Better Options In Downloading Mobile Phone Ring Tones and Mobile Phone Logos – by: Mark Bishop

Over a few years, mobile tones, cheap ring tones, mobile phone logo and downloadable game for mobile phones have become very popular among a large cross-section of mobile phone users in different parts of UK as well as other parts of the globe. A number of online providers of mobile phone logos, mobile tones as well as downloadable game for mobile phones have evolved and there is tremendous competition among them to make their presence felt in the telecom market. Many among them are enticing mobile phone users with offers that involve a lot of “small print.” Many of these offers do not respect the right of the mobile phone users to get what they are entitled to when they pay money for downloading of different types of mobile content in the form of mobile tones, mobile phone logo, cheap ring tones, other types of ring tones or those who are engaged in game downloads in their mobiles.

To protect the interests of consumers in this environment becomes all the more necessary. In this context, a number of rules have been devised to protect the rights of mobile phone users in UK for game downloads in their mobiles or in the instances of downloading of cheap ring tones, funny ring tones or a mobile phone logo. All firms that want to sell mobile phone content have to strictly follow these set of rules. These rules have been drafted by the Mobile Entertainment Forum and the UK’s phone firms.

Under the tenets of the new rules, the online firms must be transparent in their operations. They must provide all information to the end-consumers. The consumers must know what type of mobile tones or mobile phone logos they are expected to get for their money and also how they could discontinue the services of the online providers, offering the same, if they are dissatisfied with their services. The advertisements of these firms must speak in detail about the prices and time periods of the various offers in mobile tones, cheap ring tones, funny ring tones, mobile phone logos and downloadable games for mobile phones that are on offer.

Mobile phone users as consumers of the services of online retailers and providers of mobile content have a right to know what they are actually getting into, when they make a purchase of a mobile tone, mobile phone logo or game downloads for their mobiles. These rules would greatly improve the market dynamics of this sector of the mobility marketplace and would give more reasons for mobile phone users to make their online purchases of mobile phone logos, funny ring tones, Nokia ring tones, downloadable games for mobile phones, mobile tones and other forms of mobile phone content, with some degree of confidence.

About The Author Mark Bishop is the webmaster of http://www.ringtoneship.co.uk, a site specializing in the different genres of ringtones, including polyphonic ringtones, mobile games, mobile phone, wallpapers themes and logos…. mark.bishop2006@gmail.com

Link Exchanges – by: Matt Colyer

Should link exchanges be used? What are link exchanges? Do they really work? These are just a few questions that most webmasters come across at a link exchange. In this article I will try to help you understand link exchanges and if they truly work like some say.

Link exchanges are sites that help webmasters find link partners for the benefit of traffic. Link exchanges like www.linkexchangeit.com are one of those that help you get link partners for traffic. They are used by some to get more link popularity to increase their ranking in the search engines like Yahoo! or Google, which both use to calculate web pages ranking in the search engine results.

Over the years link exchanges have been criticized by both webmasters and search engines, even have been targeted by search engines. They have been called link farms and link scams. The truth is that they are not link farms, link farms are network of sites that each link to the other site for the benefit of high ranking on the search engines and most link exchanges are not so called link scams. How can you tell the difference between non-link scams and link scams? There are a few things that you should look at closely at link exchanges.

1. Do you have to upload a web page or file to your site?
2. Are they in the search engines?
3. Are most member’s sites spamming?
4. Does the link exchange look professional?

If any of these are truth about the link exchange you should not join and leave fast as you came. It is important to look at this very careful because you are investing in your site and this could crush your site’s future.

Link exchanges have proved to be successful both for getting you good ranking and getting more traffic to your web site. Link exchanges are one of the most powerful tools you can have by your companies side, but like all things they have a down side because they can be abused and used the wrong way.

About The Author Matt Colyer is the owner of the Marhen.com Network which includes www.linkexchangeit.com and is a part-time SEO. He also is a php, CGI and ASP developer.

The Day I Met You, My True Love Story (Part I) – by: Tameka Norris

Life makes me want to tell my story. But it’s almost frightening to tell my story since I’ve been used to keeping it to myself for so long.

I guess the only reason you really tell a story like this is because it can do some good.

For you and for others.

Love is about risks. Life is about risks. And sometimes you’ve just gotta take a few…

Michael and I spent nearly four years talking to one another online before we met. And out of those four years we spent three of them in love.

And now four years later and three months after we’ve met things are different and still much the same. We spend almost every single weekend talking to one another online.

Ours is a story of love that faces obstacles. A story of interracial love. A story of age differences. A story of acceptance. A story of belief differences. And a story of love seperated by two countries.

I fell in love with him online, before we ever met. But how couldn’t I?

He was Michael.

I think the definition of true love really becomes clear when love presents more obstacles than it does convenience.

When all there seems to be is one obstacle after another, proving to you that you have absolutely no control over the result of the love between you and someone else.

And the only thing that you can do is give into it and truly love no matter what.

This is my story. This is my life.

>From the day I met Michael to before there was us…

I had never went out with anyone. No one I could claim was mine or offer myself as a claim to.

The only person that had ever occupied my time besides Michael was John. An eight year crush that I swore, at the time, was love. From the moment I saw him when I was ten years old up until I turned eighteen.

It was love at first sight. No one could tell me there wasn’t wedding bells in my future. I swore I even heard them the moment I laid eyes on John. I was absolutely sure that he would marry me someday. And that I would be Mrs. Alderman.

After that I collected every moment that I could to support my feelings. What we had in common. His birthday. His hobbies. Where he lived. Anything and everything. It didn’t matter. After all I loved him…

…so I thought.

Now I know differently. I justify the feelings now by saying that what I felt for John was my only comprehension of what love was at the time but not the true definition of love in its purest form.

It was a form of love. But not even close to what love truly is.

Looking back now. He was nothing other than a elaborated infatuation that was mainly built on dreams. I never really knew him at all.

And except for a few brief run-ins we barely even spoke. I mean what was I expecting? A miracle.

No one ever looked at a fat black girl with bad hair and acne.

I barely even looked at myself. I mean, for heaven sakes I didn’t need any reminding that I wasn’t “qualified for the position.”

A girl’s gotta dream right?

Once I initially came to my senses… eight years and an unanswered love letter later I realized that hell would freeze over and the fat lady would have to sing before John ever loved me. And alas, I forced myself to finally move on. Mind you it wasn’t easy.

A geek only has dreams and when those are shattered. It presents a problem…

…the fact that fairy tales don’t exist. At least not for girls like me anyway.

So I sucked it up and chugged along. Miserable for many reasons beyond that. A broken family. No friends, a sense of hopelessness with no reason to live. All I’d known was misery… all I felt was miserable.

Suicide seemed like the answer. And for a brief time I thought it was. I even tried to end it all with a bottle of pills.

But I suppose if you really want to kill yourself you don’t try to end it the easy way.

You make sure that if you’re going to end it… there’s no going back.

But a failed attempt at suicide hadn’t changed my perspective although in some morose aspect I was glad I was still alive.

Just not happy to be alive. If that makes sense.

All of the in between seemed to be a black cloud when I look back. Nothing seemed to satisfy me.

There was this big whole in my heart and I was terribly lonely. I had moved and I was no longer talking to my best friend.

So I had no friends at all. I had graduated high school several years prior and had no idea how to improve my life.

My mother and I were living together and my sister had moved off to Los Angeles.

The loneliness was weighing in on me. So I prayed that God would send me a friend and then I hopped online and came across a website and emailed several people.

I got a couple of responses back. Lol… I still remember one in particular. One guy told me he preferred to talk with someone a little younger.

I guess he was a little too young when I think about it. Twenty-three was suddenly “old” for an 18 year old.

After him a few came and a few went within the span of several days, and then a week later once I had given up on meeting anyone worthy on the net, I got a letter.

It was from Michael…

(to be continued…)

About The Author Tameka Norris is the founder of Romantic Short Stories. The perfect blend of true love stories and romantic short stories. If you have your own true love story or romantic short story to share. Visit http://www.romantic-short-love-stories.com.

Carnival in Salvador – by: Jason Blynn

Deemed by some as the wildest street party on the face of the planet, Carnival in Salvador, Bahia is the place to be during those five crazy days in February or March. Different from the more spectator-oriented Carnival in Rio, Carnival in Salvador puts you in the middle of the music, the dancing, and the rhythms of the some of the most energetic bands in the world.

Once the center of sugar cane production and accompanying slave trade, Salvador, Bahia is Brazil’s capital of African culture and Religion. Carnival is the time of year when this Afro-Brazilian culture truly shines, with every music group in the city, from traditional afro-percussion groups to more contemporary axe bands (axe is a modern mix of afoxe and other contemporary rhythms), performing day and night. Bands perform on enormous trucks (loaded with thousands of watts of sound) which crawl through one of three principal Carnival Routes. The trucks are called “trios” because the first was a ´29 Ford which carried a driver and two musicians, Dodó and Osmar (today the original car is in the museum at the Lagoa da Abaeté in Itapoan). In the years following the first trio’s appearance in 1950, the bands stuck to the trio format, but have since evolved into a much more grandiose spectacle, complete with enormous bands, costumes, and dancing. All around the trucks is a roped off area called a “bloco”, a type of VIP area with security and refreshments. Outside the cord, usually deemed quite a bit more dangerous on account of the petty thieves and pickpockets, is where the “pipoca”, or popcorn (named for the synchronizing jumping of the crowd) dances and carries on. Another option is buying a ticket for one of the many “camarotes”, which are VIP lounges in hotels and restaurants along the carnival routes.

The Music

Carnival in Salvador offers so many options for different types and music, it can be a bit daunting. If axe music is what you are interested in, check out Margareth Menezes, Ivete Sangalo, Daniela Mercury, Timbalada, or Chiclete com Banana. For more traditional afro-percussion groups, Olodum, Ara Ketu, Muzenza, and Ilê Aiyê are great options. For a look at some traditional samba, check out Terra Samba, and for a not-so-surprise visit by Brazil’s Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil (also one of the most famous MPB artists and a leader in the Tropicalia movement), follow trio Expresso 2222.

Packages

DiscoverBrazil is proud to offer four different packages, each with different camarote and length of stay options. Please keep in mind that any of these packages can be customized to concord with your time and budget needs.

• 8 day/7 night or 6 day/ 5 night stay at the Tropical Hotel da Bahia – This hotel is located in Campo Grande, the Carnaval’s epicenter, and near Salvador’s best attractions – the Historic Center, the Pelourinho, churches, shopping mall, theaters, the Mercado Modelo, and Porto da Barra. 5 nights pass for the exclusive Hotel Camarote (Feb 3-8) included in both packages.
• 7 day/6 night stay at the Bahia Othon Palace Hotel. This hotel is located in Ondina, considered the best place to see the Bahian Carnaval parade. The Othon offers all the amenities of a five star hotel and an amazing ocean view. The only difference in these two packages is a choice of 4 or 6 nights in the Hotel Camarote.

An “abada”, a specific shirt needed to enter into one of the many blocos, is also available for a separate price. Please inquire. Price quoted is based on double occupancy. Flights are not included, but if you are interested in quotes for international or domestic flights, please contact one of our travel agents.

For more information and price quotes, contact one of our expert travel consultants:
From North America, call toll free: 1-800-495-8211
From all other locations: (55) (71) 3113-4206
Or, send us an email at customersupport@discoverbrazil.com
www.discoverbrazil.com

About The Author Jason is a recent graduate of Amherst College, where he received a degree in Music and Political Science. He is currently living in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, working for Discover Brazil and enjoying the wonderful music and culture Bahia and the rest of Brazil have to offer. patricia@discoverbrazil.com.br

Proving Evolution With The Dictionary – by: Dr. Randy Wysong

Specious reasoning and clever crafting of definitions can make about anything appear to come true. As John Mackay (1852) observed, “When men wish to construct or support a theory, how they torture facts into their service!” Mackay, J. (1852). Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

Some words are innocently created to straight forwardly describe a particular thing but can insidiously take on a life all their own. Our language is filled with words that have departed from their original definitions and are now widely misconstrued and abused. Examples include truth, religion, supernatural, morality, liberal, capitalism, freedom, love…basically all the hot button words and subjects people consider to be their little sacred domains of private belief and interpretation.

Evolution is another example of such a word. In the dictionary, evolution’s first definition is: the process by which something develops into a different form. The word and this meaning predated Darwin’s concept of biological evolution. Here’s how that fact has proven useful in helping to make his case.

Most certainly, things do evolve in the dictionary’s pre-Darwinian sense of the word. We evolve as individuals, society evolves, technology evolves, education evolves, the automobile evolves and agriculture evolves. To the uncritical eye, evolution, taken as being synonymous with change, seems to fit well with what all of us experience every day: Homes get built beginning with simple blocks and 2 X 4s, our bank account balance grows slowly, our bodies begin small and get bigger, babies begin with one cell that multiplies into a whole body and anthills grow one grain of dirt at a time. Since everything changes, everything can be said to evolve. How convenient for Darwin’s “evolution.”

He could not have chosen a better word. The case was closed before he ever got into court. Since everything evolves it is not too much of a leap to accept that life evolved. The word itself is tendentious, creating in and of itself reason to believe the theory.

If he had chosen the word transmutation instead of evolution, things might be entirely different. Although transmutation would be a better description of the theory, the unfamiliarity of the word would force people to determine meaning and evaluate that against their own experience. In the larger sense, Darwin’s evolution requires that species transform into one another (transmutate) all the way up from a single-celled organism. Since nobody has ever seen one type of organism transmutate into another, he would have had a much harder sell. On the other hand, saying that “change” is the same thing as biological evolution makes anyone who does not accept Darwin’s evolution, someone who rejects change. In other words, stupid.

Please note that evolution normally implies progressive change. But nothing evolves in that sense without intelligent manipulation. Corn kernels get bigger, evolve, because of intelligent horticulture, home architecture evolves because of intelligent engineering, and mathematics evolves because of mathematicians. That little fact — that intelligence is needed for things to progressively evolve — just happened to be left out when Darwin’s evolution was attached to dictionary evolution.

A word was stolen from our vocabulary, a word everyone can agree to. Cleverly then, a new footnote about a whole new mechanism was attached to it without really alerting anyone. By that I mean biological evolution is not mere change. In overview (cell to human sense) it is gross change, more like a skipping or gigantic hopping. It is about transmutations in the absence of any intelligent force to make them happen.

It would be like me coming up with a new theory of commerce. I scan the dictionary and decide to call my theory, “possession”. Everyone possesses things and possession is nine tenths of the law. My “possession” theory is a process by which one goes into a store, loads up bags and carts with whatever they want and takes it all home. The stuff is possessed. What a cool theory. Now when the police show up at your door and take you to court, you just take your dictionary. You say to the judge, “Looky here judge, the dictionary says possession is to have things and that’s all I did.” Do you think the prosecutor might make the argument that you have left out an important part of the definition, namely that to possess something legally requires a mechanism called paying for it?

Possession means having something, according to the dictionary, but that does not legitimize any form of possession. Evolution means change, according to the dictionary, but that does not legitimize any theory of change.

About The Author Dr. Randy Wysong: A former veterinary clinician and surgeon, college instructor in human anatomy, physiology and the origin of life, inventor of numerous medical, surgical, nutritional, athletic and fitness products and devices, research director for the present company by his name and founder of the philanthropic Wysong Institute. http://www.wysong.net http://www.cerealwysong.com

Great Summer Workouts: Just Add Water – by: Lynn Bode

With warm weather season now in full gear, exercisers want to take their workouts outside and breakout of their indoor fitness ruts. But, when temperatures reach record highs and humidity levels soar, traditional outdoor workouts become less appealing. So how can you stay cool while still enjoying outdoor physical activity? One word – water. Water exercises are the perfect way to workout under the sun without overheating. You can get a total body workout without even breaking a sweat!

And don’t worry if you aren’t a veteran swimmer. Aquatic workouts aren’t limited to just swimming. There are many other forms of pool exercises. You don’t even have to be a regular exerciser to try aquatic fitness. One of the great things about working out in the water is that even fitness novices can easily perform many of the moves.

It’s also an excellent fitness choice for all ages, from the very young to seniors. Water exercise is a very good way to burn calories, improve your strength and flexibility, tone-up, improve your cardiovascular system, and just get more fit overall. And, the types of workouts are practically endless. Most land exercises can be modified and re-created in water. Other benefits include:

• lower injury risk
• less sweating
• works your entire body
• challenges your body in a very different way then it is accustom to
• refreshing way to workout
• water provides natural resistance so no equipment is needed
• can increase/decrease intensity (difficulty) simply by alternating between shallow and deep areas
• good low-impact exercise choice for pregnant women
• reduces joint compression and downward gravity pull (in other words – easier on the joints)
• even people who can’t exercise on land can often exercise in the water
• excellent rehabilitation exercise for people recovering from an injury
• less stress on bones and muscles
• great option for people with arthritis

Plus, water workouts also provide a fun and more socially interactive exercise option. For example, parents can enjoy time at the pool with their children while also fitting in some of their weekly workout sessions. Aquatic aerobic classes also provide a social, group-setting alternative.

Still not convinced that an aquatic workout will challenge your body as well as some of the more common workouts like walking or jogging. Well, try some of the sample exercise below and you’ll probably quickly change your mind. But, don’t judge the workout solely on how high your heart rate gets. Keep in mind that swimmers generate a slightly lower heart rate when compared to cyclists and runners. This does not imply that they aren’t working as hard. Experts equate the lower heart rate partially to the effect of immersion in a relatively cool environment. So, keep this in mind when determining your target heart rate, which may be 10 beats per minute lower when in the water. Also, don’t make the mistake of assuming you are well hydrated just because your body is submerged in water. You still need to drink about ½ a cup of water about every 20 minutes of exercise.

Swim/Walk interval laps: Swim 1-2 laps (use any swim form you prefer: crawl, backstroke, etc). Walk 1-2 laps in the pool. Repeat sequence 4-6 times.

Water Squats: Stand in the water with feet about hip-width apart. Bend your knees slightly as you push your hips back as if you are sitting on a chair. Keep your knees behind your toes. Return to start position and repeat. The water provides extra resistance and makes this move more challenging.

Wave Jumps (for those with access to the ocean or a wave-simulator): Stand in knee-deep or less water. Each time a wave comes attempt to jump over it. Note: this is a more advanced move that requires good balance and strong swimming skills. Do not attempt this move unless you have experience swimming in waves.

Water Jogging: Can be done with the use of flotation devices where your feet don’t touch the ground or the traditional way of actually jogging in the water.

For a more comprehensive list of water workouts and more detailed instructions for the above exercises, visit: http://www.workoutsforyou.com/water.htm

Remember, you should always consult your physician before trying any new exercise programs.

About The Author Lynn Bode, author and certified personal trainer, offers her services online through WorkoutsForYou.com. Workouts For You provides affordable online exercise programs to help even the busiest of people lose weight, tone-up, build muscles, increase stamina and more via the Internet. Let us guide you one-on-one through your fitness journey with weekly customized workouts designed just for YOU! Visit: http://www.workoutsforyou.com for a free sample workout. info@workoutsforyou.com

Web Hosting: Which Is The Host With The Most? – by: Marc Eberhart

So you want to publish a web site do you? Welcome to the club. These days it seems that almost everyone has a web site of some kind, and thousands more continue to be launched every day. It’s challenging enough to design a site and fill it with interesting content, but when all is said and done another challenge still remains – where to host it?

A popular choice for newbie webmasters, and even experienced ones, is to secure a free hosting plan with a company such as Yahoo! Geocities, Tripod or Angelfire. While these are easy to setup and free of charge, they do have limitations. Most free hosts don’t offer all the nice features that paid hosts do such as FTP access, CGI-BIN, or your own personal domain name. Instead you’re stuck with minimal features and a generic URL such as www.freewebhost.com/marcswebsite. This somewhat limits your web site‘s potential. Most free hosts also require you to run banners or pop-up ads on your web site to make it worth their while – these banners and pop-ups can obstruct the view of your web page and ultimately annoy visitors and drive them away. Lastly, most free hosts have a daily bandwidth limit that is very small, so if you do get a lot of traffic you’ll most likely exceed the allotted bandwidth and your site will be temporarily disabled. Overall I would recommend free web hosts for people that are new to web hosting and want to get a feel for how it works. I’d also recommend them for web sites that are personal in nature (such as an online journal) as well as web sites that don’t plan to generate any revenue. Free web hosts are a great stepping stone to paid web hosts – I myself starting building web sites 4 years ago using free hosts, and today I run several high traffic web sites that are hosted on paid web hosting plans.

Now it’s time to get into the good stuff – paid web hosting. Web hosting companies that charge money for their services are plentiful on the Internet, and feature a wide array of hosting packages at various price points. First we begin with so called “budget” web hosts, who claim to offer you the world for only $1 per month. Having used numerous such companies I feel I must tell you to proceed with caution here, as these companies aren’t all that they are cracked up to be. Many claim to offer 24/7 e-mail support, which in my experience turned out to be 0/0 e-mail support. My e-mails were either never answered or answered a week after I sent them. Even when I got a response it was generic in nature and completely unhelpful. Also, expect frequent outages with these budget web hosts as they rarely even have their own web servers – often they are reselling space on someone else’s web servers over which they have no control. One budget web host I used went down unexpectedly for 6 days, and they didn‘t even bother to notify their customers. As a result, my web site was down for 6 days and I lost most of my visitors as well as my hard-earned search engine rankings. Lesson learned: if the reliability and success of your web site is important to you, budget web hosting might not be the answer. However, this is not to say that all budget web hosts are bad – 1dollarhosting.com is one of the leaders in the budget web hosting arena and has quite a good reputation.

The next type of paid web host is what I refer to as a “mid-range” web host, meaning that they offer prices and service that will satisfy the majority of web sites out there. Mid-range web hosts like PowWeb, Your-Site.com and iPowerWeb offer packages ranging from $5 to $8 per month and provide the tools that most webmasters will need to run a web site, such as: CGI-BIN, tons of e-mail addresses, FTP support, visitor statistics and more. These hosts do have monthly bandwidth limits, but the limits are quite high, and most web sites will never reach them. However, if your web site features hundreds of file downloads and gets decent traffic you may be shocked at how soon you’ll reach those bandwidth limits. When you do, your site may be temporarily shut down or you’ll have to pay bandwidth overage charges, which can get pricey. Overall though, mid-range web hosts will be satisfactory for 90% of the web sites out there, and generally offer excellent uptime/reliability. In fact, many web-based businesses are successfully run using a mid-range web host. However, as mentioned previously, web sites that offer large files for download or sites that get a huge amount of traffic may find that a mid-range host doesn’t quite suit their needs. These types of web sites may require “high-end” web hosting solutions, the next topic in our discussion.

High-end web hosts typically service web sites that are extremely popular, have a high amount of traffic, and/or require pretty much 100% uptime. Most businesses rely on high-end web hosts to host their web sites. Rackspace.com is an example of a well known high-end web hosting company. Pricing for high-end hosts varies, but typically runs from about $50 per month to several hundred dollars per month. Many high-end hosts give you your own dedicated server (which they support) that is reserved just for you and your web site. The mid-range hosts I discussed earlier typically host many different web sites on the same server – this is known as “shared” hosting. High-end web hosts offer stellar reliability, bandwidth, and just about every tool you’ll ever need to run a successful web site. Another feature that some high-end web hosts provide is “co-location” hosting. In this scenario, YOU configure and provide the web server, but you get to plug it into their data center/network. This can be very nice because their data center usually has a fiber-optic connection directly to the Internet, offering blazing bandwidth and stellar reliability. People who run web-based businesses or extremely popular, high traffic web sites are good candidates for high-end web hosting.

Hopefully this brief overview gives you a good picture of the various types of web hosts that exist, and which one might be right for you. When you begin your search for a web host, always keep in mind the old adage “You get what you pay for” because it really does hold true in this case. Before you make the commitment to host a web site be sure to take some time and analyze what you want out of the web site, and decide which factors are most important to its success. Answering these questions will get you many steps closer to choosing the web host that’s right for you.

About The Author Marc Eberhart is an IT Project Manager, webmaster, and all-around Internet junkie. His web site http://www.webhostingdiscounts.net/ offers visitors 40% off web hosting plans with top-rated hosting companies. marc@webhostingdiscounts.net