Perforated metal is the basic material for manufacturing building parts such as ceiling panels, sunscreens or exterior decorative elements for office buildings. A simple expanded metal aluminum sheet can easily become a sturdy store display or a test tubes holder, in case it’s used in the medical industry. Although many of us aren’t probably noticing this fact, perforated metal sheets are everywhere around us, in our homes and in modern office buildings. For example, outdoor furniture made of such materials is very elegant, light and durable, that’s why it is preferred in many cases. Metal speaker grills are made using this technology. Dryer drums are also made of perforated metal sheets, as well as some models of fan guards.
This is a guest post by Julie-Ann Amos who is a freelance writer who covers topics such as online university ratings and reviews, elearning tools, and more.
Social bookmarking is a highly useful tool for educators since it allows specific categorization of websites for easy access and sharing. It works on the basis of the user creating tags or categories in which websites are then placed. Unlike standard search engines that are generated by computers and therefore often misclassify or categories websites, social bookmarking is done by people, usually people that are knowledgeable and informed on the particular subject.
Individuals can set up social bookmarking tools similar to how they have bookmarks grouped on their own computer. Teachers and educators can then make these sites available to students, other educators or groups to facilitate information dissemination in logical and simple fashion. Typically all social bookmarking tools will allow users to develop their own tags or categories, plus provide a short description of the website. Educators can view each other’s social bookmarking tools to enhance or more further develop their own list of reference sites. Through this shared research and categorization or tagging it is possible to cut down on search times and wading through websites that aren’t relevant to what you are looking for.
The following social bookmarking tools can definitely help out in the classroom, both in sharing information with your students as well as other educators in the field.
Stumble Upon - this free service allows you to click on the Stumble integrated browser and instantly receive a list of relevant topics that have been rated by other Stumble Upon subscribers. Each member can click on a thumbs up or thumbs down icon or choose not to rate the site.
Del.icio.us - specifically designed for teachers and teaching, this social bookmarking site allows for continuous access to all social bookmarks from users from any computer, anytime.
Furl - ideal for storing and archiving webpages and bookmarks, this is another free application that is great for sharing information with students, parents or other professionals.
uLinkx - music, video and multi-media social bookmarking site, perfect for projects and presentations.
Connotea - great for high school and upper types of educational settings, this social bookmarking site is free and designed for researchers, scientists and clinicians. Bibliographies and references are saved when you add any article or website to your internet library.
Scuttle - this is a specialized social bookmarking program that can be run right on a school’s server. Data is held in the server and not through a third party site, giving schools maximum control over content.
SocialbookmarkIt.com - the basic service is free and provides opportunities to automatically link to other social bookmarking services. You can also decide to opt into a premium which allows customization of your social bookmarking page plus you can track who else is using your bookmarks.
Newsvine - as can be expected, Newsvine focuses on current events and newsworthy articles. Members can add content to the different categories with a simple click of a button, keeping everyone abreast of happenings around the world.
Pixrat - this social bookmarking site is designed to allow users to collect, tag and categories pictures and create albums. The service is free and you can make notes about the pictures that will be displayed with your collection. Bookmarks can be made private if you don’t want public access.
Squidoo - Squidoo allows users to create their own unique web articles that are then searchable. Authors are credited for their work and readers rank articles as to their quality.
Using social bookmarking tools is just as simple as adding a favorite to your own computer. Teachers and students alike can share information easily and simply using these free and easy to download applications.
Since I’ve started working in the internet marketing field, I discovered the benefits of using a file sharing service in my small business. Actually, if you know how to do it, you can have all these in house. I’m not an IT knowledgeable person, so I’d rather outsource such services. I need file sharing because I’m outsourcing parts of my work to people that are located in other countries, so I had to use something to make us work as a team, as if we were meeting each other face to face in a real office. When it comes to cloud computing, file sharing or ftp software, a small to medium size company can use the services offered by companies like Egnyte, with excellent results. For instance, the Egnyte local cloud service provides local access to your files, thus resulting in a higher speed of working with the files, especially with the very large ones. In case your internet connection is down, you can still access the files on the Egnyte Local Cloud, or ELC, and when things get back to normal with your internet provider, the files will be synchronized with the ones on the server. I think that Egnyte is a good solution for teams which are spread across many countries or cities to be able to work together as if they were meeting each other every day in the office. After all, thanks to such solutions, we can now work from home and save money and time for ourselves and for our pleasures.
Web hosting is a hot business nowadays. There are so many hosting companies that choice is most of the times at random. Even I own a hosting reseller account, so if I wanted I could have sold such services, but I’m keeping it only for my sites at the moment, because I’m sure there are details which are difficult to handle, especially customer service. Some of my customers would probably know more than I do. This is why I postponed this project until I get to know more about servers.
Speaking of knowledge, there is a website hosting provider where you can read more about various related issues, in case you are interested, or you are seeking for a new host for your websites. These Web Hosting Geeks write about preventing fraud on e-commerce sites, or other security issues. For example, I didn’t know that php has so many vulnerability issues. I was even upset with my former web hosting company, when I discovered that I wasn’t able to run certain scripts on their server. I didn’t want something very complicated, it was just a php function which was disabled by default without any possibility for the customers to enable it by themselves. The new host allows those scripts, but in exchange, I see much more spam than before. I suppose everything has a price. This is why research prior to purchase is a good idea when buying web hosting. I can give you one more advice: do not pay for one year in advance, as you might be sorry sooner than you expect. Moreover, you can read a thorough description of Control Panel options for resellers, just in case you think to get a reseller account, be it for establishing your own webhosting business, or simply for hosting your own websites there. I find it more convenient having a reseller account.
I want to introduce you Anca Parghel, great musician who passed away this week, at the age of 51. She was suffering from cancer since long time ago, yet she decided to go on with her career, as if nothing was ever wrong with her health.
Anca Parghel was one of the greatest Romanian jazz singers of all times. I remember how her concerts awakened my interest for this kind of music, which my parents never liked, so I can’t say I grew up with.
I still remember the childhood times, when we were under the mickey mouse magic, and we were fascinated by all Disney characters. There were no so many toys by then, so we never had the chance to play like nowadays children do. I was looking the other day at MEGA Brands: they offer a nice selection of branded toys such as Disney Princess playing kits, or Disney cars, or the Mickey Mouse club collection. The website is well structured, offering visitors the possibility of having their own wish list, where they can include whatever they like from the multitude of famous brands toys available in the shop. In order to make browsing easier, the toys are grouped in age, price and brand categories. Additionally to the shop, there are two entertainment sections, one for kids and one for the family, with fun games and even a club.
This morning, I went shopping at a nearby supermarket. While I was getting the bags out of the car trunk, I heard a voice behind me. It was a man with white hair and beard, looking at me as if he was about to ask for directions. He was smiling, I smiled back and prepared to tell him that I don’t know the neighborhood (although I’ve been living here since 10 years ago).
Surprisingly, he asked me to give him some money. I asked him why, and he told me that he wanted to buy a bread. I thought that was enough reason for me and I gave him money for the bread, while whispering that I could use some money too, but I don’t ask other people to give me. Then he started telling me his story, how he is currently homeless because he was stupid enough to borrow money which he wans’t able to return, thus being forced to sell his apartment. He looked rather clean and he was not smelling. I asked him where he was sleeping and he told me that his night lodging was in the nearby park. Winter hasn’t come yet, but it is already very cold here, the wind is blowing quite strongly, so I can imagine how pleasant it can be to sleep outside. He didn’t seem to be bothered by that. His strongest wish was to resist like that for 8-9 more years, so he becomes entitled to get a pension from the state.
I asked him how does he manage to eat every day. The answer was obvious: he was looking for people parking their cars, asking for money to buy food, just like he did with me. I noticed that it probalby takes a very long time to gather the money for a day’s food, as everything got crazy expensive over the past years. He agreed, and he said that now he’s acquired the experience to filter the “potential clients” - he said that men are more merciful than women, and that people driving expensive cars were more willing to give him something, rather than those driving cheap cars.
During the whole conversation, the guy was smiling, and he was telling meall that as if it was absolutely normal to sleep in the park and to get washed in restaurants. I bet that when he was young, he would have never imagined that he’d be doing all that at 51.
Do you remember how long ago you have heard about Zip for the first time? I think it was even before Windows was invented. Internet was an unknown word yet at that time. Computers were DOS operated and the instructions for compressing and decompressing documents seemed like magic words to me. What I didn’t know by then, but I’ve just found out tonight is that the .zip standard was invented by PKWARE. This explains why those commands were starting with pkzip and pkunzip. For those of you who are interested, PKWARE is giving away a non-commercial use license of a much more modern version of zip, the SecureZIP Express. Not only it is free of charge, but you have the chance to win cool prizes in the new “Decrypt and Drive” contest. SecureZIP Express has several useful features. The basic ones are compressing/decompressing and encryption of files that you store or send. Compressing files is a great way to save storage space, especially on memory sticks and CDs; besides, there are situations in which we want our files to be secured, as they are not meant to be seen by anybody. The software also includes a digital certificate so you can exchange files securely with others without using passwords. Only the person the file was encrypted for can open it when you use a digital certificate. SecureZIP Express has no toolbars or spyware. For years, PKWARE has given free .zip software away. Now, together with the software, they are giving away a lot of prizes including a Honda scooter, bicycles, Wii games, gas cards, and more.
For entering the contest, you need to visit www.DecryptandDrive.com, download the free software, then come back to play the game. You need to have SecureZIP, and the digital certificate it installs, on the computer you play the game from. SecureZIP Express is also available for download at www.securezip.com. Good luck and let me know if you win something.
I’ve just launched a new blog and a new invitation for all of you to help me. I’ll let you know how, in a moment.
First, despite the fact that my new blog is somehow connected with internet marketing, it is a poetry blog. Every reader can be an author. I’m only starting the poems, and you are invited to write the next line in the comments. Then, another reader adds a line to yours, and so on, until the poem is complete. Then I publish it in the Dirty Blue Widgets Archive section and I start a new one. My intention is to write a poem a day, but I’m aware that it may be slower in the beginning, as not many readers have yet discovered the Dirty Blue Widgets poetry jam sessions.
The idea came when I was thinking how to approach my participation in an SEO competition. I wanted to make it fun. Then I remembered how I was about to be expelled from school in the 6th grade, because of a poem I’ve written about two of our teachers. They didn’t seem to appreciate my talent. Too bad! The poem had about 20 pages and I’ve written it during several weeks - I was adding new lines every day. Everything was so cool, until my desk colleague thought her mother would like the poem and she showed it to her. That lady liked it so much, that she asked the teachers to keep her daughter away from me.
Too bad I never got my poem back.
What are these dirty blue widgets anyway
Nevertheless, I’m now back to my poetic habits and challenge all of you to bring your contribution to the Dirty Blue Widgets poetry jam, and to spread the word about it. The SEO contest will end on January 20th. Any promotion from you is welcome. If you are passionate about SEO and you wish to join it, please check the previous link. Briefly, the contest is open to all members of The Affiliate Academy, so you’ll have to join in and stay a member for the whole contest duration. There are lots of things to learn in there, so I guess you won’t be sorry for joining. It is not free, but if you are really passionate about internet marketing, you can see a return of your investment pretty soon.
Thank you. I’m looking forward to see your contributions in the poems
Web hosting is a hot business nowadays. There are so many hosting companies that choice is most of the times at random. Even I own a hosting reseller account, so if I wanted I could have sold such services, but I’m keeping it only for my sites at the moment, because I’m sure there are details which are difficult to handle, especially customer service. Some of my customers would probably know more than I do. This is why I postponed this project until I get to know more about servers.
Speaking of knowledge, there is a web hosting blog where you can read more about various related issues, in case you are interested, or you are seeking for a new host for your websites. These Web Hosting Geeks write about preventing fraud on e-commerce sites, or other security issues. For example, I didn’t know that php has so many vulnerability issues. I was even upset with my former web hosting company, when I discovered that I wasn’t able to run certain scripts on their server.I didn’t want something very complicated, it was just a php function which was disabled by default without any possibility for the customers to enable it by themselves.
The new host allows those scripts, but in exchange, I see much more spam than before. I suppose everything has a price. This is why research prior to purchase is a good idea when buying web hosting. I can give you one more advice: do not pay for one year in advance, as you might be sorry sooner than you expect.
