I have been in and around websites and their developers for years, so let me give you a few guidelines. Websites will vary greatly according to complexity and size. We will use a standard five page business website with no e-commerce (a shopping cart) and nothing complex. Many companies have a one to two month waiting period after you sign a contract with them but before the work commences. This is needed for two reasons. They need time to finish the sites they are working on and they give you time to get your content together. A great number of web designers do not handle the actual content or text of the site but we will talk more about that later.

After you get to the front of the line and they are ready to commence work, they will generally show you a mockup. This is a static page done in a program like word to give you an idea of how the site will look. When you are happy with the result, they begin work in earnest and a good company will have a site ready to go live in two to three months. That means there should be a maximum of a five month turn around time for a simple business site. If it is taking longer then it is time to ask them to see what they have so far. Tell them it doesn't need to work or be pretty but you want to see the work in progress. If they will not show it to you for any reason it is time to worry. Also watch for the people who will suddenly get really busy and can't be reached by phone for extended periods.

Let me go back to what I was saying about content earlier. It will usually be up to the client to write the content for the site unless the designer has a writer on staff. Generally the person writing your code is not the same person you want writing your content, you want someone specialized in writing for marketing and sales. Be careful that your designer doesn't just cut and paste text from another website to put into yours. Not only does it irritate people like me, that do business writing for a living but plagiarism can get you both into legal trouble. There is an easy way to see if you are safe. I recommend a website called Copyscape. You can go there and enter a web address and if there are any websites out there with big chunks of the same text it will display them. As an example try running mine through it, it is here. It should display one website because I recently changed my domain and it is pulling up my old site. Now input your website or input the sites from a particular web designer if you are thinking of using them. If more than one or two sites come up, I would steer clear. By keeping a few simple precautions in mind, you will have no trouble finding a professional and honest web designer to build your web presence.

Thus seems to be the case with some music artist's websites. While looking through the Billboard Hot Christian Songs list this week, I noticed that out of the top five artists on their list, mind you these are the top five artists with the best songs this week; three of the musician's websites had a “splash page”.

Whether it is a single solitary page to promote their newest album, or a chance to win a Wii by joining a mailing list, why would anyone come back to a site where the web designer behind it cares nothing about people's time. The main reason splash pages went away was because of the time it took away from the user, causing them to go elsewhere on the web. My guess is that either there is a trend starting, allowing “splash pages” to be OK again if it offers something to the user, or that only Christian artists are having this issue because they're holding out for cheaper designers to work as unto the Lord, as a ministry.

1. Carrier Bags

   Yes the humble carrier bag is always in demand on ebay. It is usually the designer carrier bags, or the study kind of women's clothes store bags with the rope style handles that do well, and any kind of unusual looking bags as people collect these.

2. Empty Perfume Bottles

   Empty perfume bottles are good sellers on ebay for two reasons. If you take some refillable perfume bottles (for example Angel perfume) back to a stockist, you can often get the bottle refilled with the perfume for less than it costs to buy a brand new bottle. Also, people collect perfume bottles, especially designer names, unusual shape bottles, miniatures and limited edition bottles.

3. Empty Ink Catridges

   These sell well on eBay as people buy them and refill them which is much more environmentally friendly than buying new ones all the time.

4. Theme Park Guides
   

   Some people like to collect these kind of things, especially if it is somewhere they have visited for example and have lost or damaged their original one.

5. Craft Items

   Craft items can range from cardboard toilet rolls, pieces of shiny paper, bits of ribbon from chocolate boxes, buttons etc. Anything like this which is usually discarded can be stored and when you have a reasonable amount of mixed items, list it on ebay as craft items and your pieces of junk could be someone elses treasure, just what they need to start or finish their next craft project.

6. Coupons and Vouchers
   

   If you have any sort of coupons or vouchers for particular brands or stores and you are not going to use them, put them on ebay because somebody will want them. Say, for example you have £10 off for a particular store that you got for free through the post. Put it on eBay, and if you get, for example £7 for it, you have made £7 and the winning bidder has then earnt £3 off his or her favourite store. You both win!

7. Old Postcards
   

   It doesn't matter if they are old, or have writing on the back of them, there are many people who collect postcards of all kinds of things, funny ones, landmarks, scenery, animals. Put together a bundle and get them listed on ebay.

8. Old Concert Tickets and Programmes
   

   Fans and collectors will pay money for your old ticket stubs and programmes from concerts and gigs.

9. Broken Electrical Items

   If you have an electrical item, camera, hand held game machine or anything along those lines that is broken and you think it is beyond repair, don't throw it away. As long as you state clearly in your listing that the item is broken you can list it on ebay, and people always buy these sort of things. There is usually someone that knows how to fix them, or are just looking for working parts out of them to fix their own.

10. Old mobile Phones

     Again, like the electrical items, it doesn't matter if they are working or not, as long as you state if they are faulty or broken in the listing. These sell well for the parts.

Here we honor some of the best videogames ever developed and their designers. Play any of the games for free by clicking on the name of the game as seen below. Most of the games do not require membership or login to play. Some games may require Java or Shockwave to work properly, but the majority of the games are Flash Games.

1. Pong
   

Inventor Ralph H. Baer invented the video game Pong and the first video game system, so the simple paddle ball game could be played. Pong debuted in 1976, as part of the Activision gaming console. The game is played much like the modern-day table tennis is played, but Pong is simpler to learn and play.

2. Breakout
   

Breakout developed by Atari Inc. as an arcade video game and was introduced on May 13, 1976. The game requires players to control a ball by steering a paddle either right to left or left to right, while trying to eliminate multi-colored blocks, so to advance to harder levels.

3. Asteroids Blaster
   

Asteroids was released by Atari Inc., in 1979 originally as an arcade video game. In Asteroids the player(s) pilot a spaceship while blasting their way through an asteroid field. Once the asteroids are destroyed, then the player advances to a harder level.

4. Space Invaders

Tomohiro Nishikado designed the smash hit Space Invaders that was released originally as an arcade video game in 1978. In Space Invaders, the player(s) control a movable laser cannon back and forth at the bottom of the screen, while using four stationary bunkers for temporary protection from the Space Invaders lasers and bombs being hurled down from the sky. Players advance to harder levels only after destroying all of the Space Invaders using their laser cannon.

5. Pac-Man

Pac-Man developed by Namco and designed by Toru Iwatani was licensed to Midway for US distribution and was released on May 22, 1980. In Pac-Man, the player(s) control their yellow hungry Pac-Man through a maze filled with dots, power dots and four relentless ghosts in hot pursuit of the player's Pac-Man. Players only advance to a harder level once their Pac-Man has eaten all of the dots throughout maze/level.

6. Missile Command
   

Missile Command was released by Atari Inc. as an arcade video game in 1980 and later licensed to Sega for European distribution. In Missile Command, the player(s) fire missiles at incoming missiles that are trying to destroy the player's cities. The player(s) fire their missiles to destroy the incoming missiles by aiming and firing in the incoming missiles' path. Players advance to more challenging levels once they have destroyed all of the incoming missiles. Player loses if the incoming missiles succeed in destroying all of the player's cities.

7. Lemmings
   

Lemmings was released in 1980 as an arcade game by Atari and later developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis in 1991 for the Commodore Amiga. In Lemmings, the player attempts to guide all of their Lemmings through complex mazes, while using various tools to plot the Lemmings path through the maze. Lemmings can die easily if the player guides them into a trap or if the player fails to lead the Lemmings to safety before the time expires.

8. Donkey Kong
   

Donkey Kong was released as an arcade in 1981 by Nintendo. In Donkey Kong, the player(s) attempt to maneuver their character through a dangerous maze to save the beautiful princess. However, the player(s) must first get pass Kong and smash, jump or just plain out maneuver the barrels that Kong consistently throws at you as the player tries to navigate through the maze. Save the Princess and win the game.

9. Frogger
   

Frogger was first introduced as an arcade game in 1981 and later licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin. In Frogger, the player(s) are trying to guide their Frogger through a series of deadly obstacles such as moving cars; gator infested rivers and more, so that their Frogger can return to safety. If the player looses all of their Froggers before completing the maze, then the game is over.

10. Tetris
    

Tetris was designed and programmed by Russian-born Alexey Pajitnov in June 1985, while living in a communist Russia. The video game continued on into video game history through record-breaking sales. In Tetris, the player(s) control various shaped blocks, while trying to precisely fit the blocks by shape into continuous rows of blocks, so that the rows can be eliminated. Player(s) score more points for eliminating multiple rows of blocks at one-time. Player(s) advance to more difficult levels as they reach point benchmarks that are pre-set by the game.

The age of video games has really exploded over the past three decades, from its earliest days of Pong. Today, videogames is a multi million-dollar business and growing every year. The following are just a few video games that has gobbled up fistfuls of quarters and put the world of video games on the map.

Here we honor some of the best videogames ever developed and their designers. Play any of the games for free by clicking on the name of the game as seen below. Most of the games do not require membership or login to play. Some games may require Java or Shockwave to work properly, but the majority of the games are Flash Games.

1. Defender

   
   
   Shockwave Required
   
   
   
   Image Source: Flickr
   
   Defender was created by Williams Electronics in 1980 and released as an arcade video game machine, before moving into the video game console market. In Defender, the player(s) are the pilot of a spaceship and put in charge of defending ten humanoids all the while fighting off enemy spacecraft. Don't let the enemy spacecraft capture any of the humanoids or you will have to attempt a risky rescue. Complete each mission to continue moving up to more difficult levels in the game. Set a high score to beat later. Play 10 classic video games including “Bubbles, Defender, Defender 2, Joust, Rampage, Robotron 2084, Satan's Hollow, SiniStar, Spy Hunter, and Tapper (Root Beer).
   

2. Super Mario Bros.
   
   

   
   
   Image Source: Flickr
   
   Super Mario Bros was designed and published by Nintendo in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In Super Mario Bros, the players move their character through a series of challenging levels, while defeating turtles, hammer tossing monsters, man-eating flowers and battling it out with fierce dragons. The player's mission is to rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of King of the Koopas called Bowser. Collect coins to earn extra lives. Process firepower, so Mario can toss fireball at oncoming enemies in order to defeat them. Capture the golden stars, so to destroy any enemy without taking damage. Defeat Bowser and rescue Princess Peach to win the game.
   

3. Ms. Pac-Man

   
   
   
   
   Image Source: Flickr
   
   Ms Pac-Man was developed by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to the legendary Pac-Man and release as an arcade video game in 1981. In Ms Pac-man, the player(s) guide their character through a maze filled with dots, power dots and pesky patrolling ghosts hall monitors. It is the player's mission to gobble up all of the dots in the maze to continue to more difficult levels. Additional points can be scored by eating power dots and gaining the temporary power to turn the tables on the ghosts and chase them down to eat them, too.
   

4. Galaga

   
   
   Java Required
   
   
   
   Image Source: Pocketpcmag.com
   
   Galaga was released in 1981 by Namco as a first person shooter video arcade game. In Galaga, the player(s) control the movement of a spaceship assigned to destroy incoming alien spacecraft that sometimes dive and bomb your position. Some alien spacecraft may try to capture the player's spacecraft during the fight and if it is successful at capturing, then the player can attempt to re-capture their ship by carefully destroying the spacecraft without accidentally destroying their own ship in order to double the firepower with two spaceships at once. After the player(s) destroys all of the alien spacecraft in a level, then that player continues to move to more difficult level missions.
   

5. Gauntlet

   
   
   
   
   Image Source: Brandonfamily.blogs.com/
   
   Atari Games released a role-playing style videogame called Gauntlet in 1985 as another arcade videogame. In Gauntlet, there isn't any specific mission, but to crawl the dungeons as the player's choice of characters and recover treasure and keys. The NES version of the game does however end once a player reaches 100 levels. The players can choose to fight at close range, hand-to-hand combat or use magic to fight or haste away.
   

6. Zelda

   
   
   
   
   Image Source: Gameguru.in
   
   Zelda was originally released in Japan in 1986, and then in the US and EU in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In Zelda, the player(s) are trying to rescue Princess Zelda out from the evil hands of, Ganon. Players move their character along a series of combative and thought-provoking adventures, until the princess has been rescued and the evil has been defeated.
   

7. Final Fantasy
   

   
   
   
   
   Image Source: Irishblogs.ie
   
   Final Fantasy 2 was introduced as a console role-playing videogame designed and published by Square in 1988, to be played on the NES. In Final Fantasy, the player is going off on a deadly adventure to explore several towns and dungeons, while slaying the evil creature out there waiting to attack the player's character. Collect treasures to buy new armor, weapons and magic potions. Solve mind-bending puzzles and defeat the evil around you.

8. Street Fighter 2
   
   

   
   
   Image Source: Wii60.com
   
   Street Fighter 2 is a competitive fighting video game that was released in 1991 as a video arcade machine and later introduced on the NES. In Street Fighter 2, the player(s) duke it out with awesome fighting techniques and special moves to defeat the other fighting characters in the game. Players must win the best of three rounds to win the match and advance to tougher opponents.

9. Sonic The Hedgehog

   
   
   1991
   
   
   
   Image Source: Vgfrequency.com
   
   Sonic The Hedgehog was release in 1991 by Sega and designed by the Sonic Team for the Sega Genesis Console Game System. In Sonic The Hedgehog, the player(s) must guide their character through a world of danger and deadly obstacles, while collecting golden rings to score points and to maintain the health of their character throughout the mission. Complete each mission level and more to harder mission levels. Sonic must prevent Doctor Robotnik from collecting six Chaos Emeralds, so that Doctor Robotnik cannot rule the South Island. Sonic The Hedgehog demonstrates the advancements, power and speed of the computer capabilities of the day back then. Truly amazing, don't you agree?
   

10. Pepsi Flipper Pinball

    
    
    
    
    Image Source: Z.about.com
    
    No arcade would be complete without a pinball machine, so here is a very cool pinball game that features a bonus level of Breakout to earn extra points. The pinball machine in complete with three flippers, bumpers, standup targets, lighted gates and secret passages that allows a player to really rack up some serious points. While this is not an original console video game, it is a very fun game and demonstrates the graphic improvements in video game engineering.