Wednesday, April 4, 2007

The Best Ways On How To Download Music To An MP3 Player

An MP3 player is different from the other methods of personal stereo where you would normally have to insert a cassette or CD in order to listen to your favorite songs, but the music found on an MP3 player is in digital format. Because they are much smaller than other methods of personal stereos they fit much more easily into a person's pocket. Plus they are able to hold more tunes than either a cassette, mini disk or CD can. But in order to download music to your MP3 player you will need a computer. In this article we will provide some other information on how to download music to my MP3 player so that you can soon be listening to all your favorite tunes without having to swap over cassettes, CD's or mini disks.

Well the most important thing that you will need in order that you can download music to your MP3 player is a PC that is connected to the Internet. However before you start to download any music to your MP3 player you will need to figure out the following.

What file format is it you need in order to download your music? The format you use will depend on the type of MP3 player that you have. For example if you have an Apple iPod then you will need to find files online which are in the AAC format before you start downloading whilst most other MP3 players come either in MP3 or WMA format. So it is important that you check in the user handbook which came with your MP3 player to see what format it is that you need to use.

Luckily when it actually comes to downloading music from the Internet you will find that there are plenty of online sites where you can download music either for free (but be wary of these sites), by paying a monthly or yearly subscription fee or those sites where you will have to pay for each song that you down load.

When you enter one of these sites and find the song that you are interested in they will then either ask you to pay a fee before you start the download procedure. Then once that this payment has been confirmed the download can begin. So just how to download music to my MP3 player is as simple as now just clicking the download button and once you have clicked on the ok to download button the site will then commence to download the song of your choice in to the appropriate file on your computer's hard drive. Once the download has been completed then all you need to do is transfer it over to your MP3 player using a USB port and cable connected between the player and PC. It really is that simple.

About the Author

phil fischer - phil fischer - phil fischer

Playstation 3 (PS3) Hardware Summary

Playstation 3 (PS3) Hardware Summary For once, not all about the PS3 games, but the actual console itself

We've taken the PS3 technical specifications directly from Sony, and of course will update it as they do. The first part of this artcile details the bare bones specification, and the second part, for those not too familiar with CPU speeds and gigabit interfaces, we've provided an explanation of what these crytpic acronyms actually do!

CPU Cell Processor PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz 1 VMX vector unit per core 512KB L2 cache 7 x SPE @3.2GHz 7 x 128b 128 SIMD GPRs 7 x 256KB SRAM for SPE * 1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy total floating point performance: 218 GFLOPS

GPU RSX @550MHz 1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance Full HD (up to 1080p) x 2 channels Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines

Sound Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell- base processing)

Memory 256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700MHz

System Bandwidth Main RAM 25.6GB/s VRAM 22.4GB/s RSX 20GB/s (write) + 15GB/s (read) SB<>

System Floating Point Performance 2 TFLOPS

Storage Either 20GB HDD or 60GB HDD

I/O USB Front x 4, Rear x 2 (USB2.0) Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x 1 SD standard/mini x 1 CompactFlash (Type I, II) x 1

Communication Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2) Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR)

Controller Bluetooth (up to 7) USB 2.0 (wired) Wi-Fi (PSP) Network (over IP)

AV Output Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p HDMI: HDMI out x 2 Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1 Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1

Disc Media CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side) DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW Blu-ray Disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

Ok, for those, like most, are not sure what all this babble means, here is the dummie sguide to all the technical specifications. Enjoy:

CPU CPU, or Central Processing Unit, is the brain of a computer or machine. Its primary job is to translate instructions and process data from programs that initiate it. In other words, you click a button, the CPU interprets that to mean kick the bad guy in the head, and resulting in favorite character executing a sublime round house kick. Pretty much all modern day CPUs have a microprocessor at their heart, increasing performance drastically from earlier methods. The PS3's CPU is built exclusively for the console, therefore is not extremely scalable, but packs a hell of a punch for your PS3 gaming needs

GPU GPU, or Graphics Pro, no Proceed, hang on, I cant imagine what it will be. Got it! Graphics Processing Unit! Is the daddy behind your visuals on the console, and is extremely powerful with graphic manipulation and rendering, as it is a dedicated piece of hardware. Whilst delivering atonishing Playstation 3 graphics, it also alleviates some of the load from the CPU, letting the brain get on with doing what it does best

Sound The PS3 will have Dolby 5.1CH speakers, synonomous with quality home theatre systems. In short, when you hear a few rounds cracking out of a semi automatic behind you, Japan hasnt invaded, its the game.

Memory Ever forgotton where you put that damn memory card? Well, the PS3 tries not to. The memory in the PS3 console is important, it never forgets where to picked up your last reward, villains you have slain, or puzzles you have solved. The more memory, the better. When information is stored in memory, it is much quicker for the system to retrieve that information, as opposed to reading it from the hard drive, in otherwise less hanging and skipping.

System Bandwidth Is somewhat a speculative term, which is hard, or near impossible to prove. It is a complex assumption, involving the capacity of certain items to communicate with each other, how fast they do it, how much resources they use. If you want more information, try a quantum computing night course. System Floating Point Performance System Floating Point Performance is an indicator of the computer or consoles performance especially when extensively using floating point calculations. The PS3 has 2 TFLOPS (obviously), which equates to 1012 FLOPS (naturally). In layman's terms, the console can compute advanced calculations prety damn quickly

Storage Everyone loves lots of storage space. For the car, home or office, you just cant get enough sometimes. The Playstation 3 likes space too, it has lots of data and information to store, when it needs to permanently remember things, or the memory cant cope. With either 20GB or 60GB hard drive space, you have enough room to swing 10 cats tied together with string.

I/O I/O, I/O, its off to work we go. I/O (Input/Output), is the speed and type of devices that the PS3 reads from or writes to. As you can see, there's a few gadgets you can plug in to the console.

Communication Communication is the key to success, and this model of Playstation has taken a leap from its predecessor, and is now hooked up to the information super highway, or internet as we often say. Multi-player online gaming is now a thing of the present with the snazzy new PS3

Controller Controllers basically control (yep, control) how different components communicate, and interface with each other. Generally, this applies to peripherals (not on board). Exciting stuff.

AV Output AV Output is the method of displaying output, the visuals you see when running amock in GTA. You could have the best GPU, but without any mechanism to pipe it on to your screen, your screwed.

Disc Media Obviosuly, what type of disks your Playstation 3 can read. There's quite a few supported formats, so check em out

And thats all folks, be sure to check out PS3 Cheats for all your Playstation 3 hints, tips, information and cheats...

About the Author

Check out PS3 Cheats for all your Playstation 3 hints, tips, information and cheats...

Electronics Guide: How to Choose a DVD Player

Whether buying for yourself or a gift for a loved one, finding just the right DVD player isn't as easy as it seems. There are so many formats, sizes and added features for DVD players today that you might sift through hundreds of players before finding the right one at the right price. Use this quick guide to compare the types of DVD players available on the electronics market.

DVD Player Sizes

Determine what size player you will need. If you're adding a DVD player to your home entertainment system, determine where you will put it and how much space is available. Normal-sized DVD players can be rather wide so you'll want to be sure of your available space before shopping. DVD players are also very thin in height and most have a slot on the front that slides in and out for inserting the DVD. This is great if you have a wide space that is limited in height.

For odd-shaped spaces or very tight spots, there are different sizes and shapes of DVD players. These are usually available at electronics stores online so you'll have plenty of styles to choose from. The vertical DVD player, for example, sits upright similar to a vertical computer drive. It comes with a stand to hold it in a sturdy position. If you still have your old VHS collection, there are DVD/VHS combo machines that play both formats. This saves space as well. Also available are super slim DVD players and "space saver" DVD players to fit your personal needs.

Types of DVD Players

Once you determine the size you'll need, you're ready to compare name brands and features at the electronics store or website of your choice. You can often find many different brands and styles of players at one single electronics mall online. This will allow you to compare without spending hours searching through many websites.

Some of the features you'll see include progressive scan, time-slip recording, EZ editing, zoom, slow motion, HD (high definition) DVD, front audio/video input jacks, CD-R/-RW playback, MP3-CD playback, D/A converter, favorite scene selection, TV Guardian, and many others. You may not find one particular DVD player that carries every feature, so it's wise to determine which features are important to you before selecting a player. Which features will you likely use the most? Which will you probably never use?

You'll also notice there are many brand names for DVD players. Some of the well-known brands include Philips, Coby, Emerson, Toshiba, Magnavox, Sanyo, and Panasonic. Pricing for DVD players can range from around $50 to $500 depending on the features you choose.

If buying a DVD player for your child, there are also players with children's themes. The player will actually look like the child's favorite cartoon character!

To find the DVD player that's right for you, search online by brand name, features, or price to compare. Or, you can visit an online mall to compare all in one location. Besides electronics, you can also find other great items at an online mall such as computers, laptops, lingerie, pets, automotive products, telephones, jewelry, household products, toys, and more. Take your time to find the DVD player that will meet your needs. You'll enjoy years of quality entertainment!

About the Author

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies. For tips/information, click here: electronics
Visit Majon's Electronics directory.

Volkswagen TV Ads Grab Awards

The Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced that the Jetta and Passat advertisements are finalists for the "Most Effective Overall Ad" in the non-luxury category by IAG Research, a television advertisement and product placement effectiveness measurement company. The IAG Research awards are scheduled to be given at this year's New York International Auto Show opening press breakfast on the 4th of April at the Javits Center.

The Volkswagen Passat wagon was recognized as a finalist for the "Most Effective Established Nameplate Launch Campaign." Each award category was based on national advertising that began airing in the previous year. The award recognizes automakers that produce ads that effectively reach the television viewing audience. Effectiveness is attained through a combination of strategic media placement and breakthrough creativity.

The automaker is a finalist in two of the five award categories presented by IAG Research: the Jetta was acknowledged for the ad "Dance," and the Passat was recognized for its "Safe Happens" advertisement. The awards are based on responses from 1.5 million television viewers who answered the survey questions. "We are excited about being recognized by IAG" said Kurt Schneider, the general manager of creative content at Volkswagen of America, Inc. "This research confirms the true effectiveness of these messages in connecting with consumers and increasing consideration for the brand."

The 2007 VW Jetta is equipped with lots of promising features that bolsters comfort and convenience. Notable features include the efficient Volkswagen cold air intake, a CD player, cruise control, air conditioning, traction control, and height-and-telescoping steering wheel. All the 2007 VW Jetta models feature a four-wheel independent suspension, electro-mechanical steering, and a manual transmission. The all-new Jetta is priced at $16,490, its base price.

The 2007 VW Passat sedan and wagon features interior comfort and exterior styling that spell sporty, practical and safe. The Volkswagen Passat offers six standard airbags and other worth-grabbing auto features. The Passat also comes with a refined 2.0-liter turbocharged, four-cylinder engine mated to advanced direct-injection delivery system to ensure the finest fuel consumption. For the Passat, the base price for the sedan is $22,960 and $25,225 for the wagon.

The Volkswagen America Inc., an Auburn Hills-based automaker and a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany is aiming to compete closely with other Detroit car manufacturers. This is the reason why it is concentrating on its lineup. Volkswagen is one of the world's biggest producers of passenger cars. It is also Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Beetle, Beetle convertible, Eos, GLI, GTI, Jetta, Passat sedan, Passat wagon, Rabbit, and the Touareg through approximately 600 independent dealers in the United States.

About the Author

Given her background on cars as an auto insurance director, Lauren Woods finds the world of cars to be constantly changing.

I have added 50 books a year to my reading intake ... without creating any extra time to read

Whenever I got together with friends and business colleagues they were often discussing the latest book or talking about a particular author they enjoyed. There were so many titles and authors that I wanted to learn from. I need to somehow find more time to read. We all lead busy lives yet somehow my friends and colleagues seem to manage it. I did not understand how they found the time to read. At a late afternoon coffee get together another friend was sharing how he had just finished a certain book. I blurted out in my frustration "How on earth do you find the time to read so much" It was a strange reaction. My friends looked at me, looked at each other and smiled. One of them said "These are Audio Books we're talking about. We don't 'read' per say, we listen, to an Audio Book" The penny dropped, I do remember one of them saying something about downloading. I missed the context of what was said that day and didn't pay much attention to it. They had been talking about listening to an Audio Book, downloadable Audio Books even. All this time they had assumed I had known they were talking about this new website they had found www.audioitnow.com where you could download an audio book instantly. One of my friends then pulled out her MP3 player. She then played an audio book for me to listen to. She explained that this was how she had 'read' over one audio book per week. She listened to an audio book while she prepared for work in the morning, while she did her exercises each day, while she commuted to and from work and any free time she had on her hands that didn't involve using her mind. I was surprised, to say the least, that I could have been doing the same thing in my spare time, instead of just commuting to and from work doing nothing. You see, my work is one that requires a lot of my time involvement. I have to leave home quite early, spend over an hour on the road because of the constant heavy traffic and when I get to work, I work all day until break time and closing time. From what this friend of mine explained to me, I knew I had to give audio books a try. I did and was very impressed. Now, I can proudly say I also benefit from the reading of up to 50 books each year. Still don't think it's possible? Fine, let's do the math: For an audio book that takes 4 hours, you can have it read to you in just two days - 1 hour each day while preparing for work in the morning and 1 hour each day while commuting to and from work. That's 4 hours in 2 days. So, if it takes you 2 days to have one audio book read to you, that will be 365 days in a year divided by 2. That will equal about 133 books each year! That's over double the original 50 audio books we were targeting, right? Audio books are indeed the secret formula that many people use to get the value from the best books they want to read. With an audio book, you can forget the frustration you always had whenever you force yourself to read any book. For the bookworms back in college that want to continue reading but can't afford the time anymore, you now have a solution in audio books. Whether you want to use your PC, MP3 player, CD or even a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), it is now possible and within your reach for peanuts


About the Author

The Author is Peter B Butler. CEO of the Downloadable Audio Books at Audio It Now Network at www.audioitnow.com

Monday, April 2, 2007

Are You A Writer Stuck For Ideas

From the cartloads of letters and emails I receive (in fact the postman blames me entirely for his recent hernia) one of the difficulties some writers have is getting an idea for a story or article. There is no need for this at all as ideas are abundant and all around us.

Just take a walk down the High Street or shopping complex/precinct/mall and you have a wealth of possibilities. Simply apply the old brain cells using a little observation, a smattering of logic plus a dash of imagination. Then apply the WWWWH (pronounced w-w-w-huh) principle to generate a flow of rejection beating ideas. Yes, the old What, Why, When, Where and How formula. Can't beat it. Unless you hire a ghost writer.

So here we are sitting by The Old Horsetrough at Nethering-under-Wold watching the world go by. Such as there is in N-u-W. See that couple over there coming out of Comet digital? He looks glum and she looks ready to explode. Now - Why?

Well, you see he wanted to invest in a GPS system for his car. You know, one of those boys' toys that help men find their way home on a Friday night? She thought they were going in to buy a bells-and-whistles CD player for her Ronan Keating collection. They had words. Loud ones. The manager threatened to call the police. They left.

The next question is: How did this situation arise? Erm... I know - it was her birthday and she had intimated in that roundabout way that women use and men don't understand, that she wanted a new CD player. "Ronan sounds all squeaky on this player." "Doesn't he always sound like that? Har-har". He had been cudgelling his brain wondering what to get her and had come up with a Good Idea. He would treat her to a weekend at one of those health farms she was always on about. He would drive her there and collect her, but, and this is where the rubber hits the road if you'll forgive the pun, the one he had booked her into was 120 miles away in the next county and, in order to get her there with the minimum of fuss, it was best if he had a GPS system as a back-up to his unerring sense of direction. This is called men's logic about which several small pamphlets could be written.

What happens next? Note the use of the word 'What'. Not entirely the correct use of that part of the formula, but is saves me having to think up a proper 'What' later. Two shops down is the Far Away Travel Agents where our male protagonist has paid for the holiday after cashing in his ISA for the purpose (note the possibilities for a sub-plot here). He steers her glumly into the shop. She looks a little startled and is about to Ask Questions when the young lady salesperson smiles and says "Oh, you must be Mrs (insert name). Aren't you a lucky girl?" Mrs (insert name), now fighting through a fog of disorientation, is about to ask a somewhat more serious Question when the lady salesperson produces the documents and luxury brochure for the health farm...

Now, Where does this all lead us? Emotional-reconciliation-and-all-is-forgiven scenario or What? Well, I've done all the work for you so I reckon it's your turn to finish it off. Or better still, go out and work a story up for yourself. If I can do it, you can do it.

About the Author

Mervyn Love is the webmaster of http://www,writersreign.co.uk a web site providing the writer with help, encouragement, resources, links, competitions and more. Sign up for the excellent free WritersReign Article Writing Course here: http://www.adminder.com/c.cgi?FortPublish&AWartcls

SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT

It's that time again. If you're like me the boat is ready and in the water, I hope, for as I write this for the May issue it's the middle of March. l have checked the tires on the trailer, added air and greased the wheel bearings. Reels are cleaned, oiled and greased. Rods are checked for loose guides, guides checked for nicks, cork handles cleaned, line checked and new leaders attached. Hooks are sharpened, tape replaced on spoons, flies sorted and new leaders tied on. Stick baits touched-up. Flares checked for dates and life preservers cleaned and ready to go. Radio checked, radar checked, CD player checked, underwater camera checked and the batteries charged. Oh yeah, don't forget the digital camera. And the million other things on the check/get ready list, done. So as I said, I hope I'm ready to go.

And if you are like I was you already know what bait you're going to start with and just where on the lake your going to set up. That's right, was. A couple years ago I knew exactly where I was going to set up and what my spread was going to be. And then as they say, "The best laid plans of mice and men..." That year the Coho didn't show up as in past years. Oh, some were there but not like before. The first couple of hours were tough. Frustrated, I remembered something my grandfather told me years ago: "When things get tough, try something different." But what? I had already run through most of my "proven" set-ups and was getting tired of changing baits, speed, direction and depths. You have probably been there - done that.

Rummaging through a tackle box I found some plastic bass baits. That's right, bass baits. So I thought "Why not?" Some of the plastic baits were scented, some not and there were all kinds of colors and shapes. And as you know, necessity is the mother of invention. So here's what I did. Choosing a "minnow" type plastic bait I put it in a clear cut bait head just like you would a herring strip, and attached it about 2 feet behind a dodger. Because I was fishing water around 40 feet I let out about 100 feet of line and sent it down 30 feet. I did the same on another rigger only with a different colored minnow. And you guessed it, as I was dropping the 2nd one the first one got hit. The first fish was a small but nice Coho. As I was resetting the dodger and minnow the other set-up got hit and another nice Coho. Two fish inside of 5 minutes whereas previously we were lucky to have one every half hour or so. As they say, success breeds success, so next were the in-line boards. Running 3 per side, on the outside line I left a dodger and fly with a trolling keel. The middle line had a small stick bait and the inside line I reset with a plastic minnow in a cut bait head and a ½ ounce twist-on sinker about 5 feet above the bait head. Both sides were the same except for colors. The first hit was the port side plastic. And if I remember right a dodger and fly was next. The next 2 fish were on plastic. That's the way the rest of the time on the water went.

The picture shows some of the plastic baits and bait heads I have run in the past. The first one from left to right is a Banjo Minnow, the next five I don't remember what they are, the seventh, eighth and ninth are Bass and Walleye Assassins, tenth is from the bass assortment by Hookmaster Pro. Number eleven is a Flippen Rainbow Trout from Gambler with Shad oils. Above the plastic baits are some of the cut baits heads I use. And of course the old, old standby, the squid and another bait I have no clue on the name. (You will notice that I use circle hooks. If you aren't you should, for your hooking percentage will go up and you will have less tangles when netting fish. 99 % of the fish will be hooked in the corner of their mouths so that removing the hook is real easy.) I have tried lizards (trim off the legs), crawfish (also trimmed), swirl tail grubs, you name it I have probably tried it. Do they all work? I wish I could say yes, but some did nothing. It seems that the best ones are minnow imitations. And I'll bet you can guess why.

Some of the plastic baits will have to trimmed to fit into a bait head. You rig the plastic just like you would cut bait. I also use scent if the plastic is not scented. I run them just like you would cut bait. Sometimes a long lead from the attractor works and sometimes shorter leads are better. I have run them without attractors especially when I'm in real shallow water, 20 feet or less, using the new Rotary Fly Heads from Bechhold and Sons. In shallow water, the further back from the boat the better. The reason I don't run dodgers in real shallow water is that dodgers with long leads from the downrigger ball have a tendency to plane to the surface. I've run plastic with lead core, wire, dipsies, twinkies and long lines. And have caught fish on all of them. But it seems that they work best off of downriggers in deep water and off of in-line boards in shallow water.

The point is that there are lots of baits designed for other species that work on the Great Lakes. And if you don't try different things, you're stuck in a rut. Think about it: Who would have thought that a West Coast system, cut herring and a special bait head towed behind a funny looking piece of plastic would catch fish? Is plastic the panacea for a full cooler every time? No. But you never know, and its fun. I'll bet that many of you, if you got this far and don't think I'm completely nuts, fish for other species and have loads of plastic baits of all kinds of shapes and sizes in jars, boxes, and tackle boxes. Some, if you're like me, you've never used. Why not dig them out and give them a try.

I have caught coho, chins, browns and lakers on plastic bass and walleye baits, as the picture with Cindy holding a 15 pound chin shows. The bait, if you look close is the lime green Banjo Minnow. The attractor is a "Smart Fish" from Legendary Products. Big John of Big Jon downrigger fame owns the company. By the way, the Smart fish is adjustable to give you different rotations. And yes it does catch fish.

Has plastic replaced cut bait for me? No, I still use herring strips, and alewives if I can get them. (Here's a tip for you: Sometimes I can't get frozen cut bait, so I stop at my local super market and pick up a pound of smelt for about 5 bucks a pound and use them in place of herring.) So try something different. Give plastic a try and let me know how you do. E-mail me a photo through my web site and I'll post some of the photos. Oh yeah, good luck.

For pictures of the baits and fish go to our web site at www.gobblywabblerdistributors.com and click on "Outdoor Writers Page." Be patient the pictures are in great detail and takes sometime to load

About the Author

George Hampel was a charter captain for a good number of years in Up-State New York and has fished all of his life. He currently writes articles for outdoor publications and gives seminars on all kinds of fishing. He also owns a web store at www.gobblywabblerdistributors.com that sells outdoor equipment for most every kind of outdoor activity and specializes in fishing. He currently fishes the Great Lakes, mostly Lake Michigan and inland wat