5 Reasons that Ebooks are Effective Communication Tools

5 Reasons that Ebooks are Effective Communication Tools

by: Jim Estill

Ebooks are effective means of communicating.  They allow you to express your ideas in a unique way that will reach many people.  I have recently become an ebook convert, and I want to share with you the reasons that ebooks are the latest successful communication trend.1.  As Technology Advances, Communication Advances. We live in a digital age.  The popularity of blogs shows the influence that the internet has had on our communications.  Communication theorists have argued that communication has developed from one-to-one (with pre-printing letters and books), to one-to-many (with the advent of the printing press) to many-to-many (with the internet).  You no longer have to be a Harvard professor or famous novelist to reach many people: you can write an ebook and share it with many people.  This democratization of knowledge is a step forward in the evolution of communication. 2.  Convenience. Because of the technology behind ebooks, they are immensely convenient.  They can be accessed from anywhere.  They can be stored, shared, or deleted as you want.  You can browse through an ebook while you are at your desk to see if you want to read the book.  You can even use the find or search function to find pertinent parts of the book.   Ebooks often contain hyperlinks that direct you to the sources of their information.  This is like having interactive footnotes in a book.  The hyperlinks in ebooks also make it easier for you find information that is cross-referenced within each volume. Another convenient aspect of ebooks is their size.  Frequently, ebooks are shorter than published hard-copy books.  This means that the information is distilled, and easier to access than if you had to search through a printed book. 3.  Empowering the Author. If you were to try to publish a book, or even an article, through traditional publishing modes, you would have to deal with rejections, editors, and restrictions that each press has.  With an ebook, you are free to make your choices about how you want to publish your material, and what material gets published.  This kind of artistic integrity has all but vanished from the print-publishing industry.   Ebooks allow authors to self-publish without investing too much capital.  If you choose to self-publish a printed book, you will have many costs to consider in your overhead.  Publishing an e-book can be a relatively inexpensive experience. 4.  The Environment. Gutenberg’s printing press revolutionized written communication.  Gutenberg’s invention, however, was not environmentally friendly.  Ebooks, as electronic forms of communications, help to conserve our planet’s natural resources.  You can write as much as you want and not worry about the forests that are being cut down to share your ideas when you choose to write an e-book. 5.  Your Readership. This article lists many reasons that ebooks are convenient and effective for you, the author.  The affordable cost, the artistic integrity, and the powerful new technologies are exciting things for you as an author.  However, your readers will also thank you when you choose an ebook.  The convenience of access is easier than with a hard-copy book, and as discussed earlier, the information within the book is easier to access. So, the next time you are considering writing, consider writing an ebook.  The next time you want something to read, consider reading an ebook.  There is an entire market of books out there waiting to be written, and waiting to be read.  Are you ready to join the frontiers of communication?

Los Angeles Beaches – Dockweiler Beach

Los Angeles Beaches – Dockweiler Beach

by: James Carl

Los Angeles is an amazing city with hundreds of things to do. One of the most popular activities is hitting the beach. But what beach should you go to? If you live in LA you can check them all out but if you do not live in LA, you probably do not have that much time. Here is some information on one of the more popular beaches, Dockweiler Beach.Dockweiler beach is a three mile section of beach complete with a beachfront RV park. Visitors will find such niceties as showers, picnic areas, public restrooms and food vendors. Activities at the beach include bike trails, walking trails, skating, surfing and volleyball. If you do not have a bike or skates, don’t worry, there are rentals available. If you have an urge to try something different, consider taking surfing or hang gliding lessons. Another great thing about this beach is that it is the only one in L.A where you can have an open bonfire. This beach does have a few negatives, one of which is that it is very close to LAX airport so the sound of jets overhead can be distracting. You will learn to tune the noise out though. It also does not have the clearest water and you will be treated to the view of oil tankers anchored off of the coast. If you can get over that, it is still a great beach. If you would like to get to Dockweiler beach, the address is 12000 Vista del mar and it is located in Playa del Rey. If you would like to reserve an RV spot, call 1-800-950-7275. Make reservations as far in advance as possible.

Save Money On Your Car Insurance

Save Money On Your Car Insurance

by: Mark Heywood

Most drivers are paying too much for their car insurance. Lets take a look at how they can reduce the cost without sacrificing essential insurance cover.As the majority of car drivers tend to stay with their present insurer and happily pay whatever renewal price they are offered the company has no incentive to offer you its lowest quote. So it pays to shop around for insurance. The market is fiercely competitive and many insurance companies offer an introductory bonus simply to entice you to switch. Only pay for the cover you need. While this seems like an obvious statement, it is surprising just how much extra cover we pay for but will never use. Again, shop around for policies that suit your circumstances. For example, a growing number of companies are offering extremely competitive quotes for particular low risk groups such as older drivers, women, reduced mileage drivers and drivers with low risk jobs. Qualifications such as the advanced driving or police driving tests can make a huge dent in your insurance bill and it may be worth your while searching out insurers that specialize in that field. For the average driver, savings can be made by fitting accessories that reduce the risk of accident or theft. Features such as airbags and anti-lock braking systems can reduce the number of accidents on the road while vehicle immobilizers and satellite tracking systems will lower the chance of theft. Many car manufacturers are including safety and security accessories as standard now so it pays to consider them when buying your next vehicle. Where you store your vehicle also makes a difference to your insurance cost. Is it garaged at night? How secure is the garage? Do you have CCTV, security patrols or a manned gateway? All these factors make it harder for thieves to take your vehicle and so attract reductions in your policy cost. While looking at ways to cut your insurance premium costs many people are tempted to reduce cover or raise the excess they are willing to pay. I personally think that this is a false economy that could cost you dearly in the event of a claim. It is much easier and cost effective to simply select the parts of the policy that are relevant to your driving style and cut out the cover that you do not require. In this way, you are still fully covered for minimum cost.

Computer Franchises: Choosing the Right One for You

Computer Franchises: Choosing the Right One for You

by: Joshua Feinberg

Computer franchises can be found everywhere in the country. Because risks are a part of investment in computer franchises, you want to make sure you consider all factors to make sure you are completely prepared for all the challenges.Things To Consider When Purchasing A Franchise A lot of people falsely think that buying computer franchises guarantees a winning business situation. But before you make the decision to buy, you need to consider important things like the demand for your produce and service, the competition you will face, whether you are able to run the business, the popularity of the name and the growth opportunity for the company. These important factors will determine whether computer franchises are your best bet. Factors Of Demand And Competition Demand for your product or service is the single most important factor to think about when considering computer franchises, and thankfully expert computer services are in high demand most everywhere. Computer businesses can run year round and have the capability to attract repeat customers. Look for a location that does not already have a lot of computer businesses and where there aren’t already franchises like the one you’re buying. Running Computer Franchises Buying computer franchises is not risk free, and sometimes the business will fail. Ask yourself if you will be able to manage marketing, advertising or any other elements without a full-time person designated to these areas, in case you have to cut personnel. Answers to these important questions will determine if you are ready to operate computer franchises. What’s In The Name? The main reason to buy computer franchises is name recognition. If the company has a long and quality track record, good training programs and support systems it is probably worth your money, even if the franchise fee is very high. Growth If the franchise you purchase is growing quickly, name recognition will be even better, and you will attract more customers. All this is great news unless you’re understaffed. Make sure the company will be able to support you and the growth of your business. Copyright MMI-MMVII, Computer Consulting Blog. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}

Accessibility of the Web with a Computer Game

Accessibility of the Web with a Computer Game

by: Robert Bell

Images on the Web present a major accessibility issue for the visually impaired, mainly because the majority of them do not have proper captions. This paper addresses the problem of attaching proper explanatory text descriptions to arbitrary images on the Web. To this end, we introduce Phetch, an enjoyable computer game that collectsexplanatory descriptions of images. People play the game because it is fun, and as a side effect of game play wecollect valuable information. Given any image from the World Wide Web, Phetch can output a correct annotationfor it. The collected data can be applied towards significantly improving Web accessibility. In addition toimproving accessibility, Phetch is an example of a new class of games that provide entertainment in exchange forhuman processing power. In essence, we solve a typical computer vision problem with HCI tools alone.The Web is not built for the blind. Only a small fraction of major corporate websites are fully accessible to the disabled, let alone those of smaller organizations or individuals . However, millions of blind people surf the Web every day, and Internet use by those with disabilities grows at twice the rate of the non-disabled . One of the major accessibility problems is the lack of descriptive captions for images. Visually impaired individuals commonly surf the Web using “screen readers,” programs that convert the text of a webpage into synthesized speech. Although screen readers are helpful, they cannot determine the contents of images on the Web that do not have descriptive captions. Unfortunately the vast majority of images are not accompanied by proper captions and therefore are inaccessible to the blind (as we show below, less than 25% of the images on the Web have an HTML ALT caption). Today, it is the responsibility of Web designers to caption images. We want to take this responsibility off their hands. We set our goal to assign proper descriptions to arbitrary images. A “proper” description is correct if it makes sense with respect to the image, and sufficient if it gives enough information about its contents. Rather than designing a computer vision algorithm that generates natural language descriptions for arbitrary images (a feat still far from attainable), we opt for harnessing humans. It is common knowledge that humans have little difficulty in describing the contents of images, although typically they do not find this task particularly engaging. On the other hand, many people would spend a considerable amount of time involved in an activity they consider “fun.” Thus, like the ESP Game, we achieve our goal by working around the problem, and creating a fun game that produces the data we aim to collect. We therefore introduce Phetch, a game which, as a side effect, generates explanatory sentences for randomly chosen images. As with the ESP Game, we show that if our game is played as much as other popular online games, we can assign captions to all images on the Web in a matter of months. Using the output of the game, we mention how to build a system to improve the accessibility of the Web. Design of a Useful Game A traditional algorithm is a series of steps that may be taken to solve a problem. We consider Phetch as a kind of algorithm. Analogous to one, Phetch has well-defined input and output: an arbitrary image from the Web and its proper description, respectively. Because it is designed as a game, Phetch needs to be proven enjoyable. We do so by showing usage statistics of a oneweek trial period. Because it is designed to collect a  specific kind of data, Phetch’s output needs to be proven both correct and sufficient. We prove this through a specifically designed experiment.

Looking For Vacation Ideas?

Looking For Vacation Ideas? by: Kent Krueger   The thought of vacationing is (typically) an exciting one!This world we live in has more places to vacation than one can even imagine and some places you many never think of could be just what the doctor ordered. First, consider what you and your family love to do. Relax on the beach? Ride a 120 foot high roller-coaster at 70 MPH? Hand-glide from the mountaintops? Kick back on the boat waiting for the fish to bite? Swim with sharks? Lounge on a “floatie”?  Well, whether you like to relax or you are a dare-devil, there are hundreds of amazing places for all of these activities! Are you looking for the perfect beach? Raised in Florida, I understand great beaches…and all of them are different. If you are looking for the whitest sand, visit the panhandle of Florida around Destin, Seaside, Panama City or Ft. Walton Beach. If you want catch some waves, your best bet will be the east coast cities of Cocoa Beach or Daytona Beach. Looking for peace, quiet and a good cocktail, then the southwest coast cities of Naples or Ft. Myers might be in order. Want to party until the wee hours of the morning, then Miami or Ft. Lauderdale is the place to go…but I warn you, bring you shades because walking out of the bar at 6am when the sun is shining can be a frightening experience! Finally, you just can’t beat the Florida Keys if you want all of the above. And, if you are looking for amazing beaches outside of Florida, it’s hard to go wrong with Southern California anywhere from San Diego all the way up to Malibu. However, let’s not be shortsighted and think that all the best beaches in the world are you the U.S. If you have been to the Caribbean, you will see why visitors to all of these islands tend to go back at least every few years. Amazing views and lazy days, ethnic food and fun shopping experiences are what make up all of the “St.” islands, Jamaica and the Bahamas. I don’t even have time to talk about the Mediterranean Sea and all of its locales. Looking for a deeper glimpse into history? You might want to visit the Greek Isles or Italy. Venice, Florence, Naples and Rome are steeped in history and amazing places to visit from today and from the Roman Empire 2000 years ago. The home of the 2004 summer Olympics, Athens has enough to keep you learning for a week, not to mention Corinth or Sparta. Are you an avid Skier? We all know how amazing, breathtaking and fun the Colorado Rockies can be for ski vacations. There are almost too many ski vacation areas to pick from with resorts, vacation home rentals, hotels, long trails, steep hills – you name it, they have it. Breckenridge. Keystone. Beaver Creek. Silverthorne. The list goes one. However, Colorado does not have the corner on the market for U.S. ski vacations. Utah, Idaho, Montana, Lake Tahoe all can be your dream skiing vacation! Want to travel just a few hours north via plane and you can visit Whistler. Just north of Vancouver in British Columbia, Whistler is home to some of the top rated ski resorts in all of North America. With resorts like Whistler/Blackcomb, you can explore 8,100 acres of skiable terrain on the two mountains, a huge 5,280 vertical drop, 12 high-speed quads, 3 gondolas and the most slopeside lodging. Have you been to Africa lately? If you are like me, you probably haven’t. It has been almost a decade since I last visited South Africa, but Kruger National Park is a site to see. A Safari during the day is fun and safe for the family. You’ll get to see an incredible amount of animals in their natural, unhindered habitat. However, for those thrill seekers, get on an open Jeep at night for a ride around the park…if you see some eyeballs glowing in the dark though, hold on tight because there is something about seeing a lion at night from only about 100 yards away! I almost needed a new pair of pants! So, regardless of what you are looking for in a family vacation, planet Earth has it for you. It just takes a little planning and a little saving (sometimes a lot of saving) and you can go on the vacation of your dreams.

Buying Life Insurance Over the Telephone the Safe and Easy Way

Buying Life Insurance Over the Telephone the Safe and Easy Way

by: Eric Osman

WHY WOULD I BUY LIFE INSURANCE OVER THE TELEPHONE?Buying life insurance will never be exciting; however, it is becoming much easier and more convenient now that many companies are willing to allow their lowest cost products to be sold over the telephone.  As a consumer you have the opportunity to deal with a real, and normally knowledgeable, representative who can provide you rates and information within minutes.   There is no longer the need to have an agent come to your home and spend hours trying to sell you something that won’t fit into your budget.  If you choose an agency that uses software designed to compare most the products available in your state, you will combine convenience with the lowest possible rate you are eligible for. IS IT SAFE? Yes, if you use common sense. Applying for life insurance requires you to provide sensitive and personal information to the insurance company that will issue your policy.  Use common sense in deciding with whom you share your Social Security Number, Date of Birth, and Driver’s License Number with.   Here are some indicators that you are dealing with professionals: • Have the people you have spoken with acted in a knowledgeable and professional manner? • Have they asked you about your medical and personal habits history before they quoted you a rate? • Have they clearly explained the application process and the procedures you must follow to obtain a policy at or near the rate you were quoted?   • Have they clearly explained that your policy may not pay a claim if you do not provide accurate answers on the application? If the answer to all of the questions above is yes, then you have reason to be confident that you have made the right choice; however, if you have any lingering doubts there are a few more qualifiers you can look for: • Have you been instructed to make your check payable to the insurance company and NOT the agent or agency? • Have you contacted your state insurance department to confirm that the insurance company (NOT the agent or agency) is licensed to do business in your state? • How did you find this company?  Did they send you something in the mail; did you find their web site? Again, if the answers are yes then you have found a winner.  Let’s face it: Very few crooks act like professionals. HOW DO I FIND INSURANCE OVER THE TELEPHONE? The internet has become the choice of many for fast and easy information.  Type “Insurance by Telephone” or similar key words in the search field of your Internet Browser and you will get many pages of links to chose from.  Look for toll free or other telephone numbers and begin calling.  Ignore the sites that have only forms to submit your information.  Most of them will have insurance calling you in an attempt to set up a visit to your home. HOW DO I GET THE BEST RATE? Finding the lowest rate that you qualify for is more about what you shouldn’t do than what you should.  Here is a list of things you should not do if you want to pay the lowest arte you are eligible for: DO NOT provide false information about your health or personal habits during the quote or application process.  Life and disability insurance rates are based on your actual health and personal habits, not on what you would like them to be.  State insurance regulations require insurance companies to issue a policy at the rate you qualify for.  There are no exceptions!  This means you cannot negotiate, ask for a discount, or provide false information in the hope that you will get a better rate.  Be honest during the process and you will receive the best rate offered by that company. DO NOT deal with any agency that does not use rate comparison software to develop a quote.  This new technology allows for the comparison of literally hundreds of different companies in order to provide you the best rate you are eligible for as long as you answer each qualifying question as accurately as possible.   For example: five (5) pounds of weight might make the difference whether Company A or Company B is the cheapest.  Give the representative the truth and they will find you the lowest rate. DO NOT believe you are entitled to, or will receive, a discount or special price from anyone.  Any licensed agent making such an offer is violating state insurance law.  YOU ARE NOT AN EXCEPTION!  Consider this: normally only greedy people get conned. DO NOT delude yourself into thinking that a referral from your CPA, broker, lawyer, tax person, or a friend will get you the lowest rate.  Remember, the object is to pay the lowest rate, not subsidize someone’s drinking buddy.  As previously stated, there are no discounts.  You will have to decide whether to do business with anyone that considers violating the law to be an acceptable business practice. If you want to do business with a referral, use the qualifiers detailed earlier in this article.  If the referred agent passes those standards, you should receive a competitive quote. SUMMARY It is now possible to make an unpleasant task easier and less expensive.  If you combine the tools listed above and a little common sense, you have reason to be confident that you have paid the lowest rate you are eligible for.

Podcasting Explained

Podcasting Explained

by: Jonathan Powell

Podcasting is an exciting new net phenomenon that anyone can be part of for free! You can think of it as an easy means of broadcasting and receiving small radio programs – because it is all to do with recording and making available audio files.Anyone can make a podcast and anyone can receive a podcast. This is exciting enough, but where it becomes even better is that there is no set time when you have to listen. You tell your podcast receiver which podcasts you are interested in (by typing in a normal web address, such as http://www.concepttshirts.com/poetrypodcast.rss  for the conceptTshirts.com weekly poetry podcast.  Then when you turn on your podcast receiver it will automatically check for any new episodes. If there are any it will automatically download them and tell you. You can then listen to it when ever you want.  The podcast might be released at 10.00 on Monday, but you don’t have to listen to it then, you can listen at your own convenience! So you are interested? Why not download a podcast receiver and give it a go.  You can find lots of free ones if you type ‘podcast receiver’ into a search engine, but the one we use is called juice . When you have downloaded and installed your receiver, add a podcast to it to check it is working.  The conceptTshirts.com poetry podcast is a small file that will help you see if it is working. Make sure your speakers are turned on! You should get several episodes of classic poems.  If you do, start searching the web for podcasts that you are interested in! Enjoy this new form of radio, which brings audio distribution to the affordability of anyone with an internet connection

Are Free Online Dating Sites Worth Your Time?

Are Free Online Dating Sites Worth Your Time?

by: David Kamau

It used to be that there is no such thing as free lunch. Then along came the internet and free became almost an automatic expectation.The expectation of free stuff has but pervaded the internet, online dating included. Add to this that some people- including some of whom should know better- cannot quite distinguish between a true internet dating site and a chat room. Whatever happened to “you get what you pay for”? So, do free dating sites exist? If so, are they worth your time? The answer to the first question is yes. But wait, not so fast. There is a price to pay. To answer the second question, I will ask you this; how much is your time worth? Or should I ask, how much is time spent on finding your soul-mate worth? You see, while it may seem enticing to use a free dating site, you could end up investing so much time that it will cancel out at best. Most likely it will not be worth it. You will find yourself spending lots of time on poor quality websites that don’t work efficiently. Read frustration and agitation. And this is just for starters. Next is safety. Background checks and/or verification are most likely inexistent on free sites as they just will not spend much time or (duh?) money on this. What this means is that you will most likely be contacting a person who is not whom they claim to be. Read potential disaster. In contrast, a paid dating site usually requires the use of a credit card, or other verifiable form of payment. This leaves a trail that can back to the subscriber. A person who can be traced is less likely to engage in crooked activity.   Another important thing is quality. If the site is not making money from subscriptions, it must be getting its revenue from somewhere. The most likely source is advertising. Prepare to be bombarded with ads, pop-ups and offers. Most Spy ware and Trojan infections sneak into a computer through “free” services and downloads. Caliber of potential prospects also matters. What kind of person will not commit a few dollars to finding the perfect mate? You can be sure that many lowlifes, losers and practical jokers will find a haven in free sites. Is a wonder that most online dating nightmare stories seem to originate from free chat rooms? In contrast, a person who is willing to pay a subscription fee is already demonstrating commitment, and can be taken seriously. Finally, free sites will be likely to cut corners in order to keep operating costs as low as possible. This means that features will be limited. You will also get very little useful information about your prospects. Site improvements will be few and far between if any at all. The bottom-line still is: you get what you pay for. If you want quality you must be willing to make the commitment. If in doubt get a free trial membership with a reputable dating site, then decide if it is what you want. If so, go with it. If not, move on.

Planning Your Cruise Ship Vacation

Planning Your Cruise Ship Vacation

by: Clinton Douglas IV

Do It Right the First TimeA vacation aboard a cruise ship is exhilarating. After all, what can be more relaxing, entertaining and rejuvenating than spending days upon days on the calm and peaceful sea – completely away from it all? Cruises are a great all-in-one vacation combining shopping, shows, dining, lodging and transportation in one package. But there are a few things to consider before you start singing ‘anchors away’. Solo, Couple or Family? Cruise packages and destinations give you a range of choices. These include family fun trips, romantic honeymoon cruises, and theme lines for single, senior, disabled, gay or lesbian passengers. Choosing the right package will ensure you have the most pleasant and satisfying vacation possible. Where, When and How Long? Because your destination is just as important as the ride itself, research the many luxurious ports available. Next, decide how long you’d like to set sail. Can you afford a week away or just a quick weekend getaway? What are the ideal dates for your excursion? This will depend both on your availability and the peak season for your destination. If you can’t afford to change plans due to acts of nature, be sure to book around typical foul weather seasons. Scuba Diving or Cultural Exploration? Are you a dive in and get wet type, or do you prefer more leisurely and educational activities like touring cities or visiting museums? [ http://articles.vasrue.com/Caribbean/index.html ] Check with various cruise lines to ensure your shore activities align with your personal style. Formal or Casual? Cruise liners offer a great opportunity to deck out in your favorite evening dress or unwind in a pair of flip-flops. Select a cruise line and destination that lets you express your inner fashion diva, and remember to ask about deck attire before you pack.