GPS child tracker

We just discovered that Insignia is about to release a GPS child tracking device called Insignia Little Buddy. It is already up on Best Buy’s site but it has a “coming soon” status right now. However we at least know it is going to cost $100.
It seems like it supports real time GPS tracking but we have no information on what the monthly cost is going to be or which provider Best Buy decided to go with.
The Insignia GPS child tracker will have an accompanying website to keep track of your kids – and have an idea where they should be based on a weekly schedule.
Find a way to attach this to the car charger and you’ve got yourself a GPS vehicle tracking device.

Google Audio music download store coming October 28th?

It seems the rift between Google and Apple is growing; after the latter made moves to supply its own mapping technologies for the iPhone and iPod touch, Google now looks set to kick off its own music service to rival iTunes.  According to TechCrunch’s sources, the so-called Google Audio service will launch on October 28th, and offer US users both access to streaming media together with purchase/download links.

Google’s partners in the venture are tipped to be LaLa and iLike, the latter of which was recently acquired by MySpace.  The social networking site has streaming rights agreements with all four of the major music labels, all of whom would probably love another opportunity to persuade people to buy tracks rather than listen to them online.

Simple Steps to Control Anger in Your Everyday Life

These steps have helped a lot with anger issues and hope they will help you as well.

Step 1 - Walk away.

The first thing and possibly one of the most difficult is learning to walk away. Many times we give in our our urge to fight before we have time to think through what we are going to say or do. Walking away will give you time to cool off and think about if what happened is worth your time even worrying about. If it turns out to be worth your time you will now have time to think about the next step in your action plan.

Step 2 - Communicate using "I" phrases.

Once you have decided that you are going to do something, communicating correctly is extremely important. When you talk about what happened make sure you start your sentences with "I" instead of "You." Using "You" to start your sentences comes across to the other person as attacking them personally and once they think you are attacking them they will automatically be put on defense. Once the other person is on defense you have lost them because they will not be listening to what you have to say, but only thinking of ways to defend themselves against your attacks.

Step 3 - Listen correctly.

During your conversation make sure that you are listening to the other person because chances are their points are just as valid as yours. Don't interrupt and repeat what the other person had to say back to them once they are done speaking. This way both of you know that you understood them; after you are done repeating them ask the other person to repeat what you had to say as well to make sure they understood you.

Step 4 - Forgive.

This is the most important step of them all. Once you have the air cleared forgive the other person for what they did. You need to do this in order to move on with your day and your life without any excess baggage being carried on your shoulders. If you allow the baggage to stay you will more than likely direct your anger at the other person. Even worse, you may direct this anger towards someone that is totally undeserving of it.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=BK_Carter

Need a good laugh? Check out these 5 funny English sayings!

Learning the grammar and vocabulary of English can be hard enough, but trying to understand English sayings can be impossible. Some are just hard to figure out and others don’t make any sense at all. Here are five funny English sayings that you can use every day. Just be careful to use them right!
“I’m happy as a clam.” Think of a clam. It doesn’t have to do anything. It just sits on a beach or on the bottom of the ocean all day every day doing nothing. It never has to work. That sure sounds like happiness, doesn’t it? If someone asks, “How are you today?” you can tell them this to let them know what a great mood you’re in.
“I wouldn’t touch that (or him/her) with a ten-foot pole.” Don’t like something? Maybe it’s something gross like garbage or rotting food. Or maybe there’s a person who you don’t want to be friends with or even talk to? Well, this saying means that you dislike them so much that you don’t want to touch them or go near them – even within ten feet!
“I think I went overboard.” If you ever to do something that is excessive or irresponsible, this is a handy expression to use. “Going overboard” literally means falling off a ship, but, as an English saying, it’s a way of admitting that you’ve done something you shouldn’t have. There are many synonyms for this such as “I’ve stepped over a line” and “I’ve gone too far.” You can also use it to say that someone else has made a mistake.
“You don’t have a leg to stand on.” No, this doesn’t mean that the person you’re talking to has no legs. It means that their argument is incorrect. They don’t have a leg to stand on because they have no facts to support what they’re saying. This saying is a good way to tell a person that you think they’re wrong.
“Break a leg!” This actually means the opposite of what it sounds like. If you tell this to a person, you’re wishing them good luck! The saying comes from a superstition that whatever you say aloud, the opposite will come true. Because it originated in the theater, this saying is usually used only for wishing someone good luck in some type of performance. So it’s nice thing to tell someone who is preparing to make a business presentation or attend an interview where they need to make a good impression.

Article from http://msnarabia.englishtown.com/sp/article.aspx?articleName=178-Funny

Home Loans

Tips for a Better Home Loan Decision

and

How to Get a Better Deal on a Home Loan

It is often said that for most people, the purchase of their home will be their single greatest expenditure. In truth, however, the purchase of a mortgage--the points and interest paid over the life of the loan--often equals or exceeds the sale price of the house. Thus, as everyone knows, it's essential to get the best deal on your mortgage as possible. Doing so, however, is not an easy proposition. To get a truly great rate, you'll need not only to shop smartly for a mortgage, you also need to establish yourself as a good credit risk before you apply.

Steps

AT command set (SONY ERICSSON )

The GSM modem will respond in 2 ways, "ERROR" will be returned if the AT command is not supported.If the command is executed successfully an OK will be returned after the response text.e.g.

AT+CBC=?
response text will be as follows;
+CBC :(0,2),(0-100)
OK


List of AT Commands
--------------------------

1. AT Attention command
2. AT* List all supported AT commands
3. ATZ Restore to user profile (ver. 2)
4. AT&F Set to factory-defined configuration (ver. 2)
5. ATI Identification information (ver. 3)
6. AT&W Store user profile
7. AT+CLAC List all available AT commands
   
8. AT+CGMI Request manufacturer identification (ver. 1)
   
9. AT+CGMM Request model identification
   
10. AT+CGMR Request revision identification
11. AT+CGSN Request product serial number identification
12. AT+GCAP Request modem capabilities list
13. AT+GMI Request manufacturer information
14. AT+GMM Request model identification
15. AT+GMR Request revision identification
16. ATA Answer incoming call command (ver. 2)
17. ATH Hook control (ver. 2)
18. ATD Dial command (ver. 5)
19. ATO Return to online data mode
20. AT+CVHU Voice hangup control
21. AT+CLCC List current calls
22. AT*CPI Call progress information
23. ATE Command echo (ver. 2)
24. ATSO Automatic answer control
25. ATS2 Escape sequence character
26. ATS3 Command line termination character (ver. 3)
27. ATS4 Response formatting character (ver. 3)
28. ATS5 Command line editing character (ver. 3)
29. ATS7 Completion connection timeout
30. ATS10 Automatic disconnect delay control
31. ATQ Result code suppression (ver. 2)
32. ATV DCE response mode (ver. 2)
33. ATX Call progress monitoring control
34. AT&C Circuit 109 (DCD) control
35. AT&D Circuit 108 (DTR) response
36. AT+IFC Cable interface DTE-DCE local flow control
37. AT+ICF Cable interface character format (ver. 2)
38. AT+IPR Cable interface port rate
39. AT+ILRR Cable interface local rate reporting
40. AT+DS Data compression (ver. 3)
41. AT+DR Data compression reporting
42. AT+WS46 Mode selection
43. AT+FCLASS Select mode
44. AT*ECBP CHF button pushed (ver. 2)
45. AT+CMUX Switch to 07.10 multiplexer (ver. 2)
46. AT*EINA Ericsson system interface active
47. AT*SEAM Add menu item
48. AT*SESAF SEMC show and focus
49. AT*SELERT SEMC create alert (information text)
50. AT*SESTRI SEMC create string Input
51. AT*SELIST SEMC create list
52. AT*SETICK SEMC create ticker
53. AT*SEDATE SEMC create date field
54. AT*SEGAUGE SEMC create gauge (bar graph/progress feedback)
55. AT*SEGUP SEMC update gauge (bar graph/ progress feedback)
56. AT*SEONO SEMC create on/off input
57. AT*SEYNQ SEMC create yes/no question
58. AT*SEDEL SEMC GUI delete
59. AT*SESLE SEMC soft key label (ver. 1)
60. AT*SERSK SEMC remove soft key
61. AT*SEUIS SEMC UI session establish/terminate
62. AT*EIBA Ericsson Internal Bluetooth address
63. AT+BINP Bluetooth input
64. AT+BLDN Bluetooth last dialled number
65. AT+BVRA Bluetooth voice recognition activation
66. AT+NREC Noise reduction and echo cancelling
67. AT+VGM Gain of microphone
68. AT+VGS Gain of speaker
69. AT+BRSF Bluetooth retrieve supported
70. AT+GCLIP Graphical caller ID presentation
71. AT+CSCS Select TE character set (ver. 3)
72. AT+CHUP Hang up call
73. AT+CRC Cellular result codes (ver. 2)
74. AT+CR Service reporting control
75. AT+CV120 V.120 rate adaption protocol
76. AT+VTS DTMF and tone generation
77. AT+CBST Select bearer service type (ver. 3)
78. AT+CRLP Radio link protocol (ver. 2)
79. AT+CEER Extended error report (ver. 2)
80. AT+CHSD HSCSD device parameters (ver. 2)
81. AT+CHSN HSCSD non-transparent call configuration (ver. 2)
82. AT+CHSC HSCSD current call parameters (ver. 2)
83. AT+CHSR HSCSD parameters report (ver. 2)
84. AT+CHSU HSCSD automatic user-initiated upgrade
85. AT+CNUM Subscriber number (ver. 2)
86. AT+CREG Network registration (ver. 2)
87. AT+COPS Operator selection (ver. 2)
88. AT+CLIP Calling line identification (ver. 2)
89. AT+CLIR Calling line identification restriction
90. AT+CCFC Calling forwarding number and conditions (ver. 2)
91. AT+CCWA Call waiting (ver. 2)
92. AT+CHLD Call hold and multiparty (ver. 1)
93. AT+CSSN Supplementary service notification (ver. 2)
94. AT+CAOC Advice of charge
95. AT+CACM Accumulated call meter (ver. 2)
96. AT+CAMM Accumulated call meter maximum
97. AT+CDIP Called line identification presentation
98. AT+COLP Connected line identification presentation
99. AT+CPOL Preferred operator list
100. AT+COPN Read operator names
101. AT*EDIF Divert function (ver. 2)
102. AT*EIPS Identify presentation set
103. AT+CUSD Unstructured supplementary service data (ver. 2)
104. AT+CLCK Facility lock (ver. 5)
105. AT+CPWD Change password (Ver. 3)
106. AT+CFUN Set phone functionality (ver. 2)
107. AT+CPAS Phone activity status (ver. 3)
108. AT+CPIN PIN control (ver. 2)
109. AT+CBC Battery charge (ver. 2)
110. AT+CSQ Signal quality (ver.1)
111. AT+CKPD Keypad control (ver. 7)
112. AT+CIND Indicator control (ver. 5)
113. AT+CMAR Master reset
114. AT+CMER Mobile equipment event reporting
115. AT*ECAM Ericsson call monitoring (ver. 2)
116. AT+CLAN Language
117. AT*EJAVA Ericsson Java application function
118. AT+CSIL Silence Command
119. AT*ESKL Key-lock mode
120. AT*ESKS Key sound
121. AT*EAPP Application function (ver. 5)
122. AT+CMEC Mobile equipment control mode
123. AT+CRSM Restricted SIM access
124. AT*EKSE Ericsson keystroke send
125. AT+CRSL Ringer sound level (ver. 2)
126. AT+CLVL Loudspeaker volume level
127. AT+CMUT Mute control
128. AT*EMEM Ericsson memory management
129. AT+CRMP Ring melody playback (ver. 2)
130. AT*EKEY Keypad/joystick control (ver. 2)
131. AT*ECDF Ericsson change dedicated file
132. AT*STKC SIM application toolkit configuration
133. AT*STKE SIM application toolkit envelope command send
134. AT*STKR SIM application toolkit command response
135. AT+CMEE Report mobile equipment error
136. AT+CSMS Select message service (ver.2)
137. AT+CPMS Preferred message storage (ver. 4)
138. AT+CMGF Message format (ver. 1)
139. AT+CSCA Service centre address (ver. 2)
140. AT+CSAS Save settings
141. AT+CRES Restore settings
142. AT+CNMI New messages indication to TE (ver. 4)
143. AT+CMGL List message (ver. 2)
144. AT+CMGR Read message (ver. 2)
145. AT+CMGS Send message (ver. 2)
146. AT+CMSS Send from storage (ver. 2)
147. AT+CMGW Write message to memory (ver. 2)
148. AT+CMGD Delete message
149. AT+CMGC Send command (ver. 1)
150. AT+CMMS More messages to send
151. AT+CGDCONT Define PDP context (ver. 1)
152. AT+CGSMS Select service for MO SMS messages
153. AT+CGATT Packet service attach or detach
154. AT+CGACT PDP context activate or deactivate
155. AT+CGDATA Enter data state
156. AT+CGEREP Packet domain event reporting (ver. 1)
157. AT+CGREG Packet domain network registration status
158. AT+CGPADDR Show PDP address
159. AT+CGDSCONT Define secondary PDP context
160. AT+CGTFT Traffic flow template
161. AT+CGEQREQ 3G quality of service profile (requested)
162. AT+CGEQMIN 3G quality of service profile (minimum acceptable)
163. AT+CGEQNEG 3G quality of service profile (negotiated)
164. AT+CGCMOD PDP context modify
165. Extension of ATD – Request GPRS service
166. Extension of ATD – Request packet domain IP service
167. AT+CPBS Phonebook storage (ver. 3)
168. AT+CPBR Phonebook read (ver. 2)
169. AT+CPBF Phonebook find (ver. 2)
170. AT+CPBW Phonebook write (ver. 4)
171. AT+CCLK Clock (ver. 4)
172. AT+CALA Alarm (ver. 3)
173. AT+CALD Alarm delete
174. AT+CAPD Postpone or dismiss an alarm (ver. 2)
175. AT*EDST Ericsson daylight saving time
176. AT+CIMI Request international mobile subscriber identity
177. AT*EPEE PIN event
178. AT*EAPS Active profile set
179. AT*EAPN Active profile rename
180. AT*EBCA Battery and charging algorithm (ver. 4)
181. AT*ELIB Ericsson list Bluetooth devices
182. AT*EVAA Voice answer active (ver. 1)
183. AT*EMWS Magic word set
184. AT+CPROT Enter protocol mode
185. AT*EWDT WAP download timeout
186. AT*EWBA WAP bookmark add (ver. 2)
187. AT*EWCT WAP connection timeout
188. AT*EIAC Internet account, create
189. AT*EIAD Internet account configuration, delete
190. AT*EIAW Internet account configuration, write general parameters
191. AT*EIAR Internet account configuration, read general parameters
192. AT*EIAPSW Internet account configuration, write PS bearer parameters
193. AT*EIAPSR Internet account configuration, read PS bearer parameters
194. AT*EIAPSSW Internet account configuration, write secondary PDP context parameters
195. AT*EIAPSSR Internet account configuration, read secondary PDP context parameters
196. AT*EIACSW Internet account configuration, write CSD bearer parameters
197. AT*EIACSR Internet account configuration, read CSD bearer parameters
198. AT*EIABTW Internet account configuration, write Bluetooth bearer parameters
199. AT*EIABTR Internet account configuration, read Bluetooth bearer parameters
200. AT*EIAAUW Internet account configuration, write authentication parameters
201. AT*EIAAUR Internet account configuration, read authentication parameters
202. AT*EIALCPW Internet account configuration, write PPP parameters – LCP
203. AT*EIALCPR Internet account configuration, read PPP parameters – LCP
204. AT*EIAIPCPW Internet account configuration, write PPP parameters – IPCP
205. AT*EIAIPCPR Internet account configuration, read PPP parameters – IPCP
206. AT*EIADNSV6W Internet account configuration, write DNS parameters – IPv6CP
207. AT*EIADNSV6R Internet account configuration, read DNS parameters – IPv6CP
208. AT*EIARUTW Internet account configuration, write routing table parameters
209. AT*EIARUTD Internet account configuration, delete routing table parameters
210. AT*EIARUTR Internet account configuration, read routing table parameters
211. AT*SEACC Accessory class report
212. AT*SEACID Accessory identification
213. AT*SEACID2 Accessory identification (Bluetooth)
214. AT*SEAUDIO Accessory class report
215. AT*SECHA Charging control
216. AT*SELOG SE read log
217. AT*SEPING SE ping command
218. AT*SEAULS SE audio line status
219. AT*SEFUNC SE functionality status (ver. 2)
220. AT*SEFIN SE flash Information
221. AT*SEFEXP Flash auto exposure setting from ME
222. AT*SEMOD Camera mode indicator to the flash
223. AT*SEREDI Red eye reduction indicator to the flash
224. AT*SEFRY Ready indicator to the ME
225. AT*SEAUP Sony Ericsson audio parameters
226. AT*SEVOL Volume level
227. AT*SEVOLIR Volume indication request
228. AT*SEBIC Status bar icon
229. AT*SEANT Antenna identification
230. AT*SESP Speakermode on/off
231. AT*SETBC Text to bitmap converter
232. AT*SEAVRC Sony Ericsson audio video remote control
233. AT*SEMMIR Sony Ericsson multimedia information request
234. AT*SEAPP Sony Ericsson application
235. AT*SEAPPIR Sony Ericsson application indication request
236. AT*SEJCOMM Sony Ericsson Java comm
237. AT*SEDUC Sony Ericsson disable USB charge
238. AT*SEABS Sony Ericsson accessory battery status
239. AT*SEAVRCIR Sony Ericsson audio video remote control indication request
240. AT*SEGPSA Sony Ericsson global positioning system accessory
241. AT*SEAUDIO Accessory class report
242. AT*SEGPSA Sony Ericsson global positioning system accessory
243. AT*SEAUDIO Accessory Class Report
244. AT*SEGPSA Sony Ericsson global positioning system accessory
245. AT*SETIR Sony Ericsson time information request
246. AT*SEMCM Sony Ericsson memory card management
247. AT*SEAUDIO Accessory Class Report

Living in 2009

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2 You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

Tax Structure

Q.: What are you doing?
A.: Business.
Tax: PAY PROFESSIONAL TAX!

Q.: What are you doing in Business?
A.: Selling the Goods.
Tax: PAY SALES TAX!!

Q.: From where are you getting Goods?
A.: From other State/Abroad
Tax: PAY CENTRAL SALES TAX, CUSTOM DUTY & OCTROI!

Top 10 Tough Laws in the World

Ignorance is no defense – especially when it comes to ignorance of the laws in countries you plan to visit. While it may seem natural to study some of the general customs and laws in major foreign countries you might not expect, for example, to have to look for strange law changes in somewhere like Florida. Most places in the world are relatively easy to get along in. Some strange laws are nothing more than folklore. Every once in a while, though, you’re going to run into something a bit off the wall and it’s important for you to be prepared in advance.

10. DON’T FEED THE PIGEONS (ITALY)



In Italy it is illegal to feed the pigeons. Ok, that’s a bit of a blanket statement. The rule actually has the potential to change from city to city. Make sure you leave the pigeons alone while you’re in Venice, though – the locals are tired of cleaning up pigeon poop. You’ll also want to avoid jumping into fountains, walking around without your shirt on (would you DO that as a tourist), and sitting on the sidewalk to eat your lunch. Fines range from a warning to monetary infractions anywhere from $50 to $600.

9. EATING IN PUBLIC (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES)



Before you leave for the United Arab Emirates you’ll want to make sure you aren’t visiting during Ramadan. During that time you are not allowed to eat or drink in public during fasting hours (ie. daylight hours) at all. Think we’re kidding? Tourists have been fined up to $275 for drinking juice in public. Avoid public displays of affection as well unless you want to spend a few months in jail.

Ishq Junoon Deewangi (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan) - Exclusive Music Video (Official)

Ishq Junoon Deewangi (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan) - Exclusive Music Video (Official)

How to Install Microsoft Speech Technologies

Microsoft Speech Technologies are application development tools that allow programmers to create speech-based applications for multiple devices, such as computers, cell phones and PDAs. The technology is used in many programs, including Outlook Voice Access, Windows Speech Recognition and Voice Command in Windows Mobile. Microsoft has made multiple developmental speech technology programs available, giving programmers many development options.


Instructions

• Open your web browser and navigate to the Downloads & Resources section of the Microsoft Speech Technologies website. In addition, downloads can be found on the Speech Utilities for Microsoft Speech Technologies website.
• Review each link to determine which Speech Technology program you would like to use. Microsoft offers several Speech Technology options to suit the needs of different programmers, including Microsoft Speech Application Software Development Kit 1.1, which allows developers to add speech interfaces to web applications; Speech SDK 5.1, which provides support for automation speech languages like Visual Basic; GramStat Speech Utility, which compiles statistics on speech files.
• Click the Download box on the page of the Microsoft Speech Technology you would like to download and save it to your computer.
• Double click your downloaded file and click Run in the Open File - Security window.
• Read the End-User License Agreement for Microsoft Software and click Yes to complete the installation.

References

• Microsoft Speech Technologies

Resources

• Downloads & Resources
• Speech Utilities for Microsoft Speech Technologies

Nokia E51 WLAN Connection settings ( WiFi Settings)

Nokia E51 WLAN WiFi Connection settings
=======================================================
Following are steps to configure WLAN Connection settings
Select 

Main Menu ->  Tools -> Setting -> Connection -> Access Points -> Connection

Connection Name= anything you like (Hostel-003 in my case)
Data Bearer= Wireless LAN
WLAN network Name = you network name (Hostel-003  in my case)
Network status = Public
WLAN network mode = Infrastructure
WLAN security mode = open network
Homepage = none

Now, Select Option -> Advanse Settings

Proxy server address = server ip
Proxy port number = server port
========================================================
Completed

how to quickly install the Oracle Database Client product on 32-bit Windows

This guide describes how to quickly install the Oracle Database Client product on 32-bit Windows systems. It includes information about the following:

1. Review Information About this Guide
2. Log In to the System with Administrator Privileges
3. Check the Hardware Requirements
4. Check the Software Requirements
5. Install the Oracle Database Software
6. Install Products from the Oracle Database Companion CD
7. What to Do Next
8. Additional Information
9. Documentation Accessibility

1 Review Information About this Guide

This guide describes how to install Oracle Database using the default installation options into a new Oracle home.

Tasks Described in this Guide

The procedures in this guide describe how to:

• Configure your system to support Oracle Database.
• Install the Oracle Database software on a local file system.
• Configure a general-purpose Oracle database that uses the local file system for database file storage.
• Install software from the Oracle Database Companion CD, which improves the performance of Oracle Database on your system.

Results of a Successful Installation

After you successfully install Oracle Database:

• The database that you created and the default Oracle Net listener process are running on the system.
• Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control and iSQL*Plus are running and can be accessed using a Web browser.
• A single-node version of the Oracle Cluster Synchronization Services (CSS) daemon is running and is configured to start automatically when your system boots.

Tasks Not Described in this Guide

This guide does not describe how to complete the following tasks:

• Installing the software on a system that has an existing Oracle software installation.
• Installing Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC).
• Installing Automatic Storage Management (ASM)
• Cloning an Oracle home
• Enabling Enterprise Manager e-mail notifications or automated backups.
• Using alternative storage options such as Automatic Storage Management (ASM) or raw devices for database storage.

Where to Get Additional Installation Information

For more detailed information about installing Oracle Database components, including information about the tasks not described in this guide, see one of the following guides:

• If you are installing the software on a single system or if you want to install Automatic Storage Management (ASM), see Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit).
• If you are installing Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC), see Oracle Real Application Clusters Installation and Configuration Guide for your platform.
  This guide also describes how to install Oracle Clusterware, which is a prerequisite for RAC installations.You can use Oracle Clusterware with single-instance Oracle Database installations as well.

Both of these guides are available on the Oracle Database installation media. To access them, use a Web browser to open the welcome.htm file in the database directory of the DVD, then select the Documentation tab.
For more information about installing Oracle Database Companion CD components, see one of the following guides:

• Oracle Database Companion CD Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit)
• Oracle Database Companion CD Quick Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit)

These guides are available in the companion directory on the Oracle Database installation media.

2 Log In to the System with Administrator Privileges

Log on as a member of the Administrators group to the computer on which to install Oracle components. If you are installing on a Primary Domain Controller (PDC) or a Backup Domain Controller (BDC), log on as a member of the Domain Administrators group.

3 Check the Hardware Requirements

The following hardware components are required for Oracle Database:

Table 1 Hardware Requirements

Requirement	Minimum Value
Physical memory (RAM)	256 MB minimum, 512 MB recommended
Virtual memory	Double the amount of RAM
Disk space	Basic Installation Type total: 2.04 GB Advanced Installation Types total: 1.94 GB See Table 2 for details.
Video adapter	256 colors
Processor	550 MHz minimum

3.1 Hard Disk Space Requirements

Table 2 lists the space requirements for NTFS. The starter database requires 1.03 GB of disk space. The figures in this table include the starter database. FAT32 space requirements are slightly larger.

Table 2 Disk Space Requirements for NTFS

Installation Type	TEMP Space	C:\Program Files\Oracle	Oracle Home	Datafiles *	Total
Basic Installation	125 MB	3.1 MB	905 MB	1.03 GB	2.04 GB
Advanced Installation: Enterprise Edition	125 MB	3.1 MB	905 MB **	950 MB **	1.94 GB **
Advanced Installation: Standard Edition	125 MB	3.1 MB	905 MB **	950 MB **	1.94 GB **
Advanced Installation: Personal Edition	125 MB	3.1 MB	905 MB **	950 MB **	1.94 GB **

* Refers to the contents of the admin, flash_recovery_area, and oradata directories in the ORACLE_BASE directory.
** This size can be higher depending on the installation options selected, such as languages or additional components. If you choose to install Oracle Database with automated backups enabled, include at least 2 GB extra for datafile disk space.

See Also: "About NTFS File System and Windows Registry Permissions" in Oracle Database Platform Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit)

To ensure that the system meets these requirements, follow these steps:

1. Determine the physical RAM size. For a computer using Windows 2003, for example, open System in the Windows Control Panel and select the General tab. If the size of the physical RAM installed in the system is less than the required size, then you must install more memory before continuing.
2. Determine the size of the configured virtual memory (also known as paging file size). For a computer using Windows 2003, for example, open System in the Control Panel, select the Advanced tab, and click Settings in the Performance section. Then select the Advanced tab. The virtual memory is listed in the Virtual Memory section.
   If necessary, see your operating system documentation for information about how to configure additional virtual memory.
3. Determine the amount of free disk space on the system. For a computer using Windows 2003, for example, open My Computer, right-click the drive where the Oracle software is to be installed, and choose Properties.
4. Determine the amount of disk space available in the temp directory. This is equivalent to the total amount of free disk space, minus what will be needed for the Oracle software to be installed.
   If there is less than 125 MB of disk space available in the temp directory, then first delete all unnecessary files. If the temp disk space is still less than 125 MB, then set the TEMP or TMP environment variable to point to a different hard drive. For a computer using Windows 2003, for example, open System in the Control Panel, select the Advanced tab, and click Environment Variables.

4 Check the Software Requirements

Table 3 lists the software requirements for Oracle Database.

Table 3 Software Requirements

Requirement	Value
System Architecture	Processor: Intel (x86), AMD64, and Intel EM64T Note: Oracle provides 32-bit (x86), 64-bit (Itanium), and 64-bit (x64) versions of Oracle Database for Windows. The 32-bit database version, which this installation guide describes, runs on the 32-bit version of Windows on either x86 or x64 hardware. Oracle provides limited certification for 32-bit Oracle Database on 64-bit Windows (x64). For additional information, visit OracleMetaLink at: http://metalink.oracle.com
Operating System	Oracle Database for Windows is supported on the following operating systems: Windows 2000 with service pack 1 or later. All editions, including Terminal Services and Microsoft Windows 2000 MultiLanguage Edition (MLE), are supported. Windows Server 2003 - all editions Windows XP Professional Windows NT is not supported. Windows Multilingual User Interface Pack is supported on Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional.
Compiler	Pro*Cobol has been tested and certified with the following two compilers: ACUCOBOL-GT version 6.2 Micro Focus Net Express 4.0 Object Oriented COBOL (OOCOBOL) specifications are not supported. The following components are supported with the Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2002 7.0 and Microsoft Visual C++ .NET 2003 7.1 compilers: Oracle C++ Call Interface Oracle Call Interface GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) External callouts PL/SQL native compilation XDK Note: If you plan to use GNU Compiler Collection as your primary compiler, see "Configuring GNU Compiler Collection as the Primary Compiler" in Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) for configuration instructions.
Network Protocol	The Oracle Net foundation layer uses Oracle protocol support to communicate with the following industry-standard network protocols: TCP/IP TCP/IP with SSL Named Pipes

5 Install the Oracle Database Software

To install the Oracle Database software:

1. If you are installing Oracle Database on a multihomed computer or a computer that uses multiple aliases, use the System in the Control Panel to create the ORACLE_HOSTNAME system environment variable. Set this variable to point to the host name of the computer on which you are installing Oracle Database.
2. Insert Oracle Database installation media and navigate to the database directory. Alternatively, navigate to the directory where you downloaded or copied the installation files.
   Use the same installation media to install Oracle Database on all supported Windows platforms.
3. Double-click setup.exe to start Oracle Universal Installer.
4. In the Welcome window, select either Basic Installation or Advanced Installation, and then answer the prompts as needed.
   
   
   

   See Also: Chapter 1 in Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) for more information on the Basic and Advanced installation methods

   
   
   The subsequent windows that appear, which are listed in Table 4, depend on the installation method you have chosen. The order in which the windows appear depends on the options you select.
5. Follow these guidelines to complete the installation:
   
   • Do not install Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) software into an existing Oracle home that contains Oracle9i or earlier software.
   • If you install Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) in an Oracle home directory that already contains Oracle Database 10g release 2 (10.2) client software, the listener is not created. To create the listener, install and run Oracle Net Configuration Assistant after the installation. If the Administrator client is installed before Oracle Database, Oracle Net Configuration Assistant is already installed.
   • Follow the instructions displayed in the Oracle Universal Installer windows. If you need additional information, click Help.
   • When prompted for a password, follow these guidelines:
     Make the password be between 4 and 30 characters long.
     Use the database character set for the password's characters, which can include the underscore (_), dollar ($), and pound sign (#) characters.
     Do not start passwords with a numeral.
     Do not use a user name for a password.
     Do no use Oracle reserved words for the password.
     Do not use change_on_install for the SYS account password.
     Do not use manager for the SYSTEM account password.
     Do not use sysman for the SYSMAN account password.
     Do not use dbsnmp for the DBSNMP account password.
     If you choose to use the same password for all the accounts, do not use change_on_install, manager, sysman, or dbsnmp as a password.
     Have the password include at least 1 alphabetic, 1 numeric, and 1 punctuation mark character
     Do not use simple or obvious words, such as welcome, account, database, and user for the password.
     
     
     

     Note: You must remember the passwords that you specify.

     
     
   • Do not modify the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) except by using a patch provided by Oracle Support Services. Oracle Universal Installer automatically installs the Oracle-supplied version of the JRE. This version is required to run Oracle Universal Installer and several Oracle assistants.
   • If you encounter errors while installing or linking the software, see Appendix G in Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) for information about troubleshooting.
   • If you chose an installation type that runs Database Configuration Assistant and Oracle Net Configuration Assistant in interactive mode, you must provide detailed information about configuring your database and network.
     If you need assistance when using the Database Configuration Assistant or Oracle Net Configuration Assistant in interactive mode, click Help on any window.
     
     
     

     Note: If you chose a default installation, Database Configuration Assistant and Oracle Net Configuration Assistant run non-interactively.

     
     
6. When the configuration tools finish, click Exit, then click Yes to exit from Oracle Universal Installer.
7. When Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control opens a Web browser, enter the username and password you created during the installation.
   You can log in as SYS, SYSTEM, or SYSMAN. If you log in as SYS, then you must connect AS SYSDBA. Enter the password you specified for the account during installation.
8. Optionally, delete the OraInstalldate_time directory if you want to remove the temporary files that were created during the installation process. The OraInstalldate_time directory holds about 45 MB of files. This directory is created in the location set by the TEMP environment variable setting.
   Restarting your computer also removes the OraInstalldate_time directory.
9. See Chapter 4 in Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) for information about postinstallation tasks that you must complete after you have installed Oracle Database.

Table 4 Oracle Universal Installer Screens

Screen	Recommended Action
Select Installation Method	Select one of the following, then click Next: Basic Installation: Lets you quickly install Oracle Database using minimal input. It installs the software and optionally creates a general-purpose database using the information that you specify on this window. Advanced Installation: Lets you perform more complex installations, such as creating individual passwords for different accounts, creating specific types of starter databases (for example, for transaction processing or data warehouse systems), using different language groups, specifying e-mail notifications, and so on.
Select Installation Type	Select Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition, Personal Edition, or Custom. Click Next.
Specify Home Details	In the Destination section, accept the default values or enter the Oracle home name and directory path in which to install Oracle components. The directory path should not contain spaces. Click Next.
Available Product Components	If you selected Custom for the Installation Type, this window appears. Select from the list and click Next. To learn more about each component, position the mouse over the component's name.
Product-specific Prerequisite Checks	This window checks that your system meets the minimum requirements for the installation. Click Next.
Upgrade an Existing Database	If you have a previous updatable version of Oracle Database or Automatic Storage Management installed, this window appears. For in-place database installations where Automatic Storage Management is running, ASM is upgraded automatically. Click Yes if you want to upgrade or No if not. If you click Yes, the Summary window appears next. For more information on upgrades, refer to Oracle Database Upgrade Guide.
Select Configuration Option	Select one of the following: Create a database: Select this option if you are creating a database using the following database types: General purpose, Transaction processing, Data warehousing. The Advanced option starts Database Configuration Assistant for advanced database creation configuration options. Configure Automatic Storage Management (ASM): Select this option to create an Automatic Storage Management instance only. To create an ASM instance, you must provide an ASM SYS Password. After you provide this password, Oracle Universal Installer lets you create an ASM disk group. After you complete this Oracle Universal Installer session, you can run it again to install and configure one or more Oracle databases that will use ASM. Install database Software only: Select this option to install the database software only but not create a database or configure Automatic Storage Management.
Select ASM Management Option	If you selected Configure Automatic Storage Management (ASM) from the Select Configuration Option window, and if you have Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Grid Control installed, this window appears. Select Yes or No, depending on if you want to use Grid Control to manage Automatic Storage Management. If you select Yes, then select from the list of Enterprise Management agents to use.
Configure Automatic Storage Management	Appears if you selected Configure Automatic Storage Management (ASM) from the Select Configuration Option window. Enter the disk group name. The disk group list shows both candidate and member disks; you can click Show Candidates or Show All to filter their display. Then select the disk group's redundancy level and its member disks. For Redundancy Level, choose one of the following. The default is normal redundancy. High: The contents of the disk group are three-way mirrored by default. To create a disk group with high redundancy, specify at least three failure groups (a minimum of three devices). Normal: By default the datafiles of the disk group are two-way mirrored and the control files are three-way mirrored. You can create certain files that are three-way mirrored or not mirrored. To create a disk group with normal redundancy, specify at least two failure groups (a minimum of two devices) for two-way mirroring. External: ASM does not mirror the contents of the disk group. Choose this option when 1) the disk group contains devices, such as RAID devices, that provide their own data protection; or 2) the database does not require uninterrupted access to data, for example, if you have a suitable backup strategy already in place.
Select Database Configuration	Select the database configuration that best meets your needs: General Purpose, Transaction Processing, Data Warehouse; Advanced. See the online help provided by either Oracle Universal Installer or Database Configuration Assistant for a description of these preconfigured database types. Click Next.

6 Install Products from the Oracle Database Companion CD

The Oracle Database Companion CD contains products that improve the performance of or complement Oracle Database. For most installations, Oracle recommends that you install Oracle Database 10g Products from the Companion CD.

See Also: Oracle Database Companion CD Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) Oracle Database Companion CD Quick Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit)

7 What to Do Next

To become familiar with this release of Oracle Database, Oracle suggests that you complete the following tasks:

• Log in to Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control using a Web browser.
  Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control is a Web-based application that you can use to manage a single Oracle database. The default URL for Database Control is:
  

  http://host.domain:port/em/
  
  

  Log in with the user name SYSMAN. Use the password that you specified for this user during the Oracle Database installation.
• See Chapter 4 of Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) for information about required and optional postinstallation tasks, depending on the components that you want to use.
• Review Chapter 5 of Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows (32-Bit) for information about how to get started using Oracle Database.
• Read Oracle Database 2 Day DBAOracle Database 2 Day DBA guide, to learn more about using Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control to administer a database.
  This guide, designed for new Oracle DBAs, describes how to use Oracle Enterprise Manager Database Control to manage all aspects of an Oracle database installation. It also provides information about how to enable e-mail notifications and automated backups, which you might not have configured during the installation.

8 Additional Information

This section contains information about the following:

• Product Licenses
• Purchasing Licenses, Version Updates, and Documentation
• Contacting Oracle Support Services
• Locating Product Documentation

Product Licenses

You are welcome to install and evaluate the products included in this media pack for 30 days under the terms of the Trial License Agreement. However, you must purchase a program license if you want to continue using any product after the 30 day evaluation period. See the following section for information about purchasing program licenses.

See Also: Oracle Database Licensing Information

Purchasing Licenses, Version Updates, and Documentation

You can purchase program licenses, updated versions of Oracle products, and printed versions of Oracle documentation from the Oracle Store Web site:

http://oraclestore.oracle.com/

Contacting Oracle Support Services

If you have purchased Oracle Product Support, you can call Oracle Support Services for assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For information about purchasing Oracle Product Support or contacting Oracle Support Services, go to the Oracle Support Services Web site:

http://www.oracle.com/support/

Locating Product Documentation

Documentation for Oracle products is available in both HTML and Adobe portable document format (PDF) formats from several locations:

• On disks in the media pack:
  
  • Platform-specific documentation is available on the installation media. To access the documentation, see the welcome.htm file located in the top-level directory of the DVD.
  • Generic product documentation is available on the Oracle Documentation Library on the DVD.
• From the Oracle Technology Network Web site:
  

  http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/
  
  

To view PDF documents, download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Adobe Web site, if necessary:

http://www.adobe.com/

9 Documentation Accessibility

Our goal is to make Oracle products, services, and supporting documentation accessible, with good usability, to the disabled community. To that end, our documentation includes features that make information available to users of assistive technology. This documentation is available in HTML format, and contains markup to facilitate access by the disabled community. Accessibility standards will continue to evolve over time, and Oracle is actively engaged with other market-leading technology vendors to address technical obstacles so that our documentation can be accessible to all of our customers. For more information, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program Web site at
http://www.oracle.com/accessibility/

Accessibility of Code Examples in Documentation

Screen readers may not always correctly read the code examples in this document. The conventions for writing code require that closing braces should appear on an otherwise empty line; however, some screen readers may not always read a line of text that consists solely of a bracket or brace.

Manual Oracle Uninstall (Windows and UNIX)

Manual Oracle Uninstall

A number of people have contacted me regarding problems uninstalling Oracle products. The two methods listed below should only be used as a last resort and will remove all Oracle software allowing a reinstall. If you make any mistakes they can be quite destructive so be careful.

• Windows
• UNIX

Windows

In the past I've had many problems uninstalling all Oracle products from Windows systems. Here's my last resort method:

• Uninstall all Oracle components using the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI).
• Run regedit.exe and delete the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/ORACLE key. This contains registry entires for all Oracle products.
• Delete any references to Oracle services left behind in the following part of the registry:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/Ora*
  It should be pretty obvious which ones relate to Oracle.
• Reboot your machine.
• Delete the "C:\Oracle" directory, or whatever directory is your ORACLE_BASE.
• Delete the "C:\Program Files\Oracle" directory.
• Empty the contents of your "c:\temp" directory.
• Empty your recycle bin.

At this point your machine will be as clean of Oracle components as it can be without a complete OS reinstall. Remember, manually editing your registry can be very destructive and force an OS reinstall so only do it as a last resort.

UNIX

Uninstalling all products from UNIX is a lot more consistent. If you do need to resort to a manual uninstall you should do something like:

• Uninstall all Oracle components using the Oracle Universal Installer (OUI).
• Stop any outstanding processes using the appropriate utilities:
  

  # oemctl stop oms user/password
  # agentctl stop
  # lsnrctl stop

  Alternatively you can kill them using the kill -9 pid command as the root user.
• Delete the files and directories below the $ORACLE_HOME:
  

  # cd $ORACLE_HOME
  # rm -Rf *

• With the exception of the product directory, delete directories below the $ORACLE_BASE.
  

  # cd $ORACLE_BASE
  # rm -Rf admin doc jre o*

• Delete the /etc/oratab file. If using 9iAS delete the /etc/emtab file also.
  

  # rm /etc/oratab /etc/emtab

What is the National Character Set ( ORACLE )?

What is the National Character Set?
The National Character set (NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET) is a character set which is defined in addition to the (normal) database character set and is used for data stored in NCHAR, NVARCHAR2 and NCLOB columns. You can find your current value for the NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET with the following select statement:
SQL> select value from NLS_DATABASE_PARAMETERS where parameter = ‘NLS_NCHAR_CHARACTERSET’;

The art of swing

Reverse-swing has emerged as a key weapon in a fast bowler’s repertoire, and has grown in prominence with the advent of the limited-overs game. The likes of Brett Lee, Umar Gul and Lasith Malinga have used the art to be lethally effective in the death overs. But what is reverse-swing, how did it evolve and, more generally, what makes the ball move around in the air? SM Arsalan Arif Khan from Pakistan offers a guide to swing bowling.

Many times in international matches we hear commentators use term “reverse swing” through the end of an innings. But most of the people don’t know what it is, except for grasping the fact that the ball somehow tends to reverse in a certain way when it gets old. Reverse swing is essentially an art. It is generally applied when the ball is old and rough with the help of extreme pace, even moderate sometimes (if executed properly), and get it to work lethally.

But before a bowler can think of reverse-swing, he must first go through the basic procedure of tracing his steps toward the root of swing, as the ability to swing is an art in itself.

What is Swing?

When a ball is released from the wrist, it habitually moves in the air and bounces directly proportional, or sometimes vice versa, towards or away from a batsman when a pace bowler is in operation. Swing merely consists of aerodynamics, which I’ll come to later.

It is a known fact that most fast bowlers strive for this sort of variation because it is a serious cause for concern for batsmen. Imagine yourself driving on a lane and encountering a vehicle moving to the left, but suddenly in full speed it decides to move in your direction. The judgment and reflexes then, of you as a batsmen or a natural human being, rely on your instinct; sometimes you survive the variation, sometimes you don’t. Batsmen gradually become accustomed to playing general swing, which is easier to judge and also gets predictable. Such swing is likely to occur in the first ten or 15 overs of a match when the ball is still hard.

However, recently, with the game constantly evolving, new-ball bowlers have discovered a way of swinging the older ball, especially when it’s dusty and scruffy. The movement, in this case, makes it more difficult for the batsmen to judge. But to attain it, there are a number of factors to consider.

The Role of the Cricket Ball

If you see a lot of cricket, or play in clubs, you will realize that fielders continuously shine the ball with their trousers or towels. The cricket ball has two sides across the seam. When players shine the ball, they deliberately leave one side rough while adding glossy sparkle to the other. The rubbing helps one side of the ball smoothen while the opposite is deliberately left to deteriorate through routine wear and tear. This is where aerodynamics come in, because the dual surface enhances a change in rhythm of flight from the bowler’s wrist to the batsman. The aerodynamics mean that the shiny side is prone to travel quicker through the air while the rough side works as a break pushing the ball in its direction.

The Seam Position

The stitching you notice around the cricket ball is called a seam. The seam acts like a helm for fast bowlers. All fast bowlers grip the seam vertically, with the middle and index fingers on either side, with the ball resting in the third finger and thumb. The idea of enhancing your swing is to hold the seam as straight as possible: The straighter the seam is at the point of delivering the ball, the greater the chance to swing it. And if the ball is old with one side shiny, the chances of variation will increase.

What are inswing and outswing?

Most bowlers get confused here. To move a ball in a typical fashion away from a left-handed batsman, the rougher side of the ball will be facing leftwards at point of release: notice the seam should be darting toward second slip. And it is understandably the other way round for an inswinging delivery; the rough side should be on right at point of release and the seam should be darting at an imaginary leg slip.

What is reverse-swing?

Once the ball turns older and more tattered, it will instigate a movement in the opposite route to where it would originally swing, disregarding the change in the bowler’s grip. For example, with the grip for an outswinger, the ball will move towards the batsman in the air while an inswinger will move away from the bat. Such variations usually occur very late after the ball is released, therefore it is extremely difficult for batsmen to judge the deviation in split seconds. Batsmen usually pick the changes in direction while in the air to confront the issue. It is not easy to execute revere swing, as they say bowlers need to be pace it at a minimum of 80 mph or above. Former Pakistan international Sarfraz Nawaz is known to have founded reverse swing during the late 1970s, and he passed his knowledge on to Imran Khan.

Mechanics

There have been plenty of theories about why, but here's the simplest explanation from former England bowling coach Troy Cooley: “Reverse swing is all to do with the deterioration of the ball and the seam position in flight. As the ball becomes rougher, it will take on a different characteristic as it deteriorates. So if you present the ball as an outswinger, the ball has deteriorated so much on the rough side that it takes on the characteristics of the shiny side. Which means a natural outswinger will become an inswinger and conversely, an inswinger into an outswinger."

How does it work?

Considering the fact that reverse swing generally occurs after 40 overs, it is tailor-made for the older ball. However, some of the England bowlers were able to reverse-swing the ball within 20 overs during the 2005 Ashes; Brett Lee managed it in 30 overs at Adelaide. But how can they manage to do this so early in the innings?

One reason could be the ball. In England, Test balls are manufactured by Dukes, while in Australia and parts of the sub-continent the Kookaburra brand is usually used. Like footballs, each manufacturer’s cricket balls are different. Some have more pronounced seams while others deteriorate slower, all of which have an influence on how the ball will move in the air.

Another theory is how some players are able to rough the ball up faster than other teams. In England's some years back, Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff both banged the ball hard into the pitch. Their fielders often threw the ball back to wicket-keeper Geraint Jones on the bounce from the outfield, all of which contribute to the deterioration of the ball. Regardless of all this, batsmen the world over know what to expect when the ball starts to get older.

How to Optimise Sites To Rank In Search Engines In Four Easy Steps

FIRST STEP : RESEARCH THOSE KEYWORDS

Perhaps one of the most important steps in the whole process. Going in without researching keywords is like going in to battle blindfolded. If you do your keyword research right, you will have a rough idea of the competition that you will be up against. Trust me my friends, don't try to take on a competitor in very fiercely contested area, I have made that mistake and trust me, the effort required is simply not worth the return. The objective is to select a niche that is not fiercely competitive but still has many search queries for it. Remember the flip side to the coin is a highly specific niche that does not generate any search queries. Find the right balance. I use Overtures Free Keyword Suggestion Tool to get a rough idea of good keywords and the number of search queries that might be expected for that keyword.

How To Increase Your Adsense Click Through Rate (CTR) In Three Easy Steps

The basic goal that you have to instil in your head is that YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR ADS LOOK LESS LIKE ADS. “Well what do you mean by that?” I hear you ask.

Well, the sad truth and an adsense publishers nightmare is a phenomenon that I call “banner phobia”. These days surfers tend to automatically overlook anything that even remotely resembles an advertisement because surfers are too used to seeing and being bombarded with adverts. It’s a reflex action, its not that your visitors are not interested in what the ads have to offer, its just a case of “banner phobia”.

This hub will focus on putting ads on your website in such a way so that they are not overlooked by your visitors.
Remember : Get more visitors to notice your ads by placing them in the right place and making them look less like traditional banner advertising and hence get more clicks.

How To Increase Your Adsense Click Through Rate (CTR) In Three Easy Steps

The basic goal that you have to instil in your head is that YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR ADS LOOK LESS LIKE ADS. “Well what do you mean by that?” I hear you ask.

Well, the sad truth and an adsense publishers nightmare is a phenomenon that I call “banner phobia”. These days surfers tend to automatically overlook anything that even remotely resembles an advertisement because surfers are too used to seeing and being bombarded with adverts. It’s a reflex action, its not that your visitors are not interested in what the ads have to offer, its just a case of “banner phobia”.

This hub will focus on putting ads on your website in such a way so that they are not overlooked by your visitors.
Remember : Get more visitors to notice your ads by placing them in the right place and making them look less like traditional banner advertising and hence get more clicks.

Tips to Increase Your Adsense Click Through Rate

Google Adsense is a contextual PPC Network. In other words it grabs the text around your page and serves an ad that is related by keywords to your topic as best as it can. Optimizing your adsense ads will dramatically increase your click through rate. Since you get paid only on clicks, increasing the click through ratio should be your main goal with adsense. Some of what I say below what I researched from reading other peoples opinions, looking at very high ranking bloggers, and based on my experiences with adsense on some of my websites.

Optimal Adsense Banner Ad Size:

The first thing we will talk about is colors and size before I talk about adsense placement optimization. Unfortunately, most novices think “bigger is better” when it comes to ad unit sizes. In some places the opposite is true! As a result, in their articles they will plaster a 250 X 250 ad smack dab in the article. When I start to read something and I see that I usually try to quickly move over it to get to the content. A ad like that just screams advertisement. And that’s the last thing you want to do. What would be a better choice instead, is a smaller 125 X 125 right inside the article. When someone starts reading your content they will see this small ad and will more likely want to focus in and actually read it.

Free Web Money -> Double your Adsense PPC click thru rate pay per click (PPC) advertising

In a previous article, I talked about the importance of tweaking your Google Adsense adverts, specifically issues of size and placement. If you haven't read that yet, I suggest that you start by reading Improving Your Adsense Click-Thru before you proceed with this, the second part of the topic.

You're back now? Great. Let's keep talking about this interesting topic.

And before I go any further, please realize that while the specifics of this discussion are about Google adverts, the general user interface issues are true across the board: if you want someone to see something, you need to move it into their area of consciousness before you can have any success.

That's why it's so common to go to a Web site and stare blankly at the screen, trying to figure out where a given link is located, even though it's on a side navigational bar or similar. Even this site has that problem to some extent: quick, find the link that talks about custom 404 error pages!

Free Web Money -> Improving your Adsense Click-Thru pay per click (PPC) advertising

The leader in the pay per click (or PPC) market is Google, with its Adsense program, but if you're already an Adsense subscriber, with adverts on your own pages, you might not realize the importance of the design of your advert and the placement of the advert on the page.

You probably already noticed that the Adsense ads on this page are slipped inline into the main text, on the left. Further, you have also probably noticed that there isn't some strong color scheme and border lines blocking off and visually distinguishing the Google ads from the rest of the content of the page.

I've experimented and I can tell you that these two steps (putting the ad in the middle of the content and removing any overt border colors) can at least double your click thru rate (or CTR) and that means that you'll be making more money with the same number of visitors. And that's a good thing.

So let's have a look at how to do this.

First off, have a look at the different ad formats. Most people seem to go with the default "banner" format ads, which is too bad: after the last few years of surfing, I think people have been trained to ignore these banner adverts. Even the spiffy new graphical banners, like this:
sample banner from google

Instead, pick out a different size and think about how you can get creative with the placement. Also, if you're going to have an advert, why not offer the most options for your readers and have a layout that has at least four ads, if not five? Really, the one-ad box makes no sense to me: if you're going to have an ad at all, why not maximize the chance it'll have something of interest to your reader?

Anyway, off that soapbox!!

How do I accomplish the layout trick I have on this page? I do something a bit sneaky: I drop the Google ad into a and then use the attributes of the table to shift it left and let the text flow right around it:

Google adsense code goes here

No too hard, is it?

AdSense Click Through Rate (CTR) Advice

Making real money using Google’s AdSense program can be done. The key to making it happen is to increase the AdSense click through rate (ctr) on a site. This means turning your traffic into visitors on advertisers’ web sites.

In theory, creating an increase an AdSense click through rate (ctr) is a fairly easy thing to do. Making that theory work in practice, however, requires a little time and energy. But, if the AdSense click through rate (ctr) is increased on a site, the money making possibilities can be quite surprising. In fact, many people who have mastered the art of working their AdSense click through rate (ctr) to their favor have left their day jobs far behind.

List of Educational Websites

Resources for Teachers
These are sites that provide useful links to educational websites and/or tips regarding curriculum design, integration of technology into the classroom, etc.:

free reading
"Free-Reading is an ongoing, collaborative, teacher-based, curriculum-sharing project. We're looking to provide a reliable forum where teachers can openly and freely share their successful and effective methods for teaching reading in grades K-1 and for at-risk students in later grades." A comprehensive reading program that is collaboratively produced using a wiki.

http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators is a categorized list of sites useful for enhancing curriculum and professional growth. It is updated often to include the best sites for teaching and learning.

http://www.teachers.net
"The Ultimate Teacher Resource"--Teachers.net offers a variety of teacher collaboration tools including chat, discussion boards, lesson plans, articles, links, photo sharing, and job searching.

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/index.html
Blue Web'n is an online library of 1700+ outstanding Internet sites categorized by subject, grade level, and format (lessons, activities, projects, resources, references, & tools). You can search by grade level (Refined Search), broad subject area (Content Areas), or specific sub-categories (Subject Area).

http://www.lightspan.com/portal/corporate/product_tour/tln.asp
The Lightspan Network® is a suite of online tools for teachers. Besides standards-based learning activities for students and families, it includes a wealth of technology-based professional development resources. Teachers can create lesson plans, search the Web for educator-reviewed content, and connect with other educators—and everything aligns to your state standards.

http://teachnet.com
Teachnet.Com was started in August 1995 by the husband/wife team of Lee Shiney. It offers various resources for teachers and students from free lesson plans to graphics, media kit, etc.

'Best' education blogs:
http://oedb.org/library/features/top-100-education-blogs and http://incsub.org/awards/2006/the-edublog-awards-2006-winners/
Education blog award sites for 2006. A starting point for teachers interested in reading blogs about education. Since most of the sites contain a blogroll linking to other blogs, you will quickly find links to thousands of blogs.

http://www.forum-network.org
Forum Network is an audio and video streaming website providing citizens the ability to watch and listen to lectures given by some of the world's foremost scholars, authors, artists, scientists, policy makers and community leaders. These lecture events are hosted by world-class cultural and educational organizations across the country.
Web Quests

Web quests were designed to help students learn to navigate the Web and locate information in a meaningful way.

http://www.thirteen.org/wnetschool/concept2class/month8/index.html
CONCEPT TO CLASSROOM is a collaboration between Thirteen Ed Online and Disney Learning Partnership. This URL featuresCONCEPT TO CLASSROOM's take on webquest.

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/webquest.html
This site is designed to serve as a resource to those who are using the WebQuest model to teach with the web. By pointing to excellent examples and collecting materials developed to communicate the idea, all of us experimenting with WebQuests will be able to learn from each other. A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The model was developed in early 1995 at San Diego State University by Bernie Dodge with Tom March.

http://quest.classroom.com/archive/galapagosquest1999/pg02930.htm
The Quest Channel of Classroom Connect brings adventure reading into the curriculum. The Galapagos Quest featured here is an adventure about ocean ecosystems, the origins of the diverse indigenous species, and the extinction threats to plant and animal species in this volcanic archipelago. Investigate the impact of humans on the environment and determine how to help preserve the natural beauty of our planet.
Content-Based Teaching Sites

http://funbrain.com
In addition to the Quiz Lab, FunBrain.com has educational games designed for learners of all ages. This guide should help teachers find the games that are most useful to their class. They are grouped by title, subject, and grade level.

http://www.exploratorium.edu
Housed within the walls of San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium is a collage of over 650 science, art, and human perception exhibits. The Exploratorium is a leader in the movement to promote museums as educational centers.

http://www.tryscience.com
TryScience.org is your gateway to experience the excitement of contemporary science and technology through on and offline interactivity with science and technology centers worldwide. TryScience is brought to you through a partnership between IBM Corporation, the New York Hall of Science (NYHOS), the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), and science centers worldwide.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bridge
The NOVA program chronicles the building of the state-of-the-art Clark Bridge over the Mississippi River. On this Web site, you can test your engineering skills by trying to match the right bridge to the right location.

http://www.forum-network.org
Forum Network is an audio and video streaming website providing citizens the ability to watch and listen to lectures given by some of the world's foremost scholars, authors, artists, scientists, policy makers and community leaders. These speaking events are hosted by world-class cultural and educational organizations across the country.