Monday, September 24, 2007

Custom Car Stereo

In-car entertainment, especially an audio system, is one of the most customized components in an automobile. Many aficionados opt to replace their stock in-car audio system to add and improve functionality as well as enhance the sound quality for a superb audio experience inside the vehicle. Today, customizing car stereo systems has become a big business. Most enthusiasts want to build an excellent car audio system regardless of the cost. Customizing car stereos can be a very expensive project, but for those who value good acoustics, it is worth every penny.

When customizing a car audio system, the first component you should purchase is the head unit or the deck. The head unit is the main control center of the entire audio system, which usually includes a tuner, CD player, cassette player or a combination of these. Usually, the replacement head unit will not fit into the space where the existing unit rests, so you may have to buy a universal mounting kit. A universal wiring harness is also necessary to ensure easy installation.

Then you need to determine the kind of speakers you want. There are numerous types of speakers you can choose from, making it a bit difficult to make a decision. Be aware of how many speakers your head unit can handle. Two important things to check when buying speakers are power rating and size. Some owners prefer to put speakers in the trunk space.

Another important device in audio systems is the amplifier, which significantly improves the quality of the high volume sound of your system. The amp comes in a variety of sizes and capacities. Choose your amplifier depending on how much power you want for your sound system. Other accessories you can purchase include MP3 integration adapters, multiple CD changers, and bass boosters.

All these devices are available from audio equipment retailers. How much you spend depends on the brand and the quality of the equipment. When it comes to installation, it is better if you get the assistance of a professional to ensure that your custom car stereo is mounted and wired properly for best performance.

Car Stereos provides detailed information on Car Stereos, Car Stereo Systems, Car Stereo Installations, Car Stereo Speakers and more. Car Stereos is affiliated with Wholesale Car Audio.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Gluckman

A 90's Party Celebration to Remember

Like the 70s and 80s, the 90s is a period of time where there were significant changes and occurrences that make the time unique from any other time in history. The 90s is probably most commonly referred to as the information age. Around the end of the 1980s and the early 90s, personal computers were becoming more affordable and popular with the general public. The Internet, a portal that connected computers together, became a global communication hub and marketplace. The 90s is also associated with an increase in rap music that transcended the inner city and gained widespread appeal among adolescents. Television shows, such as Will and Grace continued to “push the envelope” and showcase the lifestyles of people of all backgrounds.

If you’re interested in having a party, a 90s party is one that can offer many opportunities of fun. Hair is always a significant element in history. The best way to look like the 90s at your party is to find a wig that reflects the style of that day. In the 90s, both long tresses and actress Halle Berry’s short hairstyle were fashionable. Men were not out of the fashion loop. Fashion and health magazines for men began to emerge during the 90s. What do you wear at a 90s party? If you’re an avid sports fan you might want to consider wearing a jersey since they were the most popular athletes of the 90s. Of course, you may just want to go with the style of the day.

Not sure what music to play at a 90s party? You can purchase several CDs of 90s music and have a DJ rotate them in your CD player. If you want to make your own CD, make sure you include lots of rap, hip pop, and punk music. The most popular musicians of the 90s include Snoop Doggy Dog, Pink, Garbage, Mariah Carey, and U2. If you know the favorite music of your guests, you may want to consider adding some of their favorite songs from the 90s to a compilation CD.

Mrs. Party... Gail Leino takes a common sense approach to planning and organizing events, celebrations and holiday parties with unique ideas for birthday party supplies and fun free educational party games. She explains proper etiquette and living a healthy life while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Hut has lots of party ideas with hundreds of free coloring sheets, printable games, and free birthday party activities. Over 100 adorable Party Themes to fit your birthday celebration, holiday event, or "just because" parties is at the Party Theme Shop. Party themes include cartoon characters, sports, movie, TV shows, luau, western, holidays, and unique crazy fun theme ideas.



Cost Of Starting A Daycare Center

There are two basic ways of beginning daycare services. You can either run the service out of your own home or look for a full scale daycare center to run. If you being the operation out of your own home, you can spend as little as $500 to as much as $5,000 depending upon the remodeling you need to do, the equipment you need to buy and the licensing laws you need to meet.

If you are looking to run a daycare center that operates from an independent business location then you are looking at much greater start-up expenses that could run around $100,000!

These are some of the items that you are going to want to budget for:

- Licensing fees,
- first aid/CPR certification
- High chairs and booster seats
- Nap mats
- Bedding
- Playpens/portable cribs
- Advertising
- Liability insurance
- Safety devices
- First aid kit
- Computer
- Software
- Books
- Toys

But that's not the whole list, you are going to need a few more items inorder to make your daycare center, the talk of the neighnourhood and be able to keep the parents happy. Happy parents will refer your daycare to their friends and family. You may find that having a well equiped daycare may end up helping you save on advertising costs, due to word of mouth advertising.

Other things you may want to include in your budget are:

- Education materials
- Arts $ crafts supplies
- Disposable gloves
- Disposable changing pads
- Antibacterial cleaners
- Good healthy food
- Child-sized tables and chairs
- Sanitary storage containers for used diapers
- Step stools for toilet and sink
- Outdoor play space – There should be sand as well as a hard surface for wheeled toys, etc.
- Make-believe clothes, props and costumes for pretending and dressing up
- Record player or CD player, radio and tape recorder
- Containers for colors, pencils, markers and other art materials

Here are some other very important items that you have to budget for no matter if you are running the daycare out of your home or you are operating it as an independent business:

1. Permits – Just like any other business, a daycare needs permits such as a business license, fire-safety permit, and other permits that each state or county may require. These permits are not cost prohibitive. They usually only cost a few dollars a year.

2. Insurance – This is a very important issue and every business should make sure they have adequate insurance. The premiums are a bit pricey, but small daycare centers will only have to pay a small premium whereas large daycare centers will have to pay a lot more for their insurance. It is best to do some comparison shopping when you go to buy your insurance.

3. Equipment – Purchasing all of the needed equipment for your daycare center will definitely cost you some money, but most of these items are a one time cost and should serve you for a long time. You may be able to get by with as little as $300 if you are just running a business out of your home. The cost will be considerably more for an independent daycare center.

The cost of starting a daycare center may seem overwhelming at first but it is far little in comparison to the potential to make money in this business. What a great opportunity this is!

For more information on the cost of starting a daycare center, please visit our webiste: http://how--to-start-a-day-care.blogspot.com/


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Munyaradzi_Chinongoza

My Favorite Australian Artists-Have You Heard of Them

I used to be a big fan of the 80’s hair bands when I was a teenager. I have no interest in them any longer so I can comfortably admit that fact. That scene was played out a long time ago as far as I am concerned. I am now happy that I am no longer one the many people that still listen to these bands.

At the present, I would rather listen to Lawrence Welk than listen to hair metal. I still like a few of these band’s songs, but I can rarely hear one these days. My taste in music has become more international in recent years. In fact, I have been listening to Australian artists in the lat few months.

I really like to listen to two Australian artists and they are all that I will put in my CD player. However, I often want to pound my head up against a brick wall these days because my husband watches VH1 a lot. It’s a good thing that he has remained normal after watching to all that stuff. I have to give him credit though because he is into a lot of new stuff. In my case, I just listen to my two favorite Australian artists when I get the chance.

Greg Page is one of the Australian artists that I like to listen to. In my opinion, he has the best voice of all the singers I’ve heard. I come as close to swooning as I would allow when I listen to him sing. However, he has recently retired from that endeavor because of health issues. I am always hoping that he will continue with his solo endeavors in the future.

A wonderful woman named Lisa Chappell is the other half of my favorite Australian artists. A lot of people have probably never heard of her before. I first saw her as an actress and I felt very sad when she left the show that she was on. Fortunately, I soon found out that she has put out her own CD.

I do like to put it in once in a while, even though I don’t listen to it as much as I listen to Greg Page. There are many days when I need to hear her mellow voice. It does not mean I don’t appreciate other music from other places just because both of my favorites right now are Australian artists. It’s just that I could not be happier where I am right now.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning Australian Artists. Visit our site for more helpful information about Australian Artists and other similar topics.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Morgan_Hamilton

Karaoke Music

Karaoke discs are specially formatted discs that have lyrics and music. There are two major karaoke disc formats: VCD and CD+G. CD+G discs are mainly audio CDs, having extra lyric data. They can be played on a CD player, though the images are low in quality. VCD or "Video CD" can support MPEG-compressed video of high quality. This format, while popular in Asia, has some catching up to do here in America. There are also DVDs and karaoke laser discs. With formats that can support video, video clips specially made for karaoke usually accompany the songs. Karaoke discs (VCD, CD+G and Karaoke DVD) are in multiplex or non-multiplex formats. Multiplex possesses vocal demos for every song, giving the user the choice of listening to the track with or without vocals. The user can eliminate the vocal demos by using the "multiplex function" or "vocal remove" button on the karaoke player. Non-multiplex format comes without the vocals.

It is important to note that karaoke tracks are not original songs but rather their recreation. Karaoke songs are re-recorded with the objective of sounding as similar as possible to the original track. Multiplex disc formats do not have the original artist featured.

Also, these discs come with background singers, generally for the chorus. The background singers cannot be removed.

In America, karaoke can be enjoyed in different settings. Karaoke bars charge a fee per song of $1 to $2, and there are suites where a private room can be rented and used for as long as desired. The fee varies from an hourly rate to a flat rate for the room. There are also home karaoke machines, where one can enjoy karaoke in the privacy of their home. These machines can be purchased for less then $100, with discs costing $10 to $20.

Karaoke provides detailed information on Karaoke, Karaoke Machines, Karaoke Music, Karaoke Downloads and more. Karaoke is affiliated with Hip Hop Music.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Elizabeth_Morgan

Podcast Secrets Revealed

There you are, flipping through the radio stations yet again, looking for SOMETHING, ANYTHING, worth listening to. Maybe you’ll find a song here or there that you like, or a talk show on a subject you are interested in. Then it’s time to flip the stations again. “What I need,” you think to yourself, “is my own personal radio station.”

Enter the world of podcasting! Podcasting is just like having your own radio station, programmed with your favorite items and ready for you to listen anywhere, anytime. With podcasting, you can listen to:

[o] WHAT you want

[o] WHEN you want

[o] WHERE you want

No more searching and hoping to find a radio station that plays your favorite music. No more missing a talk show broadcast because you are sitting in class or in a meeting at the wrong time. With podcasting, you get just the content you want, from the sources you want, when you want. And there are no ads or commercials! What Tivo has done for your TV viewing, podcasting can do for your radio listening, and there is no FCC regulations either!

So what exactly is podcasting? A podcast is an audio file stored on the Internet that you can download to your computer or MP3 player and listen to whenever you want. It might be music, or it could be a talk show, a lecture, a recorded tele-seminar, a sermon, a football game, etc. Podcasting gives you the ultimate in choice and convenience.

o Podcasting is all about… CHOICE

Podcasting offers you unlimited choices in listening. Even though podcasting is a relatively new technology, there are already thousands of podcasts to which you can subscribe. No radio station in your city that plays the indy music you love? Check out East Detroit Radio.

Want to improve the koi pond in your backyard? Subscribe to Koi Club of the Air.

Parenting questions? Try the Front Porch Parenting podcast.

You can find a podcast on literally any subject you are interested in! In fact, www.podcastalley.com currently lists 2,380 podcasts in 15 different categories, while www.ipodder.org lists 4,493.

Another advantage of podcasting is that, because podcasts can appeal to niche audiences, they can cover their topics in much greater depth and be far more informative than regular radio broadcasts, which must appeal to a wide audience. Also, with a podcast, you can back up and listen to a segment again if you missed something the first time. If you come to a segment that is boring, you can fast-forward. You can listen as many times as you want to all or part of the podcast. And you can stop listening all together for a few minutes, hours, or even days if something else comes up.

o Podcasting is all about… CONVENIENCE

MP3 files have been available for download from the internet for years. But what makes podcasting different and truly useful is that you can subscribe to programs you are interested in. This means you don’t have to check your favorite podcast web sites every day for new episodes and manually download them.

Instead, free podcasting software automatically downloads new episodes to your computer as soon as they are available. This makes it easy and convenient for you to stay up-to-date with your favorite podcasts.

Once your podcasts are downloaded to your computer, you can synch them to your MP3 player, burn them to a CD for playback on your CD player, or simply listen to them through your computer’s speakers. This gives you the ultimate convenience of listening to your programs at your leisure. You can listen to the podcasts whenever you want – as you are driving, walking, exercising, knitting, etc. With a podcast, you can be mobile, live your life, and listen to your content ANYWHERE.

o Podcasting is… FREE & EASY

Not only are podcasts themselves generally free, but so is the podcasting software you need! Both podcasts and podcasting software are easy to find on the internet and are easy to use.

Podcasting is… waiting for you!

If you haven’t been exposed to podcasts yet, you soon will be! Podcasts are literally everywhere now, and more podcasts are being created every day.

Jeff Mills is a former Youth Pastor of 9 years, who is now a full time internet information entrepreneur, author, speaker, sales coach, and also an avid traveler. Jeff has passionately pursued learning everything he can about podcasts and has just released his breakthrough E-book that every Podcast Enthusiast should own. Visit http://www.podcastsecretsrevealed.com immediately. You can find Jeff’s podcast feed at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/jeffmillspodcast


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Mills

Audio Books And Recorded Books - Do You Know The Answers To These Questions?

You’ve heard of audio books, or recorded books before, haven’t you? Many people, even the ones who use them daily, remain tongue-tied when it comes to answering correctly the following questions.

Why? My guess is that audio books in general are so convenient to use. Many of us prefer to venture into the scenes of an audio book without delay more willingly. Spending our precious time researching every detail about its creation remains a distant “maybe”.

On the other hand, there are a few details about recorded books you want to know. What for? ‘Cause knowing them makes it easier for you to navigate around audio books with more confidence. Your improved “shopper’s education” to make the right choice is worth it.

I admit I used to be unaware of even the basic terms about audio books myself. So, I asked questions to get answers.

Guess what? I’ve found them. And I’d love to share them with you so you can save time researching the same questions. If you’d like to know the answers to the following basic questions about audio books, keep on reading.

What’s an audio book?

An audio book is a book in audio format. It is a “fun replacement” for a physical hardcover or paperback book you’d read from cover to cover. Instead, you grab-n-read books on CD, books on tape, or MP3 books versions.

What formats do audio books come in?

You can get recorded books on tape, books on CD, and MP3 books. From an old-fashioned cassette player to modern and sleek MP3 players, audio books keep you company on-the-go where traditional book reading is simply unsuitable.

What’s an MP3 book?

MP3 books are still audio books. But a clever compression technique reduces the file size to take up less recording space. Besides that, MP3’s are portable and easily downloadable. Storing them is a breeze when compared to piling up stacks of cassettes or CD’s.

How can recorded books in MP3 format be played back?

You can play MP3 audio books on any MP3 portable player. You can also play them on your home PC (need to have Windows Media Player or similar). Playing MP3’s on a laptop or MP3-enabled cellular phones is the latest trend. If you don’t have an MP3 player, but have a CD player, you can burn MP3 files to a CD using your computer. You’ll need special software to do that. Search Google for “free software to burn CD’s” :).

What does “unabridged audio book” mean?

Good question. An “unabridged” audio book is narrated (or told) word for word. It’s the printed book equal in audio format. Nothing’s missing. Nothing’s added. As a result, they are longer than “abridged” versions.

What’s an “abridged audio book” version then?

It’s similar to the printed original, but shorter. The word-for-word narration from the previous example is not exact. “Abridged” also means shortened, cut. Keep that in mind if you are looking for the original version.

What are “dramatized audio books”?

Dramatized audio books are stage-like, "play-life" versions of printed books. You get all the bells and whistles: full cast, music and sound effects. Some people prefer it; some would rather get a simple, told version by an experienced narrator.

Is there a difference between having the author of the physical book tell the audio version, or is it better to have a professional narrator do the job?

Some authors are gifted for both writing and telling their own book. Others are better off leaving it to professional “voice-over calibers”. If you can, listen to a sample of the recorded book that catches your interest. It’ll help you decide if the narrator resonates with you. Some people swear that half the beauty of an audio book is the voice-over quality.

Where’s a good place to start for a novice interested in recorded books?

An excellent place to start is to pick up a favorite story you already know about, but would like to “read” as an audio. About the length, pick “abridged” audio books to start with to cut down on time they take to play back. Once you become more skilled with recorded books, you got to check out “unabridged” editions as downloadable audio MP3 books as soon as you can.

Once a beginner, Lou Smith shares the riches he's found in Audio Books He offers you a special invitation to get free Recorded Books as gifts now. You can listen to MP3 books samples right away.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lou_Smith

MP3 Players - Do You Know The 3 Types

You may have probably heard of mp3 players, but are not sure how they work. MP3 players are used to download music from the internet. They are smaller than a personal CD player and you need a computer to download songs.

Shopping for a new MP3 Player can be difficult if you do not know what you are looking for. It is to your benefit to do a little comparison online before you go to a store. Things like price, storage capacity, and size all come in to play. You also want to make sure it is going to work with the computer you have..

Another term for mp3 player is digital audio player. A DAP can actually perform more tasks than simply playing mp3 files. It can arrange and store digital audio files as well as play them.

Another universal audio format DAP's can play are WMA files. These are a a compressed audio file format developed by Microsoft. WMA is a popular format that is supported by many devices.

Mp3 players are very portable and range in size. Some are so small they can fit on a key chain while others can be held in two hands (typically, these devices play video as well).

In addition to mp3 player, you may have also heard of the terms flash players or flash mp3 players. This is simply a type of digital audio player.

Here are 3 different types of digital audio players:

-Mp3 CD Players

- Flash mp3 players

- Hard-drive mp3 players

Mp3 CD players can play both CDs and digital audio. Some users prefer to create their own CD from a collection of audio files they've downloaded or grabbed from another CD.

Flash mp3 players are better than their hard-drive counterparts because they contain no moving parts and are great for use with exercise and outdoor acitivies like bike riding. Flash memory is a type of electronic memory media card that retains stored information even when not powered

One downside is they are limited in storage space compared to a hard-drive players which has a max of 8 GB.

Hard-drive players are great for those that would like to store their entire music library on their mp3 player. As this technology matures these devices include more video and image support. You can watch full feature-length movies and TV shows on some devices.

Hard-drive mp3 players range in size from fitting in the palm of your hand to needing both hands. They have larger capacity whichallows for storage of entire music collections on a single mp3 player. A downside is they contain moving parts so are not as good for outdoor activity.

Flash and hard disk mp3 players are becoming the more popular choice today. The best type for you will be determined by knowing how you will use it and what you want it for.

Jeff Schuman invites you to visit his best music downloads website for everything you wanted to know about music downloads, mp3 music downloads and mp3 players.
http://www.best-mp3-music-downloads.com



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Schuman

Your Mp3 Files Can Go On The Drive With You - Here's How

Every music lover downloads mp3 files from their computers. Even those who might not be called music enthusiasts do a lot of mp3 downloads these days -- there are audio books in mp3 format.

So, what do you do with your mp3 files while you're driving? How do you play them in the car? There are several options open to you. Let's explore some...

If you use an ipod, you can take advantage of ipod car integration kits. They come in various shapes, give different levels of audio output and also come at price ranges that accomodate everyone.

There are cassette adapters, FM transmitters/modulators and other specialized high level ipod car integration kits.

For your ipod's safety and to ensure you are not distracted while driving, there are ipod car mounts and holders. This feature is often incorporated into some of the higher end ipod car integration kits.

The other solution for your mp3 needs are CD players that can play mp3 files. With these types of CD players you can carry 10 hours worth of music on just a disc.

Now when considering CD players, there are a special breed -- CD changers -- that can hold multiple discs at a time. These totally remove shuffling around for the next disc to insert. If you get one with mp3 capability, you can easily load up to 60 hours of music.

Still on getting another unit to help you play your mp3 files in your car...

There are digital CD receivers that have a USB port and flash memory. Through the USB, you can upload your mp3 files. And you have up to 1GB flash memory so you can store a huge number of files.

What if you have another type of mp3 player and don't want to buy a CD player or changer? Yes, not everyone uses the ipod. So what do you do if you're one of such folks? Look around! There are certainly car integration kits for the most popular types. After all, the selling point of most mp3 players is their portability. And what's portability if you can't have it well-integrated with you car audio system.

You can get great mp3 players and mp3 player car integration kits at CarAudioPlus.

The folks there are great -- I know them. However, since they ship only to Europe, you may not be able to get yours from them. There are great alternatives. You'll see them on my site. Furthermore, you'll learn a lot more about car audio.

Click this link: car-audio-products-and-accessories.com to see what I mean.

Chimezirim Odimba writes for CarAudioPlus.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chimezirim_Chinecherem_Odimba

Get Music Free or for Fee

The Internet has several music sites which have a massive collection of songs. You can buy these songs, which means download them after paying a nominal fee. By following the method of ripping you could download the songs of your choice and store them to play on your MP3 player, anytime, anywhere. Ripping is a process that involves a number of steps such as placing the disc into the CD drive of the computer; selecting the soundtrack required to be converted into MP3 format; conversion of the track; copying the new MP3 file to the hard disk and finally, downloading the MP3 file to the MP3 player.

There are also some sites that allow you to download songs without charging any fee. It is to be noted, however, that the best things in life come at a price and so free songs are usually ones that are discards, less popular or ones that don’t find many takers even for free. It is possible also to subscribe to a site and get all the songs you desire for one flat fee. The catch here is that songs are for a temporary period and on rent. They are not permanent downloads, so once your subscription ceases, the facility to play the songs would automatically be disabled. This takes place due to subscription plans being encoded aided by the digital rights management technology and this clause is mentioned in your subscription agreement.

You could take heart from the fact that many MP3 players now come with the ability to record songs directly from your CD player. For those who can't avail of the facility of a computer, this makes the conversion process a lot easier and more convenient. It does away with the trouble of putting a CD into the computer. The song goes directly from the CD to MP3 format in the user's preferred play-list.

There are MP3 players with built-in FM radio tuners, giving users an additional feature. Radio listeners can also record their favorite songs being aired by channels in the MP3 format and add them instantly to their play-list. MP3 player lets you playback your MP3 music on the FM radio with frequencies that are unused.

Copyrights protected article written by Andrew Stratton for Surveillance Technology. More articles and information about the Music and Entertainment can be viewed easily altogether at this location http://www.surveillancetechnology.com/entertainment-system.htm. Please be free to explore the website for more information on every surveillance products and their features.

Please be free to copy and paste the article in your website with resource box.

Note: Do not use the article without resource box.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Stratton