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As someone who spends an obscene amount of time researching, playing and \”working\” on MySpace [and loving every minute of it I might add... ] I have made myself into an expert and an authority on the process of customizing or \”pimping\” profiles as my countless thousands on MySpace will vouch for me.

Before going deep on HOW to pimp MySpace, I”d first like to address WHY one should pimp his or her MySpace profile.

There are really two answers to this question…

The first is my expert opinion as a marketing specialist – \”branding and differentiation.\”

As MySpace continues to grow at a frantic pace (there are currently over 108 million profiles on MySpace and growing at about 26,000 new ones daily) – it becomes increasingly difficult for an individual or an online business seeking to establish a presence on MySpace to \”stand out from the crowd.\” A well pimped out profile allows for a unique user experience that separates and differentiates a profile from the millions of other \”plain-vanilla\”, non-pimped profiles.

A customized profile allows for using corporate colors and logos as well as controlling the end-user experience to be consistent with one’’s overall brand identity.

Ok… having said that.

My second answer is more personal – simply \”Because it looks cool and because you can.\”

So… having cleared that up.

The process of \”pimping\” or decorating and customizing a MySpace profile is part art/part science and consists of several key steps which should be addressed sequentially if you want to have a truly great looking profile.

In order, you must:

1. Choose the kind of look you are going for. What will your profile be about? Is it about you? Is it for a business? Is there a specific atmosphere that you want your profile to have? You must be clear on what you want to portray and design in your profile prior to making any customizations.

This will help you save a lot of time and needless aggravation

2. Determine if you”ll use a Pre-Made layout or create your own. There are thousands of pre-made layouts available on the Internet. One need only to search in the search engines for the keywords \”MySpace Layouts\” to find page after page of web sites that offer pre-designed layouts for you to choose.

Another alternative, and my personal preference, is to design and develop your own profile look. By customizing your profile look and feel, you not only avoid the risk of using the exact same layout that somebody else is using but you also prevent any problems you may have with any copyrighted images in your layout that the original creator may not have secured and which may result in your profile being shut down by MySpace.

Should you choose instead to pimp your profile yourself, you will need to have a tool called a \”MySpace Profile Editor\” that will allow you to change most aspects of your profile including background images, colors, borders, fonts and a great number of other customizable options. You can do a search for \”MySpace Profile Editor\” to find one you can use.

Part of passing the Network+ exam and being an outstanding network administrator is being prepared for disaster. Sometimes that’’s a disaster on a relatively small scale, such as a drive failure. If you”re running data backups on a regular basis (and you are, aren”t you?), you”re prepared for that issue.

What is your network’’s disaster recovery plan from a true disaster, either natural or man-made? What if the entire building your servers are in disappeared tonight? What is your plan if that happens? In today’’s world, that’’s not a rhetorical question. Disaster recovery is taken to the next level by preparing a cold site, warm site, or hot site at another physical location.

A hot site is the highest level of disaster preparedness. Hot sites are maintained by commercial companies for their customers, and these sites include everything from the office space itself all the way through telephone and computer equipment. The servers at the hot site will be mirrors of the servers at the primary location. Basically, your staff walks in and gets right to work.

Hot sites are very expensive to maintain. An alternative is a cold site. Cold sites will have the physical devices necessary to get up and running again, but they”re not configured or mirrored from the primary site. This is much cheaper than maintaining a hot site, but obviously a lot of work needs to be done before work can continue after a disaster, and this is time many corporations, government offices, and public utility companies cannot spare in such a situation.

There is a middle ground, the appropriately named warm site. Warm sites are going to have all the physical equipment needed along with some of the servers configured and maintained. Disaster recovery using a warm site will still take longer than if a hot site were maintained, but basic communications are back in place much more quickly than if a cold site were used. The \”mission critical\” servers will be ready to go, but secondary servers will need to be brought up to date through data restores from backups.

You have to know about these sites to pass the CompTIA Network+ certification exam, but the stakes are much higher than that. If you”re not the person in charge of network disaster recovery, find out who is and ask if any of these sites are being kept by your company. The better informed you are now, the better you”ll be ready to get to work at such a crucial time.

Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow. Sound familiar? That was always my motto (still is sometimes? but as far as backing up my computer, procrastinating is the last thing I do! I have learned my lesson after losing precious data from multiple hard drive crashes!

Think disaster won抰 strike your computer? I have news for you: statistics show that 1 in every 4 computer users suffers a critical data loss every year. Laptops are stolen and hard drives crash; it抯 a fact of life. If you抳e never seen a grown man cry, wait till his computer crashes!

Still, I抳e heard many excuses from other computer users about why they don抰 backup their machines. Well, they might sound good, but they really do not hold up.

I conducted a small survey among computer users to find the most popular excuses. The top three excuses are shown below, along with my rebuttals.

3. I don抰 know how.

Now抯 the time to learn. If you have learned to use a computer, you can learn to backup your files. It can be as simple as burning a CD or clicking on folders and selecting 揵ack this up.?br />
Find the nearest computer whiz and tell them you want to back up your data. Or just browse the internet for data backup. Someone will be happy to help. (After losing a lot of my data due to hard drive crashes, I抦 happy to help people backup their data.)

2. It抯 too expensive.

Backup does not have to cost an arm and a leg. Although some services are very expensive, it is possible to backup all of your data for a few dollars every month. What do CD-Rs cost these days, a couple cents each? Even one top-notch online backup service is a mere \$5 per month.

You buy insurance for your house and car, right? Think of data backup as insurance for your documents and digital photos. (Remember, even if your insurance covers the cost of your computer during a catastrophe, they will not cover your data loss, which most likely is worth more than the computer itself.)

And the #1 reason?br />
1. It takes too long.

This reason would actually be better stated as 揑抦 too busy!?or 揑抦 lazy!?but I figured I would combine those into one sentence!

If you burn CDs with all of your data, then yes, it takes a while. But even that does not take as long as trying to start over from scratch once you have lost everything!

Just think if you lost everything. What would you do?

Remember that backup service I mentioned earlier that抯 only \$5 per month? Not only is it cheap, it works automatically after a few minutes of setup time. It will actually backup your entire computer without any effort on your part! If you don抰 have time for that, I don抰 know what you have time for.

Like a 憁ind-boggling?yet enthralling Pablo Picasso painting, it is essential for websites to create captivating and thought-provoking material to lure an audience and, secure a solid fan base. Naturally, abstract paintings require quite a bit of out-of-the-box thinking when deciphering the artists?vision, thought and message. This is the kind of allure that a website needs to uphold so that it can become successful over time. By ensuring that users are sufficiently stimulated on a continual basis companies will eventually attain devoted subscribers.
This is what every company desires, though the trick is to develop a site that is not clad with complicated design elements (which could affect usability) and bland content that抣l bore browsers to tears, but to establish an effective balance.

Of course, if a website does not contain substance one cannot expect a great response or loyal following, now can you?

According to research, a website that has relevant and informative content can help to position a company as professional in view of the interested and targeted consumer. If a website can clearly and efficiently show a potential customer that the company is knowledgeable and up to date in their field of expertise, the consumer becomes confident and trusting of the services offered. Take into account that a web site is multi-functional entity that serves as a communication tool, thus it plays a central role in improving the impact and image of a brand.
Consider your website a personal interaction with both current and potential consumers. Because of this very notion, even the slightest 慴alls-up?can jeopardize a company抯 reputation. Yet, however gripping a website抯 content may be design elements have a dramatic, if not crucial impact and contribution to make.

There are a few prominent aspects of a website that is greatly influenced by web design. Keep in mind that web design抯 influence on the success of a website runs deep. These are but a few significant and fundamental elements that are magnificently affected by web design.

Usability is key

When a user punches a few keywords on a keyboard, instant and relevant information and a no fuss policy is expected. Instance coffee and fast-foods bears testament to how today抯 world has evolved into a fast-paced, 慖 want it now?society. The Internet is certainly a result of this mindset. Life has become easier, like baking a cake from a box.
Most users have a short attention span, when it comes to finding the information that they need and want. Because of this very reason, usability is a vital. As far as making content easy to find, with good web page design, a user should not have to wonder what to do next. Navigation is there for a reason and, makes thing easier and get information to the user ASAP!-which is what you want. The next step should always obvious. The easier it is for customers to find what they are looking for the likelier they抣l buy or enquire.

It抯 like being stuck in the queue at customs at the airport, waiting for your turn to be serviced. Frustrating isn抰 it?

It抯 been noted that too often web sites are focused on looking attractive without considering the user. Many have won prestigious design awards, yet perform extremely poorly and as a result lose customers by the thousands. According to research 50% plus of online sales are lost because visitors aren抰 able to navigate through a website and find what they are looking for. Another factor that plays a major role is how long it takes for a website to load. Research states that it makes good sense to ensure that a website loads fast. Studies have shown that if visitor are forced to wait for more than 8-10 seconds for a page to load, clients run a serious risk of losing potential consumers.

As a rule of thumb, every single web page should load in at least 8 seconds or less, preferably on a 56k modem.

Flash has been named as a huge factor when it comes to the usability of a website. However, Flash has become a popular tool in internet marketing and is now widely used across the web. But, there can be drawbacks so it needs to be carefully determined whether or not a site will benefit from its use. One of the benefits of using Flash is the visual appeal of it. It can be used with navigation, by adding interesting visual graphics. Although, one disadvantage about using Flash is that not all internet browsers have a Flash player moreover, not all users may want to download it. Needless to say, Flash technology tends to discourage usability for very apparent reasons. Flash can cause bad design, break the Web抯 fundamental interaction style and it also consumes resources that would be better spent enhancing a site抯 core value. Approximately 99 % of the time, the presence of Flash on a website hampers the usability and distracts the attention from the site抯 core value and purpose.

Perhaps, Web designers interested in enhancing usability and their site’’s overall business presence should use Flash sparingly?

By focusing on improving usability, web designers are able to keep users interested, for the long haul.

Our lives are filled with colour. What would the life be like if we lived 慴lack and white?lives? Colour adds interest and can determine whether a website is fresh and alive looking or it can also create a dull and dreary image, which is not what any client wants. In the world of web design, bad colour schemes can make a site look unfriendly, amateurish, and inaccessible. So, it comes as no surprise that over 80% of visual information is related to colour. There are various reactions to colour which are instinctual and cross universal and cultural boundaries.
According to a 1997 survey by Cooper Marketing Group, Oak Park, IL, power is represented by the color scarlet red for 25% of respondents, black for 17% and bright violet blue for 13%. More than 55% of those surveyed chose one of these three colors out of 100 colors. Fragility was most represented by pale pink (27%), white (9%), and pale lavender (9%).

Note that colors can be perceived by people as different moods and emotions. When designing a site one should consider the mood that needs to be portrayed. These moods can vary from person to person, depending on their life experiences. Web design which achieves successful marketing results is sensitive to the cultural, instinctual and iconic meanings of colour in relation to the product or service being promoted. More importantly, it also considers the cultural backgrounds and gender of the targeted clientele. Avoiding the extremes of sheer garishness and boredom, effective design displays symphonic colour arrangements of shades, tints, tones and complementarities to tantalise and maintain interest. Adding textures too can alter colours – a roughly textured surface makes a colour seem darker, while a smooth surface lightens the same color.

Although, it also stands a designer in good stead to know what colours signify. Different shades of colours work well in different situations. For example, using very saturated colours all the time is not always good, by using shades that can make certain things stand out more or less than others. For example, it would be good to have elements in the main content stand out more than in the sidebar, because that is where you want to draw attention. When making sites you have to use your common sense when picking colours. For example, if you were making a business site you wouldn抰 use bright pink, because this would look childish and unprofessional. Another example, if you were making a laser eye clinic site, you wouldn抰 use red as this would imply danger and blood. Scary.

These days computers support millions of colours (16bit or 32bit) meaning the compatible colours between systems have increased. The new palette, based on 16bit systems, is the web smart palette which supports 4096 web smart colours. When changing colours you must ensure the contrast between the colour and the text on it is enough for people with poor eyesight to see, or at least offer a high contrast version. There are sites with grey text on slightly greyer background making it very hard to read, this is bad accessibility wise. Also note some colours can be annoying together, for example some people have difficulty looking at green and red together, green text on red would be a very bad idea. In most instances, finer details are forgotten and falls by the wayside ?consider color blind people on the web, ensure they have options to see a version they can actually read.

The Impact of Web Design on Conversion Rate

A simple description of conversion on the web reads as follows; Conversion refers to the form that an interested party fills out in order to buy a product from a company. A Web Site Visitor Conversion occurs when a user takes key action to do so. Conversions can be macro (the most significant action) or micro (one of the many actions that precede the macro conversion). For most sites, conversions are what can be directly or indirectly traced to a financial return. Spending money on search engine marketing or online advertising might be a waste of your resources if a site is a poor converter. Inevitably, conversion determines website profitability.

Once again it is essential to make a web site to easy to use. If not the less chance there抣l be of people buying.

Interestingly enough, making a site accessible is a legal obligation in many countries. Inaccessibility can affect sales, as visitors will find the site impossible to use and go elsewhere. Apparently a typical inaccessible site could be losing 5% of potential sales because of this. Many designers only pay attention to Internet Explorer. The justification for this is usually that 99% of the site’’s users use IE. It never seems to occur to the designers that perhaps the reason they have so few visitors with other browsers is that their site is fundamentally broken – it doesn”t work in anything else.

Percentages of people not using IE varies from site to site.

Approximately 80-85% of web users are using IE on Windows, which means that an average site that does not work in anything else could stand to lose 15-20% of sales. Visibility is also an important factor. For instance, when a user decides to buy a product, they add it to a shopping basket. How do they add it? By clicking a button or link. But what happens when they can”t see the button? They go elsewhere. There are plenty of sites out there with buttons that are too subtle, or don”t say the right thing, or are hidden away at the bottom of the page. \”Add\” is considered an ineffective button text. \”Buy\” is fairly successful. \”Add xxx To Your Basket\” is great. \”Add xxx to Your Basket\” in big letters on a big, bright button, near the top of the page, is even better. Calls to action, like this, don”t have to be bland but they must be obvious and clear.

Sites which are just call to action according to research could earn a 1% to 30% increase in sales as a result.

The impact the web design has on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

It is a known that having a Web site rank well in search engine results for searches on specific keywords/phrases. If a Web site doesn抰 have a page appearing in the top 10 search engine result positions (SERPs) the chances of someone clicking on the listing, and actually visiting the site, will drop dramatically. Optimizing a site and content for a search engine, for a better ranking in SERPs, is known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), yet many Web developers/designers either don抰 take time to code a site properly or don抰 know how to do proper SEO. The basics of code optimization are just sound HTML coding practices; when followed, they go a long way toward SEO. There is a lot you can do to optimize your Web site for search engines from the code level.

The first rule of SEO is not to design your site in such a way that the code prevents a spider from being able to index it. This means avoiding pages which are 100% graphics and no text, such as pages that contain all images, or are Flash-only. Furthermore, if the first thing a user encounters is a log-in page, before being able to see the site抯 content, then that抯 what a spider will see and it won抰 go any further, either. If you抮e planning to build a Web site entirely in Flash, Don抰. If you have no choice, then read my previous column, Search Engine Optimization and Non-HTML Sites. To find out what a spider sees on your site, run a spider simulator on a given page. The simulator will show you what text the spider sees and what links it finds. There are many good ones on the market at various prices. If you抮e looking for something that抯 free, I抎 suggest Search Engine Spider Simulator.

There抯 certainly plenty of room for further impact, depending on the subject matter, in regards to information architecture, copy writing, interface coding as part of web design or the layer of graphic design (usability). Web design encourages confidence and trust in the site as it is able to look legitimate and 損rofessional? depending on the design elements chosen. Web design can maintain a clear, consistent and unified message and operation. Obvious as it may be, a good site should be memorable. Being memorable, and making sure you stick in the user’’s mind, is dependant on a lot of factors. It抯 no good if your visitors remember why you are great but don”t remember your name.

Evidently, web design is much more than just a pretty picture.

First things first… it is indeed possible to make five-figure income each and every month from blogging.

If you are in doubt, then go to Google and search for Jason Calacanis. This \”ordinary-folk-turned-guru\” with his conglomeration of 85 blogs pulled in up to \$1,000,000 (yes, one million US dollars) yearly until he sold them to AOL for a reported staggering \$25 million.

So, yes, it is indeed possible to earn five figure monthly from blogs. But do you know how you are not yet earning big money from your blogs?

I think I do.

You are spending too much time \”manually\” posting to one or a few of your blogs, instead of \”automating\” the process and having dozens or even hundreds of blogs like Jason Calacanis and other blogging gurus are doing.

You see, no matter the benefits that blogging provides to Internet entrepreneurs, what frustrates me to no end is having to \”manually\” post to my blogs daily… especially dozens and even hundreds of blogs.

The beauty with blogs and why the search engine loves them is the need to always provide fresh content. Of course it is easy to always provide fresh content to a blog if you have just one or a few, but imagine the nightmare of providing fresh content daily for dozens or even hundreds of blogs.

Wondering why you need dozens or hundreds of blogs?

Because when it comes to making the mega bucks in Internet business, the answer is \”the money is in the numbers\”.

You can”t get rich by having just one website or one blog. You need to have dozens or even hundreds of websites and/or blogs to make the big bucks.

Ask all the big Internet gurus out there and they will tell you they have dozens or hundreds of websites and/or blogs.

The idea is if they make just a few bucks per website or blog, the money will add up when they have hundreds of blogs.

Do the math — just one or few blogs won”t make you a millionaire on the Internet, even if it makes \$100 daily.

But if you have 100 blogs and each makes you just \$10 daily, that’’s a whopping \$1,000 daily and every month that will be \$30,000… in 365 days you earn a staggering \$360,000!

Hear what Internet marketing and Affiliate guru Phil Wiley had to say about the power of \”numbers\” in Internet business:

\”…to do really well you need lots of sites.

We all believe that making money from Adsense or Affiliate programs is mainly a numbers game. I”ve said it so many times here that I”m a bit reluctant to repeat it, but if you only make \$1 a day from a site and you have 100 sites you”ll make \$100 a day which translates to \$36,500 a year. If you have 300 sites you hit the magic \$100,000 mark. And because costs are so low the profit margin is huge.

Each of us, and nearly all the \”big hitters\” I know, don”t stop at 100 sites. Over lunch Stuart said he has over 850 sites. At \$1 a day he’’s looking at an annual income of over 310 thousand dollars. Even if his expenses come to \$10,000, which they don”t, he’’s on a VERY nice income. And that \$1 is on the low, low, low side\”

There’’s nothing handier than a free article directory to help promote your business. You use a free article directory as free content on your business Web site, in your e-zine or your electronic newsletter, and you might use it in opt-in e-mail correspondence. Of course, when you find the article and articles you want to use in the free article directory you take the time to change the copy and make it your own, talking about your own experiences, your own industry, your own expertise, your own business, and your own products and services. This might take a lot of effort or just a little. What it does take it less time and effort than to write the article yourself. It pays off better than most Internet marketing tools you might choose instead.

Let’’s look at a few free article directory choices. If you have a business that deals with coin collecting – perhaps a hobby shop, or a site for collectors – there are several free article directory options. One article directory that we found is new but already has 172 free articles. It includes articles about United States coins, coins from other countries, coin collecting supplies, reviews of coin collection books, tips on how to sell collectible coins, software to help with coin collecting, and tips on how to buy collectible coins.

This free article directory, typical of many of the free article directories we found, says that if you should happen to not find an article in the free directory that deals with the specific topic you”re needing you can sign up for a free notification by e-zine about the new articles that are added in the free directory. The e-zine is free and you can opt-out at any time. This is the free article directory’’s way of growing its subscriber base, of course. This is a practice you would be well advised to emulate with your own business Web site and e-zine or newsletter.

If your business is about self-help there are many article directories options offering free articles. You can find articles on anxiety; depression; addictions and abuse of alcohol or drugs; natural and homeopathic alternatives to prescription medications and surgery; relationships such as family, friends, spouses and lovers; diet and weight loss; therapy and psychiatric care; exercises and exercise equipment; spiritual development such as retreats, meditation and religion; and a nearly endless list of other self help topics.

To give specific examples of the article topics found in this free article directory: there are articles that teach you about accelerated learning and speed reading; articles that talk about assertiveness training; and articles that direct your readers to the various associations and organizations where they can network to grow their business, increase their personal enjoyment of life, or just have a good time with folks who have similar interests. You can find article in another free article directory leadership skills, enhancing your own creativity, and public speaking.

A free article directory somewhere is apt to have just the right article or article for your business Web site, e-zine or newsletter.

With an estimated 20 million plus aquaria in the US, it appears Americans are aficionados when it comes to keeping fish as a recreational activity. The healthy effects of keeping domesticated fish are well-documented, inducing relaxation, and contemplation, as they do.

Mammals, birds, terrapins, turtles, frogs, other amphibians, and reptiles are also housed in aquaria, but by far the most popular inhabitants are fish. As a practice, aquarium keeping goes back to Sumeria, and Ancient Egypt, but the Chinese became past-masters, especially with golden carp.

The attractions range from seeing fish living and breeding in something resembling their natural habitats; scientific study; decorative effects, as recognized by Feng Shui interior designers; and commercial breeding for food, and sale. Indeed, some of the larger aquaria exhibit shark and other deep sea fish that would otherwise not be generally seen in their natural environment.

By far the most popular species of fish kept in aquaria are the tropical variety, famed for their myriad colors, sizes and variety. However, the crucial balance between the fish, plants, temperature, and oxygen becomes imperative here, as tropical fish must have a constant temperature of 22?C (72?F) to survive.

Plants and fish have a symbiotic relationship, plants providing oxygen, simulating the natural environment, and also digesting waste. Indeed, in some cases a balance between the fish and plants can even obviate the need for filtration. Likewise, sand and/or gravel forms a suitable base to the tank and also allows plants to root.

Purity is an imperative for the fishes?survival, algae, for example, must not be allowed to build up as its effects are detrimental. Further oxygen is supplied by aerators, and filtration ranging from sand-filters, and simple flow-through systems to completely automated recirculating systems maintain water purity. In addition, fecal matter, dead fish, toxic metabolic waste and ammonia must be removed from the tank or reconstituted as soon as possible.

Water renewal is another must, the fine chemical balance ensuring viability. Nitrogen super-saturation must be avoided at all costs; something charcoal filtration is useful for. There are 3 types of water systems to cope with water freshness: open, closed, and semi-closed. Through-flow is the characteristic of open systems, while virtually identical to that in the natural environment, it tends to be expensive. Closed systems demand adequate treatment of metabolic wastes due to the fact that the water is recirculated. Semi-closed systems have a constant connection to the water supply, the flow of new water coping with metabolic wastes. Water should be replenished on a 2 hourly basis with the provision of air-stones to prevent oxygen depletion.

Glass is by far the best material for aquaria, followed by the non-toxic plastics like plexiglas. Non-toxic adhesives must be chosen for the sealants, and frame. Silicone rubber, and fiberglass, suitably treated, is probably best for safety, and cost. Fiberglass, and stainless steel make the most practical frame materials.

Finally, fish must not be overfed, and uneaten food should be removed from the tank. Brine shrimp and commercially produced food is the normal fish diet.

There’’s nothing handier than a free article directory to help promote your business. You use a free article directory as free content on your business Web site, in your e-zine or your electronic newsletter, and you might use it in opt-in e-mail correspondence. Of course, when you find the article and articles you want to use in the free article directory you take the time to change the copy and make it your own, talking about your own experiences, your own industry, your own expertise, your own business, and your own products and services. This might take a lot of effort or just a little. What it does take it less time and effort than to write the article yourself. It pays off better than most Internet marketing tools you might choose instead.

Let’’s look at a few free article directory choices. If you have a business that deals with coin collecting – perhaps a hobby shop, or a site for collectors – there are several free article directory options. One article directory that we found is new but already has 172 free articles. It includes articles about United States coins, coins from other countries, coin collecting supplies, reviews of coin collection books, tips on how to sell collectible coins, software to help with coin collecting, and tips on how to buy collectible coins.

This free article directory, typical of many of the free article directories we found, says that if you should happen to not find an article in the free directory that deals with the specific topic you”re needing you can sign up for a free notification by e-zine about the new articles that are added in the free directory. The e-zine is free and you can opt-out at any time. This is the free article directory’’s way of growing its subscriber base, of course. This is a practice you would be well advised to emulate with your own business Web site and e-zine or newsletter.

If your business is about self-help there are many article directories options offering free articles. You can find articles on anxiety; depression; addictions and abuse of alcohol or drugs; natural and homeopathic alternatives to prescription medications and surgery; relationships such as family, friends, spouses and lovers; diet and weight loss; therapy and psychiatric care; exercises and exercise equipment; spiritual development such as retreats, meditation and religion; and a nearly endless list of other self help topics.

To give specific examples of the article topics found in this free article directory: there are articles that teach you about accelerated learning and speed reading; articles that talk about assertiveness training; and articles that direct your readers to the various associations and organizations where they can network to grow their business, increase their personal enjoyment of life, or just have a good time with folks who have similar interests. You can find article in another free article directory leadership skills, enhancing your own creativity, and public speaking.

A free article directory somewhere is apt to have just the right article or article for your business Web site, e-zine or newsletter.

With an estimated 20 million plus aquaria in the US, it appears Americans are aficionados when it comes to keeping fish as a recreational activity. The healthy effects of keeping domesticated fish are well-documented, inducing relaxation, and contemplation, as they do.

Mammals, birds, terrapins, turtles, frogs, other amphibians, and reptiles are also housed in aquaria, but by far the most popular inhabitants are fish. As a practice, aquarium keeping goes back to Sumeria, and Ancient Egypt, but the Chinese became past-masters, especially with golden carp.

The attractions range from seeing fish living and breeding in something resembling their natural habitats; scientific study; decorative effects, as recognized by Feng Shui interior designers; and commercial breeding for food, and sale. Indeed, some of the larger aquaria exhibit shark and other deep sea fish that would otherwise not be generally seen in their natural environment.

By far the most popular species of fish kept in aquaria are the tropical variety, famed for their myriad colors, sizes and variety. However, the crucial balance between the fish, plants, temperature, and oxygen becomes imperative here, as tropical fish must have a constant temperature of 22?C (72?F) to survive.

Plants and fish have a symbiotic relationship, plants providing oxygen, simulating the natural environment, and also digesting waste. Indeed, in some cases a balance between the fish and plants can even obviate the need for filtration. Likewise, sand and/or gravel forms a suitable base to the tank and also allows plants to root.

Purity is an imperative for the fishes?survival, algae, for example, must not be allowed to build up as its effects are detrimental. Further oxygen is supplied by aerators, and filtration ranging from sand-filters, and simple flow-through systems to completely automated recirculating systems maintain water purity. In addition, fecal matter, dead fish, toxic metabolic waste and ammonia must be removed from the tank or reconstituted as soon as possible.

Water renewal is another must, the fine chemical balance ensuring viability. Nitrogen super-saturation must be avoided at all costs; something charcoal filtration is useful for. There are 3 types of water systems to cope with water freshness: open, closed, and semi-closed. Through-flow is the characteristic of open systems, while virtually identical to that in the natural environment, it tends to be expensive. Closed systems demand adequate treatment of metabolic wastes due to the fact that the water is recirculated. Semi-closed systems have a constant connection to the water supply, the flow of new water coping with metabolic wastes. Water should be replenished on a 2 hourly basis with the provision of air-stones to prevent oxygen depletion.

Glass is by far the best material for aquaria, followed by the non-toxic plastics like plexiglas. Non-toxic adhesives must be chosen for the sealants, and frame. Silicone rubber, and fiberglass, suitably treated, is probably best for safety, and cost. Fiberglass, and stainless steel make the most practical frame materials.

Finally, fish must not be overfed, and uneaten food should be removed from the tank. Brine shrimp and commercially produced food is the normal fish diet.

Spyware spread quickly across the internet world forcing users to become aware of the prevalent threats facing their privacy while surfing the internet.?A PC will begin to run slower, have difficulty accessing the internet, have a reduced bandwidth, show unwanted pop ups and or alter the start page.?A spyware infection means your personal information is being exposed to individuals or companies without your knowledge or approval.?

Spyware collects information on you internet and computer usage habits as well as more serious information including personal identification and credit card numbers. ? Many spyware applications can run silently, leaving you in the dark about the information being released from your computer.?Even without symptoms users must beware of spyware infections.?By downloading from freeware programs, such as free music file sharing or game programs, then your computer most likely has spyware.?Downloading ring tones, screensavers and other free applications usually results in spyware piggybacking in your computer with the downloads.

Other forms of spyware are not acquired by you downloading anything.?Visiting the wrong sites or clicking on ads will also infest your computer with spyware.?Spyware should not be confused with viruses because even the best anti-virus software cannot detect spyware.?Spwyare and viruses are two completely different codes that target different areas and have alternative purposes.

Finding and using the right tools can help internet users be able to surf the internet safely while keeping their privacy.?

You should check your machine for spyware infection using one of the many scanning tools made for spyware.?When looking into free spyware removal programs be sure it has been recommended by a trusted source and proven to be legitimate.?Many of the free spyware tools are actually made by the originators of spyware and when they are installed in a person抯 computer more spyware is added to the build on your computer, causing additional difficulties.

Counterspy is one recommended program that uses a large spyware database to find infections.?It also has real-time protection and a ThreatNet which protects your computer from numerous types of spyware, adware, hijackers, malware, keyloggers, ghost spammers and other spy software. A benefit of Counterspy is the real-time security monitoring that protects several critical areas of your system.?With this program you greatly increase your chances of having other harmful spyware invasions.

The Counterspy program has proven to run will with other programs, not inhibiting their functions either.?There is a 15 day free trial you can try and after that the entire program cost just \$19 for one year of services, including updates.