Branding The World » Guide

Mustangs: A guide to low flying and aerobatics!

admin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:11:22 +0000

P-51 Mustang displays, Flying Legends, Duxford 2007!

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Solar Panels For Homes – Free Guide -

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:48:29 +0000

www.shopping-e.info Discover how can you build your own Solar panels For Homes and save much money. So how do you choose your solar panel for home? We reviewed the top brands for you

Technorati Tags: Free, Guide, Homes, Panels, SOLAR

ebay guide to buying

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:14:37 +0000

Just a guide

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Your Guide To Buying a Piano

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 09:47:57 +0000

If you are interested in buying a piano, this is the place for you. Weeks ago my wonderful Essex piano Designed by Steinway & Sons got delivered. I reccomend to all out there to buy a piano they are fun and make your house look very nice and also is a form of entertainment. Please sit relax, enjoy and consider to buy one of the nations leading top brands, Yamaha, Kawai, Steinway(One of the best) Fazioli, And much more. Just visit pianos.wetpaint.com, for more information and tips please go to my homepage and leave a comment. Thanks again for all your time and consideration. Formally yours, ~ Essexpianos~

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Do’s and Dont’s Guide to Great Web Design

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:11:58 +0000

When followed, this guide will prove to be quite a valuable web design resource. From the inexperienced to the experienced, this guide has something for everyone. The Process of Great Web Design Just to make sure we are all on the same page, lets begin with the basic definition for “web design”. According to Wikipedia, web design is:”a process of conceptualization, planning, modeling, and execution of electronic media delivery via Internet in the form of Markup language suitable for interpretation by Web browser and display as Graphical user interface”.
The process of web design can be compared to the process of writing a research paper. In the conceptualization/planning stage, flowcharts (the outline) are created which illustrate the navigational structure of your website. In the modeling stage, static wireframes are created (the rough draft) which illustrate the skeletal layout for each section of your website. After the wire frames are created, graphics, colors and text are used to create the design of your web pages based on the layout of the wire frames. In the execution stage, your design is converted into a format supported by web browsers, text and content are added, and finally, your website is published live to the Internet for the world to see (final draft).
All three stages of the design process are equally important. Many web designers skip a stage in order to save time or because they don’t think that is is necessary. However, all three stages are necessary if your goal is to create a successful design and respectable website. Even if the three stages are used, there are many mistakes that web designers can make that will lead to poor-quality, non user-friendly websites.
It’s time to clean out the cabinet of bad web design practices and restock it with the good ones. Stage 1: Conceptualization and planning
This stage is skipped more often than the other two stages. Most writers don’t enjoy creating outlines for research papers, and most web designers don’t like creating flowcharts either. Don’t be lazy. If you put forth the effort and plan out your website, then you will find the web design process to go smoothly with fewer mistakes made along the way.
There are a few things that you will need in order to effectively conceptualize and plan your website:
-a brain
-a pen and paper
-(optional) flowchart software
-a general idea of the different sections of your website
To begin, grab your pen and paper or launch your favorite flowchart software. We use OmniGraffle Professiona for Mac OS X which costs $150 per license but is well worth it if you create websites on a regular basis. If you’re on a PC, then SmartDraw is a great FREE piece of flowchart software that you can use. A pen and paper work just fine, though.
There are many methods to creating flowcharts. We are going to show you the most basic way to do it for the sake of time and the length of this article. If you want to learn more about flowcharts search for flowcharts on Google or Yahoo.
View the flowchart that we created when conceptualizing Chromatic Sites. (1) At the top of the flowchart we list the name of our website. (2) Next, we include each primary section of our website: Home, About, and Services. These sections are the main navigation for your website. What the names of each section will be is entirely dependent on the content of your website. Try to use as few sections as possible so that your visitors are not overwhelmed when navigating through your website.
(3) Next, add all of the secondary pages (subsections) that will be listed on each of the primary pages. For Home, we have included Professional Web Design, Web Development, and Search Engine Optimization. The secondary navigation needs to be more descriptive than the primary navigation. The deeper your websites’ navigational hierarchy goes, the more descriptive each label should be. The Dos
-Less is more; keep the number of primary sections to a minimum. We use 6 sections on our website which is more than enough -Whether you use a pen and paper or flowchart software, keep things as clean and organized as possible. Although you (and anyone working with you) are the only ones that will be using the flowchart, it still needs to make sense -Your primary sections should use broader terms, while secondary and tertiary terms should be more descriptiveThe Donts
Creating a flowchart is pretty straight forward; however, there are a few mistakes that can easily be made:
-Don’t use very descriptive terms in your primary navigation unless your entire website focuses on one narrow topic -Don’t try and lump multiple topics on the same page. Create a general section for these topics and from that section create subsections. This will make the subsection (descriptive) web pages more likely to have better rankings in the search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask) Once you have created a concise and descriptive flowchart, you’re ready to move on to the second stage of the web design process:
modeling. Stage 2: Modeling
In the modeling stage, static “wireframe” mockups are created. Each mockup illustrates a bare-bones skeleton of the layout for each of the web pages that will be included in your website. This stage is important because it gives us an idea of where different elements will be placed in our design. Some of these elements are:
-logo
-navigational menu
-content
-images, videos
To create these mockups, you can use a pen and paper or your preferred mockup software. In the past we have used Photoshop, but lately we have been using OmniGraffle Professional. OmniGraffle is not as resource intensive as Photoshop is and it allows us to assemble our wireframe mockups much quicker.
In addition, make sure that you have the flowchart(s) that you created nearby as you will need to reference these from time to time to make sure that you are mocking up all of the pages that will appear on your website.
Here is our example of how a wireframe mockup should look. As you can see, there are no colors or graphics included. This is exactly how a wireframe mockup should be – a skeletal layout of your design. The purpose is to be able to have a general idea of where each of the web page’s elements will be placed.
We usually begin from the top left and work our way down to the bottom. There is no specific way that a wireframe should look. Use your imagination. However, make sure that when creating your wireframes you don’t forget to include the most important elements of a website (logo, navigational menu, content placement, images/video placement).
If some of your pages will be using the same layout, then it is not necessary to mock all of those pages up (although you certainly can).
Just be sure to mockup any unique layout that your website will have.
You’ll thank yourself later. The Dos
-mockup all unique pages
-include important elements (logo, navigation, content placement, images/video placement) -start from the top and work your way down -reference your flowchart created in stage 1 to make you don’t forget to mockup any pages -save, save, save – like with anything on the computer, save your mockup(s) every 10 minutes or so
-focus on clean, user friendly layouts -label your elements so you don’t forget what they are when you reference them in stage 3, execution -use other web sites as inspiration; there is nothing wrong with taking elements from other sites and making them your own (see “donts”)The Donts
-don’t include graphics or colors (that’s for the next stage) -don’t make your mockups too “busy”; focus on clean, well organized, user friendly layouts -don’t skip this stage; it is just as important as the first and the last -if you take elements from other websites, make sure you don’t plagiarize; there is a difference between being inspired by another website to create certain elements of your design and blatantly ripping off their layout and colorsStage 3: Execution
In the third and final stage, execution, the planning from stages 1 and 2 are combined to assist in creating a live, interactive website.
The third stage is by far the most time intensive since you will be 1) creating the graphics 2) creating the content, and finally, 3) converting the web designs from images into code that web browsers use to present your website to the world.
By the time you reach the third stage, you should have a clear idea of:
-how your visitors will get from one place to another (stage 1, flowchart) -how your web pages will be laid out (stage 2, wireframe mockups)
If you don’t have a clear idea of these two things, go back to the first and second stagees and continue to develop them. You will find that the third stage is easiest when you have constructed a clear, concise battle plan for designing your website. Ditch the pen and paper
In stage 3, you need to be using Photoshop or another image editing program since you will be using colors and graphics to create the layout for your website.
We usually begin creating the “home” page (index) first. Use your wireframes that you created in stage 2 as a template for each of the pages you create. However, instead of using solid boxes, use graphics, colors and text instead. Each page must look exactly how you want them to look on the Internet since this is the final stage of the design process.
Be sure to include the background for your navigation (but don’t actually add the text to your image). When converted using CSS (cascading style sheets), your navigation should be in the form of text and not images. Images are not crawl-able by the search engines (the keywords used in your navigation won’t be indexed in the search engine results pages, meaning fewer people will be able to find your website).
When you’re happy with your designs and feel that they are ready to be put on the Internet, it’s time to break apart the designs so that you can create a CSS based layout. For more information on converting your layouts to CSS or marking up your website in CSS, visit w3schools. com. After looking around the Internet, we couldn’t find a decent image-to-CSS tutorial – so expect one from us in the coming weeks. Converting your designs into CSS is extremely important since table layouts are a thing of the past.
Here is an example of a nearly-completed website of the layout we mocked up in stage 2. This was taken directly from our web browser and as you can see, there is now a logo, colors, a pretty navigation system, a footer, and a most importantly, a clean, organized layout.
Thanks to the planning in stages 1 and 2, our layout is well-organized and easy to use. The Dos
-reference your templates that were created in stage 2; though it is fine to deviate from your original layout, you shouldn’t need to -do some research before creating your actual design; get ideas from other sites and make them your own (without plagiarizing) -include color and graphics to create the final look for your web pages -use CSS (cascading style sheets) to convert your designs from images into markup understandable by web browsers -reference your flowchart from stage 1 when coding your pages with hyperlinks; it is better to use a drop down menu that includes all (or the majority) of the links in your website on every page; this will allow for easier navigation and also make your pages easier to crawl when the search engine spiders stop by; a great place to get CSS drop down menus is at DynamicDrive. com -finalize your design while working in Photoshop or whatever image editing software you use; it can be a pain to make changes to your design once it is converted into markup (code)The Donts
-don’t include the text in your navigation menus when converting to CSS; instead of using image text, use regular text that is readable by search engine spiders -don’t use tables when converting; even if you need to buy a book on CSS, it will be worth it; tables are dead -don’t skip the first two stages just to save time; your website WILL be better if you start from the beginning of the web design process (instead of at the end) -don’t forget to compress your images when they are cut apart for CSS; there is nothing worse than a slow loading website because of large image files; Photoshop has a “Save Optimized For Web” option (CS3 – “Save for Web and Devices”)Process Makes Perfect
By following a web design process such as the one illustrated in this article, you increase the chances of creating a website that is well-organized, easily navigable, and very user-friendly. Lets face it – if visitors get lost or become confused while attempting to surf your website, they might hit the back button and look for a more user friendly website. People do not like to think when it comes to finding their way around websites. Don’t make them think. You do the thinking by planning out your website from stage 1 to stage 3 and you will find that more people will enjoy visiting your website.

If you need professional web design work from a professional web design company, then take a look at the professional web design services of Chromatic Sites.

Technorati Tags: Design, Do'S, Don'Ts, Great, Guide

Bringing your business up to speed: a guide to wide area networks

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:20:15 +0000

In order to keep up with your customers’ demands you need a real-time 360 degree view of your business. Your systems need to operate 24 hours a day and your stock levels must be up to date at all times. When your company is small and based in a single location, things are simple. But they may start to get complicated when you expand or start to outsource into other territories, either at home or abroad. For example, if you’re a retail business with multiple shops around the country, as well as a national distribution hub and a factory located abroad, then ideally you want everyone in the business to send you data in real-time. This way you can know at any time how many coats have sold in your Newcastle shop and how much stock remains at the distribution point. You want every part of your business to be connected. This way a sales till in your shop in Newcastle can both ring up sales and keep track of how much money has been taken. It can also connect to the internet and access your company website, as well as interrogate the distribution hub to see if there’s any stock left or to put in an order if more stock is needed. You also want it to be easy for the shop assistant on the till to be able to contact anyone in the organisation, no matter where they are, in order to get an idea of stock levels in different shops or to find information about forthcoming products. Without fast connectivity, you have to disconnect each part of the business from the headquarters and collect data on a daily or weekly basis. But this means accounts are always a few days or a week out of synch, so nobody can say with any certainty whether or not an item is in stock. Such businesses are also unable to respond effectively to changes in the market both locally and nationally. Seeking connectivity solutions via broadband Some companies look to the internet and broadband for a solution, but here there are also drawbacks, namely a lack of security. Unfortunately, the internet is an inherently insecure network. For example, whenever you send an email, that email is split into small bits by the sender and then bounces from server to server until it’s reassembled at its destination. At any point along that route it’s possible for someone to intercept those deconstructed bits. And if you’re streaming video or audio the data can get out of sequence, as different parts of the file are sent over different paths and may not be received in the order in which they were sent. Broadband connections, while fast enough for consumer needs, are less likely to be adequate for medium to large business use. When you share one broadband line between multiple users in, say, a branch office and you need to send, upload and download large files you start to hit problems. Most available broadband connections are asynchronous, meaning they download at one rate and upload at another. Therefore, an 8Mbps connection will allow you to download a file at 8Mbps, but only upload at around 512k to 1Mbps. Speed is also dependent on your distance from the exchange and the number of other people sharing your connection. Wide Area Network Options The simplest solution to the problem is to create a set of dedicated connections between your sites. With these, the upload speed is as fast as the download speed, and it has pre-agreed levels of service, which are set via a service level agreement (SLA). Also, the line is used by your business and no one else, so the download speed will not reduce at peak times when the business next-door starts to send large CAD/CAM files. Leased lines are one of the simplest connections, offering connectivity up to 155Mb, but there are other options that offer faster performance, often at a lower price. For example, if your offices are dispersed across a business park, a town, a city or a region, Ethernet Extensions are one way to link your people. Ethernet Extensions offer unlimited usage through a dedicated, fixed-price digital transmission channel. This secure, fibre-based service offers dedicated connections at Ethernet speeds of 10, 100, 1000 Mb and up to 10Gb. You can have point-to-point connections or point to multipoint, as well as supporting business critical applications and high speed file transfer to improve efficiency. All this between locations up to 25km apart allowing you to exchange large amounts of data effectively and efficiently. In cases where your offices are spread across the country, National Ethernet may be a good solution. National Ethernet offers unlimited usage across the UK at speeds of 2Mb right up to 1Gb across our national network. If bandwidth upgrades are needed, they can typically be done remotely without the need for a site visit. Whether you need multiple circuits or a single connection, the service can be tailored to you. Annual charges are fixed regardless of usage or distance. As the number of your sites increases, it becomes more complicated to rely on individual connections between them. In these cases, a virtual private network is often a good alternative, allowing you to share resources efficiently rather than on a site-by-site basis. An IPVPN is a cost effective, secure, flexible, scalable and fully managed service. IPVPN provides the security of a VPN with superior performance for business-critical applications, plus the cost benefits of converging voice, data and video traffic on the same network. The service is managed for you, including the set up and ongoing management of routers and IP routing. If you want to control your own routing hardware Ethernet VPNs can be a great solution, allowing you connect sites nationally, at speeds of 1MB to 1GB through our Next Generation Network. Combining a Next Generation Network with VoIP Because you have a connection that’s both fast and secure, you can start to use the connection to perform other tasks, such as video conferencing, or using the connection for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems. One of the main criticisms of VoIP is that there’s no guarantee on call quality since the system uses the internet to route calls. Calls can sometimes break off or the voice quality can be so poor as to be impossible to use. However, using VoIP over a dedicated Next Generation Network will give you a clear line, as well as connections that are always reliable. This not only saves your business money, but also should encourage your employees to communicate more often. Lastly, because you now have a constant fast and reliable connection between all your different sites, it’s now much easier and faster for your IT department to support users, no matter where they are, and to build in additional safeguards for your business, such as disaster recovery solutions. With a WAN your IT staff can use tools like Microsoft’s built-in Remote Desktop Connection to remotely control and share a PC, so there’s no need for site visits to fix simple IT problems. Additionally, the servers on your system can continuously back up their data to secondary sites. This way if a branch office is hit by fire or flood there’s a copy of all the lost data saved and available for use straight away. You can then restart the branch anywhere from within a few hours to a few days. Solutions like High Capacity Services can often be a great way of supporting the performance and bandwidth needed when servers are mirroring data of this kind over large distances.

ntl:Telewest Business boasts more than 15 years’ experience in delivering communication solutions for private and public sector organisations, and has invested more than ?13billion in the largest alternative Next Generation Network in the UK.

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Business Preparation Guide

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:19:49 +0000

Everything the Business Start-up Gurus Never Tell You in Their Expensive Seminars and Inadequate Books This Business Prep Guide Prepares You for the Forgotten Necessary Steps Before Diving into Entrepreneurship ü Are you looking to start a new business? ü Do you want complete and detailed information to help you decide if entrepreneurship is for you? ü Would you like a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to walk you through launching your own business? By the time you finish reading The Business Prep Guide in its entirety, you will be able to get your own business off the ground. 70% of workers experience stress-related illnesses and say they would change their jobs if they could. Are you in that majority? You don’t have to be. Starting any business is a difficult task. You can relieve some of the stress that it takes to start a business if you have properly planned. First, you have to choose what type of business that you want to start. After you have chosen the business you want to start, you have to take the steps to properly get it off the ground. Before you can make a sound decision, you need detailed information about the industry, how to break into the industry, and what to expect along your journey as an entrepreneur in that field. No one wants to jump into an industry that is saturated and that does not have any growth potential. And I don’t recommend you follow that path either. This guide teaches you: Ø How to start and prepare for entrepreneurship Ø Developing systems that build businesses Ø And much more… Creating a solid foundation and a system can have prospective customers visiting your site all day, twenty-four hours a day. Those people who are making money while they sleep didn’t do it over night. They launched effective systems that started paying off after sticking to the tasks that they implemented. Now, they can sit back and relax and rake in the cash. They are working hard, but they aren’t working nearly as hard as they were when they first launched their businesses. You can have the keys to unlock the door to success. This compilation of the most recommended and effective tools could be the difference between financial bliss and facing the dread of a cubicle until you’re 67. Whatever it is that keeps you from fulfilling your dreams of running a successful business, with The Business Prep Guide you will no longer have an excuse. There are so many avenues that you can follow in starting a business that information overload keeps you from succeeding at any one avenue. You’ve heard that this method works to start a new business. But then again, last week you heard another method was the best method for getting customers. This book The Business Prep Guide starts from the beginning and teaches you how to develop a preparation plan to stick to that will be your path to launch your business with a solid foundation. It weeds through all the jargon and the information you’ve been overloaded with and breaks down the most effective strategies. It helps you to decide which strategies would probably work best for you by being clear with language you can understand. Throw away the tips and tricks books. These are real steps that successful entrepreneurs go through before launching a business. No more scratching your head and wondering how to get started. It’s all here in The Business Prep Guide. To succeed you need a plan and the right information. This guide gives you all the information you need to prepare you for entrepreneurship, in one complete package. It also reviews the pitfalls to avoid and the advantages you should expect to encounter on your journey for independence. This guide is written in plain English. No fluffy language that talks around what you really want to know. Although this guide is jam packed with information, it’s easy to use and navigate to the information that you really care about. This easy-to-read guide will not only get your mind thinking about the challenges of entrepreneurship but points you in the right direction so you can get started today instead of procrastinating any longer. Your options are only limited by your desires. Every viable option available is covered in this guide. Study each easy-to-understand section thoroughly and use them to get what you want. I am that confident that we can help you achieve your goals with this guide.

I have a Human Resource background and I am committed to long life learning.

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Business Planning – A Guide For This Crucial Stage

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:19:37 +0000

A business plan is a summary and appraisal of your business concept. It is the written result of the planning process. A business plan shows the likelihood of success of the business and your ability to make it work. It affords the means to work through all aspects of a business and to scrutinise the consequences of a variety of strategies relative to marketing, management, finance and human resources. It is a management instrument to provide direction to you as the business owner. If you are starting a business, the process of preparing and writing a business plan provides a great opportunity to test your motivation and commitment. Why complete a business plan?A business plan enables you to take an objective look at your business, identifying areas of strength and weakness and indicates requirements and problems that might otherwise be unnoticed. If your business enterprise is at best, marginal, the business plan will demonstrate to you why. Having a business plan that is well prepared also provides a foundation for monitoring the progress of the business. Lastly, if you require external financing, your business plan will provide the information needed to evaluate your business enterprise. A carefully prepared business plan routinely becomes a complete financial proposal that will in most cases meet the requirements of most investors and lenders. Understand the business you are in. Most business owners spend a considerable amount of time pondering the future of their business, but not all actually complete any formal business planning. What the planning provides is a measure of structure and a focal point, allows one to analyse alternative strategies that may have been missing on first thought. There are a number of ways and formats including software packages that assist in preparation of a business plan. The following list is just a guide to a standard business plan layout; we hope it is useful to you. 1. Front cover2. Statement of purpose3. Summary4. Table of contents5. The business* Business objectives* Name, address, contact details and ABN* Business activity, commencement date, commencement capital and business structure* Competitive advantage* Owners’ profiles* Major clients* Licences and registrations* Business advisors* Current performance6. Industry analysis* ANZSIC category, political/economic, social, technological, industry and competition* Key success factors7. Product and services* Product range analysis* Competitor analysis* SWOT analysis8. Marketing plan* Target market* Marketing objectives* Marketing strategy – product, price, promotion and place9. Operational strategy* Location and premises* Plant and equipment* Inventory* Human resources* Environmental strategy10. Financial strategy* Financial objectives* Capital structure* Statements of financial performance and financial position (Income statement and balance sheet)* Cashflow forecasts* Sales and collections from debtors forecasts* Purchases and payments to creditors forecasts* Breakeven analysis11. Appendices* Financial statements* Legal documents, leases, contacts, letters of intent* Research documents, patents, trademarksFor further information on Business Planning, please visit the Business section of Income Resource Club.

Steven is the co-founder of the Income Resource Club, a business portal with hundreds of resources on business, property and trading.

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Do’s and Dont’s Guide to Great Web Design

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:19:51 +0000

If you need professional web design work from a professional web design company, then take a look at the professional web design services of Chromatic Sites.

Technorati Tags: Design, Do'S, Don'Ts, Great, Guide

Do’s and Dont’s Guide to Great Web Design

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:19:49 +0000

If you need professional web design work from a professional web design company, then take a look at the professional web design services of Chromatic Sites.

Technorati Tags: Design, Do'S, Don'Ts, Great, Guide