How Blogs Impact Your Business

Of course, creating a successful business involves more than having great teams, great ideas, great products, and increased visibility— but if your business could do only these four things right, you’d be off to a good start.

The Optimal Capital Budget

The optimal capital budget is the set of projects that maximizes the value of the firm. Finance theory states that all projects with positive net present values (NVP) should be accepted, and the optimal capital budget consists of these positive NPV projects.

Herbs That Combat Hair Loss

Hair loss could lead to emotional stress and traumatic experience for many. Although hair loss is not a debilitating or life threatening sickness, yet the very thought of baldness can give sleepless nights. Since, people relate baldness with self-esteem, hair loss sufferers spend billion of dollar annually on remedies ranging from drugs, vitamins to hair oils and shampoos.

What Does Your Logo Say About You

If there was one thing, one icon that represents your business, what would it be? Hopefully, you said your logo. Your logo is what identifies you to the world. It should be able to stand on its own and communicate to your customers trust and professionalism.

So why do so many businesses forsake this one representation of their company? Most people attempt to throw something together themselves and it usually winds up having adverse effects to their business. But unless you are a branding and design expert, you really should leave the logos to the professionals.

3 Signs You Need a Virus Removal Service

Virus and malware infestations are some of the most common computer repair problems that computer owners everywhere deals with. These malicious hijacking attempts of your computer typically result in several signs of a takeover of your computer, all of which signal the need for a virus removal service. First, your computer may lag because of the virus or other piece of malware in your system. Second, you may experience mysterious system changes like desktop background changes all of a sudden. Third, you may experience a heavier amount of pop-ups.

The Six Major Challenges Of Successful Enterprises

The evidence is clear that to survive and succeed, enterprises must change their approaches to conduct successful business in the globalized economy. Whereas gradual change has always been required to adapt to new conditions, the pace is now accelerating and incremental change is no longer sufficient. There are many reasons behind the needs to change.

Latest Computer Tips And Tricks For Good Computer Health

An important part of keeping the computer in good health and working efficiently is the maintenance of the computer. Windows 95 has a lot of the tools that are required for maintaining the system. Windows 98 extends the possibilities and this makes it a lot easier. There is a range of things that you can do in order maximize the level of efficiency that the computer is able to deliver. It is possible to maintain the computer at a very low cost.

Domain registration process

Why do you need to register your domain? Well the answer to this question is pretty simple. If you are an online marketer you need to have a website. Without a domain name registration you cannot have a website. Now having a website is completely different from a blog. You cannot run a blog for promoting your products or services but you cannot conduct business through it.

Go Green web hosting: environment friendly hosting solution

Have you ever though of an eco friendly web hosting solution? Internet also has its negative share in harming the environment Internet is no illusion where things happen. We usually blame emissions from factories and vehicles but even web hosting servers contribute to harmful emissions.

SEO is the Right Option for Drawing Traffic to your Business

Simply designing the website in an attractive way does not help in the conduction of online business. In online business, several associated factors are needed to be considered that functions with the coordination of each other.

Buying Mutual Funds Online Using an Online Broker

You have many choices in how you purchase mutual funds. In addition to purchasing directly from the mutual fund company, you can purchase mutual funds through registered representatives of banks, trust companies, stockbrokers, discount brokers, and financial planners. To purchase mutual funds via the Internet, go to an online broker’s Web site. (I list a few examples later in this section.)

Why mobile insurance is needed

With inclusion of new technological features, the price of mobile phones have risen drastically. So, little care is needed to handle your expensive gadgets. What if you forget your mobile phone at your office desk or at a coffee shop and it gets stolen or it falls into a bucket of water? Isn't it fearsome?

Three Suggestions for Wearing Crystal Jewelry at Office

Crystal jewelry builds up wonder along with lights to women's fashion. While wearing jewelry in company may be skating on the thin ice: some sort of not reasonable crystal jewelry may well result in an episode most typically associated with discomfort. http://www.hibeads.com

Important Things to Consider Before Getting a Debt Settlement

Debt Settlement programs are very advantageous in the sense that the credit card holder does not have to pay his bills permanently. He simply hires a relief company which communicates with the bank.

Maximizing Your Investments with Tax Deferred Accounts

An individual retirement account (IRA) is one of the best ways you can accumulate something to invest because making contributions and earnings is often tax-free. An IRA must be established with a financial institution that has received Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approval to offer IRAs.

Using the Internet to Make Financial Planning Easier

Many people find it difficult to shake off the notion that if they’re not wealthy, they don’t need to do any financial planning. Stock market volatility, inflation, changing interest rates, unemployment, illness, and hard times are part of life.

Setting up a shared internet connection in Windows XP

If you have one computer connected to the internet (from now on called the "server"), and another connected to that computer (from now on called the "client") via a wireless connection you may wish to have the client access the internet through the server. The normal way of doing this is to use Windows built in ICS, however if you dont wish to use this (eg it doesnt work or doesnt provide you with enough control over the connection) you may wish to manually set up a proxy server. This tutorial tells you how.

You will need..

· One computer connected to the internet, with a Wireless card
· One (or more) computers with wireless cards
· FreeProxy (see below) installed on the server pc
· Windows XP

Note: You do not need a router for this configuration, meaning you can just get two ten pound wireless c ards for this to work. The down side of not using a router is that the server pc has to be running whenever you want to access the internet through a client. Also note that the following screenshots and instructions are for Windows XP SP2, though the instructions should be simliar for any version of Windows XP.

Implementation

Firstly you need to make sure that the two computers have their wireless cards installed, and that they are connected to each other. When they are both connected there should have a small icon visible on the taskbar like so:  If they dont seem to be connected to each other then see the troubleshooting section below.

Setting up the server

Instead of using Windows built in ICS, you can set up a proxy server manually on the server. To do this we're going to use a proxy server called "Fr eeProxy" - you can download it for free here or here. Install FreeProxy then choose "Free Proxy Control Centre" from the start menu. Once FreeProxy is running click the ports option, then fill in the protocol as "HTTP Proxy", any name and the local binding as "Wireless" (you may wish to save setting the local binding until later to make sure the connection works). You should also select "Any Ip Address"

Now click "Done" then Start/Stop. Now press start for Console Mode to test whats happening, and Start under service mode so the service shold run automatically.

Assigning IPs Manually

Whilst technically you dont have to manually assign IP addresses to get this to work , unless you set them for both computers the Wireless connect ion may be unreliable. To do so: Open up "Network Connections" either from the start menu (As below) or from the control panel. 

Click internet TCP/IP then properties.

 You can choose the IP you want, though the IP range 169.x.x.x is reserved for local networks, and the IPs should be unique. For example, choose 169.254.1.1 for the server and 169.254.1.2 for the client. If you are also using ICS (internet connection sharing) then you should select something in the range 192.168.x.x

Setting the proxy

Now you need to tell Internet Explorer/Firefox to use the proxy server. Set the ip as the of the server pc, and the port as 8080 (unless you set it differently).

To do this:

· Under internet explorer Press Tools,Internet Options, Connections Lan Settings

. 

· Under firerfox Click Tools,Internet Options,Connection Settings, then select manual configuration and fill in the details (for HTTP proxy).

Troubleshooting

Checking the connection using ping

If you want, you can check that the connection between the two computers is now working using the ping command. · Open the command prompt by opening the start menu, clicking run, typing "command", then clicking ok. · Now type "ping IP" -where IP is the ip of the other computer · If you get some kind of reply, then the connection works. If you get "Destination Host Unreachable" then the connection isnt working and you should see the troubleshooting section below.

Checking and repairing the connection

Open up the wireless connection, either by double clicking the wireless icon on the bottom right of the taskbar, or by going to "Network Connections" (on the start menu/ under My Computer) then double clicking. You should be presented with something like the image below:

If the amount of bytes received is zero then there is a problem. Try moving the two computers closer together, and make sure that you have manually set the ips (see above). Click support, and the following should come up:

The ip should be visisble, and there is a repair button. Clicking it can solve some problems.

Creating a w ireless connection

If the above dont seem to work t! hen the wireless connection may not be set up correctly. See step 4 on the tutorial here for more information. Essentially, you can either create a new connection through the built in windows software of the software that came with your wireless card. Create a wireless connection on one computer, and connect to it on the other. Try without using encryption to get the connection working, then go back and enable it once it is.

Firewalls

Firewalls can get in the way of proxy servers. If you are having trouble try turning them off whilst setting up the network, then re-enabling them once it is working.

By Chris Doman

Do Soccer Training Videos Help Coaches, Parents and Players

Soccer training videos have come a long way in the form of production and availability, but has the content improved? So many people have been disappointed by their purchases it is important to understand what they contain.

There’s nothing worse than getting all excited about the arrival of your newly purchased soccer training video and then feeling let down after watching it. These reviews led Coach V and his staff to make 100% sure their new series would quickly become the new dominant soccer technical skills training video on the market today.

Hints on buying soccer training videos.

1- Content Listing
Soccer coaches, parents and players should make sure they look at the content breakdown of the video they are about to order. If it is vague there is a good chance the video is vague.

2- Skills or Simply Drills
Does the video actually show raw skill training or is it a practice session showing drills performed over and over? There is a big difference.

3- How long is the video?
If you think you can be come a great coach or player by watching a 60 minute video, you are sadly mistaken. It takes years to improve and the amount of learning is extensive.

A look at one video series from the Coach’s / producer’s perspective.

When Coach V set out to design the www.SoccerU.com series he did so only after talking to 1000’s of soccer coaches, parents and soccer players to find out what THEY really wanted. It was important that this series didn’t disappoint like so many others had. His goal was to create the most comprehensive series focusing on individual soccer skills and do so in method that actually taught people how to learn and teach them.

“So many people have been let down by soccer training videos that simply show excellent players performing drills. We wanted to show real life players being taught the raw soccer skills and performing them the wrong way and the right way. Coaches, trainers, parents and players all benefit from seeing average to great soccer players learning in real time. Not a staged series of drills where everyone performs the skills perfectly. I believe this is one of the true benefits that people will get out of this series.” Coach V

With SoccerU, the series walks you through all ages and skill levels. Soccer players on the series range from 10 year old beginners to professional level players all learning the raw soccer skills.

The www.SoccerU.com series is over 8 hours long. It contains 30 chapters and many of these chapters have subchapters, making it the most extensive soccer training series ever released.

Make sure you understand your content listing of any video before you buy. Also make sure the soccer video is age appropriate and skill level appropriate.

By Coach Thompson

What to Look For While Choosing the Best Student Health Insurance Plan

Being a student in US demands a health insurance plan due to multiple reasons. One of them is the law many US states have: it states that at a certain age, a collegian can't be health insurance dependent on her family's plan. Though the risk of students having diseases and ailments is less but accidents are one of the areas where students tend to be vulnerable. Spreading of viruses in college campuses is another area of concern. This is where choosing a student health insurance plan becomes imperative.

It sounds very difficult to choose the best health insurance plan for students, but it becomes rather easy if some points are taken care of. In fact, the young age and low health risk factor of students means that there would be lower premium for health insurance policies. This premium could be further lowered by raising health insurance deductibles.

Most of the schools offer student health insurance plans and some of them even make them mandatory. At the same time, students can also get these health insurance plans from insurance companies individually.

While picking the best student health insurance plan, it is advisable that you get multiple quotes so that you can compare them according to your specific needs. After gathering some plans, decide the most important factor that a health insurance plan should have for you. This could be premium, deductible or the type of covered benefits provided by the particular plan depending upon your conditions. Compromising a good cover for some dollars is never suggested.

Specifically starting with the lowest premium plan, you should compare it with the next least expensive health insurance plan in your collection. Why the difference? Why the premium is less in one case than the other? Does it have higher deductible or a higher coinsurance percentage or what else?

It is important to notice that health insurance rates are based on risk factors. So if you are willing to pay higher deductible, which means lesser responsibility on the insurance company, you will have to incur lower premium. In case of a major injury of illness, this deductible will be paid out of your own pocket.

To understand it better, consider a simple case of two health insurance plans. Consider that the cheapest premium plan requires $500 less to be paid per annum as compared to the other one. On the flip side, the deductible to be paid is $1200. Which one would be costlier? In case of a major illness or injury, the one with higher deductible would be costlier to you instead of the one where you have to pay lower premium.

To determine more comfortably on this issue, just decide what is your out-of-pocket medical expense? If you feel that getting a higher deductible can be covered with this money, you should consider going for lower premium health insurance plan. If not, picking up a higher premium plan would make a better choice.

If you are not able to decide what your out-of-pocket medical expense should be because you do not have a condition that requires regular medication or check-up, you can consider a plan that is more designed to protect you against a catastrophic illness.

There are student health insurance plans that offer low co-payment for office visits. But the plans are often more expensive than a different medical plan that has a higher co-payment for office visits. It does not make sense to pay an increased premium to save a few dollars on an office visit a couple of times per year if all other items of the plans are similar and offer same benefits.

While choosing a student health insurance plan, a point to consider is the network of physician, in addition to limits on office visits, maximum dollar coverage provided on certain benefits, and exclusions and limitations.

At the end, it can be summarized that less expensive student health insurance plan is not always the best suited. Comparing different plans on various issues should mark the ideal approach.

By Shaun Mike

Unsecured Loans for Unemployed: Get Rid Of Monetary Depression

The one who remains unemployed in this marketplace of huge competition knows how it accurately feels and consequently, tries out a lot of options to get a job or to a fiscal hold up. Being unemployed absolutely act as a major obstacle in getting a loan from any fiscal institution or any lender. Though, the rapid rise in the economic sector all around the world has certainly managed to ease out things for all the people as well as the without a job people. With the assist of unsecured loans for unemployed, today any unemployed people of the USA can crack their fiscal troubles as this loan product has been designed for the unemployed people. Consequently, now there is not anything left for the unemployed people to worry about as with this loan creation at the present they can resolve all their monetary troubles without any stress.

Unsecured loans for unemployed gives a possibility to the unemployed populace of the USA to answer their monetary hassles and to go ahead a strain free life. In fact, with the assist of this finance product, any unemployed individual can meet his or her monetary necessities and crack all their monetary issues. The rate of interest that is appropriate on the unsecured loans for unemployed is least and this has been prepared keeping in mind the fact that these citizens do not have a foundation of earnings for themselves. In today's world, a fund has surely become a chief requirement for a good quality and a happy endurance. Therefore, in such situation, when an individual does not have a stable source of income, it positively poses many problems for the person.

Being unemployed are not a sin. There certainly has to be a few problems that any person stays unemployed. Consequently, today many fiscal institutions have come forward to help these people with their finances. And that is the simply reason why they have introduced the unsecured loans for unemployed to help them ease out their monetary troubles and convene their monetary necessities. Today, money is desirable in each sphere of life and that is why having capital is a need. Furthermore, life being unsure, no one actually knows what might strike them the next instant and at what time they would need to disburse a heavy amount of funds to convene the crisis. Thus, in such situations, a jobless individual can take the help out of this loan product and can have an eased out life.

Sooner than you make a decision to get the unsecured loans for unemployed from any particular monetary institution or any individual lender, you should certainly suggest a market investigate so that you obtain the most excellent deal. You can do this with the assist of the Internet, as you would acquire all the information about a variety of lenders and the variety of monetary institutions that offer this loan scheme. Once you obtain to know about the most excellent deal, you can go ahead with your necessities and they would be more than happy to help you out with your fiscal uncertainties. Therefore, worry no more and take the assist of this monetary scheme to have a more secured life.

Summary:

You can get loans for the unemployed with the assist of the Internet, as you would acquire all the information about a variety of lenders and the variety of monetary institutions that offer this loan scheme.

Adam t. Roberts is a good writer and financial advisor on the loan related issues for loans for the unemployed online. You can seek his advises about any financial issues. Get more quality information about unemployed loans, unsecured loans for unemployed and loans for the unemployed.

By Adam t. Roberts

How to Play Guitar :: Major and Minor Chords

There are a large variety of guitar techniques that you can learn. As a beginner it’s important to start by getting a firm grip on the basics. One of those is your major and minor guitar chords. Once you’ve get these sorted there are heaps of other chords that you can explore but here is a starting point.

Major and minor chords are really very similar to each other. They are effectively the same chord only they produce a slightly varied sound.

First we are going to look at the major chords. There are only 5 that I would recommend that you start learning as these are the commonly used ones.

These are: G major, D major, C major, A major, and the E major chord.

These major chords are what are called major triads so therefore are made up of 3 notes. There are many different ways you can form on of these chords. When you first learn them make sure you use the most basic guitar chord forms.

For your minor guitar chords there are only 2 that are mainly used. Of course for every major chord there is a minor version but most are rarely used.

The 2 minor chords are: E minor and A minor chord.

The similarities between the two types of chords (major and minor) are large. For example the E major and E minor chords are effectively almost the same chord and produce a very similar sound. The only difference between the two is on note (major/minor 3rd) of the triad these chords form.

When it come to learning how to play guitar chords there are a number of resources that are available to you. You need to make

sure that you get help on learning these so that you know what to do and the correct technique that you should use.

In order to play each chord you need to strum the strings. The strumming technique is very simple, all it is is just either an upwards or downwards motion over the strings where you hit multiple strings to create a sound. By holding down notes on the guitar and strumming the strings you can create the unique sounds these major and minor chords make.

By Michael Arlidge

Maximizing Your Internet Browser with Bookmarks

If you want to return to a first-rate online source, you’re likely to use a shortcut, such as a bookmark or a favorite. If you use the Netscape browser, you bookmark the Web page. This acts as a shortcut to the online source.If you use the Internet Explorer browser, you save the page as a favorite. (I refer to both of these types of shortcuts as bookmarks for this section of the article.) If you’ve used the Internet for a while, you likely have a long list of bookmarks.

Today hundreds of bookmark managers can help you with the following problems:

Eliminating dead links: Frequently, Web sites merge, go out of business, or are redesigned so that the page you have bookmarked no longer exists.

Lessening errors in subfolders: Sometimes bookmarks are filed in the wrong subfolder or you forget which subfolder contains the specific Web page you’re seeking.

Increasing portability: In many cases, the bookmark you’re seeking is saved on your desktop computer and is not accessible from a remote computer, such as at your local library.

Reducing the cumbersome nature of your bookmarks: Systems that include hundreds of bookmarks in dozens of subfolders often don’t allow for easy access to the specific bookmark you seek. If you want to tame your bookmarks so that you get the most out of your online experience, it’s wise to use a free online bookmark management service. Not only can you continue to create bookmarks to your favorite Web sites, but you often can use the bookmark lists others have created for the topic areas that interest you. This service can shorten your online research time. The following are a few examples of bookmark management services:

FreeLink (www.freelink.org), shown in Figure 2-3, provides free links (both public and private) with password protection that you can use anytime from anywhere. You can build your own hierarchy of bookmarks or start with one of FreeLink’s samples to organize your interests.

Backflip (www.backflip.com) is listed as one of PC Magazine’s top 100 Web sites. Backflip gets you back to the Web pages you have saved and allows you to share your bookmarks with others. Backflip is a free service that lets you organize and search your Web sites in your own Yahoo!-style directory, and you can reach your bookmarks from anywhere on the Internet.

MyBookmarks.com (www.mybookmarks.com), with your registration, is a free Internet service that allows you to keep your browser bookmarks and favorites online so that you can access them from anywhere. For a quick start, you can import your existing Internet Explorer and Netscape bookmarks and AOL places. You can edit and organize your bookmarks and then export them back to your browser.

By Clara Mikeri

How Does a Printer Work ~ The printing process ~ Types of Printers

Although many different manufacturers make printers, you’re likely to encounter only three real categories of printers (so far). The three types of printers discussed in this article are:

Laser Printers

Inkjet Printers

Dot-matrix Printers

The exam touches base on each of these, but the wise technician should focus on laser printers, not only for the exam’s sake, but because these printers are the most common type in today’s computing environment.

Laser printers

A laser printer was, at one time, also called a page printer because the computer’s operating system instructs it to print an entire page at a time, rather than a dot at a time. It’s the laser, the printer’s process, and the code sent to the printer that makes this process not only possible, but fast.

Typically more expensive than its counterparts, the laser printer is also considered more reliable and its output of better quality. As a high-end, non-impact printer, the laser printer uses a combination of processes to print images: electricity, chemistry, magnetism, optics, heat, and friction. Each component of a laser printer has its own effect on the trip that a sheet of paper takes through the printer.

The paper feeder mechanism

As discussed earlier, laser printers use a friction feeder to feed paper into the print device. Most laser printers use a paper tray to hold the paper before it is printed on. Some printers, however, use gravity as a way to hold and begin the print process. These printers hold the paper vertical in a chute above the print components. Regardless of the feed device, each printer requires some mechanism to feed the paper into the printer.

The paper transport path

Paper moves through the printer by making contact with several sets of rollers that work much like the paper feeder. Registration rollers are synchronized with the print process so the paper doesn’t lag or enter the printer too soon. Fuser rollers help fix the image to the paper in the final steps of the print process. Exit rollers (the final set) eject the finished, printed page.

The toner cartridge The toner cartridge contains three indispensable elements of the printing process:

Toner. This mixture of carbon, polyester, and iron particles does the job of ink. Carbon (the black, chalky substance) provides the outline of the image. Polyester helps the toner flow from the cartridge, through the print process, and onto the paper. Iron particles make the toner responsive to electrical charges and help it melt into the paper at the end of the print process.

Print drum. A main component in the laser print process, this photosensitive cylinder holds an electromagnetic charge when not exposed to light—but loses its charge when exposed. direct light, as light causes the drum to lose its charge.

Cleaning blade. This blade removes excess toner from the print drum as the drum rotates. The actual laser in the laser printer is contained in a special assembly that allows the laser to operate only when the printer is closed (direct laser light can damage your eyes). The laser shines on a mirror above the photosensitive drum; the reflected laser light shines on the turning drum. Because the drum cannot hold a charge when exposed to light, the laser and the drum work together to attract the charged toner to the drum—but only enough to make images on the paper. Toner will only be attracted to the areas on the print drum where the laser has shone.

Power supply

A laser printer requires high-voltage electricity to charge the corona wire and the transfer corona wire. The power supply charges these two components by converting standard AC current to a higher-voltage DC current, as required by each printer type. In addition, the printer requires DC power for the printer’s cooling system, logic board, and the motors that turn the wheels to guide the paper through the device.

Transfer corona wire

The transfer corona wire gives the paper a positive electrical charge to attract the toner onto the paper (discussed in more detail in a moment). The transfer corona also contains a static-eliminator to remove the charge after the toner has passed onto the paper.

Fuser

This ominous-sounding device is responsible for fusing (melting) the toner into the paper. The fuser contains a halogen lamp to heat a Teflon-coated roller. Opposite the Teflon-coated roller is a thick rubber roller. As a sheet of paper passes between these rollers, the iron particles and toner are melted into the paper. This is why a laser-printed image is always warm when the paper is ejected from the printer.

The laser printing process

The components of a laser printer are the starting point; how they work together is the printing process. Knowing the process is the basis for effective printer support. Laser printers are far more complex than inkjets or dot matrix printers, so a more in-depth discussion is warranted.

Charging the drum

When the printer receives a command from the computer’s operating system to begin the print process, the photosensitive drum is negatively charged (–600Vdc). This charging is why the printer requires a high-voltage power supply.

Exposing the drum

After the drum is charged, the laser flashes like a strobe light, the beam reflecting from the mirror to the negatively charged drum. In the areas where the light touches the drum, the charge changes from –600Vdc to approximately –100Vdc. As the drum spins, the laser creates the outline of the image on the drum by building a pattern of strongly charged and less-than-strongly-charged areas of negative voltage.

Developing the image

After the image is electromagnetically “written” to the drum, the toner must be applied to the print drum so the image can be transferred to paper. Adjacent to the print drum and the reservoir of toner is a smaller drum called the developer. Charged with –600Vdc by the high-voltage power supply, the developer attracts toner powder to itself as it rotates between the toner and the print drum. The print drum and the developer drum are both charged with –600Vdc, except for the areas of the print drum previously exposed to laser light. Those areas have a weaker negative charge, which attracts the toner. When the print drum has toner on only the areas of slight negative charge, then the image is ready for transfer to paper.

Transferring the image

Now the registration rollers feed the paper into the printer and over the transfer corona wire, which gives the paper a strong positive charge (+600Vdc). As the paper moves beneath the print drum, the weakly charged negative toner particles are strongly attracted to the positively charged paper. As always, opposites attract; the image, outlined in toner, moves onto the paper. The paper continues to move through the assembly, passing over a static eliminator strip that removes all electromagnetic charge from the paper. (This step is crucial; a positively charged piece of paper would be attracted to the still-negative print drum, stick there, and cause a major paper jam.)

Fusing the image

As the paper leaves the print drum, all that holds the toner on the paper is a slight positive charge and a bit of gravity. The fuser assembly finishes the printing by melting the toner into the paper as the sheet moves between a heated, Tefloncoated roller and a rubber roller. The paper is then ejected from the print device.

Cleaning up the mess

As with any good party, you have to clean up a mess when you’re done. In this case, the actual mess is tiny—leftover toner in the cartridge. The cleaning blade in the cartridge scrapes the toner off the print drum in preparation for the next print job. Any unused toner is caught and held in a tray beneath the cleaning blade. (Don’t worry—the tray won’t fill up. You’ll run out of toner first. Just be careful not to breathe the old toner when you change cartridges.)

Inkjet printers

An inkjet printer is a fine, acceptable printer for environments such as home, home office, or road trips (where large print runs probably don’t take place). Though not as complex as a laser printer—nor as expensive—inkjets have evolved into highquality short-run printers.

The early inkjet printers were clunky, unreliable, and messy. Their cartridges had an ink reservoir, a pump that forced the ink into a nozzle, and a reputation for leaking ink, ruining work, and staining hands. Today’s inkjets are much more civilized. The ink cartridge contains all the working elements needed to get an image from the computer onto a sheet of paper: compartments of ink sealed with a metal plate, thin tubes from the ink source to each well, and the jet at the bottom of each compartment (a tiny pinhole that sends ink onto the page).

When the print device receives the command from the computer’s operating system to print an image, the printer starts the following process: An electrical current warms the heating element, which is submerged in the ink source. As the element heats, the ink vaporizes, creating pressure in the compartments. The pressure forces the expanding ink out of the microscopic pinhole, one tiny bubble at a time. The cartridge doesn’t spray ink like a squirt gun; the pressure in the cartridge is controlled by the degree of heat from the heating element. Only one drop at a time can escape from the ink cartridge—but it happens fast enough to create entire images in less than a minute.

Eventually the ink cartridge runs out of ink and should be replaced. Although kits are available for refilling your own ink cartridges, they can enlarge the pinhole, may contain a different formula of ink, and are generally messy and inefficient. Inkjet cartridges can also dry out if they are not used often. Most inkjet printers park the cartridge inside the printer when not in use. Other models have a separate storage unit that allows the cartridge to be removed from the print device.

Inkjet printers (especially color models) have grown in popularity with the advent of affordable digital cameras. Color inkjet printers often require two cartridges: one for black ink and one for the colors (whether red, green, and blue or cyan, yellow, and magenta). Cartridges that bundle the black ink with the other colors are called CYMK (for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). Note that a “K,” instead of a “B,” designates “black.” The printing industry has done this for years so as not to confuse “black” with “blue.”

When replacing an ink cartridge (whether multicolor or single-color), always have an extra cartridge on hand. If you don’t have an extra, put the old cartridge in a small plastic bag and take it with you when you purchase a new cartridge. This eliminates the guesswork when you’re staring at 487 different types of printer cartridges.

Dot-matrix printers

Dot-matrix printers are impact printers; they strike an inked ribbon to put characters on paper. A dot-matrix printer triggers rows of pins that strike the ribbon in patterns, leaving closely grouped dots that make up numbers, characters, or even images.

The pins are actually solenoids—metal stubs wrapped with a short coil of wire, held in place with a spring and a small magnet. When a particular solenoid is needed to strike, an electrical current is sent to the coil of wires around the solenoid. This creates a miniature electromagnet, which causes the pin to repel against the magnet holding it in place – striking the ribbon and transferring a dot onto the paper in the process.

The print head, which houses the solenoids, moves across the paper, printing one line of dots—not characters or numbers—at a time. The rapidly striking pins make a whining screech. If you’ve never experienced the ear-splitting effect of a dotmatrix printer, you’re lucky. Some models had plastic shields to suppress the noise—somewhat.

Early dot-matrix printers used only 9 pins to print; these draft-quality printers gave way to printers boasting 17 (or even 24) pins. They produced sketchy, crude-looking pages (compared to the output of today’s printers), but they were faster than most typists.

By Barry Geen

How to improve your eBay listings

Before you try to improve your eBay listing it would make a lot of sense if you first defined what a GOOD eBay listing is. So what makes a good eBay listing?

Try to think of it in terms of what you would want to see if YOU were in the shoes of the buyer.

The Title

The first thing you should consider is the title of your eBay listing. Now the title is important, it is the first thing the buyer will see of your listing, and it determines whether they will view your listing or ignore it. As a buyer, what would you expect to see in the Title of an eBay listing? Relevance. The title of your eBay listing should be relevant to what they’re looking for. How do you make it relevant, you ask? You need to use the small amount of Title space that you have to describe your item as best as possible. Try and avoid using meaningless words to attract buyer’s attention.

Images

Pictures are worth a thousand words. Images are infinitely important when selling most products over the internet. The buyer cannot physically inspect the product, so it’s necessary to have some good quality images. Most of the time, it is recommended to have more than one image – it could mean the difference between selling your item and not selling your item. When people know exactly what they’re buying they’re more likely to; and you’re more likely to get a higher price for you item if the buyers are confident it is exactly as you described it. You can use the eBay interface for adding extra pictures at a low cost, or alternatively you can upload an infinite amount of pictures for free at this GREAT website: http://ebayuploader.99k.org

Description

The description is your opportunity to PERSUADE the buyer to bid for your item. If they’ve made it this far, it is highly likely they’ll read the rest of the page. Therefore, the description is the place where you’ll lose the most potential bids if not done to a high enough standard. A good description should include: Exactly what the item is, an in-depth description in which you state its condition (New or used, and to what extent), brand of item (if it has one), what it includes, extent of any damage there may be, everything else – - just include as much as you can. It may also be important to try and make your description easy on the eyes and mind. Make absorbing the information easy. Break it into paragraphs. Give the paragraphs headings. Turn lists into bullet points instead of sentences, etc.

Terms and Conditions

It may be a good idea to include this. It will reduce the volume of questions you receive from buyers – and gives general information about your service that customers need to know.

Of course, that is just a starter to set you down on the right track. There is likely much more you could do to improve your sales which is specific to kind of items you’re listing.

By Kon Ward

How To Succeed with Auctions

Insight

An auction refers to the business of buying and selling goods or services by offering them for sale by way of an initial bid price, then taking bids pursuant of that initial price, and then selling to the highest bidder.

In terms of economics, an auction relates to the exchange of goods and services and may be conducted by no one particular methodology or set of trading rules.

There are a number of different types of auction format, such as time limits, minimum and maximum limits on bid prices, and special rules for determining the winning bidder and sale price.

Those involved in an auction may or may not be aware of the identities or intended actions of other participants in the auction. Although not all auctions are conducted in the same way, in general, bidders may participate either in person or acting on behalf of another in a number of ways, such as by telephone or the internet.

It is normal practice for the seller to pay the auctioneer a commission which is based on an agreed percentage of the final sale price achieved.

Time Requirements

No two auctions are the same and each has its particular characteristics, such as pricing accuracy, or the time required in the preparing and execution of the auction.

The number of bidders who are acting simultaneously is particularly important. Open bidding over a period of time involving numerous bidders is most likely to result in a final bid that is very close to the true market value.

Where there are few bidders and each bidder is only allowed one bid, although time is saved in this way, the winning bid may not be a true reflection of the market value. The time between the opening bid and final bids is of particular significance.

Characteristics

Auctions can differ in terms of the number of participants that are bidding.

This is characterised by the following situations:

Consider a Supply auction. There may, let us say, be A sellers who are offering goods that one or more buyers are willing to bid for.

In a Demand auction, there may be, for example, B buyers who bid for goods that are being sold.

In a Double auction, there may be B buyers who are bidding to buy goods from A sellers.

Prices are bid, or offered, by buyers and asked for by sellers. Auctions may also differ in the way in which bidding or asking is transacted.

Hence, in an open auction, the participants may repeatedly bid and are aware of each other's previous bids. In a closed auction, buyers and sellers submit sealed bids.

Auctions may differ according to the price at which the item is sold. This may consist of the initial or best price, the second price, the first unique price, or some other variant. Auctions may set a reservation price which is normally set at the minimum acceptable price for which the product or service may be sold or bought. However, on occasions, it may refer to the maximum, and not the minimum price, at which the transaction may occur.

In the final analysis, an auction generally refers to an open, demand auction, with or without a reservation price, which is sometimes called the reserve, with the item sold to the highest bidder.

By Peter Radford