The Most Powerful Generation

While working with students at the University of Louisiana, recently one of them spoke wistfully to me about the student protests and activism on Civil Rights, Feminism, Viet Nam and the like. He felt that his generation did have the power to change things in fundamental ways. 

Let me be blunt: Today's students are the most powerful generation of young adults in the history of the world. 

The group I head, booksXYZ.com and The American Public School Endowments, worked with Wikipedia some time back. When we first contacted them, they enjoyed a traffic ranking of 19. 

The #19 website in the whole world-- which includes massively funded corporate websites such as Amazon, CNN, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and AOL, to name a few. 

What is hard to believe, is that only 2 and a half people were manning the Wikipedia office. Since then, Wikipedia has faced the many problems that a rapidly expanding concern faces, employee shortages & turnovers (including CEOs), underfunding, personality clashes, typical office politics, all while trying to work with millions of volunteers and users worldwide. And the effect of all these problems is... 

The Wikipedia has climbed even faster and higher, and now sits at #9. So what's the explanation? 

You can figure it out for yourself, because the same thing is happening all over the Internet. Just go anywhere online: eBay, Craig's List, Geocities, YouTube, Blogger, del.icio.us, Flickr, Facebook, Napster, Linux, and on & on. The computer programs available free from the OpenSource community, and the new tools available- RSS, IM, blogs, message boards, ListServes, cell phones, podcasts, social networking, cell phone cameras, eMail, eZines, video streaming, social bookmarking, porable video recorders-- have allowed people, primarily young people, to create value and wealth for companies around the globe, wealth exceeding the GNP of all but the very largest countries. 

The Roman Dictators, The Kings of France, the Ottoman Sultans-- their powers pale next to what a student can create with a wireless PDA in a few minutes. If, just in their leisure time, student-contributed content has built the preceding Internet empires, and if among their overlooked laptops and cell phones students carry this much potential power, what could they accomplish if they seriously thought about it? What could students do for the world, for economic reforms, for social justice, for educational movements? 

Pundits often claim that City Hall can't be beaten. They're wrong. City Hall gets beaten by average citizens every day. What can't be beaten is the news media. Since they tell everyone the story, they get to tell it their way, and so they can't be beaten... 

...that is, if you aren't media yourself. If you can publish your own version, you can compete with the media. 

And today's media are largely young people, young adults. In fact, the term "media" doesn't mean what it once did, for exactly that reason. In the past, "media" really meant two separate things: the medium, i.e., the vehicle for delivery; and the information, the cargo the vehicle carried. But the movements we noted previously show that, although corporations still control the vehicle, the content comes from the public. And that public is largely young adults. 

But the students don't need the corporations any more. There are free, freely available media that replace all of the corporate platforms. You can pay for blog software, or you can download free, OpenSource blog platforms. And if a few dollars a month to host your own blog or other software is too much, you can use Blogger or any one of the thousands of competitors to Blogger, to publish your own content, free of charge. 

This is true for any application on the 'net. The OpenSource movement has free software that will replace all of the packages that we pay for, and all of the corporate websites out there, from the smallest add-ons, right up to massive programs for operating systems, Internet publishing, online retail, all of it. 

Considering that, it is clear that although the medium may still be produced by corporations, the successful websites are largely those where the public generates the content. And that public, more and more, is a young public. 

So today's student has unprecedented, phenomenal power... more than enough to make this planet better. 

And all the students of today need to do, is to begin deciding how best to use those tools, and begin making this little planet better.

Christmas Shopping with Kids

Remember when Christmas shopping was something you could put off until the last minute, and then rush through, in one evening? Alone? Ahhh-those were the days, weren't they?

Now you have little shoppers, and you can't rush through anything, anymore, and a trip to the store-any store-is an operation which requires military-style planning. You can't wait until late at night. You can't slide and squeeze and speed your way through the crowds. And, most of all, you can't dawdle, examining something on the shelf-when you're shopping with small children, dawdling is definitely forbidden.

You know you have to keep them moving, keep their attention engaged, keep them guessing; a few seconds' rest can put the brakes on your master plan:

"Mommy, I want that!"
"Daddy, I'm hungry!"
"I have to go to the bathroom!"
"Tommy touched me!"
"I want to go home!"

By the time Christmas rolls around, you never want to see the inside of a retail store, again.

The good news is, you're not alone. Parents of small children all over the world are sharing your pain. The bad news is, there's no easy way to shop for Christmas, with small children. There are, however, a few ways to take a tiny bit of the stress out of the process.

In the spirit of keeping your kids engaged and involved-rather than just being unwilling passengers on the journey-make your shopping trip their shopping trip, too. Have them make a list of things they want to give as gifts to their grandparents, cousins, or friends. Do your shopping, first, then deal with their lists-this can help keep them as anxious as you, to see that your shopping is done, quickly.

Plan a visit to the store's Santa, on the condition that your kids are well-behaved and as helpful as possible-but make Santa your last stop.

Bring snacks along-hungry kids tend to be irritable. Bring activities, like coloring books, to keep them occupied, while you shop.

During the holidays, many malls have kids' play areas with adult supervision. Talk with other parents you know, to discover which ones in your area are safe and trustworthy.

Talk with your children before your shopping trip. Plan a reward or discipline system for them, based on their behavior at the store. If they become unruly, don't take the bait and discipline them at the store-just be sure, when the trip's over, to follow through with your plan.

Know your kids. If you realize that a successful Christmas shopping trip with them is a hopeless dream, then find a way to leave them at home, with a sitter or your spouse.

Christmas shopping is a cultural ritual that's here to stay. Look at it this way-you only have to survive a few years of it, with small children. Then you can go back to the last-minute, late-night gift runs-they'll seem like a vacation, won't they?

Management of The Stored Data Must Hold Prime Importance

This generation is termed as the computer generation, since just about everything is executed on computers. From homes, shops, offices, malls, hospitals to schools and colleges, everywhere the need of computers has taken over manual execution and presentation of tasks. Since computers have over powered the manual presence, the need for storage of various data involved and developed, holds importance. All the critical data developed and every information worked on by the user needs to be stored, and this storage happens on number of hard drives and servers, not just in computers used at homes, even in business environments. The storage of information is basically done to maintain a back up of all the critical data that an organization or an individual requires. Maintaining the back up of the required information, make it possible for the professionals working in an organization or individuals using the computers at homes or at any place, make the perfect use of the data stored whenever required. In shops, hospitals, offices and malls, the information regarding goods and inventories made is stored for months and years, as this information might come to use at the time of need, therefore the storage system used by them needs to be maintained well, so that they find the necessary information when they require it.

Only critical and important information are stored, so that it can be bough to use whenever required, therefore, the storage system needs to be maintained, so that the critical data stored is not lost due to some failures in the system or due to the attack of any virus corrupting the system. Data storage management process needs to be adopted to save the required important information, which can begin with setting up a regular schedule for backing up of the data. This process of back up may involve a schedule that is anywhere from a weekly backup to one that occurs two or three times a day i.e. the data that needs to be stored needs to be stored again and again on a weekly basis or keep a check on it on a regular basis. There are several factors to consider in setting up the frequency, as the working system of the companies may vary from organization to organization, therefore, there are varied factors that needs to be taken into consideration while setting up the frequency of the backup process.

There are many factors that need to be considered while managing the data storage process, as, some people prefer to save data on disks and some in tape drives and prefer to maintain a tape library. In environments where servers are used, many businesses choose to have the data on a primary server backed up to a secondary server, considering it to be the easiest option, regarding maintaining the backup of the critical information involved in the organizations. In large organizations along with regular backup process, the information need to be well labeled and maintained, so that it would prove easy to find whenever required as well as easy to be maintained.

How One Can Convert Youtube To Mp3

In any case, why should individuals settle for only having their content material accessible to them whereas they're linked to the Web? Positive, most individuals have broadband connections which are all the time on; but there's nonetheless a major quantity of folks who have to make use of dial up Internet access, and for them YouTube could be an actual hassle. For these folks it will be a lot easier to download the movies after which watch them off-line each time it is convenient.

In an effort to obtain movies from YouTube freed from cost you could first get a small software software to deal with the downloads for you. The net site itself does not allow individuals to obtain videos, nevertheless it is very straightforward to search out software program like Video Piggy on the Internet that may deal with this process quite capably. Primarily all these software products do is download the video from YouTube to your exhausting drive and then transcode it into a video format that your laptop can use. It is basically an one click on course of that downloads the flash video and converts it into one thing that can be played on whatever media player you occur to be using. With all of the leisure decisions available on the Internet it's no wonder that these programs are becoming so in style these days. This means you can watch all of your favorite YouTube videos on the go. When you've received the suitable software, you may put your favorite videos onto a DVD and watch it in your home DVD player. Thanks to YouTube, you'll give you the option to access 24-hour leisure of all types. Should you've never seen or downloaded any YouTube movies, you are in for a treat. Simply browsing all the alternatives obtainable for viewing can turn out to be addictive. It is easy to spend hours on finish enjoying all of the entertainment YouTube has to offer, and now you possibly can even do it on the go.

Converting YouTube videos to MP3 is the newest trend online. There isn't any doubt that YouTube.com is a popular video sharing site for video lover's community online. The various amateur producers of home made motion pictures or videos also discover it as their stepping stone. As a matter of reality, YouTube is now the largest video group online.

Not all of us are conscious that YouTube is already owned by Google. Also, not everyone is aware of that YouTube might be a nice way to market your business. However the group of individuals on which this web site is of nice use if for movie lovers. And since not all the viewers of videos prefer to observe them online, many individuals are on the lookout for one of the best ways to get the videos that they like and then share them to their households and friends. And due to this, there are various websites lately created in order to supply YouTube video downloading and likewise converting of YouTube files.

The Significance Of Sme Advertisements

Considering that you are beginning to operate your business, it is really difficult to compete with other SME and even harder with those who have already established their names in the commercial world. It will be difficult, really. Nonetheless, as opposed to losing hope, you can make all things feasible. All you have to do is to market your products by making use of efficient marketing strategies. 

Why is it essential to learn about the significance of marketing to SME or SMB? If you're a newbie, you must be oriented fully since there could be discouragements that you will experience along the way. Small businessmen have this point of view which advertisement for small enterprise only adds up expenses and also does not guarantee any advantageous effect.
This perception should be changed. If you'd like to expand your business, you have to change your way of thinking. What do you think is the key of huge businesses? In case you have observed, those firms that are getting good commercials are those successful ones. If marketing is crucial for those established corporation, what more to those SMB?

If you're a entrepreneur, you should get used to the concept of needing to risk some thing for the sake of learning efficient ways of endorsing your company and your item. There might be instances that the marketing won't click but then it will always have an impact to the industry. Rather than placing you down, you must keep trying for anyone to remember you and your products.

Advertisement leads to a certain company's accomplishment. You could employ many forms of marketing campaigns. Depending on your preferences, you can have your ads be put into newspaper publishers, magazines, broadcasted on radio or even shown on television. But apart from that all, promoting a business on the internet is a very effective action. This only shows how large the influence of the net to the public. Almost all of us are applying internet everyday; hence there's a great opportunity that a certain company or item will be recognized effortlessly.

In addition, advertisement isn't just designed to advertise certain items and company. It is also an effective way to uplift the image of the company. By doing such things, there would be a good opportunity for opening a new opportunity for business.

So if you are among those owners of a small and moderate venture, you should acknowledge and think about the importance of having to do some advertisements with regards to marketing items.It will charge you some amount but the return will be enough to fulfill you. In one way or another, every advertisement leads to success.

Points to Consider While Buying Used Watercrafts

If you are considering buying used boats then learn how to find out the most profitable deals. Apart from the cost, warranty, insurance, maintenance, manufacturing date and company there are lots of other issues which need to be checked before signing the deal. But it is not an easy task to check the watercrafts people want to sell. Boatschecking not only requires concrete experience, but also needs few tools like compression gauge, hydrometer, load tester, spark plug wrench, blade screwdriver, lower unit grease tray and ear muffs for motor.

Here are an elaborate discussion about the points need to be taken into consideration while you are searching boat classifieds to buy boats, specially the used ones.

Test Boating: Like test driving of a car, you should ask for a test boating of the watercraft. Boats are hard to recognize from outside. You need to check it manually. So the person wants to sell boats should allow for a test drive.

Does it vibrate? If the boat vibrates a lot and makes bad noise then must be it has a faulty propeller.

Does it smoothly change gear or it jumps weirdly every time you change the gear?

Before you buy boats check how much time it takes in planning. Also play with the steering to see how long it takes to respond when you move it to a new direction. Do not forget to check how it works in reverse. There comes the situation when you have to sail it backward.

Engine evaluation is another necessary point to consider. Boats dealer may sell boats without letting you to check the engine, but engine is the heart of a boat. First, go for a visual inspection. If nothing comes out then check the compression and lower unit. After you it's you who will buy boats, so it's your duty to check everything. There is another thing to check in the engine, is it a clean engine? Professional boat dealerswant to sell boats must keep the engines clean and clear. Dirty engine does not only reflect the unprofessional attitude of the dealer, it also shows how neglected the boat is.

Keep your eyes open for few bad signs like grime around seals and/or gaskets, rusted engine, steel freeze plugs, loose steering cables etc. To buy boats you need to carefully inspect the temperature, speedometer, RPM and the bilge pump. Some people sell boats with bilge blowers. Though bilge blowers are common with Gasoline powered watercrafts, but you can see few diesel powered boats with these blowers as well.

Have you calculated the hours you are on the boat? Just like the mileage of a car, the hours are calculated to determine the future performance of a boat. Buy boats which have above 500 hours life. Even if the dealer wants to sell boats with less than 500 hours timeline saying it will work great, pay no heed.

Also, do not forget to monitor the propeller for any cracks, storage options, faded colors or moss in the wood surface or upholstery, corrosion in the metal parts.