Which Are the Top Movies in 2007?

Author: Craig Rad
Directors, actors and scenarists are doing their jobs pretty well these days, or, better said, this year. Well, we are not even at the middle of the 2007 year yet, but this shouldn't stop us predict the best movies of this year. After all, we are already seeing some great ones in the movie theatres at this moment. So, which ones are the best movies in 2007? Here are some ideas that can help you know what to select when you go to the movies.



But before we tell you what movies to see, we should advise you regarding the ones you should avoid. It seems that nowadays, the movie scene s full of silly comedies that can't go beyond the situational humor and beyond their geeky characters. If you are a movie lover in search of deep, strong movies, then it is better to avoid movies like Are We Done Yet? or Norbit. In addition, you can avoid the animation movies of this year, since they can not actually compare to genuine comedies such as Shrek or Ice Age. Moreover, you shouldn't put In the Land of Women on your list either, together with the drama Stomp the Yard. Why? Simply because they are dramatic and romantic in a cheesy way. However, if you like mediocre animation movies, goofy comedies and cheesy romance, you have enough reasons to go watch all the above.



OK, now let's take a look at the top 2007 movies that are worth watching. First of all, the Box Office says that thrillers like Disturbia or Fracture are quite popular; and we have good reasons to believe what the Box Office says. This year, it seems that thriller movies are in again, so this is how we can explain the abundance of such suspense movies on top of the charts nowadays. Other examples are In the Life of Others and Zodiac, movies that are actually a mixture of genres and that have intriguing plots and unpredictable stories.



If you are a fan of horror movies, then Grindhouse might be the movie of the year for you, especially since it is directed by Quentin Tarantino. And if you are a fan of action films, then make sure you don't miss movies like Smoking' Aces or Hot Fuzz. There are plenty of action, crime and investigation movies this year and they also star actors that manage to do quite good jobs. But we can not end the list of top movies in 2007 without mentioning a documentary: Verdict on Auschwitz: The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial.



Now you know what to watch and what to avoid and you have seen that there is a wide range of movie genres to choose from. All you have to do is rush to the movie theatre and enjoy your kind of movie!

Which Are the Top Movies in 2007?

Chris Brown Tickets- Brown Top Dog at American Music Awards

Author: Alexa Evans
There were many starts that shined on the stage Sunday night at the American Music Awards, but no one seemed to escape the shadow of Chris Brown. The wildly popular hip-hop singer proudly garnered three trophies for the categories of "Best Male Soul/R&B Artist," "Best Male Pop/Rock Artist" and the biggest deal of the whole night: "The Artist of the Year." Brown was joined by fellow musicians who were also awarded throughout the night, including Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Daughtry and Jordin Sparks. For more information be sure to check out http://www.stubhub.com/chris-brown-tickets.



Chris Brown is one of the youngest performers in the rap/hip-hop industry. He made his official debut in 2005 with his self-titled album, which was released when he was just 16 years old. His success was largely propelled due to the massive success of his hit "Run It!" which topped the Billboard Hot 100. Fans loved his originality and the fact that he was just a young teenager, seeking to make it big in an industry that is often hard to compete in. Brown released his second studio album in November 2007, called Exclusive. The record featured two top hits, "Kiss Kiss," which featured rapper T-Pain, as well as "With You." The former song reached number one and the latter reached the number two spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Brown has a tendency to always outdo himself and he soon after released a deluxe version of his album called The Forever Edition. He found another hit with "Forever" and expanded his fan base worldwide. These days a pair of Chris Brown tickets are certainly hot items in the music industry.



Chris Brown was born in the very small town of Tappahannock, Virginia. Before he reached the age of five, the young Brown was dancing around his home to the tunes of Michael Jackson, Sam Cooke, Anita Baker and Aretha Franklin. When Brown turned 13, he and his mother, who has always been a strong encourager of her son's abilities, sought out an opportunity for a record deal. By the time he was 15 years old he was sent to perform for L.A. Reid and was then signed in 2004 to Jive Records. During this initial time he worked with other celebrities in the music industry like The Underdogs, Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri.



Along with his successes in the recording studio, Brown has also pursued an acting career, having made appearances on UPN's One on One, and he even landed a small role in the fourth season of Fox's The O.C. Soon afterwards, he made his film debut in Stomp the Yard, followed by This Christmas. Chris Brown has also been interested in charity work, giving $50,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.



Chris Brown may be a young man still in his teens, but his powerful voice proves that he has the ability to compete with the biggest names in the hip-hop industry. This was solidified with his impressive win the other night at the American Music Awards. Brown will no doubt be around for some time to come, and his impact on hi- hop music is sure to inspire others to follow in his footsteps.

Chris Brown Tickets- Brown Top Dog at American Music Awards

Avantages de la menthe, citron :: The benefits of mint with the lemon

فوائد النعناع مع الليمون


السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته


أشرب يومياُ كأس ليمون بالنعناع

(بالماء البارد)

.. وطوووول اليوم وأنت منشرح الصدر وتكركر بدون سبب

............ هههههههههههههههههه......... ..

من فوائد النعناع :

1-يعتبر النعناع دواء منشط للقلب والدورة الدموية إذا شرب كالشاي بانتظام

كما أ نه ملين للمعدة والأمعاء ومضغه يخفف من آلام الأسنان ويزيل روائح الفم

2-للقضاء على حموضة المعدة يشرب كأس مغلي من النعناع دون إضافة السكر

3-تم استخراج خلاصة من ورق النعناع ثبت فائدتها في تهدئة الجهاز العصبي

ومكافحة آفات المعدة والجهاز الهضمي والتخفيف من الخفق ان والضعف العام وطرد

الديدان من الأمعاء والتخفيف من المغص

4-النعناع يريح إن شاء من الغازات ويقوي عمل الكبد والبنكرياس ويسكن السعال

المستعصي ويهدئ الأعصاب وحالات الغضب وهو مزيل للأرق ومدر للبول كما أنه

هاضم جيد للطعام

5-ثبت بان النعناع يعمل على تخفيف التشنجات المعوية كما يساعد على إفراز

العصارات المعوية الهاضمة، لذا يستحب تناوله بعد الوجبات الغذائية ليساعد

على الهضم

6-النعناع يدخل في تركيب جميع المراهم الطبية المستخدمة لعلاج الأمراض

الجلدية ويساعد في تخفيف آلام الأقدام إذا وضع في الماء الساخن قبل تغطيس

القدمين فيه

7- ثبت أن النعناع مساعد أكيد في توسيع الشعب الهوائية في حالة الإصابة

بنزلات البرد لذا ينصح باستخدامه في علاج الزكام الحاد وذلك بوضع ورقة في

الماء الساخن وشربه كالشاي أو إضافة أوراقه للشاي

8-للحصول على فائدة النعناع أثناء إعداده كالشاي ينصح بعدم غلي أوراقه بل

يستحب أن يتم صب الماء المغلي على ورق النعناع وإضافة بعض السكر ثم تركه

لمدة دقائق قبل شربه....
------------ ---------

طــــــــــــــــــــريقة
حفظ النعناع
نقوم بقطف ورقة النعناع مع جزأ من الساق

(قاعدة الورقة الخضراء)

ويغسل في وعاء كبير




نضعه بمنخل التصفية



وهذا شكل وعاء التجفيف - نشف ورق النعناع جيداُ





ونضعه في سفرة فوق طاولة (يفضل أن تكون خشبية / مسامية)

نضع النعناع .. بمفرش بلاستيك ..سفرة .. وتكون السفرة فوق طاولة .وننشره جيداُ ويوضع بمكان جيد التهوية . ونشغل المروحة أو مروحة المكيف ونتركه يوم كامل..حتى ينشف مع التقليب المستمر




وهنا بعد مايجف



ونضعه ببرطمان وتمتع بنعناع ذو رائحة زكية



..وهنا طريقتي الخاصة بحفظ النعناع طازج 

أشيل الورق من الأغصان بدون غسل واضعة بعلب ممتازة وضع فوق تحت النعناع ورق أو منديل ويجلس لعدة أيام ..

Logo Design Online: Process Of Hiring And Working With An Online Logo Design Company

Hiring an online logo design company is not easy these days; you will find hundreds of logo design companies on just click of a mouse. But it's up to your decision making skills how you select a best one among hundreds for designing a logo for your business enterprise. In this article, the aim is to help you with the process of hiring and working with an online logo design company.

Searching and Hiring

You can use different search engines and variety of keywords to find an online logo design company. For instance, if you use the keyword 'logo design online', you can see many online logo design companies, but stop! Don't just select and hire the company which is on the top of the result, browse two or three pages and compare different factors before final decision. Factors may include:

Price

Packages

Services they have been providing

Number of years in the business

Quality of designs

Location of a company

These are the basic, but there are more you can compare, and in the end hire the best one for you and your business.

Package Selection

Nearly all the design firms offer different packages for different client base. Analyze all the packages and select the one that best fit to your needs. Usually you see the following services with the packages:

Initial design concepts

Rounds of revisions

Turnaround time

Number of designers who will work on your logo

Business stationary

Delivery time

Money back guarantee

Very few companies in the industry offer money back guarantee. Always ask the term and conditions of the money back guarantee policy.

Ordering

After you select the package, it's time to order. You can use several channels to order which may include:

By filling out the onsite ordering form

Over the phone

Over the chat

Through email

Choose the channel which you may find easy to order.

Filling out Creative Brief

No matter which channel of ordering you select, you will need to fill out a creative brief. This is the most important step to tell the design company that what type of logo you want, what design elements would you like to have in your logo and what is your business and target market. The typical creative brief includes:

You company information

You industry and target market

Design elements you require (e.g. color, font)

Where do you want to use your logo (e.g. business card, website)

Additional comments

In additional comments section you add your additional thoughts and requirements about your logo.

Conclusion

After filling out creative brief and submitting it to the design firm, your work is over and the work of design firm is started. However, keep in touch with the company during the design process and provide your feedback at every stage to get the best logo designed for your business venture.

Business Logo Design - Is Clients Input Important

n today's world, there is a cutthroat competition everywhere, so is in the field of logo designing. In a scenario like this, how you, as a logo design company would differentiate yourself in terms of work quality and client support? Moreover, how can you improve your success rate in terms of designing outstanding logos for your clients?

Remember! Your success lies in client satisfaction, and your client would be satisfied when you come up with a business logo design that has all the elements mentioned in the client brief. Make sure you thoroughly discuss the brief with your client in order to avoid any confusion later on. Input from your client is always essential before you start working on the project.

Here, in this article, I am going to revise all the questions you need to ask your clients while discussing the brief with them. This would dig out exactly what your client wants and of course this practice would save you a lot of time you will be wasting on revisions, in case the logo fails to convince the client in the end.

Nature of the business: Every logo has to be associated with the business/product and has to have a concept behind it. For that you particularly need to ask your client about the nature of his business. Whether your client is in construction business, wedding consultancy or have recently opened a beauty salon, it is best practice to get to know their target audience. A logo which associates and communicates the right message of the business to its target market gets instant recognition. So make your client speak, this would help you to search for the latest trends in that particular industry.

Brief your client about different types of logo designs: Asking your clients abruptly about the type of logo they want is something every designer should avoid. Instead, a far better idea is to first brief your client about the different types of logos. Let them speak up what they think is appropriate and then give your feedback as to what should be more suitable according to the nature of their businesses and products. Deciding what treatment should be given to different logos is a crucial aspect and must be clarified before starting the project. Give your clients examples of Iconic, Illustrative, Textual or a combination of them because there is a possibility that they might or might not know about it.

Let your Client decide the colors: It's always advisable to discuss the colors of your client's logo. Remember, as a logo designer your utmost responsibility is to satisfy your client's needs. If you create a logo according to your aesthetic taste, with colors you think go best with it, while your client mentioned some other colors in the brief; there are 90% chances that your logo would get rejected. He would come up to you and say, “I never asked for these colors. What made you choose them and forwarded something I never wanted?”

So it is better to give your expert opinion, right at the time of discussing the creative brief because more often than not, clients don't know anything about the trends and even the basics of logo designing, yet they impose their personal preferences, which should finally be spelled out before you start the project.

There are different categories of colors which should be kept in mind according to the target market of your client. It can be subtle pastel colors when targeting small babies and their parents, while it can be bright, sharp colors for teenagers specifically. For adults, there should be a mix of both light and dark colors, whereas, try a combination of soft and dark ones for middle aged adults and older people.

Ask your client the number of colors to use in the logo. It is best to use minimum colors, however, it depends upon the nature of your client's business and the product portfolio. If your client owns a toy shop and needs a colorful logo for his business, even then it is best to advise to stick to a maximum of three colors, not more than that.

Themes and Words: Professional logo designers always involve clients in a discussion related to logo design prior to starting their projects. It is best to ask your clients if they have any specific theme for their logo or if they want any words to be incorporated. It is your duty to suggest if your client has no idea whatsoever about the themes, designs, visual enhancements or the words but keep in mind that no one knows your client's target market better than your client. So always engage them to come up with the best possible results.

Probe the ultimate Don'ts: It can be a possibility that your client might not exactly know about what design should his logo be, but he must clearly know about the elements which shouldn't be a part of the design in any way. So as a designer, you must jot down all those elements which you won't include in the logo. If you don't practice this, you would end up pissing off your client.

Ask your Client their favorite logos: Ask your client about their favorite logos. So what if most of them end up with Nike and Apple. There would be clients who might be interested in logos which they think are well designed and have impact. This would give you a better idea about their tastes and requirements.

Last but not least, as a designer, you should have better answers to most of the questions mentioned above but as we say, client is the king, and any designer's ultimate responsibility is to satisfy the client. Hence, openly welcome the input of your client at every stage of designing his business logo.

Automated Prank Calls using A.I. Technology?

If you're the sort of person who likes to make prank calls and wind people up in general you'll probably be aware of the many prank call sites on the internet, offering a choice of automated phone windups to play anytime.

The thing is, like every category of services, picking the best site to run with can sometimes be a challenge.

Obviously, the best prank calls are the most convincing, and to achieve convincing prank calls you will need to make sure the prank call service itself is the real deal.

After all, the fun is in reeling someone in and humiliating them at the end right?

But you won't find out if you're "victim" hangs up! You would have just wasted you're money for nothing.

So how can you make sure you're getting the best?

There are 2 main types of automated prank calls service. One is a simple recorded prank call system which plays a recording to your victim hoping that it will achieve a response, but in reality is not credible at all and usually gets picked up on right away. Not much use.

The other uses Artificial Intelligence technology to actually interact with what your victim says just like a normal conversation. The system also "knows" when to take breaks and let them speak and when to ask different questions depending on their reaction. This is the type you want. This type of service also allows you to listen in secretly to your victim's reaction and they won't be able to hear you laugh out loud!

Prank Call Services that use this A.I. technology usually offer a much higher standard & wider range of prank calls to choose from, using professional voice actors to produce them.

When it comes to choosing a Prank Call Site, make sure you only use the best. After all, it's no fun when the person you are calling hangs up the phone after a few seconds is it?

The 5th Way Team Discusses Physical Fitness

It is Wendell's first time with the 5th Way team at their gym. Let's see what happens through Wendell's eyes.

Addison: "Wendell, since this is your first time here I would like for you to just go around the gym observing what everyone is doing, then come to me last."

Wendell: "Okay, Addison."

Addison: "Alright, everyone have a great workout and I will see you in the dining area for refreshments afterwards."

Wendell: Boy, this is so exciting. I can't wait to see this! Hhhhmmmm... I think I will start with Zhi and work my way from there. There he is. Wow, Zhi is doing some kind of Tai Chi form. He is so graceful, so captivating to watch. I could sit here all day just watching him.

Splash!

Ah, someone must be in the pool swimming. I will check it out. Oh my goodness, Waneta is naked in the pool!!! How embarrassing. (His face is turning red) I better get out of here before she catches me looking at her. I have to say she does seem to be in very good shape for her age though. Whew!

"Ooooosh.... Eeeyiii!!!"

What was that? Oh, Naruto and Catharsis are doing some kind of martial art. Wow, they are great...I can see why Naruto is in charge of security for the team. (laughing) Even when he is doing martial arts, Catharsis is a character! Well, I better move on and see what Kailoken is up to.

Hhhhmmmm...why Kailoken is just sitting there looking at the weights. "Sorry to disturb you Kailoken but are you not working out today?"

Kailoken: "Good timing on your part there. Would you please remove 20 pounds of weight off that bar for me?"

Wendell: "Why sure I will. Are you doing bench presses?"

Kailoken: "Actually, I am lifting the weight with my mind. It seemed a little heavy so I asked you to remove the extra weight."

Wendell: (rolling his eyes) "Well, I will let you get back to your workout there. Talk with you later." That Kailoken is a real nutcase. You never know what he is going to do. Okay, well, that leaves Addison... I better get on over there.

Addison: "Wendell, I see you have made the rounds already. As you can see I am in the middle of my aerobic workout. This Nordic Track gives a great workout. Why don't you take about 25 minutes, get a good workout on your own and meet up with the rest of us later?"

Wendell: "Will do, Addison."

--- The team is forming up in the dining area---

Wendell: "Hello, everyone." "Greetings" "Namaste" "Welcome" "As salaam alikum" "Aho"

Catharsis: "Did you get yourself a good workout there, Wendell?"

Wendell: "Yes, I did some yoga...it was quite peaceful and relaxing."

Addison: "That is great; I highly recommend many forms of yoga. Go ahead and grab yourself some refreshment and join us around the table here... Now that Wendell is settled let's see what you have observed today. Feel free to comment on and question everyone at the table on what he or she was doing for a workout. Everyone feel free to join in at any time."

Wendell: "Since I started watching Zhi first, I would like to ask what form of Tai Chi you were doing? I mean, it looked so fluid whatever it was."

Zhi: "Ah, very good. I was doing The Eight Treasures. It is a very ancient form of energy enhancement exercise, and is said to be at least six thousand years old. With this exercise I tone, strengthen, and stretch to maintain my good health and prevent disease."

Wendell: "Can anyone do it? It looked so easy the way you were going through the motions."

Catharsis: "Don't let your perceptions fool you kid, Zhi has been doing those forms since he was a child. I would not be surprised if his parents started him off doing the moves while he was still in the womb! Heck, he probably even helped his mom do the flying dragon by lifting her off the ground a few inches with his movement from within."

Zhi: "Ah, that's a very interesting idea. The great thing about The Eight Treasures is that anyone at any fitness level can do them."

Wendell: "I would like to learn that if you would teach me. And I would like to learn what Naruto was doing too. What kind of martial arts were you and Catharsis doing?"

Naruto: "It is called Ju Jutsu. I began learning this as a child in my homeland of Japan. With this form not only do you get a great workout, you can properly defend yourself and others."

Addison: "I suggest that you start with one discipline and work at it until you have a solid grounding and then move on to another with the consultation of your instructors. Zhi would you be willing to take Wendell on as a student?"

Zhi: "I would be much honored to have new student. Wendell and I can talk about it later."

Catharsis: "You know what's scary to many people when they think of physical fitness? They think they will get hurt doing it. 'I am not going to go running, what if I step on a rusty nail, what if a rabid chipmunk gets a hold of me?!'"

Addison: "Yes, people have fears about practically everything in life. Some people fear they will hurt themselves just getting out of bed in the morning. However, there are people that do hurt themselves while performing various types of physical exercise. These injuries are usually due to overdoing something or using a wrong technique."

Catharsis: "Or, they beat each other to a pulp 'playing' rugby, football, etc."

Naruto: "If people pay attention and have good instructor, then no problem. Staying physically fit is very important. Even the blessed Buddha say so."

Waneta: "While many of my people have followed the white man into gluttony and physical laziness, physical fitness has been important to us for centuries. We like to run, swim, dance and play outdoor games." Wendell's face starts to turn red.

Catharsis: "Is something the matter there kid? You didn't happen to catch Waneta swimming in the buff did you?" (laughing)

Wendell: "I, uh, yes. I am sorry Waneta for seeing you like that, I mean for invading your privacy."

Waneta: "Boy, being naked is a natural thing and I am not ashamed of it. Just wait until you see me swimming in the moonlight!" Wendell's face turns even redder and he looks down and away.

Addison: "Try not to let it bother you Wendell, we are all one happy family here. Many things you have been taught by society do not hold up as being true here. What did you observe Kailoken doing?"

Wendell: "Well, I did not observe him doing anything but sitting there. He did say he was lifting weights with his mind though."

Catharsis: "That is great, how much did you manage to lift this time?"

Kailoken: "I managed to lift 200 pounds. I was taking it easy so as not to strain my mind."

Addison: "What do you make of that Wendell?"

Wendell: "Well, uh.... I am not sure."

Addison: "As is typical of my wonderful associate here, Kailoken was making a point that one can actually run through exercises using one's mind alone. And, as most of us here know, when it is real to the mind, it affects the body as well. Many athletes actually use this technique to help perfect their performance. This is something that people who are bed-ridden and otherwise not able to do physical fitness that well can utilize to get some physical benefit. Those that are really out of shape can perhaps start imagining that they are doing the actual exercise within their minds and then move on to the real thing from there."

Wendell: "That is very very interesting. I never thought of that before."

Catharsis: "You know what I find weird about physical fitness? People who need it the most are the most resistant to doing it. It is like they fall into some black hole of atrophy and cannot break free. 'Help me! Help me! Get me out of here, somebody!'"

Addison: "Yes, many people just do not seem to be able to break that inertia to begin getting started to a healthier state of being. That is why I suggest just gentle movement to start with. Walking, mental exercise, Tai Chi, Chi Gong, Hatha Yoga, and swimming can all be good forms of gentle movement for most people at any age. 1.5 miles of walking has been shown to be as good as 1 mile of running, for instance." "Okay, Zhi and Wendell can talk about Tai Chi instruction. May you all have a spiritually productive day. Love and Light to you."

"Namaste" "Later, Addison" "Peace to you my friend" "I will catch up with you later, Addison"...

Copyright 2009 - Balance Integration Group. All rights reserved.

Funny Questions About Life

Ever had one of those funny questions about life? Then please read on. When it comes to funny questions and thoughts about life, every time I think I've seen them all I find one I've never seen before or come up with more of my own. The following are some of the ones I've discovered or written however, I know there's more because thats, well... life. So, if you find while reading these funny questions and thoughts about life make you smile, pass them along. All right, let's get started!

Funny Questions about life - Group 1 Why does Hawaiian pizza also contain Canadian Bacon? Grape Nuts cereal. No grapes - no nuts. Huh? What's the difference between regular ketchup and fancy ketchup? Do Dutch people always split the bill? If you use Miracle Whip on Wonder Bread, do you have to use Heavenly Ham?

Funny Questions about life - Group 2 Is there ever a day that mattresses aren't on sale? They make bullet proof vests, why not bullet proof pants? Why are oriental rug stores always going out of business? Is there any difference between partly cloudy and partly sunny?

Funny Questions about life - Group 3 If it only takes one match to start a forrest fire, why on earth does it take me a whole box of matches and a can of lighter fluid to light my grill? When they ship those styrofoam peanuts, what do they pack them in? How do you know when pickles or sour cream has gone bad?

Funny Questions about life - Group 4 How does one know when their bagpipes need tuning? Allstate Insurance has a disclaimer that reads: not available in all states. What? If Donkey Kong's main character is a monkey, why isn't it called Monkey Kong? Why does the word lisp have an "s" in it?

Funny Questions about life - Group 5 How come you never read the headline, "Psychic Wins Lottery"? The next time someone says, "Now I've seen everything", ask them if they've ever seen a UPS truck parked in a parking space. Has anyone ever really seen a Jolly Rancher? If you get a club soda stain, how do you remove it?

Funny Questions about life - Group 6 Has anyone (besides Donald Trump's wife) ever been fooled by a comb over? Is it really possible to change the direction of a bowling ball by waving your hands? There's senior citizens, so why aren't there junior citizens?

Funny Questions about life - Group 7 They say laughter is the best medicine - so who came up with the phrase, "I died laughing"? Why do doctors leave the room when your getting dressed? After all, they've already seen you naked. What's wrong with the United States? They only have two choices for President, but fifty for Miss America. Any reason they nail down the lid of a coffin? When butterflies get upset or nervous, what do they get in their stomachs?

Funny Questions about life - Group 8 Where do they put price stickers on non-stick pans? If it's called lipstick, why is it always coming off? When they sing, "Take me out to the ball game" they're already there. Why? Who's idea was it to make the word abbreviation so long?

Yes, these are just a few of the Funny Questions about life that try men's -and women's souls. And there's a ton more funny questions about life not listed here. Some of them come to me during the course of a day. For example, why does every shampoo bottle say, lather, rinse, repeat? I'm sorry, did I miss my head entirely the first time or do you just want to sell more shampoo? If you have or have thought up any funny questions of life yourself, feel free to send them along and thanks for wasting a few minutes of your life pondering these funny questions of life. Now get out there and do something good. Like figuring out what people in China call their good plates...

10 Advantages of Using Link Building Services

Link-building is an important part of any website. The whole idea behind it, similar to the political quote: I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.

It begins quite simply. You search for sites that attract you because of their complementary content to your business. You send an email, asking the web master to link to your site. The next thing you know, that site's readers become customers at yours. It's really that easy.

Still not convinced? Check out the following reasons to use link building on your site:

1. Many are free. Nothing's cheaper than free, and it doesn't cost you anything to shoot an email over to a site's publisher and ask for a little mutual traffic exchange.

2. Build credibility. When you write articles and submit them to article directories, you help make yourself known as an expert in your field. Because these articles include a resource box where you list your website, you get a free link every time someone uses it or finds it on a search engine.

3. Boost your relevant traffic. By choosing which sites give you a link, you are hand picking the customers that will come to your site. Since you know who will benefit the most from what you have to offer, it makes sense for you to seek out the websites that would attract your buyers.

4. Make connections with others in your niche. By talking to web masters about including your site in their links, you are also building relationships. When you make connections on a personal level, people will recommend you to their friends.

5. Less expensive than traditional advertising. Web campaigns can get expensive. While many link building programs are free, there are many paid programs that allow you great traffic. You will need to stick with a site for about a month to see results.

6. Your site becomes newsworthy. When you submit press releases on your site, it becomes news. And news draws traffic.

7. Use other sites established traffic to build your own, without taking away from them. Because these sites are complementary and not competitors, you are not stealing any traffic. Their readers will come to their site and check out the usual points of interest, and then head over to yours.

8. Creep up in Google and other search engine rankings. Another site's popularity will increase your position on the search pages. The more links you have, the better you look. Certain sites can get you listed on Google in 24 hours.

9. Learn which sites bring you the right people. You have total control over your link building program. When a site works, you keep the exchange going. But you don't have to be stuck with sites that give you spikes in traffic with no results.

10. Increase sales by partnering with the most popular site. Find the most popular site in your niche and partner up with them. You may get a broader range of people, but your sales will thank you for doing it.

These are just a few reasons why a link exchange program is important. Look around at others who are doing it, and how successful they are. Then get out there and duplicate it.

Back to basics on How to Increase Website Traffic

In common terms Website Traffic is the number of visitors coming to a website from all sources over a given period of time. This is one of the basic parameters for judging the success of a website.

If we do a simple mathematics - more visitors would mean more conversions, however this may or may not hold true if sufficient attention is not given to basics, which we simply tend to ignore.

Parts that need to be kept in mind

• Focused Content: Your content has to be focused. The content should be tailored for different set of visitors – to the point that you even think about how your company profile will be presented to respective segments. The quality of writing has to be top-notch business grade.

• Title & Description tags: When a visitor searches for keywords on a Search Engine, results are essentially a fight of the title and description. This is where you leave the first impression. The user will be more inclined towards a compelling title as he would perceive your website to better than others.

• Offer Original & Quality information on your website: This is the best way to attract traffic to your website. Offer original & unique information which visitors cannot find anywhere else. This will also help in branding your business image as Industry experts & will also get you good quality one-way links.

• Give Freebies: Who doesn’t like freebies? Offer your visitors free e-books, free Cd’s, free whitepapers, free consultation, free webinars etc. People love these and will keep coming back for more. This will not only increase new and repeat traffic but also help in link building.

• Social Media: Use Social Media websites like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin to share information with your targeted audience. Share your writings & researches, participate in discussions, and help others by solving their problems. This will propel people to visit your website more often and look for desired information.

• Advertisements: There are many free/ paid ways to advertise your business online. Classified Ads is free and is one of the ways to place business related ads which help in driving traffic. You can also benefit from Paid methods like Google Adwords programs which are more targeted and help in bringing visitors based on demographics, location and preferences. However you need to decide on a budget for these and then plan accordingly.

• Update website regularly: Keep updating your site by adding new, relevant and helpful content to your site. Search engines also give preference to sites with new and relevant content.

• Blog: Using unique and effective writing strategies is one of the best ways to boost website traffic. Create a blog that supports your website and make sure that your blog navigation flow your visitors to your website with ease. Also include your product/services links within your blog posts so that the visitors who read your blog can easily navigate to your website.

We at AftertheNet (http://www.afterthenet.com) keep supplementing our clients with the most basic to the most advanced techniques for any goal they decide to reach with their website. Our step wise approach gives them the complete visibility of their website, which often they are deprived of in absence of a trustworthy resource.

Back Links 101 - Make Them Work for You

Essentially, back links are inbound links to a web page or site. This means that another website contains a hyperlink directed towards your site. In terms of SEO, the more back links you have pointing toward your website the better, particularly if the back links are coming from a site which deals with the same field as your chosen speciality.

As the number one goal of a website is to achieve traffic, i.e. people actually looking at the site, it follows that you must make the website visible. Generally speaking, to make your website visible, people must be able to find it when they search for keywords directly related to your product, niche, service or whatever else your website represents. Individuals tend to be seeking such information via the big search engines, whose operators have rather complicated algorithms to help them decide whether a certain website is applicable to the searcher's request, or not.

Although they will not divulge exactly how they go about composing these algorithms, the search engine operators do assure us that relevancy, as viewed by others, is most important. If they see that you have a back link or a number of back links from other websites that have some relevancy to yours, this is a plus. In addition, if the site linking to you has a fairly high "page rank", this helps as well. Page rank is Google's proprietary method of allocating a number (zero being lowest and moving up to ten) indicating how important a site is within its particular niche of operations.

There are a number of ways to achieve back links for your site.

ARTICLE MARKETING.

As Bill Gates once said, "content is king". Article marketing is known as one of the most solid Internet marketing methods. By writing highly relevant and informative articles and submitting them to high profile article directories you do several things, not the least important of which is to help establish you or your site as an expert in your niche. Within your article, published in the article directory, is a resource box which contains your details - who you are and what you do, and a link back to your site, the all important Back Link.

SOCIAL BOOKMARKING.

There are many hundreds of social bookmarking sites, and their primary motive is basically to provide a way of informing people about the existence of content related to any niche or interest in a very manageable format. You can sign up and initiate a process of notifying social bookmarking sites about fresh content, including back links in many cases. You should note at this stage that some webmasters apply a "no follow" tag which can void the effect of a back link, as the tag instructs the search engine spider not to give you points, or what's called "link love".

SOCIAL MEDIA - TWITTER.

Whilst Twitter and other similar sites are becoming increasingly more powerful in marketing terms, you should know that to include links within your "tweets" or in your URL profile box is not a powerful back linking strategy, as these are all allocated the dreaded no follow tag. However, you may find that it is possible to link within a bio box and get some link love this way. Also, if you syndicate, your Twitter feeds are updated via the RSS aggregators, earning you back links.

BLOG COMMENTING.

First of all, you will have to locate blogs or forums that are relevant to your area of expertise. This is fairly simple to accomplish as a straightforward and pertinent search will locate hosts. Once you find these blogs you can sign up and create a profile. Often you will be allowed to create what is called a "signature", and within that signature you incorporate your links. Note, you should check to see if there are any no follow tags, as these will appear occasionally.

Enter into the spirit of the place by interacting with other members and making entries and posting comments that are relevant, useful and educational. As well as a back link being displayed each time you post a comment, you'll also create a potentially profitable bond with other members - and this has the potential to lead to all kinds of new possiblities.

Back link building remains one of the most important SEO strategies to adopt

Blog Optimization

Search engine optimization is the process done to generate traffic through search engines. It became a need for websites because 80%-90% of visitors come from major search engines. Higher rankings mean greater number of visitors. The same concept applies to blogs. However, many blog owners are not aware of their chances of being more visible on the web. They just update it once in a while and that's it. Considering the great number of blogs on the net today, from personal to corporate blogs, all their efforts will just go to waste if they do not optimize it.

Yes, blogs can be optimized, too. It should be done for the benefit both of your readers and search engine spiders. Although the process is quite similar with the standard website search engine optimization, it is a bit different. Here are some tips that you can do to start:

Consider the Design

It is not advisable to use the default template being offered by blog publishing sites. You wouldn't want to bump into a girl in a party wearing the same dress, do you? Same thing goes to blogs. You can hire a designer to do the work for you. If running a tight budget, you can always look for free templates offered by web design companies and you can customize it a little to make it unique.

Optimize the Tags

Use the most substantial phrase for your blog in the hard code of the title tag. Also, you have to double check that each entry's title appears on the tile tag. This is sometimes overlooked.

Keywords

You should always use your keywords in the blog post titles and categories. You can also use many categories in one entry if appropriate.

RSS Feed

It is best that you have RSS subscription button available on your blog. This would be more convenient to your readers because it will publish your recently updated work. If your blog publisher don't have RSS automatically available, there are RSS feed button creation tool on the net. But make sure that you place it where the readers can easily see them. You can put it in your sidebar. It is already on the blog owner's prerogative if he/she wants to full or partial RSS.

Use Email

Because there are some people who are not familiar with RSS feeds, go the extra mile and offer them something else with the same benefits. I'm talking about You can have your blog post via email. Free tools are also available online to do this.

Compelling Introduction

Introduction about the blog post is sent out via RSS feed. Make sure that it is compelling to enough to make your readers want to have more of it so that they would click the “more” button and read the entire article. Therefore, it should be interesting.

Check you CSS

It is common that blogs come with overwhelming amount of CSS or Cascading Style Sheets. The solution to this is to place it in an external CSS file to avoid clutter in the main template and for the main entry not to go further down.

Keywords-rich Anchor Texts

In placing links in other sites/blogs and even in putting internal links, make sure that you are using keyword-rich anchor text. Remember that it is always better to use your keywords than “click here” or “more”. It would benefit you when search engine spiders crawl your blog.

Keep Your Posts Bonded

If your blog post is somehow connected to your previous posts, link them to each other. The idea is that if your reader is interested in this particular topic, then he/she probably can also be entertained of a different story with the same subject matter. You can use Related Posts Plugin for this.

Do the same in other blogs. If you see a blog entry or an article on the same issue, make them knowledgeable of your existence by placing a link going to your post.

Purchase a Domain

We all know that blog hosting companies will only be around for such a time. Once they close their business, they will be closing your blog as well. If that happens, where will your loyal followers find you? Or there are change in the domain of your blog host, it will surely affect your rankings.

In case you have limited resources and can only settle to free hosting companies, look for those who offer to display your own domain rather than displaying their own like Wordpress and Blogger.

Proper URL Naming Convention

It is always a bad idea to use dynamic URLs whether on websites or blogs. You should always take advantage of any chance you have to use keywords, without keyword stuffing, including this one. Meaning, instead of using “www.xyzblog.com/?246”, you can consider “www.xyzblog.com/blog-post-keywords-here”. When you cannot do anything about it, use mod rewrite.

Good Navigation

If your blog is just a part of a website, it is not ebough that you a have a link going to your blog's main page. Use the sidebar to syndicate your new posts because the visitors of the website might get interested in your articles if they see the titles.

Fast Page Load

The amount of time involved for a page to load all depends on your host. There are some blogs that takes about half a minute just from the snippet of RSS feed to the full article. You can lose a lot of readers just because of this reason alone.

Moderated Trackbacks and Comments

Spammers are everywhere. They always find a way to abuse your blog by putting non-sense comments with links going to their website. It is annoying and it can also affect your rankings. There are numerous tools available online which you can use to moderate and avoid comment and trackbak spam.

Don't just create a blog to share great information or to prove that you know a lot about the field you are into. Do not settle on the number of followers your blog has. Start to optimize now and see the great changes on the next few months.

Troubleshooting Internet Explorer 7.0 Issues

Introduction:

Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) is light years ahead of its predecessors, but by no means does that proclamation mean that the browser is perfect. You are still going to encounter issues with IE from time to time.

Here are some of the concise guides that deliver some troubleshooting steps that will clear up the majority of issues we encountered with IE7.

Issues with Internet Explorer 7.0 with solutions

Problem: Crashes or hangs

If IE crashes, the most likely problem is that there's a buggy add-on (Toolbar or Browser Helper Object). In order to verify and isolate the buggy add-on, follow these steps:

1. Start IE in No Add-ons mode, either by right-clicking the Desktop icon, or clicking START - RUN and typing: iexplore.exe -extoff

2. Determine if IE fails.

3. If not, use Tools - Manage Add-ons to disable all browser extensions and toolbars.

4. Restart IE and re-enable browser extensions one-by-one.

5. Once you've found a broken extension, contact the manufacturer and ask for an update.

(Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=928426)

If IE still crashes often, even when browser add-ons are disabled:

• Please ensure that you are running the very latest version of your anti-virus, anti-malware, and/or firewall programs.

• Please ensure that the drivers for your graphics card are up to date.

• If you have Google Desktop installed, please ensure that you update to the latest version of Google Desktop.

• If you have 7-Zip or other Windows Explorer extensions installed, please ensure that you update to the latest.

Problem: Cannot connect to Internet using IE after updates installed

If you see the "Page Cannot be Displayed" error after installing Internet Explorer updates from Windows Updates, it's possible that you have a 3rd party firewall installed that is blocking access because the IE files have been updated. Please see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942818/en-us for more information.

Problem: IE always starts in "No Add-ons" mode

The problem is that you're launching Internet Explorer using a shortcut icon that has the "-extoff" command line parameter. That parameter causes IE to start without add-ons. Thus, every time you use that shortcut icon, IE will start in No Add-ons Mode.

1. How do you normally start Internet Explorer? Right-click whatever icon you're using to start IE, choose "Properties" and remove the -extoff part of the shortcut.

2. If you click the green START button, click Run, type iexplore.exe in the RUN box, then hit the ENTER key, IE will start with Addons enabled.

Problem: IE opens small windows

IE opens new windows at the size of the last closed window. If you find that IE is opening small windows, do this:

• Close all IE windows.
• Open one new IE window.
• Adjust that window to the size you prefer. Do this by dragging the window borders. Do not use the maximize button:
• Close the IE window.
• New IE windows will open at the size you chose.

Problem: ClearType Text appears fuzzy

IE7 turns on a text-smoothing technology called "ClearType" by default. ClearType is scientifically proven to make text easier to read, particularly on LCD flat panel monitors.

If ClearType looks fuzzy on your monitor, you might want to try the ClearType tuning wizard, which can help you adjust the display of ClearType.

If you still don't like the appearance of ClearType, you can turn it off by unchecking the checkbox: Tools - Internet Options - Advanced - Multimedia - Always use ClearType for HTML.

Problem: IE Startup takes a long time (>3 seconds)

1. IE may start very slowly if you have a huge number of sites listed in your Restricted or Trusted sites zone. Some tools, like "SpyBot Search & Destroy" will place thousands of sites in these zones if you use their "immunize" feature.

2. Follow the "Crashing on startup" steps above to see if starting in No Add-ons mode starts much faster

3. If you're not using a proxy, uncheck IE's "Automatically detect settings" option on the Tools - Internet Options - Connections - LAN Settings dialog.

Problem: Slow Page rendering

1. Increase the connection limit. This tweak allows IE to make up to 16 connections per server.

2. Ensure that both "HTTP1.1" checkboxes in Tools - Internet Options - Advanced are checked.

Problem: IE7 Setup fails to install Internet Explorer

See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917925

Problem: My address bar won't turn green?

IE7 includes a cool new feature that turns the address bar green when a secure site presents an Extended Validation certificate:

If you're having trouble with this feature, on a site you know has an EV certificate:

1. Ensure that you either have the Phishing Filter set to "Automatic" mode or Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Security > Check for Server Certificate revocation checked.

2. If that doesn't work, install this: Windows Root Certificate Update and restart.

Problem: After installing, IE7 starts then vanishes

It's possible that one of IE's DLLs isn't installed correctly

1. Click START - RUN and type cmd
2. In the command prompt, type cd\
3. In the command prompt, type cd Program Files
4. In the command prompt, type cd Internet Explorer
5. In the command prompt, type regsvr32 IEPROXY.DLL

(Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=928427)

Problem: Error message about PSAPI.DLL

If you install IE7 and the following error message begins to show:

The procedure entry point GetProcessImageFileNameW could not be located in the dynamic link library PSAPI.DLL

1. Search your hard disk for PSAPI.dll.

2. Any copies of this DLL that are found outside of the Windows or Windows\System32 folder should be renamed to PSAPI.bak.

Problem: IE always goes to http://runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx instead of my homepage

If IE7 always goes to the RunOnce page on startup, even after you've tried to save the first run settings, it's possible that the mechanism that IE is using to save the settings does not work for some reason.

You can prevent IE from going to the RunOnce page and cause it to go directly to your homepage by running this script.

For more info, check out this Knowledge Base article.]

Problem: IE always goes to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx instead of my homepage

If Internet Explorer always goes to this page on startup, it's likely that you have an anti-spyware package (like "SpyBot") that prevented IE from correctly modifying your registry.

Try running this script. Note: you may need to disable your anti-spyware tool temporarily for the script to work.

Problem: On startup, IE always shows an error message about the AOL toolbar

If you see the following error message every time IE starts:

"Cannot find 'file:///C:/Program%20Files/AOL%20Toolbar/welcome.html'. Make sure the path or Internet address is correct."

..then you've hit a bug in the AOL Toolbar.

Try running this script. Note: you may need to disable your anti-spyware tool temporarily for the script to work.

Problem: I installed a "branded" version of IE7, but I'd prefer a "plain" copy without toolbars and customizations.

An article on this topic can be found here: How to remove branding in Internet Explorer 7.

Problem: Malware / Adware

If Internet Explorer is behaving strangely (crashing, visiting unwanted sites, etc), it's possible that there is malicious software installed on your computer.

As a first step, you should allow your antivirus software to scan and attempt to repair your computer. Additionally, you may want to try the following Microsoft tools:

• Windows Defender
• Windows Live OneCare
• Windows Live Safety Center
• Malicious Software Removal Tool

You should also ensure your computer has all the security updates available at Microsoft Update.

Problem: My searches are redirected to unrelated sites and I cannot connect to WindowsUpdate or antivirus websites

If Internet Explorer searches are redirected to unrelated sites or search engines, it's possible that your computer was infected with malware (see the previous tip). However, if your computer is not currently infected with malware, it's possible that at some time in the past, malicious software altered your computer's DNS settings. DNS works like an "internet phonebook" that maps URLs (like "windowsupdate.microsoft.com") to internet protocol addresses (like "207.46.225.221").

To determine if a malicious DNS server is configured:

- Go to Start -> Control Panel ->Network Connections.

- Right click your default connection, usually Local Area Connection or Dial-up Connection, if you are using Dial-up, and left click on Properties.

- Double-click on the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) item

Check to see if you're set to something other than "Obtain DNS servers automatically". If so, contact your ISP to ensure that the address specified is correct, or set the "Obtain DNS servers automatically" checkbox. Then restart your computer.

Problem: After opening many tabs, Windows and IE paint abnormally.

See http://blogs.msdn.com/tonyschr/archive/2005/05/25/desktop-heap-limitations.aspx

Problem: A remote user is having networking problems with Internet Explorer. How can I collect information about his system to help me to troubleshoot?

Have the user run Netcheck and send you the log file.

Problem: Overlong headers result in HTTP/4xx or HTTP/5xx errors, particularly on devices like routers or webcams

Problems of this nature are usually caused by one of the two request headers in yellow being longer than the device expects.

GET / HTTP/1.1

Accept: image/gif, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/x-ms-application, application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument, application/xaml+xml, application/x-ms-xbap, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/msword, application/x-shockwave-flash, application/x-silverlight, application/x-silverlight-2-b2, */*

Accept-Language: en-us

User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; InfoPath.2; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30618; OfficeLiveConnector.1.3; OfficeLivePatch.1.3; MS-RTC LM 8)

Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate

Connection: Keep-Alive

Host: 192.168.10.1

These headers are dynamically generated out of registry keys. They can usually be trimmed by editing the registry without any important side-effects.

To trim the list in the Accept header, click START > RUN > REGEDIT.EXE. Using RegEdit, navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Accepted Documents

..and remove elements from the "Name/Type/Value" list to remove values that aren't strictly required. Elements in red are of lower importance than those in black:

image/gif, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/x-ms-application, application/vnd.ms-xpsdocument, application/xaml+xml, application/x-ms-xbap, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/msword, application/x-shockwave-flash, application/x-silverlight, application/x-silverlight-2-b2, */*

A similar problem can occur with the User-Agent header.

To trim the list in the User-Agent header, click START > RUN > REGEDIT.EXE. Using RegEdit, navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform

..and remove elements from the "Name/Type/Value" list to remove values that aren't strictly required. Elements in red are of lower importance than those in black:

User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 6.0; WOW64; Trident/4.0; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; InfoPath.2; .NET CLR 3.0.30618; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; OfficeLiveConnector.1.3; OfficeLivePatch.1.3; MS-RTC LM 8)

For more information please visit http://www.pleasehelpme.com/

Developing Documentation During System Development

System documentation and user documentation are the two types of documents. System documentation is required for better understanding and maintenance of the application software. User documentation is designed to help the user operate the system. A good-quality document requires designing the documents, writing and editing the text, and testing them, and hence takes longer time for documentation. Lower-quality documentation can be produced faster. Nowadays online documentation is becoming more important compared to traditional paper-based manuals. Users are more familiar with paper-based documents and these are simpler to use. Although online documents require people to be familiar with additional software commands, searching for information is easier in online documents. These also enable the users to interact with the document.

There are mainly three types of user documentation: reference documents, procedure manuals and tutorials. Reference documents are used when the user needs to learn how to perform a specific function. Procedure manuals describe how to perform business tasks. Tutorials teach people how to use major components of the system.

Introduction

There are two types of documents.

System documentation is intended to help programmers and systems analysts understand the application software and enable them to build it or maintain it after the system is installed. System documentation is a by-product of the system analysis and design process, and is created as the project unfolds.

Each step and phase produce documents that are essential in understanding how the system is built or is to be built, and these documents are stored in the project binder(s).

User documentation (such as user’s manuals, training manuals and online help systems) is designed to help the user operate the system. Although most project teams expect users to have received training and read the user’s manuals before operating the system, unfortunately this is not always the case. It is more common today – especially in the case of commercial software packages for microcomputers – for users to begin the software without training or reading the user’s manual.

User documentation is often left until the end of the project, which is a dangerous strategy. Developing a good documentation takes longer than many people expect because it requires much more than simply writing a few pages.

Producing documentation requires designing the documents (whether paper or online), writing the text, editing them and testing them. For good-quality documentation, this process usually takes about 3 hours per paper page (single-spaced) for paper-based documentation or 2 hours per screen for online documentation.

Thus, a “simple” set of documentation such as a 20-page user’s manual and a set of 20 help screens take 100 hours. Of course, lower-quality documentation can be produced faster.

The time required to develop and test user documentation should be built into the project plan. Most organizations plan for documentation development to start once the interface design and program specifications are complete. The initial draft of documentation is usually scheduled for completion immediately after the unit tests are complete.

This reduces – but does not eliminate – the need for the documentation to be tested and revised before the acceptance tests is started.

Although paper-based manuals are still significant, online documentation is becoming more important. Paper-based documentation is simpler to use because it is more familiar to users, especially novices who have less computer experience; online documentation requires the users to learn one more set of commands. Paper-based documentation is also easier to flip through to gain a general understanding of its organization and topics, and can be used far away from the computer itself.

There are four key strengths of online documentation that all but guarantee that it will be the dominant format form for the next century. First, searching for information is often simpler (provided the help search index is well designed). The user can type in a variety of keywords to view information instantaneously, rather than having to search through the index or table of contents in a paper document. Second, the same information can be presented several times in many different formats, so that the user can find and read the information in the most informative way.

Third, online documentation enables the users to interact with the documentation. For example, it is possible to use links or “tool tips” (i.e., pop-up text) to explain unfamiliar terms, and programmers can write “show me” routines that demonstrate on the screen exactly what buttons to click and text to type. Finally, online documentation is significantly less expensive to distribute and keep up-to-date than paper documentation.

Types of Documentation

There are fundamentally three different types of user documentation: reference documents, procedure manuals and tutorials. Reference documents (also called the help system) are designed to be used when the user needs to learn how to perform a specific function (e.g., printing a monthly report, taking a customer order). Typically, people read reference information only after they have tried and failed to perform the function. Writing reference documentation requires special care because users are often impatient or frustrated when they begin to read them.

Procedure manuals describe how to perform business tasks (e.g., printing a monthly report, taking a customer order). Each item in the procedures manually guides the user through a task that requires several functions or steps in the system. Therefore, each entry is typically much longer than an entry in a reference document.

Tutorials teach people how to use major components of the system (e.g., an introduction to the basic operations of the system). Each entry in the tutorial is typically longer than the entities in procedure manuals and the entities are usually designed to be read in sequence, whereas entries in reference documents and procedure manuals are designed to be read individually.

Regardless of the type of user documentation, the overall process for developing it is similar to the process of developing interfaces. The developer first designs the general structure for the documentation and then develops the individual components within it.

Documentation and managing the documentation in company’s Intranet are critical for a company, and the resource spent on it is worthwhile. For more info on these topics and training refer to Business Analysis & Data Modeling Training Bangalore

SCORM and the Learning Management System (LMS)

What actually is SCORM? SCORM, Shareable Content Object Reference Model, is a standard for web-based e-learning that has been developed to define communication between client-side content and a runtime environment. In the context of this article, the client-side content would be the course launched by a student and the runtime environment would be a Learning Management System. The SCORM standard has undergone several version releases from SCORM v1.0 in 1999 to the SCORM 2004 3rd Edition in 2006. The purpose of this article is to look in a little more detail at the communication flow between the LMS and a course that is SCORM v2.1 compliant. The intention is not to review every possible communication but just the main calls. We will look at SCORM in the context of a SCORM course, i.e. a course that has been developed and built to communicate with a Learning Management System using the SCORM standard.

First of all, let me define a few terms that I will use and that you may hear in reference to SCORM courses:

• API (Application Programming Interface)

The SCORM standard has a defined API. The term API is not unique to SCORM but is a well known term in application development. The SCORM API is a documented set of messages that are sent between the course and the LMS. The message may require a response so that the sender of the message is guaranteed that the message has been received and processed appropriately.

• Manifest

The manifest is the master file for the SCORM course that contains references to all other files that make up the complete content of the course.

• Single SCO

A single SCO is the most basic and most common form of a SCORM course. All files that make up the course, regardless of the number of lessons in the course, are packaged as one SCO unit. When the course is launched within the Learning Management System, it communicates with the SCO.

• Multiple SCO

A multiple SCO is where a group of files within the course can be treated as an individual SCO but packaged together with other SCOs to comprise one course. For example, the files that comprise each lesson of a SCORM course can be grouped together so that each lesson is a SCO in its own right and all the SCOs will comprise the one course.

Course Installation

For the course to be available in the Learning Management System, the SCORM package needs to be installed on the system. The method of installation will vary from LMS to LMS but will typically go through the following steps:

1. The manifest file will be located and interpreted.

2. The course identified in the manifest will be created in the Learning Management System and the course properties will be populated with the values defined in the manifest. These properties may include course name, creator, etc.

3. The lessons of the course will be created in the LMS and the lesson properties will be populated with the values defined in the manifest. Lesson properties would include information such as the path to the lesson file, passing grade, etc.

The Learning Management System should provide a facility to overwrite an already existing SCORM course so that if updates are made to the existing course, an installation will deploy those changes.

Course Communication

Initialization

When the course is launched within its run time environment, which for our purposes is the LMS, it will detect the existence of the API and attempt to make initial communication with the Learning Management System. This is a one-time handshake to ensure that communication has been established. The SCORM course is responsible for locating the API in the child browser session that it has launched in from the parent. The API is typically deployed using JavaScript. The API call that the course uses to do this is the LMSInitialize call. When the Learning Management System receives this API message call from the course, the LMS will initialize and respond to inform the course that communication has been established. An object model has been created in memory and the properties have been initialized to default values.

Intermediary Course Communication

Once the course has been launched and initialized with the LMS, the interaction between the two is determined by the course. It will use LMSGetValue and LMSSetValue API message calls to retrieve or populate data in the object model. Bear in mind that the object model exists in memory and has not been sent to the Learning Management System.

When the course needs to write the data so it exists in the database, it will send the API message LMSCommit. The LMSCommit will be received by the Learning Management System and the data stored to the LMS. The course developer will determine when an LMSCommit is required and it will be sent to the LMS when the event is activated. This could be at the end of each lesson or it could be at the end of the course.

The LMSCommit is an optional message and does not require a response from the Learning Management System.

Finalization

When the course is completed, it will send an LMSFinish API message to the LMS. This may be triggered by an event in the course that activates the LMSFinish or it may be on the Unload event of the HTML page when the user closes the browser. The LMSFinish indicates to the LMS that the user has ended the course and any further communication between the two will be rejected. The LMSFinish also initiates the Learning Management System to store any data that has been populated in the object model and complete the unloading of the course.

The key difference between the LMSCommit and LMSFinish API message calls is that the latter will prevent further communication with the course.

The LMSFinish is a mandatory message and does not require a response from the LMS.

Learning Management System Considerations

When the LMSFinish is received by the LMS, there are several scenarios that may need to be taken into account. Some of these may be the product of errors in course development but are scenarios that have been experienced in interfacing with a SCORM compliant course:

1. The SCORM course may indicate the student has failed a lesson but the score passed from the SCO may be greater than the lesson passing grade that was installed from the manifest.

2. The SCORM course may indicate a lesson status for the user and pass the score of the lesson but there has been no passing grade defined for the lesson.

3. It would be advantageous for the Learning Management System to provide API message logging so that a communication history may be recreated for debugging or historical purposes. Consideration should be given to the following:

a. Method of storage, whether it is stored in a database or out to a file.

b. Is logging on all the time or is there a switch to turn logging on or off? (There will be some overhead when logging is switched on, as opposed to being off.)

c. If logging is to file, is there a log file for each course, each user, or one large SCORM log file?

d. How is log data purged? When logging is stored in the database, how often is the table purged? Can the data be deleted or does it need to be archived? If logging is to a file, does the file build in size until it is manually renewed or does the logging mechanism have a trigger that automatically generates a new file? (If the file is left to grow too big, it becomes very impractical to open it in a text editor.)

Conclusions

SCORM has a proven track record in the web based e-learning world and is the accepted standard in the industry. Reputable LMS vendors should support your SCORM course out of the box. The SCORM 2004 version has added much more control and sequencing at a more granular level than SCORM v1.2 however those differences are significant enough to cause the user base to be slower in adopting the SCORM 2004 version.