to speak to an independent mortgage advisor, who will be able to tell you whether this is the right course of action for you and, if it is, find the mortgage that is best suited to you.
There is little you will be able to do with other debts secured on your home. If you can afford it you may be able to reduce the term of the loan (and therefore increase the monthly payment), but secured loans are usually the cheapest way to borrow money. If you have extra money available to put towards your debts you would be better off paying off credit cards and overdrafts first.
Credit and Store Cards
After loan sharks, store cards are one of the most expensive ways to borrow money, with monthly interest rates of 2% not uncommon. If you have available balance on your credit card you should immediately transfer your store card balances over, and then cancel your store cards.
Many companies offer 0% introductory rates on credit cards, so if possible you should transfer as much of your debt as possible to one of these. However, make sure you know what the minimum payments is, how long the introductory rate lasts for and if there are any penalties for transfering debt to another card once the introductory rate has finished.
Unsecured Loans
Depending on when you took out the loan and the type of loan you have, it may be possible to move it to a different provider at a lower interest rate. This may be to a 0% credit card or another loan.
You should, however, be careful not to extend the length of the loan. As with mortgages, the longer the loan, the more interest you will pay, so even with a lower interest rate you may end up paying more for it. If you transfer it to a credit card, be sure to pay at least as much each month as you were previously; this way you will finish repaying it quicker. Also check with your current lender for any penaltys for paying off the loan early. If there are any this may negate the benefits of moving it for a better deal.
Hire Purchase & Finance Agreements
As with unsecured loans, you can pay off a hire purchase or finance agreement early, usually subject to a penalty, without being liable for future interest. The way to work out whether it is worth doing this and transfering the debt to another provider is to ask the finance company for an early settlement figure. If you can obtain a loan for this amount at a lower interest rate, and not extend the length of the debt, then you should do so. You can then choose whether to carry on paying the same amount each month to clear the debt earlier, or put the savings towards paying off any more expensive debts.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Game on with psx4iphone, the Playstation 1 emulator for iPhone and iPod touch
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. The unofficial Playstation 1 emulator is officially here and just in time for Christmas! In fact, if you have a Jailbreak iPhone or iPod touch you may already have it in your hand. Just check the Installer.app for psx4iphone to add it to your device. You can also try the manual installation method if you don’t want to run Jailbreak.
Once the emulator is installed, you need to select the games you want to play, but take note, not all games are created equal here. Some run great, some not so well. Please let us know which games are the best. Read all about psx4iphone at the developer site at www.zodttd.com.
Source: http://www.touchtip.com/
Once the emulator is installed, you need to select the games you want to play, but take note, not all games are created equal here. Some run great, some not so well. Please let us know which games are the best. Read all about psx4iphone at the developer site at www.zodttd.com.
Source: http://www.touchtip.com/
Stream iTunes to your iPhone or iPod touch while you surf the web
Simplify Media, the iTunes plugin that lets you share your entire music library over the internet, now works with iPhone and iPod touch. Unlike similar applications, Simplify Media does not use Safari to stream music. This allows you to surf the web while you and your friends listen to your iTunes library from anywhere you have Wi-Fi access.
To install Simplify Media, you will need a Jailbreak iPhone or iPod touch with the AppTapp Installer. Then go to AppTapp and look for Simplify Media under the multimedia category. When you run it you will need to sign in with your Simplify Media username and password. Download the desktop version of the software for Mac or PC to create your free account. Be sure you have a Wi-Fi connection because EDGE won’t cut it. And you might want to check out the iPhone demo at the Simplify Media web site.
Source: http://www.touchtip.com/
To install Simplify Media, you will need a Jailbreak iPhone or iPod touch with the AppTapp Installer. Then go to AppTapp and look for Simplify Media under the multimedia category. When you run it you will need to sign in with your Simplify Media username and password. Download the desktop version of the software for Mac or PC to create your free account. Be sure you have a Wi-Fi connection because EDGE won’t cut it. And you might want to check out the iPhone demo at the Simplify Media web site.
Source: http://www.touchtip.com/
Friday, December 21, 2007
iPhone and iPod touch helping doctors help you
We knew we should have listened to our mothers and became doctors instead of web developers. At least we’d spend more time using these cool iPhone tools to improve patient care instead of surfing YouTube all day. These three new medical applications indicate that the iPhone and iPod touch are starting to make their way into doctors’ offices and hospitals.
1. Drug Information - Epocrates web-based drug guide
2. Practice Managment - Software from MacPractice
3. Health News - The Chondriac health news reader
Drug Information
Having free drugs at your fingertips may sound like a dream to your friends in Amsterdam, but over here it might get you arrested. With this free drug database from Epocrates (now optimized for iPhone and iPod touch), it’s like having a drug dealer on speed dial. Well, okay, maybe more like a pharmacist.
Epocrates has long been regarded as the gold standard of mobile reference tools for doctors and clinicians, and their applications run natively on a broad range of mobile platforms (Palm, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry). They have recently released an iPhone optimized version of their web-based drug reference tool, Epocrates Online, which features drug content written for the health care professional. We would love to see the entire Epcocrates mobile suite running native on the iPhone, and perhaps we’ll get our wish after Apple releases the SDK next year. Until then, you’ll need a PDA or Smartphone to use the native Epocrates applications. In the meantime, you can access the Epocrates Online drug information with iPhone or iPod touch at m.epocrates.com/iphone.
Practice Managment
For professional grade practice management software on the iPhone, you may find what you need with MacPractice, offering specific solutions for medical doctors, dentists, chiropractors, and optometrists. MacPractice software is very robust with the ease-of-use design that Macintosh is famous for. And MacPractice now has iPhone and iPod touch access built in, allowing you to use several key features from the convenience of your Apple device.
1. Drug Information - Epocrates web-based drug guide
2. Practice Managment - Software from MacPractice
3. Health News - The Chondriac health news reader
Drug Information
Having free drugs at your fingertips may sound like a dream to your friends in Amsterdam, but over here it might get you arrested. With this free drug database from Epocrates (now optimized for iPhone and iPod touch), it’s like having a drug dealer on speed dial. Well, okay, maybe more like a pharmacist.
Epocrates has long been regarded as the gold standard of mobile reference tools for doctors and clinicians, and their applications run natively on a broad range of mobile platforms (Palm, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry). They have recently released an iPhone optimized version of their web-based drug reference tool, Epocrates Online, which features drug content written for the health care professional. We would love to see the entire Epcocrates mobile suite running native on the iPhone, and perhaps we’ll get our wish after Apple releases the SDK next year. Until then, you’ll need a PDA or Smartphone to use the native Epocrates applications. In the meantime, you can access the Epocrates Online drug information with iPhone or iPod touch at m.epocrates.com/iphone.
Practice Managment
For professional grade practice management software on the iPhone, you may find what you need with MacPractice, offering specific solutions for medical doctors, dentists, chiropractors, and optometrists. MacPractice software is very robust with the ease-of-use design that Macintosh is famous for. And MacPractice now has iPhone and iPod touch access built in, allowing you to use several key features from the convenience of your Apple device.
- Log in to view patients with appointments any day
- Search for a patient
- View patient contact information
- Tap to email a patient
- Tap to call a patient
- Review patient Rx history
Health News
There is no shortage of health-related news web sites available, but Chondriac (a new tool from mobile app creators, dataXform) makes it much easier to read that news on your iPhone or iPod touch. The news is organized nicely into categories for men, women, and children. There are also news categories for specific diseases and ailments, along with hooks to topical health care blogs. The app is very responsive and features the intuitive slider UI common in many iPhone web applications.
Point your iPhone or iPod touch to www.chondriac.com to start reading health care news today. You can also access Chondriac using Safari 3 from your desktop computer and the same URL above.
source: http://www.touchtip.com/
With Quicken Online, the iPhone is so money
There is a new breed of personal financial management applications that don’t require you to be an accountant in order use them. Sites like Wasabe and Mint are targeted to younger people that don’t need advanced features and are just looking for an easy-to-use system to view and manage their finances while getting advice along the way. Both of these web apps are great in their own way, but each lack mobile access for iPhone and iPod touch. On January 8th, Intuit comes to the rescue with the release of Qucken Online, a simplified version of their desktop software that features an optimized interface for the iPhone.What makes this so exciting? Imagine using your iPhone as a register for checks and credit card expenses. Tap in your expenses as you make them and this gets reflected in your Quicken Online account instantly. This is extremely handy for shared accounts where multiple users need to see actual financial positions in real-time, instead of what the bank happens to know about at that time. Intuit also plans to integrate Quicken Online with TurboTax next year (for the 2008 tax year), a move that will assure this web app the top position among its competitors.
Quicken Online connects to your bank accounts and credit cards to give you a picture of your cash flow, and it knows how to connect to over 5,000 banks and credit card institutions. Online bill payment services will not be included in the launch but will be added in future updates. The service does detect which of your expenses are bills, then sends reminder alerts by email or SMS before those bills are due.
Access to Quicken Online is priced at $2.99 per month (after a 30-day trial). Sign up for the beta today at http://www.quickenonline.com/.
source: http://www.touchtip.com/
Quicken Online connects to your bank accounts and credit cards to give you a picture of your cash flow, and it knows how to connect to over 5,000 banks and credit card institutions. Online bill payment services will not be included in the launch but will be added in future updates. The service does detect which of your expenses are bills, then sends reminder alerts by email or SMS before those bills are due.
Access to Quicken Online is priced at $2.99 per month (after a 30-day trial). Sign up for the beta today at http://www.quickenonline.com/.
source: http://www.touchtip.com/
iPhone and iPod touch: Tips when using Wi-Fi
See the iPhone User's Guide or iPod touch Features Guide for information on configuring Wi-Fi. Check these suggestions if you run into any issues using Wi-Fi. For best results, make sure you are using the most recent iPhone or iPod touch software.
Try renewing DHCP lease at commercial hotspots
If you are having issues using a commercial (paid) Wi-Fi hotspot, like at an airport or coffee shop, try renewing your DHCP lease.
1. Tap Settings > Wi-Fi Networks, then pick the network.
2. In the DHCP panel, select the Renew Lease button.
If this does not resolve the issue, then you might want to try, "iPhone Basic Troubleshooting or iPod touch: Basic Troubleshooting.If iPhone Wi-Fi connection reverts to EDGE
If you're trying to connect to Wi-Fi and it looks like you're connected, but when you access a web page, it goes back to EDGE, it may be due to a known issue if wireless router is using MAC Address Filtering and the iPhone's MAC address has not been entered into the filter list. This may also occur if the WEP password was entered incorrectly.
If you experience this and use WEP Password, on the iPhone tap Settings > Wi-Fi. Then tap More Info ( > ) next to the Wi-Fi network name and tap Forget this Network. Then try accessing the Wi-Fi network again. Alternatively, turn off WEP encryption on the wireless router.
If MAC Address Filtering is enabled on the wireless router, make sure iPhone's Wi-Fi address (in Settings > General > About) is entered into the router's filter. See the documentation that came with your wireless router for additional information.
Weak iPhone Wi-Fi signal
If you are having issues using the Internet, checking email, checking stocks, or other data activity with the iPhone (the possible error message could be "could not connect to server") and the Wi-Fi icon is showing very weak signal, try turning Wi-Fi off on the device so that the iPhone can use EDGE (tap Settings > Wi-Fi and the set Wi-Fi to off).
"Unable to Join Network Failure (error -3)" connecting to Wi-Fi
If you are receiving the error message "Unable to Join Network Failure (error -3)" on the iPhone or iPod touch when attempting to connect or join to your Wi-Fi network, verify your Wi-Fi Network Name (SSID) and Security setting (WEP password, WEP hex or ASCII, WPA, or WPA2) for the device.
On the Wi-Fi Access Point/Router, you should verify if MAC address filtering is turned ON or OFF on the router, whether the security settings on the router match the iPhone or iPod touch (WEP password, WEP hex or ASCII, WPA, or WPA2), and try disabling (QoS) quality of service if that feature is turned ON for the router.
If you are still receiving the error message "Unable to Join Network Failure (error -3)" on the device when attempting to connect or join to your Wi-Fi network after trying the above suggestions, tap Settings > Wi-Fi > Other (under Choose a Network) and then enter the Wi-Fi Network Name (SSID) and select your Security setting and enter your password.
No Internet access when switching networks
If you are switching between different Wi-Fi networks and you are unable to access the Internet on the iPhone or perform other data activities thru Wi-Fi, try turning Airplane Mode on and then off (tap Settings and turn Airplane Mode on and then turn Airplane Mode off). For iPod touch, turn Wi-Fi off and then back on again (tap Settings > Wi-Fi and turn Wi-Fi off and then turn Wi-Fi on). If the issue continues, tap Settings > Wi-Fi > Other (under Choose a Network) and then enter the Wi-Fi Network Name (SSID) and select your Security setting and enter your password.
Iphone Touch MP4
Specification
1.2.8 TFT Touch Screen
2.Support AMV video format ,MP3 / WMA music format, JPG photo format.
3. Support WAV record format, built in FM.
4. Support Mini-SD card,Embedded inner speaker:1W,5 pin USB,earphone jack: 3.5mm
5. Games; Calendar ;E-book;Digital voice recording;Telephone book.
6. Supports Chinese,English,Korean,Japanese,Spainish,French,German,Italian,Portuguese,
Dutch,Russian,etc language system.
7.Built in flash memory to 4GB, Mini SD card storage can reach up to 4GB, Support MLC flash.
8.450mAH Lion rechargeable battery 5 hours for muic playback, 3 hours for Video playing.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Instantly Hide & Unhide iPhone Applications
If you've been an iPhone owner for any significant amount of time you have likely had friends or family ask to grope your shiny new toy. While most of us don't necessarily mind letting others play with the iPod, YouTube, or Safari, allowing them access to Mail and your Text Messages is another story. Luckily almost any item on the home screen can be hidden with a simple double tap. Read on for the how-to.
The ability to hide and unhide applications was likely created specifically for Steve Jobs to present the iPod touch, but it has made its way into the latest software update. This handy little feature was found by a TUAW reader and recently mentioned on the blog.
So how is it done? The feature, as you might have guessed, isn't enabled by default. To enable it, you need to have a jailbroken iPhone with some means of accessing the filesystem so you can edit com.apple.springboard.plist. Specifically:
Navigate to "/var/root/Library/Preferences/" and open up "com.apple.springboard.plist" in a plain text editor.
In the text editor, look for "SBEnableALS ". Below it, add these two lines:
SBEnableAppReveal
Save that and restart your iPhone. When you get back to the home screen, Safari, YouTube, and The iTunes Store will be hidden. To unhide them, double tap their respective spaces.
To enable hiding of other applications, add the following to the Info.plist file contained within the .app folder:
SBIsRevealable
To disable hiding, change the "true" variable to "false". It should end up looking like:
SBIsRevealable
The disadvantages? For one, every time SpringBoard is restarted, the apps become hidden again. This means that you'll have to unhide apps every time you restart or install new applications. They do stay unhidden when you put the iPhone to sleep, though. Also, some apps, such as the iPod, are "special" and won't work with this trick. You may also notice a slight bit of lag when you first tap a revealable app because it's waiting for the second tap, but it shouldn't hurt anything. Bottom line: it's not for everyone, but it's handy for those who'd use it.
Now, the next time someone asks to see your iPhone, you won't need to worry about them changing your settings, calling Aunt Betty, or reading your emails.
Enjoy!
The ability to hide and unhide applications was likely created specifically for Steve Jobs to present the iPod touch, but it has made its way into the latest software update. This handy little feature was found by a TUAW reader and recently mentioned on the blog.
So how is it done? The feature, as you might have guessed, isn't enabled by default. To enable it, you need to have a jailbroken iPhone with some means of accessing the filesystem so you can edit com.apple.springboard.plist. Specifically:
Navigate to "/var/root/Library/Preferences/" and open up "com.apple.springboard.plist" in a plain text editor.
In the text editor, look for "
Save that and restart your iPhone. When you get back to the home screen, Safari, YouTube, and The
To enable hiding of other applications, add the following to the Info.plist file contained within the .app folder:
To disable hiding, change the "true" variable to "false". It should end up looking like:
The disadvantages? For one, every time SpringBoard is restarted, the apps become hidden again. This means that you'll have to unhide apps every time you restart or install new applications. They do stay unhidden when you put the iPhone to sleep, though. Also, some apps, such as the iPod, are "special" and won't work with this trick. You may also notice a slight bit of lag when you first tap a revealable app because it's waiting for the second tap, but it shouldn't hurt anything. Bottom line: it's not for everyone, but it's handy for those who'd use it.
Now, the next time someone asks to see your iPhone, you won't need to worry about them changing your settings, calling Aunt Betty, or reading your emails.
Enjoy!
Random iPhone User Tips
I really like the iPhone but hate the shape of the earbuds that are bundled with it. What keeps me from tossing them is they have some cool functionality. The microphone not only works well as a hands-free device when on the phone in the car, but is also a handy control for the iPod function of the iPhone. Click it once and you can pause the music, twice and it jumps to the next song. So I didn’t want to trash the earbuds even though they don’t fit well.
My solution… a $12 investment (at CompUSA) in Griffin EarJams. They convert Apple’s earbuds into more comfortable inner earphones. This combination is not the ultimate in sound quality, but it sure is an improvement over the stock earbuds.
Next, I keep my iPhone protected by passcode. This is a nice feature, but have you noticed that the welcome screen has no personal information on it? Just the time and date. What happens if you misplace your iPhone?
I’m using the Incase Molded Rubber Case to protect the edges of the iPhone. As an added measure of protection, I’ve slipped a business card between the case and the phone that has my contact information on it. That way, if I misplace my device, I have half a chance or recovering it. (Just don’t use your iPhone number for the contact info… doh!)
Finally, I’m keeping the phone charged in the car with the XtremeMac InCharge Auto. It’s a great looking device with an intelligent self-resetting fuse. For $19.95, it’s done a great job of keeping me juiced up on the go.
Monday August 13, 2007 8:19AM
by Derrick Story in Opinion
Source: http://www.oreillynet.com/
Twenty-one favorite iPhone tips
Browse better, e-mail more efficiently, and do more with your iPhone
You can do a lot with the iPhone—make a phone call, surf the Web, watch a movie—just with the touch of a virtual button. But dig a little deeper, and you can do a lot more. After three weeks of putting the iPhone through its paces, here are 21 tips for getting the most out of the iPhone’s advertised features… or finding a couple of features you might not know were part of the phone’s repertoire. Look for more tips in the coming weeks, both at Macworld.com and our new iPhone Central blog.
1. Use your iPhone as a storage device
One of side benefits to the iPod beyond its music-playing capabilities is the fact that you can use it to store files. You can’t do this with an out-of-the-box iPhone. But with the help of a $10 program—and a Mac—you can. The app is iPhoneDrive, a small utility from Ecamm Network that displays the free storage area of an iPhone in the manner of a Finder window in Column view. To add files to the iPhone, either click the Copy to iPhone button or drag a file or folder to the iPhoneDrive Window; dragging from the iPhone or clicking on Copy From iPhone puts iPhone files on your Mac. Note that music and photo files for use on your iPhone are off limits.—CHRISTOPHER BREEN
2. Get a bigger keyboard for Web browsing
Like any other iPhone function requiring data entry, tapping Safari’s address bar summons an on-screen keyboard. However, if you rotate the iPhone horizontally before tapping the address bar, the Safari window will switch to horizontal mode; then, when you then tap the address bar, the onscreen keyboard also appears horizontally. More important, it will also be much larger than the standard vertical keyboard, making data entry a little easier. By the way, Safari is currently the only iPhone application in which this horizontal keyboard appears. (Also worth noting: If you summon the keyboard before rotating your iPhone, then Safari won’t rotate.)—DAN FRAKES
3. Create a home page in Safari
With the regular version of Safari that runs on your Mac (and now your Windows-based PC), setting a particular site as your home page is as simple as going to the General tab in Preferences and typing in a URL. You can’t do that on the iPhone, however. But you can use this work-around: Add your would-be home page to your bookmarks list and then move it to the top of your bookmarks list. Yes it’s an extra tap—first the Bookmarks button and then the bookmark itself—but it will get you to your favorite Web page with a minimum of fuss.—DF
4. Share your URLs
If you want to send the URL of a Web page you’re viewing to a friend, tap the Address Bar, then tap Share. A new e-mail message, containing the URL, will open in Mail; just choose a recipient(s), add any comments you want to include, and tap Send.—DF
5. Scroll through separate boxes on a Web page
If you encounter a scrolling box or list when surfing Safari on your iPhone—say you’re responding to a post at the Macworld.com forums —and try to scroll using your finger, you’ll find that the entire page scrolls, instead of just the box. The trick is to zoom in and scroll such areas with two fingers.—DF
6. Make a call from Safari
If you find a phone number in Safari that you’d like to call—say the phone number at a restaurant you’d like to make reservations at—there’s no need to jump to the phone component. Just tap the number; iPhone will dial it for you. (This is also the case with phone numbers and URL embedded in e-mails and SMS chats; tapping either one will place a call or open a Web page, respectively.)—PHILIP MICHAELS
7. Find out where those links go
When in Safari, holding your fingertip down on a link instead of tapping it produces an information balloon that displays the underlying URL. The same thing happens in Mail when you hold a link, which makes this tip much more useful. Now when those “account update” e-mails appear, you can press and hold on the link to find out if you’re really going to be taken to the site the e-mail claims.—DF
8. Avoid Mail confusion
Don’t name two of your e-mail accounts with the same name, as Mail will get confused and copy the settings from one account to the other. And you can’t fix the situation by simply renaming one account; you’ll need to delete one of the accounts and then recreate it.—DF
9. Mark previously-read messages as unread
There doesn’t appear to be a way to the mark a read message as unread on the iPhone, but it’s in there. While viewing a message, tap Details, which reveals a Mark As Unread option; tap it, and the next time you view your Inbox, the message will display the Unread indicator.—DF
10. Recover ‘lost’ e-mails
Say you try to send an e-mail, but the iPhone can’t get network access. You might think your message has disappeared completely, but don’t worry—it’s still on your phone. A temporary Outgoing folder is created, and the message winds up in there. You can access this temporary folder from the main screen of the sending account; the folder will disappear once network access is available and the message is sent.—DF
11. Create e-mail folders
Well, actually, you can’t create e-mail folders on the iPhone. What you can do, however, with an IMAP e-mail account is create folders on the IMAP server—for example, if you have a .Mac account, using the .Mac Web Mail interface. Those folders will then appear on the iPhone, and their contents will—eventually—be synced between the iPhone and the server.—DF
12. Save e-mail messages as drafts
If you want to save a message you’re working on so you can come back to it later, tap Cancel. Instead of deleting the message immediately, Mail pops up a dialog asking you to Save, Don’t Save, or Cancel. Tap Save and the message is placed in your Drafts folder. If your account doesn’t currently have a Drafts folder, Mail will create one. However, don’t be alarmed if the message doesn’t appear in Drafts immediately; in my testing, it takes a while to show up.—DF
13. Pick where you listen to voicemail
If you’ve got a Bluetooth headset, incoming calls get routed there automatically—not so when you call up Visual Voicemail. However, an Audio button on the Visual Voicemail screen lets you set where you listen to your message: the handset, the built-in speaker, or a Bluetooth headset.—JIM DALRYMPLE
14. Find another way to scroll through Contacts
Everyone knows that you can scroll through the Contacts list on your iPhone two different ways—either flick your finger on the list to scroll up or down, or tap on one of the letters on the alphabet running down the right side of the screen to jump to contacts beginning with that letter. But there is a third way: hold your finger on the alphabetical list and then slide up and down—you’ll be able to scroll through your Contacts in a more controlled manner than by flicking your finger.—JD
15. Use the Favorites and Recents list for more than just phone calls
Favorites and Recents are part of the main Phone screen; the former is iPhone’s version of frequently called numbers while the latter is a list of people who you’ve called and whose calls you missed. But this is not just a phone feature—assuming the numbers in Favorites and Recents belong to a mobile phone, you can send them an SMS message. Just tap the > button next to the contact name or number and then tap the Text Message button at the bottom of the contact listing.—DF
16. Save time in driving directions
One of the primary uses for the iPhone’s Map application is to get driving directions. Both the starting point and destination fields offer the Bookmarks button, so you can quickly use a bookmark, recent location, or contact when searching for directions. The first thing you should do in Maps is find your own address and then bookmark it—this will make finding directions to and from locations as easy as tapping your home bookmark.—DF
17. Recreate some of the iPod’s audio controls
If you listen to an audiobook on an iPod, you probably know that, ever since the fourth-generation iPod’s release, you can alter the playback speed to make it go faster or slower as your preferences dictate. That feature makes its way over to the iPhone as well. Just tap Settings and then the iPod option; tap the Audiobook Speed entry and in the resulting screen, tap to choose among Slower, Normal, or Faster.
In fact, that’s just one iPod feature that also appears on the iPhone. You can also use the Settings screen to turn on Sound Check (the feature that makes volume more consistent from one track to another) and change the EQ with 22 included equalization presets.—CB
18. Change your iPod icons
By default, the icons on the bottom of the iPod screen are Playlists, Artists, Songs, Videos, and More. You can change those first four, just as you would the commands that appear on an iPod’s main screen. Simply tap the More icon and, in the More screen, tap the Edit button at the top-left of the screen. A Configure screen will wipe up from the bottom and display icons for Albums, Podcasts, Audiobooks, Genres, Composers, Compilations, Playlists, Artists, Songs, and Videos. To substitute one of these icons for one that appears at the bottom of the screen, just tap and hold on an icon and drag it over the icon you want to replace. Tap Done when you’re done.—CB
19. Say goodbye to already-viewed videos
Even owners of the largest-capacity iPhone might feel constrained by the 8GB limit when it comes to storing videos. A full-length motion picture takes up around 1GB of storage, which is a significant chunk of space for just one piece of media. To help ease the storage crunch however, the iPhone offers to delete videos after you’ve finished watching them; just tap a button and Pirates of the Caribbean will disappear off your iPhone, freeing up more space.—CB
20. Syncing notes with the iPhone
One of the major limitations to the iPhone’s Notes app is that you can’t sync it with data from any application on your Mac. There’s a work-around, however—each contact has a notes field. So create a fake contact and paste any info you’d like to keep with you in the notes field for that contact in Address Book. One sync later, and all that info will be at your fingertips.—JONATHAN SEFF
21. Rebooting your iPhone
Pretend for a moment that your iPhone suddenly becomes unresponsive. Pushing the Home button does nothing. Hitting the On/Off button produces the same discouraging result. What do you do? Apple’s first reset tip is to press and hold the Home button for about six seconds to quit any application that might have locked up your iPhone. If that doesn’t work, trying pressing and holding both Home and On/Off; after about 10 seconds the Apple logo will appear. (This reboot trick takes a little big longer than the iPod equivalent—holding down Select and Menu usually restarts your music player after four seconds.)—CB
You can do a lot with the iPhone—make a phone call, surf the Web, watch a movie—just with the touch of a virtual button. But dig a little deeper, and you can do a lot more. After three weeks of putting the iPhone through its paces, here are 21 tips for getting the most out of the iPhone’s advertised features… or finding a couple of features you might not know were part of the phone’s repertoire. Look for more tips in the coming weeks, both at Macworld.com and our new iPhone Central blog.
1. Use your iPhone as a storage device
One of side benefits to the iPod beyond its music-playing capabilities is the fact that you can use it to store files. You can’t do this with an out-of-the-box iPhone. But with the help of a $10 program—and a Mac—you can. The app is iPhoneDrive, a small utility from Ecamm Network that displays the free storage area of an iPhone in the manner of a Finder window in Column view. To add files to the iPhone, either click the Copy to iPhone button or drag a file or folder to the iPhoneDrive Window; dragging from the iPhone or clicking on Copy From iPhone puts iPhone files on your Mac. Note that music and photo files for use on your iPhone are off limits.—CHRISTOPHER BREEN
2. Get a bigger keyboard for Web browsing
Like any other iPhone function requiring data entry, tapping Safari’s address bar summons an on-screen keyboard. However, if you rotate the iPhone horizontally before tapping the address bar, the Safari window will switch to horizontal mode; then, when you then tap the address bar, the onscreen keyboard also appears horizontally. More important, it will also be much larger than the standard vertical keyboard, making data entry a little easier. By the way, Safari is currently the only iPhone application in which this horizontal keyboard appears. (Also worth noting: If you summon the keyboard before rotating your iPhone, then Safari won’t rotate.)—DAN FRAKES
3. Create a home page in Safari
With the regular version of Safari that runs on your Mac (and now your Windows-based PC), setting a particular site as your home page is as simple as going to the General tab in Preferences and typing in a URL. You can’t do that on the iPhone, however. But you can use this work-around: Add your would-be home page to your bookmarks list and then move it to the top of your bookmarks list. Yes it’s an extra tap—first the Bookmarks button and then the bookmark itself—but it will get you to your favorite Web page with a minimum of fuss.—DF
4. Share your URLs
If you want to send the URL of a Web page you’re viewing to a friend, tap the Address Bar, then tap Share. A new e-mail message, containing the URL, will open in Mail; just choose a recipient(s), add any comments you want to include, and tap Send.—DF
5. Scroll through separate boxes on a Web page
If you encounter a scrolling box or list when surfing Safari on your iPhone—say you’re responding to a post at the Macworld.com forums —and try to scroll using your finger, you’ll find that the entire page scrolls, instead of just the box. The trick is to zoom in and scroll such areas with two fingers.—DF
6. Make a call from Safari
If you find a phone number in Safari that you’d like to call—say the phone number at a restaurant you’d like to make reservations at—there’s no need to jump to the phone component. Just tap the number; iPhone will dial it for you. (This is also the case with phone numbers and URL embedded in e-mails and SMS chats; tapping either one will place a call or open a Web page, respectively.)—PHILIP MICHAELS
7. Find out where those links go
When in Safari, holding your fingertip down on a link instead of tapping it produces an information balloon that displays the underlying URL. The same thing happens in Mail when you hold a link, which makes this tip much more useful. Now when those “account update” e-mails appear, you can press and hold on the link to find out if you’re really going to be taken to the site the e-mail claims.—DF
8. Avoid Mail confusion
Don’t name two of your e-mail accounts with the same name, as Mail will get confused and copy the settings from one account to the other. And you can’t fix the situation by simply renaming one account; you’ll need to delete one of the accounts and then recreate it.—DF
9. Mark previously-read messages as unread
There doesn’t appear to be a way to the mark a read message as unread on the iPhone, but it’s in there. While viewing a message, tap Details, which reveals a Mark As Unread option; tap it, and the next time you view your Inbox, the message will display the Unread indicator.—DF
10. Recover ‘lost’ e-mails
Say you try to send an e-mail, but the iPhone can’t get network access. You might think your message has disappeared completely, but don’t worry—it’s still on your phone. A temporary Outgoing folder is created, and the message winds up in there. You can access this temporary folder from the main screen of the sending account; the folder will disappear once network access is available and the message is sent.—DF
11. Create e-mail folders
Well, actually, you can’t create e-mail folders on the iPhone. What you can do, however, with an IMAP e-mail account is create folders on the IMAP server—for example, if you have a .Mac account, using the .Mac Web Mail interface. Those folders will then appear on the iPhone, and their contents will—eventually—be synced between the iPhone and the server.—DF
12. Save e-mail messages as drafts
If you want to save a message you’re working on so you can come back to it later, tap Cancel. Instead of deleting the message immediately, Mail pops up a dialog asking you to Save, Don’t Save, or Cancel. Tap Save and the message is placed in your Drafts folder. If your account doesn’t currently have a Drafts folder, Mail will create one. However, don’t be alarmed if the message doesn’t appear in Drafts immediately; in my testing, it takes a while to show up.—DF
13. Pick where you listen to voicemail
If you’ve got a Bluetooth headset, incoming calls get routed there automatically—not so when you call up Visual Voicemail. However, an Audio button on the Visual Voicemail screen lets you set where you listen to your message: the handset, the built-in speaker, or a Bluetooth headset.—JIM DALRYMPLE
14. Find another way to scroll through Contacts
Everyone knows that you can scroll through the Contacts list on your iPhone two different ways—either flick your finger on the list to scroll up or down, or tap on one of the letters on the alphabet running down the right side of the screen to jump to contacts beginning with that letter. But there is a third way: hold your finger on the alphabetical list and then slide up and down—you’ll be able to scroll through your Contacts in a more controlled manner than by flicking your finger.—JD
15. Use the Favorites and Recents list for more than just phone calls
Favorites and Recents are part of the main Phone screen; the former is iPhone’s version of frequently called numbers while the latter is a list of people who you’ve called and whose calls you missed. But this is not just a phone feature—assuming the numbers in Favorites and Recents belong to a mobile phone, you can send them an SMS message. Just tap the > button next to the contact name or number and then tap the Text Message button at the bottom of the contact listing.—DF
16. Save time in driving directions
One of the primary uses for the iPhone’s Map application is to get driving directions. Both the starting point and destination fields offer the Bookmarks button, so you can quickly use a bookmark, recent location, or contact when searching for directions. The first thing you should do in Maps is find your own address and then bookmark it—this will make finding directions to and from locations as easy as tapping your home bookmark.—DF
17. Recreate some of the iPod’s audio controls
If you listen to an audiobook on an iPod, you probably know that, ever since the fourth-generation iPod’s release, you can alter the playback speed to make it go faster or slower as your preferences dictate. That feature makes its way over to the iPhone as well. Just tap Settings and then the iPod option; tap the Audiobook Speed entry and in the resulting screen, tap to choose among Slower, Normal, or Faster.
In fact, that’s just one iPod feature that also appears on the iPhone. You can also use the Settings screen to turn on Sound Check (the feature that makes volume more consistent from one track to another) and change the EQ with 22 included equalization presets.—CB
18. Change your iPod icons
By default, the icons on the bottom of the iPod screen are Playlists, Artists, Songs, Videos, and More. You can change those first four, just as you would the commands that appear on an iPod’s main screen. Simply tap the More icon and, in the More screen, tap the Edit button at the top-left of the screen. A Configure screen will wipe up from the bottom and display icons for Albums, Podcasts, Audiobooks, Genres, Composers, Compilations, Playlists, Artists, Songs, and Videos. To substitute one of these icons for one that appears at the bottom of the screen, just tap and hold on an icon and drag it over the icon you want to replace. Tap Done when you’re done.—CB
19. Say goodbye to already-viewed videos
Even owners of the largest-capacity iPhone might feel constrained by the 8GB limit when it comes to storing videos. A full-length motion picture takes up around 1GB of storage, which is a significant chunk of space for just one piece of media. To help ease the storage crunch however, the iPhone offers to delete videos after you’ve finished watching them; just tap a button and Pirates of the Caribbean will disappear off your iPhone, freeing up more space.—CB
20. Syncing notes with the iPhone
One of the major limitations to the iPhone’s Notes app is that you can’t sync it with data from any application on your Mac. There’s a work-around, however—each contact has a notes field. So create a fake contact and paste any info you’d like to keep with you in the notes field for that contact in Address Book. One sync later, and all that info will be at your fingertips.—JONATHAN SEFF
21. Rebooting your iPhone
Pretend for a moment that your iPhone suddenly becomes unresponsive. Pushing the Home button does nothing. Hitting the On/Off button produces the same discouraging result. What do you do? Apple’s first reset tip is to press and hold the Home button for about six seconds to quit any application that might have locked up your iPhone. If that doesn’t work, trying pressing and holding both Home and On/Off; after about 10 seconds the Apple logo will appear. (This reboot trick takes a little big longer than the iPod equivalent—holding down Select and Menu usually restarts your music player after four seconds.)—CB
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Capstone and Keystone Courses
Preparing For Post-College Life: Capstone and Keystone CoursesThese days more colleges and universities are requiring students to participate in capstone courses prior to graduation.
These classes allow students to achieve key learning objectives and demonstrate their mastery of particular material.
Different Times, Same Goals
Many schools now require courses known as keystone or capstone courses. However, not all colleges use capstone or keystone courses in the same way. Some universities use keystone courses to lay a foundation for the coursework and materials that are to come, while other colleges utilize capstone courses exclusively for those in their final few semesters of college. These "putting it all together" classes give students an opportunity to use their knowledge and skills, while giving faculty the chance to evaluate what a student has learned. In other words, capstone courses give those nearing graduation an opportunity to integrate all of the materials they have learned in a one- or two-semester course, assuring that the learning objectives set by the faculty, department or university have been met.
Types of Keystone Courses
Some colleges require all graduates to complete a school-wide capstone course that takes students from various majors and places them together to work on a single project. Other schools require capstone courses only for those in a particular major. Some universities require students to participate in both. And regardless of whether the courses are required for everyone or in a single department, there are essentially four different kinds of keystone courses: a major-project course, a portfolio-building course, a multiple-project course, or a field or internship program.
- Field or Internship Programs
In an internship-style capstone course, the student participates in an internship, or works in the field, supervised by a faculty member, as well as a supervisor in the field. A good example of this is a student-teaching practicum, where a teaching student goes into a classroom and teaches under the supervision of a mentor teacher, who evaluates the student's performance and provides regular feedback to both the student teacher and the student teacher's professor.
- The Portfolio-Building Capstone Course
Typically used to evaluate students in the creative arts, students in this kind of keystone course develop a large portfolio of projects or pieces. Either a single piece is selected for evaluation or the entire portfolio of work is reviewed.
- The Multiple-Project Course
This kind of keystone course is likely to feature multiple small-group projects. Students in these keystone courses are generally required to demonstrate their knowledge of given material in every format, from oral reports to multimedia presentations to research papers and exams.
- Major Project Course
As the name implies, in this style of keystone course, a student generally works on a single large project--such as a thesis paper or large research project--for the entire semester. This is generally the most-widely used capstone course format.
Putting it All Together
While capstone courses can be challenging, they provide a truly unique learning experience. These important courses give students the opportunity to collaborate with their peers; practice their presentation and organizational skills; use their knowledge; and, ultimately, showcase what they have learned and achieved during their college experience. They are, in fact, an ideal way to ensure that graduates are prepared for life after college.
Sources: Assessment Handbook
Thursday, December 13, 2007
What Foods Help You Learn Better?
Do you want to supercharge your brain? There are certain foods you can eat and nutritional habits you can develop that may help your brain work better.
Go Fish
It appears that fish may be one of the best brain foods around. Fish have high levels of both choline and omega-3 fatty acids. Both substances are linked to brain functionality. Choline, a B-vitamin, has received a lot of attention lately because of its positive effect on the brain's memory center, the hippocampus. In one experiment, rat pups given choline either in the womb or within a few weeks of being born displayed a significant change in brain function, resulting in lifelong memory enhancement. In another experiment, pregnant mothers were given either cod liver oil or corn oil throughout their pregnancies. Cod liver oil contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and corn oil does not. The children of these mothers were given an IQ test at the age of 4, and the offspring of the mothers who were given cod liver oil scored significantly better than the corn oil group. Tests using choline with pregnant mothers produced similar results.
Lose the Carbs and Gain Your Focus
If you want your brain to work at a high level for longer periods of time, you're going to have to watch your carbohydrate intake. Carbs are an essential part of nutrition, but most of us eat more than we need. When given an overdose of carbs, our bodies essentially shut down, making us sleepy. It's hard to concentrate in this state, meaning that your post pizza pig-out study sessions might not be that effective. Balancing protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake makes the body work most efficiently. Fruit and vegetables are actually carbohydrates, but are not nearly as dense as breads and pastas. Eating more fruits and vegetables and decreasing your intake of dense breads and pastas should help you focus for longer periods of time.
Caffeine -- Friend or Foe?
And yes, any story on brain food should discuss the double-edged sword otherwise known as caffeine. As most people know, caffeine is a stimulant and is found in coffee, chocolate, and many carbonated beverages. Because of its stimulating effect, it can help you become more alert and thus able to process information more smoothly and quickly. Unfortunately, caffeine is addictive, meaning that over long periods of caffeine intake, your brain may develop a "need" for the drug in order to wake up. At this point, the ability for your brain to function well without caffeine is hindered. In general, sticking with foods high in choline and omega-3 fatty acids, and limiting your intake of dense carbs should help you become more alert and make learning easier for you. Use caffeine sparingly for a temporary boost, but don't make it a habit.
In general, sticking with foods high in choline and omega-3 fatty acids, and limiting your intake of dense carbs should help you become more alert and make learning easier for you. Use caffeine sparingly for a temporary boost, but don't make it a habit.
Go Fish
It appears that fish may be one of the best brain foods around. Fish have high levels of both choline and omega-3 fatty acids. Both substances are linked to brain functionality. Choline, a B-vitamin, has received a lot of attention lately because of its positive effect on the brain's memory center, the hippocampus. In one experiment, rat pups given choline either in the womb or within a few weeks of being born displayed a significant change in brain function, resulting in lifelong memory enhancement. In another experiment, pregnant mothers were given either cod liver oil or corn oil throughout their pregnancies. Cod liver oil contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and corn oil does not. The children of these mothers were given an IQ test at the age of 4, and the offspring of the mothers who were given cod liver oil scored significantly better than the corn oil group. Tests using choline with pregnant mothers produced similar results.
Lose the Carbs and Gain Your Focus
If you want your brain to work at a high level for longer periods of time, you're going to have to watch your carbohydrate intake. Carbs are an essential part of nutrition, but most of us eat more than we need. When given an overdose of carbs, our bodies essentially shut down, making us sleepy. It's hard to concentrate in this state, meaning that your post pizza pig-out study sessions might not be that effective. Balancing protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake makes the body work most efficiently. Fruit and vegetables are actually carbohydrates, but are not nearly as dense as breads and pastas. Eating more fruits and vegetables and decreasing your intake of dense breads and pastas should help you focus for longer periods of time.
Caffeine -- Friend or Foe?
And yes, any story on brain food should discuss the double-edged sword otherwise known as caffeine. As most people know, caffeine is a stimulant and is found in coffee, chocolate, and many carbonated beverages. Because of its stimulating effect, it can help you become more alert and thus able to process information more smoothly and quickly. Unfortunately, caffeine is addictive, meaning that over long periods of caffeine intake, your brain may develop a "need" for the drug in order to wake up. At this point, the ability for your brain to function well without caffeine is hindered. In general, sticking with foods high in choline and omega-3 fatty acids, and limiting your intake of dense carbs should help you become more alert and make learning easier for you. Use caffeine sparingly for a temporary boost, but don't make it a habit.
In general, sticking with foods high in choline and omega-3 fatty acids, and limiting your intake of dense carbs should help you become more alert and make learning easier for you. Use caffeine sparingly for a temporary boost, but don't make it a habit.
Top 10 Careers in U.S. industries
Whether you're pondering a career change or entering the workforce for the first time, you might want to do a little homework. Choosing a career is a big decision, and it can be hard to narrow down the possibilities. To help you out, we've compiled a list of the top 10 U.S. industries--those that will add the most jobs in the coming years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Maybe one of them is right for you.
1. Home Health Care Services
Individuals who are injured, disabled, mentally or physically ill, or elderly often require directed medical care in their home. If you'd like to provide this kind of dedicated, one-on-one care to someone in need, consider training as a licensed practical nurse (LPN), licensed vocational nurse (LVN) , or patient care technician.
2. Software Publishing
Software is the key component in making computers work, and software publishers oversee the design, distribution, installation, and technical support of both application and systems software. Demand is on the rise for software in the areas of operating systems, games, graphics, data, Internet business, Internet security, and word processing. Good college degrees for a software publishing career include game design, computer programming, and information technology.
3. Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services
Consultants provide expert advice to domestic and foreign businesses, governments, and other organizations. Management consultants generally focus on operations, marketing, human resources, distribution, and security or focuses on specific industries such as healthcare. Scientific and technical consultants provide expertise on technology, environment, or specific scientific fields such as biology or chemistry. If you're interested in becoming a consultant, consider earning an MBA or a degree in information technology, engineering, or the sciences, depending on your field of interest.
4. Residential Care Facilities
Residential care facilities offer continuous medical care to patients whose conditions aren't serious enough for a hospital stay, and assisted living services to seniors. If you want to work in this booming field, you'll want a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN) degree, or a bachelor's of science degree in nursing (BSN). For a non-clinical career in this expanding industry, consider training as an assisted living administrator.
5. Facilities Support Services
A facilities manager oversees the planning, procurement, and maintenance of buildings for businesses, government agencies, and other institutions. While some facilities managers are responsible for engineering or architectural, many facilities managers handle the business aspects such as operations, real estate, finances, technology requirements, and personnel. Career training in administrative assisting or business management provides a good foundation for this widespread industry.
6. Employment Services
Employment services assist people with job placement on a temporary or permanent basis, and sometimes provide HR management services for a business. If assisting with job recruiting, employment service professionals should have experience in the particular field of placement and a degree in business administration and management. A certificate or degree in human resource management will train you in such areas as payroll, benefits, workers' compensation, and labor laws.
7. Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers
Artists can be found in a variety of specialty sectors, including art direction, fine art, craft art, multimedia, animation, and graphic design. If you're looking for a creative career in this sector, go for a degree in art, visual communication, or graphic design. Freelance writers produce fiction or non-fiction material for print, movies, television, or advertising and often have degrees in English, communications, or journalism.
8. Office Administrative Services
Office administration professionals include executive secretaries, administrative assistants, and even legal and medical secretaries. Performing a variety of clerical duties using multiple office technologies, office administrators ensure that office operations run efficiently. Career training programs for office administration include degrees and certificates in administrative assisting, office administration, business management, and associate's degrees in business administration.
9. Computer Systems Design
The role of computers in businesses is constantly evolving, as companies' needs and technologies change. Computer systems designers, programmers, analysts, and engineers work to plan, design, and maintain computer hardware, software, and communications technology. To get involved in this lucrative industry, you'll need a college degree in computer science or computer information systems.
10. Outpatient, Laboratory, and Other Ambulatory Care Services
An enormous portion of U.S. medical care does not involve an overnight stay in a hospital. Physicians' offices and other outpatient facilities are staffed with registered nurses or licensed practical nurses (to move up, you'll want a Bachelor of Science in Nursing). Other career training programs for this fast-growing industry include clinical laboratory technology, dental hygiene, pharmacy technician, radiological technology, and respiratory therapy.
Sources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
The College Board
About the Author
Leslie Acosta has a BA in modern European studies and an MA in art history. She has taught college courses and is currently a freelance writer.
1. Home Health Care Services
Individuals who are injured, disabled, mentally or physically ill, or elderly often require directed medical care in their home. If you'd like to provide this kind of dedicated, one-on-one care to someone in need, consider training as a licensed practical nurse (LPN), licensed vocational nurse (LVN) , or patient care technician.
2. Software Publishing
Software is the key component in making computers work, and software publishers oversee the design, distribution, installation, and technical support of both application and systems software. Demand is on the rise for software in the areas of operating systems, games, graphics, data, Internet business, Internet security, and word processing. Good college degrees for a software publishing career include game design, computer programming, and information technology.
3. Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services
Consultants provide expert advice to domestic and foreign businesses, governments, and other organizations. Management consultants generally focus on operations, marketing, human resources, distribution, and security or focuses on specific industries such as healthcare. Scientific and technical consultants provide expertise on technology, environment, or specific scientific fields such as biology or chemistry. If you're interested in becoming a consultant, consider earning an MBA or a degree in information technology, engineering, or the sciences, depending on your field of interest.
4. Residential Care Facilities
Residential care facilities offer continuous medical care to patients whose conditions aren't serious enough for a hospital stay, and assisted living services to seniors. If you want to work in this booming field, you'll want a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN) degree, or a bachelor's of science degree in nursing (BSN). For a non-clinical career in this expanding industry, consider training as an assisted living administrator.
5. Facilities Support Services
A facilities manager oversees the planning, procurement, and maintenance of buildings for businesses, government agencies, and other institutions. While some facilities managers are responsible for engineering or architectural, many facilities managers handle the business aspects such as operations, real estate, finances, technology requirements, and personnel. Career training in administrative assisting or business management provides a good foundation for this widespread industry.
6. Employment Services
Employment services assist people with job placement on a temporary or permanent basis, and sometimes provide HR management services for a business. If assisting with job recruiting, employment service professionals should have experience in the particular field of placement and a degree in business administration and management. A certificate or degree in human resource management will train you in such areas as payroll, benefits, workers' compensation, and labor laws.
7. Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers
Artists can be found in a variety of specialty sectors, including art direction, fine art, craft art, multimedia, animation, and graphic design. If you're looking for a creative career in this sector, go for a degree in art, visual communication, or graphic design. Freelance writers produce fiction or non-fiction material for print, movies, television, or advertising and often have degrees in English, communications, or journalism.
8. Office Administrative Services
Office administration professionals include executive secretaries, administrative assistants, and even legal and medical secretaries. Performing a variety of clerical duties using multiple office technologies, office administrators ensure that office operations run efficiently. Career training programs for office administration include degrees and certificates in administrative assisting, office administration, business management, and associate's degrees in business administration.
9. Computer Systems Design
The role of computers in businesses is constantly evolving, as companies' needs and technologies change. Computer systems designers, programmers, analysts, and engineers work to plan, design, and maintain computer hardware, software, and communications technology. To get involved in this lucrative industry, you'll need a college degree in computer science or computer information systems.
10. Outpatient, Laboratory, and Other Ambulatory Care Services
An enormous portion of U.S. medical care does not involve an overnight stay in a hospital. Physicians' offices and other outpatient facilities are staffed with registered nurses or licensed practical nurses (to move up, you'll want a Bachelor of Science in Nursing). Other career training programs for this fast-growing industry include clinical laboratory technology, dental hygiene, pharmacy technician, radiological technology, and respiratory therapy.
Sources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
The College Board
About the Author
Leslie Acosta has a BA in modern European studies and an MA in art history. She has taught college courses and is currently a freelance writer.
7 Success Strategies for Distance Learners!
Distance learning has special challenges. You will probably never see or meet the teacher. You won't have classmates. You don't have a campus full of people studying the same thing.
But you can succeed! Plan on it! Follow the simple tips below, and you'll do better in your learning. They may seem pretty basic, but they'll help keep you focused and on track.
1. Set goals.
• Goal #1: "I will succeed in this course."
• At the beginning of a new course, look through the materials. Break the lessons/assignments into manageable chunks. You might not have time to do a full lesson in one night, so plan for how much you can do, then stick to it until you're done.
2. Establish a regular study/learning schedule.
• Keep a calendar or journal with your study goals and important dates clearly marked-and look at it every day (a calendar can't help you if it's closed!).
• Determine what time is best for you to study. Is it after dinner on Wednesdays when your partner is at bowling? Is it Saturday mornings when the kids are at soccer?
• Take breaks-walk around and stretch. Drink some water or have a light snack. If you're studying nutrition or health topics, you know how important this is!
• If possible, have a dedicated study place with all the supplies you might need (computer, paper, pens, calculator, etc.)
• Pace yourself. Don't over extend yourself. There's a reason it takes several years to graduate from traditional university. You're in this to learn, not just to get a certificate, so make sure you're learning, not just racing through the materials.
3. Talk about it!
• Tell people what you're doing. You're more likely to stick to a course if your co-worker knows you're doing it. If you are studying high-tech or internet development, the person might just know a programmer he can hook you up with for tutoring.
• Ask a friend to check up on you.
• Ask someone to proof your work before you submit it.
4. Join a study group-this doesn't have to be stuffy!
• Join a club. Aspiring financial planners could join a local investing club.
• If you're studying a language like Spanish or Japanese, ask the owners of a local restaurant if they know anyone who might like to do language exchange with you.
• Get a mentor. If you're taking a course related to health or medicine, ask a nurse or pharmacist if you can take them for coffee once a month.
• Search the Internet for bulletin boards or chat rooms related to your topic.
5. Know your learning style, and use it!
• Look for real-world situations and examples of what you're learning about. If you're studying about civil engineering, pay attention to bridges.
• You'll be much more interested if you're involved, not just reading about a topic. • Put things into practice as early as possible.
• If you're studying accounting, practice by balancing your checkbook.
6. Celebrate successes!
• Reward yourself with whatever works for you, along the way. Remember, you chose to do this. Be proud of your accomplishments!
7. Ask Questions
• If you don't understand something, ASK. It's been said a zillion times: the only dumb question is the one you don't ask.
It's not about memorizing - it's about learning material that will help you in your hobbies, career, and life. Memorization isn't a bad thing, but make sure you're memorizing because you are really interested in the information, and figure out a way to use the memorized information several times within a few days of learning it. It'll stick if it has real-world meaning.
Federal Stafford loan
Federal Stafford loans first disbursed July 1, 2006 are fixed-rate, low interest loans available to undergraduate students attending accredited schools at least half time. Stafford loans are the most common source of college loan funds.
Eligibility
Eligibility
- You must have submitted a FAFSA.
- For subsidized Stafford loans, you must have financial need as determined by your school.
- You must be a U.S. citizen or national, a U.S. permanent resident, or eligible non-citizen.
- You must be enrolled or plan to enroll at least half time.
- You must be accepted for enrollment or attend a school that participates in the Federal Family Education Loan Program.
- You must not be in default on any education loan or owe a refund on an education grant.
Features
- Sallie Mae lenders offer borrower benefits on Stafford loans that can save you money in repayment.
- Flexible repayment options are available.
- No payments are required while you are in school at least half time.
- You can manage your account online 24/7 at http://www.manageyourloans.com/.
- You get life-of-loan servicing from Sallie Mae.
- There is no prepayment penalty.
- No credit check is required.
- Six-month grace period when no payments are required immediately following your graduation or dropping to less-than-half-time status.
Loan Items
Loan limits
Dependent Annual loan limit
Freshman $3,500*
Sophomore $4,500*
Junior or senior $5,500
Independent Annual loan limit
Freshman $7,500*
Sophomore $8,500*
Junior or senior $10,500
Graduate or professional $20,500*
Undergraduate dependent lifetime limit $23,000
Undergraduate independent lifetime limit $46,000
Graduate or professional lifetime limit** $138,500
*For loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2007.
**Exceptions may apply to certain graduate students.
Interest rate
For Stafford loans first disbursed beginning July 1, 2006, the interest rate is fixed at 6.8%.
Fees
For loans first disbursed July 1, 2007–June 30, 2008: Up to 2.5% in fees that includes a 1.5% federal origination fee and a 1% federal default fee. There are lenders and guarantors that work with Sallie Mae that pay all or a portion of these fees.
One way to help pay down your loan
With Upromise Loan LinkSM student and parent borrowers who join Upromise® can link their Sallie Mae loan account to their Upromise account and use their Upromise rewards to help pay down their eligible Sallie Mae serviced student loans.
Legal
You are responsible for all of the interest that accrues on your unsubsidized Stafford loan while you are in school, but you do not have to pay the interest during this time. Unpaid interest that is deferred until after graduation is capitalized (added to the loan principal) and you will therefore pay interest on a higher loan amount. Interest does not accrue on subsidized Stafford loans while you are in school, during grace, and during authorized deferment.
Source: http://www.salliemae.com/
tag: Undergraduate, Stafford Loans, guaranteed student loan, government student loan, Stafford, Stratford, Stanford, college loan
Two types of Stafford loans
Subsidized Stafford loans are need-based, and interest does not accrue on these loans while you are in school, during a six-month grace period immediately preceding repayment, and during authorized deferment.
Unsubsidized Stafford loans are not need-based, and you are responsible for all of the interest that accrues on the loan, including while you are in school.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Google Blogger使用技巧
Blogger是Google提供的免费博客服务，提供中文界面，是一个很成熟的中文博客发布平台。
Blogger一个突出的特点就是简洁但功能强大，没有多余而花哨的功能，必要的功能一个都不差。Bloger自由性最大的地方在于其模板可以自定义，也就是说你可以修改模板里的任何内容，包括Google的广告，这给那些懂Html和CSS的Blogger提供了很大的自由度。Blogger默认把用户的网志发布到免费提供的Blogspot.com主机上。可惜的是Blogspot.com从中国是无法访问。好在Blogger.com提供了一种很独特的服务，可以将博客的静态页面通过FTP发布到用户选择的服务器上。
通过FTP发布到其他主机
用户在Blogger.com上的默认Blog地址显然无法从国内访问，但是如果你有一个虚拟主机空间，或者其他支持FTP的空间，那么Blogger.com可以将这个地址上的日志文件全部发布到你的虚拟主机空间上去。
具体的方法是：登陆你的Blogger帐号，进入控制面板，更改设置，在“发布”选项卡中点击FTP的超级链接，然后录入FTP服务器地址，FTP用户名和密码。点保存设置后，就可以发布了，这时Blogger.com会将你的整个站发布到你指定的主机上。
至于这个FTP服务器，我推荐一个国内GFans提供的免费Blogger Spaces空间，支持FTP发布，最重要的是支持域名绑定，其服务器在广州，速度很快，希望大家不要滥用其服务。
通过电子邮件发布日志
在Blogger中写日志麻烦？告诉你一个技巧，你可以不登录Blogger网站，只要发送一封电子邮件就可以发表文章了。
具体的方法是：登陆你的Blogger帐号，进入控制面板，更改设置，在“电子邮件”中，在Mail-to-Blogger地址中可以自定义一个邮件地址，发送到此地址的邮件会自动张贴，BlogSend地址是另外一个电子邮件地址，只要一发布文章，系统会将其邮寄文章到此地址。
这里再介绍一个小技巧，就是在更新Blogger的同时也更新MSN Space。因为MSN Space也是支持邮件发布的，因此将Blogger发布后发送邮件的BlogSend地址修改为MSN Space的发布邮件地址，这样在Blogger上发布一篇文章后，系统就会自动将文章内容发送到Msn Spaces里，这样就同时更新了两个博客。
有一点值得注意的是，Blogger默认的编码是UTF-8编码，因此发送邮件的时候要将邮件编码设置为UTF-8的格式，建议登陆GMail发送邮件。一来GMail默认就是UTF-8格式的，编码全兼容，二来GMail支持自动保存功能，不怕电脑死机后丢失文章，三来GMail还可以自动备份发出去的文章，以免文章丢失。
使用第三方软件发布文章
Zoundry是一个第三方的日志发布软件，可以做到不用登陆Blogger即可发布日志，使用它来编辑和发布，速度和效率都非常理想。
添加Google Adsense广告
Google Blogger用户可以很快捷方便地申请加入Google Adsense广告服务。Google本身也推荐博客们使用Blogger的广告来为自己和Google赚钱。
Google工具栏的应用
Google工具栏有一个按钮是“发送到Blogger”，可以快速将当前网页发送到自己的Blogger空间上。
Google Picasa的应用
Picasa是Google的图像管理软件，在Picasa中点图片，再点“Blog This”，可以将选定图片发送到自己的Blogger空间上。
Blogger的申请地址是： http://www.blogger.com/
Blogger一个突出的特点就是简洁但功能强大，没有多余而花哨的功能，必要的功能一个都不差。Bloger自由性最大的地方在于其模板可以自定义，也就是说你可以修改模板里的任何内容，包括Google的广告，这给那些懂Html和CSS的Blogger提供了很大的自由度。Blogger默认把用户的网志发布到免费提供的Blogspot.com主机上。可惜的是Blogspot.com从中国是无法访问。好在Blogger.com提供了一种很独特的服务，可以将博客的静态页面通过FTP发布到用户选择的服务器上。
通过FTP发布到其他主机
用户在Blogger.com上的默认Blog地址显然无法从国内访问，但是如果你有一个虚拟主机空间，或者其他支持FTP的空间，那么Blogger.com可以将这个地址上的日志文件全部发布到你的虚拟主机空间上去。
具体的方法是：登陆你的Blogger帐号，进入控制面板，更改设置，在“发布”选项卡中点击FTP的超级链接，然后录入FTP服务器地址，FTP用户名和密码。点保存设置后，就可以发布了，这时Blogger.com会将你的整个站发布到你指定的主机上。
至于这个FTP服务器，我推荐一个国内GFans提供的免费Blogger Spaces空间，支持FTP发布，最重要的是支持域名绑定，其服务器在广州，速度很快，希望大家不要滥用其服务。
通过电子邮件发布日志
在Blogger中写日志麻烦？告诉你一个技巧，你可以不登录Blogger网站，只要发送一封电子邮件就可以发表文章了。
具体的方法是：登陆你的Blogger帐号，进入控制面板，更改设置，在“电子邮件”中，在Mail-to-Blogger地址中可以自定义一个邮件地址，发送到此地址的邮件会自动张贴，BlogSend地址是另外一个电子邮件地址，只要一发布文章，系统会将其邮寄文章到此地址。
这里再介绍一个小技巧，就是在更新Blogger的同时也更新MSN Space。因为MSN Space也是支持邮件发布的，因此将Blogger发布后发送邮件的BlogSend地址修改为MSN Space的发布邮件地址，这样在Blogger上发布一篇文章后，系统就会自动将文章内容发送到Msn Spaces里，这样就同时更新了两个博客。
有一点值得注意的是，Blogger默认的编码是UTF-8编码，因此发送邮件的时候要将邮件编码设置为UTF-8的格式，建议登陆GMail发送邮件。一来GMail默认就是UTF-8格式的，编码全兼容，二来GMail支持自动保存功能，不怕电脑死机后丢失文章，三来GMail还可以自动备份发出去的文章，以免文章丢失。
使用第三方软件发布文章
Zoundry是一个第三方的日志发布软件，可以做到不用登陆Blogger即可发布日志，使用它来编辑和发布，速度和效率都非常理想。
添加Google Adsense广告
Google Blogger用户可以很快捷方便地申请加入Google Adsense广告服务。Google本身也推荐博客们使用Blogger的广告来为自己和Google赚钱。
Google工具栏的应用
Google工具栏有一个按钮是“发送到Blogger”，可以快速将当前网页发送到自己的Blogger空间上。
Google Picasa的应用
Picasa是Google的图像管理软件，在Picasa中点图片，再点“Blog This”，可以将选定图片发送到自己的Blogger空间上。
Blogger的申请地址是： http://www.blogger.com/
google blogger博客blogspot打不开的解决办法
google博客blogspot打不开的解决办法
前文我们提到过google自己的博客，不知道朋友们申请与否，申请了以后会发现博客主页是打不开的。什么原因不是我们讨论的主题，我们要想看看自己博客的情况倒是有可能的，我告诉大家的目的仅仅是为了大家能够浏览自己的博客，或者让朋友能打开，方法如下四种： 一、在原网址后加上".nyud.net:8090"： 例如a new start博客的地址是" http://iaizkai.blogspot.com/"，现在要想打开就在网址后加上".nyud.net:8090"。即就是要输入：" http://iaizkai.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/"就OK了！
但是打开其中的每个页面都得这样做。
二、进这个http://www.pkblogs.com/网站，在下面的空白处输入你的博客用户名，然后点击access now。就可以访问了。
或者在这个链接：http://www.pkblogs.com/的后面加上你的博客用户名也可直接进入，注意是用户名。
三、修改windows下面hosts文件，如果你的机器是XP，请用记事本打开以下文件：
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
添加以下内容：
72.14.219.190 googleblog.blogspot.com
你就可以访问googleblog.blogspot.com了，你可以添加自己的blogspot，保存一下就可以正常访问了.
四、此方法最大的好处是可以访问所有 blogspot 的子域名:
复制以下内容到记事本：
function FindProxyForURL(url,host){
if(dnsDomainIs(host, ".blogspot.com")){
return "PROXY 72.14.219.190:80";
}
}
另存为proxy.pac 到C 盘根目录下，打开Firefox，依次点击工具->选项-> 高级->网络->设置...->选中自动代理配置URL，添加：file：///C:/proxy.pac ，点击重新载入，OK！
五. 从去年初可以访问，昨天下午开始部分地区不能访问
这一年以来，blogspot晕了这么多次，我相信不少读者早就掌握了这个方法。不过如果你之前不知道，可以看一下。通常情况下，我们可以通过修改Windows系统下的Hosts文件，以正常访问blogspot。
以XP为例，用记事本打开下面的文件：
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
再手动添加下面的内容即可：
59.151.21.100 blogspot地址
比如：
59.151.21.100 googleblog.blogspot.com
用这个方法，将你经常访问的blogspot blog给添加进去，每行一个，即可以正常访问它们了。记得修改完后，保存一下。
读者"GG GG"在邮件里建议大家共同参与编辑下面的Hosts wiki页面：
http://groups.google.com/group/ggpi/web/hostwiki
http://goog1e-adsense.blogspot.com/
即把自己的blogspot blog地址添加进去。理论上，当所有blogspot用户都参与了编辑后，就得出了一个"无敌"的Hosts文件，拥有它，blogspot就可完全正常访问了。虽然有点"愚公移山"的味道，但总比什么都不做要好一些。
六、>>google blogger打不开的解决方法由于google的某些产品涉及到一些言论问题，比如说blogger就是这样，一般情况下是打不开的，用代理服务器可以解决这个问题，通过访问72.14.219.190这个服务器可以找到出口，看到blogger中的文章，下面是用在firefox下测试的方法：把下面这段代码保存为文本，选择firefox 选项-》高级-》设置 选中下面的自动代理配置，填上那个文件的本地url，我的是file:///c:/proxy.pac,这样只要你访问blogspot就能自动定位到代理服务器上，有兴趣的朋友可以玩下
function FindProxyForURL(url,host){ if(dnsDomainIs(host, ".blogspot.com")){ return "PROXY 72.14.219.190:80"; } if(dnsDomainIs(host, ".googlepages.com")){ return "PROXY 72.14.219.190:80"; } if(dnsDomainIs(host, "pages.google.com")){ return "PROXY 72.14.219.190:80"; } return "DIRECT";} --------------------
用ie也可以噢,我刚刚试了一下,把上面那段代码放在记事本里,另存到c:/proxy.pac,然后在ie的工具->连接->局域网设置里->选择使用自动脚本,填上file:///c:/proxy.pac,ok,现在输入http://www.blogger.com/,是不是就在眼前了.
前文我们提到过google自己的博客，不知道朋友们申请与否，申请了以后会发现博客主页是打不开的。什么原因不是我们讨论的主题，我们要想看看自己博客的情况倒是有可能的，我告诉大家的目的仅仅是为了大家能够浏览自己的博客，或者让朋友能打开，方法如下四种： 一、在原网址后加上".nyud.net:8090"： 例如a new start博客的地址是" http://iaizkai.blogspot.com/"，现在要想打开就在网址后加上".nyud.net:8090"。即就是要输入：" http://iaizkai.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/"就OK了！
但是打开其中的每个页面都得这样做。
二、进这个http://www.pkblogs.com/网站，在下面的空白处输入你的博客用户名，然后点击access now。就可以访问了。
或者在这个链接：http://www.pkblogs.com/的后面加上你的博客用户名也可直接进入，注意是用户名。
三、修改windows下面hosts文件，如果你的机器是XP，请用记事本打开以下文件：
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
添加以下内容：
72.14.219.190 googleblog.blogspot.com
你就可以访问googleblog.blogspot.com了，你可以添加自己的blogspot，保存一下就可以正常访问了.
四、此方法最大的好处是可以访问所有 blogspot 的子域名:
复制以下内容到记事本：
function FindProxyForURL(url,host){
if(dnsDomainIs(host, ".blogspot.com")){
return "PROXY 72.14.219.190:80";
}
}
另存为proxy.pac 到C 盘根目录下，打开Firefox，依次点击工具->选项-> 高级->网络->设置...->选中自动代理配置URL，添加：file：///C:/proxy.pac ，点击重新载入，OK！
五. 从去年初可以访问，昨天下午开始部分地区不能访问
这一年以来，blogspot晕了这么多次，我相信不少读者早就掌握了这个方法。不过如果你之前不知道，可以看一下。通常情况下，我们可以通过修改Windows系统下的Hosts文件，以正常访问blogspot。
以XP为例，用记事本打开下面的文件：
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
再手动添加下面的内容即可：
59.151.21.100 blogspot地址
比如：
59.151.21.100 googleblog.blogspot.com
用这个方法，将你经常访问的blogspot blog给添加进去，每行一个，即可以正常访问它们了。记得修改完后，保存一下。
读者"GG GG"在邮件里建议大家共同参与编辑下面的Hosts wiki页面：
http://groups.google.com/group/ggpi/web/hostwiki
http://goog1e-adsense.blogspot.com/
即把自己的blogspot blog地址添加进去。理论上，当所有blogspot用户都参与了编辑后，就得出了一个"无敌"的Hosts文件，拥有它，blogspot就可完全正常访问了。虽然有点"愚公移山"的味道，但总比什么都不做要好一些。
六、>>google blogger打不开的解决方法由于google的某些产品涉及到一些言论问题，比如说blogger就是这样，一般情况下是打不开的，用代理服务器可以解决这个问题，通过访问72.14.219.190这个服务器可以找到出口，看到blogger中的文章，下面是用在firefox下测试的方法：把下面这段代码保存为文本，选择firefox 选项-》高级-》设置 选中下面的自动代理配置，填上那个文件的本地url，我的是file:///c:/proxy.pac,这样只要你访问blogspot就能自动定位到代理服务器上，有兴趣的朋友可以玩下
function FindProxyForURL(url,host){ if(dnsDomainIs(host, ".blogspot.com")){ return "PROXY 72.14.219.190:80"; } if(dnsDomainIs(host, ".googlepages.com")){ return "PROXY 72.14.219.190:80"; } if(dnsDomainIs(host, "pages.google.com")){ return "PROXY 72.14.219.190:80"; } return "DIRECT";} --------------------
用ie也可以噢,我刚刚试了一下,把上面那段代码放在记事本里,另存到c:/proxy.pac,然后在ie的工具->连接->局域网设置里->选择使用自动脚本,填上file:///c:/proxy.pac,ok,现在输入http://www.blogger.com/,是不是就在眼前了.
Clockwise or counter-clockwise?
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If you think it is clockwise, you must the one who always use your right brain. Ladies often belong to this kind of persons.
If you consider it is counter-clockwise, you must the one who always use your left brain. Gentlemen often do this.
If you first think it is clockwise, but counter-clockwise later. Congratulations! your IQ ranks above 160!
If you consider it is counter-clockwise, you must the one who always use your left brain. Gentlemen often do this.
If you first think it is clockwise, but counter-clockwise later. Congratulations! your IQ ranks above 160!
Friday, December 7, 2007
如何使用feedburner？How to use feedburner?
网址： http://www.feedburner.com/
要使用feedburner，通常你需要一个博客，有RSS或者ATOM种子。
然后你到feedburner注册一个用户，并且把你的RSS/ATOM地址告诉它，同时选取一个你在feedburner上的发布地址，形如：http://feeds.feedburner.com/abc，（其中假设abc是你选择的地址）。其他用户就可以使用这个地址订阅你的RSS/ATOM了。
feedburner相当于一个RSS/ATOM订阅的中转站，你把你的（可能经常改变的）RSS/ATOM地址告诉它，它为你生成一份地址永不改变的 RSS/ATOM，那么，订阅你的RSS/ATOM的用户一直都可以订阅到你的最新消息。
要使用feedburner，通常你需要一个博客，有RSS或者ATOM种子。
然后你到feedburner注册一个用户，并且把你的RSS/ATOM地址告诉它，同时选取一个你在feedburner上的发布地址，形如：http://feeds.feedburner.com/abc，（其中假设abc是你选择的地址）。其他用户就可以使用这个地址订阅你的RSS/ATOM了。
feedburner相当于一个RSS/ATOM订阅的中转站，你把你的（可能经常改变的）RSS/ATOM地址告诉它，它为你生成一份地址永不改变的 RSS/ATOM，那么，订阅你的RSS/ATOM的用户一直都可以订阅到你的最新消息。
Wedding Day for Google co-founder Larry Page
Wedding bells for Google co-founder Larry Page
Google Inc co-founder and one of the world's wealthiest men Larry Page will tie the nuptial knot with his girlfriend next month.
The marriage will take place on December 8 at an undisclosed location, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Tuesday.
Page's girlfriend Lucy Southworth is a bio-medical informatics doctoral student at Stanford and has been dating the Google co-founder for well over an year.
Page, 34, founded Google as a Stanford University computer science doctoral student and today, he is Silicon Valley's richest bachelor with a fortune worth about $20 billion.
Many current and former Google employees are expected to attend the wedding, along with Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin business empire, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, sources said.
Former Vice-President Al Gore too was invited but he expressed his inability to come as he will be in Oslo, Norway, on December 10 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
However, Gore hoped that he would make an appearance at the wedding via video conferencing.
Google Inc co-founder and one of the world's wealthiest men Larry Page will tie the nuptial knot with his girlfriend next month.
The marriage will take place on December 8 at an undisclosed location, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Tuesday.
Page's girlfriend Lucy Southworth is a bio-medical informatics doctoral student at Stanford and has been dating the Google co-founder for well over an year.
Page, 34, founded Google as a Stanford University computer science doctoral student and today, he is Silicon Valley's richest bachelor with a fortune worth about $20 billion.
Many current and former Google employees are expected to attend the wedding, along with Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin business empire, and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, sources said.
Former Vice-President Al Gore too was invited but he expressed his inability to come as he will be in Oslo, Norway, on December 10 to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
However, Gore hoped that he would make an appearance at the wedding via video conferencing.
Bobby Doll - the girl's favorite (actual person version)
Maybe the mother or the girl can be dressed like this in Christmas day. LOL. Christmas Gift?
I can always make you smile
This is one of my favorite pictures which can make me inspired. Share it with all of my friends.:p
Ten wonderful English Sentences (Love lyric)
１夏天的飞鸟，飞到我的窗前唱歌，又飞去了。秋天的黄叶，它们没有什么可唱，只叹息一声，飞落在那里。stray birds of summer come to my window to sing and fly away.and yellow leaves of autumn, which have no songs, flutter and fallthere with a sign.
２世界上的一队小小的漂泊者呀，请留下你们的足印在我的文字里。o troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words.
３世界对着它的爱人，把它浩翰的面具揭下了。它变小了，小如一首歌，小如一回永恒的接吻。the world puts off its mask of vastness to its lover.it becomes small as one song, as one kiss of the eternal.
４是大地的泪点，使她的微笑保持着青春不谢。it is the tears of the earth that keep here smiles in bloom.
５无垠的沙漠热烈追求一叶绿草的爱，她摇摇头笑着飞开了。the mighty desert is burning for the love of a bladeof grass whoshakes her head and laughs and flies away.
６如果你因失去了太阳而流泪，那么你也将失去群星了。if you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.
７跳舞着的流水呀，在你途中的泥沙，要求你的歌声，你的流动呢。你肯挟瘸足的泥沙而俱下么？the sands in your way beg for your song and your movement, dancingwater. will you carry the burden of their lameness?８她的热切的脸，如夜雨似的，搅扰着我的梦魂。her wishful face haunts my dreams like the rain at night.
９有一次，我们梦见大家都是不相识的。我们醒了，却知道我们原是相亲相爱的。once we dreamt that we were strangers.we wake up to find that we were dear to each other.
１０忧思在我的心里平静下去，正如暮色降临在寂静的山林中。sorrow is hushed into peace in my heart like the evening amongthe silent trees.
２世界上的一队小小的漂泊者呀，请留下你们的足印在我的文字里。o troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words.
３世界对着它的爱人，把它浩翰的面具揭下了。它变小了，小如一首歌，小如一回永恒的接吻。the world puts off its mask of vastness to its lover.it becomes small as one song, as one kiss of the eternal.
４是大地的泪点，使她的微笑保持着青春不谢。it is the tears of the earth that keep here smiles in bloom.
５无垠的沙漠热烈追求一叶绿草的爱，她摇摇头笑着飞开了。the mighty desert is burning for the love of a bladeof grass whoshakes her head and laughs and flies away.
６如果你因失去了太阳而流泪，那么你也将失去群星了。if you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars.
７跳舞着的流水呀，在你途中的泥沙，要求你的歌声，你的流动呢。你肯挟瘸足的泥沙而俱下么？the sands in your way beg for your song and your movement, dancingwater. will you carry the burden of their lameness?８她的热切的脸，如夜雨似的，搅扰着我的梦魂。her wishful face haunts my dreams like the rain at night.
９有一次，我们梦见大家都是不相识的。我们醒了，却知道我们原是相亲相爱的。once we dreamt that we were strangers.we wake up to find that we were dear to each other.
１０忧思在我的心里平静下去，正如暮色降临在寂静的山林中。sorrow is hushed into peace in my heart like the evening amongthe silent trees.
英语专业词汇大全－金融专业词汇
金融专业词汇中英对照（1）
ABS 资产担保证券（Asset Backed Securities的英文缩写）
Accelerated depreciation 加速折旧
Acceptor 承兑人；受票人； 接受人
Accommodation paper 融通票据；担保借据
Accounts payable 应付帐款
Accounts receivable 应收帐款
Accrual basis 应计制；权责发生制
Accrued interest 应计利息
Accredited Investors 合资格投资者；受信投资人 指符合美国证券交易委员(SEC)条例，可参与一般美国非公开(私募)发行的部份机构和高净值个人投资者
Accredit value 自然增长值
Accrediting 本金增值 适用于多种工具，指名义本金在工具（如上限合约、上下限合约、掉期和互换期权）的期限内连续增长。
ACE 美国商品交易所
Acid Test Ratio 酸性测验比率；速动比率
Across the board 全面一致；全盘的
Acting in concert 一致行动；合谋
Active assets 活动资产；有收益资产
Active capital 活动资本
Actual market 现货市场
Actuary 精算师；保险统计专家
ADB 亚洲开发银行
ADR 美国存股证；美国预托收据； 美国存托凭证 [股市] 指由负责保管所存托外国股票的存托银行所发行一种表明持有人拥有多少外国股票(即存托股份)的收据。
ADR一般以美元计价和进行交易，及被视为美国证券。对很多美国投资者而言，买卖ADR比买卖ADR所代表的股票更加方便、更流动、成本较低和容易。大部份预托收据为ADR；但也可以指全球预托收(GDR) ，欧洲预托收据(EDR) 或国际预托收据(IDR) 。从法律和行政立场而言，所有预托收据具有同样的意义。
ADS 美国存托股份
Ad valorem 从价；按值
Affiliated company 关联公司；联营公司
After date 发票后，出票后
After-market 后市 [股市] 指某只新发行股票在定价和配置后的交易市场。市场参与者关注的是紧随的后市情况，即头几个交易日。有人把后市定义为股价稳定期，即发行结束后的30天。也有人认为后市应指稳定期过后的交易市况。然而，较为普遍的是把这段时期视为二级市场
Age dependency (ratio) 年龄抚养比率
AGM 周年大会
Agreement 协议；协定
All-or-none order 整批委托
Allocation 分配；配置
Allotment 配股
Alpha (Market Alpha) 阿尔法；预期市场可得收益水平
Alternative investment 另类投资
American Commodities Exchange 美国商品交易所
American Depository Receipt 美国存股证；美国预托收据；美国存托凭证 (简称“ADR ”参见ADR栏目)
American Depository Share 美国存托股份
Amercian Stock Exchange 美国证券交易所
American style option 美式期权 美式期权的持有人有权在期权期限内的任何时候执行期权，包括到期前和到期日。 Amex 美国证券交易所
Amortizable intangibles 可摊销的无形资产
Amortization 摊销
Amsterdam Stock Exchange 阿姆斯特丹证券交易所
Annual General Meeting 周年大会
Annualized 年度化；按年计
Annual report 年报；年度报告
Anticipatory breach 预期违约
Antitrust 反垄断
APEC 亚太区经济合作组织(亚太经合组织)
Appreciation [财产] 增值；涨价
Appropriation 拨款；经费；指拨金额
Arbitrage 套利；套汇；套戥 指通过同时买卖两种等同工具或证券，但买入价比卖出价低廉而获得的保证或无风险利润。
Arbitration 仲裁
Arm's length transaction 公平交易
Articles of Association 公司章程；组织细则
At-the-money option 平价期权；等价期权
ASEAN 东南亚国家联盟 (东盟)
Asian bank syndication market 亚洲银团市场
Asian dollar bonds 亚洲美元债券
Asset Allocation 资产配置
Asset Backed Securities 资产担保证券（简称“ABS”）
Asset Management 资产管理
Asset swap 资产掉期；资产互换 一种由现金信用工具和掉期组成的一篮子工具，这种互换将非票面值工具（债券或贷款）的现金流转换为票面值（浮动利率）结构。资产掉期通常将固定利率债券转换为票面值浮动利率债券。但交叉货币资产掉期也十分常见，它们将现金流从一种货币转换为另一种货币。
Assignment method 转让方法；指定分配方法 ASX 澳大利亚证券交易所
At-the-money 平价 [期权]执行价格被设定为与基础工具的现行市场价格相同。
Auckland Stock Exchange 奥克兰证券交易所
Auction market 竞价市场
Authorized capital 法定股本；核准资本
Authorized fund 认可基金
Authorized representative 授权代表
Australian Options Market 澳大利亚期权交易所
Australian Stock Exchange 澳大利亚证券交易所
Back-door listing 借壳上市
Back-end load 撤离费；后收费用
Back office 后勤办公室
Back to back FX agreement 背靠背外汇协议
Balance of payments 国际收支平衡；收支结余
Balance of trade 贸易平衡
Balance sheet 资产负债表
Balloon maturity 期末放气式偿还
Balloon payment 最末期大笔还清
Bank, Banker, Banking 银行；银行家；银行业
Bank for International Settlements 国际结算银行
Bankruptcy 破产
Base day 基准日
Base rate 基准利率
Basel Capital Accord 巴塞尔资本协议
Basis point 基点；点子 一个基点等如一个百分点（%）的百分之一。举例：25个基点=0.25%。
Basis swap 基准掉期
Bear market 熊市；股市行情看淡
Bearer 持票人
Bearer stock 不记名股票
Behind-the-scene 未开拓市场
Below par 低于平值
Benchmark 比较基准
Beneficiary 受益人
Bermudan option 百慕大期权 百慕大期权介乎美式与欧式之间，持有人有权在到期日前的一个或多个日期执行期权。 Best practice 最佳做法；典范做法
Beta (Market beta) 贝他(系数)；市场风险指数
Bills department 押汇部
Bid 出价；投标价；买盘 指由买方报出表示愿意按此水平买入的一个价格。
Bill of exchange 汇票
Binary 二元制；二进法（只有两个可能的结果）
Binary option 二元期权 又称数字期权或非全有即全无期权。如果基础工具满足预先确定的启动条件，二元期权将支付一个固定金额，在其他情形下则不支付任何收益。
BIS 国际结算银行
Blackout period 封锁期
Block trade 大额交易；大宗买卖
Blue chips 蓝筹股
Blue Sky [美国] 蓝天法；股票买卖交易法
Board of directors 董事会
Bona fide buyer 真诚买家
Bond market 债券市场，债市
ABS 资产担保证券（Asset Backed Securities的英文缩写）
Accelerated depreciation 加速折旧
Acceptor 承兑人；受票人； 接受人
Accommodation paper 融通票据；担保借据
Accounts payable 应付帐款
Accounts receivable 应收帐款
Accrual basis 应计制；权责发生制
Accrued interest 应计利息
Accredited Investors 合资格投资者；受信投资人 指符合美国证券交易委员(SEC)条例，可参与一般美国非公开(私募)发行的部份机构和高净值个人投资者
Accredit value 自然增长值
Accrediting 本金增值 适用于多种工具，指名义本金在工具（如上限合约、上下限合约、掉期和互换期权）的期限内连续增长。
ACE 美国商品交易所
Acid Test Ratio 酸性测验比率；速动比率
Across the board 全面一致；全盘的
Acting in concert 一致行动；合谋
Active assets 活动资产；有收益资产
Active capital 活动资本
Actual market 现货市场
Actuary 精算师；保险统计专家
ADB 亚洲开发银行
ADR 美国存股证；美国预托收据； 美国存托凭证 [股市] 指由负责保管所存托外国股票的存托银行所发行一种表明持有人拥有多少外国股票(即存托股份)的收据。
ADR一般以美元计价和进行交易，及被视为美国证券。对很多美国投资者而言，买卖ADR比买卖ADR所代表的股票更加方便、更流动、成本较低和容易。大部份预托收据为ADR；但也可以指全球预托收(GDR) ，欧洲预托收据(EDR) 或国际预托收据(IDR) 。从法律和行政立场而言，所有预托收据具有同样的意义。
ADS 美国存托股份
Ad valorem 从价；按值
Affiliated company 关联公司；联营公司
After date 发票后，出票后
After-market 后市 [股市] 指某只新发行股票在定价和配置后的交易市场。市场参与者关注的是紧随的后市情况，即头几个交易日。有人把后市定义为股价稳定期，即发行结束后的30天。也有人认为后市应指稳定期过后的交易市况。然而，较为普遍的是把这段时期视为二级市场
Age dependency (ratio) 年龄抚养比率
AGM 周年大会
Agreement 协议；协定
All-or-none order 整批委托
Allocation 分配；配置
Allotment 配股
Alpha (Market Alpha) 阿尔法；预期市场可得收益水平
Alternative investment 另类投资
American Commodities Exchange 美国商品交易所
American Depository Receipt 美国存股证；美国预托收据；美国存托凭证 (简称“ADR ”参见ADR栏目)
American Depository Share 美国存托股份
Amercian Stock Exchange 美国证券交易所
American style option 美式期权 美式期权的持有人有权在期权期限内的任何时候执行期权，包括到期前和到期日。 Amex 美国证券交易所
Amortizable intangibles 可摊销的无形资产
Amortization 摊销
Amsterdam Stock Exchange 阿姆斯特丹证券交易所
Annual General Meeting 周年大会
Annualized 年度化；按年计
Annual report 年报；年度报告
Anticipatory breach 预期违约
Antitrust 反垄断
APEC 亚太区经济合作组织(亚太经合组织)
Appreciation [财产] 增值；涨价
Appropriation 拨款；经费；指拨金额
Arbitrage 套利；套汇；套戥 指通过同时买卖两种等同工具或证券，但买入价比卖出价低廉而获得的保证或无风险利润。
Arbitration 仲裁
Arm's length transaction 公平交易
Articles of Association 公司章程；组织细则
At-the-money option 平价期权；等价期权
ASEAN 东南亚国家联盟 (东盟)
Asian bank syndication market 亚洲银团市场
Asian dollar bonds 亚洲美元债券
Asset Allocation 资产配置
Asset Backed Securities 资产担保证券（简称“ABS”）
Asset Management 资产管理
Asset swap 资产掉期；资产互换 一种由现金信用工具和掉期组成的一篮子工具，这种互换将非票面值工具（债券或贷款）的现金流转换为票面值（浮动利率）结构。资产掉期通常将固定利率债券转换为票面值浮动利率债券。但交叉货币资产掉期也十分常见，它们将现金流从一种货币转换为另一种货币。
Assignment method 转让方法；指定分配方法 ASX 澳大利亚证券交易所
At-the-money 平价 [期权]执行价格被设定为与基础工具的现行市场价格相同。
Auckland Stock Exchange 奥克兰证券交易所
Auction market 竞价市场
Authorized capital 法定股本；核准资本
Authorized fund 认可基金
Authorized representative 授权代表
Australian Options Market 澳大利亚期权交易所
Australian Stock Exchange 澳大利亚证券交易所
Back-door listing 借壳上市
Back-end load 撤离费；后收费用
Back office 后勤办公室
Back to back FX agreement 背靠背外汇协议
Balance of payments 国际收支平衡；收支结余
Balance of trade 贸易平衡
Balance sheet 资产负债表
Balloon maturity 期末放气式偿还
Balloon payment 最末期大笔还清
Bank, Banker, Banking 银行；银行家；银行业
Bank for International Settlements 国际结算银行
Bankruptcy 破产
Base day 基准日
Base rate 基准利率
Basel Capital Accord 巴塞尔资本协议
Basis point 基点；点子 一个基点等如一个百分点（%）的百分之一。举例：25个基点=0.25%。
Basis swap 基准掉期
Bear market 熊市；股市行情看淡
Bearer 持票人
Bearer stock 不记名股票
Behind-the-scene 未开拓市场
Below par 低于平值
Benchmark 比较基准
Beneficiary 受益人
Bermudan option 百慕大期权 百慕大期权介乎美式与欧式之间，持有人有权在到期日前的一个或多个日期执行期权。 Best practice 最佳做法；典范做法
Beta (Market beta) 贝他(系数)；市场风险指数
Bills department 押汇部
Bid 出价；投标价；买盘 指由买方报出表示愿意按此水平买入的一个价格。
Bill of exchange 汇票
Binary 二元制；二进法（只有两个可能的结果）
Binary option 二元期权 又称数字期权或非全有即全无期权。如果基础工具满足预先确定的启动条件，二元期权将支付一个固定金额，在其他情形下则不支付任何收益。
BIS 国际结算银行
Blackout period 封锁期
Block trade 大额交易；大宗买卖
Blue chips 蓝筹股
Blue Sky [美国] 蓝天法；股票买卖交易法
Board of directors 董事会
Bona fide buyer 真诚买家
Bond market 债券市场，债市
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