Global Digital Store – Ebooks and Softwares

Category: Lifestyle

  • Effects of developments in electronic media on Entertainment

    Effects of developments in electronic media on Entertainment

    Globalisation

    By the second half of the 20th century, developments in electronic media made possible the delivery of entertainment products to mass audiences across the globe. The technology enabled people to see, hear and participate in all the familiar forms – stories, theatre, music, dance – wherever they live. The rapid development of entertainment technology was assisted by improvements in data storage devices such as cassette tapes or compact discs, along with increasing miniaturisation. Computerisation and the development of barcodes also made ticketing easier, faster and global.

    Obsolescence

    In the 1940s, radio was the electronic medium for family entertainment and information. In the 1950s, it was television that was the new medium and it rapidly became global, bringing visual entertainment, first in black and white, then in colour, to the world. By the 1970s, games could be played electronically, then hand-held devices provided mobile entertainment, and by the last decade of the 20th century, via networked play. In combination with products from the entertainment industry, all the traditional forms of entertainment became available personally. People could not only select an entertainment product such as a piece of music, film or game, they could choose the time and place to use it. The "proliferation of portable media players and the emphasis on the computer as a site for film consumption" together have significantly changed how audiences encounter films. One of the most notable consequences of the rise of electronic entertainment has been the rapid obsolescence of the various recording and storage methods. As an example of speed of change driven by electronic media, over the course of one generation, television as a medium for receiving standardised entertainment products went from unknown, to novel, to ubiquitous and finally to superseded. One estimate was that by 2011 over 30 percent of households in the US would own a Wii console, "about the same percentage that owned a television in 1953". It is expected that halfway through the second decade of the 21st century, television will be completely replaced by online entertainment. The so-called "digital revolution" has resulted in an increasingly transnational marketplace that has caused difficulties for governments, business, industries and individuals as they all try to keep up. Even the sports stadium of the future will increasingly become a competitor with television viewing "in terms of comfort, safety and the constant flow of audio-visual information and entertainment available". Other flow on effects of the shift are likely to include those on public architecture such as hospitals and nursing homes, where television, regarded as an essential entertainment service for patients and residents, will need to be replaced by access to the internet. At the same time, the ongoing need for entertainers as "professional engagers" shows the continuity of traditional entertainment.

    Convergence

    By the second decade of the 21st century, analogue recording was being replaced by digital recording and all forms of electronic entertainment began to converge. For example, convergence is challenging standard practices in the film industry: whereas "success or failure used to be determined by the first weekend of its run. Today, … a series of exhibition 'windows', such as DVD, pay-per-view, and fibre-optic video-on-demand are used to maximise profits." Part of the industry's adjustment is its release of new commercial product directly via video hosting services. Media convergence is said to be more than technological: the convergence is cultural as well. It is also "the result of a deliberate effort to protect the interests of business entities, policy institutions and other groups". Globalisation and cultural imperialism are two of the cultural consequences of convergence. Others include fandom and interactive storytelling as well as the way that single franchises are distributed through and impact on a range of delivery methods. The "greater diversity in the ways that signals may be received and packaged for the viewer, via terrestrial, satellite or cable television, and of course, via the Internet" also affects entertainment venues, such as sports stadia, which now need to be designed so that both live and remote audiences can interact in increasingly sophisticated ways – for example, audiences can "watch highlights, call up statistics", "order tickets and merchandise" and generally "tap into the stadium's resources at any time of the day or night".

    The introduction of television altered the availability, cost, variety and quality of entertainment products for the public and the convergence of online entertainment is having a similar effect. For example, the possibility and popularity of user-generated content, as distinct from commercial product, creates a "networked audience model that makes programming obsolete". Individuals and corporations use video hosting services to broadcast content that is equally accepted by the public as legitimate entertainment.

    While technology increases demand for entertainment products and offers increased speed of delivery, the forms that make up the content are in themselves, relatively stable. Storytelling, music, theatre, dance and games are recognisably the same as in earlier centuries.

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  • Benefits of Being an Affiliate Marketer

    Benefits of Being an Affiliate Marketer

    Affiliate marketing has become one of the most effective ways to advertise online. It is also one of the easiest ways for anyone with a website to make a profit online. Affiliate Marketing is an agreement between a merchant and a website owner. The website owner, or the affiliate, allows the use of their site for the promotion of the merchant's products by linking to the merchant's website. In exchange, the merchant pays a commission to the affiliate on all sales generated by the affiliate. Every time someone clicks on the link on the affiliate website and proceeds to make a purchase, the affiliate gets a commission. The merchant will pay the affiliate only when a customer clicks on the product link and makes a purchase.

    Affiliate marketing programs are described as a win-win situation for both the merchant and the affiliate because of the pay-for-performance scheme. Both the merchant and the affiliate enjoy some benefits in affiliate marketing. There are many benefits on the merchant's side. It gives the merchant a wider market in which to advertise a product or service. Affiliate marketing will give the product or service the maximum exposure that it may not get with other traditional advertising techniques. The more affiliate sites a merchant has, the higher the traffic, which can convert to sales. Affiliate marketing is the equivalent of having an army of sales people who will do the advertising and will only get a commission if a customer purchases.

    Meanwhile, since an affiliate marketing relationship is a win-win situation, the affiliate also enjoys many benefits. Foremost among these is the easy way to make a profit. The affiliate can earn by having an ad or link to the merchant's website, which prospective customers will hopefully click and proceed to make a purchase. As soon as the customer clicks on the ad on the affiliate's site, is redirected to the merchant's website and goes on to buy that particular product, the affiliate earns a commission. The more referrals there are the more profit for the affiliate.

    Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to earn money while at home. There are virtually no production costs. The product is already developed and proven by the merchant, and all you have to do to find, as many prospects as you can that will bring in the profit for both the merchant and the affiliate. Affiliate programs are usually free to join, so affiliates do not have to worry about start-up costs. There are thousands of products and services you can choose from. You can find affiliate programs for every product under the sun. Surely, there is a product or service out there that is relevant to your website.

    In addition, there is absolutely no sales experience necessary. Most affiliate programs offer excellent support when it comes to providing marketing material. The simplicity of affiliate marketing allows you to be an affiliate marketer at the least cost and the most comfort. You can even build a successful affiliate marketing business right in the convenience of your own home. In affiliate marketing, your responsibility is simply to find prospects for the merchant; you do not have to worry about inventory, order processing, and product shipping. These, along with customer service support are the duties of the merchant.

    Because of the global reach of the internet, you can easily find thousands of prospects. You can intensify your advertising campaign by exploiting more aggressive and productive strategies such as viral marketing. By attracting more prospects, you also maximize your potential to earn. Another benefit of an affiliate marketer is the minimal risk involved. If the product you are advertising is not making money then you can dump it and choose another. There are no long-term binding contracts tying you to products that are not making enough money.

    All the same, the best benefit of being an affiliate marketer is the opportunity to increase your income; and you can make a profit even if affiliate marketing is only a sideline business. With your own affiliate business, you can earn easily earn extra income, although you do have to exert effort and use your imagination to maximize your earning potential. Indeed, affiliate marketing is one of the simplest and most effective business opportunities on the web today.

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  • Magic Entertainment

    Magic Entertainment

    The form of entertainment known as stage magic or conjuring and recognisable as performance, is based on traditions and texts of magical rites and dogmas that have been a part of most cultural traditions since ancient times. (References to magic, for example, can be found in the Bible, in Hermeticism, in Zoroastrianism, in the Kabbalistic tradition, in mysticism and in the sources of Freemasonry.)

    Stage magic is performed for an audience in a variety of media and locations: on stage, on television, in the street, and live at parties or events. It is often combined with other forms of entertainment, such as comedy or music and showmanship is often an essential part of magic performances. Performance magic relies on deception, psychological manipulation, sleight of hand and other forms of trickery to give an audience the illusion that a performer can achieve the impossible. Audiences amazed at the stunt performances and escape acts of Harry Houdini, for example, regarded him as a magician.

    Fantasy magicians have held an important place in literature for centuries, offering entertainment to millions of readers. Famous wizards such as Merlin in the Arthurian legends have been written about since the 5th and 6th centuries, while in the 21st century, the young wizard Harry Potter became a global entertainment phenomenon when the book series about him sold about 450 million copies (as at June 2011), making it the best-selling book series in history.

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  • Digital Book

    Go to http://afrocircle.com/technology/e-book/

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  • Getting Married? Beauty Preparations You Need to Make

    Have you recently been engaged?  If you have, have you started planning your wedding yet?  If you haven’t, you will want to get started with the planning soon.  Even if you have already started planning your wedding, have you made all of your beauty preparations yet?  Beauty preparation are an important part of planning a wedding, if not the most important part. For that reason, you will want to start making your beauty arrangements right away.

    When it comes to beauty preparations for your wedding, you will find that are a number of different steps that you will need to take.  First off all, you may want to decide how you would like your hair and makeup to be done.  If you are also interested in having your bridesmaids’ hair be all the same, you may want to think about planning out their hair styles as well.  If you find yourself having a difficult time doing so, you may want to think about hiring the services of a beauty consultant or making “testing,” appointments at your local beauty or hair salon.

    Speaking of a beauty or hair salon, if you need to make appointments for you and the rest of your wedding party to get your hair done, you will want to make your appointments in advance.  If your wedding is scheduled for “wedding season,” you will want to make your appointments as soon as

    Getting Married? Beauty Preparations You Need to Make
    Getting Married? Beauty Preparations You Need to Make

    possible, especially if you have your heart set on getting your hair done at a particular salon. Smaller salons can only handle one wedding party at a time.

    In addition to getting your hair done on your wedding day, you may also be interested in getting your nails done or having your makeup professionally applied.  If you are interested in getting your makeup professionally applied, you will likely have your makeup done right after your hair is. As for your nails, you may be required to make an appointment in the days leading up to the wedding.  If you or your bridesmaids need nail touchups, they can be done at the last minute.

    Although you hope that everything will go well on your wedding day, you will want to prepare for the unexpected. In terms of beauty and fashion, the unexpected may include a tear in your dress or the dress one of your bridesmaids, a stain, or too much sweating. For that reason, you may want to think about having an emergency beauty bag on hand and with you at all times during your wedding, particularly before the ceremony takes place.  Many times, the maid of honor will be responsible for coming up with such a bag, but you still may want to make sure that it is done.

    As for the items that should go inside an emergency beauty bag, you may want to stock it full of anything that you think you or your bridesmaids may need.  Items that you will definitely want to include in an emergency beauty bag include makeup, deodorant, hand lotion, hairspray or hair gel, a brush, a comb, extra bobby pins, a small sewing kit, and emergency stain removing chemicals.  Having these types of items and more inside an emergency beauty bag will reduce the number of unexpected events that may end up hampering your wedding day.

    The above mentioned beauty preparation tips are just a few of the many that you will want to make. In fact, beauty preparation tips are just a few of the plans and arrangements that you will have to make.  For instance, you will need to choose a venue for your wedding reception, a band or a DJ, a wedding cake, and so forth.  With all of the preparations and arrangements that need to be made, you may want to think about hiring the services of a professional wedding planner or at least buying a wedding planning guide, which will hopefully include a detailed checklist for you.

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  • Thrifty car rentals – Getting thrifty car rentals

    Getting thrifty car rentals

    When planning to travel to other countries or even just to a different state, car rental has always been a must especially for traveling business men who need to go to one place to another. However, is spite of whatever “status” they may have, business men as well as ordinary travelers still opt to find and avail of the most thrifty car rentals that they could find. Thrifty car rentals usually abound, whether it be on directories, the internet or wherever it is that you can find service advertisements. It really just a matter of choosing the best thrifty car rental for you and your needs.

    Convenience is always a must whenever a person travels, this is pretty much while a lot of people opt to avail of thrifty car rentals, aside from having the convenience of being able to go whichever place they want without the hassle of hopping from one kind of mass transportation to another, they still get good value for their money.

    A good example of a reputable thrifty car rental service company in the country is the Alamo car rental company. A lot of people actually recommend availing its thrifty car rental service, because of aside from being practical, they provide good and efficient service to their customers. From providing their customers with a wide range of vehicles to choose from, cars, RVs, basically just whatever type of vehicle that you may need for you travels. They also have various travel programs that you can choose from, this thrifty car rental has actually created various customer programs to suit each and every one’s needs and demands. From corporate programs to government contractor programs, thrifty car rentals surely is their line of expertise.

    Another good reason for choosing the Alamo car rental service as your thrifty car rental option, is their strict adherence to quality of service, they’ve really made a name fro themselves by making sure that their customers needs are always kept and they’ve made it a point to keep their good customer feedback by assuring their customers (as well as those who are just browsing) that they provide quality, yet thrifty car rentals.

    Thrifty car rentals should never really be a hassle to your traveling needs (or demands), it is pretty easy to land on a huge list of companies that are able to provide quality yet thrifty car rentals. Just be sure to keep a keen eye on the companies that you are choosing from, unfortunately, is spite of a lot of thrifty car rentals who really do try to make an honest living by providing good, quality service to its customers, some sleazy thrifty car rentals still circulate in the market. Be sure to be cautious still when choosing, some may offer really low rates but their cars may be not of real good quality, simply put, the reason why they’re offering thrifty car rentals may be because of their defective cars.
    Getting thrifty car rentals
    Look out for “signs” when you’re choosing. Ask around, from your family, friends, colleagues and especially your travel agent in which of these thrifty car rentals would they actually recommend. Weigh out your options based on your needs, wants and most importantly, you budget. Of course, having a limited budget shouldn’t really just force you to end up settling with just any thrifty car rental service, shelling out a little more may not really hurt you. In the end, when it comes to looking for thrifty car rentals, it really is more of the quality of service that they provide which should matter to you.

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  • Making Business Easier With Autoresponders

    In the online world of business, an autoresponder can do a lot for your company.  Also referred to as mailbots, email and on demand, and automatic email, these tools can help you put your business on autopilot and spend more time doing other things.  Autoresponders are great to have, as they are designed to automatically respond to any email they receive with an instant response.

    Over the years, autoresponders have increased quite a bit in popularity.  They are best known for their automatic email responses, which will save you a lot of time.  By using one of these programs, you won’t have to spend countless hours answering emails again.  You can feel free to do other things and always know that your customers have access to the information they need anytime they want it.

    To set your business on autopilot, all you need to do is get your copy ready and load it into your autoresponder.  Once a potential buyer or current customer sends your autoresponder address a message, the information he or she is seeking will automatically be delivered to them.  Autoresponders are very quick – delivering information via email in a matter of seconds.

    Autoresponders can also help you send out free courses, articles and information, reports, information regarding your products and services, price lists, welcome and thank you letters, confirm orders, and tell others about your advertising rates.  You can preset information such as this into your autoresponder, so it will automatically send the information out whenever someone requests it.

    Unlike mass email messages, autoresponders can be set up to your specifications.  You can send personalized messages with them as well, which will make your client feel as if the email was made specifically for him.  Autoresponders will also follow up with emails as well, to ensure that you get a sale.  The better autoresponders out there will notify you each and every time someone has requested your information, so you know when you have potential customers.

    You can also update your autoresponder messages anytime you wish.  From time to time as you get new products or information to send to your clients, you can update your log.  When running a business, it’s very important that you keep your customers up to date.  This way, your customers will know that you have new products available and ready for purchase.  If you have a good relationship with them, they will be anticipating your new offers.

    If you run a business over the Internet, an autoresponder can make life a lot easier.  You can let your autoresponder handle a majority of the tasks, including technical support and sending out information about your company and your products.  These days, autoresponders are the best tools for online business – as they give you plenty of free time for other things.

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  • Public Punishment as Entertainment

    Public Punishment as Entertainment

    Although most forms of entertainment have evolved and continued over time, some once-popular forms are no longer as acceptable. For example, during earlier centuries in Europe, watching or participating in the punishment of criminals or social outcasts was an accepted and popular form of entertainment. Many forms of public humiliation also offered local entertainment in the past. Even capital punishment such as hanging and beheading, offered to the public as a warning, were also regarded partly as entertainment. Capital punishments that lasted longer, such as stoning and drawing and quartering, afforded a greater public spectacle. "A hanging was a carnival that diverted not merely the unemployed but the unemployable. Good bourgeois or curious aristocrats who could afford it watched it from a carriage or rented a room."Public punishment as entertainment lasted until the 19th century by which time "the awesome event of a public hanging aroused the loathing of writers and philosophers". Both Dickens and Thackeray wrote about a hanging in Newgate Prison in 1840, and "taught an even wider public that executions are obscene entertainments".

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  • Google Products and Services Discontinued in 2006 and 2007

    Google Products and Services Discontinued in 2006

        Google Answers – Online knowledge market offered by Google that allowed users to post bounties for well researched answers to their queries. Discontinued on November 28, 2006; still accessible (as read-only).
        Google Deskbar – desktop bar with a built-in mini browser. Replaced by a similar feature in Google Desktop. Discontinued on May 8, 2006.

     Google Products and Services Discontinued in 2007

        Google Click-to-Call – allowed a user speak directly over the phone, for free, to businesses he/she finds on Google search results pages. Discontinued in 2007.
        Related Links – automatically brought fresh, dynamic and interesting content links to any website. Webmasters could place these units on their site to provide visitors with links to useful information related to the site's content, including relevant videos, news, searches, and pages. Discontinued on April 30, 2007.
        Public Service Search – Non-commercial organization service, which included Google Site Search, traffic reports and unlimited search queries. Discontinued on February 2007; replaced by Google Custom Search.

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  • Intellectual property of Fashion

    Within the fashion industry, intellectual property is not enforced as it is within the film industry and music industry. Robert Glariston, an intellectual property expert mentioned in a fashion seminar held in LA that "Copyright law regarding clothing is a current hot-button issue in the industry. We often have to draw the line between designers being inspired by a design and those outright stealing it in different places." To take inspiration from others' designs contributes to the fashion industry's ability to establish clothing trends. For the past few years, WGSN has been a dominant source of fashion news and forecasts in encouraging fashion brands worldwide to be inspired by one another. Enticing consumers to buy clothing by establishing new trends is, some have argued, a key component of the industry's success. Intellectual property rules that interfere with this process of trend-making would, in this view, be counter-productive. On the other hand, it is often argued that the blatant theft of new ideas, unique designs, and design details by larger companies is what often contributes to the failure of many smaller or independent design companies.

    Since fakes are distinguishable by their poorer quality, there is still a demand for luxury goods, and as only a trademark or logo can be copyrighted, many fashion brands make this one of the most visible aspects of the garment or accessory. In handbags, especially, the designer's brand may be woven into the fabric (or the lining fabric) from which the bag is made, making the brand an intrinsic element of the bag.

    In 2005, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held a conference calling for stricter intellectual property enforcement within the fashion industry to better protect small and medium businesses and promote competitiveness within the textile and clothing industries.

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