31 Dec 2007

HAPPY 2008!!


27 Dec 2007

Video is the Future of the Internet...

Business is all about supplying a service and or product that meets a need of an individual or group of people. Hence, companies large and small have three basic things they must accomplish. First they must know the needs of their potential clients. Second, they must have a great solution to meet that need. And third they must have an effective way to communicate that solution to that target customer base.

Most established businesses have existing products and services that fulfill a certain need. The challenge is, in order to grow it must find a way to effectively reach more people and convincingly articulate to them that its products will best suit their needs. In other words, once you have a product, it’s all about Marketing. Successful marketing does two things. First, it reaches a large number of prospective clients, and at the same time it convinces them that you have the best solution for their particular need.
In terms of potentially reaching the most people, more and more companies are turning to the Internet. The popularity of the Internet has exploded over the past decade, and continues to grow. According to the most recent Nielsen/NetRatings in 2005 there are now 221,437,647 Internet users in the United States alone, and an additional 667,243,484 users worldwide. The Internet today can link the needs of almost a billion people to the solutions of any given business. The goal for any business using the Internet should be to present a convincing message that its products and services are exactly what the viewer is looking for.

In the past, this has traditionally been done by means of websites with written texts and still images. Today’s technology however is changing this trend forever. Streaming media, and more specifically, streaming video is the hottest and most exciting media development on the web today. Through the use of streaming video a business can essentially transmit a clear interactive and engaging message on-demand, to any Internet connected device in the world.

Streaming video combines the best attributes of we
b-based media with the persuasive nature of broadcast media. In fact, recent studies now confirm that streaming media marketing substantially increases brand recall, brand awareness, and positive brand perception. Incredibly, in a study by Vpoll Surveys, marketing with video media was shown to produce response rates of up to 60 percent, compared to just .01 percent of print media.

Practically every business that is using the Internet to display its products and services can benefit from video streaming. The cost of incorporating strea
ming to an existing website is a fraction of broadcast or even print media. And the results speak for themselves. The applications are limitless, but examples include product demonstration and instruction, virtual tours and testimonials. Steaming media is affordable, effective, and is only going to grow in importance and impact to those doing business on the web. Take a step into the future and enrich your web site, grow your business and escalate your profits and income with streaming media…it’s a sound business decision.



About the author:
Ryan Dennis has an MBA in International Business. He currently owns and operates a small business with annual sales of 1.4 million dollars. He is also Senior Director of Marketing for Streamline Productions, whose mission is to help business owners maximize their marketing effectiveness by bringing their products and services to life! You can contact Ryan by e-mail: Ryan@websitestolife.com or by visiting www.websitestolife.com


20 Dec 2007

Top 10 Most Expensive Paintings Ever...

1. Garçon à la Pipe by Pablo Picasso ($ 104,100,000)
Garçon à la Pipe is painted during Picasso's famous Rose Period, a period in which Picasso preferred cheerful orange and pink colours. The oil on canvas painting, measuring 100 × 81.3 cm (slightly over 39 × 32 inches), depicts a Parisian boy holding a pipe in his left hand. The record price paid for this painting in an auction at Sotheby's New York on May 4, 2004, was a bit of a surprise.
While aesthetically pleasing, the painting is not made in the Cubist style that Picasso is so renowned for. Many even state that the record price was more due to the artists name than the quality of the painting.

2. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh ($ 82,500,000)
This painting by the Dutch Impressionism master Vincent van Gogh suddenly became world-famous when Japanese businessman Ryoei Saito paid $82.5 million for it at auction in Christie's, New York. Saito was so attached to the painting that he wanted it to be cremated with him when he died. Saito died in 1996 but the painting was saved. Vincent van Gogh actually painted two versions of Dr Gachet's portrait. You can view the other version, with a slightly different color scheme, at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

3. Au Moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir ($ 78,000,000)
Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. On May 17, 1990, it was sold for $ 78,000,000 at Sotheby's in New York City, New York to Ryoei Saito, who bought it together with the Portrait of Dr Gachet.

4. Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens ($ 76,700,000)
This painting by Peter Paul Rubens, painted in 1611, is the only one painting in this list which was not painted in the 19th or 20th century. It was sold to Kenneth Thomson, 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet for $ 76,700,000 at a 2002 Sotheby's auction.

5. Portrait de l'Artiste sans Barbe by Vincent van Gogh ($ 71,500,000)
Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe ("Self-portrait without beard") is one of many self-portraits by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, that he painted in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France in September 1889. The painting is a oil painting on canvas and is 40 cm x 31 cm (16" x 13"). Van Gogh painted this just after he had shaved himself. This is an uncommon painting since his other self-portraits show him with a beard. The self-portrait is one of the most expensive paintings of all time since it was sold for $71.5 million in 1998 in New York.

6. Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier by Paul Cézanne ($ 60,500,000)
This painting by Paul Cézanne, painted in ca. 1893-1894, sold for $ 60,500,000 at Sotheby's New York on May 10, 1999 to "The Whitneys". Whitney, born into one of America's wealthiest families, was a venture capitalist, publisher, Broadway show and Hollywood film producer, and philanthropist.

7. Femme aux Bras Croisés by Pablo Picasso ($ 55,000,000)
This painting, painted in 1901, was a part of Picasso's famous Blue Period, a dark, sad period. The painting depicts a woman with her arms crossed staring at the endless nothing. The beautiful different tones of blue ofcourse are typical for the period Picasso was in. Femme aux Bras Croisés was sold for $ 55,000,000 November 8, 2000, at Christie's Rockefeller in New York City. With four paintings by Picasso in the top ten, we can name him without a doubt the most expensive painter ever.

8. Irises by Vincent Van Gogh ($ 53,900,000)
With 3 paintings in this top ten, van Gogh is also a main supplier of expensive paintings. Vincent van Gogh painted this at Saint Paul-de-Mausole in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France in 1889, only one year before his death. In 1987, it became the most expensive painting ever sold, though this record has since been surpassed. It was sold for $ 54,000,000 to Alan Bond.

9. Les Noces de Pierrette by Pablo Picasso ($ 51,670,000)
Les Noces de Pierrette was also painted in Picasso's Blue Period, a period in which he suffered from poverty and depression. This painting was sold to a rich Chines businessman for $ 51,670,000 at Binoche et Godeau in Paris, France, on November 30, 1989.

10. Femme Assise Dans Un Jardin by Pablo Picasso ($ 49,500,000)
The only painting in this list by Picasso that is actually painted in his world-famous Cubism style. Pablo Picasso painted it in 1938, only a few years before World War II broke out. The woman he painted was one of his mistresses, Dora Maar. Femme Assise Dans Un Jardin by Pablo Picasso was sold at on November 10, 1999, for $ 49,500,000 at New York City's Sotheby's. The auction was very hectic because three anonymous phone bidders tried to win the painting.


Salam Aidiladha...

16 Dec 2007

Cats That Glow!

South Korean scientists have cloned cats that glow red when exposed to ultraviolet rays, an achievement that could help develop cures for human genetic diseases, the Science and Technology Ministry said.

Read more here.

Cool Meanings...

Cigarette:
A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end & a fool at the other.

Love affairs:
Something like cricket where one-day internationals are more popular than a five-day test.

Marriage:
It's an agreement in which a man loses his bachelor degree and a woman gains her master

Divorce :
Future tense of marriage

Lecture:
An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either.

Conference:
The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

Compromise :
The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

Tears:
The hydraulic force by which masculine will power is defeated by feminine waterpower.. .

Dictionary:
A place where divorce comes before marriage.

Conference Room:
A place where everybody talks, nobody listens & everybody disagrees later on.

Ecstasy:
A feeling when you feel you are going to feel a feeling you have never felt before.

Classic:
A book which people praise, but do not read.

Smile:
A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

Office:
A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

Yawn:
The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.

Etc:
A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.

Committee:
Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.

Experience :
The name men give to their mistakes.

Atom Bomb:
An invention to end all inventions.

Philosopher :
A fool who torments himself during life, to be spoken of when dead.

Diplomat:
A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

Opportunist:
A person who starts taking bath if he accidentally falls into a river.

Optimist :
A person who while falling from Eiffel Tower says in midway See I am not injured yet.

Pessimist:
A person who says that O is the last letter in ZERO, Instead of the first letter in word OPPORTUNITY

Miser:
A person who lives poor so that he can die rich.

Father:
A banker provided by nature.

Criminal:
A guy no different from the rest... Except that he got caught.

Boss:
Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.

Politician:
One who shakes your hand before elections and your Confidence after.

Doctor:
A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you with his bills.

6 Dec 2007

What Exactly Is MP4?

You know most of the time you find yourself downloading all kinds of stuff, including mp4’s, mp3’s and the like, but what about the technical end of it. What is MP4?

Mp4’s or rather the term mpeg-4 was developed by ISO (International Organization for Standardization). It is a format specific for multimedia, the most common uses are for digital audio and video, and it is a certain type of container that holds all this information. It can contain other data as well such as subtitles and still images. You should also note that mpeg-4 is identical to QuickTime MOV format. In fact any kind of data can be inserted into MP4.

MP4 is getting more and more popular. In fact, it is now very popular to people who use the latest iPod players and PSP owners. This type of file compression is now providing a way to store DVD quality movies at a very small size. This type of file compression is known as the MPEG4 format.

Because most users may get confused at the initial concept of what MP4 is, it is what is in the MP4 that is even more confusing since the extension has been used primarily for music tunes and not movies. Therefore, what is stored in an MP4 is more than you can imagine for the most part. In addition, those other extensions have been used for MP4’s, (which is audio from an iTunes store), to m4a (which includes such things as chapter markers, images, and hyperlinks). In addition, of course m4b (which has the ability to work with IPODs, where m4a files cannot. So most of the time when you find a file with the extension of mp4 or m4v, then they have both the audio and video aspects.

Let us not forget of course that they can contain codec’s as well. Therefore, as you can see there is much to learn about what MP4 is, so let's summarize;

§ MP4 Can include and contain audio, video and also still images (like pictures), and all kinds of other data, making it a diverse file to use.

§ MP4 can contain other types of competing technology e.g. ogg, vob, ratdvd, divx media format, Matroska (mkv) and others to name a few.

§ In addition, how about some of the compatible hardware or software that mp4’s can work with? Such as in software: Amarok, Banshee music player, 3ivx, foobar2000, GOM player, iTunes, Media player classic, QuickTime player, Realplayer, VLC media player, and so forth, as for hardware: Kiss 1600, Apple iPod, PSP (playstation portable), Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Nokia.

Therefore, to answer the question what MP4 is, well, it is technology at its best!

Indeed, the MP4 technology can now make entertainment much more convenient than ever before. So, next time you think of downloading your favorite movies to your computer to transfer to your portable multimedia device, try thinking of MP4. Just make sure that your multimedia devices are capable of reading the MP4 format.

The Author
Sandra Stammberger

2 Dec 2007

How To Play A One Octave MIDI Pedal Board

Arranger keyboards such as the Yamaha Tyros 2 and the Korg PA800 are becoming extremely popular since the massive decline in electric organ sales. These arranger keyboards provide automatic bass lines, which is fine if you are playing basic triad and seventh chords. With a MIDI pedal board you can divert the bass note in the auto chord system to the bass pedal note you want and still keep the rhythmic effect or you can play your own bass line with no auto features added at all.

All exercises in this article should be practised on a one octave pedal board and you should be sat down at a keyboard with the MIDI pedal board placed directly underneath the keyboard. The pedal board should be placed so that top C on the pedal board is level with Middle C on the keyboard. Depending on the length of your legs, you can make small adjustment to the placement of the pedal board to suit. You should be able to play bottom C and top C with out any discomfort.

So here are the five top tips to help you to play the bass pedals.

1 Line your left leg up with G on the pedal board. You can then use your leg below the knee to swing to the left of G and play bottom C then swing all the way back up to play Top C. Try to keep the top part of your leg, above the knee, still.

2 When playing the bass pedal with your left foot, keep your leg still and use your ankle to make the pressing motion.

3 Play slowly, on the pedal board, C major scale, C minor scale and a chromatic scale starting with bottom C. Play these scales up and down and repeat ten times.

4 Play this sequence of notes on the pedal board starting with bottom C. C, D, E, F, D, E, F, G, E, F, G, A, F, G, A, B, G, A, B, G, C. Repeat ten times.

5 Play a chromatic scale on the pedal board with left hand chords. Starting with bottom C, play chromatically up to top C and back down again. Repeat ten times.

The important thing to remember when practising the above bass pedal exercises is to play the bass pedals slowly and stay acurate. If you play to fast to start with, you will learn to play the bass pedals wrong. If you start slow and accurate, speed will come later but you must be patient.

If you practice the above exercises every day for six months, you will be playing the bass pedals like a pro.

About The Author
Michael Shaw is an organ and keyboard teacher and sells sheet music and tutor books at his websites: http://www.keyboardsheetmusic.co.uk and http://www.mikesmusicroom.co.uk




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