No - It Can't be That Easy! You Can Learn a Foreign Language in Your Sleep?

The average human utilizes less than 10% of the brain. What’s happening with the rest? Can it be harnessed while you sleep? The answer is a qualified 'yes'.

Sleep learning has been employed with varying degrees of success for many years. It is not a completely passive process, however. You can't plug in headphones, listen to a German CD, and expect to wake up in the morning, fluently speaking German.

About 50% of our daily speech is composed of approximately 100 common words. In fact, the majority of our daily conversation employs less than 1000 words. If you study the most frequently-used 1000 words in any language, you will have a solid foundation on which to build.

You can find frequently-used word lists on the internet for any language by performing searches like the following:

* 1000 most used words Spanish
* 1000 most used words German
* 1000 most used words French
* 1000 most used words Italian
* 1000 most used words Portuguese

You will find thousands of websites offering software, books, audio files, CDs, crossword generators, flashcard software, and other types of language-learning materials. You can use these materials to design and customize your own sleep-learning regimen.

Make sure that you locate appropriate audio files for your vocabulary lists. Produce print-outs and audio recordings for about 100 words per session.

You learn most efficiently when all of your senses are involved. Spend a few minutes just before you go to sleep reading a vocabulary list and repeating after the narrator. Then settle in for a good night's sleep. Ensure that the volume of your CD- or MP3-player is just audible. A recording that is too loud may disturb your sleep and/or damage your hearing.

In the morning, quickly review the list once again. You should find that your learning progresses at a very brisk pace.

Some individuals may not experience a peaceful night's sleep using this learning approach. If you are one of these unfortunates, try decreasing the volume. Listen without headphones or earphones - unless you are sharing the bedroom with someone who can't sleep through the distraction. (Earplugs to the rescue!)

When all else fails, try cutting your sleep short by about an hour and napping for an hour sometime during the day. Use the same technique of reviewing, sleeping, and reviewing that you would for nocturnal sleep-learning.

It you are an intermediate to advanced language student, you might want to try the same approach with audio books. Tackle one chapter at a time, reading it aloud with the narrator, researching and writing down unfamiliar words, then listening to the audio while you sleep. In the morning, read through the chapter again and marvel at how much you have retained since last night's review session.

Are you adventurous? A self-hypnosis CD played before sleep-learning will encourage brain receptivity. You can even find internet sites that allow you to customize a downloadable self-hypnosis recording in your choice of male or female voice; and there are complete CD sleep-learning packages for specific languages.

Why waste 1/3 of your life in slumber when you could be channeling it into learning your favorite foreign language!

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/learn-foreign-language-sleep.html

Comparison of CD Printing Processes

Inkjet Printing

CMYK Inkjet printers propel tiny droplets of liquid ink onto specially-coated CD-R and DVD-R surfaces with ability to absorb ink. They are usually integrated into automated robotic systems that load and deposit discs individually, allowing for unmanned operation after the initial setup. With a high-quality printing surface, inkjet results can be stunning printing in high resolution, and finished with a coating of UV-hardened lacquer that protects the finish against smudging and gives more vibrant colours. Inkjets are ideal for small runs with photographic quality print, or when you desperately need a fast job. In higher volumes the unit price does not face a substantial drop, which can be uneconomical compared to silkscreen, or lithographic printing.

Thermal Transfer Printing

The thermal transfer process is based on melting a coating of colored ribbon onto the surface of the CD-R or DVD-R. Each printer contains two ribbons; one containing panels of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Each color is printed individually onto the second ribbon- the transfer ribbon. The media and the transfer ribbon move together beneath the thermal print head, sealing the surface of the disc with a highly durable coating 100% weatherproof and smudge free. The end result is a product that is highly cost-effective in small runs, with a stunning finish superior even to lithographically printed CDs or DVDs. Because the print process is done directly from supplied PDF artwork, the set-up time is very quick and allows for a very fast turnaround for urgent jobs. With great results, this process has become one of the most popular choices and feedback from clients has been overwhelmingly positive.

Silkscreen (Screen Printing)

Screen printing is a cost-effective method for larger quantities of CDs or DVDs printed as a part of full manufacturing process, but can also be applied to the printing of CD-R, 8cm CD-R/DVD-R, and 12cm DVD-R/DVD+R. Your artwork is transferred onto films each color is a separate film, with up to five colours. These films are used as 'stencils' across a monofilament fabric screen, with the coloured inks applied through them, onto the surface of the CD or DVD. The resulting finish can produce very vivid colours, and is especially effective at reproducing spot colours (Pantone). This may, however, leave a grainy effect around text and colour gradients. Silkscreen is most effective with simple designs of few colours. Please be aware that most companies will enforce a minimum run of 500 units, but with very little price difference when compared with 1,000 units.

Lithographic (Offset) Printing

Modern offset printing is the most common high-volume commercial printing technique, with a wide variety of applications. The printer will either have your artwork and layout set directly to the printing plate from the computer, or creates a physical "paste up" from your layout that they will expose to the plates using a process camera, film negatives, and chemical treatment. The plate is treated to receive an oil-based ink around the print area, while the non-print area is treated with water. The plate is then 'offset' to a rubber blanket cylinder that applies it to the surface of the CD or DVD. This process allows for highly detailed photographic images and small text to be applied to the media in great quantities. Please be aware that lithographic printing is tied in with a full manufacturing process, which requires the creation of a glass master, and an extended production run, upwards of ten days. It is the ideal option if you need upwards of 1,000 units based on highly detailed artwork, producing a superior finish to silkscreen printing at a relatively comparable price.

We always advise our clients based on their artwork and requirements, but hope that this greater understanding of the processes involved, and their benefits and drawbacks can help you make an informed decision regarding your specific project, as always we are here to help and answer any of your questions.

For further information on CD duplication, DVD replication, CD packaging, CD mastering and re-mastering, video tape conversion & mastering, data & media conversion services in UK contact A1Duplication at +44 (0)796 034 0386 or visit at www.a1duplication.co.uk


http://www.buzzle.com/articles/comparison-cd-printing-processes.html

MP3 Music Technology

Earlier form of music players required moving parts to read enclosed data on a tape or CD whereas MP3 players use solid state memory. An MP3 player is more of a data storage device with an embedded software application that enables users to transfer MP3 files to that player. MP3 players include some utilities to copy music from CD or websites and then organize them and create custom list of songs in the order you want to hear them. Such list of songs is called a "play list".

The MP3 player is the combination of various technologies and its components are not only revolutionary but also prove to be a great consumer product. If you wish to store music as well allow the user to hear the songs played and for this the player first pulls the song from its memory, then decompresses the MP3 encoding, runs the decompressed bytes through a digital to analog converter and amplifies the analog signal allowing the song to be heard.

There are different stuffs or components but these could vary as the basic parts of a typical MP3 player. This includes data port, memory, microprocessor, digital signal processor, display, playback controls, audio port, amplifier and power supply.

The player is plugged into the USB port of your computer or a parallel port to transfer data. USB based players transfer data much faster than those using the parallel port. Memory types include internal flash memory, compact flash cards, smart media cards, memory stick and internal micro drive.

Except the last one, all the above mentioned players are of solid state memory and the advantage of solid state memory is that there are no moving parts that mean better reliability and music without any skips. Mp3 players also contain tiny hard disk drives that could store 10 to 150times more than flash memory devices.

The microprocessor is the brain of any player and monitors user input through the playback controls and displays information about the current song on the LCD panel and then sends directions to the DSP chip that informs exactly how the audio is processed. The DSP pulls the song data from memory and apply any special effects and streams to the amplifier. The DSP runs a decompression algorithm that compresses MP3 files and then turns back the bytes into sound waves.

The amplifier also boosts the strength of the signal and then sends it to the audio port whereby you can attach the pair of headphones. Most of the MP3 players are powered by battery.

Olivia Andrews, writing for Free Download MP3 Song is a freelance journalist and has written many reviews on subjects such as finance, education, health, entertainment, music, gifts, crafts, travel, apparels and mobile phones.



http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-24-2006-103298.asp

Things to consider before you buy an Mp3 player

Portable mp3 player has changed the way people use and listen to music. Because of new technological innovations both in software and hardware has kept this field fresh and exciting and a bit confusing for any first time purchaser.

Today there are many portable mp3 players available in the market and it might seem difficult to choose the right mp3 player for you. So you need to gather some information about the mp3 players available and their price range and then compare their features and decide which one shall suit you the best. This is because if you are a music lover you would always wish to have an in built FM tuner or if you love to play games then you would ask for something else. There are different accessories and lots of add-ons available.

The major criteria for mp3 player comparison would include its music store download system, its capacity in gigabytes, music storage in hours, music formats supported, video formats supported, image formats supported, built-in FM tuner, built in microphone, accessories included, other third party accessories available, navigation, dimensions, weight and price.

Open and closed systems
The primary factor that differentiates between players is that whether they form a part of a closed download music store system or an open one. Closed systems have all elements such as online music store, PC music store, portable software and portable player that are fully integrated to work together. An example of closed system company is the Apple ipod that operates iTunes.

Open system provides you a selection of music stores and portable players from different companies and because they share the same music file format you can easily mix and match players and services. Microsoft’s windows media audio is the largest such open system.

It is also important that the terms "closed system" and "open system" describe the online music store to software to portable player relationship and the copy protection their respective formats use. You can download and play mp3 files from other kinds of internet websites such as band websites and pod casters. You can also import music from your personal CD’s to your computer and then transfer the songs to your portable player in your preferred format of mp3.

For further information, visit our recommended website freedownloadmp3song.info

Olivia Andrews, writer of freedownloadmp3song.info is a freelance journalist and has written many reviews on subjects such as finance, education, health, entertainment, music, gifts, crafts, travel, apparels and mobile phones.


http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-22-2006-100125.asp

Want to convert songs from your CD into Mp3 ringtones?

Mp3 ringtones are the most popular mobile accessory for all mobile users because to hear actual song snippets or live recordings of your near and dear ones has a great appeal. Along with the mobile phone users, any listener to these ringtones is also pleased. MP3 ringtone is much attractive and compelling for the one who hears in comparison to artificial polyphonic and midi ringtones.

MP3 ringtones comes in different formats available for all possible genres whereby dialogues are taken from the movies, humorous parodies, sound effects but among all these the most admired mp3 ringtones is the music ringtones. It is really cool when you hear your favorite song snippet when you receive an incoming call.

To get mp3 ringtones has become even easier now through the advent of the internet. There are many websites that sell mp3 ringtones of the most popular songs for download. And all this is possible with few clicks of the mouse that you can download your favorite mp3 ringtone into your mobile phone. But what if the song you want to have is not anywhere? It’s quite simple to make your won mp3 ringtone with the help of your own music sources such as CD. So if you have a computer and compatible software installed then following steps need to be applied by windows user:

1. You require downloading some freeware applications from the internet such as Lame and audacity. Then install the application into your computer.

2. Next insert the CD having your mp3 songs and open the free windows media player. Click on the "rip" button and either rip the entire CD or only the track you want to have.

3. Open the particular sound track or mp3 in audacity and edit the song by selecting that portion which you want to make as your ringtone. You need to decide how long you wish to make your ringtone.

4. Select the last two seconds from your selected portion and give a fade out effect but this is optional to do.

5. Next you have to export the selected mp3 portion as a WAV file.

6. Open lame and Razerlame GUI and tweak the desired file size and quality that you wish to have.

7. Add the WAV file to the Lame process, hit the encode option and you will get the finished product as your personalized ringtone.

For more information log on to t-mobile-ringtone.info

Olivia Andrews, writer of t-mobile-ringtone.info is a freelance journalist and has written many reviews on subjects such as finance, education, health, entertainment, music, gifts, crafts, travel, apparels and mobile phones.


http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-22-2006-100123.asp

Will Landrum The Guitar Consultant Releases Living Digits CD

Will Landrum was born just outside of Los Angeles California. He started playing guitar at age 10, lost interest, and then at 13 started playing again, inspired by rock greats such as Deep Purple and Ritchie Blackmore. Throughout his teenage years, he joined a few bands sporadically but was never happy playing cover tunes and changing his guitar sound to suit other people's taste. The foundation for the D.Y.I. spirit was already set in stone.

A lot has happened since those early formative days. Will Landrum is now the Guitar Consultant and has two albums to his credit, and most recently a gripping tribute to all of his influences in the form of rockin’ instrumentals on Living Digits. When you look at the new recording in retrospect, what you get is a solid dose of classic rock, metal, and blues all wrapped into one tight package. If you love guitar instrumentals with a myriad of influences, this album will bring great joy to your ears and put a smile on your face from ear to ear. Great compositions like "Fill In The ___" and "Perfection Of The Bride," covers the entire spectrum of sound and tone with electric and acoustic guitars.

Landrum has all the tools to backup his title the Guitar Consultant. On his website, you can buy his CDs but there is another interesting facet to this seasoned six-string slinger, he offers CD-ROMs and downloadable files of guitar lessons that cover the gamut from Guitar Essentials to Sweep Picking and Arpeggios. Landrum’s site is all-inclusive, giving you a choice of buying his music or guitar lessons, or both, either way you look at it you get a lesson on how to make the guitar talk through the many styles and methods known today. He also has a free section on his site that offers guitar chords, blank tablature, and much more. So if you visit the Guitar Consultant site you will not walk away empty-handed, but bring your credit card because there are some worthwhile investments to make if you really have a burning desire to play like a pro.

With this guitar Renaissance man, you get all. Make sure you visit his site to find out more about this guitar’s player guitar player. As they say-the proof is in the pudding.


http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/2-25-2006-89809.asp

How to convert Audio cd/files to PSP music and get tunes

How to convert Audio cd/files to PSP music and get tunes on your PSP

When you want to convert any audio cd/file , i advice you to download the latest psp blender PSP Video Converter and then go ahead to install it.

If you also need to Convert audio CDs to MP3, launch pspblend CD Ripper, load your audio CD, select "Lame MP3 Encoder" for your PSP and click the "Extract and Encode" button to convert CD. Its as simple as that

To Convert audio files to PSP MP3, Launch pspblend PSP Video Converter, load the file(s) by clicking the "Add" button in the main interface or choose Add on the File menu.

Highlight the loaded file and choose output format from "Profile" combo-box. at this time, i advice you select "PSP Audio Format mp3' for your PSP. then you Click the "Browse" button to select folder or entering the path directly to decide where to save the output file; (Take Note)"C:\temp" should be the default one.

Then go ahead and Click "Encode" to start converting. Once the conversion is complete, you will get mp3 file instantly

As regards How to download or transfer your music on your PSP? Just connect your PSP with PC, and copy your mp3 files into "H:\PSP\MUSIC" (where "H" is the drive letter of your PSP).

You really don't have to go through much stresss by now i am sure you should be able to see the audio after selecting "Music" from the PSP Menu. What a great way to Enjoy your music! Did i Hear you say "Interesting!"

Getting Tunes on Your PSP

The PSP is a multimedia player which can play video as well as audio files much like an iPod.

At PSP Blender you will have access to millions of MP3's ready for you to download and transfer to your PSP.

Download Full albums, single songs, unreleased mixes plus more! You can transfer music from your computer to your PSP with ease! Copy your own CD collection or download from our existing database of music already available online.

All you need is a PSP USB cable or compatible memory stick reader, and at least a 256MB Memory Card. You will be able to transfer music from your PC to your PSP with ease!

All music downloads are in MP3 format and are fully compatible with the the iPod and other leading media players on the market.

What Exactly is PSP How Can You Benefit From Membership

When you register for a PSP Membership you receive instant access to millions of files ready to be transferred to your PSP. This includes but is not limited to movies, television shows, video games, music, and PSP software.

Most downloads are the full version games and movies, exactly like the original.There are no additional fees ever after a membership is purchased. Members receive unmetered, and unlimited access to millions of files ready to be downloaded to their PSP.All current firmware versions are supported by almost all the psp's

When files are downloaded to your computer all you need do is simply transfer the files straight to your PSP using a USB cable or compatible memory stick reader. We offer complete step by step instructions making the process simple even for a teen.

Membership with a PSP Member site should give you access to emulators and thousands of PSP compatible ROM games from the following systems: Gameboy / Gameboy Color ,Neo Geo CD ,Super Nintendo ,Sega Genesis ,Neo Geo Pocket ,Turbo Grafx 16 ,Nintendo (NES) ,PC (Windows) and lots more



http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-convert-audio-cdfiles-psp-music-get-tunes.html

Insurance To Protect Your Assets & Income

Insurance Phoenix

BUYING A CAR: You have probably purchased several vehicles during your lifetime. When you search for the right vehicle you focus on the car's features, such as the color, the acceleration, the interior, and whether it has a CD player or such.

DID YOU THINK to consider ahead of time what kind of interest rate you would qualify for. Some savvy car buyers get pre-approved before they walk onto a car lot. This helps ensure you do not get taken for a ride when it comes to the loan the dealership offers.

NOW THE INSURANCE: When you add the vehicle to your auto policy, do you confirm with your agent what deductible to carry, whether to add full glass, and other optional coverage such as uninsured motorist, towing or car rental?

THE REAL QUESTION:Did you even ask your insurance agent about your Bodily Injury and Property Damage limits?

BODILY INJURY (BI) - protects the other party from injuries should you be at-fault in an accident.

PROPERTY DAMAGE (PD) - protects the other party's vehicle should you be at-fault in an accident.

Why do you care about how much BI and PD to carry when these items protect someone else?

YOU ARE ACTUALLY PROTECTING YOURSELF - THAT'S WHY.

AN ACCIDENT - Let's say you are at-fault in an accident. The other vehicle had three occupants and they are injured to varying degrees. Let's also assume you currently carry $25,000 per person BI coverage. You policy is designed to cover their medical costs. How fast will those costs rise if someone is hurt badly, or disabled. What if the accident results in death?

How far will $25,000 go in a accident where there are injuries? Possibly, not very far.

LOST INCOME? What about replacing the lost wages for a person who you injure in an accident. If someone makes $50,000 per year and is unable to work due to the accident for six months they may have a claim of $25,000 just for lost income alone.

PROPERTY DAMAGE - If you hit a luxury vehicle or an SUV valued at $35,000 but only carry $25,000 PD, you are responsible for the difference.

Having the right amount of BI and PD does protect the "other" party. But it also helps protect your assets and income from garnishment should you be under-insured.

Do you own a home? Do you make an income? Do you have savings or other assets?

Why risk all the assets you work so hard to accumulate when increasing your BI and PD is mere dollars per day?


http://www.buzzle.com/articles/insurance-protect-assets-income.html

Why MP3 Music is the Preferred Format for Your Sony PSP?

Almost a year ago since the Sony PSP launched in the gaming market and what impact it‘s made. The Sony PSP has many features and aside from games, I find that the music feature of the PSP is one of the most attractive features. I‘ve enjoyed listening and downloading music from the internet and on my Sony PSP where most of them requires MP3 format. I then started to wonder why MP3 is the most used format instead of other formats such as Wma, AAC or Atrac3.

Originally developed in Germany, a file extension that encodes music into three layers for the compression of audio signals known as the MPEG Audio Layer 3 (MP3). To make it simple, MP3 compresses CD-quality sound by a factor of about 10, while retaining most of the original fidelity, for instance, 30 MB CD track can be compressed into 3 MB MP3 file.

The MP3 files can easily be transferred across the internet since the files are relatively small. Nowadays, more and more websites allows you to download MP3 music from the internet for free and some may charge you for a few bucks. The most popular ones such as Napster and Kazaa often allows you to download it for free. However, it creates a problem for them as they apparently violated the copyrighted MP3 files and as a result facing unnecessary charges. Here are a couple of websites that I can think of:

Is not just that MP3 can be found on the internet very easily but can also be converted from music CD. The process of converting a digital audio track from a music CD to the MP3 format is widely known as "ripping". Music CDs can be converted to MP3 very easily using a stand-alone program or a function in a software-based media player such as Windows Media Player 10, Real Player, iTunes and others. Windows Media Player 10 can rip the MP3 bit rates from 8 kbps to 320 kbps but on average 128 kbps (kilobits per second) can be considered the norm of good quality MP3 files.

In my opinion, MP3 rates the best for converting and downloading music files quickly and easily. However, some disadvantages might disappoint us PSP and music fanatics since we‘re finding the lowest possible MB (megabytes) that stores in our PSP memory stick. First, it’s difficult to convert music files provided by commercial online music distribution services such as Sony’s Connect and iTunes Music Store. The supported and protected Digital Management Rights (DRM) music files aims to control and restrict the use of digital music. Also, the DRM technology installed on software-based media program such as Windows Media Player 10 makes it very difficult for us to convert online-purchased music files into MP3.

Second, the highly compressed and quality audio of MP3 files uses more of our memory stick capacity compare to Atrac3. The Atrac3 music format compress audio CD files to the lowest possible MB along with the same if not better audio quality than the MP3s. This can be good news for us music fanatics who wants to enhance music collection on their Sony PSP. Unfortunately Atrac3 is less user-friendly than the MP3 which disappoints most of us.

Regardless of this, everyone should get their MP3 and download it to their PSP. MP3 is the most standardized format and widely accepted throughout any software-based media player or converter. You can download or convert it to your Sony PSP very quickly and easily with its more intuitive and user-friendly approach.

So, start download MP3 music to your PSP today!

Heikal Suhaili is a fanatic in playing Sony PSP games and researching useful information about the PSP. For more information on psp music transfer, please click here.


http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mp3-music-preferred-format-sonypsp.html

How To Pack For Cruise Travel

You know what you want to pack as far as your wardrobe for your cruise vacation, but here are the little essentials that you might not think about.

One very important thing to pack is a Wall Mount Power Outlet with 3 Outlets. Electrical Outlets in the cruise cabins are very stingy and if you want to dry your hair while your curlers are heating up you will have a problem.

When I pack, I put all of my clothes in Dry Cleaners plastic bags. These will keep your clothes from wrinkling. Pack anything that can spill in zip lock bags. An international power converter and a currency converter will be needed for European Cruises. Some people pack a night light for the bathroom. I have found if you leave the bathroom light on and close the door it is sufficient to guide you there in the middle of the night.

We pack a portable CD player with 20 CD’s and an alarm clock. We pack "two way" radios so we can communicate when we are in different parts of the ship. I like to sleep in when we go to the Caribbean and John likes to get up and have breakfast. He quietly lets himself out of the cabin, and when I get up I call him to let him know its "safe" to come back to the room.

In colder climates you will need a jacket and some long sleeve shirts. I always pack sturdy hiking boots if we go to Europe or Alaska. (Most of the time I wear them on the airplane with slacks since they take up so much room in the suitcase). They come in very handy when touring Europe’s sometimes centuries old cobblestone streets. When you go to Europe you will probably visit churches, and other religious buildings and proper attire must be worn-no sleeveless tops, no shorts and in some places a head covering. In Thailand it was necessary to remove our shoes before entering their holy places. You are in some else’s country and must abide by their rules. No matter where you are headed remember that cabins are small and have little closets and drawers. This is an important fact to know when you are packing.

Bring all of your toiletries, film, in-cabin wine, lotions, medications and dental care products from home. They will be quite pricey on the ship. If you have an on going medical problem have your doctor write a brief medical history so you can supply it to the ships doctor if a problem should arise. You should also pack things like, Alka Seltzer, constipation relief, cough drops, aspirin and band aids. Make up a little first aid kit that suits your needs. Don’t laugh, you will probably be trying new foods, eating more than usual, and you never know how you will react. Those items mentioned above are expensive on the ship.

A few things that are handy are clothes pins for weighing down the shower curtain (the showers are small and the curtain will stick to you when your wet. This really gives me the creeps). A highlighter is great for highlighting the activities on your daily cruise sheet. The night before highlight the events you want to participate in and all you have to do is glance at the sheet to know where you want to be and when. Tell your room steward on the first day to leave you two daily cruise sheets so each of you will have one. This way if one of you wants to go to the wine tasting and the other wants to join in the art auction you both know where and when. Then when it’s over, call each other on the two way radios and meet up for a drink or lunch or whatever. Another valuable little item is "post it notes" if you don’t have the two way radios. Just write on the post it where you are going and at what time and then stick on the outside of the cabin door. Presto your traveling partner knows where you are and when to expect you back. This is great for parents traveling with children.

Cruise Tip: Pack business cards with your email address on them. You meet all kinds of interesting people that you will want to stay in touch with. Some of our best friends are people we met on cruises, friends we continue to cruise with. I like to pack computer generated address labels to make it easy to send postcards.

I read this tip in several cruise reviews. Send a postcard to yourself. I have postcards from all over the world with the local stamps that I have sent to our home during each of our exotic cruises. I have a stamp from the CCCP – that was the USSR- years ago. Its fun and you will always get a chuckle when the post card catches up to you after you are home.

It is a smart thing to bring along your cell phone (which means the charger too). If you incur delays you can call your Travel Agent and have her call the cruise lines. You can make phone calls while you’re leaving port on the ship, and in some islands. The islands I have found to be cell phone friendly are the Bahamas, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Grand Cayman. It’s great for phoning for a cab to the airport, or getting in touch with friends when you disembark. On the islands that do provide service you won’t have to wait in long lines (pay phones on the islands is where the crew keeps in touch with home). It’s just a handy thing to do and would be invaluable in an emergency.

Please don’t forget a good sunscreen if you are going to the Caribbean. If you are from the colder climes and have not seen the sun in awhile you will NEED it. Even in Alaska you have to wear a sunscreen.

Lastly, don’t forget your camera. Put this in your carry on, do not pack it. I have a friend that went to Hawaii and video taped a wedding, packed the camera in her luggage and it was stolen on the way home. If it is digital camera take extra memory cards since you will be taking lots of pictures and the cards are more expensive once you leave home.

Follow this advice and you will have a very enjoyable and comfortable cruise.


http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-16-2006-99483.asp

A Different Kind of Holiday CD From James Hollihan

This CD is not your ordinary holiday recording. James Hollihan, guitar player extraordinaire, has put together a fabulously innovative and entertaining instrumental jazz- classical fusion recording with an understated blues and rock tone. I cannot stress enough how this is not your typical holiday CD, and that is the very reason it is the type of music you could enjoy during the holiday season or on the 4th of July. Good music does not have a timeline.

Depending on which genre, I get seasonal CD’s and expect more of the same every year with slight variations of time tested tunes, dependent on the nature of each genre. This recording was a most pleasant surprise because of its musical diversity within the realm of jazz-classical in reference to seasonal music. Hollihan plays a myriad of guitars and makes the timeless suite a complex and colorful affair creating a true symphony of guitars.

Hollihan commented: I played everything. Some sort of guitar, mandolin, or bass guitar made all of the sounds you hear on the CD. A note of interest, the highest parts were achieved by using a special guitar that plays an octave above a regular guitar (in the same range as violin, flute). The recording wasn't slowed down to accomplish this.

If you are into jazz and happen to have a proclivity for instrumental guitar music The Nutcracker Suite-Sounds of the Holidays is your best bet this year.

Instruments Used:

Gretsch Nashville
Gibson 335
Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Advanced Jumbo
Martin 00-18
Guild X-170
Yamaha Nylon String
Yamaha Fretless Bass
Jerry Jones 6-string bass
Epiphone Mandolin
Robin Octave Guitar

Rating-10/10

01. Overture (3:13)
02. March (2:32)
03. Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairies (1:53)
04. Russian Dance (1:08)
05. Arabian Dance (3:00)
06. Chinese Dance (1:05)
07. Dance of the Toy Flutes (2:16)
08. Waltz of the Flowers (6:20)
09. Joy to the World (2:26)
10. Carol of the Bells (3:26)
11. March of the Toys from Babes in Toyland (3:41)
12. Silent Night (2:29)
13. What Child is This (4:57)
14. Hallelujah Chorus (3:44)


http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/11-1-2004-61048.asp

How to Rip Your CDs - What About It?

With the copy-protected CD controversy in recent years, music studios are attempting to design CDs to prevent its users from ripping them onto their computer. Exactly what is ripping? It refers to digitally copying the CD's music onto your computer, also known as "ripping CDs". In layman's language - it means grabbing a CD from your shelf, and converting its tracks to audio files onto most of the PC computers. The most popular audio file being used today is the MP3, the abbreviated name for MPEG-1 audio layer three, or Moving Pictures Experts Group. This can be done legally and usually is not, due to the fine print saying if you buy a CD - it is yours to copy for your own use, as long as you don't sell it. After that, it gets "really" hazy in a legal sense.

There are many reasons to rip a CD. One is to get a backup of a favorite song or album, in case it gets ruined or scratched, or even to have just a back-up copy. Songs that are stored on the hard-drive can be backed up with player software, such as Windows Media Player or Winamp. They require a suitable sound card, and speakers or headphones, to use the computer as a musical device. Transferring is possible onto an MP3 music players also, which will allow downloading of audio tracks through a USB cable. Almost all computers can rip audio tracks, as long as they have a CD-ROM or something similar, a soundcard, and headphones or speakers. A couple hundred MB of free hard-drive space or more should be available as each song requires about 3MB to 5MB of space.

Depending on how much power and flexibility needed, a person can order the Smart CD Ripper with a free download trial version, for the Smart CD Ripper software or its Smart CD Ripper Pro version. The Pro version comes with a CD Player, WAV converter, and a MP3 converter. But both programs are an easy-to-use software that allows the user to extract audio tracks directly from personal CDs onto any Windows PC - insert the CD and click on the "rip" and it is done. Ripped in high speed, the software can leave the default MP3/OGG settings as it is user friendly, with a gogo encoder - based on the lame 3.88 with good quality and high speed. The variable bitrate (VBR) offers better quality than constant bitrate (CBR). The difference lies in the fact simple signals can be encoded with less bitrate, when higher bitrate is user to encode more difficult ones - defined by optimization of the used bitrate with the complexity of the audio signal to encode. The CDDB (CD database) is a file located in the WinAmp's plugins directory, containing a local copy of the CDDB Database for the CDs. This Smart Ripper feature will allow the ripping process to automatically receive the name of the artist, the name of the album, the genre, the year of the album, and the names of the songs in the album.

Ripping utilities can be found anywhere, which is an encoded software that encodes audio into several different formats that can be stored onto the hard-drive. The thing to really remember when picking out a ripping software is that many CD-burning applications also rip, although not all ripping utilities support CD-burning. Roxio's Easy CD Creator Platinum 5.1 does it all, through ripping to burning. There are huge numbers of consumers who work with ripping CDs. Statistics from Forrester Research in July of 2002, show us that 36% of the public rip songs from the CD to their hard drives, while 53% burn music on CDs. Slightly less, only 17% of consumers copy music files to an MP3 player, with 40% of consumers using file-sharing software.


http://www.articleshelf.com/Article/How-to-Rip-Your-CDs---What-About-It-/10761

Toys For Newborns

Newborns enter the world with a natural curiosity of their surroundings. They love to study faces and are intrigued by lights and sounds. Surrounding your infant with safe toys that stimulate her mind will provide a strong foundation for healthy growth and development.

Babies spend most of their days eating and sleeping. A newborn will typically sleep between 14 and 16 hours a day. Soft, soothing toys around the infants crib will provide hours of enjoyment. Mobiles are available in many styles and colors. The spinning movement intrigues baby and the soft music soothes and relaxes her.

Your infant can best focus on things that are 8 to 14 inches in front of her. Bright, bold primary colors and high contrasting patterns in black and white are most pleasing and stimulating to a newborn. Toys with movement and sound will spark your babys curiosity and keep her entertained. Infants can not grasp a rattle to play on their own, but they love to watch you shake the toy. By about 2 months old, an infant will begin to bat at her favorite toys with her hands and feet. Soon after, she will learn how to create sounds with toys by herself.

A babys enchantment with the human face is a normal part of newborn development. Mirror toys, like the Baby Shakespeare Peek-A-Boo Mirror, will quickly become an infants favorite. Easy to push buttons create stimulating sounds while your baby studies herself in the shatter-proof mirror.

Toys are an important part of childhood development. From birth, little ones are quickly learning and growing though their play environment. Toys that use simple buttons and knobs to create sound or light aid in an infants cognitive development. Logic and problem solving skills begin to emerge as your little one learns to use her hands and feet to activate the toy. Activity centers and play gyms can help in the development of large motor skills as well as cognitive skills. Using her arms and legs, your baby can create enthralling music and lights. Newborns can lie on their backs and play with the colorful pieces that dangle above them as they explore new sounds and movements.

Books are also a vital part of development. Soft, fabric books and chunky board books are perfect for newborns. Reading to your baby not only develops a stronger bond between you and your child, it instills a love of books in your baby that will grow with her. Infants enjoy books with pictures of other babies, textured pages, and books that produce sounds.

Music is a favorite for children of all ages, especially newborns. Infants love sounds and music is integrated into a number of the available toys. Music alone can be just as fascinating to your baby. A small CD player is a great nursery addition. Soft lullabies will lull a baby to sleep, while upbeat songs can be enjoyed during playtime.

The best gift you can give your new baby is the gift of learning. Newborn toys that stimulate with sights, sounds, and textures will soothe and entice your baby as well as help her grow and develop.


http://www.articler.com/53875/Toys-For-Newborns.html

Why I Am Throwing Out My Alarm Clock Radio For An Alarm Clock Cd Player

The short answer is that the sound quality that the alarm clock CD can supply is far superior to that of the alarm clock radio. If there is one thing that I prefer about my alarm clock CD over my old alarm clock radio it is simply the sound quality.

My old clock radio was great and I had good choice as to how I could use it but the quality of sound left much to be desired.

The sound repetition was very trebly if you know what I mean. Like the sound you would make banging an empty tin can. Yes these gadgets will wake you up in the morning. But not with the full bass and full rounded tones of a good quality alarm clock CD.

I am sure you would feel a lot better hearing the rich base sounds of your favorite piece of music over the scratchy hollow sound of the clock radio. There is really no credible choice between the two for me. The bonus difference between the two is that you can select a particular piece of music with the CD player but you cant do that with the radio.

So technically what makes the difference?

They both function as radios, they both function as clocks. Well as I said earlier its the quality of the sound. You see in my opinion in clock radios the signal comes through very small speakers whereas the technology incorporated in systems that play CDs have much more up to date Bose style technology.

Its this technology that is good enough to be described as being of decent quality stereo sound.

We have just discussed a little bit about the technicalities but really in making a decision you need to balance desirable features against purchase cost. I mean what do you really want?

Do you just want to be woken up in the morning-then get an alarm? There are many mechanical and electrical ones and theyll both do the job for you.

Do you want to be woken up in the morning to the news or the radio station of your choice that happens to sound a bit tinny? Well get a clock radio alarm. The clocks and the alarms are reliable but the radio is at best average.

Or do you want to be woken up in style with the rich sounds of Mozart or Beethoven that are well balanced between bass and treble. Then get yourself a good quality alarm clock CD player.

When purchasing an alarm clock CD player you need to balance features against cost. Good luck and good hunting!


http://www.articler.com/56769/Why-I-Am-Throwing-Out-My-Alarm-Clock-Radio-For-An-Alarm-Clock-Cd-Player.html

Get Your Motor Runnin

Some of us just have a need for speed. Exhilarating, breathtaking, mind boggling fun.

The black leather gloves grip the steering wheel as you slowly slip sunglasses over your eyes. The engine revs in a throaty hum, the CD player blasting Steppenwolf. You slip the transmission into first gear and get that silly grin on your face. And youre gone.

Its Sunday morning, the dawn is breaking and you are one with your car and the highway. The feeling of freedom and the thrill of power engulf you as you change gears. The superior response from the throttle when your car is in top performance is exhilarating and gives you a rush of self-satisfaction. The hours of work fine-tuning and exploring options to get maximum performance and efficiency out of your car are now paying off. This is your passion: your car, speed and the peak performance of your turbocharged engine.

Whether you are a car buff, a weekend racer or simply one who loves the power and the speed, enjoying the performance of a well running car is every car enthusiasts dream. The hum of an engine in peak performance is music to your ears. Achieving the balance of speed, energy efficiency, performance and reliability is the final goal of the serious car zealot.

Having excellent performance from your car engine will make it feel like you are driving a brand new car. To keep that new car feeling, take some time to follow some simple guidelines to maximize the life of your turbocharger.

Your cars engine oil is responsible for lubricating and cooling your turbocharger. The rule of thumb is to warm up and cool down just like exercising the human body.

To allow your car to fully warm up, drive your car at a moderate speed for the first five minutes. This will allow time for the oil to adequately lubricate the engine before you push the car to full throttle. After enjoying the thrill of a run with your car, plan the last few miles of your outing so that full throttle is not being used. After a hard run keep the engine on and idling for at least one minute before turning the car off, allowing the heat build up to decrease. Never rev the engine as the ignition is turned off. Remember the engine is lubricated with oil and once the engine is turned off the oil circulation ceases. Frequent and regular attention to details such as oil and filter changes will extend the life of your baby.

Warm ups & cool downs and regular oil changes keep your cars engine lubricated, clean and running fast. So you can head out on the highway, looking for adventure



http://www.articler.com/49888/Get-Your-Motor-Runnin.html