Overview
The Sun Certified Associate for the Java Platform, Standard Edition, Exam Version 1.0 certification exam provides an ideal entry into an application development or a software project management career using Java technologies. This worldwide credential validates basic knowledge of Object-Oriented Concepts, UML representation of OO concepts, the Java programming language, and general knowledge of Java Platforms and Technologies. Candidates for this exam include: entry level Java programmers, students studying to become Java programmers, project or program managers working with Java technology in the software development industry.
Details
* Delivered at: Authorized Prometric Testing Centers
* Prerequisites: None
* Other exams/assignments required for this certification: None
* Exam type: Multiple choice and Drag and Drop
* Number of questions: 51
* Pass score: 68% (35 of 51 questions)
* Time limit: 115
Other Supporting Materials: Java Ranch's SCJA certification page, UML for the Java Associate (free PDF document), HF Java 2nd Edition, UML Distilled 3rd Edition, Section 2.6 of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition Specification, v1.4, J2EE 1.4 Tutorial, Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition datasheet
Languages
* English
* Japanese
* Chinese (Traditional)
* Chinese (Simplified)
* German
* Korean
* Portuguese (Brazilian)
* Spanish
Prerequisites
None
Exam Objectives
Section 1: Fundamental Object-Oriented Concepts
* Describe, compare, and contrast primitives (integer, floating point, boolean, and character), enumeration types, and objects.
* Describe, compare, and contrast concrete classes, abstract classes, and interfaces, and how inheritance applies to them.
* Describe, compare, and contrast class compositions, and associations (including multiplicity: (one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many), and association navigation.
* Describe information hiding (using private attributes and methods), encapsulation, and exposing object functionality using public methods; and describe the JavaBeans conventions for setter and getter methods.
* Describe polymorphism as it applies to classes and interfaces, and describe and apply the "program to an interface" principle.
Section 2: UML Representation of Object-Oriented Concepts
* Recognize the UML representation of classes, (including attributes and operations, abstract classes, and interfaces), the UML representation of inheritance (both implementation and interface), and the UML representation of class member visibility modifiers (-/private and +/public).
* Recognize the UML representation of class associations, compositions, association multiplicity indicators, and association navigation indicators.
Section 3: Java Implementation of Object-Oriented Concepts
* Notes: code examples may use the 'new' operator.
* Develop code that uses primitives, enumeration types, and object references, and recognize literals of these types.
* Develop code that declares concrete classes, abstract classes, and interfaces, code that supports implementation and interface inheritance, code that declares instance attributes and methods, and code that uses the Java access modifiers: private and public.
* Develop code that implements simple class associations, code that implements multiplicity using arrays, and recognize code that implements compositions as opposed to simple associations, and code that correctly implements association navigation.
* Develop code that uses polymorphism for both classes and interfaces, and recognize code that uses the "program to an interface" principle.
Section 4: Algorithm Design and Implementation
* Describe, compare, and contrast these three fundamental types of statements: assignment, conditional, and iteration, and given a description of an algorithm, select the appropriate type of statement to design the algorithm.
* Given an algorithm as pseudo-code, determine the correct scope for a variable used in the algorithm, and develop code to declare variables in any of the following scopes: instance variable, method parameter, and local variable.
* Given an algorithm as pseudo-code, develop method code that implements the algorithm using conditional statements (if and switch), iteration statements (for, for-each, while, and do-while), assignment statements, and break and continue statements to control the flow within switch and iteration statements.
* Given an algorithm with multiple inputs and an output, develop method code that implements the algorithm using method parameters, a return type, and the return statement, and recognize the effects when object references and primitives are passed into methods that modify them.
* Given an algorithm as pseudo-code, develop code that correctly applies the appropriate operators including assignment operators (limited to: =, +=, -=), arithmetic operators (limited to: +, -, *, /, %, ++, --), relational operators (limited to: <, <=, >, >=, ==, !=), logical operators (limited to: !, &&, ||) to produce a desired result. Also, write code that determines the equality of two objects or two primitives.
* Develop code that uses the concatenation operator (+), and the following methods from class String: charAt, indexOf, trim, substring, replace, length, startsWith, and endsWith.
Section 5: Java Development Fundamentals
* Describe the purpose of packages in the Java language, and recognize the proper use of import and package statements.
* Demonstrate the proper use of the "javac" command (including the command-line options: -d and –classpath), and demonstrate the proper use of the "java" command (including the command-line options: -classpath, -D and –version).
* Describe the purpose and types of classes for the following Java packages: java.awt, javax.swing, java.io, java.net, java.util.
Section 6: Java Platforms and Integration Technologies
* Distinguish the basic characteristics of the three Java platforms: J2SE, J2ME, and J2EE, and given a high-level architectural goal, select the appropriate Java platform or platforms.
* Describe at a high level the benefits and basic characteristics of RMI.
* Describe at a high level the benefits and basic characteristics of JDBC, SQL, and RDBMS technologies.
* Describe at a high level the benefits and basic characteristics of JNDI, messaging, and JMS technologies.
Section 7: Client Technologies
* Describe at a high level the basic characteristics, benefits and drawbacks of creating thin-clients using HTML and JavaScript and the related deployment issues and solutions.
* Describe at a high level the basic characteristics, benefits, drawbacks, and deployment issues related to creating clients using J2ME midlets.
* Describe at a high level the basic characteristics, benefits, drawbacks, and deployment issues related to creating fat-clients using Applets.
* Describe at a high level the basic characteristics, benefits, drawbacks, and deployment issues related to creating fat-clients using Swing.
Section 8: Server Technologies
* Describe at a high level the basic characteristics of: EJB, servlets, JSP, JMS, JNDI, SMTP, JAX-RPC, Web Services (including SOAP, UDDI, WSDL, and XML), and JavaMail.
* Describe at a high level the basic characteristics of servlet and JSP support for HTML thin-clients.
* Describe at a high level the use and basic characteristics of EJB session, entity and message-driven beans.
* Describe at a high level the fundamental benefits and drawbacks of using J2EE server-side technologies, and describe and compare the basic characteristics of the web-tier, business-tier, and EIS tier.
Visit https://www.suntrainingcatalogue.com/eduserv/client/welcome.do for more info.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
CCNA-Career Certifications & Paths
CCNA Certification
The Cisco CCNA network associate certification validates the ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size routed and switched networks, including implementation and verification of connections to remote sites in a WAN. This new curriculum includes basic mitigation of security threats, introduction to wireless networking concepts and terminology, and performance-based skills. This new curriculum also includes (but is not limited to) the use of these protocols: IP, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Serial Line Interface Protocol Frame Relay, Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2),VLANs, Ethernet, access control lists (ACLs)
Cisco Certified Network Associate Exam (640-802 CCNA)
The 640-802 Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is the composite exam associated with the Cisco Certified Network Associate certification. Candidates can prepare for this exam by taking the Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 (ICND1) v1.0 and the Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 2 (ICND2) v1.0 courses. This exam tests a candidate's knowledge and skills required to install, operate, and troubleshoot a small to medium size enterprise branch network. The topics include connecting to a WAN; implementing network security; network types; network media; routing and switching fundamentals; the TCP/IP and OSI models; IP addressing; WAN technologies; operating and configuring IOS devices; extending switched networks with VLANs; determining IP routes; managing IP traffic with access lists; establishing point-to-point connections; and establishing Frame Relay connections.
Exam Topics
The following topics are general guidelines for the content likely to be included on the Cisco Certified Network Associate exam. However, other related topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam. In order to better reflect the contents of the exam and for clarity purposes, the guidelines below may change at any time without notice.
Describe how a network works
- Describe the purpose and functions of various network devices
- Select the components required to meet a network specification
- Use the OSI and TCP/IP models and their associated protocols to explain how data flows in a network
- Describe common networked applications including web applications
- Describe the purpose and basic operation of the protocols in the OSI and TCP models
- Describe the impact of applications (Voice Over IP and Video Over IP) on a network
- Interpret network diagrams
- Determine the path between two hosts across a network
- Describe the components required for network and Internet communications
- Identify and correct common network problems at layers 1, 2, 3 and 7 using a layered model approach
- Differentiate between LAN/WAN operation and features
- Select the appropriate media, cables, ports, and connectors to connect switches to other network devices and hosts
- Explain the technology and media access control method for Ethernet networks
- Explain network segmentation and basic traffic management concepts
- Explain basic switching concepts and the operation of Cisco switches
- Perform and verify initial switch configuration tasks including remote access management
- Verify network status and switch operation using basic utilities (including: ping, traceroute, telnet, SSH, arp, ipconfig), SHOW & DEBUG commands
- Identify, prescribe, and resolve common switched network media issues, configuration issues, auto negotiation, and switch hardware failures
- Describe enhanced switching technologies (including: VTP, RSTP, VLAN, PVSTP, 802.1q)
- Describe how VLANs create logically separate networks and the need for routing between them
- Configure, verify, and troubleshoot VLANs
- Configure, verify, and troubleshoot trunking on Cisco switches
- Configure, verify, and troubleshoot interVLAN routing
- Configure, verify, and troubleshoot VTP
- Configure, verify, and troubleshoot RSTP operation
- Interpret the output of various show and debug commands to verify the operational status of a Cisco switched network.
- Implement basic switch security (including: port security, trunk access, management vlan other than vlan1, etc.)
- Describe the operation and benefits of using private and public IP addressing
- Explain the operation and benefits of using DHCP and DNS
- Configure, verify and troubleshoot DHCP and DNS operation on a router.(including: CLI/SDM)
- Implement static and dynamic addressing services for hosts in a LAN environment
- Calculate and apply an addressing scheme including VLSM IP addressing design to a network
- Determine the appropriate classless addressing scheme using VLSM and summarization to satisfy addressing requirements in a LAN/WAN environment
- Describe the technological requirements for running IPv6 in conjunction with IPv4 (including: protocols, dual stack, tunneling, etc).
- Describe IPv6 addresses
- Identify and correct common problems associated with IP addressing and host configurations
- Describe basic routing concepts (including: packet forwarding, router lookup process)
- Describe the operation of Cisco routers (including: router bootup process, POST, router components)
- Select the appropriate media, cables, ports, and connectors to connect routers to other network devices and hosts
- Configure, verify, and troubleshoot RIPv2
- Access and utilize the router to set basic parameters.(including: CLI/SDM)
- Connect, configure, and verify operation status of a device interface
- Verify device configuration and network connectivity using ping, traceroute, telnet, SSH or other utilities
- Perform and verify routing configuration tasks for a static or default route given specific routing requirements
- Manage IOS configuration files. (including: save, edit, upgrade, restore)
- Manage Cisco IOS.
- Compare and contrast methods of routing and routing protocols
- Configure, verify, and troubleshoot OSPF
- Configure, verify, and troubleshoot EIGRP
- Verify network connectivity (including: using ping, traceroute, and telnet or SSH)
- Troubleshoot routing issues
- Verify router hardware and software operation using SHOW & DEBUG commands.
- Implement basic router security
- Describe standards associated with wireless media (including: IEEE WI-FI Alliance, ITU/FCC)
- Identify and describe the purpose of the components in a small wireless network. (Including: SSID, BSS, ESS)
- Identify the basic parameters to configure on a wireless network to ensure that devices connect to the correct access point
- Compare and contrast wireless security features and capabilities of WPA security (including: open, WEP, WPA-1/2)
- Identify common issues with implementing wireless networks. (Including: Interface, missconfiguration)
- Describe today's increasing network security threats and explain the need to implement a comprehensive security policy to mitigate the threats
- Explain general methods to mitigate common security threats to network devices, hosts, and applications
- Describe the functions of common security appliances and applications
- Describe security recommended practices including initial steps to secure network devices
- Describe the purpose and types of ACLs
- Configure and apply ACLs based on network filtering requirements.(including: CLI/SDM)
- Configure and apply an ACLs to limit telnet and SSH access to the router using (including: SDM/CLI)
- Verify and monitor ACLs in a network environment
- Troubleshoot ACL issues
- Explain the basic operation of NAT
- Configure NAT for given network requirements using (including: CLI/SDM)
- Troubleshoot NAT issues
- Describe different methods for connecting to a WAN
- Configure and verify a basic WAN serial connection
- Configure and verify Frame Relay on Cisco routers
- Troubleshoot WAN implementation issues
- Describe VPN technology (including: importance, benefits, role, impact, components)
- Configure and verify a PPP connection between Cisco routers
What is Google Analytics
Google Analytics (GA) is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. Its main highlight is that a webmaster can optimize his/her AdWords advertisement and marketing campaigns through the use of GA's analysis of where the visitors came from, how long they stayed on the website and their geographical position.
More importantly, a webmaster can define and track conversions, or goals. Goals might include sales, lead generation, viewing a specific page, or downloading a particular file. By using this tool, marketers can determine which ads are performing, and which are not, as well as find unexpected sources of quality visitors.
for more info go to http://www.google.com/analyticsSaturday, August 25, 2007
Free Hosting at freeloader.0lx.net
Welcome to freeloader.0lx.net's free hosting service. We are providing professional, fast PHP & MySQL hosting, powered by Byethost Internet's world-famous clustered hosting technology.We invite you to sign up for a free hosting account and get your own website on the internet in seconds!Accounts are activated instantly so you don't need to wait around for an account.
Our powerful free hosting plan has PHP 5 and MySQL support. You get a free sub-domain. FTP access. Add on your own TLD domains using the domain manager.
Free hosting is a complete solution giving you everything you need to run your own website.
With the Automatic Script Installer (Like Fantastico) included with every free hosting plan. You can install many popular scripts such as PHPbb2 & PHPbb3, Wordpress, Zen-Cart, osCommerce, MyBB, UseBB, MyLittle Forum, 4images, Coppermine, SMF, Joomla, e107, XOOPS, PHP Wind, CuteNews, Mambo, WikiWig and many more! No need to wait a long time uploading files, Our Automatic Script Installer deploys your files in seconds!
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Our powerful free hosting plan has PHP 5 and MySQL support. You get a free sub-domain. FTP access. Add on your own TLD domains using the domain manager.
Free hosting is a complete solution giving you everything you need to run your own website.
With the Automatic Script Installer (Like Fantastico) included with every free hosting plan. You can install many popular scripts such as PHPbb2 & PHPbb3, Wordpress, Zen-Cart, osCommerce, MyBB, UseBB, MyLittle Forum, 4images, Coppermine, SMF, Joomla, e107, XOOPS, PHP Wind, CuteNews, Mambo, WikiWig and many more! No need to wait a long time uploading files, Our Automatic Script Installer deploys your files in seconds!
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Friday, August 24, 2007
UStream.tv: Video Streaming
Ustream is a platform that provides live interactive video for everyone. Anyone with a camera and an Internet connection can use Ustream to broadcast to a global audience.Visit thier website and signup for this great application for FREE at http://www.ustream.tv/
Try this site http://ikoyski-live.blogspot.com
Asian Kung-fu Generation
One of Japan’s most popular alternative rock bands, Asian Kung-Fu Generation is finally hitting U.S. shores with a proper domestic album. Fans will no longer have to scour the internet for expensive Japanese imports. The album, Sol-fa, was released on October 18th through independent Tofu Records. Asian Kung-Fu Generation are Masafumi Gotoh (vocals and guitar), Kensuke Kita (guitar and vocals), Takahiro Yamada (bass and vocals), and Kiyoshi Ijichi (drums). They met at a college music club meeting in 1996, and formed the band shortly thereafter. Their first songs were all written using English lyrics, but they soon transitioned over to Japanese. They played the club circuit around Japan and slowly expanded their domestic fan base in the process.In November 2002, they released their first album Houkai Amplifier (Destruction Amplifier), which soon ascended to the top of the independent charts and was re-released with wider distribution on Sony Music Japan’s Ki/oon Records in April of 2003. The same year, the band released their sophomore effort, Kimi Tsunagi Five M. These releases were rounded out and promoted by bigger live performances, including Japan’s Mount Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic festivals. The group even organized their own “Nano-Mugen” festival for up-and-coming bands at Japan's historic Budokan venue. In the United States, Sol-fa is their first proper release after already gaining Japanese success and two weeks of chart-topping action when it was first released in Japan.
Asian Kung-Fu Generation has had other means of access to American audiences, however. In 2004, their songs were broadcasted through the anime shows Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist, which both aired on Cartoon Network. These appearances have generated positive reaction from fans of anime and Japanese rock, and helped pave the way for Sol-fa to be released.
Sol-fa is 46 minutes of alternative rock in its purest form. Without knowing where the band is from or what their name is, a listener might think it is an American band with unintelligible singing; their songs are that integrated into the standard indie-pop and rock style. The album delves into a slight “emo/indie” sound, but at the end, the guitar hooks and riffs in the songs are pure rock 'n' roll. Masafumi Gotoh’s vocals alternate between softer, melodic singing, and harder, harsher, yelling. The whole album has a very polished and produced sound as even the distorted guitar lines sound clean. All the lyrics are in Japanese, but there are English translations available; the Tofu Records website has a convenient link with all the lyrics in English.
My Old Nokia 6670
This model is similar to Nokia 7610 but differs in preset applications and a more strict design for business users.- General features
- Announced in September 2004, in the market since the 4 Q of 2004 , official announcement on the 21 September 2004
- eGSM900/1800/1900
- Battery type BL-5C, 900 mAh
- Battery life:
- talk time up to 3 hours
- standby time up to 250 hours
- Full charging time 1.5 hours
- High-contrast graphic display shows 65000 colors (TFT) and has the resolution of 176x208 pixels, 35Ñ…41 mm, not a touchscreen
- Navi key has 5 positions
- The phone is run by Symbian OS version 7.0s (interface of Platform 60)
- 28 menu languages, English and two extra languages can be used at the same time
- Megapixel camera - max resolution is 1152 x 864 pixels, recording 3GP clips with sound (Sub QCIF or QCIF) with the duration of up to 10 minutes. A possibility to edit photos and video. Night mode
- Changeable panels
- Weight: 118 g
- Dimensions: 108.6 x 53 x 20.9 mm
- Capacity 98.5 cc
- Memory
- 8 MB of memory are shared dynamically between the phone book, a calendar, messages, images and applications RS-MMC cards expansion connector (64 MB card in a standard kit)
- A possibility to assign a photo to a name in the phone book
- A possibility to keep Name, Surname (two lines), Company name, Position, Phone number, Mobile phone number, Fax and E-mail address for a name — total number of 8 fields (a possibility to increase the number at will).
- The number of groups is not limited, a possibility to assign a name to several groups at the same time
- SIM-card entries are stored separately, viewing them with the internal memory is impossible
- Call lists, no any limits in the number of entries, all the entries contain besides the date and the duration of the call, a call type. A possibility to set a storage period for calls in the list (a month by default)
- MMS up to 100 KB for a message
- Call management, ringing tones
- Vibrating alert
- Polyphonic call melodies, True Tones
- Voice dialing for 25 numbers, voice tags
- Loud speaker
- Call duration is shown during a conversation
- Musical editor, a possibility to assign melodies to the names in the phone book
- SMS
- Predictive text input Т9
- Templates (10 are preset, a possibility to edit them or add own ones)
- A possibility to send and receive graphical messages
- Concatenated messages
- MMS
- Connectivity
- WAP 2.0
- Bluetooth
- GPRS (4+2)
- E-mail protocols: SMTP, POP3, IMAP4
- Synchronization with PC via Bluetooth
- SyncML
- SMIL
- Instant Messaging
- MMS
- Organizer and extras
- User's profiles (5), temporary profile
- Time, date
- Calculator, currency converter
- Organizer supports different kinds of events, reminders
- To-do list
- Dictaphone
- mp3 player
- A possibility to record video with sound - QCIF (176x144) or subQCIF (128x96)
- RealOne Player: plays RealMedia and 3GPP-compatible files
- Photo album
- MIDP JavaTM (2.0)
- A possibility to load Java applications
- Games
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Creating a Payroll System
This blog provides an overview of how the payroll process typically functions.
Overview of the General Payroll Process
This section describes how the payroll process flows for specific types of systems—outsourced payroll, in-house computerized payroll, and in-house manual payroll. In this section, we cover the general beginning-to-end processing of payroll, step-by-step, irrespective of the specific payroll system, in order to show the general process flow. The steps:
1. Set up new employees. New employees must fill out payroll-specific information as part of the hiring process, such as the W-4 form and medical insurance forms that may require payroll deductions. Copies of this information should be set aside in the payroll department in anticipation of its inclusion in the next payroll.
2. Collect timecard information. Salaried employees require no change in wages paid for each payroll, but an employer must collect and interpret information about hours worked for nonexempt employees. This may involve having employees scan a badge through a computerized time clock, punch a card in a stamp clock, or manually fill out a time.
3. Verify timecard information. Whatever the type of data collection system used in the last step, the payroll staff must summarize this information and verify that employees have recorded the correct amount of time. This typically involves having supervisors review the information after it has been summarized, though more advanced computerized timekeeping systems can perform most of these tasks automatically.
4. Summarize wages due. This should be a straightforward process of multiplying the number of hours worked by an employee’s standard wage rate. However, it can be complicated by overtime wages, shift differentials, bonuses, or the presence of a wage change partway through the reporting period.
5. Enter employee changes. Employees may ask to have changes made to their paychecks, typically in the form of alterations to the number of tax exemptions allowed, pension deductions, or medical deductions. Much of this information must be recorded for payroll processing purposes, since it may alter the amount of taxes or other types of deductions.
6. Calculate applicable taxes. The payroll staff must either use IRS-supplied tax tables to manually calculate tax withholdings or have a computerized system or a supplier determine this information. Taxes will vary not only by wage levels and tax allowances taken but also by the amount of wages that have already been earned for the year-to-date.
7. Calculate applicable wage deductions. There are both voluntary and involuntary deductions. Voluntary deductions include payments into pension and medical plans, while involuntary ones include garnishments and union dues. These can be made in regular amounts for each paycheck, once a month, in arrears, or prospectively. The payroll staff must also track goal amounts for some deductions, such as loans or garnishments, in order to know when to stop making deductions when required totals have been reached.
8. Account for separate manual payments. There will inevitably be cases where the payroll staff has issued manual paychecks to employees between payrolls. This may be caused by an incorrect prior paycheck, an advance, or perhaps a termination. Whatever the case, the amount of each manual check should be included in the regular payroll, at least so that it can be included in the formal payroll register for reporting purposes, and sometimes to ensure that the proper amount of employer-specific taxes are also withheld to accompany the amounts deducted for the employee.
9. Create a payroll register. Summarize the wage and deduction information for each employee on a payroll register, which can then be used to compile a journal entry for inclusion in the general ledger, prepare tax reports, and for general research purposes. This document is always prepared automatically by payroll suppliers or by in-house computerized systems.
10. Verify wage and tax amounts. Conduct a final cross-check of all wage calculations and deductions. This can involve a comparison to the same amounts for prior periods, or a general check for both missing information and numbers that are clearly out of line with expectations.
11. Print paychecks. Print paychecks, either manually on individual checks or, much more commonly, through a computer printer, with the printouts using a standard format that itemizes all wage calculations and deductions on the remittance advice. If direct deposits are made, a remittance advice should still be printed and issued.
12. Enter payroll information in general ledger. Use the information in the payroll register to compile a journal entry that transfers the payroll expense, all deductions, and the reduction in cash to the general ledger.
13. Send out direct deposit notifications. If a company arranges with a local bank to issue payments directly to employee accounts, then a notification of the accounts to which payments are to be sent and the amounts to be paid must be assembled, stored on tape or other media, and sent to the bank.
14. Deposit withheld taxes. The employer must deposit all related payroll tax deductions and employer matched taxes at a local bank that is authorized to handle these transactions. The IRS imposes a rigid deposit schedule and format for making deposits that must be followed in order to avoid penalties.
15. Issue paychecks. Paychecks should, at least occasionally, be handed out directly to employees, with proof of identification required; this is a useful control point in larger companies where the payroll staff may not know each employee by name, and where there is, therefore, some risk of paychecks being created for people who no longer work for the company.
16. Issue government payroll reports. The government requires several payroll related reports at regular intervals, which require information on the payroll register to complete.
Overview of the General Payroll Process
This section describes how the payroll process flows for specific types of systems—outsourced payroll, in-house computerized payroll, and in-house manual payroll. In this section, we cover the general beginning-to-end processing of payroll, step-by-step, irrespective of the specific payroll system, in order to show the general process flow. The steps:
1. Set up new employees. New employees must fill out payroll-specific information as part of the hiring process, such as the W-4 form and medical insurance forms that may require payroll deductions. Copies of this information should be set aside in the payroll department in anticipation of its inclusion in the next payroll.
2. Collect timecard information. Salaried employees require no change in wages paid for each payroll, but an employer must collect and interpret information about hours worked for nonexempt employees. This may involve having employees scan a badge through a computerized time clock, punch a card in a stamp clock, or manually fill out a time.
3. Verify timecard information. Whatever the type of data collection system used in the last step, the payroll staff must summarize this information and verify that employees have recorded the correct amount of time. This typically involves having supervisors review the information after it has been summarized, though more advanced computerized timekeeping systems can perform most of these tasks automatically.
4. Summarize wages due. This should be a straightforward process of multiplying the number of hours worked by an employee’s standard wage rate. However, it can be complicated by overtime wages, shift differentials, bonuses, or the presence of a wage change partway through the reporting period.
5. Enter employee changes. Employees may ask to have changes made to their paychecks, typically in the form of alterations to the number of tax exemptions allowed, pension deductions, or medical deductions. Much of this information must be recorded for payroll processing purposes, since it may alter the amount of taxes or other types of deductions.
6. Calculate applicable taxes. The payroll staff must either use IRS-supplied tax tables to manually calculate tax withholdings or have a computerized system or a supplier determine this information. Taxes will vary not only by wage levels and tax allowances taken but also by the amount of wages that have already been earned for the year-to-date.
7. Calculate applicable wage deductions. There are both voluntary and involuntary deductions. Voluntary deductions include payments into pension and medical plans, while involuntary ones include garnishments and union dues. These can be made in regular amounts for each paycheck, once a month, in arrears, or prospectively. The payroll staff must also track goal amounts for some deductions, such as loans or garnishments, in order to know when to stop making deductions when required totals have been reached.
8. Account for separate manual payments. There will inevitably be cases where the payroll staff has issued manual paychecks to employees between payrolls. This may be caused by an incorrect prior paycheck, an advance, or perhaps a termination. Whatever the case, the amount of each manual check should be included in the regular payroll, at least so that it can be included in the formal payroll register for reporting purposes, and sometimes to ensure that the proper amount of employer-specific taxes are also withheld to accompany the amounts deducted for the employee.
9. Create a payroll register. Summarize the wage and deduction information for each employee on a payroll register, which can then be used to compile a journal entry for inclusion in the general ledger, prepare tax reports, and for general research purposes. This document is always prepared automatically by payroll suppliers or by in-house computerized systems.
10. Verify wage and tax amounts. Conduct a final cross-check of all wage calculations and deductions. This can involve a comparison to the same amounts for prior periods, or a general check for both missing information and numbers that are clearly out of line with expectations.
11. Print paychecks. Print paychecks, either manually on individual checks or, much more commonly, through a computer printer, with the printouts using a standard format that itemizes all wage calculations and deductions on the remittance advice. If direct deposits are made, a remittance advice should still be printed and issued.
12. Enter payroll information in general ledger. Use the information in the payroll register to compile a journal entry that transfers the payroll expense, all deductions, and the reduction in cash to the general ledger.
13. Send out direct deposit notifications. If a company arranges with a local bank to issue payments directly to employee accounts, then a notification of the accounts to which payments are to be sent and the amounts to be paid must be assembled, stored on tape or other media, and sent to the bank.
14. Deposit withheld taxes. The employer must deposit all related payroll tax deductions and employer matched taxes at a local bank that is authorized to handle these transactions. The IRS imposes a rigid deposit schedule and format for making deposits that must be followed in order to avoid penalties.
15. Issue paychecks. Paychecks should, at least occasionally, be handed out directly to employees, with proof of identification required; this is a useful control point in larger companies where the payroll staff may not know each employee by name, and where there is, therefore, some risk of paychecks being created for people who no longer work for the company.
16. Issue government payroll reports. The government requires several payroll related reports at regular intervals, which require information on the payroll register to complete.
Online Payroll Outsourcing
What is Online Payroll Outsourcing? Well, outsourcing service provider will process all payroll activities online and thus making paperless payroll solution. It is emerging as fast outsourcing job in the field of payroll. Online payroll will help getting full information about payroll system of your organization on few clicks anytime. Online payroll will help you even getting the paychecks printed whenever it is required.
Why to outsource payroll jobs?
Payroll record keeping, maintaining records and tax reporting are time consuming as well as require large employment for maintaining payroll manually. Payroll is complex in nature due to involvement of taxations and various laws & by-laws for keeping it accurate. It will be very convenient for companies to outsource payroll jobs to outsource service providers who have good experience in payroll business. Such outsourcing firms employ highly qualified and experienced people who can handle your payroll accounts with ease. Outsourcing companies have adequate infrastructure to meet the overseas demand for outsourcing. They provide quality product, constant support and deliver on time. All these benefits with good price are the main reasons of online payroll outsourcing jobs.
Many online payroll outsourcing companies are now providing web based pay roll, which is becoming very popular. The moment data is modified and saved, website will give you latest data. Outsourcing companies prepare website with powerful software coding which automatically calculates data and then store in the service provider’s drive. Another important way to make data online quickly is application service method. Here, data is not stored but is sent directly to the server’s webpage. Data will only be transmitted if all calculations are done first on the provider’s site.
Due to sensitivity, security is another concern for payroll data. While outsourcing online payroll business, it is very important to secure data from hackers. You must ensure that data is supported by SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption for reliable data transmission. Also, your online payroll outsourcing site must be guarded by multiple firewalls to stop unwanted intrusion.
Online payroll outsourcing helps in keeping data accurate and on time. A good online payroll outsourcing project should alarm the company about the due dates of payment, taxes, submission of relevant forms to government authorities, annual payments, renewals etc. It must be fast, accurate, user friendly, secured, and backed by prompt customer’s support.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Adsense: How to Make Money With Ads
The chances are that you've seen "Ads by Google" on a variety of websites and perhaps wondered what they were all about. The fact is that you can probably get "Ads by Google" on your own site and if you do, you can look forward to getting paid by Google.
The system is called Google AdSense and it does two things really neatly.
First of all it allows virtually any website owner to make some money without having to do too much - all you do is paste some code that Google gives you into your web pages. This code creates the ads that you see and when someone clicks on one of these ads they go to the advertiser's site. The advertiser is then charged for the click by Google and Google shares the money with you. You don't have to worry about billing a load of different companies or anything else: this is all done for you as part of the AdSense service.
That much is fairly straightforward and good news.
But the really clever thing about AdSense is that the ads you see on your site are relevant to your content - automatically. So if you have a web page about mobile phones you'll see ads about mobile phones on it. If you have a web page about holidays in Tasmania, you'll see ads for holidays in Tasmania on it. Google's technology scans your web page and decides what it is about and then searches its database of well over 175,000 advertisers to find the ads that are most suitable for your page.
By making the ads relevant to your site, Google does you two favors: the ads can enhance the overall experience a visitor to your site gets which means they are likely to return, and because the ads are relevant to your visitor, they are likely to get clicked on.
And when they get clicked on, you make money.
To make most money with Google AdSense you need to develop web pages that are about high value topics. In other words, build content on your site that is likely to attract ads that pay highly when clicked because not all ads are worth the same.
In fact some ads pay many dollars a click whereas others only pay a few cents.
The art of maximizing your AdSense income is to understand how to attract high paying ads onto your pages and then drive a lot of traffic to those pages. Once you've done that you can look forward to getting paid by Google on a regular basis which makes Google AdSense one of the most attractive affiliate programs on the internet today.
Chartering A Private Jet Plane
Air traffic has certainly changed since 911 with higher security, longer lineups, and restrictions that are often hard to comprehend. That’s why you need to know the advantage of chartering a private jet plane.
If you are a CEO, executive, or business traveler that’s been using commercial airlines I don’t need to tell you what a hassle that’s become since 911. Never mind what you can’t bring along, and then there is all the wasted time before boarding. And then trying to get some work done on the laptop can be touch and go due to confidentiality issues and a snoopy person in the seat beside you. It’s enough to make you decide to not go.
The problem is staying home is not an option. Your traveling is an integral part of your successful business. But you do have options and one of those is to charter a private jet plane. There are many advantages to doing that. In fact many corporations already know the advantages which why they spend thousands on chartering a private jet plane for their company.
There are three main reasons to do just that; speed – security – convenience – comfort.
A private jet plane can get you there much faster than a conventional airplane. For example lets look at the Boeing 747 which is one of the fastest consumer airplanes at 550 mph or 880 kph, however there you can charter a private jet plane like the Citation X or Cessna that can do 600 mph which is almost the speed of sound. 50 mph adds up really quickly. Combine that with no wasted time at the airport.
Security is actually tighter for a private jet plane with everyone having to be screened but that also means you don’t have to worry about security risks. This is incredibly helpful if you are a politician or a foreign dignitary, or a powerful executive that could be targeted. And the good news is that these are very realistic security checks. No worrying about the nail file with more concern for real threats.
Speaking of speed when you charter a private jet plane you won’t be wasting hours standing in a line to check your luggage in and get screened. With a private jet you have your own area to check in and it save a great deal of time.
And then there is comfort. When you charter a private jet plane you can stretch out, relax, or get some serious work done in comfort. Enjoy the finest wine or a great meal depending on how far you are flying. The attendant is at your beck and call and the plane is like your personal office. No cramped feet, no lineup at the washroom, no sore back from sitting in uncomfortable seats.
A private jet plane is the way to travel if you are a frequent traveler that wants to get to their destination safely, quickly, conveniently, and in comfort. And the best news is a private jet plane is more affordable than you might think.
Mortage Loans - To Buy Or To Lease
Mortgage loans are used by most home owners to acquire a home of their own as very few people are able to pay cash for their homes. This type of loan is a great help and as it is payable over many years it makes it accessible to most people. It is far better to pay a mortgage off on your own home, than to be paying a lease on a rented home.
It is not difficult to qualify for a loan. The lender must have a stable job and regular income so that he can afford to pay off a loan over an extended period of time. He or she must be living a the same address for at least two years and must have a good credit history. The bank or financial institutions will check on this and if it is not good they will either refuse the loan or they can help you by working around this factor. Many money lenders just impose a higher interest rate and bank charges on the loans. The down payment will also be more than usual so that the loan can be a smaller amount. This helps to give the lender less risk of losing money even though the loan will be secured against the home.
The mortgage loan makes it possible for more people to become property owners. It is a very good thing to invest in property as the value always goes up and the chances of losing on the deal are minimal.
Shop around as always before taking a loan so that you can be sure that you have looked at all the options there are to take. Interest rates and loan charges are very important as this will determine how much money you will be paying back on the loan. The less the interest the less you will have to pay back over the years. Find out from the lenders whether you may pay in more than the allotted amount in a month. By paying in an extra amount every month and whenever possible it makes a big difference to the duration of the loan.
It is not difficult to qualify for a loan. The lender must have a stable job and regular income so that he can afford to pay off a loan over an extended period of time. He or she must be living a the same address for at least two years and must have a good credit history. The bank or financial institutions will check on this and if it is not good they will either refuse the loan or they can help you by working around this factor. Many money lenders just impose a higher interest rate and bank charges on the loans. The down payment will also be more than usual so that the loan can be a smaller amount. This helps to give the lender less risk of losing money even though the loan will be secured against the home.
The mortgage loan makes it possible for more people to become property owners. It is a very good thing to invest in property as the value always goes up and the chances of losing on the deal are minimal.
Shop around as always before taking a loan so that you can be sure that you have looked at all the options there are to take. Interest rates and loan charges are very important as this will determine how much money you will be paying back on the loan. The less the interest the less you will have to pay back over the years. Find out from the lenders whether you may pay in more than the allotted amount in a month. By paying in an extra amount every month and whenever possible it makes a big difference to the duration of the loan.
What Is Refinance Loans
Refinancing is usually done to capitalize on lower interest rates. Lower interest rates translate into lower mortgage loan rates and by refinancing at the time when prevailing interest rates are lower, you can substantially lower your monthly payments.
Refinancing loans offer an excellent opportunity to pay off existing debts and reduce periodic payment obligations. You may even liquidate equity that has accumulated in real property over the period of tenure by refinancing. Extending the tenure of a refinancing loan is another effective way of lowering monthly payments. This is a widely accepted tactic of saving, and using the saved amount to pay off the principal of the loan. Therefore, extending a loan works as a two-way process, it lowers your monthly payment and reduces the payment burden since you use the amount saved to payback the principal amount.
Cash refinancing is another important technique to save. Using cash refinancing, you can capitalize on the equity that has been accumulated in your house over the years, and use the ready cash to utilize on projects that are more important. You can even lessen out your risks by opting for refinance loans. However, this is applicable only in case of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)…in markets characterized by fluctuating interest rates. You can even refinance to convert an existing ARM into fixed rate.
People across America are increasingly using a refinancing loan to pay off high-interest debts such as credit card debts, with lower-interest debts such as that of a fixed-rate home mortgage and other debts down the line. You can also save substantially on taxes by refinancing. Interestingly, non-tax deductible debts such as credit card debts can be easily transformed into tax-deductible debts such as home mortgage debts. This substantially lowers tax liability, and helps in putting the owner into a lower tax bracket.
Refinancing loans offer an excellent opportunity to pay off existing debts and reduce periodic payment obligations. You may even liquidate equity that has accumulated in real property over the period of tenure by refinancing. Extending the tenure of a refinancing loan is another effective way of lowering monthly payments. This is a widely accepted tactic of saving, and using the saved amount to pay off the principal of the loan. Therefore, extending a loan works as a two-way process, it lowers your monthly payment and reduces the payment burden since you use the amount saved to payback the principal amount.
Cash refinancing is another important technique to save. Using cash refinancing, you can capitalize on the equity that has been accumulated in your house over the years, and use the ready cash to utilize on projects that are more important. You can even lessen out your risks by opting for refinance loans. However, this is applicable only in case of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)…in markets characterized by fluctuating interest rates. You can even refinance to convert an existing ARM into fixed rate.
People across America are increasingly using a refinancing loan to pay off high-interest debts such as credit card debts, with lower-interest debts such as that of a fixed-rate home mortgage and other debts down the line. You can also save substantially on taxes by refinancing. Interestingly, non-tax deductible debts such as credit card debts can be easily transformed into tax-deductible debts such as home mortgage debts. This substantially lowers tax liability, and helps in putting the owner into a lower tax bracket.
Make Money with Currency Trading
For those unfamiliar with the term, FOREX (FOReign EXchange market), refers to an international exchange market where currencies are bought and sold. The Foreign Exchange Market that we see today began in the 1970's, when free exchange rates and floating currencies were introduced. In such an environment only participants in the market determine the price of one currency against another, based upon supply and demand for that currency.
FOREX is a somewhat unique market for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is one of the few markets in which it can be said with very few qualifications that it is free of external controls and that it cannot be manipulated. It is also the largest liquid financial market, with trade reaching between 1 and 1.5 trillion US dollars a day. With this much money moving this fast, it is clear why a single investor would find it near impossible to significantly affect the price of a major currency. Furthermore, the liquidity of the market means that unlike some rarely traded stock, traders are able to open and close positions within a few seconds as there are always willing buyers and sellers.
Another somewhat unique characteristic of the FOREX money market is the variance of its participants. Investors find a number of reasons for entering the market, some as longer term hedge investors, while others utilize massive credit lines to seek large short term gains. Interestingly, unlike blue-chip stocks, which are usually most attractive only to the long term investor, the combination of rather constant but small daily fluctuations in currency prices, create an environment which attracts investors with a broad range of strategies.
How FOREX Works
Transactions in foreign currencies are not centralized on an exchange, unlike say the NYSE, and thus take place all over the world via telecommunications. Trade is open 24 hours a day from Sunday afternoon until Friday afternoon (00:00 GMT on Monday to 10:00 pm GMT on Friday). In almost every time zone around the world, there are dealers who will quote all major currencies. After deciding what currency the investor would like to purchase, he or she does so via one of these dealers (some of which can be found online). It is quite common practice for investors to speculate on currency prices by getting a credit line (which are available to those with capital as small as $500), and vastly increase their potential gains and losses. This is called marginal trading.
Marginal Trading
Marginal trading is simply the term used for trading with borrowed capital. It is appealing because of the fact that in FOREX investments can be made without a real money supply. This allows investors to invest much more money with fewer money transfer costs, and open bigger positions with a much smaller amount of actual capital. Thus, one can conduct relatively large transactions, very quickly and cheaply, with a small amount of initial capital. Marginal trading in an exchange market is quantified in lots. The term "lot" refers to approximately $100,000, an amount which can be obtained by putting up as little as 0.5% or $500.
EXAMPLE: You believe that signals in the market are indicating that the British Pound will go up against the US Dollar. You open 1 lot for buying the Pound with a 1% margin at the price of 1.49889 and wait for the exchange rate to climb. At some point in the future, your predictions come true and you decide to sell. You close the position at 1.5050 and earn 61 pips or about $405. Thus, on an initial capital investment of $1,000, you have made over 40% in profits. (Just as an example of how exchange rates change in the course of a day, an average daily change of the Euro (in Dollars) is about 70 to 100 pips.)
When you decide to close a position, the deposit sum that you originally made is returned to you and a calculation of your profits or losses is done. This profit or loss is then credited to your account.
Investment Strategies: Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis
The two fundamental strategies in investing in FOREX are Technical Analysis or Fundamental Analysis. Most small and medium sized investors in financial markets use Technical Analysis. This technique stems from the assumption that all information about the market and a particular currency's future fluctuations is found in the price chain. That is to say, that all factors which have an effect on the price have already been considered by the market and are thus reflected in the price. Essentially then, what this type of investor does is base his/her investments upon three fundamental suppositions. These are: that the movement of the market considers all factors, that the movement of prices is purposeful and directly tied to these events, and that history repeats itself. Someone utilizing technical analysis looks at the highest and lowest prices of a currency, the prices of opening and closing, and the volume of transactions. This investor does not try to outsmart the market, or even predict major long term trends, but simply looks at what has happened to that currency in the recent past, and predicts that the small fluctuations will generally continue just as they have before.
A Fundamental Analysis is one which analyzes the current situations in the country of the currency, including such things as its economy, its political situation, and other related rumors. By the numbers, a country's economy depends on a number of quantifiable measurements such as its Central Bank's interest rate, the national unemployment level, tax policy and the rate of inflation. An investor can also anticipate that less quantifiable occurrences, such as political unrest or transition will also have an effect on the market. Before basing all predictions on the factors alone, however, it is important to remember that investors must also keep in mind the expectations and anticipations of market participants. For just as in any stock market, the value of a currency is also based in large part on perceptions of and anticipations about that currency, not solely on its reality.
Make Money with Currency Trading on FOREX
FOREX investing is one of the most potentially rewarding types of investments available. While certainly the risk is great, the ability to conduct marginal trading on FOREX means that potential profits are enormous relative to initial capital investments. Another benefit of FOREX is that its size prevents almost all attempts by others to influence the market for their own gain. So that when investing in foreign currency markets one can feel quite confident that the investment he or she is making has the same opportunity for profit as other investors throughout the world. While investing in FOREX short term requires a certain degree of diligence, investors who utilize a technical analysis can feel relatively confident that their own ability to read the daily fluctuations of the currency market are sufficiently adequate to give them the knowledge necessary to make informed investments.
FOREX is a somewhat unique market for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is one of the few markets in which it can be said with very few qualifications that it is free of external controls and that it cannot be manipulated. It is also the largest liquid financial market, with trade reaching between 1 and 1.5 trillion US dollars a day. With this much money moving this fast, it is clear why a single investor would find it near impossible to significantly affect the price of a major currency. Furthermore, the liquidity of the market means that unlike some rarely traded stock, traders are able to open and close positions within a few seconds as there are always willing buyers and sellers.
Another somewhat unique characteristic of the FOREX money market is the variance of its participants. Investors find a number of reasons for entering the market, some as longer term hedge investors, while others utilize massive credit lines to seek large short term gains. Interestingly, unlike blue-chip stocks, which are usually most attractive only to the long term investor, the combination of rather constant but small daily fluctuations in currency prices, create an environment which attracts investors with a broad range of strategies.
How FOREX Works
Transactions in foreign currencies are not centralized on an exchange, unlike say the NYSE, and thus take place all over the world via telecommunications. Trade is open 24 hours a day from Sunday afternoon until Friday afternoon (00:00 GMT on Monday to 10:00 pm GMT on Friday). In almost every time zone around the world, there are dealers who will quote all major currencies. After deciding what currency the investor would like to purchase, he or she does so via one of these dealers (some of which can be found online). It is quite common practice for investors to speculate on currency prices by getting a credit line (which are available to those with capital as small as $500), and vastly increase their potential gains and losses. This is called marginal trading.
Marginal Trading
Marginal trading is simply the term used for trading with borrowed capital. It is appealing because of the fact that in FOREX investments can be made without a real money supply. This allows investors to invest much more money with fewer money transfer costs, and open bigger positions with a much smaller amount of actual capital. Thus, one can conduct relatively large transactions, very quickly and cheaply, with a small amount of initial capital. Marginal trading in an exchange market is quantified in lots. The term "lot" refers to approximately $100,000, an amount which can be obtained by putting up as little as 0.5% or $500.
EXAMPLE: You believe that signals in the market are indicating that the British Pound will go up against the US Dollar. You open 1 lot for buying the Pound with a 1% margin at the price of 1.49889 and wait for the exchange rate to climb. At some point in the future, your predictions come true and you decide to sell. You close the position at 1.5050 and earn 61 pips or about $405. Thus, on an initial capital investment of $1,000, you have made over 40% in profits. (Just as an example of how exchange rates change in the course of a day, an average daily change of the Euro (in Dollars) is about 70 to 100 pips.)
When you decide to close a position, the deposit sum that you originally made is returned to you and a calculation of your profits or losses is done. This profit or loss is then credited to your account.
Investment Strategies: Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis
The two fundamental strategies in investing in FOREX are Technical Analysis or Fundamental Analysis. Most small and medium sized investors in financial markets use Technical Analysis. This technique stems from the assumption that all information about the market and a particular currency's future fluctuations is found in the price chain. That is to say, that all factors which have an effect on the price have already been considered by the market and are thus reflected in the price. Essentially then, what this type of investor does is base his/her investments upon three fundamental suppositions. These are: that the movement of the market considers all factors, that the movement of prices is purposeful and directly tied to these events, and that history repeats itself. Someone utilizing technical analysis looks at the highest and lowest prices of a currency, the prices of opening and closing, and the volume of transactions. This investor does not try to outsmart the market, or even predict major long term trends, but simply looks at what has happened to that currency in the recent past, and predicts that the small fluctuations will generally continue just as they have before.
A Fundamental Analysis is one which analyzes the current situations in the country of the currency, including such things as its economy, its political situation, and other related rumors. By the numbers, a country's economy depends on a number of quantifiable measurements such as its Central Bank's interest rate, the national unemployment level, tax policy and the rate of inflation. An investor can also anticipate that less quantifiable occurrences, such as political unrest or transition will also have an effect on the market. Before basing all predictions on the factors alone, however, it is important to remember that investors must also keep in mind the expectations and anticipations of market participants. For just as in any stock market, the value of a currency is also based in large part on perceptions of and anticipations about that currency, not solely on its reality.
Make Money with Currency Trading on FOREX
FOREX investing is one of the most potentially rewarding types of investments available. While certainly the risk is great, the ability to conduct marginal trading on FOREX means that potential profits are enormous relative to initial capital investments. Another benefit of FOREX is that its size prevents almost all attempts by others to influence the market for their own gain. So that when investing in foreign currency markets one can feel quite confident that the investment he or she is making has the same opportunity for profit as other investors throughout the world. While investing in FOREX short term requires a certain degree of diligence, investors who utilize a technical analysis can feel relatively confident that their own ability to read the daily fluctuations of the currency market are sufficiently adequate to give them the knowledge necessary to make informed investments.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Reading Guitar and Bass Tablatures
Q. What is tablature?
A. Tablature, or tabs is a form of music notation that anyone can read with little experience with their instrument. Tabs are by-ear, note for note transcriptions of recorded songs that anyone can have access to. Having access to the recording is important as tabs are much more simplified than standard music notation and will usually not tell you things such as note length, which fingers you use to fret which note, and will usually not tell you anything about picking and strumming, etc.
Q. How do I read the tabs?
A. Tabs are written in with each line representing one string on the guitar or bass, usually 6 or 4, respectively. In tablature, the highest line represents the highest (pitch) string. So the "top" string is actually on the bottom when you hold a guitar. If this is confusing, imagine having the guitar strapped on and then flipping it up to your face, you would essentially be looking at the guitar upside down, and the thinnest/highest pitch string would be on top. Trust me, just practice and it gets easier :)
Two more things you should know about tabs.
1) The number displayed is the fret, counting from 0, an open string, and increasing one for every fret -- you start counting from the headstock end, moving towards the body of the instrument.
2) Most tablatures will tell you the tuning of the instrument, with the letter tuning of the string to the left of it. If there is no bar showing tuning, it is either implied to be standard tuning, or will probably be indicated in the introduction to the tab. With that said, lets look at a basic tab – (guitar on left, bass on right)
e|--3----------
B|--0----------
G|--0---------- G|--------------------------
D|--0---------- D|-----------2--3—-2--------
A|--2---------- A|-----2--5-----------5--2--
E|--3---------- E|--3-----------------------
On the left is the open position “G” chord on the guitar, on the right is the first bar of a 12 bar blues pattern, in the key of “G” on the bass. These two examples tell you something very important about tabs – the notes are read left to right, and if they are on top of each other you play them simultaneously.
As mentioned before, the numbers correspond to the fret that you play. On the guitar tab, you play the chord by pressing down the 3rd fret on the low (pitch) string, 2nd fret on the next lowest, open on the next three, and 3rd fret on the highest string.
For the bass tab, play one at a time, the third fret on the lowest (E) string, then the second fret on the second lowest (A), then the 5th fret on that same A string, etc.
Also keep in mind that these are by ear transcriptions, the tabber had to listen to the song to write it down and it is important that you listen to the song to get the timing of the notes.
Q. What other common symbols can be seen on tabs?
A.
x mute
b bend
r release
h hammer on left hand
p pull off left hand
s slide
/ slide up
\ slide down
~ vibrato
(h) harmonic
(ph) pinch harmonic
><>
Here is an explination for some of the most common tablature symbols:
h - hammer on
p - pull off
With hammer-ons and pull-offs you might find things like these:
G------------------------5h7--------------------
D-----------------5h7---------------------------
A---------5h7-----------------------------------
E---5h7-----------------------------------------
Which would mean play the E string, 5th fret and then slam another finger down onto the 7th fret. Then play the A string, 5th fret and slam a finger onto the 7th fret, etc. No need to strum or pick the note right after the “h” as the act of slamming gives the string more energy.
A “Pull off” is pretty much a backwards hammer:
G------------------------7p5--------------------
D-----------------7p5---------------------------
A---------7p5-----------------------------------
E---7p5-----------------------------------------
For each pull off you only pick the first note of the pair with the right hand - so in this example you would start with one finger on the 7th fret, and one on the 5th. Then pick all the notes on the 7th fret, and lift up that finger leaving the finger on the 5th.
As stated before, you give the string an extra bit of energy when you hammer on or pull off, so you only need to play the first note. It should be noted that it does take a fair amount of finger strength and dexterity to sound a clear tone with this technique.
___________________
/ - slide up
\ - slide down
For a slide you start off plucking the first note and slide on the string up or down to the second. Oftentimes the “slide down“ symbol ( \ ) is never used and the slide up ( / ) is used to indicate any sliding at all. For example:
G|--------
D|--------
A|---3/7--
E|--------
You would play the “A” string, pluck it at the 3rd fret and then, without releasing pressure, slide your finger up the fret board to the 7th fret
___________________
s – slap
p - pop
While an entire tutorial much longer than this could be devoted to the subject of slapping and popping, I will only cover the basic concept here, just to get you started in the right direction.
Slapping is the height of percussive playing on the bass guitar. This style is mostly associated with Funk playing, but most famously combined with Punk by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and later brought into Metal by bassists such as Fieldy of Korn. Slapping involves hitting a string, usually the E or A string, with the side of your thumb. Your hand should be resting parallel to the strings, and the whole motion is made by the rotation of your forearm, so as to swing your thumb and bounce back in a clean motion.
Be sure to bounce your thumb back quickly so as not to dampen the sound. To "pop" a string, place your first (index) finger of your slapping hand part way under the string (just enough to grab it), pull the string out lightly and then let it pop back against the fret board. Keep your hand in the same relaxed position we talked about last time. Keep your first finger just stiff enough to pull the string out. Once you get comfortable with those techniques and produce a nice, clean sound, try this octave slapping patter:
G|---------------------------
D|-----2-----3-----4-----5--
A|---------------------------
E|--0-----1-----2-----3-----
S P S P S P S P
The slap and pop can be combined into one efficient movement. When your thumb comes crashing down on the string, simultaneously slip your index finger under the string you wish to pop and as your hand bounces back pull on the string to pop it. Also experiment with muting with your left hand to shorten the sound of the slap or pop.
A. Tablature, or tabs is a form of music notation that anyone can read with little experience with their instrument. Tabs are by-ear, note for note transcriptions of recorded songs that anyone can have access to. Having access to the recording is important as tabs are much more simplified than standard music notation and will usually not tell you things such as note length, which fingers you use to fret which note, and will usually not tell you anything about picking and strumming, etc.
Q. How do I read the tabs?
A. Tabs are written in with each line representing one string on the guitar or bass, usually 6 or 4, respectively. In tablature, the highest line represents the highest (pitch) string. So the "top" string is actually on the bottom when you hold a guitar. If this is confusing, imagine having the guitar strapped on and then flipping it up to your face, you would essentially be looking at the guitar upside down, and the thinnest/highest pitch string would be on top. Trust me, just practice and it gets easier :)
Two more things you should know about tabs.
1) The number displayed is the fret, counting from 0, an open string, and increasing one for every fret -- you start counting from the headstock end, moving towards the body of the instrument.
2) Most tablatures will tell you the tuning of the instrument, with the letter tuning of the string to the left of it. If there is no bar showing tuning, it is either implied to be standard tuning, or will probably be indicated in the introduction to the tab. With that said, lets look at a basic tab – (guitar on left, bass on right)
e|--3----------
B|--0----------
G|--0---------- G|--------------------------
D|--0---------- D|-----------2--3—-2--------
A|--2---------- A|-----2--5-----------5--2--
E|--3---------- E|--3-----------------------
On the left is the open position “G” chord on the guitar, on the right is the first bar of a 12 bar blues pattern, in the key of “G” on the bass. These two examples tell you something very important about tabs – the notes are read left to right, and if they are on top of each other you play them simultaneously.
As mentioned before, the numbers correspond to the fret that you play. On the guitar tab, you play the chord by pressing down the 3rd fret on the low (pitch) string, 2nd fret on the next lowest, open on the next three, and 3rd fret on the highest string.
For the bass tab, play one at a time, the third fret on the lowest (E) string, then the second fret on the second lowest (A), then the 5th fret on that same A string, etc.
Also keep in mind that these are by ear transcriptions, the tabber had to listen to the song to write it down and it is important that you listen to the song to get the timing of the notes.
Q. What other common symbols can be seen on tabs?
A.
x mute
b bend
r release
h hammer on left hand
p pull off left hand
s slide
/ slide up
\ slide down
~ vibrato
(h) harmonic
(ph) pinch harmonic
><>
Here is an explination for some of the most common tablature symbols:
h - hammer on
p - pull off
With hammer-ons and pull-offs you might find things like these:
G------------------------5h7--------------------
D-----------------5h7---------------------------
A---------5h7-----------------------------------
E---5h7-----------------------------------------
Which would mean play the E string, 5th fret and then slam another finger down onto the 7th fret. Then play the A string, 5th fret and slam a finger onto the 7th fret, etc. No need to strum or pick the note right after the “h” as the act of slamming gives the string more energy.
A “Pull off” is pretty much a backwards hammer:
G------------------------7p5--------------------
D-----------------7p5---------------------------
A---------7p5-----------------------------------
E---7p5-----------------------------------------
For each pull off you only pick the first note of the pair with the right hand - so in this example you would start with one finger on the 7th fret, and one on the 5th. Then pick all the notes on the 7th fret, and lift up that finger leaving the finger on the 5th.
As stated before, you give the string an extra bit of energy when you hammer on or pull off, so you only need to play the first note. It should be noted that it does take a fair amount of finger strength and dexterity to sound a clear tone with this technique.
___________________
/ - slide up
\ - slide down
For a slide you start off plucking the first note and slide on the string up or down to the second. Oftentimes the “slide down“ symbol ( \ ) is never used and the slide up ( / ) is used to indicate any sliding at all. For example:
G|--------
D|--------
A|---3/7--
E|--------
You would play the “A” string, pluck it at the 3rd fret and then, without releasing pressure, slide your finger up the fret board to the 7th fret
___________________
s – slap
p - pop
While an entire tutorial much longer than this could be devoted to the subject of slapping and popping, I will only cover the basic concept here, just to get you started in the right direction.
Slapping is the height of percussive playing on the bass guitar. This style is mostly associated with Funk playing, but most famously combined with Punk by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and later brought into Metal by bassists such as Fieldy of Korn. Slapping involves hitting a string, usually the E or A string, with the side of your thumb. Your hand should be resting parallel to the strings, and the whole motion is made by the rotation of your forearm, so as to swing your thumb and bounce back in a clean motion.
Be sure to bounce your thumb back quickly so as not to dampen the sound. To "pop" a string, place your first (index) finger of your slapping hand part way under the string (just enough to grab it), pull the string out lightly and then let it pop back against the fret board. Keep your hand in the same relaxed position we talked about last time. Keep your first finger just stiff enough to pull the string out. Once you get comfortable with those techniques and produce a nice, clean sound, try this octave slapping patter:
G|---------------------------
D|-----2-----3-----4-----5--
A|---------------------------
E|--0-----1-----2-----3-----
S P S P S P S P
The slap and pop can be combined into one efficient movement. When your thumb comes crashing down on the string, simultaneously slip your index finger under the string you wish to pop and as your hand bounces back pull on the string to pop it. Also experiment with muting with your left hand to shorten the sound of the slap or pop.
Introduction to MU Online
MU, a 3D online game produced by Webzen is a full on 3D MMORPG that is the first of its kind developed in Korea. MU is a highly involved fantasy Role Playing Game based on the legendary Continent of MU. You are given the choice of selecting between one of four classes, Dark Knight, Fairy, Dark Sorcerer and Magic Gladiator, and become a daring adventurer in the quest to save the land of MU. The beautiful surroundings made in full and glorious 3D was once unheard of and hardly imaginable but with the ingenious implementation of the Open GL Full 3D Engine technology developed by Webzen makes the impossible possible. What lies behind the legends and mysteries of MU? Let the journey begin!
Much time has passed since the millennia old Empire of MU lost complete and utter control over the Continent. While the power of the central government of MU continued to wane, feudal lords became engrossed and engaged in an inner turmoil over control of MU, destroying the foundations of its society. Over time, the bloody feuds and civil wars destroyed and ravaged the once beautiful land of MU and it is also during this time, amidst the blood and tears associated with such conflicts, amidst the petty ambitions of men and those who would be more than man that a dark and ominous shadow falls over the whole of MU.
Antonias, a feudal lord, overwrought with his burning ambition to control the land called MU was at once easily deceived by an evil sorcerer named Lemulia who through Antonias’ obsession was able to bring Kundun, the Devil of Darkness, back to life. Upon seeing his lovely daughter torn apart limb by limb by Kundun, Antonias wept tears of blood and lamented his fate and his ill decisions. In the end all was for naught, as his meaningless death by the hands of the evil sorceress Lemulia did not lessen his crime of reviving the Devil of Darkness, Kundun.
There is but only one path of hope for the Land of MU. But who will take the task of discovering the 8 Sealing Stones that have been scattered across the continent of MU. Who will once Seal the demon Kundun and restore the land to its once former beauty? Will it be YOU? The Devil of Darkness has already begun to take action to obliterate the Continent of MU. Receive thy Quest! Only the sword in your hand can banish Kundun and his evil minions once more.
visit http://muonline.ph/
Ogame
OGame is a strategic space simulation game with thousands of players across the world competing with each other simultaneously. All you need to play is a standard web browser.
visit http://ogame.org
Monday, August 20, 2007
Introduction to PHP
What is PHP?
- PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
- PHP is a server-side scripting language, like ASP
- PHP scripts are executed on the server
- PHP supports many databases (MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc.)
- PHP is an open source software (OSS)
- PHP is free to download and use
What is a PHP File?
- PHP files may contain text, HTML tags and scripts
- PHP files are returned to the browser as plain HTML
- PHP files have a file extension of ".php", ".php3", or ".phtml"
What is MySQL?
- MySQL is a database server
- MySQL is ideal for both small and large applications
- MySQL supports standard SQL
- MySQL compiles on a number of platforms
- MySQL is free to download and use
PHP + MySQL
- PHP combined with MySQL are cross-platform (means that you can develop in Windows and serve on a Unix platform)
Why PHP?
- PHP runs on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.)
- PHP is compatible with almost all servers used today (Apache, IIS, etc.)
- PHP is FREE to download from the official PHP resource: www.php.net
- PHP is easy to learn and runs efficiently on the server side
Where to Start?
- Install an Apache server on a Windows or Linux machine
- Install PHP on a Windows or Linux machine
- Install MySQL on a Windows or Linux machine
The Meaning of Dreams
Acquiring the ability to interpret your dreams is a powerful tool. In analyzing your dreams, you can learn about your deep secrets and hidden feelings. No one is a better expert at interpreting your dreams than yourself.
Every detail, even the most minute element in your dream is important and must be considered when analyzing your dreams. Look closely at the characters, animals, objects, places, emotions, and even color and numbers that are depicted in your dreams.
This free on-line dictionary, along with your own personal experiences, will serve to guide you through a meaningful and personalized interpretation. With practice, you can gain an understanding of the hidden secrets your dreams are trying to tell you.
visit http://dreamdictionary.f-sw.com
Every detail, even the most minute element in your dream is important and must be considered when analyzing your dreams. Look closely at the characters, animals, objects, places, emotions, and even color and numbers that are depicted in your dreams.
This free on-line dictionary, along with your own personal experiences, will serve to guide you through a meaningful and personalized interpretation. With practice, you can gain an understanding of the hidden secrets your dreams are trying to tell you.
visit http://dreamdictionary.f-sw.com
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