What is life without challenges and problems? Everyone faces challenges in life, regardless of age, gender, economic status, etc. Right from a young age up to a ripe old age everyone faces challenge almost everyday in life. The bigger your life’s goal, the greater is your challenge. Facing and overcoming problems require some amount of maturity, understanding and some strategy.

Here are four tips to face your challenges in life:

1. Learn to forget the problem and focus only on solutions – Well, forgetting the problem does not certainly make it disappear! But if you temporarily take your mind off the problem you would save yourself from unwanted anxiety. Unwanted stress would only lead to wasting your energy. You could instead spend that energy on looking for ways to solve the problem. Majority of us just freeze when we are faced with challenging situations. Instead, if we could immediately look for solutions the problem may clear easily. This is not easy but with some self-awareness and positive attitude you would learn to find your way through problems. When you are challenged with a problem the next time, first set aside your emotions, understand the problem and search for a solution right away.

2. Get help by reaching out to friends and family: Sometimes when you just let go of your ego and shame and ask for help you would be surprised at the way people receive you with love and concern. What are family and friends for? These days support groups are available online and in the community for almost every problem. You have support groups for addictions, seniors, single parents, parenting, marriage, education, health and religion… just about anything. When you have a problem do not think you are all alone. When you get in touch with these support groups you would realize that you are not the only one being tested by life’s challenges. You would share each other’s experiences and shoulder each other’s problems through these support groups. You could search for support groups in the Internet or call an expert, look in the newspapers, magazines, talk to people, etc. Support groups give a lot of strength and courage to fight your challenges.

3. Act now! - ‘Now’ is the best time to take on your challenges. Many people think and think and think and talk about it all the while but they would not move an inch towards a solution. What good is that? When you see a challenge, take action immediately. You would waste precious time if you wait around or wait for someone else to start dealing with your issues. Build self-confidence and resilience and start to fight your problems and you would have overcome your challenge before it settles down on you! The faster you act, the speedier the problem gets solved.

4. Practice patience and Perseverance - Nobody is a born professional at solving problems. Each time a problem challenges you it is a new experience. You could act wise by learning to be patient and persistent and practice perseverance in order to study your pattern of problems. This is a good way to draw your strategies and act accordingly. Soon you would be a master at dealing with your challenges.

26th Annual Stellar Award Results (2011)

26th Annual Stellar Award Results (2011)

The winners of the 26th Annual Stellar Awards were announced on January 15th, 2011 from Nashville, Tennessee.Central City Productions, under CEO/ Chairman Don Jackson, produced the event, once again back at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville to celebrate Gospel music excellence. It was The 26th Annual Stellar Awards!


Artist of the Year

# BeBe & CeCe Winans
# Fred Hammond
# James Fortune & FIYA
# Marvin Sapp (Winner)


Song of the Year (Songwriter(s); Song)
# BeBe Winans, "Close to You" (Winner)
# Fred Hammond, Calvin Rodgers, Phillip Feaster, Ericka Warren, Michael Bethany and Dynna Wells, "They That Wait"
# James Fortune, C. Fortune and T. Vaughn, "Encore"
# Marvin Sapp, "Best In Me"


Male Vocalist of the Year
# Byron Cage (Winner)
# Fred Hammond
# J. Moss
# Marvin Sapp


Female Vocalist of the Year
# CeCe Winans
# Karen Clark Sheard (Winner)
# Lucinda Moore
# Tamela Mann


Group Duo of the Year
# BeBe & CeCe Winans
# Forever Jones
# James Fortune & FIYA (Winner)
# The Anointed Pace Sisters


New Artist of the Year
# Forever Jones
# Kristina Halloway (Winner)
# Travis Greene
# Victory Cathedral Choir


CD of the Year
# Fred Hammond, Love Unstoppable
# J. Moss, Just James
# James Fortune & FIYA, Encore
# Marvin Sapp, Here I Am (Winner)


Choir of the Year
# Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
# James Hall & Voices of Citadel
# Victory Cathedral Choir
# Wilmington Chester Mass Choir (Winner)


Producer of the Year
# Aaron Lindsey, Here I Am (Winner)
# Donald Lawrence, The Experience
# Fred Hammond, Love Unstoppable
# James Fortune, Terrance Vaughn and Ayron Lewis, Encore


Contemporary Group/ Duo of the Year
# BeBe & CeCe Winans
# Forever Jones (Winner)
# James Fortune and FIYA
# Trin-i-tee 5:7


Traditional Group/Duo of the Year
# James Greer & Company
# The Anointed Pace Sisters
# The Christian Angels
# The Mighty Clouds of Joy (Winner)


Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year
# Byron Cage
# Fred Hammond
# J. Moss
# James Fortune (Winner)


Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year
# Alvin Darling
# Darrell Hines
# Marvin Sapp (Winner)
# Mavin Winans


Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year
# CeCe Winans (Winner)
# Karen Clark Sheard
# Lisa Page Brooks
# Tamela Mann


Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year
# Fredericka Faison
# Lucinda Moore (Winner)
# Shirley Caesar
# Vanessa Bell Armstrong


Contemporary CD of the Year
# BeBe and CeCe Winans, Still
# Fred Hammond, Love Unstoppable
# J.Moss, Just James
# James Fortune and FIYA, Encore (Winner)


Traditional CD of the Year
# James Hall & Voices of Citadel, Won't It Be Wonderful
# Marvin Sapp, Here I Am (Winner)
# Shirley Caesar, A City Called Heaven
# Vanessa Bell Armstrong, The Experience


Urban/ Inspirational Single / Performance of the Year (Artist; Song)
# BeBe & CeCe Winans, "Still" (Winner)
# Forever Jones, "Get Ready"
# James Fortune & FIYA, "Encore"
# Marvin Sapp, "Here I Am"


Music Video of the Year (artist, song/CD title)
# BeBe and CeCe Winans, "Close to You" (Winner)
# Kirk Whalum, "Make Me a Believer"
# Shirley Caesar, "Playground In Heaven"
# The Anointed Pace Sisters, "If I Be Lifted Up"


Contemporary Choir of the Year
# God's Little Soldiers International
# Myron Butler & Levi (Winner)
# Youth for Christ
# Youthful Praise featuring J.J. Hairston


Traditional Choir of the Year
# Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
# James Hall & Voices of Citadel
# Victory Cathedral Choir
# Wilmington Chester Mass Choir (Winner)


Special Event CD of the Year
# BeBe and CeCe Winans, Still
# Kirk Franklin, Are You Listening
# Various Artists, CoCo Brother Live Presents Stand 2010 (Winner)
# Various Artists, WOW Gospel 2010


Rap/Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year
# DJ Official, Entermission
# Everyday Process, Outtadisworld
# Sho Baraka, Lions and Liars
# Trip Lee, Between Two Worlds (Winner)


Children's Project of the Year
# God's Little Soldiers International, Soldier Story
# Kingdom Kids Worldwide, Kingdom Kids Worldwide Volume 1 (Winner)
# The Velasquez Family Singers, While We Still Have Time
# Youth for Christ, Thanks In Advance


Quartet of the Year
# Reverend F.C. Barnes & Company
# The Christian Angels (Winner)
# The Golden Wings Quartet
# The Mighty Clouds of Joy


Recorded Music Package of the Year [art credit / album ]
# Cameron Hilson and Mark Neubauer, Get Ready
# Denise Trotman, Here I Am
# Derek Blanks and Ken Barboza, Still (Winner)
# Jeff Gilligan, Love Unstoppable


Praise and Worship CD of the Year
# Darwin Hobbs, Darwin Hobbs Live: Champion (Winner)
# James Fortune & FIYA, Encore
# Phil Tarver, Place of Worship
# The Anointed Pace Sisters, Access Granted

FAQ on torrent files

Can you explain what BitTorrent is?

BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (or P2P) protocol widely used to distribute large files.
For more info consult:

* The official BitTorrent website (http://www.bittorrent.com/)
* Brian's BitTorrent FAQ and Guide (http://dessent.net/btfaq/)
* The Wikipedia BitTorrent page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent)

Where can I find a BitTorrent client?

* uTorrent - a lightweight and easy-to-use client (http://www.utorrent.com/)
* The official BitTorrent client (http://www.bittorrent.com)
* Azureus - a more advanced BitTorrent client (http://azureus.sourceforge.net/)
* BitComet - a user-friendly BitTorrent client (http://www.bitcomet.com/)
* Overview of more BitTorrent clients (http://www.zeropaid.com/software/file-sharing/bittorrent/)


Is it true that downloading torrent files is considered illegal?

Taking into account the fact that torrent files are not copyrighted, it is not considered a crime. But it is to be noted that when you open a torrent file in your BitTorrent client the process of downloading copyrighted content may start automatically.

In some countries with some types of content it may be illegal. Please, mind special restrictions of different countries in order not to have problems with law. In any case, to save yourself it is better to avoid downloading any copyrighted content.
Can you explain what a .torrent file is?

This is a small metadata file. Metadata here means that the file contains information about the data you want to download, not the data itself. The .torrent file is needed to connect to the tracker and download the actual data.
What is a tracker?

This is a service that assists in the communication between BitTorrent clients. When you open a torrent file, your machine contacts the tracker and asks for a list of seeds and leechers to connect to.
What are seeds?

A seed is such a client which has a complete copy of the data of a certain torrent. When BitTorrent client finishes the process of downloading, it remains open till you click the Finish button. This is called a seed or seeding.
What are leechers?

A leecher is such a client which is currently downloading the data of a torrent. If a leecher had the complete file, it would be called a seed.
What are all .rar, .r01, .r02 files?

These files are RAR archives. You need to install WinRAR or 7-Zip to extract the data of the files.
As far as I know the torrent is supposed to be 100MB. How could I download 120MB?

For particular issues consult the hash fails topic. Whenever your client receives bad data it has to redownload it, as the result of this the total downloaded file may be larger than the torrent size. Disable the "kick/ban" option to minimize the risks.
What's MY ratio?

You need to distinguish between overall ratio and the individual ratio. The overall ratio takes into account the total uploaded and downloaded from your account since you joined the site. The individual ratio takes into account those values for each torrent.

You might have seen two symbols of a number : "Inf.". This is just an abbreviation for Infinity, and means that you have downloaded 0 bytes while uploading a non-zero amount (ul/dl becomes infinity); "---", which should be read as "non-available", and shows up when you have both downloaded and uploaded 0 bytes (ul/dl = 0/0 which is an indeterminate amount).
Would you explain why my downloads sometimes stall at 99%?

The more pieces you have, the harder it becomes to find peers who have pieces you are missing. That is the reason for the downloading slowing down or even stalling when there are just a few percent remaining. Be patient and you will get the remaining pieces.
Can I somehow improve the speed of downloading?

The speed of downloading depends on the seeder-to-leecher ratio (SLR). Poor download speed is mainly a problem with new and very popular torrents where the SLR is low.

However, you may try to do something to improve your speed:

First of all, do not do it if you have a slow connection. The best speeds will be found around the half-life of a torrent, when the SLR will be at its highest. (The downside is that you will not be able to seed so much. It's up to you to balance the pros and cons of this). Just give it some time.

As explained above peers favour other peers that upload to them. When you start leeching a new torrent you have nothing to offer to other peers and they will tend to ignore you. This makes the starts slow, in particular if, by change, the peers you are connected to include few or no seeders. The download speed should increase as soon as you have some pieces to share.

Keys To Achieving Happiness In Your Job

One of the best ways to reducing stress and achieving happiness is by feeling empowered in whatever job that you are doing. Your health also improves as you have more energy to put into whatever you are doing whether at work, home or your social life. Here are keys to achieving happiness through actions that you can take:

1. Love Your Job
If you love the job you do, it is easy to be happy doing it. What if you do not love your job?

There are only two choices. Find another job that you love or find reasons and ways to love your current job. Often, whether you like or dislike your job depends on your mindset.
If you decide to remain at your current job, then find reasons why you are happy about it. The most basic of this will be that it helps you pay your bills. Focus on the few things you find that you like about the job. Meanwhile, look out for other jobs.
Avoid focusing on things that upset you. If you list these out, you may find there are only a few that look like many because you focus on them.

2. Communicate Effectively
If you are unhappy because of how the work gets done in the office, then communicate effectively with your peers and boss on how things can be done better.
Emphasis is on being effective in the communication. Complaining and griping will only irritate your co-workers and boss. Instead, think of ways to improve and discuss these with the others. Besides being better accepted, you will soon find that you enjoy what you do.

3. Mix With The Right People
Choose to mix with people who are positive and focus on results. Stay away from those who are not happy about several things and have a tendency to complain.
Work with people who want to achieve results and find ways of getting the job done better. Contribute your own ideas and take ownership of areas that you are responsible for.

4. Develop Your Skills
Improve on your current skills and start picking up new ones that will help you in your job.
Think about your long-term career and decide on the skills that you need to develop. This will help you decide which are the skills and competencies that you need to work on.
Doing this will give you a target to go after and a purpose in your life. As you keep improving, you will find achieving happiness becomes easier as you get a great sense of fulfillment.

5. Go After Your Dreams
Is your current job a stepping stone to your long-term career?
If it is not, then identify your dreams for the future first. Then decide how your current job can be a stepping stone. You may want to seek for more or a change in your job responsibilities in line with your long-term plans. Speak to your boss about it.Alternatively, you may want to start looking out for a job that is geared towards your future dreams.

Besides the above tips, it is important that you have fun in your life outside your job. If you are a happy person, it is much easier to be happy at your workplace. Choose something that you like to do and make time to do that.
Achieving happiness needs action besides getting the ideas. Now that you have the ideas, apply them and work on getting a stress-free and happy life.

Success Tip - 25 Tips on How to Be Successful

Tip #1: Keep your home, desk, closets, car - clean, neat and organized.
Tip #2: Do what you feel is best, no matter what people think of you.
Tip #3: Believe that: if it is to be, it is up to me
Tip #4: Learn something new every day
Tip #5: Act as if it was impossible to fail.
Tip #6: Build your reputation for honesty, integrity, quality and superb service.
Tip #7: Support others in achieving their goals.
Tip #8: Take responsibility for your past, present, and future experiences.
Tip #9: Inspire others by your example
Tip #10. Think BIG. Dream lofty dreams. Plan. Act NOW.
Tip #11. Strive to accomplish more, with less time, money and energy
Tip #12. Know that you are equal to everyone and that everyone is equal to you
Tip #13: Never forget the power of your smile - it generates enthusiasm, friendliness, confidence.
Tip #14: Do and say things that benefit all concerned
Tip #15. Give something away daily - a postcard, letter, gift, smile, hug, compliment
Tip #16. Develop influential friendships near and far.
Tip #17: Simplify your life, have more fun per hour.
Tip #18. Be good to yourself - keep healthy.
Tip #19. Dress for success - feel great and look like a leader.
Tip #20. Aim for excellence in your field.
Tip #21. Accept people the way they are and the way they are not.
Tip #22. Live your ideal life - NOW.
Tip #23. Be open to new ideas, relationships and experiences
Tip #24. Realize that all events happen for the best.
Tip #25. Avoid saying: can't, hard, difficult. Say: I can, it's easy, it's simple

Top Five Online Scams

By: Gary Gresham

These con artists and hackers are just waiting to commit online fraud and steal your identity. Look carefully at these top five online scams and be aware of what is going on so you won't become a victim.

Scam # 1 Online Auction Scam

You buy something on an online auction, send them the money and get nothing in return. Or the product you get is a fake or a cheap knockoff instead of the genuine brand name item. This is a risk you take when buying from an online auction.

Scam # 2 Phishing Scam

The phishing definition is when a fraudster spams the Internet with email claiming to be from a reputable bank. The email outfitted with authentic bank logos asks you to log in and verify your account information. The thief captures your account information from the web address they take you to and drains your account. These can also become identity theft scams too because they can sell your information to other criminals.

Scam # 3 Nigerian Letter Scam

These email scams usually start out with all capital letters and begins with: DEAR SIR/MADAM. The email goes on to say they are the some minister of something for an African country. He wants you to help him get millions of dollars out of the country. You just need to pay for legal fees and some other advanced fees before the transaction can be finalized. You would think people would be too smart to fall for this. But you would be wrong.


Scam # 4 Reshipping Scam

You are emailed by an offshore corporation that needs a U.S. address and bank account which you supply. You receive goods and reship them to another country. You receive wire transfers into your bank account and you transfer money into their offshore account. In return you get to keep a percentage of everything. But with this scam you are taking a big risk because you could get arrested for participating in moving stolen property and transferring stolen funds.

Scam # 5 Congratulations You've Won Scam

This email tells you have won a nice prize like a plasma TV, a new computer or even the lottery. All you have to do to claim your prize is go to this web address and pay for the shipping and handling with your credit card. In the case of winning the lottery they need advanced fees to cover legal costs. Not only do you never get the prize but you start getting mysterious charges on your credit card.

So what's the best thing to do when you or someone you know has fallen for one of these scams? Some people are embarrassed and don't want to tell anyone. But that's how these thieves get away with these things for so long without getting caught. The best way to stop these con artists from operating is to report email scams to the authorities.

The best place to report email scams is The Internet Fraud Complaint Center or (IFCC). They are a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). Their web address is: http://www1.ifccfbi.gov

IFCC's mission is to address fraud committed over the Internet. For victims of Internet fraud Business Management Articles, IFCC provides a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of a suspected criminal or civil violation.

By becoming aware of these top five online scams and reporting email scams to the IFCC you can make the Internet safer for everyone.


Courtesy: Spyware Information.com

6 Mistakes to Avoid on Email Subject Lines

By Daniel Scocco

If you are a blogger, website owner or online worker, you probably need to contact people via email all the time. On some occasions you will also be the one starting the conversation and looking for a reply. For example, you might want to offer a guest article for a particular blog, or you might want to propose a business partnership to someone. Unless you craft your email messages smartly, though, there are good chances that the other person won’t even read them. Spam filters are the first obstacle, but even if your message goes though the other person might just delete it.

The subject line is probably the most important part of your message, and in this post I wanted to cover six mistakes that I see people making:

1. Creating one word subject lines

Have you ever received an email with the subject line “Hi”? If you have, you know how annoying it is. One word subject lines are terrible because they fail to communicate what the email is about, where it is coming from and the like (more on that later). Additionally, they might also reveal laziness or carelessness from the sender’s part, which might lead the receiver to ignore the email.

2. Making requests

People want to receive, not to give. If your subject line makes a request right away, the receiver will be less likely to open it. Examples include link exchange requests, voting requests and so on. A better approach to get the conversation going is to start by offering something.

3. Using spammy keywords

Using spammy keywords in your subject line is a no-no. Even if you get lucky and the spam filter does not block your message, there are good chances that the receiver will tag your message as spam as soon as he reads the subject line. Here is a short list of words to give you an idea of what should be avoided:

* free
* money
* win
* degree
* gift
* deal
* sign-up
* survey

4. Begging for attention

Using “Please Read This” as your subject line will not help convincing the receiver to open your email. Quite the opposite. The same is true for using words like “urgent,” “important” and similar.

5. Making it sound too good to be true

Real business or joint venture opportunities usually come from people you already have a relationship with. If you are going to email someone for the first time, therefore, avoiding using these terms, else you might be seen as a scammer.

6. Making it look like an automated message

If your subject like looks like an automated message from a website or online service, well, people will assume it indeed is. Just take a look at the automated messages you receive and avoid crafting your subject lines in the same fashion. One example is the “Invitation to…” subject line. Usually those come from social networks, and people tend to ignore them.

By now you might be asking yourself: “OK I understand the mistakes I need to avoid, but how should I craft a good subject line then?” In my opinion a good email subject line should have two elements: a relevancy hook (i.e., a keyword that will assure the receiver that the email message is indeed for him, like his name or the name of his website) and a brief description of the content of the email (because even if the receiver knows your message is a legitimate one, he might not read it immediately or at all unless he knows what it is about).

Courtesy DailyBlogTips

PortableApps adds Chrome and Skype

By Seth Rosenblatt

The PortableApps Suite is a storehouse and management system for "portable" versions of some of the most popular freeware around. That collection used to be limited only to open-source programs. But on Wednesday it started making portable versions of closed-source freeware to users. The first batch of portable freeware includes Web browser Google Chrome, VoIP client Skype, BitTorrent client uTorrent, antispyware tool SpyDLLRemover, and three others at the time of writing. The new portable versions of these programs work both independently and in tandem with the PortableApps suite.

In a statement published on its Web site, PortableApps.com founder and CEO John Haller said that PortableApps "remains committed" to open-source software, but that closed-source freeware publishers would find other venues for USB stick-friendly versions of their programs if PortableApps didn't open its doors to them. For users that want to support only open-source programs, he said that the PortableApps directory will soon be filterable.

PortableApps is also planning to accept portable versions of commercial software, although it hasn't announced a timeline yet. Readers can check on the latest updates to the PortableApps catalog at their Web site, although we do host most of them at Download.com as well.

Courtesy: cnet.com

Better searching in Gmail

Just as you can specify a Web site for Google searches ("google tips" site:itworld.com), you can use a variety of search operators with Gmail. Two caveats: Gmail searches won't suggest spelling for you or handle plurals ("dog" won't return "dogs").

Common e-mail header information (to, cc, bcc, subject, and from) can be added to search queries. Examples include "to:John" or "to:john@doe.com", "bcc:Boss", "subject:netbooks". Add the "in:anywhere" query and include the Trash and Spam listings in your search (they're ignored in regular searches).

Gather all messages with attachments by searching "has:attachment". Narrow that list by searching for "filename:doc" or "filename:pdf" to return just those types of attachments. All file extensions work.

Searching by time requires you to put the date in the form yyyy/mm/dd. Search after the Ides of March using "after:2009/03/15" and you'll get all messages after, but not on, March 15th. Search for earlier messages using "before:2009/03/15" and you'll get all message before, but not on, that date.

Labels in Gmail take some people by surprise, and a few have trouble making the switch from nested folders to labels. Just remember a message can only be in one folder, but it can have multiple labels.

Search using the labels by adding "label:inbox" or "label:sales" in the query, depending on your predefined labels. System labels such as starred, drafts, spam, trash, read, and unread work too.

Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT can be used, as can parentheses and braces for grouping search terms. Searching "from:jane subject:(zoo|tigers)" will return messages from Jane about the zoo or tigers.

Yes, most of these tips work in Calendar, Docs, and other Google Apps.

This tip comes from Scott Granneman, author of Google Apps Deciphered. Prentice Hall.

Search and surf the web without leaving traces on your computer

Browzar is based on the Internet Explorer engine, which means it's such a small file that it only takes seconds to download. We've made it disposable; so you have the choice of keeping Browzar on your PC, or downloading it each time you need to protect your privacy. You don't even need to install it: with Browzar you just click and go...

No browsing history, stored files, or cookies
No embarrassing search auto-complete
No installation. Just click ‘run’ and go
No registration required

The freedom to surf the web with complete privacy
Browzar doesn’t do web cache, web history, cookies or auto-complete. We promise that your business stays your business.

The freedom to search for whatever you want
Browzar doesn’t remember what you search for and won’t embarrassingly auto-complete what you’ve searched for in the past.

The freedom to use it wherever you are
Browzar only takes seconds to download. Use it at home, at your friend’s, at work, in an Internet café, in fact anywhere you’ve got a computer and an internet connection.

The freedom to use it whenever you want
Using Browzar doesn’t involve commitment. Use it once a year, once a week or everyday, it’s up to you. It's free to download and use Browzar as many times as you like.

To download browser go to: http://www.browzar.com/index.html

Happy safe browsing!!!

Bebe and Cece: "Still" Dynamic Duo

Growing up in Detroit, MI, Benjamin "BeBe" Winans and Priscilla "CeCe" Winans were born into a home that birthed the first family of Gospel music. The Winans Family was led by a mother and father who taught their ten children the foundations of a Godly life and admonished them to use their voices for the glory of God. The success of their four brothers, The Winans, blazed a trail for BeBe & CeCe to create their own path of writing and performing music that would attract a legion of fans and change the face of Gospel music forever.

After the success of their debut album, BeBe & CeCe became the first Gospel pair to see their second album, Heaven, reach #1 on the Billboard sales charts in 1988 and also be certified Gold. The title track reached #12 on the Billboard R&B singles chart and also spawned two more hit singles with "Lost Without You" and "Celebrate New Life."

In 1991, the dynamic duo released Different Lifestyles featuring the single "Addictive Love" and a cover of the Staples Singers classic, "I'll Take You There." Both singles topped the R&B charts. From there, BeBe & CeCe released two more albums and after an amazing run of smash hits and albums, BeBe & CeCe went on to pursue incredibly successful solo careers.

With a phenomenal career that has spanned more than 20 years, BeBe & CeCe have become one of the most commercially successful gospel artists in the business. As a duo their accolades include five Grammy Awards, eight Dove Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, one Soul Train Award and over a dozen Stellar Awards. They have also racked up 12 chart topping R&B singles, as well as numerous #1 singles on Christian AC and CHR radio, three gold albums and one platinum album.

Watchout in October for the first full length album by the duo in 13 years. Their first single together in 13 years "close to you" was released June 2009.The new CD will be released on their record label B&C/Malaco Records. The release is scheduled for October 6,2009 and will be entitled "Still."

23 Ways To Speed Up Windows Xp Aside Defragmentation

Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.


Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

Google chrome crashes due to winhttp.dll

Google chrome crashes due to an issue with winhttp.dll, for a few.Though Google chrome initialized and started up properly, after disabling sandboxing using “--no-sandbox” option and thereby fixing the application failed to initialize (0xc0000005) error, Google chrome crashed on browsing any web page.On further verification, the crash seems to have been caused by winhttp.dll.

The fix for this issue was to add “--new-http” option towards end of the “target” line i.e. Right click the shortcut to “Google Chrome” and click Properties. Then in the target text field, add a space then add “--new-http” (without the double quotes) right after the ending quotation mark.Note that I am adding this option by leaving a space after the “-–no-sandbox” option.Also note that there are two dashes before new.Refer image below.

What this effectively does, is it creates a new instance of winhttp.dll, from your windows operating system environment, and thereby overrides the winhttp.dll that comes packaged with Google chrome.

Now, I did experiment to remove these options in the shortcut to Google chrome and started browsing web pages Fix the crashes due to winhttp.dll with “--new-http” and enjoy browsing with google chrome.

Update 2: If you remove the options, google chrome will throw the same errors on a restart.So you should live without the sandboxing effect until Google resolves this issue permanently.

Free services that let you store / send large file to other users.

1. SendOver | File Size : 2000 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 7 Days
2. MegaShares | File Size : 1500 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 25 Days
3. mooload | File Size : 500 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
4. Uploading | File Size : 500 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
5. zUpload | File Size : 500 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
6. FileFactory | File Size : 500 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 15 Days
7. Spread-It | File Size : 500 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 14 Days
8. CyberUpload | File Size : 500 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 7 Days
9. Bigupload | File Size : 300 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
10. RapidUpload | File Size : 300 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days

A few more Free Online File Storage/Transfer Services

1. ShareBigFile | File Size : 300 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 21 Days
2. UpDownloadServer | File Size : 250 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 9999 Days
3. FileCache | File Size : 250 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 31 Days
4. MegaUpload | File Size : 250 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
5. XtraFile | File Size : 250 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 15 Days
6. bonpoo | File Size : 250 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 10 Days
7. BIGfileupload | File Size : 100 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 9999 Days
8. Upload.Sc | File Size : 100 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 9999 Days
9. myShareBox | File Size : 100 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
10. RapidShare | File Size : 100 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
11. Store and Serve | File Size : 100 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
12. TheUpload | File Size : 100 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
13. zSHARE | File Size : 100 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 10 Days
14. Content-Type | File Size : 100 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 7 Days
15. Easy-Sharing | File Size : 75 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
16. Turbo Upload | File Size : 70 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 9999 Days
17. FileHD | File Size : 60 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
18. SaveFile | File Size : 60 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 14 Days
19. RapidSharing | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 60 Days
20. FriendlyShare | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
21. UploadFront | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
22. UploadHut | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
23. UploadSend | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
24. Momoshare | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 15 Days
25. SupaShare | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 14 Days
26. MyTempDir | File Size : 40 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 21 Days
27. UltraShare | File Size : 30 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
28. UploadTemple | File Size : 30 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 21 Days
29. SendMeFile | File Size : 30 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 14 Days
30. Upload2 | File Size : 25 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 365 Days
31. UploadTown | File Size : 20 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
32. Hyperupload | File Size : 10 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 9999 Days
33. WebFileHost | File Size : 10 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unlimited | File Life : 30 Days
34. QuickDump | File Size : 100 (MB) | File Download Limit : Download bandwidth limit of 500MB per hour | File Life : 30 Days
35. SendSpace | File Size : 1200 (MB) | File Download Limit : Download bandwidth limit of 100GB | File Life : 14 Days
36. SceneWorld | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : 1000 Downloads | File Life : 50 Days
37. Snaggys | File Size : 500 (MB) | File Download Limit : 999 Downloads | File Life : 15 Days
38. orb-z | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : 200 Downloads | File Life : 15 Days
39. Supload | File Size : 200 (MB) | File Download Limit : 30 Downloads | File Life : 7 Days
40. YouSendIt | File Size : 1000 (MB) | File Download Limit : 25 Downloads | File Life : 7 Days
41. TransferBigFiles | File Size : 1000 (MB) | File Download Limit : 20 Downloads | File Life : 5 Days
42. Send File | File Size : 40 (MB) | File Download Limit : 10 Downloads | File Life : 10 Days
43. FileHost | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unknown | File Life : 9999 Days
44. FreeUploader | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unknown | File Life : 9999 Days
45. ushareit | File Size : 50 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unknown | File Life : 9999 Days
46. 11MBIT.in | File Size : 20 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unknown | File Life : 9999 Days
47. Refrozen | File Size : 20 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unknown | File Life : 9999 Days
48. KeepMyFile | File Size : 15 (MB) | File Download Limit : Unknown | File Life : 9999 Days

Note: all the websites are in .com domain e.g www.keepmyfile.com

How do I upload my files using an FTP program?

The following article explains how to upload your website to different servers through an FTP (File Transfer Protocal) program. There are a large number of programs you can choose from. The basic idea is to first establish a connection with a server and your computer and then upload the files. This will transfer your website to the servers so that others can view your site on the internet.
To upload your files using an FTP program, please follow these steps:

1. Open the FTP program.
2. Enter the following information in the connection bar:

* Address/Host Name: this will be your domain name or IP address. Some programs may require you to enter http://, but most do not.

* User/Username: this is the "username" that was issued to you when you signed up with the hosting company.

* Password: this is the "password" that was issued to you when you signed up with the hosting company.

* Port: the default port number for FTP is 21. For Most FTP programs you will not need to add this information. It will use port 21 by default.

Entering the above information should open a connection to your websites folder on our the hosting server. You should also see a folder that represents your home machine.

Navigate through the folder of your home machine to find your files. Select each file and drag it to the folder that represents the hosting server. This should upload your files into your websites folder on your hosting server.

Note: in order for your site to show up when you type in your domain name or IP address into a web browser, the first page or the home page must be named one of these file names:

* index.html (standard HTML extension)
* index.htm (standard HTML extension)
* index.shtml or shtm (standard SSI extension, used with server side includes)
* index.asp (standard "active server page extension)
* default.html (standard HTML extension)
* default.htm (standard HTML extension)
* default.shtml or shtm (standard SSI extension, used with server side includes)
* default.asp (standard "active server page extension)

If you require a different home page name (called a "default document"), you can update it through the Control Panel or we can accommodate your needs. Please let us know what name you require. In most cases it is easier to rename your home page to one of the documents above. Please note that some file names (such as .asp and .shtml) are reserved for specific types of web applications. If you are unsure of which file extension to use, you can probably safely use .htm or .html.

Also, these documents carry an "order of precedence" as they are listed above. For example, if you have both an index.html file and a default.html file, the index.html file will show up when viewing your site with the domain name or IP address.

Hope this information was very helpful to you. Do have a most lovely day!

FASTEST WEB BROWSER

From the advent of Internet, web browser is the most commonly used software in the Web World, There have a great variety of web browsers on the internet, the most important web browsers include Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera, Maxthon, Netscape, Google Chrome and Safari, then which is fastest web browser? There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes, because Internet content is always changing, the web pages load times may get different timings when you run these tests.

For Windows platform, Internet Explorer is most popular web browser, but for many people, Internet Explorer is too strong and too big, it will become slower and slower, there have too many plug-ins and spams launched with Internet Explorer, it will become hard to use and slow very much. Program can use the newest IE8 core, it is a vast improvement over old version, especially in performance.
Fastest Web Browser


This program is titled "Fastest Web Browser", developed based the IE core, one tiny and full features web browser for Windows OS. As its name show, it is one quick and handy web browser, can launch and browse Internet content rapidly. Program base IE browser core, it customizes the IE core to make it be quicker than normal IE. It can be seemed as one lite version for Internet Explorer, light and handy, small and fast. It is completely free software; everyone can use it for free.

Fastest Web Browser is one tab browser, it allow you to view multiple web pages in the same browser without the need to open a new browser session. Each tab functions like a Browser window to display distinct content, but you can switch back and forth between tabs without opening more Browser windows, tabbed browsing lets you view many different websites at one time.

Main Features

* Fast - quickly browse and launch;
* Small - standalone program, no installation need, can run from Flash Disk (only 820KB);
* Tabs browser - browse multiple web pages in the same browser;
* Free - one completely freeware;
* Easy to use - no need install;
* Support all Windows versions (98/XP/2000/2003/Vista);
* Program can run a 64-bit version of Windows;
* Windows 7 compatibility;
* 100% Clean, no spyware or adware

Download this beautiful and fastest web browser from: http://www.fastestwebbrowser.com

Components Of The Internet

The Internet is a computer network made up of thousands of networks worldwide. No one knows exactly how many computers are connected to the Internet. It is certain, however, that these number is in the millions.

No one is in charge of the Internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control. The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.

All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/IP. Computers on the Internet use a client/server architecture. This means that the remote server machine provides files and services to the user's local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take advantage of the latest access technology.

An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services: electronic mail, file transfer, vast information resources, interest group membership, interactive collaboration, multimedia displays, real-time broadcasting, shopping opportunities, breaking news, and much more.

The Internet consists primarily of a variety of access protocols. Many of these protocols feature programs that allow users to search for and retrieve material made available by the protocol.


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COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNET
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WORLD WIDE WEB
The World Wide Web (abbreviated as the Web or WWW) is a system of Internet servers that supports hypertext to access several Internet protocols on a single interface. Almost every protocol type available on the Internet is accessible on the Web. This includes e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and Usenet News. In addition to these, the World Wide Web has its own protocol: HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. These protocols will be explained later in subsequent articles.

The World Wide Web provides a single interface for accessing all these protocols. This creates a convenient and user-friendly environment. It is no longer necessary to be conversant in these protocols within separate, command-level environments. The Web gathers together these protocols into a single system. Because of this feature, and because of the Web's ability to work with multimedia and advanced programming languages, the Web is the fastest-growing component of the Internet.

The operation of the Web relies primarily on hypertext as its means of information retrieval. HyperText is a document containing words that connect to other documents. These words are called links and are selectable by the user. A single hypertext document can contain links to many documents. In the context of the Web, words or graphics may serve as links to other documents, images, video, and sound. Links may or may not follow a logical path, as each connection is programmed by the creator of the source document. Overall, the Web contains a complex virtual web of connections among a vast number of documents, graphics, videos, and sounds.

Producing hypertext for the Web is accomplished by creating documents with a language called HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. With HTML, tags are placed within the text to accomplish document formatting, visual features such as font size, italics and bold, and the creation of hypertext links. Graphics and multimedia may also be incorporated into an HTML document. HTML is an evolving language, with new tags being added as each upgrade of the language is developed and released. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), led by Web founder Tim Berners-Lee, coordinates the efforts of standardizing HTML. The W3C now calls the language XHTML and considers it to be an application of the XML language standard.

The World Wide Web consists of files, called pages or home pages, containing links to documents and resources throughout the Internet.

The Web provides a vast array of experiences including multimedia presentations, real-time collaboration, interactive pages, radio and television broadcasts, and the automatic "push" of information to a client computer. Programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Cold Fusion and XML are extending the capabilities of the Web. A growing amount of information on the Web is served dynamically from content stored in databases. The Web is therefore not a fixed entity, but one that is in a constant state of development and flux.

For more complete information about the World Wide Web, see Understanding The World Wide Web.

E-MAIL
Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange messages. Each user of e-mail has a mailbox address to which messages are sent. Messages sent through e-mail can arrive within a matter of seconds.

A powerful aspect of e-mail is the option to send electronic files to a person's e-mail address. Non-ASCII files, known as binary files, may be attached to e-mail messages. These files are referred to as MIME attachments.MIME stands for Multimedia Internet Mail Extension, and was developed to help e-mail software handle a variety of file types. For example, a document created in Microsoft Word can be attached to an e-mail message and retrieved by the recipient with the appropriate e-mail program. Many e-mail programs, including Eudora, Netscape Messenger, and Microsoft Outlook, offer the ability to read files written in HTML, which is itself a MIME type.

TELNET
Telnet is a program that allows you to log into computers on the Internet and use online databases, library catalogs, chat services, and more. There are no graphics in Telnet sessions, just text. To Telnet to a computer, you must know its address. This can consist of words (locis.loc.gov) or numbers (140.147.254.3). Some services require you to connect to a specific port on the remote computer. In this case, type the port number after the Internet address. Example: telnet nri.reston.va.us 185.

Telnet is available on the World Wide Web. Probably the most common Web-based resources available through Telnet have been library catalogs, though most catalogs have since migrated to the Web. A link to a Telnet resource may look like any other link, but it will launch a Telnet session to make the connection. A Telnet program must be installed on your local computer and configured to your Web browser in order to work.

With the increasing popularity of the Web, Telnet has become less frequently used as a means of access to information on the Internet.

FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is both a program and the method used to transfer files between computers. Anonymous FTP is an option that allows users to transfer files from thousands of host computers on the Internet to their personal computer account. FTP sites contain books, articles, software, games, images, sounds, multimedia, course work, data sets, and more.

If your computer is directly connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, you can use one of several PC software programs, such as WS_FTP for Windows, to conduct a file transfer.

FTP transfers can be performed on the World Wide Web without the need for special software. In this case, the Web browser will suffice. Whenever you download software from a Web site to your local machine, you are using FTP. You can also retrieve FTP files via search engines such as FtpFind, located at /http://www.ftpfind.com/. This option is easiest because you do not need to know FTP program commands.

E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS
One of the benefits of the Internet is the opportunity it offers to people worldwide to communicate via e-mail. The Internet is home to a large community of individuals who carry out active discussions organized around topic-oriented forums distributed by e-mail. These are administered by software programs. Probably the most common program is the listserv.

A great variety of topics are covered by listservs, many of them academic in nature. When you subscribe to a listserv, messages from other subscribers are automatically sent to your electronic mailbox. You subscribe to a listserv by sending an e-mail message to a computer program called a listserver. Listservers are located on computer networks throughout the world. This program handles subscription information and distributes messages to and from subscribers. You must have a e-mail account to participate in a listserv discussion group. Visit Tile.net at /http://tile.net/ to see an example of a site that offers a searchablecollection of e-mail discussion groups.

Majordomo and Listproc are two other programs that administer e-mail discussion groups. The commands for subscribing to and managing your list memberships are similar to those of listserv.

USENET NEWS
Usenet News is a global electronic bulletin board system in which millions of computer users exchange information on a vast range of topics. The major difference between Usenet News and e-mail discussion groups is the fact that Usenet messages are stored on central computers, and users must connect to these computers to read or download the messages posted to these groups. This is distinct from e-mail distribution, in which messages arrive in the electronic mailboxes of each list member.

Usenet itself is a set of machines that exchanges messages, or articles, from Usenet discussion forums, called newsgroups. Usenet administrators control their own sites, and decide which (if any) newsgroups to sponsor and which remote newsgroups to allow into the system.

There are thousands of Usenet newsgroups in existence. While many are academic in nature, numerous newsgroups are organized around recreational topics. Much serious computer-related work takes place in Usenet discussions. A small number of e-mail discussion groups also exist as Usenet newsgroups.

The Usenet newsfeed can be read by a variety of newsreader software programs. For example, the Netscape suite comes with a newsreader program called Messenger. Newsreaders are also available as standalone products.


FAQ, RFC, FYI
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These are periodic postings to Usenet newsgroups that contain a wealth of information related to the topic of the newsgroup. Many FAQs are quite extensive. FAQs are available by subscribing to individual Usenet newsgroups. A Web-based collection of FAQ resources has been collected by The Internet FAQ Consortium and is available at /http://www.faqs.org/.

RFC stands for Request for Comments. These are documents created by and distributed to the Internet community to help define the nuts and bolts of the Internet. They contain both technical specifications and general information.

FYI stands for For Your Information. These notes are a subset of RFCs and contain information of interest to new Internet users.

Links to indexes of all three of these information resources are available on the University Libraries Web site at /http://library.albany.edu/reference/faqs.html.

CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING
Chat programs allow users on the Internet to communicate with each other by typing in real time. They are sometimes included as a feature of a Web site, where users can log into the "chat room" to exchange comments and information about the topics addressed on the site. Chat may take other, more wide-ranging forms. For example, America Online is well known for sponsoring a number of topical chat rooms.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to each other on hundreds of channels. These channels are usually based on specific topics. While many topics are frivolous, substantive conversations are also taking place. To access IRC, you must use an IRC software program.

A variation of chat is the phenomenon of instant messenging. With instant messenging, a user on the Web can contact another user currently logged in and type a conversation. Most famous is America Online's Instant Messenger. ICQ, MSN and Yahoo are other commonly-used chat programs.

MUD/MUSH/MOO/MUCK/DUM/MUSE
MUD stands for Multi User Dimension. MUDs, and their variations listed above, are multi-user virtual reality games based on simulated worlds. Traditionally text based, graphical MUDs now exist. There are MUDs of all kinds on the Internet, and many can be joined free of charge.

Make a slide show of your photos with music.

Everybody knows how big is a wish to share impressions with family and friends after a journey. There’s not much to do – select the folder with photos, press “Start” and enjoy the moments passed (Hey! Don’t forget to insert an ethnic music CD. I recommend).

I doubt whether our software is the first one created for such purposes, BUT no doubt it is the easiest. Of course, if you like to investigate the toolbar you can look at Adobe Photo Elements or Picasa, but if you want to see the photos accompanied by music – try PhotoMusic.

* Step 1: Select the folder with photos. Press Start - and see the professional SlideShow on your HDTV panel at high resolution.
* Step 2: If you are interested not only in photos but music also, select the folder with mp3 files or insert Audio CD.
* Step 3: Hard-to-please customers can manage settings, save and load created projects.

By the way if you want to give photos to your friends, just burn PhotoMusic on CD together with the photos and the software will automatically display images from the folder.

courtesy: http://www.coolutils.com/PhotoMusic

The Case for Idealism...an Ode to Idealists!

Case Study: Three young idealists, who blew away their competition: Gandhi, Obama And Walt Disney

I often wonder about the difference between great idealism, great ambition, and great stupidity. It is a fine line indeed. Idealism has always been scoffed at. But where would we be without it?? Failed idealism is often termed as stupidity. But is it really??

I like the quote "Aim for the moon; if you miss it, you will still land among the stars." It is only when you aim high that you can soar high.

George Bernard Shaw once famously said, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

And indeed so. Its very easy to forget that the people who have been the greatest visionaries were also termed as idiots and idealists. While everyone now might laugh at the thought, Americans have been quick to forget that the president they now adore would not have been but for a healthy dose of idealism on his part. Barack Obama for all given purposes had no business even thinking he would be President. He was of mixed parentage, with a white mother and African (different from African American) father; grew up in Hawaii (a state that has produced zero presidents before this one) with no proper religious background; had a muslim middle name sandwiched between strong Kenyan names; had a Harvard degree, no military service, very little public service, and was of modest means. Add onto that, that he was running against a Clinton. Yet he ran, and he won. And hopefully, he will be the change we all want to see among leaders of our world.

Speaking of "be the change," think of Gandhi, a softspoken, slight Indian man who thought that he could take down the mighty British empire, with a grand total of, well, no weapons. Even fist fights weren't allowed!! If he had told you in the early 1900's that the non-violence movement would not only encompass India and topple the British empire, but bring civil rights to African Americans in the US, reverse apartheid in one of the most racist regimes in the world - South Africa, bring the Chinese military to its knees in Tianenman Square, and become the mainstay of EVERY modern demonstration in the world, you would have laughed!! Many did; yet all those things happened and the movement still endures.

A few days ago, I found myself in another mecca of idealism - Disneyland. Riding some of the rides I had loved as a kid, I was struck by how timeless they were. Disney was SO ahead of his time. To think that much of Disneyland and Disney World's layouts have scarcely changed since they were built, inspite of the massive changes in technology in the recent past; that the most popular rides then still endure, and they continue to "make dreams come true" everyday is mindboggling. I'm sure if Disney had told you in the 30's that people would pay an-arm-and-a-leg to watch talking robot animals in the 21st century, we would have laughed. Yet here we are, years later doing exactly that.

Probably the biggest and powerful idealists are parents and teachers - moms, especially.

I think we need more idealism. Balanced with pragmatism, an unrelenting idealist with clear vision is capable of great change. Rather than laughing at them, maybe we should support them with our pragmatism. That while they soar high, we can be the tails on their kites to guide them, while also enjoying the ride.

Here's to the idealists amongst us!!

Courtesy: http://tworque.blogspot.com/

How do I remove the Microsoft "Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications" ?

RemoveWGA is a small utility that enables you to remove the Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications tool.

RemoveWGA will enable you to easily remove the Microsoft "Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications" tool, which is calling home and connect to MS servers every time you boot. Futures updates of this notification tool will (officialy) setup the connection rate to once every two weeks.

Once the WGA Notification tool has checked your OS and has confirmed you had a legit copy, there is no decent point or reason to check it again and again every boot.

Moreover, connecting to Microsoft brings security issue for corporate networks, and privacy issues for everyone. It is also unclear which information are transmitted (Microsoft published an official answer, but an individual study brought some questions).

All of that, along the fact that Microsoft used deceptive ways to make you install this tool (it was told you it was an urgent security update, whereas it is a new installation giving you no extra security) makes me calling this tool a spyware.

Also, Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications is different than Windows Genuine Advantage Validation. RemoveWGA only removes the notification part, phoning home, and does not touch the Validation part.

Here are some key features of "RemoveWGA":

· Tell you if the WGA notification tool is active on your system
· Allows you to remove the WGA notification tool from your system
· Accept the "-silent" command line parameter to silently check if the WGA notification tool is active on your system, and popup only if it is found (usefull for checking automatically at startup for instance)

Note: Some antivirus and antispyware programs flag RemoveWGA as being infected/malware, although the application is perfectly safe and does not pose a threat to your system. This is called a 'false positive'. The term false positive is used when antivirus software wrongly classifies an innocuous ( inoffensive ) file as a virus. The incorrect detection may be due to heuristics or to an incorrect virus signature in a database. [Similar problems can occur with antitrojan or antispyware software.]

What's New in This Release:

· Added more error checks (files existing, processes can be read, etc...)
· Added more files to be deleted : WGANotify.settings, WgaNotify.log
· Set all files to be deleted at next reboot instead of just the system32 ones (Wgalogon and WgaTray)

download link: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/Uninstallers/RemoveWGA.shtml