Car Stereo Audio Cassette Tape Adapter for Creative Xmod, Nomad Jukebox Zen NX,

Buy @ www.amazon.com Technical Details:Now whether you are going down the block or cross-country, you will have plenty of music for the whole trip with this adapter * Connect your CD Player / MiniDisk Player / iPod to your car stereo through your car's in-dash cassette player * Cassette-shaped Interface inserts into your car's tape deck. Mini-plug inserts into your iPod / CD Player / MiniDisk Player headphone jack * Silent mechanism reduces mechanical noise on the road * Spring-loaded cassette head helps maintain contact with cassette player's head for clear sound



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-VxBn1quvk&hl=en

Is Rhapsody Music Downloads Service Getting A Good Rhap?

Rhapsody music, from RealNetworks is one of several reputable legal digital services for legal music downloads. In order to download online music or hear songs from them you have to pay for them first. In Rhapsody's case, the cost is $9.99 per month after a 14 day free trial (the cost may reduced if you purchase it quarterly). Along with Rhapsody, these also include iTunes, Musicnet, Musicnow, wal-mart downloads, and the newly revived Napster.

The Rhapsody music service [http://download-latest-online-music.com/rhapsody-downloads.html] consists of over 1.2 million music downloads tracks in its catalog, thanks to nitching deals with all five label giants and over 500 independent labels.

Its fully-featured jukebox that makes Rhapsody music downloads searches a snap and importing tunes from, let's say, a CD easy. Other elegant features include the ability to incorporate different files such as MP3, WMA, AAC (M4A), and RealAudio to your main Library. And you can mix these files in the library any way you like and develop different playlists after you import tracks and/or stream or download online music.

I'm very sure that the Rhapsody music downloads service will only improve with time.

So how did it all start?

Well, we need to rewind the clock some four years ago...

During that time iTunes did not exist, and Napster's outlawed ancestor had reached its demise a few months prior. Nonetheless, there was... drumroll... Rhapsody.

While part of listen.com, the Rhapsody music downloads service [http://download-latest-online-music.com/rhapsody-downloads.html] was launched in December 2001. It wasn't until July, however, that songs from all major labels became part of its diverse catalog. RealNetworks acquired listen.com in August 2003. After thus changing the name to RealRhapsody, the service regained its classic title, "Rhapsody".

Downloading the software is fairly straight forward. Be advised, however, that this software is not Mac compatible. The music downloads and streamed tracks from Rhapsody are compatible with Windows Media devices which, of course, are only found on Windows PC's and compatible portable devices.

The interface consists of your simple Play, Stop, etc. functions on the upper left-hand corner of your screen. Next to this is track information including: the title, the artist, and the album. A brief bio plays to the right of the track interface.

So how do you search for your favorite artist or song? Easy... just type it in the Search bar and press "Go". Once you have found your song, you usually can INSTANTLY play it without downloading it - i.e., you can stream it. In some cases, you can automatically download online music while you listen to the stream. Note: sometimes when you press play, a "!" will appear in a triangle meaning that the stream is unavailable. In this case, you need to press the "+" sign. This adds the track to your Library where you can access it from there and add it to your playlist in the form of music downloads.

That said, the streams are of such excellent quality it seems the song is already downloaded on your computer.

If you don't want the song to be played immediately (such as if you're in the middle of listening to another song) you can just press the "+" sign to the left of the song title. Again, this will automatically store the song to the main library. In order to bring it to the playlist, you will have to open up the Library first and then drag the song to your playlist, much the same as how you would do with any other digital music downloads service.

If your library is large, don't worry. The library search tool is similar to that of iTunes - very easy to find your tune or artist in order to stream or download online music.

OK. So these are some of the handy-dandy features of Rhapsody. But do they contribute to a pleasant experience for music downloads fans?

Stay tuned for my next article...

Coca Cola Juke Box Design CD player and Radio

Coca Cola Juke Box Design CD player and Radio



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H10MhNeNn8k&hl=en

Notebook PCs

Notebook shopping can be rewarding provided you are literate about the various features that various manufacturers offer. Popularity of notebook has soared more because of its portability without any compromise on performance. Since buying a notebook can be once in few years affair you need to be clear about its use.

Following is a condensed notebook buying guide dealing with just the main factors you need to keep in mind before purchasing one.

Buy by features-the core components

The need of the hour today is to carry work and information and instant access to internet to present information for sales and clinch business deals. So obviously the size and weight of the notebook you carry around matters a lot. Notebooks are categorized both on basis of weight and on basis of screen size.

Size

The four basic sizes are:

1.Tablet PCs have all the normal functions. There is the added advantage of being able to physically write and manipulate applications with a specially designed input device- the Pen. The two types are the slate and the convertible. Example: Lenovo ThinkPad X41 2526, Lenovo ThinkPad X41 (S5519073) PC Notebook.

2.Ultra portable notebooks are extremely light with small keyboards and screen. There is however no compromise on emailing and web surfing capabilities and can connect to cellular broad band wireless providers. The CD/DVD drives are removed to save space. Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Ultraportable

3.Thin and light notebooks weigh five to seven pounds. The swappable media bays make it possible to switch between CD/DVD and spare battery. You will have to recharge often else carry the power adapters too. Lenovo ThinkPad X60s
(X60s_Standard_Ultralight)_BT...) PC Notebook

4.Desktop replacements are powerful notebooks, only that you won't be able to carry it around much. Available with powerful processors, adequate memory, plenty of drive space and wireless connectivity. The negative factor associated being comparatively lesser battery life due to power draining screens and the powerful components.

Weight

This feature is crucial since the notebook is intended to be carried around. A frequent flier would prefer lighter systems with some compromise on its functionality. While a home user wouldn't mind slightly heavier systems.

The travel weight specified must include the weight of power adapters and media bays but most manufacturers mention just the weight of the system and its batteries. Check out the models in the following three ranges:

0.6 to 4 lb. Most ultra portables come in this range.

4.1 to 5.7 lb. Thin and light models with reasonably good battery life.

5.8 to 10.1 lb. Desktop replacements weigh around 7 lbs.

Display size

Notebook displays come in thin film transistor Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) models, perfectly flat and just half an inch thick, as they are easily portable. Specifications state TFT Active Matrix Display or LCD Display. If you are a frequent traveler, a good combination of small size and less weight will be easier for you to carry around. In case you wish to view movies bigger displays will well serve the purpose. Check out the three commonly available sizes.

8.9 to 11.1 inches- most of them have smart designs and good battery life, but reduced video quality limits its uses

12 to 14 inches- good for watching movies and for gaming

14.1 to 17 inches- for gorgeous display and powerful performance, so, ideal for business presentations

Display resolution

Displays have another criterion which needs scrutiny before purchase. It is the display resolution- higher the resolution cleaner and crisper will be the image. Resolution is number of pixels across the width and height of screen. 1024 x 768 means 1024 pixels across the height and 768 pixels across the width. Pixels mean the individual dots that make up the picture.

In specifications the standard screen and widescreen is specified with abbreviations as XGA, SXGA, WXGA, WSXGA or WUXGA. The widescreen are fast becoming the rage because the reading space increases more with slight increase in size.

1024 x 768 Small displays 12.1 in. usually have this resolution XGA (1024 x 768), WXGA resolutions (1280 x 800). Larger screens too come with so low resolutions and they are cheap and ideal for budget computers.

1400 x 1050 Many large displays 12.1 and 15 inches come with this resolution like SXGA+ (1400 by 1050) and give very good picture quality.

1920 x 1200 Models with such resolution WUXGA (1920 x 1200) is ideal for making movies as there is more detail in the image and more work space on the display. However a negative factor associated with such high resolution is that the fonts tend to be smaller, difficult to read especially for people with poor eyesight. This factor is corrected by changing the font size in operating system but the correction can have unintended effects on other programs.

Display screens

The screen is of two types Glossy and Matte. Glossy screens have the advantage of reduced screen door effect i.e. reduced black spaces between pixels, thus improving the contrast and brightness of the image. The disadvantage is the reflective ness causing eye strain. Matte screens don't have this feature and are a lot cheaper than glossy ones. The brightness of LCD screen can be adjusted and a lower setting can help conserve power. The brightness is adjusted by adjusting the intensity of the back light inside the panel that illuminates the screen.

Processors

This is the most important feature of notebook. There are types of processors and subtypes of processors. Sub-types being ultra low voltage, low voltage, and normal chips of say Pentium M or Intel Core Solo. Low voltage processors give good battery life. So depending on the ultimate application you intend to use the specifications will vary. Since notebooks cannot be easily upgraded (any upgrade of CPU would require dismantling the system to the core and replacement of motherboard, RAM, and may be add another heat sink.) it will be worth the money if you spend enough for fast processors to satisfy your current and future requirements. No single processor can fit all needs and functions, it may be ideal for single function but not for all tasks.

Processor brands

Two of the leading companies manufacturing processors used in notebooks are AMD and Intel. The processor market is entirely in the grip of these two companies. The clock speed of single core versions of the processors produced has touched the upper limit. These single core processors develop heating problems when multiple functions are carried out. Both Intel and AMD have developed the dual core technology in its processors that has increased the multitasking capabilities of notebook PCs.

Intel uses the SpeedStep technology which senses and reduces frequency and power consumption if power is drawn from battery and increases the same if power is drawn from external source. AMD features PowerNow for the same purpose.

AMD

Intel

Knowledge of the processor type will be handy to install the correct packages. Some processor types in notebooks are:

AMD processors

Intel processors are Celeron M

Pentium 4

Core Duo

Core 2 Duo

Processor speed is another factor to be considered. The one you would use for just surfing and as a letter box would be cheaper and slower, while heavy duty multitasking, running multimedia applications require faster processor and cost more.

1 to 1.5 GHz- A do everything notebook processor like creating and sharing documents, net browsing, send and receive mails, write or receive text messages, make phone calls etc.

1.6 to 2.1 GHz the double core processors with this speed give good performance and long battery life.

2.2 to 3.3 GHz The dual core CPUs are the fastest. Programs run faster with such fast processors, they cost more too. Recording videos, playing extremely high definition videos, touching up digital photos, video editing all require fast processors. These fast processors consume more power especially when used in portables.

Memory

The memory requirements depend on OS and the applications you plan to put in use. RAM is used to process the program information. More is always better for faster loading, printing and down loading of your files. Buy the ones that have easy to access memory slots as you would very soon want to upgrade this feature. There are two ranges of RAM available.

128 to 256 MB- this space can manage your daily mails and normal applications

512 MB to 2048MB for improved performance

A memory specification like 512 MB (DDR2 SDRAM) indicates; the space is 512 MB, DDR2 (double data rate 2 synchronous dynamic random access memory) is the memory type, latest widely used one. DDR2 is the new version of DDR. Speeds are assigned by the memory type and clock rating and another method by bandwidth.

Drives

Drives provide the storage for the computer programs. Again this choice depends on how much data you wish to store. Some laptop models come with swappable drives which increases the flexibility.

Drives have three specifications: size, type of interface and speed. Notebook hard drives come in two sizes; 1.8 inch and 2.5 inch. The 1.8 inch ones are mostly in ultra portables, while the 2.5 inch size Hard Drives are used commonly in other notebooks. IDE and Serial ATA are the two types of connectors between hard drives and computer and of the two it is IDE which is more commonly used. Speed at which the hard drive spins also determines the performance. Most notebook hard drive spins at 5400 rpm speed. A higher spin rate of 7200 rpm gives better performance but uses more power.

Following is categorization based on storage space.

1 to 31GB-Mostly incorporated in low cost budget notebooks.

40 to 80GB- Home users using notebooks for photos and videos, in addition to normal surfing can opt for 80 GB hard drives.

100 to 256GB- Most multimedia notebooks have dual hard drives of 200 to 320 GB. For gaming uses 100 GB should suffice.

Battery life

The battery life definitely depends on the chores or tasks that are carried out; some of them being the applications like MS Office, Norton AntiVirus programs, Netscape. Huge amount of power is consumed for displaying images on the screen. The rest of the system like the core-logic, chip set and memory too draws power. Notebooks designed to handle large power consumption weigh more as they come with large batteries and thermal heat sinks.

If you are traveling too frequently go for batteries that have longer run time or purchase two of them and use both of them equally. Prefer the notebooks equipped with lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Check with dealer for battery settings and battery backup so that it lasts long. Normally batteries can last 700 charging cycles.

Check the following three categories of battery run time:

1.5 to 3 hrs-great for viewing movies, video chats and photos at home, viable for budget desktop replacement.
3.1 to 4.3 hrs
4.4 to 12 hrs

Notebooks categorized

Business Notebooks

These systems have high flexibility, more durability and security features. Business laptops use stronger materials and lighter cases, more mobility features like lightweights and wireless options. There are plenty of hardware features and software to choose from to configure to your business requirements.

Budget Notebooks

These are available for less than $1000USD with a lot of compromise on speed, storage and convenience. So depending on what you wish to use it for, decide what tradeoffs are acceptable to you. A 100GB hard drive, fifteen inch screen, a DVD/CD combo drive which can be upgraded and connection ports should come within a reasonable budget. Check the following brands in the price range of 162.3 to 912.5 $:

IBM

HP Compaq

Dell

Gaming Notebooks

These use fastest processors with powerful video cards, ideal for gaming, has good graphics and faster speeds. The gaming version can be for 3D games, wide-screen HDTV, and video editing studio and for dynamic presentations. While purchasing one consider the graphics, RAM and processors with highest speed. Lenovo ThinkPad T60p (200783U) PC Notebook, Toshiba Satellite A65-S126

Student Notebooks

Must haves are good portability, performance, battery life, light weight. A thin and light or ultra portable should fit the bill. It may be used for office applications and gaming purpose. Lenovo ThinkPad X60s

Home use Notebooks

Weight may not be major criteria. You may be using this for after trips video editing, storing pictures, and may be exchange information. You may wish for a large screen and 512MB memory, in a mid-range budget. Consider the following recommendations:

Brand Lenovo

Brand Toshiba

Multimedia Notebooks

These are an all in one item. Serves as television, digital video recorder, mobile DVD player, MP3 juke box, digital photo album. Battery life of three hours so can be taken on vacation but definitely not for frequent travelers. Some models can boot to non-Windows environment to play audio CDs even when the system is off. It will require high speed processors and cost more too.

Buy by Budget

Everything ultimately depends on how much you intend to shell out from your pocket. Following are the three price ranges which will help you select the desired model with desired features.

162.3 to 912.5 $

937.8 to 1258 $

1269 to 3561.3 $

Notebook Vendors

With stiff competition to capture the notebook market, manufacturers have come out with eye catching models, with ultimate performance but on the higher side of the budget.
Nevertheless there is one to suit every budget and every need. Check out the following brands:
Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo

For Notebook Reviews you can visit:

Reviews

Notebook Reviews

Rowe/AMi R-92 Combo Flashing Lights

A better demonstration of the music activated flashing lights of a 1988 Rowe/AMi R-92 jukebox. Jukebox is playing Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," the infamous Rickroll song. Pioneer CD player is shown



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeLk4HzKsqM&hl=en

Theatre iPhone Apps

The iPhone is among the most useful little gadgets that a person can own thanks, almost entirely, to the applications which owners can download and install with nothing more than a few prods and pokes.

Sure, there's a lot of junk in the App Store but there are also a few gems which will help make any London theatre break even more enjoyable. From help navigating the Tube to a fun game to keep you busy while you're on it, our top three theatre-lovers' iPhone apps will help you make the most of your phone and your time in the city.

We Will Rock You - The Game
Queen's jukebox musical has been a fixture in London's West End for quite some time now (eight years to be precise) and in that time it has won no fewer than 11 major theatre awards. In late 2009 this exceptionally popular show launched their own iPhone app, and it's pretty fun.

A management simulator ala Championship Manager, We Will Rock You - The Game allows theatre-fans to manage the production of We Will Rock You. You can make production and creative decisions, flog merchandise, and even do a spot of marketing. If you make the right decisions then eventually your production will make it to the Dominion Theatre. If not, then it's the school hall for you!

iTheatre
iTheatre is a theatre fan's dream app. It offers what's on listings, reviews, images, and maps of theatre locations. It even allows you to book discount tickets through your handset. Obviously if you're visiting the capital on a pre-arranged London theatre break then you won't be booking any tickets, but it's still a lovely feature.

The maps feature is particularly handy if you have trouble navigating London's West End - something many visitors on a London theatre break can struggle with.

Although a little clunky at the moment, iTheatre is constantly improving and the theatre listings feature alone is a must-have for any gadget-loving musical head. It even works quite well outside of London!

Tube Deluxe
London's hot, noisy, and busy Tube system can be a little bit intimidating for visitors to the capital, especially if you don't know your way around. Fortunately, the iPhone can come to your rescue with the easy-to-use Tube Deluxe app.

On top of a nice clear Tube map, Tube Deluxe lets users know the status of each Tube line when it opens, ideal if you're in a rush to get to the theatre and need to avoid delays. If you struggle to find the Tube station, no worries; Tube Deluxe can find your nearest one using GPS (assuming you have a signal, which you will in central London).

This indescribably useful app also displays every station's departure board, details on the first and last trains running, and can trace your train's progress from station-to-station towards you.

Show and Stay offers the best hotel and theatre packages. Book your  London Show with us and choose from more than fifty theatre and hotel deals. Customers can visit the Show and Stay website for more information. 

Portable Record Player

As a person walks down memory lane, there was an age when the turn table where the hot potato and to date listening to your favorite music by means of a portable record player is a fine way to just lounge. And while we're at it, the portable turn table of today is a restore narration of the classic. It integrates the enchantment of the good old days with the desirable features found at this moment.

Despite the fact that cassettes are faced by the danger of being replaced by sexier, sleeker and more convenient methods of carrying music, they are still considered as icons in the industry of electronics. The retro CD player incorporates retro style from the 1960s and the technology today. It provides the charm which should be characteristic of a radio from the yester years and ensures that there is quality and convenience of the CD playback as well. Technology has moved from Sony Walkman (portable cassette players) to iPods (MP3 players).

And look at this, even though a lot of music today is listened to on retro CD players, MP3 players and digital devices, vinyl disc's did not share a similar elimination path which the cassettes and eight track tapes follow. Fact is in lotsa cases turn tables were inconvenient and large, and it was difficult to transport them all over and as an effect from this the Portable Cassette Players emerge as more sought-after.

Listen, the portable vinyl player developed as a result for the hi-fi. It conforms to the antique concept and is light to take around so most of us can dig favorite melody even while on the go. Frankly, even though it is little in size the portable record player has the sound much the same to a turn table. The bottom line is, with its dynamic and balanced tone arm the portable record player is durable to be played at all locations and is also well-made and this helps it to resist the strain that transpires with its aggressive usage.

Orlando Garcia is an Internet Marketer, who's passions including helping people, good food, exercise & the outdoors plus his vinyl collection of 50's R&b Doowop and Soul from the 60's & 70's.

Portable Record Player

Retro CD Player

Bang Olufsen Beocenter 7700 fully restored

Bang Olufsen Beocenter 7700 fully restored



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UfWEMgnpIk&hl=en

How Does iPod Work - The All in One Portable Media Device That Is iPod

Music is innate with people in all walks of life. And we sway along in the tides of technology. In music, the recording and bulky boombox or cassette players in the old times revolutionize... inventions such as musical gadgets became more smaller and comfortable to use. iPod is one of those innovations. And this article is about how does iPod work? iPod is a musical gadget that can store audio files. It has a 5 to 160 gigabytes storage capacity or is equivalent to 40,000 songs.

Music could be downloaded to iPod through researching songs in web sites like imesh, Esnips and Limewire. The songs in these sites are free. After the songs are downloaded in your iPod, you could rip or transfer the songs to your personal computer at home and burn the songs in a CD writer or a CR rewritable.

Download Music easily with the help of iTunes

Apple, the company who produces iPod has an integrated media-player software or jukebox, it is called iTunes. You could use iTunes to play, convert files into another, download songs from the internet, upload songs to your computer, and organize music by creating ratings on songs and making different playlist so you could create moods that suit the weather, or your disposition at a certain time. You could buy songs in iTunes through your iPod if you have a WiFi connection.

Through iTunes, you could also purchase movies, audiobooks, podcasts, and music videos in a click of a button. You could watch the preview of a certain movie or hear a particular song before you buy it. The iTunes software automatically synchronizes whatever is connected to your personal computer with the help of a USB 2.0 port.

Keep in mind that you could download music from other internet sites as long as the site do not use Windows DRM (Digital Rights Management) for the reason that iPod is not compatible with that encoding.

iPod is so efficient and so easy to use

iPod is famous because the design is so simple. The buttons are not complex, that is why it is very easy and convenient to use. It is lightweight compared to other portable media device such as Zen Portable Media Center by Creative.

iPod is so versatile because it can play various audio file formats such as MP3, WAV, AAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and Audible audio files.

The 160 gigabyte iPod version could last as long as 200 hours of playtime. While the 80 gigabyte could hold up to 100 hours of video. H.264 and MPEG-4 files are supported like MOV files that are converted to iPod-friendly video with the aid of the iTunes software.

In storing photographs, iPod supports different file formats like JPEG, BMP, TIFF, PNG and PSD. You could easily download your favorite photographs from Mac iPhoto or Windows Adobe Photoshop to your iPod. You could save photos as much as 25,000 still images and you could create a slideshow or a presentation of your own.

Extra benefits from iPod

Another function of iPod is that you could use it as a portable hard drive. You could carry with you all different media from your computer. You just need to choose "enable disk usage" from the iTunes software, and every media that you need when you travel is now handy.

You could also integrate your iPod in your car stereo and its sound system so you could enjoy music while travelling. There are built in car stereos that support iPod integration. You could control your music through the steering-wheel controls or through the help unit.

For more information on sharing your music with iPod travel speakers by visiting http://www.appleipodaccessoriesguide.com a popular iPod website that provides reviews for iPod vs. Zune comparison.

Bluegrass Music Online

You don't have to live in Kentucky to hear Bluegrass music. There may be festivals and such in various places around the country, but for the music lover, they want to hear the music that they love all of the time. There is just something so happy about Bluegrass music and it holds on to some of the roots that many of us have in this country. It is a true form of music that has existed for hundreds of years and continues to bring joy to people all of the time. That is why many look for Bluegrass music online in order to get their fix.

As stated before, Bluegrass music doesn't necessarily turn up just anywhere. There are festivals and the such in the Appalachian Mountains and the surrounding foothills where individuals can come together and share their love of Bluegrass. Other than that there isn't much else. The radio doesn't even play that much Bluegrass, so an individual has to take matters into their own hands. This usually means purchasing Bluegrass music online so it can be played whenever.

There are a number of websites that sell all types of music online. This can be through sites that sell CDs or those sites that allow music downloads. For those who wish to build their collection, they may choose to go with the CD because they can take them anywhere. Yes, music can usually be burned to a CD once it has been downloaded to a computer from a legitimate download site, but there is nothing like having the real thing to add to your collection rather than a disk that has been written on by a Sharpee. Through purchasing music online, you are able to have pictures of the bands, copies of lyrics, and the track list so that you don't have to research all of that information yourself. It may not be too much a task for you, especially if you love your music. However, you should experience the various albums in order to be introduced to Bluegrass music that you have never heard before.

And what's better is the fact that there are plenty of affordable albums to buy so that you can get your dose of Bluegrass. It is a true art form when it comes to music and can take any individual back to the days when there was no internet, there was no television, and there was no radio. There were just a bunch of people gathering around and enjoying music in its most original form. That is why you should purchase Bluegrass music online so you can experience that intense form of originality. There is just no other way for you to experience it.

Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about Bluegrass music online [http://mybluesguitar.info/bluegrass-music-online], please visit My Blues Guitar [http://mybluesguitar.info/] for current articles and discussions.

Big Hit In India - John Ford of the Strawbs

"We're gonna recreate the Summer of Love, the Maharishis coming back!..." John Fords Big Hit In India is in the running in 2010 MP3 Music Awards! Right up there with Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Kesha Sebert, Timbaland and others! Please show your support and cast your votes as often as you like for John Ford of the Strawbs - Big Hit In India - US & Overseas: Use MMA's Judging Jukebox Player to cast your vote at: www.mp3musicawards.co.uk UK can also Dial: 0905 404 4044 to vote. Thanks so much for your support! Cheers xxx Promo for "Big Hit In India" ~ Hit Single off Big Hit In India CD, featuring twelve of his newest originals is John Fords latest musical sensation! Conjured up within the past year, the album centers around a universal element of life - Love. Taking you on a journey that emulates the highs and lows that everyone will discover something within each song they can relate to find themselves playing over and over again. Watch for the full video on youtube. John Ford TEASER BIO British musician, John Fords Big Hit In India, 2008 CD release, his 9th Solo album ~ Features twelve of his latest, greatest songs ~ an array of styles to fit many genres from Rock to Pop, since moving to the states from the UK in the late 80s. His versatile live performance easily shifts from Solo acoustic to fronting a full electric band. Ford has played, toured and shared the bill with other music legends as Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Dave Mason, Eagles ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAvhs7NZHJg&hl=en

Keep Your Vinyl Records Clean And New

Cleaning your vinyl records regularly and correctly is what it takes to have best quality sound when you spin them. It just takes a few easy steps to keep your vinyl record good as new always.

Basic cleaning tools and solutions like anti-static guns and record cleaning machines which are optional, record cleaning pads, brushes and solutions, a turntable and your vinyl record are the things you will need. Or a 50/50 solution of isopropyl alcohol and distilled water is a choice for normal cleaning. A 70% alcohol solution may damage your vinyl records, but not in the recommended 50/50 solution. Small amounts of baby bath can also be utilized to clean the vinyl record.

Once you have all the necessary materials, you can start cleaning. Holding the record by edges and labeled areas, begin cleaning the stylus and place the record on the turntable. If you have an anti-static gun, use it to neutralize dust. If you're using the alcohol-water solution, to help cut down water spots and marks, put a couple of drops of Photo Flo with the solution. Wiping in a circular motion with the grooves, rub on the solution with a soft, clean washcloth. The turntable comes useful this moment. Don't get the labels wet when cleaning the vinyl record. Rinse the cloth often in the solution and replace with a fresh mixture when needed. Hold the ends of the brush or pad between your fingers and manually rotate the platter in a clockwise direction while pressing the brush lightly into the grooves if you have a record cleaning brush or pad. Sweep the brush up and away to remove the grime and use a brush holder or similar object to srub the grime off the brush, away from the turntable. Dry clean the vinyl record if it is not very dusty and has been cleaned regularly; or you can use a soft, clean towel to thoroughly dry the record.

Like most of us, you probably have heavily soiled records by now if you forget cleaning your vinyl records. This calls for a slightly different cleaning approach that requires pre-cleaning them. Put the heavily soiled records on a clean, soft, lint-free cloth and wet-clean the record in a spiral motion from center to rim. Air-dry or use 100% cottion, lint-free cloth and repeat the steps on the other side. You can proceed to the usual cleaning steps procedures after pre-cleaning your vinyl.

Use a moist cloth or a mild furniture polish to clean your vinyl record if their cover is laminated or shiny. You can get rid of the marks or writings on the cover with a rubber eraser or a lighter fluid. You can get rid of the stickers, labels, and tape by heating the area with a hair dryer and making use of a citrus-based cleaner or lighter fluid to remove sticker residue. There's nothing much you can do about cleaning the covers if they are matte finish covers. Since they are already set, you would end up removing part of the print or color thereby making your vinyl records look worse than dirt. Remember, it just takes a moment of your time to keep your vinyl record clean and new.

Seth Frank is passionate about Vinyl Albums music and has devoted much of his professional life to helping young artists gain the exposure they need. When not writing or attending shows, Watts can often be found cheering on his beloved Phillies or cooking up one of his signature culinary creations.

Top 3 Things For His Nifty Fifties Theme Room

He grew up with Elvis and has fond memories of moon pies and fast cars. If his DVD collection consists of old shows like the Honeymooners and I Love Lucy, then your he relishes those times and would love to a place to go when he wants to get away.

His fifties style theme room may be decked out with neon signs and memorabilia from old diners and could use a special gift that compliments his style and decor for his man cave. With that in mind. these top three things might be something to put under the tree for him:

Music - A CD Jukebox is a great gift idea to add to his rock and roll room and has the look and feel of a time when Bill Haley and Chubby Checker ruled the airwaves. His CD collection can easily be stored and played at will and the ambiance of the entire room can be centered around his new jukebox.

Lighting and wall coverings in the eclectic style of diners and drive-ins might be another touch to add to the overall look and feel. Whether you choose the common "Eat at Joes" flashing in purple and red to a more reserved wall tin, he will love it the creativity behind your gift.

Last but not least, you want to add some flair with metallic and red or leather bar stools to complete the look. There is nothing like sipping a cold brew at the bar while the jukebox is blaring Beach boys.

In summary, your old man's interest in rock and roll music can set the stage for an interesting gift giving season this year. He will actually be excited to open each gift after he sees the CD Jukebox you unveil under the tree.

Choose something this year for your husband that he will actually use. Take a look here for flat screen TVs http://gravitygarden.com/flat-screen-bracket/65-flat-screen.html or if you are looking for more ideas to add to the theme room concept. Add an old Jukebox or vintage signs to decorate his themed room.

Jukebox 1CD Floor Size Neon

Why pay thousands of dollars? When you can own this brand new high quality replica of the 1940-60's designed jukeboxes! Comes complete with the classic brightly crome accents and multi-colored electric neon glowing lights around a curved bent wood frame. Then we went inside and updated this juke with a Sony Digital LED top showcase loading CD player stereo for play just like the old jukebox turntables. And of course we made sure to install a mega sound system that will make everyone want to get up and dance. Five 20W full range speakers and 2 tweeters provide full stereo base sound.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf_UTxC5CUo&hl=en

PILLOW LIVE IN CONCERT - ROLL WITH MY BABY MIXED WITH FEVER

PILLOW LIVE IN CONCERT - ROLL WITH MY BABY MIXED WITH FEVER Svein Erik Martinsen - GUITAR Lars Tormod Jenset - Bass Bjarke Falgren - Violin, Violin Percussion and more ( You´ll see in these videos ) PILLOW's mix between hard swinging tunes, sophisticated melodies and arrangements is what makes a PILLOW Show one of a kind. When Bjarke Falgren plugs in his violin, You'll discover why Svend Asmussen called him "the hardest swingin' Jazz fiddler since Stuff Smith" A concert with PILLOW is recognised by the musical interaction between the members of the band and their communication with audience. PILLOW plays with all the emotional strings in your heart and trigger both laughter and tears. The three talented young musicians met at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and since their debut with The CD "Journey" (2002) they have recived great reviews and played at most of the major venues and festivals in Scandinavia and other countries like France and Iceland. In May they will be in Ammer Jazz Festival (DE) too. PILLOW also got AWARDED for The CD "Journey". Their Second album "A PILLOWs Tale" is a softer album that focus on the compositions and lyrics of their own songs. Bjarke Falgren: Violin, viola, bg. vocals. Plays with: PILLOW, World On A String, Susi Hyldgaard, Kaya Brüel and many others. Received a Danish Music Awards nomination for "Jazzname of the year in Denmark" in 2003. andreceived a talent scolarship from Rhythmical Concervatory in Copenhagen in 2002 ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlIC1oHSt2E&hl=en

How to Make Sure to Save Money and Headaches on Your Next Used Laptop Purchase

Anyone who is in the retail sector of the computer business will recognize the following dilemna. Before buying, the consumer desires to know everything about the technical aspects of the laptops, rather than the practical aspects. It seems the customer will try and find out all of the technical differences between hard drive's... such as seek time, partitions available, physical dimensions.... All important stuff to be sure. But this information is sought out before the practical details such as "What am I going to do with this laptop is considered.

It is still amazing to hear people say they do not really know what they want to DO with a laptop, but they are sure they want a Dell. The concern is not with their desire for a Dell (a great brand, sure)... but why they didn't bother to think about what they were hoping to do with the laptop they were planning to buy in the first place. It would be like deciding what car you were going to buy before deciding what you needed your car to do or even thinking if you were going to drive in hot climates or do long road trips. In the same way the right car is defined by the needs of the driver... the right laptop is likewise connected to the right buyer on the basis of needed functionality.

The most sure way to spend a lot of extra cash on your next laptop is to just buy what's out there, rather than what you need from the beginning.

Here are some key things to consider when shopping for your next laptop (New or Used):

1) What applications are essential for you? Do all of your classmates/co-worker's use Word? Do you need to as well? Do you want to play games on the system? Do you want to make databases? Store pictures? With everything you want to accomplish, there will be a necessary application in order to accomplish that objective.

2) How far are you away from service technicians? Can your laptop be down for several days or is it absolutely necessary to run each and every day?

3) Do you have bad vision?

4) Bad wrists? Other physical limitations?

5) Are you going to use your laptop as a Jukebox? How many CD's do you plan on putting in the laptop?

6) Do you plan on using Wi-Fi? Plan on going online?

7) What's your price range?

8) How long does the battery have to work for?

9) Do you need a DVD player or a CD writer?

10) Do you know how to load programs? Delete them?

If you print out this list of questions, it will take you a long way in helping you to decide what laptop is best for you. It will also save you a lot of money as you get what you need and not a bunch of unnecessary items. You do not need to be a computer geek to save a bundle. You just need to be willing to ask some hard questions.

Finding a great deal isn't too hard if you ask the right questions. Have you taken the time to ask these questions? If you haven't please do yourself a favor and print these questions and answer them as thoroughly and as honestly as possible. Once you have decided on some of your applicational needs, find a reseller you trust and work with them to get the best possible deal.

Jesse Harwell is the owner of the web-site [http://www.usedcollegelaptops.com] which is designed to help college students save money and time on used laptop purchases

Homemade 400 CD Jukebox

Video of a CD jukebox that I built in 1990 made just before I scrapped it. hydraraptor.blogspot.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLFw1rOmO5Q&hl=en

Juke Box.mp4

Jukemaster 100 with 50s and 60s music - Vintage tabletop with FM radio - Just like the real thing out of a 50s diner - Easy access to 100 songs, just flip pages and press selection code - Includes new CD "100 Top Hits from the 50s and 60s - Sleek 1950's diner style look and feel - Lighted keys show current song playing - Optional random and continuous play - Crackling sounds of the needle landing on the record - Whirring sounds of a jukebox mechanism loading the record - Excellent, no-vintage sound quality - Full stereo sound - Line Output - Headphone Output - FM radio - 20 Station presets - Create your own CDs: simple software to create your own custom CDs and flip cards templates also provided for most popular CD burning packages. - Plays MP3 format music CDs - Store 100+ songs on a single CD(upto 11 hours of music) - Also plays standard CD's, True dipped chrome finish Special offer order one at www.anyestore.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs4_9uf7PXc&hl=en

Wurlitzer 1015 ONE MORE TIME 50 CD Jukebox

Wurlitzer 1015 ONE MORE TIME 50 CD Jukebox for sale here at Rocky Mountain Treasures. Works Great!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5uI3qheapM&hl=en

Kuba Tango Musiktruhe mit Bass wie Kirchenorgel -- ECL86 Stereo Röhrenradio sehr schöne Bass Musik

der schönste, natürlichste und tiefste Bass der Welt, ist zwar PC-ungeeignet (am besten Bass voll aufdrehen, klingt am echtesten dann) weil kein heutiges Gerät das wiedergeben kann was diese Kuba Stereoanlage erzeugt aber ich kann den wirklichen Klang vielleicht erklären: 42 Kilo Gesamtgewicht drücken die Bässe in den Betonboden und ins Mauerwerk rein, wenn man davor steht hat man das Gefühl ein 100 Meter tiefer Abgrund tut sich auf aus dem diese unglaublich tiefen Töne kommen, so als wenn man vornüberfällt wie beim höchsten Punkt einer Wildwasserbahn wo einem komisch wird weils gleich runtergeht, es zieht einen richtig nach vorn, der Sound ist gänsehauterzeugend. Wenn die Mitteltöne dazukommen (heute würde man Kickbässe sagen) zuckt man, ob man will oder nicht, zusammen weil es klingt als würde jemand mit aller Kraft eine schwere Holztür eintreten, völlig realistisch, das ist echt unheimlich. Gleichzeitig sind die hohen Töne so rein, glasklar und ohne jede Verzerrung oder Beeinflussung durch den Bass daß man glaubt Nadelspitzen prasseln auf die Erde, der Klang ist unglaublich, niemand glaubt mir das weil das Gerät 50 Jahre alt ist und nur 2 ECL 86 Röhren mit ein paar Watt die Endstufe bilden!! Aber wenn ich sie vorgeführt habe war es immer das gleiche, offene Münder, völlige Ungläubigkeit, Sätze wie -Wahnsinn, noch nie so was gehört- usw. Auf dem unscharfen Video sieht man rechts den CD Player auf einer Mütze zur Federung damit er nicht springt, dahinter einen Equalizer ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPw2fkY6G0k&hl=en

Rowe/AMi R-92 Combo demonstration

An early CD jukebox, which still played 100 45 rpm records, put through its paces. Rowe/AMi was not ready to bring out a full CD jukebox, but Seeburg brought one out in 1986. Rowe responded with the combo version, and built it for over 4 years until their own dedicated CD juke was ready. Most people don't remember these 'hybrids,' so I thought I would demonstrate it. It isn't hard to use. I've had to work on this thing quite a bit since I got it, but it's working 100% now. Very powerful sound in a home, even with the volume very low! Super fun at parties.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V8-umQqfOQ&hl=en

Free Karaoke Downloads Available Online

Karaoke is a great form of entertainment with your friends. And whether you enjoy it on an amateur level or you're an up and coming professional musician there are all kinds of free karaoke downloads available online.

First thing you need to do is understand the different file types that are available. Each is readily available and each serves its own purpose.

CD+G Disks are the most common format and the most popular form. With the CDG format the background music, lyrics, and even video are all encrypted on the CD. MP3 Tracks are a very popular form of digital music and you can find them all over the web. MIDI Tracks are very popular with professionals because there is more flexibility than with other formats. You can change the sound of instruments, remove instruments, and play with the tempo and the key.

Great but I know what you're thinking. Where do I get all those free downloads you were talking about? Not to worry read on!

1. Karaoke 5

Is a Karaoke MIDI and MP3 manager and it plays all .kar and .mid files. You can create your own Karaoke bases and then synchronize the lyrics.

2. GoSing Karaoke Player

Is a complete player that is compatible with all the file formats and it will let you open zip files too. You can personalize your tracks by changing and editing as much as you want.

3. Karaoke Midi Files

Miles and miles of free downloads here.

4. Vanbasco Karaoke Player

It might be free but it is professional and you can get it right every time.

5. Mikey Karaoke

This is a great place to store your karaoke library and you can convert to MIK or KAR file format.

6. Karaoke & Lyrics Central

Here you can find all kinds of downloads and all your favorite tunes.

7. MP3 Karaoke Player

This is a very cool player with complete playlist management and it's free. Now that's a deal!

8. MidiMaster Karaoke 3.5

You can play both karaoke and midi files and it will highlight the lyrics as they scroll so you can easily follow along. This program lets you adjust the key, temp, and it has a host of other features.

9. Easy Karaoke Player

You can record your karaoke as wav files and you can play them. You can play all types of multimedia files and you can record while you sing. Nice simple program to use.

10. PowerKaraoke

Is a CD+G karaoke mastering tool that lets you import any KAR or MIDI song and you can even create from scratch. It's got plenty of options that let you create the perfect CDG track.

11. JukeBox'er 3.7

This is the perfect jukebox system for home! It can play any type of track you want for those home parties. And it allows you to choose your favorite songs on the run. It also has the CD burner and CDDB function.

12. Lyred PRO

This is a lyric and karaoke editor and it has better tag support than most. You can print your lyric books and even your covers. All kinds of freebees here and the registered version has more than 150,000 lyrics to choose from.

13. KaraWin

This is a multi purpose package with jukebox and the ability to create. It gives you everything you need to make those perfect karaoke cd's.

Of course this is just a few of the free karaoke downloads online but it's a great place to start and you can discover others over time. Are you ready for your next karaoke night?

Nan worked in a karaoke bar for 9 years before starting his own audio electronics store. His store specializes in karaoke machines and accessories and a much larger variety of items than almost all large department stores. At http://www.karaokeadvisor.com, he shares his experience with you by listing out the top karaoke essentials with buying advice on various products.

The Crosley Mission-O-Matic Review.

www.LaZinniaHomeDecor.com Visit us to purchase crosley songwriter,crosley cr 248,crosley cr248,crosley stack o matic,crosley stack o matic, crosley cd player, crosley, radio & more.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVjdQaqyC0s&hl=en

Jukebox the Ghost - Hold it In & Good Day

SIGNS WITH WMG! For more great tunes, check out World United Music. World United Music worldunitedmusic.blogspot.com Juke box the Ghost - MySpace www.myspace.com Jukebox the Ghost - Twitter twitter.com Jukebox the Ghost - Facebook www.facebook.com Buy Music! Jukebox the Ghost - aimestreet amiestreet.com Write Up: "DC's Jukebox the Ghost are an extremely entertaining piano-pop trio that writes cleverly optimistic songs. Their music gives off an aura that vaguely resembles happiness. Imagine! Upon first listen to these guys you will probably think two things (depending on how in touch with the '90s you are); "Ben" and "Folds." It's true that singer/piano player Ben Thornewill shares strong vocal similarities to that other Ben's tenor. And, of course, it doesn't quell comparisons when they're both piano men. But Jukebox the Ghost probably lean a little more towards the dramatic flair (a la Queen) than Folds did (or does?). People go crazy for these guys at their shows. Maybe you will, too?" - OH MY ROCKNESS.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP9oFfr6uEs&hl=en

PILLOW IN CONCERT - ROLL WITH MY BABY

PILLOW IN CONCERT - ROLL WITH MY BABY Svein Erik Martinsen - GUITAR Lars Tormod Jenset - Bass Bjarke Falgren - Violin, Violin Percussion and more ( You´ll see in these videos ) PILLOW's mix between hard swinging tunes, sophisticated melodies and arrangements is what makes a PILLOW Show one of a kind. When Bjarke Falgren plugs in his violin, You'll discover why Svend Asmussen called him "the hardest swingin' Jazz fiddler since Stuff Smith" A concert with PILLOW is recognised by the musical interaction between the members of the band and their communication with audience. PILLOW plays with all the emotional strings in your heart and trigger both laughter and tears. The three talented young musicians met at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and since their debut with The CD "Journey" (2002) they have recived great reviews and played at most of the major venues and festivals in Scandinavia and other countries like France and Iceland. In May they will be in Ammer Jazz Festival (DE) too. PILLOW also got AWARDED for The CD "Journey". Their Second album "A PILLOWs Tale" is a softer album that focus on the compositions and lyrics of their own songs. Bjarke Falgren: Violin, viola, bg. vocals. Plays with: PILLOW, World On A String, Jens Lysdal, Susi Hyldgaard, Kaya Brüel and many others. Received a Danish Music Awards nomination for "Jazzname of the year in Denmark" in 2003. andreceived a talent scolarship from Rhythmical Concervatory in Copenhagen in 2002. Quotes from ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-623S6K_gCE&hl=en

Crosley Stack-O-Matic Review

www.LaZinniaHomeDecor.com Visit us to purchase crosley songwriter,crosley cr 248,crosley cr248,crosley stack o matic,crosley stack o matic, crosley radio & more.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1lmdUYf4i8&hl=en

How Do Mp3 Players Work? Acquire Beneficial Info to Avoid Embarrassment and Gain Confidence

How do mp3 players work - we wonder some times as if dazzled by these electronics gadgets. I was too. I did some research and found out. A typical mp3 player is made up of an embedded processor, an audio codec microchip, a storage device, battery and earphones. An attractive case with menu buttons and earphones storing these inner components is what we see from outside.

Portable mp3 players are mostly made up of the above components. Embedded processor and audio codec microchip are technical stuff. They are related with processing the mp3 or audio files and converting them to sound of music and songs we hear.

Storage device stores the music files. You can transfer the audio files from a computer. It can be either a flash based or hard drive based storage device.

Hard drive based mp3 players use micro hard disk for storing mp3 files. Popularly known as jukeboxes, they offer storing range from 4 gb to 250 gb. iPod classic, Archos Jukebox and PJB 100 are some of the popular products. Being hard drive based, they need care. Massive storing capabilities compensates well for the required maintenance.

Flash based mp3 players use internal or external flash memory for storing. They are more convenient and safe. Storage capacity ranges between 1 gb to 32 gb. Enough to store hundreds and thousands of standard sized music files. All mp3 players falling in this range are mostly flash based. iPod and Zune are famous examples.

Most mp3 players have built in lithium battery with usb port charger. It recharges when the player is plugged into the usb port of a computer. Many use internal battries with charger adapters. AAA batteries are used by some players.

Earphones or headphones are mostly used for hearing the music and songs. They are available in many styles and types. External speakers or stereo systems can also be connected if you desire.

Latest mP3 players does include other functions too. Some offers facility of viewing photos and images. Many have the capability to view videos and play games. Few offers audio recording, ebook reading, alarm, calendar and Internet service.

Normal MP3 player size is around 1 or 2 inches in width, and up to 5 or 7 inches in height. The depth may vary according to the storing device it is using and built in batteries. Weight also varies accordingly.

Popular and sought after brands include Apple iPod, Microsoft Zune, Creative, Sansa and Samsung among many other popular brands. Apple iPod is on the top of the brands seconded by Microsoft Zune. Sansa, Coby, Creative, Samsung and Philips are highly popular too. Samsung recieves the benefit due to its dual presence in mobiles and digital audio players.

Mp3, AAC, WMA, WAV and AIFF file formats are usually supported by majority digital audio players and music phones of the most brands. These formats support DRM facility also. Mp3 is universal and dominant among the file formats due to its convenience and quality. Open source formats like ogg vorbis and flac are patent free and hence less supported.

Mp3 cd players are exception to the above storing components. Though portable, they play the audio mp3 files stored on a cd or compact disc.

We hope, you shall find the above details about how do mp3 players work useful.

Historically, the first MP3 player was the MPMan, produced by Saehan Information Systems of South Korea. It was commercially produced and marketed in Asia in 1998. In the United States, Eiger Labs sold it as MPMan F10 / F20 in 1999. Rio PMP 300 by Diamond Multimedia was also introduced in 1998. They became highly popular enjoying great success.

Copy Right @ Ajay D. Shah 2009

Ajay D. Shah is a Successful Online Info Publisher. They have shared their knowledge about Music and Movies on their web site. It offers great information about music genres, music artists, and music downloads. Also provides useful info about movies, movie reviews and movie downloads.

[http://www.best-entertainment-info.com]

[http://www.best-entertainment-info.com/mp3-music-download-site.html]

Earth control groups & the Jehovah

All information and sources come from Alex collier and his contacts. ======================================== Ever wander about the true nature of the Jehovah? Those people have propably approached on your doorstep at 7:30 on a sunday morning begging you to accept their preach to you of salvation and 2 hours introduction. Misconception are being represented, perhaps on behalf of the religious systems around the globe. The Jehova's witesses also fall into the category, hence the fact that people have been lied to deceaved and given dis information for thousands of years. The earth is NOT 6000 years old and we are not and have NEVER been alone in this universe, and soon all will see that as a fact! I am not here to bash on the organisations rather to show people the objective truth, there are many sides of the rubix cube, so we must have an open mind and pay more attention on what your inner heart of conciousness is telling you, but not the slick suited elders who are out there driving luxury cars and own their houses debt free. Like most religious systems, are corrupted, some more than others and have the intent of brainwashing and manipulating the individual mind to a state of mental limitation, or a closed minded reality. My father and half of that side of my family are in the Jehova's witnesses and I have had numerous attempts of being brainwashed, all have failed, due to the fact that I investigate many sides of the similar story. THE REVOLUTION IS NOW! WAKE UP, PLANET ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXNvxp5P8E&hl=en

Portable VS Desktop

One should be very careful buying a laptop because more than desktops
there are big differences in the technology and feature sets that
matter. Run-down of tech issues:

'True portable' versus 'desktop replacement' tech:

There are at least two major divisions of tech in laptops: tech
designed for laptops and tech designed for desktops but used in laptops.

Laptop tech results in smaller, lighter, cooler-running laptops that
last longer on their batteries. Only downside is they are a lot more
expensive.

Desktop tech results in larger, heavier, hotter-running laptops that
have shorter runtimes on batteries before they need to be recharged. Of
course they are cheaper, sometimes a LOT cheaper, than true portable
tech laptops.

There are likely one or more classes of laptops that would most
accurately be categorized as in between these extremes.

Telling the difference:

On the Intel side, anything labeled "Centrino" is true-portable; but
there are non-Centrino true-portables too. The biggest factor is the
CPU: the "M" for Mobile after the processor, as in Pentium M or Celeron
M, is a huge difference; the chips are barely related to the Pentiums in
desktops. They are really good tech, getting a lot of performance for
a little power, and a lot per clock. So a 1.5 GHz Pentium M sounds
slow but it is more like a 2.25 GHz desktop Pentium 4 or better. Do not
compare the two without multiplying the P-M/C-M speeds. These laptops
often are visually recognizable by being thin & sleek.

Any laptop labeled 'Desktop Replacement' or DTR is one based on
non-portable tech. They are best for those on a budget and/or where the
machine will spend most of its time sitting in one place plugged in to a
wall, or just moved around within a house like between a bedroom and the
living room couch. The true portable tech is worth it if you will be
using the machine on the road a lot or lugging it around in a backpack
or carry case. DTRs look fat (say, around 1" thick, keyboard to desk,
not including screen) and clunky by comparison with the true portables.

In the desktop world AMD is kicking Intel's butt but in the laptop
world it's the other way around. AMD has a portable tech called 'Turion'
meant to compete with Centrino but it's not quite as good. If on the
other hand you are buying a DTR, AMD is probably better because Intel
desktop chips run hotter and perform poorer, especially in games. Also
all current AMD models are 64-bit capable for future operating systems.

In the middle:

Just to confuse things there are intermediate chips: the 'Mobile
Pentium' and 'Athlon64 Mobile'. These are in between on the DTR/portable
spectrum in price & performance, as you would expect. They are more
closely related to desktop tech than portable tech, tho. Also beware of
buying older tech like Pentium III or Athlon XP-based notebooks; if
anyone is still selling these pay bottom dollar.

Graphics & gaming:

Laptop graphics are notoriously slow. But for RTS, it may not matter.
Still the low end may be slow enough to impact the latest RTS's. This
is one area where DTRs just blow away true portables. They can come
with graphics chipsets from NVidia or ATI that compete with decent add-in
card desktop graphics. Pentium M / Celeron M laptops usually come with
Intel graphics, which is slow. Turion laptops are probably faster in
graphics than P-M/C-M's. Find out the graphics chipset the laptop you
are interested in uses and check out on-line reviews to see if anyone
benchmarked an RTS on it, to see if performance will be acceptable.
Graphics becomes a LOT more important if you plan on playing any modern
shooters on the machine.

Other stuff:

- steer clear of any Transmeta CPU based laptops (slowww).

- never buy a laptop with less than 512MB RAM if you can afford it;
Windows XP runs slow in 256M. Prefer a laptop upgradable to at least 1GB.

- buy XP Professional if you plan on ever logging on to a corporate
network

- I care, but you may not, for video out. I can load a laptop's hard
drive with movies & recorded TV MPEG files and use it as a portable
video jukebox. Some laptops have S-Video out ports built-in, some don't.

- Some laptops, especially smaller ones, require an expensive and / or
easy to lose adaptor to plug into an external monitor. Prefer one with
a standard VGA or DVI out port.

- Smaller laptops often omit an optical drive. I wouldn't want to get
one without a DVD burner, for back-ups and stuff, but that's just me.

- Some laptops include FireWire/IEEE1394 ports for hooking up digital
camcorders. Also can be used as a high-speed file transfer / network
port if your desktop has FireWire (400MBps = 4x Ethernet, unless both
have Gigabit Ethernet).

- You want at least 'b & g' wireless support; having no 'g' is
obsolete. 'n' or 'pre-n' is cutting edge.

- Some laptops include built-in card readers for uploading photographs
from your camera quickly.

- All new laptops should include USB 2.0.

- Laptop speakers are always crappy. You can get an awesome pair of
JBL Duet speakers for

Mike Newhall
http://activetechconsulting.com/
mikenewhall@activetechconsulting.com

Toshiba 20GB MP3 Player

The Toshiba 20GB MP3 Player is ultra-thin and very lightweight. It's clean elegant look,it has small dimensions but the large storage make it a very attractive MP3 Jukebox.

This Toshiba 20GB mp3 player will give the ipod a run for it's money, just buy looking at the design and storage and price and it is thinner and light weight this is a huge thing.

The Toshiba 20GB mp3 player is extremely light and it has the perfect size and format that it will fit right into your shirt pocket or even your back pocket. This mp3 player even comes with a remote control.

This Toshiba 20GB mp3 player [http://www.worldofmp3players.net/brandname-mp3-players.html] has a metal finish on the casingand this is typical for the Japanese electronics style.

The designon this mp3 player is very clean and smooth at fisrt look. All the buttons are all on one side of the player. which is a great feature.

On the frontof this mp3 player is only the logo and the LCD display with blue backlight this is really nice. On top is the headset plug and the lock button. On the right upper corner is a hole to connect a wrist band. Two more great features that make this Toshiba mp3 player so great.

Also to note that when you buy this Toshiba 20 GB mp3 player you will get a docking station, USB Cable, power cable for docking station, earphones, remote control, two manuals and software CD.

The first thing to remember is to charge the Player by putting it into the docking station. The DC power adapter can also be plugged directly into the player to charge it, which is great for when you are travelling.

This Toshiba mp3 player has a playback time of 11 hours. Please note, that on the back of this mp3 player is a slider to switch off the built-in battery. Make sure its set to on. This is very important.

This mp3 player has an equalizer and a status which
shows you the amount of disk storage used and how many songs have been played on the G20. This is a handy feature.

Brian Lupichuk invites you to World of mp3 players, an information based web site on MP3 Players.

Home Made CD player

If your CD player is broken, no worries. Here's a sure fire way to keep your party goin!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FloEjwJY3G4&hl=en

Operating Systems

Introduction

Linux OS was first created by a student from the University of Helsinki in Finland. The creator's name was Linus Torvalds and he had an interest which turned into a passion for Minix, a small Unix application which was later developed into a system that surpassed the Minix standards. He started working on the minix in 1991 and worked heavily until 1994 when the first version of Linux kernal 1.0 was released. This Linux kernal sets the foundation to which the OS of Linux is formed. Hundreds of organizations and companies today have hired individuals and used them to release versions of operating systems using Linux kernal.
Linux's functioning, features and adaptation have made Linux and Windows OS's are excellent alternatives to other OS's. IBM and other giant companies around the world support Linux and its ongoing work after a decade from its initial release. The OS is incorporated into microchips using a process called "embedding" and is increasing the performance of of appliances and devices.

History of Linux

Through the 1990's some computer savy technicians and hobby insistent people with an interest in computers developed desktop management systems. These systems including GNOME and KDE that run on applications on Linux are available to anyone regardless of the persons motive to use the system. Linus Torvalds was interested in learning the capabilities and features of an 80386 processor for task switching. The application originally named Freax was first used with the Minix operating system.

Both the Freax and Minix designs seemed to be sacrificing performance for academic research and studying. Many of the computing specialists now are making assumptions that have changed since the 90's. Portability is now a common goal for these specialists of the computer industry and this is certainly not a academic requirement for software. Various ports to IA-32, PowerPC, MIPS, Alpha, and ARM along with supporting products being made and sold to wholesalers and retailers, commercial enterprises gave Linus a Alpha based system when tasks on Linus's priority list moved up to a notably busy point.

History of Windows

Presidents of Microsoft were Bill Gates and Paul Allen they shared the title until 1977, when Bill Gates became president and Paul Allen vice president. In 1978 the disk drives of the Tandy and Apple machines were 5.25-inch. First COMDEX computer show in Las Vegas introduces a 16-bit microprocessor, and from Intel manufacturers they introduce a 8086 chip. Al Gore comes up with the phrase "information highway." The same year Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak developed the first programming language called Integer Basic, this language was quickly replaced by the Microsoft Applesoft Basic.

Also in 1978, there was a machine that had an integrated, self contained design and was priced at less than $800, known as the Commodore PET which was a Personal Electronic Transactor. On 4/11/78 Microsoft announces its third language product, Microsoft COBOL-80. On the 1st of November in 1978 after their third language introduction, they opened their first international sales office in Japan. Microsoft delegates ASCII Microsoft, locatwed in Tokyo, asits exclusive sales agent for the Far East. And finally on New Years Eve of 1978 Microsoft announced that their year end sales was over $1 million dollars. The following year in April of 1979 Microsoft 8080 BASIC is the first microprocessor to win the ICP Million Dollar Award. The big computers were dominated by software for the mainframe computer, the recognition for the pc computer indicated growth and acceptance in the industry.

Both Allen and Gates return home to Bellevue, Washington and announce plans to open offices in their home town, thus becoming the first microcomputer software company in the Northwest.

Technical Details of both Linux and Windows OS's

An OS takes care of all input and output coming to a computer. It manages users, processes, memory management, printing, telecommunications, networking, and etc. The OS sends data to a disk, the printer, the screen and other peripherals connected to the computer. A computer can't work without an OS. The OS tells the machine how to process instructions coming from input devices and software running on the computer. Therefore every computer is built different, commands for in or output will have to be treated differently. In most cases an operating system is not a gigantic nest of programs but instead a small system of programs that operate by the core or kernal. The pc computer system is so compact these small supporting programs it is easier to rewrite parts r packages of the system than to redesign an entire program.

When first created OS's were designed to help applications interact with the computer hardware. This is the same today, the importance of the OS has risen to the point where the operating system defines the computer. The OS gives off a layer of abstraction between the user and the machine when they communicate. Users don't see the hardware directly, but view it through the OS. This abstraction can be used to hide certain hardware details from the application and the user.

Applied software is that which is not generic but specifically for one single task machine. The software will not run on any other machine. Applications like this are SABRE, the reservation system of airlines, and defense systems. Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) Creating software is an expensive and time consuming process. These programs will support and in some cases replace the engineer in creating computer programs. Cad cam systems is the computer aided design &computer aided manufacturing. The electronic drawing board in a computer program the features are multiplying. Like premanufactured elements, strength calculations, emulations of how a construction will hold in earthquakes.

In Linux there has been a question that has been going back and forth now for a while, is SCSI dead for workstations? There have been many advancements in SATA and the mainstream acceptance of 10K RPM Western Digital Raptor maybe this made SCSI too expensive for what is needed in a workstation. It's time we take a look at Linux. How does the Western Digital Raptor WD740GD compare to the three latest Ultra320 SCSI drives: the Seagate Cheetah 10K.7, Seagate Cheetah 15K.3, and Seagate Cheetah 15K.4. This section covers the technology of the drives, acoustics, heat, size, and performance.

Lets take a look at the latest generation of the Seagate 10K Cheetah line and 15K Cheetah line. We will also be taking an in depth look at the latest 10K SATA drive from Western Digital the 74GB WD740GD. Starting with the Western Digital Raptor, WD pushes this drive as the low cost answer to SCSI. On their website, they like to show off the drives 1,200,000 hours MTBF(Mean Time Between Failure) which matches the last generation MTBF of the Seagate Cheetah 15K.3 and is very close to the reliability rating of today's Cheetahs.

In Linux's datasheet or newsletter, they also mention that the Cheetah drive is designed for "high performance around the clock usage." Both the Cheetah and the Western Digital Raptor drives have the same amount of cache memory. When you are speaking of operations in a multi-tasking/multi-user environment, the benefit of various queuing techniques is an advantage. All Ultra 320 SCSI drives support what is called Native Command Queuing or NCQ. This technique is where all commands sent to the disk drive can be queued up and reordered in the most efficient order. This stops the drive from having to request service on only one side of the disk, then going to the other side of the disk serving another request, in order to return for the next request.. While some of the SATA drives do support NCQ, the Raptor does not. The Raptor does have another form of queuing called Tagged Command Queuing or TCQ. This method is not as effective as NCQ and requires support in both the drive and host controller. From what they have been able to determine, TCQ support is sparse, even under Windows.

The SATA drive has itself backed up on their durability claim by stating their use of fluid dynamic bearings in their drives. The fluid dynamic bearings replace ball bearings to cut down on drive wear and tear and decrease operating noise.

Microsoft Windows XP technologies make it easy to enjoy games, music, and movies in addition to creating movies and enhancing digital photo's. Direct X 9.0 technology drives high speed multimedia and various games on the PC. DirectX provides the exciting graphics, sound, music, and three dimensional animation that bring games to life. Direct X is also the link that allows software engineers to develop a game that is high speed and multimedia driven for your PC. Direct X was introduced in 1995 and it's popularity soared as multimedia application development reached new heights. Today Direct X has progressed to an Application Programming Interface (API) and being applied into Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. This way software developers can access hardware features without having to write hardware code.

Some of the features of the windows media playerb 9 series with smart jukebox gives users more control over their music. With easy cd transfer to the computer, cd burning and compatibility is available on portable players. Users can also discover more with services that have premium entertainment. Windows media player 9 seriers works well with windows xp using the built in digital media features and delivers a state-of- the- art experience.
When Windows Millenium Edition 2000 came out of stores it was specifically designed for home users. It had the first Microsoft version of a video editing product. Movie Maker is used to capture and organize and edit video clips, and then export them for PC or web playback. Movie maker 2, released in 2003, adds new movie making transitions, jazzy titles, and neat special effects. Based on Microsoft Direct Show and Windows Media technologies, Movie Maker was originally included only with Windows Millenium Edition. Now Movie Maker 2 is available for Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional.

With the release of Windows XP in 2001 came Windows Messenger, bringing instant messaging to users across the internet. Users communicate using Text messages in real time in Windows Messenger. Real time messaging with video conferencing has been available for a long time before now. The first communication tool provided by Windows Messenger used integrated, easy to use text chat, voice and video communication, and data collaboration.

Linux is being developed and thus is freely redistributable in code form. Linux is available and developed over the internet. Many of the engineers who took part in producing it are from over seas and have never meet one another. This operating system is at a source level code and is on a large scale that has led the way to it becoming an featureful and stable system.

Eric Raymond has written a popular essay on the development of Linux entitled The Cathedral. and the bazaar. He describes the way the Linux kernal uses a Bazaar approach that has the code released quickly and very often, and that this requires input that has provided improvement to the system. This Bazaar approach is reported to the Cathedral approach used by other systems like GNU Emacs core. The Cathedral approach is characterized in bringing a more beautiful code that has been released, but unfortunately it is released far less often. A poor opportunity for people outside the group who can not contribute to the process.

Some of the high-lights and success of the Bazaar projects do not include the opening the code for everyone to observe, at the design level of the Bazaar. On the same token the Cathedral approach is widely viewed by everyone and is appropriate. Once debugging the code is executed, it is necessary to open the Bazaar to have everyone find different errors involving the code. If they can fix the code this a great effort and help to the coders.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the two OS's

The writer of this Linux OS web page Chris Browne, describes the way that Linux efforts are distributed and some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Linux OS. The Linux OS comes with some experimental versions such as the 2.5. x series where version numbers go steadily upwards every week. The stable version changes only when bugs are detected in the system and the bugs must be fixed in the experimental series, and this occurence does not change very often. Linux users know that this happens, and they work to resolve the bugs.
It is not guaranteed that all users will immediately fix their problems with the systems if they are not being affected (or don't notice they are affected) by problems, there are fixes quickly available, sometimes distributed across the internet after a few hours of diagnosis. For Linux fixes are available more quickly than commercial vendors like Microsoft, HP, and IBM usually this diagnosis is before they even know there's a problem. This acknowledgement is in contrast to other companies behavior, Bill Gates claims in his press releases Microsoft code has no bugs. This seems to mean that there are no bugs that Microsoft cares to fix.

Microsoft came to the conclusion that the majority of bugs detected in their systems are present because users don't use their software correctly. The problems that remain for Microsoft are few in number and are caused by actual errors. There is remaining work to get the stable Linux system, with configured Linux kernels that should and do have suitably configured software on top of the workload the systems have to run for hundreds of days without rebooting the computers. Some of the general public as well as computer professionals like engineers and technicians complain that Linux is always changing. Chris says that "effort and interest of the Linux kernal will stop when people want to stop building and enhancing the Linux kernal." As long as new technology and devices like the video cards are being constructed and people interested in Linux keep coming up with new improvements for Linux, work on Linux OS will progress.

The disadvantage of the Linux OS is that it may end because of there being a better platform for kernal hacking, or because Linux in the future will be so displaced that it becomes unmanageable. This has not happened yet but many researchers say that in the future of Linux, with various plans for attaining services to the consumer or business, Linux is moving away from the base kernal and into user space which creates less room for data and information. The announcement of a Debian Hurd effort suggests an alternative to the problem of kernal hacking. The Hurd kernal, which runs and is sent as a set of processes on top a microkernal such as MACH, may provide a system for those people that are not satisfied with changes to the linux kernal. Mach has a "message passing" abstraction that allows the OS to be created as a set of components that will work in conjunction with one another.

Competetive, Collaborative Efforts

To start this section I'll tell about the beginning of the personal computer and it's roots with IBM. Vertically integrated proprietary de facto standards architectures were the norm for the first three decades of the postwar computer industry. Each computer manufacturer made most if not all of its technology internally, and sold that technology as part of an integrated computer. This systems era was ascendant from IBM's 1964 introduction of its System 360 until the release of the 1981, personal computer from IBM. This was challenged by two different approaches. One was the fragmentation of proprietary standards in the PC industry between different suppliers, which led Microsoft and Intel to seek industry wide dominance for their proprietary component of the overall system architecture, making what Moschella (1997) terms the "PC era" (1964-1981). The second was a movement by users and second tier producers to cvonstruct industrywide "open" systems, in which the standard was not owned by a single firm.

The adoption of the Linux system in the late 1990s was a response to these earlier approaches. Linux was the most commercially accepted example of a new wave of "open source" software, the software and the source code are freely distributed to use and modify. The advantages of Linux in contrast to the proprietary PC standards, particulary software standards controlled by Microsoft. Product compatibility standards have typically been considered using a simple unidemensional typology, bifurcated between "compatible" and "incompatible." Further more, to illuminate differences between proprietary and open standards strategies, Gabel's (1987) multi-dimensional classification attribute, with each dimension assuming one of several (discrete) levels:

"multivintage" compatibility between successive generations of a product:

"product line" compatibility, providing interoperability across the breadth of the company's

product line-as Microsoft has with its Windows CE, 95/98/ME, and NT/2000 product families.

"multivendors" compatibility, i.e. compatibility of products between competing producers.

The first successful multi-vendor operating system was Unix, developed by a computer science research group at Bell Telephone Laboratories (BTL) in New Jersey beginning in 1969. As with the earlier Multics research project between MIT, BTL and mainframe computer maker General Electric, Unix was a multi-user time-shared OS designed as a research project by programmers for their personal use. Other characteristics key to Unix's success reflected path dependencies by its developers and early users( Salus 1994):

AT&T was forbidden by its 1956 consent decree from being in the computer business, so it did not sell the OS commercially. After publishing research papers, Bell Labs was flooded with requests from university computer science departments, who received user licenses and source code but a lack of support. Along cam budget constraints that limited BTL researchers to DEC minicomputers opposed to large mainframe computers, Unix was simpler and more efficient than its Multics predecessor, based on the simplified C programming language rather than the more widely used PL/I. Although originally developed DEC minicomputers, Unix was converted to run on other models by users who found programmer time less expensive than buying a supported model, thus setting the stage for it to become a hardware-independent OS.

Maybe one of the most important developments was the licensing of UNIX by the U.C. Berkeley Computer Science Department in 1973. The Berkeley group issued its own releases from 1977 to 1994, with much of its funding provided by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The result of the Berkeley development included (Garud and Kumaraswamy 1993; Salus 1994) :

The first Unix version to support TCP/IP, later the standard protocols of the internet;

Academic adoption of BSD Unix as the preferred OS by many computer science departments throughout the world;

Commercial spread of BSD -derived Unix through Sun Microsystems, cofounded by former BSD programmer Bill Joy;

As they evolved their versions of Unix, fragmentation of Unix developers and adopters into rival "BSD" and "AT&T" camps.

AT&T Unix provided a multivendor standard which, when coupled with the BSD advancements, helped spur the adoption of networked computing. Helped by Sun, whose slogan is "the network is the computer," Unix rapidly gained acceptance during the 1980s as the preferred OS for networked engineering workstations (Garud and Kumaraswamy 1993). At the same time, it became a true multivendor standard as minicomputer producers with a small amount of customers, weak R&D and immature OS licensed Unix from AT&T. The main exceptions to the Unix push were the early leaders in workstations (Apollo) and minicomputers (DEC), who used their proprietary OS as a source of competitive advantage, and were the last to switch to Unix in their respective segments.

Some of the advocates from the two producers formed a number of trade associations to promote Unix and related operating systems. In doing so fueled the adoption and standardization of Unix, they hoped to increase the amount of application software to compete with sponsored, proprietary architectures(Gabel 1987; Grindley 1995). These two groups promoted these under the rubric "open systems"; the editors of a book series on such systems summarized their goals as follows:
Open systems allow users to move their applications between systems easily; purchasing decisions can be made on the basis of cost-performance ratio and vendor support, rather than on systems which run a users application suite (Salus 1994: v).

Despite these goals, the Unix community spent the 1980s and early 1990s fragmented into AT&T and Berkeley warring factions, each of which sought control of the OS API's to maximize the software available for their versions. Each faction had its own adherents. To avoid paying old earlier mainframe switching costs, U.S. Department of Defense procurement decisions began to favor Unix over proprietary systems. As AT&T formalized its System V Interface Definition and encouraged hardware makers to adopt System V, it became the multivendor standard required by DoD procurements

BSD group was only developed for DEC minicomputers, its Unix variant was not multivendor and less attractive and appealing for DoD procurements. The numerous innovations of the BSD group in terms of usability, software development tools and networking made it more attractive to university computer scientists for their own research and teaching, making it the minicomputer OS preferred by computer science departments in the U.S., Europe and Japan (Salus 1994). The divergent innovation meant that the two major Unix variants differed in terms of internal structure, user commands and application programming interfaces (APIs). It was the latter difference that most seriously affected computer buyers, as custom software developed for one type of Unix could not directly be recompiled on the other, adding switching costs between the two systems. Also, both the modem-based and DARPA networking facilitated the distribution of user donated source code libraries, that were free but often required site-specific custom programming if the Unix API's at the users site differed from those of faced by the original contributor.

Microsoft Windows continues to invest in products based on the Itanium processor family, and the Itanium Solutions Alliance will further this investment by helping growth of the ecosystem of applications and solutions available on Windows platform and SQL Server 2005," said Bob Kelly, general manager, Windows infrastructure, Microsoft Corp. "We look forward to working with the members of the Itanium Solutions Alliance to help IT managers transition from RISC-based Unix servers to Itanium based systems running on the Windows platform."