When it comes to personal blogging, documentary is the default genre. There are plenty of blogs that serve other functions, but many blogs are primarily catalogs of the life experiences of their author. Although there are quite a few blogs that focus on collecting poetry and other forms of creative writing, the vast majority of personal blogs are in some sense documentaries. For many years, the act of making a documentary was meant to be an objective act of reporting the sights and sounds that the filmmaker, writer, or photographer encountered.

However, in contemporary times there has been a movement towards embracing the subjectivity inherent in the documentary form. This means that modern documentaries often reflect the distinctive voice and sensibility of their creator, and the fact that todays documentaries often revolve around personality blurs the lines between documentary and memoir. Blogs rest somewhere between these two genres, muddying the distinctions even further. Personal blogging, documentary, and memoir are now irrevocably intertwined, for better or for worse. Although few bloggers think of themselves as making documentaries in any formal sense, every time somebody sits down in front of a computer and types up a record of their day, they are documenting their own historical moment.

The things that we take for granted about our daily lives, like the way that we use specific modes of transportation, or the kinds of products that we buy, often seem quite fascinating to people who live in circumstances different from ours, and it is this kind of fascination that is at the heart of many documentary projects. When people think about blogging, documentary is not very likely to be the first adjective that crosses their minds, but a few decades down the road it is very likely that todays blogs will be seen primarily as very subjective documentaries of our era. The people of tomorrow will almost certainly look to the blogs of today for insight into our historical moment.

When it comes to blogging, documentary may not be the aim of most people who spend their time posting their thoughts and ideas on the internet. In some ways, the documentary aspect of blogging is more of a side effect than a primary goal. However, the fact that so many people are interested in publishing these public online diaries shows that personal blogs are about more than just rumination. The fact that bloggers are so stimulated by and interested in sharing their ideas with each other reinforces the idea that personal blogs are, in some ways, documentaries meant for public consumption. Documentaries appeal to people who are curious about other ways of life, and many people who regularly read others personal blogs are looking for this same kind of new perspective.

One weekend I took a trip to Best Buy and spent some gift money on an iPod Touch. I had no idea that my life was about to change - and I am only slightly exaggerating.
After loading up my favorite tunes, I discovered that I still had over 10 gigabytes of space available. I had heard about podcasts and was somewhat interested. I searched through some of the more popular offerings in the iTunes podcast section and downloaded a few.
A podcast, for those who don't know, is essentially a talk radio show - some of the newer shows are also done as videos. These are not necessarily well produced radio-style programs. A podcast can be produced with a simple microphone and free computer audio recording software. Since new episodes are added often, you can use your computer or media player software to subscribe and automatically download new episodes of each podcast as they are made available.

Imagine any expert on any topic being able to create a talk radio program specifically about their interest and knowledge. This is only the beginning. Authors have podcasts, doctors have podcasts, even churches have podcasts. Not all podcasts are limited to talk-show format. Some podcasts are comparable to audio books or old serial radio shows.
Podcasts range from graduate course material to the obscene and everything in between. The best part is that nearly all podcasts are completely free.
Perhaps the reason that podcasts haven't been discovered by the world at large is due to several misconceptions.

1. Podcast enjoyment does not require an iPod.

   You can listen to podcasts via the host's website. Just click the play button. You can also download the audio files and put them on any digital media player or CD.

2. Podcast enjoyment is difficult.

   If you want to make subscribing to podcasts extremely easy, buy a portable media player that advertises the podcast support on the packaging. Microsoft Zune and iPod both support one-click subscription to podcasts, but there are others. Software is also software that makes subscribing to podcasts easier.
   

3. Podcast enjoyment is for geeks.

   There are hundreds of thousands of podcasts being produced in all languages and topics. There are knitting podcasts, equestrian podcasts, business management podcasts, religious podcasts, etc., etc., etc.
   
   The best part of podcast enjoyment is that it is a totally personal experience. As you drive around town, exercise or just listen as your work, you can ditch the usual radio or music experience and listen to something new every day. The content is not only new, but guaranteed to meet your individual interest.

If you are looking to get started enjoying podcasts, give Juice a try. It is a free program that allows you to subscribe to, and download, podcasts. PodcastDirectory.com is the most logical place to find a podcast you are interested in.

Here's the secret:

You have to hold the alt key and a number at the same time. The number has to be from the number key pad.

• alt + 1 = ☺
• alt + 2 = ☻
• alt + 3 = ♥
• alt + 4 = ♦
• alt + 5 = ♣
• alt + 6 = ♠
• alt + 7 = •
• alt + 8 = ◘
• alt + 9 = ○
• alt + 10 = ◙

I think you get the point. You can press a series of numbers and come up with things like ( alt + 23) ↨ and you can push as many numbers as you'd like and they will come up with some symbol.

Now that you know the secret spice up your blog, you can even use them on Triond to spice up your profile information!

 

Additional help is required, then, to run an online business alongside your physical business. An online business can, of course, employ several individuals in a telecommuting capacity. Communication can occur in the blink of an eye, and the costs involved in a physical office can be dispensed with. Furthermore, these employees are not excluded from contributing to the physical business, even if only by freeing up the time of the company's chief players. In the online and physical world of business, a virtual assistant can help facilitate each of those business formats.

If you're wondering what help could be provided to you, many virtual assistants are trained in several areas. These range from secretarial duties and accounting, to the designing of websites and the ability to provide fresh advertising methods.

Should you wish to hire a virtual assistant, there are various websites dedicated to providing these assistants for you and your business. You may also join websites which will list several virtual assistants and their respective credentials. Some of these websites are free, while others will charge a nominal fee to join or post.

The hiring of a virtual assistant will carry with it certain pros and certain cons. Depending on who you choose to hire, the fee could be expensive, and you could also be placing a lot of trust and responsibility in the hands of a novice. The cost proves to be less of an issue, however, when you consider that you need not purchase office supplies or similar materials. You may also find that you have much more free time than you did before, leaving you able to finish tasks you had started, or to begin new jobs for which you never thought you'd have the time.

There are a few places that come to mind when you need some pictures to put with your blog. One of the places is Flickr, which is one that I don't particularly care for. They might have what you need, but I don't like navigating the site. Now, Wikipedia has many pictures and great info to do research on. There is also Sxc and Morguefile which both are in my opinion 2 really good sites. Just make sure that you check the restrictions and licensing agreements.

There are other sites that have uncopyrighted material; you just have to look for them. Other photos and pictures are the funny ones that you just find on the net and are already on multiple sites. These may be the ones that you probably get from your friends in emails, or they are on their Myspace and Facebook pages. Just be super careful when using these. You run the risk of being subjected to copyright lawsuits.

As for videos, there are plenty of viral videos. These are videos that people just want everybody to see. You can get these from Youtube.

Those bibliographies can really be a pain, and sometimes they can take up to 30-45 minutes!

With these websites you can organize and complete your bibliography faster and neater While saving time not having to set it all up! I guarantee these websites will help you complete your bibliography a lot faster than without them.

1. Internet Archive
   
   Will help you find all the website's updates since the website was made. Also it will help you to see what the website looked like at that time.
   
   
2. EasyBib
   
   Will help you organize notes into a bibliography from lots of different sources such as online, books, encyclopedia and much more. It will be formatted for you “MLA” and all you will need to do is copy and paste it. It doesn't get any simpler than that
   
   
3. easyWhois
   
   Will help you find out the website's Webmaster/ Publisher. If you need the website's sponsor, it may also be found there.
   
   
4. AltaVista
   
   Altavista Is a great search engine that will search for all extensions relating to your topic. I find that this website uses other search engines for a wide variety of articles.

It's a fun way to improve your vocabulary, says Alexandra Stephens a 15 year old student at Wesleyan School." The more you get right the more you are learning and the more you are donating. I do it for two reasons, to improve my vocabulary and help those in need. I notice since I started I am using words I didn't know, and expressing ideas better."

The words begin at third or fourth grade level and go to college level. Adults can also increase their vocabulary. If you want to help end world hunger go  to Free Rice. Every word you get right helps feed a hungry person.

However, Google has several built in functions that help you to make your searches more successful, and to enable you to spend less time searching! The following is a list of 5 functions, all accessible from the main Google search box, which will help you find that snippet of information you are looking for.

1. Removing Unwanted Pages

   
   
   Ever searched for something before, and had a whole list of completely irrelevant web pages come up? This is annoying at the best of times, as it takes time to check and read through the list of sites and find the one you actually want.
   
   For example, if you were looking for a review of the book "Eragon", and you typed into Google “Eragon review”, many of the links listed are reviews of the movie, not the book. Because you are not looking for a review of the movie, you can remove all pages relevant to the movie by adding “-movie” to the end of your search terms.
   
   This will now display all the pages relevant to "eragon review", but not relevant to "movie".

2. Calculator

   
   
   Google can be used as a calculator, answering anything from the simplest math to the most complex equation. Just enter your math question, and Google will display the answer.
   
   + is used to add terms, - to subtract terms, * to multiply terms, and / to divide terms. Besides these basic operators, you can use ^ to work out something to the power of something (for example, “2^4” would be 2 to the power of 4), and "sqrt" to calculate the square root of a number (for example, “sqrt 4” would be the square root of 4).

3. Dictionary Definitions

   
   
   By typing “define:” before a word, Google will retrieve and display a list of dictionary definitions for that word.

4. Search A Single Website

   
   
   If you type "site:" and then a website after a search term, Google will search for your term(s) in only the site dictated. For example, the following search will search Oxford University's Website for the term "prospectus."

5. Search for A Specific File Type

   
   
   As I am sure you are aware, there are many files hosted on the internet besides the standard html websites. Therefore, searching for a specific type of file could make your search a lot easier. For example, if you were looking for a PDF version of the iPhone manual, you could use the following search, which would produce more accurate (and less) results.
   
   Here the "filetype:" tool is making Google search the web for PDF files only, therefore eliminating any pages that we didn't want to see.

These are just 5 useful functions that Google can perform, there are many more for you to discover, and they can all be mixed and matched! I hope this helped you to find that ever-elusive page or snippet of info. Have fun, and happy searching!

Spyware is software that lures you into installing software from a scammer. These scammers have put software in your computer which allows them to watch absolutely everything to do. Key loggers are very similar to spyware however a lot more dangerous. Key loggers give scammers a log of everything you type on your computer like bank account passwords.

How Do You Know that You Have One?

There isn't much ways to find out you have a key logger or spyware unless you have an antivirus program that picks it up but there are many types of signs that show if you can get spyware or a key logger and avoiding these signs would keep you away from harm.

How Can You Avoid Having a Key Logger or Spyware?

• Most links from emails known as Spam should be avoided
• Caution on Websites should be high
• Download things that you trust
• Buy or get a free Virus Scanner

Conclusion

One of the biggest scams ever seen is those free prizes or full illegal software. Be less trusting and more cautious on downloads that strangers give you.

First off, an explanation of what may be happening.

Your computer may be part of a bot net

If your computer is "zombied" this means that somewhere on your computer a program or set of programs is letting someone else access it and use it for nefarious deeds such as spamming or bringing down a website. Most of this is automated, the person responsible is not in your computer looking at your stuff, they are using automated scripts and programs to access many computer simultaneously. This is known as a "bot net" and you really don't want to be part of this, it slows your box down, really annoys people who are getting the spam being generated, and is just generally uncool...

Your computer is running too much spyware or malware

This really slows computers down as the regular programs have a hard time running when something is using up all available memory

Where does this stuff come from and how did it get on my computer?

There you are happily surfing the web searching for variations on turnip wine recipes or some such thing, when you land on a certain website. The site seems totally innocent, even the website designer may be unaware of the evil lurking in the webpage code. But your computer downloads this bad code, and when executed, tries to download all its friends. the next thing you know the computer is running slower than the hour before schools out, and your start page has gone from google to some strange page about midget yahk herder sex. This is called a drive by, and is just one of the ways that you can get compromised.

Oh sweet tunderin' Jesus! what do I do now?

All is not lost! Follow these suggestions and there is a good chance that you can solve these difficulties.

(disclaimer...The following are just suggestions, and by using them you do so at your own risk. If you are uncomfortable doing the following, indeed call in a pro)

Number 1 (and most important) Check to make sure that your anti virus is running and up to date. I cannot over state the importance of this. Many computers that I have to deal with have either outdated, disabled or non-existent Anti Virus. I even had one lady who uninstalled her anti virus because she didn't like the color of the antivirus window. sheesh!

All computers ship with antivirus programs, but most of these only work for a couple of months before the ask you to pay a subscription or they stop updating.

Some viruses, worms and spyware will intentionally break your av.

What to do if your av is broken...

There are quite a few Free for personal use Anti Virus programs out there. The one I have been using is Avast.

It is a self updating av, scans everything going in and coming out of your computer and it talks. The first time I used it I left my computer on overnight, and around three am I heard this manly voice say "Anit Virus successfully updated"...scared the bujesus outa me!

It is good for a couple of months as a demo, but registration is free, and all they want to know for registration is your email, so they can send you a registration number,and what country you are from.

Just download it and install. It will ask if you want to do a "boot time" scan. Say yes and let it reboot your computer. It will scan before letting anything load into windows memory, and will pick up most of the crud.

If you have problems downloading it because your computer is running too slow, shutdown your computer and restart. As it starts to boot up press "F8" a few times and it will bring up a boot menu. Use the arrow key to go to "safe mode with networking" and hit enter. This will start windows without any drivers or programs being loaded. the screen will look weird, but you should be able to access the internet.

Next you are going to want to download another free program Spybot Search and Destroy.

Download and run this, make sure you update it first. This will remove spyware from your system.

This is normally enough to get things back on track, but being the overly paranoid and under paid person that I am, I also use these programs just to make sure:

Ad-Aware

Super Anti-Spyware 

All of these are free for personal use.

Other suggestions to keep you safe...

Use the Firefox browser. I personally think it is a better browser than internet explorer and has lots of plugins to keep you safe. One of the add ons is called "NoScript" and when enabled, stops websites from executing anything unless you say so.

Another handy plugin for most browsers is the Netcraft Anti-Phishing Toolbar. This will alert you if a website is fake, like a banking site or auction site. I'm always getting emails telling me that I need to reset my banking info, or there is something wrong with my ebay or paypal account. These are just attempts by scum sucking hairless monkeys to steal my stuff. Neither Banks or ebay or paypal would ever ask you to reenter your financial info by email. When in doubt, phone the person that the suspect email is from.

Well, thats all for now. I'll put up some more security stuff as soon as I get time.

Cheerio all!