Cutting Edge Marketing Tips

It is not true that all of the good domain names are taken. You may still be able to register your name, your business name, or another catchy URL.

Here are some tips for choosing a domain name:

• Keep it short and simple. Long URLs are hard to remember, and people are more likely to make errors when keying them in.
• Include keywords in your domain name. Search engines may reward you with better placement in search results when the keywords are in your URL.
• Whenever possible, go for the .com. Many people automatically assume that Web site URLs end in .com, and they do not correctly remember other extensions, such as .net or .info.
• Try to avoid abbreviations and special characters in your domain name. gdbizcents.com would be very hard to give out without spelling it, and people won’t intuitively remember or guess it.
• Don’t choose a name that will be easily confused with other domains. For example, if you want to register domainname.com and find it’s taken, domain-name.com is probably not a good choice. People will confuse the two sites.
• Your own name could be a good domain name, if it doesn’t lend itself to lots of odd spellings. Between Cathy and Kathy, and all the ways people find to misspell Stucker, I figured no one would ever find me. That’s why I came up with IdeaLady.com.
• And when putting your domain name in writing: If it is multiple words, especially if it’s long, consider capitalizing, such as I did here with IdeaLady.com. Make it easy to read and understand.


Copyright Cathy Stucker. Get good, cheap domain name registration and Web site hosting at http://www.GreatDomainsHQ.com/

When the novice hobby metal caster first thinks about melting metal, the immediate thought is to collect a big box of Al bottle tops and Al drink cans to melt. The most likely reason for this is that the material is relatively easy to collect and handle, and the thinking behind the idea is that because of its lightweight it should melt quite readily.

Then why is it so difficult to melt & reclaim aluminium drink cans, bottle tops & swarf in a hobby gas fired crucible furnace?

To melt & reclaim light weight scrap aluminium requires the use of some specialised equipment. Most commercial scrap metal
recovery foundries use what is known as a rotary type melting
furnace. This type of furnace is designed in such a way that
the flame actually strikes the rotating furnace lining, and the
heat spreads quickly around the furnace walls, which absorb
the heat. As the furnace rotates, the heat is also taken up or
absorbed by the scrap metal.

It is essential to melt the metal under a cover of MOLTEN FLUX, otherwise very heavy metal oxidation results and subsequently
very little metal is actually recovered.

As each piece of small swarf or chip melts, it forms a globule of
liquid metal surrounded by a shell of oxide. The skin tension of
this oxidant around the globule prevents coalescence, i.e. (to grow together) and because of the large surface area presented
by the mass of globules, with the increase of oxide formation loss of yield is bound to take place.

The skin of the oxide on the molten globule has to be “ruptured” in order to allow coalescence, i.e. to allow the clusters of globules to actually join together in their molten state.

A molten flux encourages coalescence by chemical action.

While the rotation of the furnace provides a mechanical action.
The special fluxes; coveral 48 & 57 provide the chemical action,
they are the best type of fluxes to use when melting Al metal in
the region of 590 to 600 C. (Coveral 48 & 57 products are copyright Foseco Pty Ltd)

This flux may or may not provide similar results when used in a normal crucible gas fired furnace, but the yield loss will still be considerable.

The hobby foundry worker would be better off directing his
energy towards collecting easier to source, better quality scrap
to melt, such as discarded cylinder heads, inlet manifold castings, auto pistons, etc. Or if the budget stretches that far, purchase commercially produced ingots, which are of a known quality. Commercial ingots will provide top quality metal right from the word go.

Trying to melt lightweight Al drink cans and bottle tops is generally a waste of time for the hobby worker, unless you use the fluxes mentioned above, and use the correct furnace. Otherwise a lot of gas will be wasted heating the hobby crucible furnace for very little gain in metal yield.

Col Coucher

Need content? You may use this article at your website, or in your newsletter. The only requirement is inclusion of the following sentence.

Article by: Col Croucher of http://www.myhomefoundry.com - the definitive source for hobby metal casters of all ages. While at the web site you can download a free ebook to learn about, & understand hobby metal casting.

So, you are contemplating a European cruise. You are looking for the cruise to be a luxury travel vacation. Europe tours must be part of the vacation package. Then the European cruise travel vacation for you is a European river cruise!

One of the best ways to travel Europe to see and experience the magnificent and historic sites are the river cruises aboard the luxurious cruise boats. Fly to your departure destination and board the boat. Unpack once, then relax and enjoy!

Virtually all of the major rivers in Europe have luxury cruise vacation packages available on them. These magnificent boats cruise the mighty rivers through the indescribable scenery that is steeped in history. Each day you can visit another town, city, village or point of interest - all without travel in uncomfortable surroundings and the packing and unpacking required by other means of European travel.

Many of the cruise itineraries have special cruises available depending on the time of year. Art and music cruises are available. Wine tasting cruises are available taking you to some of the vineyards and wineries in Europe’s wine country. See the fall colours or watch as spring “bursts forth”. Many of the “shore excursions” provided by the river cruise lines are included in your ticket price. Now that’s value added!

These cruise boats offer luxurious surroundings. Many offer common areas with the likes of cherry wood, burnished brass and exquisite fabrics. All have comfortable deck areas for viewing the passing scenery.

Some staterooms offer floor to ceiling viewing windows. Some have separate bath and showers. Most of the stateroom amenities you would expect in the magnificent ocean cruise ships are provided on these luxurious river cruise boats.

The cuisine aboard river cruise boats is exquisite as well. The chefs often make use of local fresh ingredients to provide mouth watering fare. The dining room is set for dinner in elegance.

The pampering service one would expect on any luxury cruise is met and exceeded on these cruises. Luxury travel vacations would simply be travel without the marvelous service bestowed upon the river cruise passengers. The cruise staff are friendly and personable and are definitely there to please!

No matter which European river you choose to cruise, you’re sure to be astounded. Luxury, pampering service, excellent cuisine, and a relaxed atmosphere all provide European river cruisers an experience of a lifetime.

Brian A Schmidt is the author and web publisher of a1-discount-cruises.com your #1 source for cruise information, discounts and great deals! Visit http://www.a1-discount-cruises.com to book your fabulous romantic gift cruise vacation! For more interesting articles visit our Article Map pages.

The BOSE PAS was 1st brought to my attention on http://www.dj-forum.co.uk by Richard Mills. Since then I know that several members here have purchased one (or more) and my various excursions on the net to research this system got me thinking that it was worth looking (listening) into further.

On Friday I travelled to the only BOSE shop we have here in Ireland and asked the smiling shop assistant if I could have a demo of the Bose PAS. ‘What’s that?” he asked. ‘It stands for Personalised Amplification System” I said returning his smile

‘Don’t know it’ he said ‘Is it from the Pro Range?’ - ‘Yes’ I replied, already realising that my journey was in vain. He spoke to his colleague who had heard of it but told me that they only do home entertainment at that shop. He also said that he knew of one customer that had travelled to the USA about 18 months ago to preview it and subsequently brought one back with him.

Anyway to cut a long story short they gave me the number of BOSE Ireland and when I returned home even though it was 5.30pm on a Friday Bank Holiday weekend I called the number. The person who answered told me that someone would call me back shortly. Ten minutes later I had the contact details of the nearest PAS stockist - some 75 miles away.

Saturday PM I saddled up the car and rode out of town . 2 hours later, after battling with the Bank Holiday traffic I walked into this music store and my first impression was ‘That sounds sweet’. At that stage I didn’t know what was playing from what (it was a guy singing to a backing track) but as I walked down the shop I recognised the ‘Radiator’ of the PAS and it was obvious that this was where the sound was coming from. I then walked to each area of the shop, which was about the size of a venue that would seat 100, and, sure enough, the sound was as loud in the corners as it was standing right in front of the system.

I’ve heard 100’s of PAs during my career and this is not like any one of them. I tracked down a member of staff and asked them to play a CD & turn it up. They played a Bob Marley song and this is only way I can describe it:

‘In the late 1980s I heard my very 1st CD, played on a Sony Walkman with Sony headphones and, even though I didn’t know the song, it was like I was there as it was being recorded’. This is the second time when I have been taken aback with sound quality in that way because I did feel that Bob Marley was in that shop . Anyway I spent the next 2 hours in the shop, not trying to find Bob Marley, but to get to the nitty gritty.

So onto the system. The guts are in a base unit (PS1) which was larger than it looks on all the pictures I had seen. In fact when I saw this I thought ‘Why so big?’ but can’t think of any reason other than it houses 750 watts RMS in 3 amps and is designed for band use rather than disco (it goes behind the band). I suppose it could go behind the DJ too, The unit is robust plastic and can be stood on (this is recommended by BOSE when inserting and removing the speakers) but it does have a large ‘footprint’. The controls for the amplifiers are at the rear of the PS1 and covered by a rather flimsy flap that opens backwards (I would have preferred the flap to open the other way & protect the inputs/controls etc) from the front.

There are 4 inputs - 2 either balanced/unbalanced (jack or XLR) and 2 more unbalanced (jack) The 1st 2 also have the option of assigning them preset values so for instance pre-recorded music would have a value of ‘00′ (or ‘57′ for low volume) and a SM58 mic would use ‘14′ however these are only for direct input of the device and do not really apply when using a mixer. Most of the other presets are for various brands of guitar, double bass, microphones, keyboards etc. Inputs 3 & 4 are 0db lines and are designed for CD players etc.

The radiator (L1) contains all the mid/high range speakers (24 in total). It splits in 2 which is just as well as it stands over 7 feet tall. The connections are made automatically whenever the unit plugs in to the PS1 and there is a footswitch to release the locking mechanism at the end of the function. There is some movement when the L1 is connected into PS1 - it can sway a couple of inches from left to right and an inch front to back

The bass bins (B1) connect to PS1 using 4 way speakon connectors (the extra 2 wires are used by PS1 to determine if 1 or 2 B1s are being used). A lead is supplied with each B1.

The system also comes with a wired remote control (complete with Velcro) so that the volume, bass treble and middle can be controlled + the input from the 2 channels can also be balanced. There are 2 LEDs on the remote control unit which change from green to red if the system is overloaded. If a mixer is being used then the remote doesn’t have as much importance however if it is not connected the system uses a default ‘12 0′clock’ position for these controls when the input is on channels 1 & 2.

Whilst I was at the shop I helped the salesman unpack and prepare two complete systems. The padded bags for the PS1 were really tight and I managed to break the zip on one whilst trying to close it . The padded bags for the B1s simply slide on and there is a flap to access the handle on the speaker. The radiator splits in 2 and there is a bag for each - be aware that one bag is very slightly larger than the other and the only way to find this out is to lay them together (worth marking I think).

Weight wise, because the system breaks down into so many parts, even stairs wouldn’t be a problem. I carried 2 PS1s (16Kg each) for a short distance and it was similar to going on holiday with suitcases. The rest of the system is lighter and I found no problem with 2 x L1s (4 bags - 2 in each hand) for a walk of 20 meters. The B1s are even lighter still.

Pros.

Sound Quality
Sturdy overall construction
Ease of transportation/connection/storage

Cons:

PS1 bag too small
PS1 itself has a large footprint
Flap on PS1 for controls not protective enough
The bags for the B1s could do with a pocket for the speakon lead
An expensive system

My personal opinion is that BOSE have come up with something here that is different & special. It is expensive, however from my enquires it is unlikely to come down in price for some time yet - in fact at the moment demand is exceeding supply (the shop I was in now has a waiting list and during my 2 hours there was a constant stream of people who had heard that this system was on demo and had travelled, like I had, for some distance to hear it in operation). The salesman I was with, who had worked there for some 20 years, had never experienced an interest on this scale in any other product from musicians. (They received their first 12 systems last week and the two I helped to unpack were the last ones reserved and, as I said, they now have a waiting list.).

The appliances are made in China (what isn’t these days) and I suppose that eventually another manufacturer will come in with a comparative system at a lower price. How long until that happens though is anyones guess.

You may use this article on your blog / forum or website provided the following credit and active link remains intact and unchanged.

For more information and reviews of professional Audio Systems by Bose, JBL, Mackie, Turbosound, Peavey and many more, please visit http://www.dj-forum.co.uk.

Muay Thai Kickboxing is often referred to as the science of 8 limbs. The reason for this title is the fact that you use nearly every body part as a weapon. You can strike with your forehead, elbows, fists, Knees, Shins and feet. Muay Thai Kickboxing was invented over 2000 years ago and is recognized as one of the oldest martial arts known to man. Although records of Muay Thai fights only date back to 700 years ago, there is a general consensus that Muay Thai originated over 2000 years ago in the part of Asia that is now inhabited by China.

Muay Thai is known as the martial art of “kings” because in 1411 when a king by the name of Sen Muajng Ma died, his sons literally fought to the death for his throne, using the techniques of muay thai. Many kings were known to not only train in the martial art of Muay Thai but also to compete. The only problem is that it was viewed as improper to touch an emperor much less strike one. So a king by the name Phra Buddha Choa Sua used to enter various Muay Thai tournaments dressed as a peasant in order to fool both the audience and his opponents. He not only won all his matches, he eventually defeated the national champion.

The majority of the world refers to Muay Thai as Thai boxing. Although Thai boxing’s most recent claim to fame is from John Claude Van Dam and other various movies, this martial art is regarded as one of the most brutal forms of self defense. Thailand has been known to hold open challenges pitting other forms of standup fighting against their Thai boxers. Most Thai fighters are heavily out weighed in these matches but still manage to destroy their opponents due to the various ways of attacking. No other martial art trains you to use every limb to attack and most other martial arts limit their striking area to above the waist. In Thai boxing you are allowed to kick, punch and knee your opponent’s legs. Many opponents who are unaccustomed to receiving leg kicks literally lose the match due to the excruciating pain as a result of the technique.

Thai boxing is not known as the most vicious martial art for no reason. Thai boxers train their kicks in a manner that when you are struck by them it literally feels like someone has swung a baseball bat. Thai boxers tend to focus on a few effective techniques and master them rather then wasting energy on some of the flashier techniques found in other martial arts. In addition to being an effective martial art and the official self defense system of the Thai national army, Muay Thai is one of the best cardiovascular workouts you will ever partake in. Many aerobic studios incorporate Thai boxing techniques into their workouts. As you can see if you want to kill two birds with one stone by both learning how to defend yourself and getting yourself into great shape, Thai boxing is a martial art that’s definitely worth taking a look at.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Martial Arts