The hardest part of writing is the first sentence. When you look at the whole project, it seems like an impossible task. That’s why you have to break it down into manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain. You are standing at the foot of it and looking up at its summit vanishing into the clouds. How can you possibly scale such an immense and dangerous mountain?
There is only one way to climb a mountain ? step by step.

Now think of writing your ebook in the same light. You must create it step by step, and one day, you will take that last step and find yourself standing on the summit with your head in the clouds.

The first thing you have to do, as if you actually were a mountain climber, is to get organized. Instead of climbing gear, however, you must organize your thoughts. There are some steps you should take before you begin. Once you’ve gone through the following list, you will be ready to actually begin writing your ebook.

Beginning Steps to Writing an ebook

First, figure out your ebook’s working title. Jot down a few different titles, and eventually, you’ll find that one that will grow on you. Titles help you to focus your writing on your topic; they guide you in anticipating and answering your reader’s queries. Many non-fiction books also have subtitles. Aim for clarity in your titles, but cleverness always helps to sell books ? as long as it’s not too cute. For example, Remedies for Insomnia: twenty different ways to count sheep. Or: Get off that couch: fifteen exercise plans to whip you into shape.

Next, write out a thesis statement. Your thesis is a sentence or two stating exactly what problem you are addressing and how your book will solve that problem. All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement. Once you’ve got your thesis statement fine-tuned, you’ve built your foundation. From that foundation, your book will grow, chapter by chapter.

Your thesis will keep you focused while you write your ebook. Remember: all chapters must support your thesis statement. If they don’t, they don’t belong in your book. For example, your thesis statement could read: We’ve all experienced insomnia at times in our lives, but there are twenty proven techniques and methods to give you back a good night’s sleep.

Once you have your thesis, before you start to write, make sure there is a good reason to write your book. Ask yourself some questions:

* Does your book present useful information and is that information currently relevant?

* Will your book positively affect the lives of your readers?

* Is your book dynamic and will it keep the reader’s attention?

* Does your book answer questions that are meaningful and significant?

If you can answer yes to these questions, you can feel confident about the potential of your ebook.

Another important step is to figure out who your target audience is. It is this group of people you will be writing to, and this group will dictate many elements of your book, such as style, tone, diction, and even length. Figure out the age range of your readers, their general gender, what they are most interested in, and even the socio-economic group they primarily come from. Are they people who read fashion magazines or book reviews? Do they write letters in longhand or spend hours every day online. The more you can pin down your target audience, the easier it will be to write your book for them.

Next, make a list of the reasons you are writing your ebook. Do you want to promote your business? Do you want to bring quality traffic to your website? Do you want to enhance your reputation?

Then write down your goals in terms of publishing. Do you want to sell it as a product on your website, or do you want to offer it as a free gift for filling out a survey or for ordering a product? Do you want to use the chapters to create an e-course, or use your ebook to attract affiliates around the world? The more you know upfront, the easier the actual writing will be.

Decide on the format of your chapters. In non-fiction, keep the format from chapter to chapter fairly consistent. Perhaps you plan to use an introduction to your chapter topic, and then divide it into four subhead topics. Or you may plan to divide it into five parts, each one beginning with a relevant anecdote.

How to make your ebook “user friendly”

You must figure out how to keep your writing engaging. Often anecdotes, testimonials, little stories, photos, graphs, advice, and tips will keep the reader turning the pages. Sidebars are useful for quick, accessible information, and they break up the density of the page.

Write with a casual, conversational tone rather than a formal tone such as textbook diction. Reader’s respond to the feeling that you are having a conversation with them. Break up the length and structure of your sentences so you don?t hypnotize your readers into sleep. Sentences that are all the same length and structure tend to be a good aid for insomnia!

Good writing takes practice. It takes lots and lots of practice. Make a schedule to write at least a page a day. Read books and magazines about the process of writing, and jot down tips that jump out at you. The art of writing is a lifetime process; the more you write (and read), the better your writing will become. The better your writing becomes, the bigger your sales figures.

In an ebook that is read on the screen, be aware that you must give your reader’s eye a break. You can do this by utilizing white space. In art classes, white space is usually referred to as “negative space.” Reader’s eyes need to rest in the cool white oasises you create on your page. If your page is too dense, your reader will quit out of it as soon as their eyes begin to tear.

Make use of lists, both bulleted and numbered. This makes your information easy to absorb, and gives the reader a mental break from dissecting your paragraphs one after the other.

Finally, decide on an easy-to-read design. Find a font that’s easy on the eyes, and stick to that font family. Using dozens of fonts will only tire your readers out before they’ve gotten past your introduction. Use at least one and a half line spacing, and text large enough to be read easily on the screen, but small enough so that the whole page can be seen on a computer screen. You will have to experiment with this to find the right combination.

Of course, don’t forget to run a spell and grammar check. You are judged by something as minor as correct punctuation, so don?t mess up a great book by tossing out semicolons randomly, or stringing sentences together with commas. (By the way, that’s called a “comma splice.”)

Last of all, create an index and a bibliography. That’s it! You’ve written a book! Now all you have to do is publish your ebook online, and wait for download request from your website visitors.

In online marketing business like affiliate marketing, no traffic means no sales. That�s the reason why most affiliates or webmasters easily shell out even big bucks just to get top rankings on the search engines. Once you are promoting a product or service in you web page, you need to have more visitors that can be potential consumers to your products and services. This is one of the fundamental rules to succeed in online marketing business. Here, you just need to start and get it right and you can do some things wrong but still manage to succeed. Don�t ever try to get it wrong because no matter how hard you work, you can never find yourself on the way to success.

I guess everyone will agree if I said that obtaining enough highly targeted traffic is the key to success in affiliate marketing business. This method is proven to be effective if you�re promoting or reselling product or service online. One of the best and most secured marketing strategies that affiliate marketers can employ is the strategy of paying for performance. This means that your investments are used only on results such as additional sales and incomes.

Let�s take a practical example. Paying for performance could mean giving a commission to a sales person only when new sale is made. This strategy assures you real profit because you can already compute the amount money you have to spend for every new sale made. Also, you can avoid spending any marketing bucks because every cent you use up has either come from sale or will generate a sale in the future.

And one of the proven and most efficient ways of acquiring sales in affiliate marketing business is by drawing laser-targeted traffic towards your web site and converting them to sales by means of �Pay-Per-Click� Search Engines (PPCSEs).

Overture claims to be the Internet�s best pay-per-click search engine. It is the world�s leading resource of Pay-For-Performance search on the web. And what�s more enticing about Overture? When you advertise in Overture Premium Listings, your site will absolutely appear in the leading U.S. search engines like Yahoo, InfoSpace, MSN, Netscape, AltaVista, Lycos and more. Plus, you can get the benefit of reaching more than 80% of active Internet users.

PPCSEs like Overture can bring impressive sales because they permit you to pay for performance by means of attracting precisely targeted traffic to your niche. And this means people or site visitors who are actively searching for what precisely you are offering or selling. Overture�s secret is to drive laser-targeted traffic to your website by proposing or bidding on keywords that are related to the product or services that you are offering. And this strategy works this way: the more exact the keyword is, the better results you�ll receive and the less you�ll have to spend for each new sale.

Overture drives targeted traffic by keeping you away from the general keywords that are very common and usually come expensive and by casting a wide net of laser-focused keywords that are more targeted, not so expensive, and with high conversion rate. I�ll tell you, attracting laser-targeted traffic through Overture is nothing but a �Win-Win� Situation.

Overture�s strategy also allows your visitors to respond. And what�s important once you get your visitors to respond? Well, you are given a chance to develop lifetime customers that will patronize your product and will buy from you over an over again. Bear in mind that one-time sales can�t be a key in creating a highly-profitable business especially online. You can only achieve this through PPCSEs like Overture, which gets your site visitors to respond. And once it happens, you can constantly market and sell your products to them.

Another tactic that Overture uses in order to gain laser-targeted traffic is to have a �Back-Up Response� for those who �almost bought� your product on the first visit. To successfully realize this, you need to market and advertise to them over and over again until you make them a new customer. Offer them an incentive so that they�ll allow you to advertise to them over a certain time span by means of e-mail or post mail. Here are some of the back-up responses which you can use: send a free e-mail newsletter, give a free catalog and offer a promo or sweepstakes which gives them the chance to win free merchandise.

Other things that will surely attract lifetime customers to your site are offering valued customer discounts, giving seasonal and special offers especially to your repeat customers and any other incentives to purchase. Don�t get me wrong with this; the abovementioned strategies can surely develop a trusted relationship between you and your customers. Aside from patronizing your products over their lifetime, they may even refer others to you or to your site.

To sum up, one of the most effective and secured marketing strategies that any businessman can utilize particularly those who are involved in online marketing is the approach of only paying for performance. And one of the most helpful online strategies to create more sales is by pulling laser targeted traffic towards your website and converting them to sales by means of Pay-Per-Click Search Engines like Overture.

Tech-writing is a tricky business. It�s not a very high profile industry, so there�s not much support around. Follow these 10 quick tips, and you�ll be well on your way to a satisfying tech-writing career.

1) Follow a sensible career path�

* STEP 1: Start in a team

* STEP 2: Stay only just long enough

* STEP 3: Manage yourself

* STEP 4: Manage a team

* STEP 5: Go contracting (depends on the market)

2) Knowledge is your lifeblood � learn the politics of your company. Know who knows what. Find someone who consistently gives you timely, reliable, technically accurate answers, and get their name tattooed on your shoulder! Every company has at least one. And they may not be in the project manager/product manager/customer/programmer roles. They are generally the people who�ve used the product in the real world, and dealt with real world customers.

3) Communicate WITH, not AT. Tech-writers don�t have enough power to get away with communicating at.

4) Track stuff (take spreadsheet printout and write it up on the board).

5) Develop good product and domain knowledge � The more you can figure out for yourself, the better off you�ll be (and the more respect you�ll get from the techies).

6) Find out who your users are, what they are trying to do, what they are having trouble doing, and how they want to be helped. Then provide this assistance. Help the user do what they are trying to do. Don�t just tell them what the product can do� a help system is only helpful if it addresses the users� needs.

7) Treat everyone as a customer. Then manage their expectations and your commitments. Always ensure they know what you�re doing. Tell them when you�ll be finished. And pull out all stops to meet your deadline.

Provide a surrogate user testing mechanism for the development team � providing usability feedback.

9) Work as hard as required to get good quality doco finished on time and to budget � this is how you�ll get the satisfaction out of work that you need.

10) Have fun with it.

Don�t become jaded and cynical by the high-tech, harsh, uncaring IT world. Use your smarts, and make the most of the resources provided. Most importantly of all, make work satisfaction your number 1 goal. It�s the best way to stay happy and get ahead.

It is estimated that over 42 million computer notebooks
will be produced this year. And that number is said to
be growing by 20% each year. So what’s driving the demand
for these devices, what’s making them so popular?

It’s more than just the next techno fad, notebook computers
offer some very practical solutions to our computing
requirements and needs. There are some real solid reasons why they
have become so popular among their users. These are the same
reasons why you should consider making your next PC purchase
a notebook or laptop computer.

So if you need convincing, here are those 10 solid reasons
why you should consider buying a notebook computer:

1. Size. This is one situation where size really does matter.
It’s the main reason you should consider buying a notebook or
laptop in the first place. You want a PC that will fit neatly
in your hand to take to your next office meeting, you want
a convenient laptop to take to class or you want a notebook
for your next cross country business trip.

Notebooks come in a variety of sizes to match your needs or
purpose. They are categorized or grouped accordingly:

Tablet PC (smallest) Size of a paper tablet or notepad, less than 3
pounds.

Ultra Portable (small), around 11″ x 10″, less than 1.3 inches thick, less
than 4 pounds.

Thin and Light (mid-size), around 11-14″ x 11″, 1 to 1.4 inches thick, from 5
to 7 pounds.

Desktop Replacements (largest), more than 13″ x 11″, more than 1.5 inches, more
than 7 pounds and up.

As you can see there is a great range of sizes so you should have no
trouble finding a notebook computer to satisfy your needs. Just match
the notebook size to the main purpose or use of your notebook and you
can’t go wrong.

2. Portability. Probably the second, if not the most important reason
you’re considering buying a notebook or laptop. You want a PC that’s portable
and lightweight. One that you can take anywhere; to class, to meetings,
on business trips or from room to room in your home.

This freedom of movement — taking your office or vital data along on
your business or personal travels is the main selling point of the
notebook computer. The portability factor is one you should seriously
consider — do you need a portable computer for your home, work or just
for pure enjoyment.

3. Performance. Not too long ago, notebooks or laptops were viewed by
many as second class computers when compared to the performance and
speed of the mighty desktop PC. Distance cousins discreetly allocated
to the sidelines.

But things have changed! Although still not on par with the desktop,
thanks to the next generation notebook chipset, Intel’s New Sonoma
Platform, many notebooks come very close to providing the performance level
of a desktop PC. Many notebooks, especially the desktop replacements,
already have impressive technical specs that would shame most ordinary
desktops. Some of these desktop replacements even use desktop processors
or CPUs.

With hard drives up to 100GB or more at (7,200rpm), with RAM up to 2MB in
some cases, and supported with Intel Pentium 4’s, at 3.4GHz or more — most
notebooks are very capable of handling almost all computing applications and
functions with ease. They can do the job.

4. Connections. We live in a wireless world. The notebook will do for
computers, what the cell phone did for the telephone industry — make our
communications wireless. Being constantly connected to your friends, your
business or your family does have a certain appeal that can’t be denied.
The notebook computer will give you this wireless connection.

Most notebooks now come with WI-FI (Wireless Fidelity), also known as
802.11 a/b/g, with the ability to stay connected no matter where you are.
As more and more businesses such as hotels, restaurants and airports
offer these ‘hot spots’ or WI-FI service to their patrons, easy
connections will become commonplace.

Plus, BIG PLUS - Verizon Wireless 3G EV-DO network is spreading fast,
this will bring wireless connections to a whole new level. It will
make the Internet truly wireless!

5. Function. There are certain functions that are unique to the
notebook computer. The tablet PC provides a convenient device for note
taking and data gathering that’s not practical in a desktop computer.
For business professionals such as doctors, lawyers, real estate
agents…these tablet notebooks do very practical ‘in-the-field’ chores
or tasks. Other notebooks are very useful for powerpoint presentations
at meetings and other gatherings.

6. Backup. The notebook or laptop can be used as a convenient backup
of your vital files and programs. Often overlooked, but the notebook can
provide a rather cheap and safe way to protect your sensitive data.
Anyone who has had a major or total loss of their hard drives can appreciate
the importance of having a safe backup system.

For those constantly surfing the net, exposing your sensitive data to
all the hazards (viruses, worms, spyware,etc.) can lead to problems.
Having a separate system stored on a laptop or notebook can
be a good way of working around this problem.

7. Variety. Notebooks and laptops offer much more variety than the
ordinary desktop PC. From a small pocket size tablet PC all the way
up to a Multi-Media desktop replacement that offers TV, Stereo,
CD/DVD Player, as well as a computer of course.

There is a greater range of systems to choose from; all the way from
sleek custom designed notebooks to huge monster gaming laptops, there’s
something to satisfy most tastes. You can also buy a notebook to
match your style; from IBM black to Ferrari Red. It’s out there.

8. Price and Availability. Notebooks are everywhere and they’re
getting cheaper by the minute. Notebooks prices are coming down, as
more and more notebooks are sold — the price will drop even more.
They’re still slightly more expensive than a desktop PC but the gap
is closing fast.

Finding a seller or dealer is very easy, shopping online directly
from the manufacturer or company is also becoming very popular. In addition,
there are also some very good reputable online dealers that’s spreading
the notebook gospel. Your dream notebook is only a click away.

9.Sex Appeal. It has to be mentioned, notebook computers are sexy!
There’s no denying it; these sleek, svelte machine are some of the
sexiest accessories this side of a Batwatch Extra. The notebook’s great
looks will probably be the first drawing card for many people who’s
considering buying a notebook. A fully functional accessory that will
not only turn heads but can also do the books.

10. Last but not least, the main reason you should consider buying a
notebook computer — because you want one. Just for the convenience,
portability, or the downright pleasure of owning a notebook computer. Besides,
it’s a proven medical fact that denying your wants or needs can be detrimental
to your health.

Go treat yourself!

1.Let your PC boot up completely before opening any applications.

2.Refresh the desktop after closing any application. This will remove any unused files from the RAM.

3.Do not set very large file size images as your wallpaper. Do not keep a wallpaper at all if your PC is low on RAM (less than 64 MB).

4.Do not clutter your Desktop with a lot of shortcuts. Each shortcut on the desktop uses up to 500 bytes of RAM

5.Empty the recycle bin regularly. The files are not really deleted from your hard drive until you empty the recycle bin.

6.Delete the temporary internet files regularly.

7.Defragment your hard drive once every two months. This will free up a lot of space on your hard drive and rearrange the files so that your applications run faster.

8.Always make two partitions in your hard drive. Install all large Softwares (like PSP, Photoshop, 3DS Max etc) in the second partition. Windows uses all the available empty space in C drive as virtual memory when your Computer RAM is full. Keep the C Drive as empty as possible.

9.When installing new Softwares disable the option of having a tray icon. The tray icons use up available RAM, and also slow down the booting of your PC. Also disable the option of starting the application automatically when the PC boots. You can disable these options later on also from the Tools or preferences menu in your application.

10. Protect your PC from dust. Dust causes the CPU cooling fan to jam and slow down thereby gradually heating your CPU and affecting the processing speed. Use compressed air to blow out any dust from the CPU. Never use vacuum.

RAM IS THE WORKING AREA (DESKTOP) OF THE CPU, KEEP IT AS EMPTY AND UNCLUTTERED AS POSSIBLE!

With the popularity of cell phones on the rise, companies are constantly touting their offers for free cell phones. But are those offers real? There are some things to consider before you grab up one of those offers. Take a look at some facts and some options.

The majority of free cell phones are offered by companies that provide cell phone service. These companies can afford to make the offer because they�re assured that they�re going to have your business for a set period of time. That�s because the only way you�re really going to get one of their free cell phones is by signing a contract that binds you to cell phone service for a specific period of time. With that contract, you�re agreeing to pay for the service � usually for one or two years � whether you use it or not.

But if you price cell phones purchased outright, isn�t it better to sign that contract than to pay the full price for a phone? Probably, but you should carefully evaluate your situation and be sure you�re going to want to pay for the service for that length of time.

Keep in mind that there are dozens of companies out there providing cell phone service, and they�re all vying for a specific customer base. Because of the situation, you have the upper hand � at least to some degree. One of the gimmicks these companies use is to offer free cell phones in an attempt to gain new customers. Before you sign up, get a value for the phone they�re offering for free. Ask for the price of the phone if you don�t sign a contract, and then price that phone with some other companies. You may find that the phone isn�t worth very much anyway and that signing simply buying the phone without signing a contract is a better decision.

Choosing a cell phone service provider should not end at which of those companies will provide the best free cell phones. Evaluate the service past the phone. The price of service, terms of the contract and features (call waiting, call forwarding and voice mail) should all play a role in your decision. When you weigh those aspects, you may find that buying a cell phone from company A is a better deal that taking the free cell phones from company B.

There�s no doubt that there are free cell phones available. But as is true with most things, there are also strings attached and terms to be met in order to qualify.

Memory
Adding memory is one of the most popular upgrades. It makes a big difference to how fast your PC runs. When your PC runs out of memory for what it�s doing, it stores information on your hard drive instead. Your hard drive is nowhere near as fast as the memory. The more memory you�ve got, the less often your PC will need to store things on the hard drive as it works. So the faster it will go.

How much memory is enough does depend on what version of Windows you�re running. With Windows XP, 256MB is considered a bit on the low side, though it�ll be just about OK. 512MB is decent and 1024MB is really good. If you have Windows 95 or 98, you can get by on 64MB though it’s worth going to 128MB even if you just use your PC for basic office work. More will make it really hum along.

It also depends on what you�re using your PC for � if you�re just typing up the odd letter and sending emails, then 256MB will probably do you but if you�re editing video or playing the latest 3D games, it�ll be worth getting the full 1024MB.

If you buy memory, make sure you get the right type for your computer � the best thing to do is go to a shop and get them to pick the right type and to fit it for you. You CAN fit it yourself if you know what you�re doing but be careful!

Hard Drive
Another upgrade that can be worthwhile is a bigger hard drive. If you don�t have enough space for all your files and programs then it�s obviously a good plan! I�d also recommend it if you have only just enough space. When your hard drive is nearly full your PC has to scamper around it trying to find empty space every time it wants to save something� and that takes time.

I�d recommend keeping your existing hard drive and adding a new one instead of actually replacing your existing one. No point in throwing it away if it�s still working! A typical hard drive nowadays is anywhere from 40GB to 160GB � if you�re getting a new one it might as well be big!

With a hard drive you can either fit it yourself or get a shop to fit it� or there�s a third option. You can buy an external version which plugs into your computer via a USB port. These are great for moving information from one PC to another. If it�s always on one PC, I prefer the hard drive neatly tucked away inside the case� but again, it�s up to you.

Bigger/flat monitor
If you�ve got a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor (the type with a box sticking out the back, like a television) you might fancy one of those stylish flat ones. It�s not just a fancy gadget, they also fit better on a small desk and you can have it closer to the wall than a big cumbersome CRT.

If you decide to go for it, think about whether you want one with built in speakers. It keeps you desk nice and tidy and looks more stylish. But you can get much better sound quality with separate speakers.

You also could think about what size of screen you want. It�s measured in inches from one corner to the opposite one. 17inch is pretty standard for desktop PCs though the flat screen types tend to seem bigger than the CRT type even when they�re the same size. For normal use, I wouldn�t particularly recommend getting a big one but if you do a lot of design or gaming, it might be worth it.

Processor
I�m not a big fan of processor upgrades. People talk about the processor speed when they�re saying how fast a PC is but there�s a lot more to it. Upgrading the processor without upgrading the other parts doesn�t tend to make much difference. And if you�re going to change the other bits too, you�re probably best off just buying a new PC. It�ll probably be cheaper.

CD Writer/DVD player/DVD writer
This is a simple one. If you don�t have a CD writer and you want to be able to write CDs, get one! As usual, I�d advise you to get it fitted at the shop you buy it at. Or you could get an external one that plugs into a USB port. If you fancy it you could even get a DVD player or DVD writer, if you want to put your home movies on DVD. Again, you can either get it fitted or buy an external one.

Graphics Card
This is a bit of a specialist one. If you�re into fast 3D games, then it might be worth getting a faster graphics card. If you aren�t, it probably isn�t. A standard graphics card can handle ordinary graphics pretty well. It�s only when the PC throws fast 3D at it that it struggles. Then the PC itself has to do some of the work for it, leaving less time for the PC to work out whether you�ve been clobbered by a goblin.

Epilogue
The crucial point about upgrades is that it really does depend on what you use your PC for. If you�re happy with what your PC is doing for you, don�t let anyone talk you into feeling you have to upgrade.

Tim Wakeling is the Author of Computers One Step at a Time, a home course using plenty of pictures of the screen to show you how to use your PC. He also writes a free monthly newsletter about computers for non-experts. Find out about both at http://www.osaat.co.uk
� Tim Wakeling, UK 2005. You may re-publish this article online and in print as long as you leave it unchanged.

Now you may ask what has any of that got to do with �Secrets To A Healthy Computer?�

Well, in a way we�re all just like a computer. If you neglect to take care of yourself you soon will cease to function properly and the many tasks that once were easy to do now take twice as long to accomplish and often require you to rest or �reboot� after a malfunction.

I can�t tell you what foods to eat or what exercises to perform because I am not a nutritionist. Although, with my experiences in the personal computer field I can share with you some tips of how to keep that rectangle box of circuitry that sits within sights range functioning at maximum performance as long as time will allow.

Some important steps to follow are�

*Make certain that your computer is located in a well ventilated area and that all air vents are unobstructed to prevent overheating and premature failure to any internal components.

*Clean out the dust build-up at least every 6 months from the inside of the computer case including case vents, power supply vents, and all visible circuitry with a few cans of compressed air that can be purchased from any major computer store or electronics outlet. This will help reduce the chances of overheating and circuitry damage.

Before cleaning just be certain to always unplug the computer from the wall outlet and never physically contact the circuitry inside the computer case to prevent damage.

*Be prepared for an unsuspected failure by always making backups of any important data that you do not and can not afford to lose.

I personally keep updated backups of my website and even store the disks at a remote location away from my every day use computers just in case a disaster were to occur and my main computers were destroyed resulting in the need for those lost files.

*Purchase and install a well known anti-virus program that can be regularly updated with the latest virus definitions and ran during boot-up to help protect your computer from being the victim of an unwanted infestation.

*Every few months or so run your computer�s �Scandisk� program followed by the �Defragmenter� program to maximize the efficiency of your hard drive.

If you are not certain of how to use these utilities and being that the steps to execute these programs varies slightly from one operating system to the other it would be easiest to simply use the �Help� option that can be found by clicking on the START button found on your computers desktop.

The START menu will open up a drop-down-box that should display the �Help� option. By going here you can enter the keywords that deal with the answers to the subject you are searching for.

*Run your computers �Disk Cleanup� utility every other week or so. If set the �Disk Cleanup� utility will automatically empty the recycling bin and recover some wasted disk space by removing the internet temporary files that seem to always accumulate.

Again, use the �Help� option if you are uncertain of how to perform this task.

*Never smoke near a computer because the cooling fans will pull the smoke into the case where it can coat the inside parts of the computer with a residue which in turn can damage sensitive components.

*Place the computer case in an area where it will not be accidentally kicked or bumped to prevent the loosening of cables and damage to internal parts.

*Invest in a high quality surge protector to provide your computer and monitor against voltage spikes or �surges� that can dramatically shorten the life of your system. Just like most items in a store, �You get what you pay for�. So don�t skimp out on this important device!

Its also not a bad idea to invest in a surge protector that includes what is called a �Data Line Protector� which allows you to connect your telephone lines to and serves the same purpose for the telephone line to your modem just like the surge protector does for the electrical household current lines.

*Finally, if you plan on being away from home for more that a few days at a time or if there is a thunderstorm brewing in your area it is a very wise decision to always unplug all electrical lines and modem telephone lines from your system. Even with a surge protector installed it is possible that such a large voltage spike such as one caused by a lightening strike could prove fatal to any computer system.

Dan Preston is the webmaster of a neat site called InfoHeaven Digital Books and The Online Book Store where you can find useful and Fr’ee information along with many how-to digital books that cover a large variety of interesting topics. http://infoheaven-digital-books.com and http://online-book-store.net.

There has been a rapid growth in demand for cell phones. Today, cell phones have become an important part of communicating with your friends and relatives. With the growth of mobile phone users many mobile companies are trying to capitalize on mobile web markets. Many cell phone companies are coming up with different ideas to provide value added services to its customers.

There are number of mobile phone outlets that are developing number of specialized soft wares and services for mobile phone users. They provide free cell phones for promoting their product in the market. Many cell phone companies offer free cell phone screensavers, free cell phones, free ring tones, free cell phone wall papers and free cell phone games. One of the best aspects of these free cell phone services are that they are updated frequently. This enables its customers to get latest cell phone ring tones, cell phone wall papers, cell phone games and screensavers.

Are these cell phones really free?

It is been seen in the market that many merchants most often offer you a cell phone for free and you really believe that it’s the best purchase you can make? But have your father explained you that there is no such things that can offer you free because there is nothing for free.

The real fact is that offers for free cell phone are not completely free. Even if you get cell phone free, then also you have to activate it on the network. And as they give you free, you will have to follow their guidelines and follow the necessary steps.

With more and more people using broadband we are seeing and increase in options for content from the internet. One of these is movies. Due to the large file size of video content, it was not practical for this type of content for dial up users. This is all changing as broadband becomes the standard method to use the internet.

Early adopters of this new approach have gone so far as to cancel their cable TV subscriptions but not all content can be downloaded on the internet at this point. Still, this trend will likely continue as more content becomes available. Let’s look at some of the top five latest sources for online movies.

CinemaNow.com offers downloadable movies that can be played for up to 24 hours after you start watching them. There are no membership fees and you pay $2.99 to $3.99 per rental. The current selection includes over 7500 films as well as a selection of free movie downloads.

Movielink.com has movie downloads starting at $1.99. They have a decent and growing selection of new releases and classics. Unlimited viewings per download for 24 hours. Nice selection of free downloads also. They offer student discounts and weekly half off specials.

Stars.real.com offers a monthly subscription plan that allows unlimited monthly downloads for $12.95. Like the cable version of Starz channel, you won’t find the latest releases, but there are over 300 movies each month to choose from. They offer a 14 day free trial, so it’s worth checking out.

Vongo.com contains over 1000 titles with new titles weekly. This service is also related to the Starz cable channel. Unlimited downloads and unlimited view times for standard titles. The monthly subscription is $9.99. They also have a pay per view fee for latest releases.

There are a number of other sites that offer legal movie downloads of non-mainstream theater movies, and of course TV programs. For more sources see www.new-free-movie-downloads.info .