Whimsicalidocious

Interesting finds and discoveries of a virtual traveler.
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Whimsical ('hwim-zi-k&l, 'wim-)
Function: adjective
resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice; especially : lightly fanciful
subject to erratic behavior or unpredictable change


Archive for June, 2008


General Webhosts Vs WordPress Specific Webhosts

by Chris Channing

WordPress, perhaps one of the most popular blogging platforms to date, isn’t exactly the first priority of every webhost around. Many webhosts are too general to provide optimal support for a specific product like WordPress. But if you value your blog, and are serious with its development and growth, looking for a webhost with WordPress-specific options would be in your best interest.

Features To Look Out For In WordPress Hosting

Before a blogger can get any work done, he or she needs to install WordPress. But doing that can be tough for those of us who aren’t exactly technically gifted. In that case, many webhosts, even the generalized ones, offer auto-installers that do the dirty work for us. So far, general webhosts and WordPress specific webhosts are neck and neck.

When it comes to security, bloggers prefer WordPress-specific webhosts. This is mainly due to the fact that when important security releases are circulated, normal webhosts aren’t always the first to get their auto-installers updated with the new information. WordPress-specific webhosts are much more “on the ball” in this sense, as they are always kept updated on new releases.

Where general webhosts tend to fail bloggers is in the upgrade category. Auto-installers such as Fantastico (packaged with cPanel) offer easy ways to upgrade, but the configurations, themes, plugins, and other content will be lost in the upgrade as files are overwritten. Clearly, WordPress specific hosts get the win here, since they take previously configured files into account when upgrading.

Anyone WordPress user that has been on the front page of websites such as Digg.com know that with excessive demand comes downtime. This is because WordPress is database driven- meaning that if a lot of people are on your blog at the same time, it is bound to go down. WordPress-specific webhosts take this into effect and offer better performance and efficiency at the database level.

Added Benefit For Bloggers

Whenever it comes to the normal webhosts, there aren’t many extra features they can offer for WordPress users. But with the WordPress hosts, there are usually a myriad of extra features to enjoy. This can range from special plugins and themes to other WordPress-specific services.

The biggest benefit to webmasters in this case is the exclusivity of the themes that WordPress webhosts provide. Since the themes aren’t open to the general public, there will be very few blogs on the Internet that have the same theme as you do. This will help blog owners to brand their domain name and company identity with ease.

Custom designs for WordPress blogs can easily run hundreds of dollars. As compared to the low fees of a WordPress host, it’s no contest as to which route every WordPress user should take in regards to themes.

When we add the score up, it seems that the WordPress hosts come out on top. But be sure to get quotes from several sources before making your decision. After all, a website is only as good as its host!

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Topics In Popular Car Audio Equipment Defined

by Chris Channing

When it comes to making a car look and sound great, investing in an ample car audio system is a great solution. The right car audio system will make heads turn, offer superior sound quality for the driver and passengers, and look stunning in the process. Exactly what one needs, however, can be a daunting topic.

It just wouldn’t be right to discuss topics in car audio and not also discuss the options cars now provide for mobile MP3 players. Players such as the Apple iPod and the Microsoft Zune now have accessories that will interface with one’s car audio system, and allow music to be directly played from one’s own playlist on their MP3 player. This eliminates the need for CDs, and allows for sound quality to flourish.

Satellite radio is huge benefit to consumers who just can’t deal with the problems apparent in normal radio stations. Satellite radio is devoid of the advertisements that plague current free radio, and allow for more options and better searching capability. In addition, the sound quality is greatly improved, and the static associated with radio will never have to be suffered again.

Although not typically considered direly important, the quality of one’s speakers can also have adverse effects on the overall quality of the audio a car obtains. Higher efficiency speakers will allow audio enthusiasts to enjoy a more realistic and stutter-free sound. And for those who continually ruin speakers from too much load, buying new speakers likely isn’t new- especially to teens and younger adults who have an odd knack for such loud music.

Amplifiers are necessary for getting sounds to their peak levels. Without the proper amplifier, car audio would be much less exciting in improving. External amplifiers are important in this category, since many factory standard amplifiers are sub-par in delivering the sound quality that car audio enthusiasts require in an amplifier. To reap maximum benefit, buy the biggest amplifier money can buy- you’ll thank yourself later down the road.

For audio fanatics that like to be specific about what they hear on the roads, there is special noise-dampening padding that can be obtained for fairly inexpensive prices. Noise dampeners will deaden the noise of wind, road noise, the hum of the motor, and other outside distractions- and better let the driver and passengers focus on the music being blasted through the speakers. It’s a more intricate touch to a car audio system, but necessary for the perfect sound to supplement a perfect audio setup.

Final Thoughts

Money isn’t something consumers like to throw around, so as a last piece of advice, try to visit as many car audio stores as possible. Some electronics stores and generalized stores will also incorporate car audio into their offerings, but they generally have less to choose from on average. Consult Internet resources for more information on both car audio, where to buy equipment, and how to get the most out of one’s car audio setup.

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Laptops Get Upgrades For Gamers Who Stay Mobile

by Chris Channing

If you ever see a PC gamer outside of his or her house, consider yourself lucky. All jokes aside, gaming laptops have only recently been able to keep up with some of today’s modern games. The question is- are laptops ready for the gaming scene, or are manufacturers marketing to gamers for extra cash flow?

Options For Mobile Gamers

Thanks to the technology unveiled in recent years, gamers are now getting higher performance in smaller packages. This has enabled the manufacturing industry to offer better performing laptops at cheaper prices.

Processors are now sporting Duo-Core technology, which is a fancy phrase for the use of two processors. This allows for more processing to be done in a multitasking environment- meaning smaller clock rates on processors are needed, which in turn produces less heat. (And as laptop owners know, heat will destroy a laptop quicker than anything)

Hard drives are another feature of laptops that could go with some further improvement. As of current, laptops commonly stay away from higher RPM speeds, because it creates excessive heat and takes up too much space in some cases. This is a loss for laptop owners, but the drop in RPM is quickly becoming less of a problem as other technologies are advancing.

Next we have the graphics card. The graphics card is what renders all the guns, ammo, enemies, and graphics that you will interact with on your laptop. Obviously this is a rather important component, and thus, it should be of good quality. Sadly, the latest and greatest in graphics cards aren’t available in mini formats yet- although good mobile graphics cards can still be had.

Pitfalls In Laptop Gaming

For laptop users who want to utilize their laptop for more than a couple of hours, gaming laptops might be a poor choice. There are power saving options, of course, but gaming laptops will still get much less battery life than less powerful laptops every single time. Whereas a gaming laptop might get a couple of hours, a normal one may get 10 or more.

Laptop users are accustomed to the touchpad that comes with laptops, but trying to play games with them just doesn’t cut it. There are mice for laptops, but this requires a flat surface- and mobile users will attest to the fact that a good flat surface can be hard to come by.

Closing Arguements

As mobile gaming becomes ever more popular, we can only hope that the hardware increases in both performance and heat dissipation. But as current trends go, you’ll be shelling out more money for a laptop that is statistically less productive and has a lesser life longevity. Remember that if you do indeed opt for a gaming laptop, you should buy a cooling fan to help protect your investment.

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An Online Money Making Idea - Clickbank!

by Allison Thompson

Whether one is just getting involved in internet marketing or has been doing it for some time you are going to be looking for ways in which you can make money easily and profitability through the use of affiliate marketing. So you should seriously be considering selling Clickbank products. But Clickbank isn’t actually an affiliate network in the strictest meaning of the words, but rather a place where products are sold and which can be purchased safely by those wishing to buy them.

In a press release sent out by Clickbank just over a year ago they announced that in their first day of trading last year they have managed to take over 1 million dollars worth of sales. Certainly since this time Clickbank have regularly been making sales of more than $1 million each day.

As well as Clickbank’s daily sales being impressive there are other impressive statistics which are showing why Clickbank is so successful and why one should be considering using it if you want to be able to make a steady regular income from an online business.

1. Clickbank has now more than 1.25 million registered affiliates on their site and of these 100,000 is known as being active, whilst another 12,000 or so are known as publishers.

2. Currently all sales that take place on Clickbank are currently running at 30% more than they were in 2007.

3. Although there are currently well over 35,000 products listed at Clickbank, each day a further 30 new products are being added to this list.

4. Today the average price of products that are now being sold on Clickbank work out at about $41. Plus the average rate of commission that the affiliates earn through selling such products is 55%.

5. Finally on average nearly 25,000 sales per day are taking place.

But what is Clickbank’s real strength is that it is able to cater not only for affiliates but also publishers as well. This means that the average customer has the chance to choose where to produce books that they sell or where to promote other people’s products. But at the end of the day the success of Clickbank is down to those affiliates who are able to create more than 70% of all the sales that occur through it. Certainly promoting one of the many products that you can find on Clickbank is without a doubt the best way for you to be able to generate an online income quickly.

There are several ways in which a person can promote Clickbank products the easiest of these being to set up a blog where you provide a review of the product in question along with further information about it. The other way that many people find useful to promote Clickbank products is by writing articles and then submitting one of the numerous online article directories. Through the resource box on these articles one is able to provide a link which will then direct the reader to your sales page or blog.

Another way of promoting Clickbank products which are used by some of the more experienced marketers is to create Pay Per Click Adverts which you then put on to networks such as Google Adsense. You need to learn everything about the various techniques involved in creating the right kinds of adverts if you want to be assured of getting a regular income from them. Ideally, I wouldn’t recommend using this method unless you really have gained the right amount of experience first.

Actually being a publisher on Clickbank is not as difficult as you would first imagine. Yes you do need to have something to sell, but any articles you need writing can be outsourced to one of the many specialist writers or you have the choice of purchasing Private Label Rights (PLR) e-books and then change them to make them unique to you. Once these have been listed then you have access to thousands more potential affiliates.

So if you have not tried Clickbank yet, then it is about time that you took a look just to see what they have to offer you.

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Pink Acoustic Guitars

by Mellisa Jane Green

You might be a bit taken aback if your ‘young daughter has been pleading with you to get a pink acoustic guitar. You probably associate guitars with moody teenage boys, not young girls who used to pretend to be princesses and play dress-up just a few years ago. You will probably think it best to buy an inexpensive guitar in case your little girl loses interest. However, before you let her give it up, you should try and encourage her to keep at it.

You’ve probably seen the TV show, Hannah Montana, which depicts a young girl who has attained status as a rock star. This is probably just one of the many reasons that it has become trendy for young women today to become muscians. There are many pluses and minuses when it comes to young girls yearning to become famous. But, as parents you can take what otherwise might just be a passing phase and use that pink acoustic guitar and turn it into a important and enduring passion.

Girls today have to deal with so many pressures from society. There are pressures pertaining to body image, pressures from peers to become sexually active as well as, academic pressures at school. A creative outlet, such as playing guitar can be very helpful. In general, girls tend to focus their emotions inward, which can be a bad thing. Channeling their emotions would be a better way, but this needs to be encouraged, even if it is negative. Guitar playing can help with this process by getting a young girl to let out her feelings, but still have them be private.

A young girl can write songs about puppy love, breakups and finding new love in the solitude of her own room. If she doesn’t want to, it isn’t necessary for her to let anyone else know about her guitar songs. But giving her the confidence to perform, even just for your family, can help you learn about the experiences she might be going through that you wouldn’t find about in any other way.

You need to keep a few things in mind when you make the decision to buy your daughter her first guitar, even a pin acoustic guitar. First, don’t be cheap. Ignore anything you can find in the toy section of the local discount store. Inexpensive guitars are really very hard to play, even for experienced guitarists. The smartest thing you can do is visit your local music store or better yet, one that is dedicated to guitars.

There are various guitars that are visually appealing to girls. The Daisy Rock is a popular company that specialize in guitars designed just for girls. It is with a good reason they call themselves The Girl Guitar Company. They sell a variety of guitars from plain pink acoustic guitars to heart and butterfly shaped guitars.

You should take your little girl along when buying a guitar as a gift instead of surprising her. Each guitar is not quite the same and even if two pink acoustic guitars look exactly the same, they will not play the same way. If she is allowed to pick out her own guitar, she will be able to choose the one that feels and sounds the best and is closest to her heart.

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