Jane says…..

Known as the single best ski resort in the South, Wintergreen Resort in Virginia has quite a bit to offer skiers. Featuring 11,000 acres with 19 trails, Wintergreen has a top elevation of 3516 feet, with a 1003 foot vertical drop. Beginners, intermediates, and experts will all find suitable trails at Wintergreen Resort.

To accommodate skiers, there are six lifts, including five chair lifts and one surface lift. There is also a dedicated terrain park for snowboarding. The resort is located near Charlottesville, Virginia, and you will experience breathtaking views of the Appalachian Mountains, and be surrounded by luxury that most people only dream of. There is also a world class golf course located near the resort.

Other activities include tubing, snowmobiling, tennis, hiking, and horseback riding. The Out of Bounds Adventure Center is a very popular attraction at the resort with rock climbing and bungee trampolines. The Outdoor Wilderness Leadership school offers corporate retreats, real rock climbing, rappelling, and mountain biking.

This is an ideal spot for a family vacation. You and your children can participate in a variety of craft workshops, enjoy campfires and storytelling, go on hay rides, and enjoy many more community events that are scheduled throughout the year. There are many planned activities for families, including winter hiking, skiing, snowboarding, tubing, and swimming in a cozy indoor pool.

While vacationing at Wintergreen Resort, make time to see the civil war history attractions, and visit the local wineries as well. Also take time to enjoy the Wintergreen Spa. At the spa, you can be pampered with massages, body wraps, skin treatments, and nail care. You can also visit the Mountaintop Aquatic and Fitness Center which features the latest in cardiovascular equipment, strength equipment, heated pools, hot tubs, steam rooms, and saunas.

The Wintergreen Performing Arts has many musical performances throughout the year that are sure to delight you and your family. If you are less interested in culture, and more interested in nature, the Wintergreen Nature Foundation is for you. This foundation promotes the understanding and conservation of natural resources that the Blue Ridge Mountains are famous for.

No matter what your interests are, if getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life is what you want, this is the number one spot in the South for fun, relaxation, and rejuvenation. The Wintergreen Resort is open all year long, with activities that are suitable for every season.

Burt Cotton http://www.myskiholiday.com

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Nominated for 20 Emmys and winner of a Golden Globe for Best Television Series (Musical or Comedy), Curb Your Enthusiasm is one of the more clever and hilarious shows on TV. The HBO original series is the brainchild of Seinfeld co-creator and writer Larry David, whose life maintains a peculiar resemblance to the quasi-fictional George Costanza. And just like George Costanza and his neurotically-low self-esteem (i.e. “God doesn’t want me to be successful), Curb Your Enthusiasm propagates a Murphy’s Law theme of “what can go wrong will go wrong”. It’s a true-to-life reality show about nothing in which every episode is certain to cause comedy connoisseurs everywhere to tremble in enthusiastic anticipation…

Curb Your Enthusiasm centers around the actual life of Larry David - post-Seinfeld and living the high life in Los Angeles. Just like Larry’s other successful TV venture, the show doesn’t focus entirely on plot, instead following the mundane and routine adventures of a famous Hollywood insider. And just like his alter-ego George Constanza, Larry often witnesses simple acts and gestures on his part snowball into a series of misunderstandings and embarrassing situations. Accompanying Larry on his daily adventures are his wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines) and his manager Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin) as well as a host of Hollywood and Broadway celebrities who make regular guest appearances… Blurring the line between fiction and reality, Curb Your Enthusiasm is the perfect sequel to Seinfeld. In a nutshell, it’s a glimpse of what would’ve been had Jerry and George’s pilot been picked up by NBC (which ultimately raises the question - who wouldn’t love a show about a man sentenced to be another man’s butler?)…

The Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 2) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere “The Car Salesman” in which Larry shocks his friends and family by deciding to take on a job as a car salesman. Meanwhile, Cheryl and Larry purchase a seaside holiday home from Jason Alexander’s agent only to learn that the abode comes with its own disturbing “house sound,” and Larry contemplates launching a new TV series with Jason chronicling the life of an unemployed typecast actor… Other notable episodes from Season 2 include “The Shrimp Incident” in which Larry comes to believe that an HBO executive stole some shrimp from his Chinese takeout order, and “Shaq” in which Larry earns the wrath of L.A. when he inadvertently trips Shaquille O’Neal at a Lakers game…

Below is a list of episodes included on the Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 11 (The Car Salesman) Air Date: 09-23-2001
Episode 12 (Thor) Air Date: 09-30-2001
Episode 13 (Trick or Treat) Air Date: 10-07-2001
Episode 14 (The Shrimp Incident) Air Date: 10-14-2001
Episode 15 (The Thong) Air Date: 10-21-2001
Episode 16 (The Acupuncturist) Air Date: 10-28-2001
Episode 17 (The Doll) Air Date: 11-04-2001
Episode 18 (Shaq) Air Date: 11-11-2001
Episode 19 (The Baptism) Air Date: 11-18-2001
Episode 20 (The Massage) Air Date: 11-25-2001

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find where you can find more reviews of movies and TV series. Source: http://thedvdreport.blogspot.com/2006/02/curb-your-enthusiasm-season-2-dvd.html

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Yes, it’s true. One hour a night with a Spanish soap opera can improve your Spanish!

So you studied Spanish in high school, but you can’t speak a word of it. Or maybe you spoke Spanish at home with your family, your vocabulary is limited and you’re not sure of your grammar. Now you want to improve your Spanish, but the thought of heading into a Spanish classroom makes you cringe. And besides, who has the time?

Don’t worry, the solution is right at your fingertips - literally - as you take hold of your TV remote control, your radio dial, your computer keyboard, and a host of books and magazines that you never even dreamed you could read. With just a little background in the language, a Spanish-English dictionary, and the tips below, you can increase your fluency without ever setting foot in a Spanish class. And all at no cost to you!

Not that there’s anything wrong with Spanish classes, of course - on the contrary, if you can find a college evening course or an adult school class that fits your schedule, you will improve your Spanish even faster. But these same tips apply even if you’re taking a Spanish class, and they will dramatically increase your learning.

The key to learning any language is to immerse yourself in that language as much as possible. Think about how you learned to speak English as a child. You probably listened to English for at least two full years before you started to speak even a few words. But you understood much more than you could say, and eventually you learned how to speak. You had absorbed so much of the language that it started to come out naturally.

So why not re-create this type of immersion environment in your own home, to learn Spanish? You can do it with the most basic resources, at little or no cost to you. And it’s not even a chore; it’s fun!

Just follow these five easy tips for improving your Spanish on your own:

1. Get hooked on a telenovela.

You might think you should be watching the Spanish news to learn better Spanish. Wrong! When have you ever heard a conversation that sounded like a Dan Rather sentence? And do you want to be able to recite facts or have a conversation? Most of us are learning Spanish so that we can communicate and have conversations with Spanish speakers. Telenovelas are 100% dialogue - pure conversation. The situations are easily understandable (and often funny, either inadvertently or on purpose), and the actors always speak clearly.

Pick a telenovela that is on at a time that’s convenient for you and that you can watch every day. And just start watching. Stick with it; eventually you will get to know the characters and their situations. Watching conversations in context will help you understand what’s going on, and soon you will be picking up sentences and phrases. Keep a notepad close by to jot down any new words that pique your interest, and look them up later, either online or in your Spanish dictionary.

And don’t worry about getting “hooked” forever. Unlike U.S. soap operas, Spanish telenovelas only run about six months, and they actually have an ending.

2. Listen to the music

Shakira, Shakira … she makes a man want to speak Spanish …. and women too, actually!

How many songs can you sing in languages that you don’t speak? Probably more than you realize. How about Frere Jacques? Guantanamera?

Never underestimate the power of music in language learning. Sing along with a song, and you are speaking that language. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the words; you are picking up the rhythm, phrasing and accent of the language. You can figure out the words and the meaning later.

We are fortunate to live in a country in which every major area has one or more Spanish language radio stations. Keep your car radio tuned to one of them. And if you hear a song or an artist that you particularly like, buy it for your mp3 player so that you can listen to it as much as possible. At the same time, download the lyrics from the internet, and use your Spanish dictionary to help you understand the meaning.

3. Read all about it!

Yes, you can read in Spanish. It doesn’t matter how little or how much Spanish you have had. Pick up a Spanish language magazine or newspaper and just look it over. Even better, find a magazine or book that relates to your particular interest. All the major bookstores now have a “Libros en Español” section, as well as People en Español and many other Spanish language magazines and newspapers. Pick out your reading selection, borrow a Spanish-English dictionary if you want, and spend an hour or so in the bookstore’s café with your books, a cafécito, and a willingness to explore.

Here is the most important part: don’t worry about the words you don’t know. Focus on the words you do know, or can figure out. How many words can you recognize because they look like a word in English? Which ones can you figure out from their context? Can you guess the general meaning of the article? Of the words you don’t understand, pick four or that you think are really crucial to the article, and look them up. Then read through the article again. If you want, write your new words down on index cards so you can flip through them later during a free moment.

4. Let’s go surfin’ now ….

The internet is your free ticket to limitless language practice! Take a few minutes each day to explore outstanding resources such as online newspapers, videos, and articles on whatever your passion is. Use your Spanish dictionary to help you decide a keyword to search.

You can also find free sites for Spanish instruction. Here’s where you can get your grammar practice at your own pace. One excellent and free site is http://www.studyspanish.com.

5. Take it to the streets

You will be amazed at the connections that can come from a simple “Hola, Buenos días.”

Seek out opportunities to connect with native Spanish speakers - every opportunity you get - every day! Maybe you have a relative who speaks Spanish, or a co-worker, or a neighbor, or maybe you’re just sitting next to someone on the bus or subway and you realize that person speaks Spanish. Just smile and say a simple greeting in Spanish. You’re likely to end up in a short and pleasant conversation; if not, at the very least, you’ve made a friendly gesture and will make someone smile.

Don’t worry about being fluent. Just be open to communicating! After all, isn’t that why you want to learn Spanish? And chances are, you will receive compliments and encouragement for your efforts.

And who knows, you might even end up in a conversation discussing the latest telenovela, Shakira’s newest hit song, or an article you just read in Spanish. Bravo! You are on your way!

Ruth Kunstadter makes it easy to teach and learn Spanish by tapping into the incredible resources of U.S. Latino communities. Visit Ruth at http://www.chispaproductions.com to find more ways to inspire children to love languages!

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Bob Seger developed into one of the most popular heartland rockers over the course of the ’70s. Originally He was a hard-driving rocker in the vein of fellow Michigan garage rockers the Rationals and Mitch Ryder. He successfully created a unique American Sound which was actually the combination of the driving charge of Ryder’s Detroit Wheels with Stonesy garage rock and devotion to hard-edged soul and R&B(http://events.ixs.net/R-B-Soul.aspx ). Inspite of many lost opportunities of the initial Years of his career, Seger finally achieved a national audience in 1976 with the back-to-back release of his albums Live Bullet and Night Moves. These two Albums were a superb success which helped Seger in retaining his popularity for the coming two decades, releasing seven Top Ten, platinum-selling albums in a row.

Seger shown his interest in music in his early age. He began playing music in 1961 as the leader of the Detroit-based trio the Decibels; his future manager, Eddie “Punch” Andrews was also a member of the band. Moving to Ann Arbor, he played with the Town Criers before he became the keyboardist and vocalist for Doug Brown & the Omens. The band released “The Ballad of the Yellow Beret,” that was parody of the Sgt. Barry Sadler song “The Ballad of the Green Beret.” However, It proved a set back for them when Sadler threatened a lawsuit against this song.Resultantly, The single was withdrawn shortly after its release.

The First Solo Single of Seger was “East Side Story, which was released in 1966. This song gained huge popularity and soon it became a regional hit. Many other local hit singles followed on Cameo Records, including “Persecution Smith” and “Heavy Music,” before his label folded. The Year 1968 was very important in the Career of Bob Seger as in this year, He successfully formed the Bob Seger System and got the golden opportunity of signing with the reknowned Capitol Records. His debut album, Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man, was released by Capitol Records in the spring of this eventual year. The title track met a grand success and it became a national hit, climbing to number 17.

Seger achieved a commercial breakthrough with his 1976 album Night Moves which featured several hits including the highly evocative title song. Night Moves became a blockbuster, generating the hit singles “Night Moves,” “Mainstreet,” and “Rock & Roll Never Forgets.” Stranger in Town, released in the summer 1978, was just as successful, featuring the hits “Still the Same,” “Hollywood Nights,” “We’ve Got Tonite,” and “Old Time Rock & Roll.” His most recognizable songs are almost certainly “Old Time Rock & Roll” (featured in the film Risky Business) and “Like a Rock” (most familiar to many younger Americans through its association with a long-running Chevrolet ad campaign). Seger also co-wrote the Eagles #1 hit song “Heartache Tonight” from their 1979 album The Long Run.

Keeping in view of his grand successes, Seger was acknowledged as America’s most popular rockers. Seger’s next album, 1980’s Against the Wind, became his first number one album and all of its big hits — “Fire Lake,” “Against the Wind,” “You’ll Accomp’ny Me” — were ballads. The live album Nine Tonight continued his multi-platinum success in 1981, selling three million copies and peaking at number three.

Seger released his next popular Album “The Distance” in 1982.While The Distance featured “Shame on the Moon,” his biggest hit single to date, it had a record breaking sales of a million copies which shows his unmatched popularity.Seger also began to drastically reduce his recording and touring schedules — he only released one other album, 1986’s Like a Rock, during the ’80s. Like a Rock and its supporting tour were both successes, paving the way for “Shakedown,” a song taken from the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop II, to become Seger’s lone number one hit in 1987. Four years after its release, he returned with The Fire Inside. Although the album went platinum and reached the Top Ten, it only appealed to Seger’s devoted following, as did 1995’s It’s a Mystery, which became his first album since Live Bullet to fail to go platinum, leveling off at gold status.

Also during 2004, Seger was working on his first new album in 10 years, titled Face the Promise which was released on September 12, 2006. The first single, “Wait For Me”, landed on radio in July.

The Encyclopedia of Rock And Roll stated that “His throaty, authoritative delivery is a pleasure to listen to, and the Silver Bullet Band is superb.”

For more information about Bob Seger visit: http://events.ixs.net/concert-tickets/Pop-Rock/Bob-Seger/index.aspx

Heidi Grumm hosts http://events.ixs.net and expresses her passion for events through writing and discussion. She works for Less Corporation at http://www.hrlady.com Copyright Heidi Grumm.

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When you travel Australia, you will definitely want to take a piece of it with you. Not just by way of photographs or video footage, but by buying some of the best souvenirs that will remind you of the Land Down Under back home. It’s time we deviated though from the usual kangaroo-printed T-shirts, and bought something more rooted to the great Aussie spirit and culture.

Then you can say you didn’t just travel Australia, but really embedded yourself in it.

Wines. Blame it on the great climate, the rich generous soil, the amazing grape varieties, and the discriminating and relentless expertise of Aussie winemakers. Indeed, Australia is now considered the New World in producing wines. Olive Grove Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir; the list goes on, each one of them exquisitely flavored for every unique situation. Australia may be largely a beer-drinking nation, but its wondrous wines are taking centerstage too.

Didgeridoos. The didgeridoo is a musical instrument of the Aboriginal peoples, consisting of a long hollow branch or stick that makes a deep drone when blown. The stick is made out of a log hollowed out by termites, cleaned, and then covered with beeswax or resin for the mouthpiece. The Aborigines used didgeridoos both for recreational and ceremonial purposes, often accompanied by a pair of clapsticks that establish a precise beat for the songs. The didgeridoo is indeed sound of the earth.

Moleskins. Your Outback safari apparel wouldn’t be complete without a moleskin clothing. Moleskins are densely-woven 100% cotton cloth with a soft, velvety feel like that of a mole. Whereas before, moleskins were mostly worn by stockmen, shearers, and graziers, now suburban people have also embraced the warm cozy garments.

Merino wool. Australia’s 101 million merino sheep yields the longest wool fibres in the world. The lusciousness of Merino wool is transformed into the most gorgeous of clothings including hand-knitted sweaters and jackets as well as beautiful soft blankets and bedding. When buying, always look for the Pure New Wool label to guarantee quality.

Don’t just travel Australia. Rather, explore, plunge, get involved. Then take its whole down-underness with you back home.

Neoli Marcos

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Matthew Sherborne started marketing on the internet in 1998 with his first website devoted to his commercial diving business. Matthew accumulated real-life knowledge of using low-cost advertising techniques and continually searched for new and innovative marketing methods. Through all of his research looking for the perfect system of promotion, he’s discovered the most successful method has always been word of mouth advertising. With that knowledge he’s been an enthusiastic supporter of searching and utilizing viral marketing techniques.

Since selling his diving service business in 2002 he’s traveled from San Diego to Hawaii and finally to the San Francisco Bay area. Working a variety of labor intensive jobs, above and below ground and water, he decided in early 2005 to put 100 percent of his effort into internet marketing.

Since that time he’s focused exclusively on the most effective low-cost marketing techniques to boost his online business. He now offers the very same techniques that’s made him successful and yielded incredible results. Matthew has a passion for marketing and it shows as he shares today’s most radically effective promotional techniques.

Matthew will take you behind the scenes to show you exactly how he makes his lucrative income and how he markets his own business online. With his “nothing held back” philosophy you can expect to get all of the inside secrets and sales boosting tactics to use on your very own online business.

Question: I read your ebook, “MySpace Cash Machine”, and it is excellent. How did you get started marketing on My Space, and how did you find all of the techniques for marketing on My Space?

Answer: I got started marketing on My Space quite by accident in late 2005, in fact if not for a musician friend of mine, I would have missed it entirely.

He sent me to his My Space profile and told me how he was receiving some great exposure to his website from linking there. I’d heard in the media that My Space was literally exploding in popularity and that was enough for me to take the opportunity seriously enough to learn more. I discovered not only was My Space fast becoming the most popular website online, it held the potential to reach millions of people for free.

After some research I found that the most commented on and popular profiles were the ones that focused entirely on one subject and did so enthusiastically. Then I carefully studied what others were doing on their My Space profiles in regards to sending bulletins, comments and setting up profiles. My ultimate goal was to uncover exactly how they were making money.

I then replicated the successful money-making techniques by fine tuning my profile and website offer. By targeting one specific high-paying niche, it maximized results and brought more income. I then looked for other high interest topics within My Space and started experimenting with a variety of niche topics with different themed profiles designed to funnel people to websites exactly suited to their wants.

Question: Why do you think My Space is such an effective place to market your business? Why would you recommend My Space?

Answer: For starters, My Space currently has more than an 80 percent market share over all social networking websites. This accounts for a total number of profiles in excess of 100 million and My Space is currently ranked the 5th most visited website on the planet. As you can imagine the sheer number of people on My Space makes it an extremely attractive place to find hungry customers.

Coupled with the fact that My Space allows you to customize your own webpage with HTML code and CSS to give it any kind of look you want and link to outside sources is irresistible. Imagine the potential of having a popular profile centered around a lucrative keyword and linking it to your own Adsense monetized website or sales page.

Once you’ve got a popular profile it becomes an incredible opportunity just waiting for you to plug in to it. Through the use of groups, forums, messages, events, comments, blogs, videos and classified advertising you have a multitude of ways to reach people interested in your products and turn them into your customers.

You can use My Space to get targeted customers for virtually any product you have to offer and you can grow your opt-in lists to continue the selling process. The best part is, you can use My Space to tap in to the most powerful kind of marketing ever known, word of mouth.

Question: What marketing technique do you find to be the most effective, and how do you use it? Would you tell us one or two of your best marketing tips?

Answer: As a marketer, the most important key to remember is that your My Space profile is created to attract viewers to your website. To do this, you must determine the most remarkable aspect of your product and turn that into your own persuasive story. Your whole profile must reflect your unique story and be structured so that it not only appeals to your target audience but compels them to find out more.

Your My Space picture is often the first thing that people see; make sure you have one that stands out. The best pictures stir up an emotion in its viewer. A good rule of thumb is to select pictures that are relevant to your product and audience. My favorite strategy is to use a movable gif that is a little larger than the average and captures the viewer’s attention.

You’ll want to spend time selecting a strong headline for your profile since it will appear next to your picture. It will also be visible from comments you leave on other profiles and on the My Space search function. It’s important that you use proper search engine optimization techniques in your headline and throughout your profile’s content. The headline should reflect your overall strategy with important keywords.

Leveraging the efforts of many is key to building a profitable My Space marketing business. One of the best ways to market your offer on My Space after you’ve established your profile is through the use of groups. You have the opportunity to start a group on virtually any topic you want. When you start a group you have control over who can join and its content. To get your group started send a bulletin to everyone on your friends list. Once you’ve got a loyal following to your group, people will gladly share the information with others.

If you want to send viewers to a specific offer, sending bulletins to your My Space profile’s friends list will get you instant results. You can use bulletins to offer something of perceived value to gain the acceptance of friends and have them become outspoken advocates for your product.

Commenting on popular profiles will get people coming to check you out. People on My Space love to share things with each other. If you have a unique video, funny picture or contest, you can post it on popular profiles and really spread your message. Once the word is out, its potential to spread is limitless.

Question: What trends do you see in marketing on My Space? What do you see in the future of My Space?

Answer: My Space has grown so fast due in large part to its success facilitating direct person to person interaction. Whether it’s sharing pictures, videos or content, people are moving away from disruptive media sources and embracing those that involve user generated content. You can expect to see more consumer created media begin to appear on profiles and anticipate more people willing to share it.

In the near future people will not only research a particular product, but go to My Space to learn about the product’s creator. Building relationships and connecting with others of like mind is what My Space is all about . For savvy marketers, this means allowing the consumer to feel like they have a direct connection with you.

Marketers who expose others to non interruptive sources of information will have the greatest success, as quality content becomes the accepted norm. Competition will intensify among traditional advertisers as the ad dollars spent on social networks approaches the billions. With its massive success My Space will branch out to being viewed via cell phones and expand to other countries like China and Japan.

Most importantly, successful online marketing will transform to become continually viral. Instead of buying a product based on brand alone, consumers will seek out and follow the recommendations of others. Marketers who have framed their message to be extraordinary will benefit from having it shared and heard worldwide.

Question: What projects are you currently working on, and where do you plan to take your business from here?

Answer: My future is focused primarily on helping other small business owners strategically place themselves in their market to stand out among the corporations without spending a fortune. The objective is to build resources that bridge the gap between consumers and marketers and generate customers who become outspoken supporters.

I plan on taking my business forward by concentrating on the most effective new forms of media. You’ll hear a whole lot more of me as I venture into online video, audio products and viral promotions. My business plan incorporates a series of interconnected products all pursuing the goal of pushing the marketing boundaries to new limits.

Jinger Jarrett is the author of the book, “Internet Marketing for Free: The GUIDE (on Amazon). Get your free ebook download at http://www.askjingernow.com Matthew Sherborne is the author of the ebook, My Space Cash Machine: http://www.cashmachinebook.com/ Get your free ecourse now.

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iPhone Downloads - 10 Tips on Finding the Best iPhone Download Site

The iPhone is finally here! As a result, many free download sites have popped up that allow for downloading copyrighted material. It is best to avoid these sites as I am sure you do not want the authorities knocking on your door.

However, there are iPhone download membership sites that provide an excellent alternative to itunes. The problem is determining which of these iPhone sites provides the best service. Here are some tips to help.

1. Per iPhone Download Fee vs. One-Time Fee

Many iPhone sites will offer free membership, but then charge you for each file you download, 99 cents or $1.99. If you love your music as much as me, this can get expensive very quickly. Sites that charge a one-time fee are the way to go. You will save a lot of money in the long run.

2. iPhone Music Download Variety

It is true what they say: Variety is the spice of life. You probably want to find an iPhone download site that offers files from all genres of music.

3. File Selection for Movies, TV, and other Media

Having access to a lot of files is perhaps the most important thing to look for if you want to get your money’s worth! Fortunately, most iPhone download sites have overwhelmingly large databases, in the range of 100,000,000 files. (That is one-hundred million files!) Also, make sure the site you are looking at offers music, movies, tv shows, games, and software, not just music. Remember, we are trying to get the most for our money!

4. Website Interface

This is an important feature because the easier a website is to navigate, the easier it will be for you to find what you are looking for. Although you cannot see the member’s area until you sign-up, you can get a good idea just by browsing around the non-member’s area of the site.

5. Free iPhone Software for File Compatibility

A quality iPhone download site should provide you with free software to help you in downloading those movies and mp3s. They should also provide free converting software for files that need to be converted to play on the iphone.

6. Fast iPhone Download Speeds

Does the site offer fast download speeds? Some sites with small servers will put a limit on download speeds in order to allow more people to connect. Look for sites that do not have any such limits.

7. Safety of Files

When downloading anything off the internet, there is always a risk of the files being infected with spyware, adware, or viruses. The best iPod download sites will screen all their files before you download them. Additionally, you may want to have adware scanning software on your computer before you sign up. This is a great back-up just in case any corrupted files slip through the cracks.

8. Reputation

Does the iPhone download site have a good reputation? You can judge this by the credentials they list on their site and through various iPhone related forums.

9. 24/7 Customer Support

Customer Support is a very important thing. The best iPhone download sites will have an extensive FAQ (frequently asked questions) section that covers most common questions. However, don’t hesitate to contact a site with a question to determine how long it takes them to respond and in what manner. They should respond to your inquiry within 24 hours. If not, you may want to consider another service.

10. Secure Payment Processing

This usually is not a problem, as most online merchants accept payments through Paypal, Clickbank, or another trusted source. With these companies, you do not have to worry about anyone reading or accessing your personal information.

Did you find this information helpful? You can discover the best unlimited iPhone Downloads at the lowest cost by checking out http://www.TopiPhoneDownloads.com

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In order to understand how alpha meditation can help improve your creativity, it is important to start by understanding what binaural beats and brainwave entrainment are.

Brainwave entrainment is the use of some external stimulus, usually different sounds that a person will hear with stereo headphones, to induce a certain level of brain wave activity. When a person’s brainwave activity is artificially altered by these means, it will subtly shift their awareness and perception.

Using binaural beats is a common and effective method of brainwave entrainment. In order for the binaural beats to be effective, a person must be using stereo headphones so that they can hear a different sound in each ear.

Most of the time, the binaural beats will be embedded underneath the layers of tracks on a song, usually soothing ambient music or soundscapes, so that the person listening can focus on the music and not on the frequencies they are hearing. If you either find or create effective binaural beat audios to listen to in stereo heaphones, the frequencies should blend perfectly into the background, and you should not be able to consciously notice them unless you really try to isolate them.

Binaural beats are the most effective this way, when they are loud enough to still have an effect on your brainwave activity but quiet enough that you do not notice them. Depending on the difference between the two frequencies you decide to use, you can entrain any desired brainwave state and state of mind.

The ideal brainwave frequency for alpha meditation is about 9-10hz, so if we wanted to create a set of binaural beats that could be used to artificially induce this specific frequency, we could play 110hz in the left ear and 120hz in the right ear.

To any person who is hearing these different frequencies in each ear, their brain will act like a tuning fork and it will lock on to the difference between the two frequencies, which in this case would be 10hz.

‘Alpha’ is the name that we use for the range of brainwave frequencies from around 8hz-13hz. We go through the alpha brainwave state many times during a 24-hour period, and it is usually we are in a light sleep and are dreaming. You can also reach this state by listening to soothing soundscapes or chill-out music, preferably music with alpha binaural beat already embedded in the layers, and simply lying down and resting. When a person reaches this alpha state while they are still conscious, their imagination will be highly active and they can see very vivid imagery, like an intense dream.

After practicing this daily for a short while, even just a week or two, a person’s intuitive creativity will naturally be higher and coming up with new ideas will seem easier.

Remaining in the intuitive alpha state for extended periods is the key to increasing your creativity, because this frequency stimulates the right-side creative portion of the human brain. After doing daily alpha meditation and staying in the alpha state for 30 minutes or more per day, your creative visualization capabilities will markedly increase, and it is this creative visualization that can help you achieve any outcome you desire.

If you are interested in pursuing alpha meditation, you can do a number of things. While it does not require music with alpha binaural beats, this is highly recommended because your brain will automatically lock on to the alpha frequency.

You can go to your local music store and look for CDs on ‘alpha mediation’ or ‘alpha relaxation,’ or you can also look online at places like iTunes. Or if you would like to have full control over your alpha meditation experience, you can embed any song of your choosing with binaural beats using special audio software.

Creating your own binaural beat audios will give you full control over your meditation experience, and you can experiment with different frequencies around the 7-10 hz area to see which ones give you the biggest boost in intuition and creativity.

Richard Weber

Blog audio, creative, human, meditation, music, software, song, time

Buying rap beats online is quickly growing and it’s great to use the internet to bring talented producers and artists from different parts of the world together. However, like with any game, there are some players who do things right, and others who don’t. We’ve therefore compiled this simple list of tips for buying rap beats online in order to help aspiring artists out there pick the right website/producers to work with.

We now have four years experience selling rap beats online through our website, www.LaCantinaProductions.com and we hope that these tips will prove useful to you!

1. Music Licenses - Understand them

Know the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive licenses. An exclusive license will grant you the exclusive (hence the name) right to use the beats for your projects.

A non-exclusive license will give you the right to use the beat for your musical projects, however the producer retains the right to sell the beat to other artists too.

2. Music Licenses - Know which one to buy

Exclusive licenses can be expensive, but essential if you’re looking to commercially release an album. If you’re however recording a demo or mixtape, a non-exclusive license is fine, however make sure you check with the producer what rights you get as these will vary from site to site.

3. Prices, don’t pay too much!

Owners of beat sites often get carried away by their big ego’s and will charge inflated prices for standard beats.

A rough guideline for prices follows:

Non-Exclusive Licenses - $15 - $50

Exclusive Licenses - $100 - $1000

Of course, the above prices depend on the producer’s popularity and talent. However, we would not recommend paying more than $1000 for an exclusive license bought online from someone you have never met in person.

4. Websites, only buy from trusted ones

Any proper online business will make sure they have a trustworthy image. Therefore make sure that the site you’re buying from has at least one or two of these:

- Full contact details, phone number, email, mailing address

- Privacy Policy

5. Look for trust symbols

On top of the above, the website should also have third party trust symbols. These are certifications from other companies that prove the website is trustworthy and not fraudulent.

Some symbols to look for are:

- BBB Certification

- Paypal Verified

- Shopping reviews

- Hacker Safety Certifications

- Antivirus Safety Certifications

Also make sure these symbols link through to another page that explains what they mean and how the website in question fits the criteria.

6. Email the site and check if they reply

Crazy, but certain beat sites will not bother doing this. Would you want to do business with someone who doesn’t care about talking to you?

Also, this will prove that the website is a serious online business with a team of human beings running it properly.

7. Look for testimonials

This is not essential, but it’s always good if you can see that others have dealt with the site before and have been satisifed with their beats.

8. Avoid producers who only use a Soundclick/MySpace page to sell beats

A domain name costs less than $15 a year, surely it’s not a good sign if someone doesn’t even have the money to buy that and set up their own independent website?

9. Search for the site on Google

This is a quick easy way to check a site’s reputation. Do any bad comments show up, or anything else unusual?

10. Is the site alive?

Does anyone update it or is it dead? We’re all very busy making beats, but adding some small updates once in a while is within everyone’s reach. Therefore look for blog posts, new beat uploads and even small updates such as changing the current year noted on the site!

Jerry Spina is Founder, Producer and Web Designer for http://www.LaCantinaProductions.com, one of the web’s top audio production sites.

Blog arts, audio, Blog, car, care, design, human, internet, lease, music, review, running, tips

Finding the right gift for my dad, fathers-in-law, brothers and brothers-in-law is always a little challenging for me. These guys don’t ask for much. As a group, they are pretty content. They work hard and if they get an idea for something they want, they figure out a way to get it. When I finally think I’ve got their styles down, they change their whole look. I’m serious! And if I even dared to venture into the world of gadgets, I am sure to pick out the ones they’ll never use.

Well here are ten man holiday gift ideas I have found that almost any guy would like. Quite a few are humorous, maybe because my favorite thing to do for all these hard working men, is lighten them up.

1. T-shirt With a Funny Saying - Look online for a company that specializes in unique shirts or create your own with fabric paints or markers. You can put a joke with the first line on the front of the t-shirt and the punch line on the back OR you can find humorous quotes from one of this man’s favorite authors, politicians or celebrities. One idea is to take a solid colored t-shirt and put a big gold star on it that says, “TV Sheriff” with the words “REMOTE CONTROL” on the pocket. Whatever saying you choose, make him extra happy by getting the right size t-shirt. My husband is a smaller guy who really appreciates a shirt that fits him properly, after receiving many that could fit two of him! Don’t forget that 100% cotton will shrink some the first time it is washed.

2. Rare Indoor Plant - Where I see caring for plants as a chore, many guys I know look at it as an art form. My brother-in-law collects bonsai trees, carefully working them into the shape he plans. He shows us pictures of miniature oaks and maples with the button sized leaves turning gold and red in the fall. My husband enjoys miniature cactus and has kept one growing in a tiny cup of sand since we got married almost ten years ago. Read up on plants that would match with your guy’s lifestyle, decor or interests. Consider a plant from his favorite country or one mentioned in a book or movie he likes.

3. Memory Film - Collect slides, photos or video footage of him as a child on one video or DVD. Put it together yourself using a home editing program, order a package deal from a reputable editing company or hire someone you know to do it for you. Add his favorite music as the background sound.

4. Cure for Memory Loss - If there is an item he is always losing, get him one for every room of the house…and the car, if need be! For instance, guitar picks (that would be for my husband), pairs of scissors, nail clippers, slippers, tools, vitamins, …you get the idea.

6. Night of Laughs - Order him a new or used DVD of his favorite comedian doing a stand up routine. Give him tickets to a local comedy club. Download hilarious clips from the internet, creating your own collection. Whatever you do, make him laugh.

7. Survival Bag - Put together a kit for whatever hobby or activity he likes best. One lady I heard of did this very creatively for all the hunters in her family. She took cotton camouflage fabric and sewed very simple small bags, using jute twine to make a drawstring. At a discount store she found items to fill the bags with such as: utensils, matches, canned meat or jerky, snacks, tooth brush, comb, soap, washcloth, tissues, first aid supplies. Since she bought these items in bulk, the cost was very reasonable per bag. I would add a different sheet of jokes for every guy, printed off the internet, to give them entertainment for the long hours of sitting. She painted each hunter’s name on his bag so they could tell them apart. The guys loved them!

8. Relaxation at Its Best - There isn’t a guy I know who wouldn’t want a really comfortable recliner. You can find sales on new ones all the time or if you really need to save, check out the classified ads in your newspaper or some good local used furniture stores. The ones I like to visit regularly have nice recliners at very discounted prices. Whatever you do, sit in the chair before you buy it. Some are more comfortable than others.

9. Special Delivery - Find a toy truck he would like - dumptruck, low rider, antique pickup - at a toy store or antique store. Fill the bed of the truck with all his favorite goodies such as candy bars, homemade cookies, caramels, etc. If you really want to surprise him, hide a gift certificate underneath all the treats.

10. One Man’s Treasure - What does this guy collect and treasure? Make him a display or collage to put up in his office, garage or room. You may need a shelf to hold things, a board to pin items to, a scrapbook, or a closed cabinet to protect his collection. If you can’t think of anything he collects, it may be that he is like my dad, who treasures his friends more than any of his “stuff”. He would enjoy a framed collage with photos of his hundreds of friends.

Melanie Farkas is the Holiday Gift Lady. She has gift ideas from all over the world at her website http://www.uniqueholidaygiftideas.com.

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