Homemade Carnival Games Ideas

Are you throwing a carnival party and need carnival games ideas?

Traditional carnival games are usually played at carnival booths. You usually exchange one or more tickets for a turn at a game. Examples of carnival games booths include the Duck Pond game, Hoopla, Toss the Ball, Knock the Can and of course, the Coconut Shy. If you are hosting a Carnival Party, you can hire games booths, or better still make your own. To make a simple carnival game booth, you need a small table, a cloth big enough to drape over the table (brightly colored if possible), a large piece of card and some paints or thick marker pens.

You simply drape the cloth over the table, letting it hang down the front of the table to the ground. Using your paints, or marker pens, write out a fun sign, stating the name of the game- you can be really creative here! Finally attach the sign to the cloth and there you have it- your very own homemade carnival game booth. If you really want to look authentic, buy some cheap, narrow, plastic piping (available from hardware stores), cut into lengths to make a rectangular frame for the booth (you'll need one long one, just a tiny bit longer than your table length, and two shorter ones (decide how high you wish the frame to be).

Use strong tape to bind the pieces of tubing together to form a three sided rectangle, then attach to the table, again securing with strong tape. You can hang a lightweight sign from this, but be a little careful- the frame won't tolerate too much weight. You can buy ready made games to use on your booths if you wish. However, you can make your own. Keep food cans, and rinse these out and dry off. Cover these cans with brightly colored paper and use to stack up for the Knock the Can game. Add a couple of bean bags- and your game is ready to play. To play, the guest throws the bean bags, one at a time, at the cans. If they knock all the cans over, they win. For the Coconut Shy, you will need to buy a few fresh coconuts. To make the stands for the coconuts, use empty soda bottles that have been rinsed out and dried. Cut the tops off the bottles and cover them with brightly colored paper. Place the bottles on the top of the table booth, spaced well apart, and put the coconuts on top of the bottles. Have three small balls, or bean bags, per turn, and you are ready to play.

To play, the party guest tosses the bean bags, or balls, one at time, at the coconuts. If they knock one off, they win. Toss the Ball is an easy game to make. Cover a waste paper basket with brightly colored paper, place it at the back of the booth, or on the ground. Place a marker a fair distance away from the basket. This is where the party guests will stand to take their turns. Use any ball you like- for example a basketball or a baseball- it must fit into the target waste paper basket. To take a turn, the guest stands on the marker and throws the ball. If it goes into the basket and stays there, they win. You have two main options for prizes. Either give your guests tickets when they win a game, which they exchange for a prize at the end. Or, give a small prize at the booth to each winner. Have fun!

Lori has been planning events and parties for over 15 years. She's organised and hosted everything from high profile celebratory events with over 400 guests, to home based family parties for her three children. Need more great Carnival Party ideas, then check out Carnival Birthday Party ideas, and for party ideas for all occasions take a look at http://www.find-party-ideas.com

Testing a Transformer - How To Accurately Test A Transformer

There is two types of transformers in the market- linear transformer and switch mode power transformer. The transformers design is different. Sometimes it is just referred as ac transformer. Linear transformer mostly used in radio, project kits, VCD and etc while switch mode transformer can be found in Monitor, Tv, Fax and so on.

A transformer consists of two or more coils wound on the same core. For power transformers, the core material is usually iron. For a radio-frequency transformer, the core material is usually ferrite or air. The basic property of a transformer is to change AC voltage. A transformer cannot change direct current voltage. A step down transformer has a lower AC output voltage at its secondary winding than the AC input voltage to its primary winding. Conversely, a step up transformer has a higher secondary than primary voltage. The transformer laminations or coating of shellac, enamel or varnish is to insulate adjacent turns from shorts between winding. I will not go too details about how transformer work and transformer calculation as you can read more details from most electrical and electronic transformers books.

How to test transformers: Transformer failures are relatively rare in most electronic equipment, compared with other components. If too much current goes through a coil or winding, the winding heats up and can either open up completely, or the insulation between turns of wire can break down, causing the coil to be partly or completely shorted.

Just like a coil, you can check continuity of any primary or secondary transformer winding. The actual value of DC resistance you read is rather meaningless, but at least you will know whether a winding is open. Checking linear transformer is quite straight forward. Apply the ac voltage to the primary winding and expect output voltage at the secondary side. No or low output voltage means the transformer winding has open or shorted winding. Look for any evidence of overheating, such as darkened or blackened areas or a burnt smell.

About how to test a power transformer-it is a little bit complicated. You cannot apply ac voltage to the equipment and expect the desire output at the secondary side without connect to load otherwise over voltage will happen (because you have removed all the secondary load) and will blow the power section which consist of power fet, pwm ic and etc. Switch mode power supply are designed to run with load while linear transformer can be test without load.

The best way to test a switch mode power transformer is first remove it from the board. Check only the primary winding as secondary winding failures are exceedingly rare. How do we know which one is the primary winding? Trace from the big filter cap the positive pin to see where the circuit goes. It will go to one of the pin of the transformer. Then look for the power fet middle pin which is the Drain and it will lead to another pin of the transformer. This two pins is the primary winding of the transformer. Checking the resistance of the primary winding only can reveal whether it is open but it cannot check if it has developed a shorted winding. Only by using a ringer test you will know if it shorted or not. A shorted turn in the primary winding can cause the power section to blow.

The cheapest ringer tester that i came across is Dick Smith LOPT METER or flyback tester. Just connect the probes to the primary winding and the result are instantly seen from the Led bar graph. 4-8 bar represent a good winding, 1-2 bar represent partial short and if the led goes off means there is a heavy short in the winding. Besides checking the transformer it can be use to check B+ COIL, horizontal yoke coil and flyback primary winding and ballast (choke).

The expensive ringer tester is from sencore equipment. Sencore LC102 and LC103C besides checking capacitor it also have the capability to check all kind of winding. Whether it is a low voltage transformer, high voltage transformer, current transformer, pulse transformer, electric transformer, custom transformer this equipment will be able to check and test it.

If you do not wish to invest on this tester you may use a light bulb to check it. Remove one of the primary winding pin and connect a 60 watt light bulb. One end to the circuit while the other to the transformer pin. If the bulb light and didn't goes off suspect a shorted winding and if the light goes off, the winding is ok.

Transformer repair is not easy and it require a good skill to do it. Most of the transformer repairer preferred to rewind bigger winding such as fan, car alternator and starter. Switch mode power transformer is a little bit difficult to rewind because of the small size and low price.

Jestine Yong is a electronic repairer and a writer. For more information about how you can test electronic components like a professional please visit his website at http://www.testingelectroniccomponents.com

Planning The Blue and Gold Banquet For Scouts

The first part of planning the Blue & Gold banquet is choosing the location. You will need a space that can accommodate all the dens and their families (50-200 people.) Do you meet at the regular meeting space or rent a hall at church, the community center, or a school gymnasium, etc...

Next brainstorming the theme is important. Is it going to be a birthday celebration? After all, the blue & gold is really a celebration of the boy and girl scouts' birthday. A circus theme, mardi gras, dancing with the stars, etc... are all avenues a pack could explore. Depending on the theme the pack might choose different dens to present different elements of the theme. For example, a circus theme allows a den to pick juggling and talk about all the projects a den/pack needs to juggle. While another Den could demonstrate acrobatics, maybe a poem or acting out a skit about tumbles and falls and discuss how a scout jumps back into the project even if there is a stumble backwards. A third Den, could even put on a clown make up and do some comedy skits on cooking, tying knots, etc... to really add some fun to the program.

Now before that big night comes...arrange thru e-mails or calls a list of who is bringing what to eat. One strategy might be to assign 1/3 of the families to bring salads, 1/3 pasta/entrees; and the other 1/3 desserts. That way you are not ending up with 2 dozen desserts and 1 spaghetti dinner.

Often the highlight of the banquet is live entertainment as a reward for the scouts year round commitment and hard work. A Magic show is quite often the entertainment of choice; because it's fun, exciting, and family friendly. Offering a special rate is a good idea to help scouts afford quality entertainment.

Customized scouting shows can tie into ideas and themes scouts live by. Being prepared...for example, bring 3 scouts up on the stage that cannot juggle on their own, but by working together they can create a juggling exercise they succeed at. Another example is a comedy by-play on the cooking badge. Become a cartoonish cowboy chef that proceeds in teaching elements of the cooking badge.

Include the Den leader in a mind reading exercise that comically shows how they pre-read their scouts thoughts to stir them in a good direction.

Planning brings success. The more planning of each element the more memorable the Den/Pack leaders help create memories that the scouts will never forget.

Call Phil Smith a Maine Magician of Abracadabra Productions for more ideas on Blue and Gold Banquets 1-800-964-TRIX (8749).

The Best Podcast Hosting Providers

Podcasts are simply feeds of simple MP3 files that can be hosted by any web server. However, many podcast producers experience trouble keeping their sound files accessible to audiences, especially when podcast episodes become extremely popular. Most inexpensive web hosting providers do not necessarily specialize in podcast hosting. As a result, when many listeners try to access a single podcast file at once, hard drives can lock up, servers can seize, and hosting accounts can quickly run beyond their allotted bandwidth allowances.

Therefore, many experienced podcast producers host their podcast feeds and sound files at specialized services away from their main servers. That way, if a particular podcast gains national or worldwide attention, a podcast hosting provider can handle the load without charging excess overage fees. Likewise, many of the best podcast hosting providers charge far less for data storage than traditional web hosts, since audio files can easily be moved and copied within data centers. Here are three of the best podcast hosting providers on the market.

HipCast.com. Operated by Eric Rice, HipCast is one of the best podcast hosting providers for new podcasters. HipCast offers simple controls that let inexperienced users create and upload podcast files directly from their web browsers. With just a microphone and a live web connection, you can have your own podcast up and running in a matter of minutes. HipCast's affordable pricing, with packages under five dollars per month, make it easy for budding podcasters to experiment without breaking the bank.

AudioAcrobat.com. If AudioAcrobat resembles HipCast, it's because both services share a common technical infrastructure. The slightly more expensive AudioAcrobat does not share all of HipCast's easy blogging features, but it does carry a few unique benefits. For example, users can give out a "guest line" phone number that allows podcast listeners to leave reactions as voice mail messages that can be incorporated into podcast playlists.

Liberated Syndication. While requiring a little more technical sophistication, LibSyn is one of the best podcast hosting providers because of its innovative pricing structure. LibSyn charges its users based on the number of new material they upload to the server each month, with no charges for data transfer. That way, podcast producers that experience a sudden surge of interest after receiving attention from a major site like Fark or Digg can rest easy. LibSyn's powerful servers will handle a heavy load without putting an unexpected burden on the pocketbook.

The Story Behind Baptist Church Podcasts

When podcasting emerged as a way for technical experts to share information with each other a few years ago, few people considered the impact that podcasting could have on faith and spirituality. However, recent research indicates that Baptist Church podcasts and other religious "godcasts" are growing faster than all other types of podcasts, combined.

It makes perfect sense for Baptist Church podcasts to grow so rapidly - evangelical churches spread the word about Jesus Christ as part of their everyday mission. Tech-savvy preachers and their technical teams realized quickly that recorded sermons could easily be repurposed into podcasts. Preachers and other religious leaders can not only connect with members of their own flock, but they can attract faithful listeners from all over the world.

Baptist Church podcasts can also play a role in fundraising. Now that it has become relatively easy for listeners to subscribe to podcasts without much technical knowledge, churches and other religious organizations can reach out to listeners for online donations. Some podcasts use toll free telephone numbers to collect donations. But the most effective churches and charities use free or inexpensive tools from companies like PayPal to boost the amount in their collection baskets each week.

Baptist Church podcasts hold listener interest by mixing sermons and Bible readings with live music and commentary. In some communities church podcasts provide more comprehensive local news coverage than some radio stations or newspapers. Other religious podcasters use their audio feeds to promote contemporary Christian music and to promote church-sponsored events.

Baptist Church podcasts aren't the only religious audio feeds available online. Every religion practiced on Earth is represented somewhere in the podcasting universe. One reporter for the British newspaper, The Guardian, even found a Buddhist podcast produced as a hobby by a professional crisis management consultant.

Regardless of denomination, listeners of religious podcasts enjoy the opportunity to embrace their spirituality throughout the week. Some subscribers to Baptist Church podcasts report listening to upbeat religious music on the treadmills at their gyms. Other listeners use calming meditations and benedictions to relieve stress at work or on the road. Business travelers listen to Baptist Church podcasts in hotels and in airports to remain connected to their congregations while easing a sense of lonliness that can set in on the road.

As a growing number of churches invest in podcast production technology, expect to hear even more Baptist Church podcasts in the near future.

Additional Resources:

Edmonton Journal

The Guardian

The Story Behind the Guiding Light Podcast

With ratings flagging for one of the oldest shows in soap opera history, executives at CBS decided to launch an experimental podcast of "Guiding Light." In some ways, as Vauhini Vara of the Wall Street Journal points out, the move is a return to the show's roots. The Guiding Light Podcast reconnects the series to its origins as a radio soap opera in the late 1930's. Today's podcasting technology means that fans no longer have to gather around the radio - or even the television - to enjoy the devious plots cooked up by the characters of Springfield.

The Guiding Light Podcast offers much more than just the audio track from the previous day's episode. A podcast producer actually strips out commercials and remasters the audio so listeners can understand everything that happens in an episode. Since it can be difficult for listeners to know when a villain is hiding in the bushes or when a heroine is gazing longingly at her man, a narrator helps fill in gaps in the action.

CBS launched the Guiding Light Podcast without ads to help promote the show and build a more direct relationship with a younger audience. Network executives hope that the Guiding Light Podcast can encourage tech-savvy fans to start grabbing the television show using their TiVos. Once the audience for the Guiding Light Podcast grows large enough, producers expect to support its production costs with subtle advertising at the beginning and at the end of every episode.

Executives at other networks are eager to see how the Guiding Light Podcast helps grow audience for CBS. All of the broadcast television networks, as well as many cable outlets, have experimented with companion podcasts for their biggest shows. However, most of those podcasts are technical commentaries by the show's technical teams and plot recaps by show producers. The Lost podcast at ABC.com, the Battlestar Galactica podcast at SciFi.com, and the Doctor Who podcast at BBC.co.uk all represent some of the most popular companion podcasts for network television shows.

The Guiding Light Podcast has also inspired some unusual companions. A number of independent podcast producers are using old-time radio drama recording techniques to produce daily audio soap operas. These soap opera podcasts range from a few minutes a day to a few full hours each week, offering commuters and soap opera junkies more material to choose from.

More Resources:

CBS Guiding Light Podcast

Podcasting News

Soap Opera Podcasts from Odeo

Wall Street Journal

2006 for all podcast secrets by eContentCafe

Kids Birthday Invitations

Invitations For Kids Birthday Party

All Birthdays, including a baby, teen, sweet 16, or child of any age, should be celebrated with a party! And, what better way to get it all started than cute birthday invitations for kids. As a kid, it is normal for them to count down to these special days so you want to ensure that the invitations for children's birthdays live up to that excitement. Regardless of what number your child is celebrating, you'll certainly want to take the time to match your party invites to their style, interests, and the theme of the celebration.

By coordinating these, all elements of the party will just naturally come together. Whether its a 1st birthday or sweet 16 invitations, you will find that the online selections are immense, which will assist you in finding just the right child stationery. A kids birthday is an event that is second only to Christmas to them, so you want to devote lots of time and effort into planning this special day. From the most ideal kid party invites to the right food and décor, take the time to make this day special and unique.

Kids Birthday Invitations Available in a Wide Range of Styles

As you are browsing the online collections of the invitation for kids, you might want to let them serve as a way to spark your own creativity. After all, these events should be fun and special, which is why some of the better websites help you in getting that off the ground with just the right invites for your celebration.

Finding Affordable Birthday Invitation for Your Theme

Just about every baby birthday party is centered around some sort of theme, so you'll want to ensure that your invitations share that theme. Whether it is trains, cars, ballet, sports, or dress up, you'll find lots of great and creative cards online that will fit your plans and start your planning on the right foot. As you are searching, you'll find a few sites that even offer 10 FREE cards and Same Day Print and Ship, all to enhance their services to the customers.

Popular First Birthday Invitations that are Unique and Fun

One of the birth dates that every parent anticipates most is that very 1st one. The perfect invites for the first birthday party can assist you in having customized stationary that you can add a picture, invitation wording and more. Many of these websites make it easy and quick to upload a photo to your 1st invitation cards to make them even more special and personalized. Look for those gigantic collections of wording ideas, sayings and verses for all children birthdays to help you with your writer's block, which we all seem to get at the most inopportune times!

Affordable and Custom Kid Birthday Invitation

As the popularity of children party invitations grows, there are more and more websites offering various capabilities to customize the invitation and other stationery without having to pay a fortune. This means that you can use their patented personalization and instant preview features and create invites that you will love. But, the benefits don't stop there.

Their instant preview allows you to see what you have created before you complete your check out and payment. Then, many will email your professional proof within one hour to allow you to verify it one more time. Your inexpensive invites will be printed and shipped the same day, too. All of these many options assist in the creation of custom invite cards that you will get quickly.

Kiss Off Boring Sweet Sixteen Party Invites

If you have a daughter who is celebrating her highly popular 16th birthday, you'll certainly want to devote the time to finding the right sweet 16 stationery for that significant occasion. This task will be made much easier, faster and much more smoothly if you shop online. The sweet sixteen invites are available in a number of different styles and designs to ensure you find one that your daughter will love and be proud to send to her invited guests.

Because of the tremendous popularity of girls' 16th birthdays, you will find literally hundreds of different and exclusive images and designs to choose from. With these gigantic collections, you are certain to find the invitations for sweet sixteen birthday you are looking for. Birthdays are important regardless of the age, and for kids and teens, it is even more significant. That's why you'll want to ensure you choose the right baby birthday invitations that are personal and fun.

Read lots more about Printable Birthday Invitations and Imprintable Sweet 16 Invitations written by Sarah Porter for Announcements-Shoppe, CardsPersonalized, CardsShoppe, Express-Invitations, Invitations-inStyle and More!

Party Supplies - What You Need For the Birthday and Theme Party

The success of a party depends on whether the host has planned out the party to the best or not. Planning will include all the necessary things needed to make the fun happen. Getting the right gears for the party is important so the rest of the article is dedicated to give you to this most intriguing question on earth.

A celebration that is simple and among closest family members will not require too much effort when compared to the one where you have to invite almost the whole neighborhood. For a massive event, you have to carefully plan because it will involve larger funds. To avoid wastage or unnecessary spending, you ought to figure out way ahead for the party. You need to identify the types of supplies you will need and make sure it varied and within your budget. This also includes catering.

Birthday parties can be a straight forward one or a themed party. They will need similar types of supplies but different in a few ways.

The birthday party supplies you need are:

- Invitations. These are strictly optional although they are pretty common at children's parties as it adds to the excitement of an anticipated good time.

- Cake. This is the integral part of the celebrations, no matter the age. Somehow, a birthday party without a birthday cake seems incomplete.

- A party pack is something for the guests to take home. They are usually filled with delightful and adorable stuffs like hats, small toys and candies. The reasons why people are given party packs are to remind them of the great time they had at the party.

- Party props are only required if you are holding a themed birthday party. The most common props you will find are poppers, hats, confetti and streamers.

- Tableware. Whether or not to use casual or formal tableware (as in disposable paper plates and cups versus porcelain ones) is a personal choice and depends on the elaborateness of the celebration.

- Food and beverage will depend on the age of the guests at the party. You will have to decide whether your guests will be comfortable with a small buffet, sit down dinner (usually for small number of guests) or finger food served. There should always be alcoholic beverages when you are catering to adults. Never forget that you should include plain water as it helps with digestions and dehydration.

- Decoration will cover a whole lot of matter. They include ceilings, walls, entrance, tables, chairs and for outdoor parties, locations. What you will need are banners, flowers (with arrangements), balloons, furniture, plants and the list goes on.

Its easier to shop for general birthday party supplies. You need not stick to a specific theme or color. All you need to do is customize the things according to the age of the person celebrating the birthday.

Party with a theme will require you to put a little more effort into. For making Hawaiian Luau, Halloween Nights, Military Nights or Celebrity Evenings come true; you will need the other themed supplies besides the usual. You need your creativity and resourcefulness to play their part in making this party happen.

To make a themed party come more alive, the apparels should not be ignored. Hats, helmets, bell bottom pants will contribute to the air of the theme. Without apparels for a themed party, the party will seem mundane. The host can also play a part in keeping the theme alive. As a host, you can give out a few theme party supplies for the theme like pumpkins, cowboy hats or even grass skirts.

Another important theme party supply is themed decoration. No matter what the theme, the appropriate décor will make the event a success. A Hawaiian luau, for instance, will require an Aloha banner while Retro Nights will need the shiny disco ball to create the right atmosphere. This helps put everyone in the mood to really get into the swing of things.

Giving a great party is priceless. It is undeniable that decorations and party ware are important. Nevertheless there is still another thing that is more important than throwing a successful party, a safe party.

Raymond Plona is a leading expert in party planning and his store provides all forms of birthday party supplies for all your party needs. Some of his products includetheme party supplies, birthday party pinatas [http://www.partysolver.com/pinatas.html], birthday party balloons and many more.

Find a Friend - How to Find a Lost Friend Online for Free

Let's face it -- sometimes even the best of friends lose touch. There may be an old friend or even a romantic partner who you've lost touch with but desperately want to contact. If so, there are a variety of ways to find them. If you've got a computer with Internet access, then you have a variety of tools at your disposal that can help you locate most anyone. And the best part is, many of them are absolutely free!

The first thing you should do before beginning your search is write down everything you know about the person they're looking for. This may include their name, the school and/or college they attended, jobs they've held, whether or not they are married, if they are in the military. If you have mutual acquaintances it certainly wouldn't hurt to contact them. If they can't refer you directly to the person you're looking for, they may be able to provide you with information that can help you in your search.

Now it's time to evaluate your information and begin your online search. On sites like Anywho (http://www.anywho.com) and Infospace (http://www.infospace.com) you can perform a variety of different types of searches. There are reverse phone number searches, reverse street address searches and reverse email address searches. It's quite simple -- let's say you want to do a reverse phone number search. Simply enter the telephone number and submit, and you'll be presented with any available information.

If you know what school your friend used to attend or if the two of you were classmates, there are a couple of great sites that can help you reconnect. Both Classmates (http://www.classmates.com) and Reunion (http://www.reunion.com) offer free and paid memberships to help you locate and contact old classmates and friends. Perhaps you know your old friend is or was in the military. If so, a site like http://www.militaryconnections.com can assist you.

With all the free tools on the Internet, it's easier and faster than ever to track down old friends. So what are you waiting for? You could be corresponding with your friend in mere moments thanks to the lightning fast search options and amazing free resources on the Web today!

To find a lost friend or conduct some other people searches, visit http://www.PeopleSearchTools.net/ Today!

What is ASP.NET? -Top 12 Advantages of ASP.NET

What is ASP.NET? ASP.NET stands for Active Server Pages .NET and is developed by Microsoft. ASP.NET is used to create web pages and web technologies and is an integral part of Microsoft's .NET framework vision. As a member of the .NET framework, ASP.NET is a very valuable tool for programmers and developers as it allows them to build dynamic, rich web sites and web applications using compiled languages like VB and C#.

ASP.NET is not limited to script languages, it allows you to make use of .NET languages like C#, J#, VB, etc. It allows developers to build very compelling applications by making use of Visual Studio, the development tool provided by Microsoft. ASP.NET is purely server-side technology. It is built on a common language runtime that can be used on any Windows server to host powerful ASP.NET web sites and technologies.

In the early days of the Web i.e. before the release of Internet Information Services (IIS) in 1997, the contents of web pages were largely static. These web pages needed to be constantly, and manually, modified. There was an urgent need to create web sites that were dynamic and would update automatically.

Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP) was brought to the market to meet this need. ASP executed on the server side, with its output sent to the user's web browser, thus allowing the server to generate dynamic web pages based on the actions of the user.

These server-side technologies are important contributions to the development of the Web. Amazon.com, eBay.com, and many other popular web sites use ASP.NET as the framework for their site; without ASP.NET it would not be possible.

12 important advantages ASP.NET offers over other Web development models:

1. ASP.NET drastically reduces the amount of code required to build large applications.

2. With built-in Windows authentication and per-application configuration, your applications are safe and secured.

3. It provides better performance by taking advantage of early binding, just-in-time compilation, native optimization, and caching services right out of the box.

4. The ASP.NET framework is complemented by a rich toolbox and designer in the Visual Studio integrated development environment. WYSIWYG editing, drag-and-drop server controls, and automatic deployment are just a few of the features this powerful tool provides.

5. Provides simplicity as ASP.NET makes it easy to perform common tasks, from simple form submission and client authentication to deployment and site configuration.

6. The source code and HTML are together therefore ASP.NET pages are easy to maintain and write. Also the source code is executed on the server. This provides a lot of power and flexibility to the web pages.

7. All the processes are closely monitored and managed by the ASP.NET runtime, so that if process is dead, a new process can be created in its place, which helps keep your application constantly available to handle requests.

8. It is purely server-side technology so, ASP.NET code executes on the server before it is sent to the browser.

9. Being language-independent, it allows you to choose the language that best applies to your application or partition your application across many languages.

10. ASP.NET makes for easy deployment. There is no need to register components because the configuration information is built-in.

11. The Web server continuously monitors the pages, components and applications running on it. If it notices any memory leaks, infinite loops, other illegal activities, it immediately destroys those activities and restarts itself.

12. Easily works with ADO.NET using data-binding and page formatting features. It is an application which runs faster and counters large volumes of users without having performance problems

In short ASP.NET, the next generation version of Microsoft's ASP, is a programming framework used to create enterprise-class web sites, web applications, and technologies. ASP.NET developed applications are accessible on a global basis leading to efficient information management. Whether you are building a small business web site or a large corporate web application distributed across multiple networks, ASP.NET will provide you all the features you could possibly need...and at an affordable cost: FREE!

Steve Kozyk
CEO/Founder ITegrity

SEO Web Development & Custom Web Site Design Company

http://www.itegritygroup.com

Blank Lesson Plan Templates - How to Make Your Own

Blank lesson plan templates help you quickly and easily create a lesson.
You can take an idea for a lesson and transform it into a well planned activity when you place it in a template. The template prompts you to identify the purpose of the lesson, the key points you want to make, the core activities the students will do and the resources that you will need to have on hand.

Blank lesson plan templates help you assess a lesson.
If you include a notes section on your template it is easy to add you thoughts on the lesson. This will help you next time you teach the activity. You may want to note that brainstorming adjectives or plot lines would have helped the students write their stories. You may want to note that bringing extra glue and rulers for those students that don't have their own would have helped the lesson go more smoothly.

Blank lesson plan templates help you store your lesson plans.
Templates are a great way to store lesson plans. If you keep the size to an A4 page and place the subject and lesson title clearly at the top it is very easy to file them away. They can be dropped into subject folders in a filing cabinet or slipped into loose leaf folders.

Designing your own is easy. Here's how you make your own.

Simply open a word document and add all or some of the features below.
You can use bold font for titles and lines to end each section.
If you are confident with the features of the word program then use a table format. It will save space on the page.

1) Subject
(Identify the subject area. This could be Maths - Numeracy - Double Digit Addition or Science- Weather-The Precipitation Cycle)

2) Objective/Goal/Overview/Purpose
(Identify exactly what the reason for the lesson is- what skill is being introduced or practiced? You might write - introduce the Precipitation Cycle or revise the Precipitation Cycle or use what we already know about the Precipitation Cycle to predict what might happen in a number of scenarios.

3) Date

4) Time
(How will the lesson take?)

5) Education Standards Addressed
(What part of the syllabus is being taught?)

6) Equipment
(What things do you need to have on hand - worksheets/posters/models/website addresses/glue/scissors/dictionaries/atlases/sports equipment etc)

7) Key Points
(What key points do you want to the students to explore in this lesson? These are the things that you will focus on in the introduction, explore in the middle section and revise in the summary. Another way to think about this is to ask, what do you want the students to know at the end of this lesson?)

8) Introduction
( What will you tell the students at the start of the lesson? Usually this is a summary of what the lesson will entail and then a clear explanation of the concept or demonstration of the skill. It make sense to let your students know what the purpose of the lesson is and what the key points that you will be exploring are.

9) Middle
(What will the students be doing? This is the body of the lesson. It is the activities that the students will be doing. It could include completing a worksheet, designing a brochure, researching on a computer, or completing a science experiment.
Here is an example of what you might write.
The students will do the following: complete the maths problem worksheet, write a draft of two math problems, ask another student to edit their math problem drafts, rewrite the math problems on A5 cards.)

10) Summary
(The summary is usually a revising of what has happened in the lesson. Write in here any questions that you may want to ask the students at the end and any points you want to revisit.)

11) Notes
(After the lesson, write any thoughts you had here.)

As you use you blank lesson plan template, you will probably find that there are sections that you want to add and others that you want to alter or delete. With a little tweaking, you will end up with a self-designed template that is tailored perfectly to your needs.

If you would like more teacher resources head to http://www.free-teacher-worksheets.com/.

16 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

You've got your blog set up and you've started posting pithy, useful information that your niche market would benefit from and enjoy. Days go by, you keep publishing, but no one comments and your traffic stats are barely registering. What do you do?

Like any website you own, you must do some blog promotion to start driving traffic to your site. Here are 16 steps, in no particular order of importance, that you can start doing now to get traffic moving to your blog.

1. Set up an email subscription form on your blog and invite everyone in your network to subscribe: family, friends, colleagues, clients, associates.

2. Set up a feed on MyYahoo.com so your site gets regularly spidered by the Yahoo search engine.

3. Read and comment on other blogs that are in your target niche. Don't write things like "nice blog" or "great post." Write intelligent, useful comments with a link to your blog.

4. Use Ping-0-matic to ping blog directories. Do this every time you publish.

5. Submit your blog to traditional search engines.

6. Submit your blog to blog directories.

Tip: Create a form to track your submissions; this can take several hours when you first start so schedule an hour a day for submitting or hire a VA to do it for you.

7. Add a link to your blog in your email signature file.

8. Put a link to your blog on every page of your website.

9. If you publish a newsletter, make sure you have a link to your blog in every issue.

10. Include a link to your blog as a standard part of all outgoing correspondence such as autoresponder sequences, sales letters, reports, white papers, etc.

11. Print your blog URL on your business cards, brochures and flyers.

12. Make sure you have an RSS feed URL that people can subscribe to. The acronym RSS means Rich Site Summary, or some may consider its meaning as Really Simple Syndication. It is a document type that lists updates of websites or blogs available for syndication. These RSS documents (also known as 'feeds') may be read using aggregators (news readers). RSS feeds may show headlines only or both headlines and summaries.

13. Post often to keep attracting your subscribers to come back and refer you to others in their networks; include links to other blogs, articles and websites in your posts

14. Use Trackback links when you quote or refer to other blog posts. What is TrackBack? Essentially what this does is send a message from one server to another server letting it know you have posted a reference to their post. The beauty is that a link to your blog is now included on their site.

15. Write articles to post around the web in article directories. Include a link to your blog in the author info box (See example in our signature below).

16. Make a commitment to blog everyday. 10 minutes a day can help increase your traffic as new content attracts search engine spiders. Put it on your calendar as a task every day at the same time.

Tip: Use a hit counter to track your visitor stats: how many unique visitors, how many page views, average length of visit.

And now I would like to invite you to claim your free instant access to my 5-part video course to learn more about how to get the best out of your blog. Visit http://masterbusinessblogging.com

From Denise Wakeman, Founder of The Blog Squad and Online Marketing Advisor.

Linear Regression with Microsoft Excel

You use Excel's linear regression functions to find a linear equation that best describes a data set.
Excel uses the sum of least squares method to find the straight line of best fit. People often
try to predict future amounts by assuming linear growth and extending the line forward in
time. For example, if you have a series of sales data for 9 months and want to predict the
sales in the 10th month, you can use Excel's linear regression functions to find the slope and
y-intercept (the point on the y-axis where the line crosses) of the line that best fits the data.

Some Background Info on Linear Regression

To use the linear regression functions, it helps to remember the equation for a line:

y=mx+b

where y is the dependent variable, m the slope, x the independent variable, and b the
y-intercept. If there are multiple ranges of x values, the equation looks like this:

y=m1 x1+m2x2+.mnxn+b

NOTE To visualize and experiment with linear regression, visit the interactive web page at
[http://www.math.csusb.edu/faculty/stanton/m262/regress/regress.html]. Click the
graph area to add data points (x,y) to the graph. The applet draws the straight line
that best fits the points you add, adjusting the line for the new data points you add.

Using the FORECAST Function

The FORECAST function predicts a future y-value for the x-value you specify using existing
x and y values. The FORECAST function uses the following syntax:

=FORECAST(x, known ys, known xs)

where x is the x-value for which you want to predict a y-value.

Using the INTERCEPT Function

If you have existing x and y values, Excel can find the straight line that best fits the data and then calculate the point at which the line intersects the y-axis, in other words, the value of b in the "y=mx+b" equation. The y-intercept is useful when you want to know the value of the dependent variable when the independent variable equals 0.

NOTE: The INTERCEPT function returns the same value as the FORECAST function if you enter 0 for x in the FORECAST function.

The INTERCEPT function uses the following syntax:

=INTERCEPT (known ys, known xs)

Using the LINEST Function

The LINEST function returns the value of m and b given at least one set of known ys and known xs. The LINEST function has the following syntax:

=LINEST (known ys, known xs, constant, statistics)

where known ys is the array of y values you already know, known xs is the array of x values you may already know. If you leave out the known xs, they are assumed to be 1, 2, 3,...n. If constant is set to FALSE, b is assumed to be 0. If statistics is set to TRUE, the LINEST function also returns the standard error for each data point.

NOTE: If the known ys are in a single column or row, then Excel considers each column of
known xs to be a separate variable.

NOTE: The array known xs can include multiple sets of variables. If you use only one set, then known ys and known xs can be ranges of any shape, as long as they have equal dimensions. If you use more than one variable, then the known ys array must be either a single column or a single row. If you don't enter known xs, Excel assumes this array is the same size as the known ys array.

Using the SLOPE Function

Use the SLOPE function to find the slope (m) of the linear regression line from the known x and known y data sets. The slope is the change in y over the change in x for any two points on the line. The SLOPE function in Excel uses the following syntax:

=SLOPE (known ys, known xs)

A positive (upwards) slope means that the independent variable (such as the number of salespeople) has a positive effect on a dependent variable (such as sales). A negative (downwards) slope means that the independent variable has a negative effect on the dependent variable. The steeper the slope, the more effect the independent variable has on the dependent variable.

Using the STEYX Function

Use the STEYX function to find the standard error of the predicted y-value for each individual x in the regression. The STEYX function uses the following syntax:

=STEYX (known ys, known xs)

Using the TREND Function

Use the TREND function to find values along a linear trend. Specify an array of new xs and the TREND function uses the method of least squares to fit a straight line to the known x and y data sets and return the y-values along the line for the new array. If constant is set to FALSE, the "b" in the y=mx+b equation is set to zero. The TREND function uses the following syntax:

=TREND (known ys, known xs, new xs, constant)

Stephen L. Nelson, CPA wrote the MBA's Guide to Microsoft Excel, from which this short article is adapted. Nelson also writes and edits downloadable do-it-yourself small business incorporation kits that businesses and investors can use for setting up a Michigan S Corporation or a Minnesota S Corporation

Hawaiian and Polynesian Tiki Masks - History and Meaning

Tiki Masks are carved wooden masks that represent deities or gods from the Hawaiian and Polynesian Culture. They are used as home decor and they also serve various purposes such as warding off evil spirits and increasing the owners fertility! They hold such high significance in the Polynesian culture that they, along with other Tiki sculptures, have become defining symbols of the Tiki culture.

Many of the authentic Masks are designed based on the four main gods. Kane is the god of sunlight, and natural life; Ku is the god of war; Lono is the god of peace, winds, rain, sports and fertility; Kanaloa is the god of the ocean. Each Tiki God holds a different meaning.

Tiki Masks are the perfect conversation pieces to add to any modern home. They are exquisite pieces that have intricate details, making them real works of art. They can also be used to add to the authentic feel of Luaus and other feasts. Tiki Masks are also used as decorative pieces in Hawaiian restaurants and Tiki Bars. They can be used both indoors and outdoors and they can mix beautifully even with modern art pieces.

The Masks come in various sizes from 8 inches to over 5 feet tall. The complexity and sophistication of the designs do not depend on the size of the carving. There are relatively smaller masks that contain magnificent details while there are big masks that feature simple designs. Hand-carved wooden Tiki sculptures are now evaluated and regarded on the same level as other forms of art and sculpture, with the benefit to their owners of being rich with meaning.

There is no questioning the amount of effort put into creating wonderful Tiki statues and Masks. Authentic Masks have well thought designs and are carved by expert Tiki artists who are able to combine meaning, function and aesthetic value. Each element in the sculpture adds meaning and value to the piece of art.

Authentic Masks are carved from hardwoods by expert craftsmen and then finished off with oil, wax or polish. There are also some that feature color, but the most common design is the traditional stained hard wood sculpture. Because of the materials used and process that they undergo during their creation, they can last a lifetime.

If you are planning on organizing a Luau or creating a permanent Tiki lounge in your home then it's easy to order authentic Tiki sculptures online to match the tiki theme and the atmosphere you are creating for the party or the lounge. There are so many to choose from. When choosing a Tiki Mask, choose one that will beautifully match your space and also consider the meanings of the masks so you can get one that will hold significance in your life.

Royal Tiki specializes in all things Tiki, including Tiki masks hand-carved in Hawaii.

Hosting a Business Dinner Party

If you or your spouse are about to host a business dinner party, there are a number of things that you should be aware of. One of the first things that you are probably worried about is cooking to impress, but you should understand that there are a number of items that you can cook to impress the boss.

Hosting a dinner party can be a stressful thing for anyone to host, so you must be aware of a few things that will help to boost the situation that you are in. For anyone who is hosting a business dinner party, you want to cook an impressive meal that your gets will all adore. You also may be thinking about a menu that won't be too hard on your budget or back-breaking work all day. These are just a few ideas on menu items that are easy but quite impressive to anyone that sees your presentation.

One of the first items that you could make would be something like a crunchy baked chicken. You would need to purchase some chicken breasts at room temperature. The next thing that you will need is 2 eggs which will need to be beaten before you dip the chicken into them. You will also need to get some of the French friend onion rings that usually go on green bean casseroles to top your chicken with. You will dip the chicken into the egg mixture and then into the crunchy onion crumbs. Once you have dipped the chicken, you can then put the chicken into a baking pan. You will bake the chicken for at least 20 minutes on 400 F. It may take slightly longer depending on the altitude you are currently at. Once the chicken is done, you can take it out of the oven and top it with some parmesan cheese and sprits of lemon juice. You can also decorate each plate with small amount of parsley which will help to add color to the plate.

Although this may sound like a simplistic recipe, it tastes amazing and will great with any other sides that you decide to serve at your dinner. You should also remember that you need to have equal color on the plates, so try and spice things up with the vegetables that you choose to serve.

For more information on your dinner foods, contact the CD Kitchen at http://www.cdkitchen.com Joseph Devine

Writing a Request For Proposal For Web Site Design and Development

A company that is looking to get bids from several qualified vendors for a Web site design or development project will typically write a Request for Proposal (RFP) and either post it online or send it directly to potential vendors it has identified.

As with any complex project, a Web site design project requires clear communication between the client and web developer in order for the client to receive accurate bids. The RFP serves as a baseline of project requirements on which competing vendors may price their services. I have outlined a few items below that should typically be in a Website Design and Development Request for Proposal, though some times more information is necessary.

Writing your Request for Proposal

The Request for Proposal (RFP) process allows potential vendors to get an idea of your goals, existing challenges and possible limitations without lengthy phone discussions or in-person meetings that can severely impact the amount of time it takes for you to get started with your Web Design and Development project. It allows you to succinctly describe exactly what you are looking for and what a potential vendor should expect in the project.

An ideal RFP would clearly specify all the requirements pertaining to your website. It would allow the developer to present you with a proposal based your particular needs and, needless to say, the more details your RFP contains, the more accurate a proposal the developer is able to present.

Components of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Web site Design and Development Project:

Project Background Information

• Brief overview of your organization, including some history and your primary business objectives.


• Detailed description of the project you would like to receive the proposal for.


• If your budget requirements are strict, it might help to include a 'Ballpark' Budget - which developers can use to scope and scale your solution and save you time.


• Target launch date and required deliverable dates - include any dates that you need the project to meet. Are there crucial meetings and cut-off dates that the developer should be aware of? If you are not sure what the time frame should be, it's okay to see what the proposals you receive recommend and renegotiate. It's also good to anticipate and state how flexible you are with the project's completion date.

Marketing Requirements and Data

• Audience demographics - who will be the main users of your site? Are there several different audiences that need to be addressed?


• User comfort level with technology -  how technically savvy is your audience? Will they know how to deal with plug-ins, for example?


• Will users have high-speed connections, or will many be on modems?


• Audience base -  how large do you expect your user base to be?

Design and Corporate Branding Requirements

• Do you have corporate identity guidelines that must be followed, including fonts and colors and graphic treatments?


• What look and feel to you envision for the Web site? Include some adjectives to describe what your site should communicate.


• Provide examples of Web sites that relate to the RFP either because they have a similar feel to the one your are looking for, or even examples of what you do NOT want.


• Will there be any animated elements (i.e. Flash animations)? How many? How are they going to be used?

Technical and Infrastructure Requirements

• Web hosting considerations. Do you currently have a Web host or are you looking for a new one to handle this project?


• Browser/platform considerations. Generally speaking, a Web site for consumers or the general public should work similarly across all modern browsers and Operating Systems. If you are targeting a very specific audience it is possible your needs are different.


• Development platform requirements. Do you require an Open Source solution, are you open to a proprietary solution that is more tailored to your exact needs, etc.


• Coding language requirements (e.g. ASP.NET, PHP, Java). Many times this depends on the type of Web hosting platform or any pre-existing software you may have.


• Are there third party applications you'd like to incorporate?

Functionality/programming Requirements

• Will there be forms on the site? If so, how many? How should they be handled? (e.g. e-mailed to recipients, stored in a database, etc.)


• Will the site require tools to manage content/information (e.g. ability for staff to add content such as press releases or quarterly reports)?


• Will there be any e-commerce on the site? If so, who will be entering data on products offered? How will transactions be managed?


• Are there any other interactive features the site should have? What are they, and how do you envision them to work?

Search Engine Optimization

• Describe any currently defined search engine friendly production requirements and expectations


• Indicate if you are seeking SEO/SEM consultation services

Ongoing Site Maintenance Plans

• How often will the site be updated? Are you looking for a retainer situation, or 'on-demand' hourly work?


• Will you be self-maintaining or will you be outsourcing maintenance services?

Project Management

• Who will be the main point of contact on your staff? Keep in mind that in most cases it is easiest to have a single point of contact at both your organization and the company designing and developing your Web site.


• How will the tasks be divided between you and the developer in order to complete the project?


• Are there any third parties (subcontractors, etc.) that will also be involved in the project?

RFP Response Deadline and Contact Information

• When is the response to the RFP due?


• To whom should the response be sent?


• Do you prefer E-mail or hard copies, and if so, how many hard copies?


• Is there a specific solicitation number that needs to be referenced in the Proposal Document?


• What is the RFP review process? How long do you anticipate to take to make your decision before the project can begin?

Some Additional Thoughts Before You Begin:

• For all items listed above, be sure to clearly indicate if you must have any item(s) bid as an optional aspect of the project. Keep in mind possible dependencies between project aspect/components that may make this impractical.


• Before writing your Request For Proposal, determine your budget for the project and, beyond that, your priorities for selecting a Developer who can meet your budgetary requirements.

Writing an RFP is a good exercise for anyone thinking about a site design or redesign as it takes thoughtful planning to specify and construct a website. A well thought out, quality RFP is essential to a successful endeavor because it helps you to focus on your goals and exactly how to achieve them.

Best of luck with your Web site Design and Development Project.

Greg Kihlstrom is the Creative Director at Carousel30 Interactive Media, Washington DC. His company designs and develops Web sites and other Interactive Media such as iPhone applications and more.

Greg also writes about Web site Design issues on his blog entitled "Design in Context."

The Ultimate Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Seasons Greetings -

Official news update... Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties are sweeping the nation! From New York to Los Angeles, Milwaukee to Tampa, Seattle to San Antonio, people across the country are throwing outrageously funny Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties!

Everyone is joining in on the fun and you should too!

But why you ask?

Simple, we all need a little laughter in our lives and a change up from the normal boring get together is always appreciated... The ultimate ugly sweater party is an enjoyable escape from the economic climate, world violence, and daily grind we all are subject to.

That's exactly why I'm proposing you host an over-the-top inane ugly Christmas sweater party next month. It's still early in October which means Now is the perfect time to get the party started!

Here are some tips on how to organize the perfect tacky Christmas sweater party...

Step 1: Decide on the location, date, and time. The space should be large enough for 20 - 30 people or more to move around comfortably. A normal sized house works great for these parties because they add a homey / holidays feel. I recommend planning the party 2 weeks before Christmas (to ensure a large # of people are in town still) and on a Saturday. Start the party no later than 5 p.m. to get the most out of the special day.

Step 2: Send out the invitations at least 3 - 4 weeks prior to the party. Make sure to clearly state that you're hosting an "Ugly Sweater Party". Tell your invitees, "The uglier the sweater, the better the party." Make it clear that Ugly Christmas sweaters are mandatory in order to attend the party! Also, be sure to include photos of last year's party in the invitations to get them excited.

Finally, in addition to mailing hard copy invitations, you should use social media sites such as Facebook, Meetup, Twitter, and MySpace to send out the invites / party details.

Step 3: Find yourself a hideous Christmas sweater to wear at the party... The host should always have on one of the best sweaters to set the tone!

Some places to find ugly Christmas Sweaters include: Goodwill, eBay, parents / grandparents closets, uglychristmassweaterparty.com, buyuglysweaters.com.

Step 4: Decorate the party location appropriately. Proper ugly Christmas sweater party decor includes:

- Christmas lights

- Christmas tree

- Christmas plates / trays / table cloths / napkins

- Santa beer bong

- Mistletoe (this is a must!)

Side Note: make sure to turn down the Heat. Sweaters are hot and no one likes to be covered in sweat at a party.

Step 5: Prepare the food, booze, beer, soda, mixers, and Christmas cookies. The larger the food and booze spread the better...

Some Food staples include:

- Summer sausage

- Venison hot sticks

- Cheese (lots of cheese)

- Ham sandwiches

- Hot beef sandwiches

- Cheesy potatoes

- Chili

- Grilled buffalo chicken wings

Liqueur and Beer staples include:

- Hot Cider w/ rum

- Tom and Jerry mixed w/ Brandy

- Red and Green Jell-O shots

- Barrel of beer

Some favorite Holiday Drinks include:

- "Reindeer Piss" (hot cider, blended whiskey, and 7-up)

- "Santa Shooters" (Butterscotch Schnapps, Amaretto, Chocolate Liquor)

Step 6: Set the mood with great Christmas music playing at a medium volume. Also, make sure to have a copy of "The Band" on DVD to play later in the night... Trust me, it will be a huge hit!

Step 7: Have an ugly Christmas sweater contest. Make sure to make the prize strong enough to motivate people to wear great ugly sweaters.

Step 8: Have a gift exchange (optional).

Step 9: Make sure to document the evening with plenty of pictures and videos. We'd love for you to share them with us!

Step 10: Catch a buzz and enjoy the night!

Final thoughts:

This party is about more than just the ugly Christmas sweaters... It's about spending time with people you love and making fantastic memories that last a lifetime.

Hosting an ugly Christmas sweater party is guaranteed to produce an entertaining night that you will talk about for years to come!

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

http://www.UglyChristmasSweaters.info

Humor - Hosting A Roast

Everybody loves a roast and not the kind you put in the oven, though they can be quite delicious. We're talking about the kind of roast where the guest of honor is the one who ends up in the hot seat. If you're going to put on one of these things, you better follow some common sense rules of your roast could turn into a five alarm fire with your guests running for the exits.

The first thing you want to do when hosting a roast is to make sure that the guest of honor is actually okay with the idea. The last thing you want is to be up there poking fun at the guy and he's looking at you with daggers coming out of his eyes. A roast is no fun if the main course runs from the table in a huff.

The next thing you want to do is select a roastmaster who can run the event professionally and in good taste. The roastmaster is the person who introduces each person who is going to speak at the roast and will occasionally make a few jokes himself. Your roastmaster can make or break your roast.

Before the program begins, the roastmaster should speak with each person who is going to speak at the roast to find out what they plan to say. This way he can coordinate his remarks with each of the performers. Also, you want to go over the whole program to eliminate the possibility of duplicate jokes. He should also work with each presenter to make sure the routines are sharp and no more than 2 minutes.

The roastmaster also needs to work with the guest of honor to help him prepare a counter roast for the end of the program. This is where the guest of honor gets to return insults to the people who took shots at him during the evening. The roastmaster must make sure that this is all done in good taste.

When the roastmaster opens the program, he must keep in mind that there are going to be people in the audience who are not comfortable with poking fun at others. It is his job to tell them that we only roast people that we like and that it is all in fun. By poking fun at himself at the beginning, this will help put the audience at ease.

When presenting each roaster, the roastmaster should throw a roast line at each of them to start them off. This is a great stepping stone for each roaster to push off of. This makes it so that everyone basically is being made fun of and nobody feels singled out.

When the guest of honor does his counter roast, this should be the highlight of the evening. Don't try to top this as the roastmaster. This is the guest of honor's chance to "get even" and should not be upstaged.

If you follow the above tips, your roast should go off without anybody getting burned.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Humor [http://humor-guides.com/]

Celebrities - Privacy Vs. Publicity

Celebrities. Don't we just love them? We are a world obsessed with famous people. When we see one of our favorite actors hosting an awards show, something we normally wouldn't even think of wasting time viewing, we sit glued to our TV hanging on their every word and action, especially if we're watching a living legend. It's a moment we'll talk about for years to come, especially if we happened to be in the audience and got to see our hero live. Talk about being able to die happy.

On a recent episode of Boston Legal we saw a celebrity shoot a reporter who was about to take a photo of her because he jumped out from behind a garbage can and she was startled and thought he had a gun. She claims she shot in self defense. The question was, would the jury buy it? The prosecutor's case was that it's okay for the celebrity to get all the perks of being able to go into a fancy restaurant and be seated even without a reservation, among other things, but then they want to be a big star and have their privacy too. The defense made the case of other celebrities being assaulted, some killed even. He brought up John Lennon's murder as an example. His argument was that even celebrities have a right to some privacy.

We're not going to try to answer the question of who's right and who's wrong. The jury decided in favor of the celebrity. But that's just TV. We know that real life can be quite different. The sad truth is, celebrities are not like other people. They are constantly in the public eye, either in movies, TV, theater, radio, or whatever specialty they are involved in. Many of us would argue that they have no problem being paid $1 million for one TV episode, but try taking one lousy photo of them and they go crazy. Others would say that they are entitled to the same privacy as you or I, even though they may have a job that puts them in the public eye. After all, if you're a carpenter, nobody is following you around town trying to take your photo every five minutes.

So, what's the answer? Maybe laws need to be made. This is not suggesting that the laws be in favor of the celebrity or against. But some kind of law governing what are reasonable and unreasonable actions in regard to how much "space" a celebrity should be given when not "working". Should they be allowed to be approached in a supermarket when doing their weekly food shopping? Or should their be laws stating that they can only be approached 15 minutes before or after coming off the "set" where they work, whether it be a TV station, radio station or movie set?

Most likely laws like this will never be enacted or even if they are, enforced. That is just the way it is. It has been like this since the beginning of celebrity status. It has killed many in the past and most likely will end up killing many more before this madness is over.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Celebrities [http://celebrities-guides.com/]

Uninstall Java - How to Completely Remove & Uninstall Java

Do you want to uninstall Java from your computer but you really have no clue how to do this? If so, then you've come to the right place because I will help you to easily remove Java from your computer. So, are you ready to finally uninstall and remove Java from your computer. If so, then read the following steps carefully.

How To Uninstall Java

In order to fully remove and uninstall Java from your computer, you can do 2 things.

1 - You do it manually and by yourself.
2 - You use a Java Uninstaller to do it automatically.

I highly recommend you that if you are looking for a java removal plan, that you use option 2. You see, when you are going to do it all by yourself and manually, you'll have a couple of huge downsides. When you do it yourself, it will cost you lots of time to perform. Also, you'll not only have to remove java from your drivers, but you've also got to go inside your registry to remove any left over files.

And when you are doing this, it's high likely that you delete a wrong file. And when this happens, it's high likely that your computer gets messed up. This costs you even more time and probably some money too. Therefore it's highly recommended that if you want to easily uninstall Java, that you use a java uninstaller. But, what uninstaller should you use and how will it remove java from your computer?

What Java Uninstaller To Use When You Want To Uninstall Java

These days there are thousands of uninstaller software programs but 99% simply fails to work. Therefore it's highly recommended to get an uninstaller that has a good reputation. A great Java uninstaller is called the Perfect Uninstaller. The Perfect Uninstaller will help you to fully remove Java by doing 3 things.

1 - Firstly, the Perfect Uninstaller will uninstall Java.
2 - Once finished, it will start scanning both your registry, and your drivers to find out if there are any let over files.
3 - Once the scan has been completed, the uninstaller will start deleting the files that have been found.

This is how easy the Perfect Uninstaller works, and how it removes any program that you want.

Why don't you take a look at this uninstaller? Visit: Perfect Uninstaller. So, in order to uninstall Java from your computer you can either do it manually, or you use an uninstaller software to do it automatically. It's highly recommended to use an uninstaller so you can avoid wasting time and getting a broken computer. So, do you want to remove Java from your computer? Today? Right now? Visit: Uninstall Java.

The Perfect 25th Wedding Anniversary Party For Your Parents

So where to begin? First and foremost, you need to decide whether you are hosting a big get-together or a small intimate gathering. This decision should be based upon what your parents are most accustomed to and what they prefer. If you do not know, do some sneaky investigative work and find out. Secondly, you need to decide whether or not to have a traditional or contemporary anniversary party.

A traditional anniversary party usually adheres to the yearly material used for how long a couple has been married. In this case, the material is silver for 25 wonderful years of marriage. Most, tend to be more formal and are viewed as a second wedding reception. A contemporary wedding anniversary party is usually not as formal and incorporates other themes besides the traditional silver motif.

If you are going the traditional route, and have decided to host a large gathering, preparation and planning is a must. First, you need to decide who you are inviting and how many. Next, you need to pick a facility that can accommodate the amount of people anticipated. Although a person's home can be used, most people tend to have parties at banquet or reception halls for easy parking and accessibility.

Creating invitations is where you can let your creativity shine. If you have extra cash, opt for professionally made ones. This will add a touch of elegance and class, and be a great scrapbook memento. Decide whether this is a black tie event or casual, and make sure to include in your invitation that this is a surprise party. You do NOT want to be getting a call from your parents asking how they can help!

Next, you need to decide how you will use your theme of silver in your decorations. There are many resources out there and party planning companies that can assist with these nit-picky details. As a rule of thumb, stick with silver as your primary color for decorating. Accent colors should complement the silver, not detract. For floral arrangements, the flower for the 25th is the iris which is a beautiful touch for center pieces.

Besides the decorating and invitations, food is very important. Depending on your budget you could provide a buffet for everyone, or go the economical route and provide shrimp cocktails and appetizers. Just make sure you have enough for all of your guests! As for dessert, it is nice to have another wedding cake. If your parents had a small wedding cake before, really go all out on this one by having a bigger and better cake.

As an added touch during their party, many prefer to show some sort of memorabilia for their parents, whether this be a slide show, movie, or specially made composite CD that highlights their loving and lasting relationship. It is also nice to find out what song they have danced to at their wedding and have them dance to it once more.

Next is the toast. Since you are hosting the party it is expected of you to give them a warm and heartfelt speech. Once again, spend plenty of time on this to show them how much you have appreciated them throughout the years.

Last but not least, is the gift. Since this is like a second wedding reception, if you can, splurge on getting them a second honeymoon. If you cannot afford it, tactfully include in the invitation that you are trying the help them go on a fabulous second honeymoon and see if you can raise the money. Try to top their first honeymoon and make it one they will never forget! If you are really tapped out, be creative and give them a gift that is related to the theme of silver. This does not necessarily mean jewelry or silverware, you could give them a gift basket filled with various items they would really enjoy. Let it be imaginative and come from the heart.

As for a contemporary or smaller wedding anniversary party, a back-yard barbecue may be completely acceptable. You could also have a themed party, like mardi-gras, disco, costume, and so forth. A themed party may be formal if you choose, but remember to make it classier if you can. Even if you are having a smaller or less formal get-together, a dedication to your parents should still be made to show them your love.

For the surprise element of the party, tell your parents weeks in advance that as a present for their anniversary, you have reserved them a table at some chic restaurant. If
it is not a fancy party you are having, tell them you have tickets to an event like a concert or play. Do not tell them who or what it is so they do not get their hopes up. After all, you want them to be surprised and happier that their having a party not going to see their favorite singer perform!

And as always, there are certain things that should not be done at a party. Although it may be amusing to belabor how long they have been married, it is not appropriate or funny to make your parents feel old. They already know!

No matter what route you end up choosing for a party, make sure it comes from the heart and will be a day they will cherish for the rest of their lives.

My Gift Basket Ideas is an online gift basket store that specializes in great gift ideas for every occasion.

New Years Eve Party Menu Ideas For A Fantastic New Years Eve Party

Hosting a New Year's Eve Party can be great fun. It's a way to reminisce with friends, and to look forward to what the new year will bring. Here are some ideas for food and drinks to start you off:

New Year's Eve offers plenty of parties with friends and family to celebrate another year. You will find there are many menu options for New Year's Eve. Most of these options include a lot of champagne, wine or beer depending on your preferences. You will also want to include plenty of items to eat. If you are having an informal party you may just get cold cut platters, cheese platters, vegetable platters, and many chips and dips to share. Or you could have a full scale meal with a potluck dinner for you and your friends. Here are a few other ideas:

A typical dip you may find at a New Year's Eve party will be ranch. You can make the ranch from scratch or you may just buy a jar of pre-made ranch dip. My favorite ranch dip is created with sour cream. You can find the powered ingredient you need for ranch at any store. I prefer Hidden Valley combined with a little sour cream to make a sturdy yet tasty dip.

A great recipe for hors d'oeuvres includes Little Smokies in a beer sauce with a cheese dip. First you need a package of Little Smokies and a bottle of beer. Any beer will do. You heat the sausages in the beer while you create a cheese sauce. Typically a cheese sauce will include a little milk, flour, and your favorite cheese. It can be cheddar, Monterey jack, or even Colby. The idea is to have something that works well with the beer flavor, but also not over power the beer flavor.

Catering for your New Year's Eve party need not be difficult. Try to prepare as much of the food ahead of time as you can; microwave-friendly food will make your party MUCH easier. Above all, however, enjoy spending time with your guests and ushering in the New Year in style.

Mrs. Party... Gail Leino takes a common sense approach to planning and organizing events, celebrations and holiday parties with unique ideas for New Years party supplies and fun party games. She explains proper etiquette and living a healthy life while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Hut has lots of party ideas with hundreds of free holiday printable games and free birthday party activities. Over 100 adorable Themes including Party Supplies to fit your birthday celebration, holiday event, or "just because" parties. Party themes include cartoon characters, sports, movie, TV shows, luau, western, holidays, and unique crazy fun theme ideas.

Japanese Dragon Tattoo Designs and Meaning

The Japanese Dragon Tattoo is a very beautiful and colorful tattoo design and very symbolic, with its origins in myths and folklore. It is also very mystical, adding to the appeal of the Japanese dragon tattoo. Over the ages, from Egyptian times the dragon has represented good and also represented evil. However, the attraction of the Japanese dragon, apart from its stunning beauty is that it represents good luck and the source of wealth. The Japanese dragon also represents the meaning of freedom and being fearless, both very attractive qualities.

In the Greek language, dragon is sourced from draca, which means serpent.

Like the angel, the Japanese Dragon also has the meaning of guardianship, providing a protective force over those it was associated with. Other meanings associated with the Japanese dragon is strength and power. In Japanese culture the dragon is associated with supernatural powers, and amazing wisdom.

There are six forms of the Japanese Dragon. They are:

Sui-Riu is the king Dragon and is in control of the rain. Therefore in this day and age of drought he is all powerful!

Han-Riu has many stripes on his body and is up to forty feet in length. One of the biggest dragons.

Ri-Riu dragon is a rare breed that is not well understood. However, it is known that they have amazing eye sight.

Ka-Riu is a brilliant red color, and a petite dragon in comparison with the others.

Fuku-Riu is a favorite dragon of many people as it is the dragon of luck.

Hai-Riyo is known as the dragon bird, and the most advanced form of dragon. It evolved out of Chinese mythology.

The colors of the dragons have special significance, which are based on their parents. For example a dragon with a black color means their parents are very old and wise. Green dragons are smaller than average, but are representative of life and of the earth. Gold colored dragons are special because they have many special attributes such as wisdom, kindness and the ability to face challenges head on.

Yellow dragons represent the east. They are great companions when you need a hand, but can be self absorbed at times. Blue dragons are from the west. They are forgiving and compassionate, but on the negative side can be lazy and uncaring when it suits them.

Finding the right Japanese Tattoo Design for you can be quite daunting. Check out all the free sites on the net to get as many ideas as you can. Just remember that many other people have done the same thing to get ideas. For example, last month, over 41,000 people searched for dragon tattoo designs on Yahoo. Apparently, roughly 8 times that amount check out Google for the same search term. Then there is MSN and the other search engines. So a huge amount of people see the same free designs as you. If you want original Japanese Dragon tattoo designs, it is recommended that you check out books or other sources of tattoo designs that are not freely available. I have checked out three Japanese dragon tattoo galleries on the internet that have from 3,500 to 6000 different designs, so you will have no trouble finding what you want.

I have reviewed the best Japanese Dragon tattoo galleries on the net today at http://www.TattooGalleryDesigns.com
If you are after the best Japanese Dragon tattoo galleries around check out the review and grab a Free Tattoo Designs Ebook.
Good luck in your search for your ultimate tattoo.
Graeme Wheeler

DNS Propagation Explained - or Why You Have to Wait the 72 Hours

So you found a perfect domain name that was not already taken, figured out how to register it, paid for hosting (leasing space to store all the files that will be publicly accessed as web pages) with a WHP - aka Web Hosting Provider (such as bsleek.com) and even uploaded your website to the WHP's servers, or had a professional design firm create a web site for you.

Alas, it looks like the results of your hard work, of your money spending and of the headaches you got from trying to make sense of all the technobabble were in vain? Why can't you see your website instantly - after all, is't this the promise of the e-commerce age?? Hey, when they took your credit card payment, that went pretty fast!! Is it that nobody really cares about customer service anymore? And what is this "propagation" nonsense those techies are trying to bamboozle you with?

Is your new Web Host Provider a lemon? Did you make a big mistake chosing it??

All this has to be very frustrating, unless you understand exactly how things work. Over the next few paragraphs, I will try to demistify the DNS propagation process, by telling you in plain English, what DNS propagation is, how it works, and why is it that the only thing we can do to speed the process up is.... wait.

DNS stands for Domain Name Server. I know the word Server is intimidating and you are thinking "oh sure, another article written in technicalese language". Think of a server as a regular computer, like the one you are using now to read this. That's right! Your beloved computer can be a server too. We call a computer a server when that machine is up and running and providing a service ("serving" something, whether a web page, a text document, etc.)

With the language barier lowered, I will tell you that DNS can be tricky, especially when first registering a domain name or transferring your website to a web hosting provider. The strangest things can happen that would lead you to believe that your new web hosting provider is at fault.

99.99% of the time the Web Hosting Provider is not to blame and I will explain why.

There are a number of things involved in DNS that I will familiarize you with. Sorry, but it has to be done. Again, like everything else in life, once you understand how things work, things will look much brighter.

Things you need to hear about are:

- IP Addresses

- Service Providers

- Domain Names

- Domain Name Registrars

- DNS

- The Propagation Process

1. IP Addresses

Our computers talk to each other by identifying themselves using numerical addresses much like the address on your home or for your telephone. When one computer wants to speak to another computer, it all boils down to an address or what we call an "IP Address".

Here is an example: 64.247.43.26

As you would imagine, the number of possible addresses, while immense to the untrained eye, is actually limited and we are almost on the verge of exhausting all the numbers.... Here's a piece of trivia for all interested in cool facts: Typically, service providers (see below) receive thousands of IP addresses to be used on their networks. IP addresses in the United States are assigned by ARIN, the American Registry for Internet Numbers. They are the assigned numbers authority and they control who gets IP addresses in the US.

2. Service Providers

The service providers will use IP addresses to identify their network equipment so that they can conduct business on the internet.

There are many different types of service providers but for the purpose of this article, I will only discuss two of them.

The ISP (or Internet Service Provider) is the company that provides you with access to the internet. Without them, you would not be able to send email or surf the world wide web. When you connect to your ISP, they will assign your computer one of their IP addresses. This IP address will be used to identify your computer while you are connected to the internet.

The WHP (or Web Host Provider, such as bsleek.com) is a company that provides a means for individuals or businesses to publish a website on the internet. When the website is published, it is placed on a special computer known as a server that is connected to the internet via a high-speed connection. The WHP has already assigned this server one of their IP addresses.

Now, let's summarize what we have learned so far by looking at a typical internet users experience:

Let's say that you want to surf your newly published website. You connect to the internet and your computer gets an IP address (much like a phone number, a license plate, etc) from your ISP. You then open up your web browser and type in your website's domain name: yourdomain.com.

Then you hit enter. Your computer sends a request. That request is blasted across the internet jumping through routers and gateways, across wires and beamed to satellites and back down to Earth again. After traveling several thousand miles in just a few milliseconds, it finally arrives at your WHP's web server because it contains the IP address of the computer you are looking for.

The server then responds by sending a copy of the website's home page back to your computer because it knows the IP address of the computer that made the request. You are now looking at your published home page in merely a few seconds and being proud of the pretty colors you picked for your menu buttons.

How did this all happen? Read on:

3. Domain Names.

A domain name is what you typically enter into your web browser when you want to visit a website. We also use them when sending email.

Website: [http://www.yourdomain.com] / Email: user@yourdomain.com

Domain names provide a fast and convenient way of reaching our favorite websites and sending email to each other. It is easy to remember the name of a friend's website or a company that you like to shop with rather than trying to remember a number like: 64.247.43.26

What are we missing here? The mechanism that translates numbers into names (that is, IP addresses into domain names) and vice versa. Suspense....

4. Domain Name Registrar

If you want to have your own domain name you will need to register one through a company called a Domain Name Registrar. The domain registrar has tools that allow you to search for and register an available domain of your choosing. The registrar is more or less at the top of the whole naming scheme chain.

If you were able to read this far and even stay focus, congratulations - you ar a very determined individual. And now, as a reward for reading this much of my article, I will talk about... DNS, which is the topic you came here to read about in the first place.

5. DNS

DNS is a software program that runs on a dedicated computer known as a DNS server. DNS serves two primary functions:

1) To translate domain names into IP addresses.

It's much easier to remember a domain like mydomain.com than a sixteen digit number like 64.247.43.26. DNS servers make translating or "Resolving" this information fast and seamless. When your computer needs to know the IP address for yourdomain.com it asks a DNS server (usually the one provided by your ISP.)

2) To act as authority for designated domain names.

Wherever you decide to host your website, the network you are on must have its own DNS servers. In fact, it is an industry-wide standard to have at least two DNS servers or more. These servers will act as the authority for your domain name because your network provider will put a special entry in their DNS server as it relates to your domain name that says: YOU ARE HERE! Technically this is known as an "A" record for "Authority".

There are literally hundreds of thousands of these DNS machines world wide. They ARE the yellow pages of the internet and they contain information about your domain name. Keep in mind that no single DNS server holds all the domain names for the internet; they only hold the names that they are responsible for, and a few pointers to find the rest.

Some DNS servers strictly store names while others are doing the work of providing lookup services for computers that need to look up names. Many DNS servers do both. Technically, the server that is responsible for a particular domain is called the "Authority". Remember the "A" record?

There are a few pieces of crucial information stored in a DNS server with regard to your domain name. This information as a whole is known as your "DNS Record". In it you can find a variety of other pieces of information (or records) about your domain name. For the purposes of not altering your sanity, in this article I will focus only on the domain name, the 'A' record (or your WHP's DNS servers).

6. The Propagation Process

As I said before, your domain registrar is the one responsible for publishing your domain name at the very first (called root) DNS level. When it is published, it is placed into a directory that is broadcast out to primary DNS servers around the world.

The primary DNS servers broadcast out to secondary DNS servers and so on and so forth.

This process is known as propagation and it can take upwards of 72 hours to complete. Propagation refers to the amount of time it takes for all the DNS servers everywhere around the world to recognize the fact that either a new domain is being registered, a domain name has been changed, or that the authority for that domain has changed.

Other reasons why it takes so long is obviously the size of our planet and the total number of DNS servers that require updated information. DNS servers are always updating themselves and changing dynamically during the course of any given day. When or why one DNS server will receive updated information before another is a complete mystery - really!

In most cases, your DNS propagation will complete well within the 72 hour period but you can't be sure that everything is fine until you wait out the 72 hours! Once propagation is complete, anyone, anywhere on the internet should be able to visit your hosted website.

During that time you may experience strange occurrences. This is because not every DNS server that needs to know, knows about your domain name. Take your ISP for example. They use two DNS servers, well, 24 hours after making your nameserver changes, only one of your ISP's DNS servers might receive the update regarding your domain name and the other might not.

If only one of these servers can resolve your domain to an IP address and the other can not, what you will experience would be as though your website was going up and down. One moment it is there, the next it is not.

Here is another example:

A friend of yours can see your new website and you can not. This is most likely because his ISP's DNS servers are able to get the information at that time, where your ISP's DNS servers can not.and wait another 72 hours. Ouch!

Here is a neat one:

You are transferring your hosting to a new WHP. During propagation you are working on development of some pages in your website. But you notice that when trying to view your most recent changes, they appear and then vanish or they don't appear at all.

Think about the load-balancing DNS servers again. One server has information about your OLD WHP and the other has information about your NEW WHP! This can be a weird experience and may take some time to figure out. What you really need to do is WAIT OUT THE 72 HOURS!

You see, if you avoid making changes to your website during a transfer/propagation period, you will always have a consistent functional website available to your visitors. They won't know that you have switched WHP's because as far as they can tell, they are just browsing your website. They won't realize that you are in a state of propagation and that from one minute to the next, they are potentially browsing your site from two different WHPs.

All of these occurrences are very common and each one of them will result in a phone call to the WHP asking why the server is going up and down. In reality the server is fine and your WSP is one of the finest. The problem is that the domain owner has not let 72 hours pass by, after which these and other similar problems will have vanished.

So as you can see, your Web Service Provider is not at fault, you just must have patience and wait the full three days before you can try to determine if your website is experiencing a problem or not.

---

Andrei co-owns Bsleek - a company that specializes in web design, hosting, promotional items, printing, tradeshow displays, logos, CD presentations, SEO and more. Andrei has amassed an extensive technical knowledge and experience through his career as the CIO for a major travel management company and through his past careers in military research, data acquisition and airspace engineering. He also consults for Trinity Investigations, a New York based PI firm.

--- Bsleek - Redefining cheap web hosting [http://www.bsleek.com/hosting/]