Don't Assume They Will Buy on Their First Visit

Many Web site owners put all their eggs in one basket. They assume that somebody will visit their Web site, read all about the products and services on offer, and immediately make a decision to buy.

That's almost always a mistake. Not every site visitor is ready to buy. Sometimes it takes more than one contact (some research indicates that it takes up to 6 or 7 contacts) until they are ready to move from being an interested prospect to a paying customer.

This means that even if you've successfully got them to your site and engaged them in your offer, if you're relying on them to buy from you on the first visit, you'll probably fail most of the time.

The key factor here is trust. How much does the site visitor trust you? If you're a well-known name with a well-established brand, then the trust level is probably high. Similarly, if you're dealing with existing customers rather than strangers (as I discussed in Mistake #1), then again you've probably established a high level of trust.

But if you're dealing with strangers - in other words, people who are visiting your Web site for the first time - and you don't already have credibility in the customer's eyes, chances are they don't trust you - yet. And if that's the case, it's very difficult to make the sale. In fact, it's virtually impossible.

How much is this hurting you?

Of course, trust is an abstract concept, so it's difficult to put a figure on exactly what is meant by a "high trust level". However, I can give you a method to determine this to some extent. It won't give you an exact figure, but it will give you a rough guideline.

Take the product or service that you're offering, and ask yourself "Who is the recognized leader in providing this product/service?"

For example, if you're selling books in Australia, then the leaders are Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, eBay and others on the Internet; and local book chains like Angus & Robertson, Dymocks and Collins.

If you're selling accounting services, the leaders are Ernst & Young and other big firms.

If you're selling pet food, the leaders are probably the large supermarkets.

If you're selling sales training packages, the leaders are Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Brian Tracy and the like.

If you're selling accommodation, the leaders are the big hotel chains.

Now ask yourself, "Why will a site visitor buy from me rather than from (insert the leader here)?"

This is a crucial question, and I can't emphasize it enough.

You'd better be asking it yourself, because you can bet your bottom dollar that your site visitor is asking it in their own mind.

If your Web site doesn't answer this question, you won't get the sale. It's as simple as that.

And it's obvious, too. The leader in your field has the trust of the customer. You don't. Until you can establish that trust, forget about trying to sell them something.

Now look at the other side of the coin.

That's the bad news. Of course, the flip side of this argument is the good news: When you do establish trust with a visitor to your Web site, there's a good chance that you can keep marketing to them for a long, long time.

And if you believe the research that says that it takes up to 6 or 7 contacts until they are ready to buy, it means that you have to put some effort into establishing that trust.

Here's the key: Trust is about building relationships, not conducting transactions.

If all you do is attempt to sell, sell, sell, your customer will see you as just a salesperson, and eventually you will be an unwelcome pest.

On the other hand, if you build a trusted relationship with that person, they will see you as an advisor, an expert and a welcome guest. And so of course they will be more willing to buy from you.

There's nothing unethical about this approach. You're not establishing a relationship just to keep selling them stuff; you're establishing a relationship so that you can help them, and you're helping them by selling them your stuff.

There's a subtle difference, but it's important. In fact, it's less ethical to sell them stuff without first ensuring that it serves their needs.

Start this relationship on your Web site.

Here's what this means for your Web site: You must, must, must capture their e-mail address before they leave your site.

This is crucial. Without it, you've got no way of keeping in touch with them in the future. Even if your Web site offers great value, you can't just assume that people will keep coming back to it regularly.

Here's an example that proves my point: Many major newspapers, which have high-value, ever-changing content, also have a free e-mail mailing list, so that they can e-mail the headlines to their subscribers every day, instead of relying on those subscribers to come back to the Web site.

It should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: You must have somebody's permission to send them e-mail. Otherwise you will be an unwelcome pest. At best you'll be ignored, and at worst you might even be breaking the law.

Because of the ever-growing problem with spam (unsolicited e-mail), Internet users are very wary of giving out their e-mail address to strangers. So you have to offer them strong incentives, such as:

• A clear privacy policy that assures them that you will keep their e-mail address confidential
• An assurance that they can unsubscribe from the mailing list at any time
• A special offer - such as a free e-book or special report - if they join your mailing list
• An indication of how often you will be e-mailing them, what you will be providing, and what benefits you are offering.

Despite the spam problem, e-mail is still the most powerful way of reaching your customers and potential customers

Digital Art: Explore Illustration

Digital illustration is big business these days. A quick look at roadside billboards, club flyers or magazine covers should be enough to convince anyone that the art of the digital designer has never been in higher demand, and its popularity just keeps on growing.

But defining exactly what digital illustration is proves tricky. We all know what the words mean, yet the myriad of ways in which illustration can be applied makes it one of the most versatile of the creative arts and as such, it's pretty difficult to pin down.

With a strong creative vision and the right software, concepts can be articulated in limitless ways; each style opening new doors for expression. The one crucial skill that ties it all together is the need for some innate artistic ability. You don't need to be a virtuoso with a pencil to be good at computer art, but there's no doubt that most professional illustrators are proficient with traditional art techniques.

The basics of image structure are the same across mediums, after all, and with software increasingly able to mimic traditional drawing methods, the transition to digital has become almost seamless. Let's take a closer look at the main branches of digital illustration and discover a little more about how the experts put them together.

Vector art

It's no great accident that vector illustration is currently one of the trendiest and easily recognisable of the digital art disciplines. The signature flat colours and clean lines are easy to spot and quick to grab attention, which of course makes the style hugely popular with advertisers looking to catch the eye of potential consumers. In addition, their reduced colour palettes and scalable technology means they are perfect when it comes to artwork for the Web.

Created with precision by manipulating Bezier paths, the mechanics of vectors are based on mathematic principles that make them infinitely scalable without suffering degradation. This trait is extremely attractive to illustrators because it means images can be shrunk to a stamp or stretched to a billboard, without having to be redone. Paths are also easy to edit at a later stage, making vector images quick to tweak and rearrange if need be.

Vector shapes are often produced with photographs or hand drawn scans as templates, digitally tracing as much of the outline and detail as needed. Programs such as Flash can even create vectors automatically by tracing over photographic or pre sketched material, allowing picture elements to be created quickly and with little effort. However, the real artistry comes when choosing which elements to take to the digital image, and knowing how to colour and arrange the final illustration.

Keeping up to date is crucial and, since digital artists typically spend hours in front of a screen involved in their masterpieces, it's all too easy to become isolated from what's going on around you. Styles ace constantly changing and trends can come and go at great speed, so keeping your finger on the industry pulse is vital. Not only does it make good commercial sense, but it can also act as a rich muse from which to draw ideas

Mixing media

While vector art focuses on clean shapes, simple forms and bold chunks of colour, other digital illustration techniques take things in the opposite direction. Since the arrival of Photoshop in 1990, artists have been able to digitally manipulate photographic material and combine it with other visual ingredients, and when layers arrived with Photoshop 3.0 five years later, the stage was set for a new form of digital image. In 1995, digital photo illustration was born.

Based on the traditional method of using scissors and glue to cut and paste photos and artwork together in new arrangements, it's a technique that has always been popular with children but has now become the favoured strategy of many an adult illustrator. This is primarily due to Photoshop's specialised, yet accessible and intuitive, toolset, but also reflects the success the strategy can have when attempting to convey a complicated collection of ideas.

Sketching toons

While everyone knows that Photoshop is the king of detailed mixed media illustration, less well known is the fact that it's also astonishingly good at producing line and comic style artwork. Deftly sidestepping the need to use intricate filters and effects, the hand drawn, hand coloured look is gaining favour with artists and art directors alike.

Because of the time saving tools that Photoshop offers, professional comic book artists are beginning to use the software to colour their hand drawn sketches and are taking digital art into previously unexplored areas. Using a mixture of both hand drawn and digital painting, new styles are surfacing that are making a massive impact on the established illustration industry.

Realer than real?

But for many artists, the Holy Grail of computer art is realism. Recent advances in graphics technology have enabled software developers to accurately simulate
real world drawing and painting tools by modelling how inks, chalks, oils and paints behave when they are applied to different surfaces. Using random particles to create natural looking strokes on simulated materials, you can now produce painted images that are all but indistinguishable from their hand made equivalents.

Since you can also grab a graphics tablet and paint directly onto your digital canvas, digital painting is less a description of an illustration style and more a literal possibility. As well as further mimicking the traditional within the digital arena, it's also easy to pick up and get started. To this end, having some experience with real world painting is a definite advantage.

Because the technology behind natural media is so intricate, there are only a handful of programs that can actually achieve believable results. The most specialised is Corel Painter, which takes the possibilities to extremes by providing an array of simulated traditional drawing and painting tools. It even goes so far as to model the way that watercolour Paints behave when wet, with drips, runs and splashes. However, with some crafty brush creation and expert manipulation of layers, equally exciting effects can be replicated in your humble copy of Photoshop.

Pixel power

But although illustration software is advancing, it would be a mistake to think that the industry is focussing purely on pushing the undiscovered boundaries of digital imaging. In among the simulated paintings, clean vectors and intricate photo collages, a resurgence of old school pixel techniques is proudly celebrating the humble beginnings of computer art.

Pixel illustration is arguably where the whole digital illustration shebang began, back in the days when computer screens could only display a small number of colours at a low resolution. But, like so many limitations, this situation forced creativity and produced a unique style that's now being snapped up in an industry that's constantly on the lookout for something different.

Because low resolutions mean large pixel sizes, pixel art uses geometric rules that ensure perspectives are correctly maintained . A by product of this is the familiar isometric view that's so common in this style of illustration, yet it does lend itself surprisingly well to conceptual art.

Pixel art continues to gain momentum, with increasing numbers of advertising and editorial commissioners looking to capitalise on its retro style designs. The bold use of colour and scrutinising detail also make it ideal for clients wishing to attract close attention and its popularity shows no signs of slowing.

Make it yours

With so many creative styles to work with, there are many entry points into the world of digital illustration. If you already own an imaging package, then you've got all the tools you need to get started. The disciplines we've delved into cover the majority of styles that are suited to computer art, but who knows what some hot new illustrator will come up with tomorrow. The range of software available combined with the sheer diversity of human experience, means that there is unlimited opportunity for individual expression.

So if you think you could be the next big thing then don't delay because, whatever your style, now is your chance. The hipness of digital illustration is just beginning to break into the consciousness of the mainstream and there's never been a better time to explore your creative potential.

Drawing the Traditional Way With a Digital Drawing Tablet

For all artists everywhere who take pride in doing putting out their skill in an excellent way, the sure way to do this is to create their own art by themselves. This means creating it by scratch: sketching it in first - with a lot of erasures to go with it - before finalizing it and putting in the final details. But artists today have to catch up with the advancement of technology. They are then asked to submit electronic files of their artwork. If you are an artist - or just about any person who might need updated tools for their trade - and want to be in the know in technology without compromising their work, then you might want to consider getting for yourself a digital drawing tablet.

With a digital drawing tablet handy, you get the ideal blend of art and technology. A tablet, such as this looks like a heavy, flat board with a large screen on it. Along with it also comes a stylus, which the user can use as an ordinary pen. With a drawing tablet, you still get the same feeling as using the old tools of pen and paper. You can automatically draw in your artwork right into the screen and immediately save yourself an electronic file of it, greatly saving you time and money in purchasing separate electronics to do the job. For graphic artists who prefer the old school pen and paper pair, they might warm up to the drawing tablet easier as it provides the same experience. And with a stylus in tow instead of a mouse, drawing in an artwork is more accurate, precise, and therefore more pleasing to the eye.

Along with the screen and the stylus, a good digital drawing tablet also has a feature called pressure sensitivity. Basically, pressure sensitivity means that the boldness and the darkness of the lines drawn in are determined by how hard the stylus is pressed upon the screen. This gives more control and more variety for both the artwork and the artist. These tablets can also be used independently without having to connect it to the computer for file saving, making it portable and convenient to carry around. But in cases that a user has to connect the digital tablet to a desktop computer or a laptop, recent designs are made with a feature of a wireless connection through the Bluetooth technology. Other tablets can also be connected through a USB port and cables.

For more selection for the users, some drawing tablets also come with their own wireless mouse, which is useful for navigation purposes. A typical digital drawing tablet can range from less than $100 to more than $1000, so you might want to shop around for a good one before making a decision. The sure thing about buying one for yourself is that it is a good investment for long-term use



The Technology Behind a Computer

If you have a computer and are familiar with a lot of the new technology today then you probably have heard of the drawing tablets available for use with computers. The actual idea of the tablet has been around for quite some time. Believe it or not the first electronic tablet made for writing purposes was in 1888 and was called the Telautograph. While the electronic tablet is still widely used by many businesses for the purpose of collecting signatures, it has certainly come a long way since the 1800s.

The Styalator appeared in 1957 and was the first of these kinds of tablets to be used in conjunction with a computer. This writing pad was the forerunner to the computer drawing tablet we know today. The next tablet to be developed was the RAND. This was the first writing tablet created that was able to recognize the differences between horizontal and vertical coordinates used in a magnetic signal. It was able to do this because of the way the grid design was created inside the pad itself. Now the stylus that was used with the pad for writing was able to receive a magnetic signal and then encode and send it back to the computer.

Some tablets used a type of stylus that created a click which generated a spark, similar to how a spark plug works. These are often referred to as spark or acoustic type tablets. However, in the long run these tablets proved to be extremely complex in design and the pens were prone to picking up interference signals from other external sources. These tablets were eventually replaced with the digital tablets we know today.

The computer drawing tablets incorporating use of digital technology began in the 70s and 80s. The first two commercial products released were the BitPad and the ID by the Summagraphics Corporation. These new digital pads were specifically used for CAD software and were even sometimes included in the bundle packages of PCs. The Apple computer also had its version of the same type of input device simply known as the Apple Graphics Tablet.

The tablets themselves come in several different models. Passive tablets have the stylus connected via a wire for the transmission of the signal. Active tablets have a stylus that is not connected to the pad, but is an independent battery operated stylus which communicates signals to the tablet. Optical tablets use an incredibly microscopic camera unit in the stylus to relay the images to the pad. A few others are the acoustic, the electromagnetic and the capacitive tablets.

If you are considering purchasing a drawing tablet for use with your computer you would benefit from doing a little research online. With so many different types and styles to choose from you will want to be sure the product you choose is the one best suited to your needs.

For more information visit

Move Beyond Keyboards And Mouses With A Tablet PC

The world of electronic gadgets and gizmos is fascinating and at the same time intriguing. High degree of mobility among professionals in the corporate has popularised mobile computing among a large part of the masses.

Nowadays, tablet PCs are gaining immense popularity among people owing to the attractive features offered by them. Tablet PCs are notebook or slate-shaped mobile computers that are equipped with a sensitive screen designed to interact with a complementary pen.
A tablet PC has emerged as a culmination of advances in shrinking notebook hardware and improvements in integrated digitisers as a method of input. A tablet PC's digitiser is an absolute pointing device rather than a relative pointing device, such as a mouse or a touchpad. The digitiser is integrated with the screen and correlates physical touch or digital pen interaction on the screen.
The digitising tablet technology enables you to input data by using a stylus or fingertip (instead of keyboard or mouse). This facilitates direct interaction with the display screen.

You can can enter text in a tablet PC by using:

• handwriting recognition
• onscreen virtual keyboard
• speech recognition
• standard keyboard
• shorthand like entry methods that enable pen-driven input

A tablet PC is linked to a network through a wireless or wired link. The form factor offers a more mobile way of interacting with a computer.

Usually, tablet PCs run on Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows Vista operating systems.

Tablet PC are useful when notebooks are impractical or do not provide the needed functionality.

Slates constitute a popular category of tablet PCs. Slates do not have a dedicated keyboard. A keyboard may be attached via a wireless or an USB connection. This makes it easy for you to carry them on business tours. Slates are popular in vertical markets, such as healthcare, education and fieldwork.

The various uses of tablet PCs are:

• enable computerised manipulation, organisation and reading of large amounts of printed information
• casual readers may download electronic versions of their favourite books
• students can scan in the pages of school textbooks

So, get rid of boring mouses and keyboards and enjoy the pleasure of a direct interaction with your PC!

Dennis Jaylon is a renowned business writer who has years of experience in writing technical reviews, product descriptions and product feature analysis of technical gadgets and gizmos. He has won appreciation especially for enlightening people about the latest communication gizmos...the Tablet

Wireless Keyboards - Don't Choose the Wrong One

Wireless is becoming more and more popular because it allows you to use your mouse and keyboard without wires. We all know the problem of wires when it comes to computers so the fewer wires we can do without the better.

One way to cut down on those wires is by choosing a wireless input device such as a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. There are a lot to choose from so how do you know which one is the best.

Let us take a look at some of the factors you should think about when choosing the type of device that you need. Non wired keyboards come in many shapes, sizes and configuration.

The first thing you should consider is how you are going to use your new keyboard. Are you going to be using it at a computer desk or at another location. You may have a HTPC that is running through your main television rather than through a dedicated monitor.

If you are going to be sitting further from the screen such as with a home theatre system that is used to watch films and listen to music you will want a different type of keyboard. You might want to consider a keyboard with a built in touchpad or trackball. A touchpad can replace the functionality of the mouse and keep everything in one unit rather than having a separate mouse that can be difficult to use if you are not working at a desk.

Wireless keyboards with built in touchpad come in several sizes. You may want to consider a more compact model so it can be easily stowed away. You will also need to consider how the keyboard is powered.

Wireless devices require battery power. The more power the device uses the more batteries the device is going to need. Choosing a compact model with power saving options will allow the batteries to last longer.

Alternatively you could go for a slightly more expensive model with a built in lithium battery. These are more powerful and come with their own charger or docking stations. This saves on having to buy separate batteries and so can save money in the long run.

Finally if you are looking to make a statement then design and style may be as important as functionality. There are many good looking designer keyboards that not only look good but have many advanced features to make your wireless computing more enjoyable an experience.

Google Keeps Redirecting Me To Fake Websites - How Do I Fix

You have the "redirect virus" - a common infection which is installing itself onto 100's of computers around the World every day. Designed by hackers to try and sell a series of fake products from redirected search engine results, this infection is actually one of the most common and difficult to remove. If you are unfortunate enough to have the virus on your system, you need to be able to get rid of it in the most effective way possible, which I will try to explain in this article.

What Is The Redirect Virus?

This virus is one of the most infectious viruses on the Internet today, with millions of computer users around the World having to deal with it every year. The virus comes will do these things to your PC:

• Redirect your web searches to fake or misleading websites
• Continually show pop-up advertisements on your computer
• Open up new "tabs" in your web browser

The infection will typically come in 2 forms - a "Trojan Horse" virus and a fake file which will change various Windows settings. The big problem with it is that it will typically evade most antivirus programs because it does not have any distinguishable files / settings that will stick out. Antivirus scanners work by looking through your system and identifying and of the potentially rogue files / applications that are running (which is why they often try and ask your permission to run software on your system). Although this standard method of antivirus removal works for 90% of viruses, the Google Redirect Virus will not have any of the typical traits that most viruses have, making it highly difficult to remove.

This virus works by basically changing the settings that your system uses to handle "redirects" online. Every time you browse the Internet, 100's of settings and options are used to help your computer process web pages and read the files that it needs to run. Although this normally works well, the redirect virus will change the "redirect" settings that your computer uses, sending your PC to a fake set of websites. Most people don't know this, but whenever you browse the search engines, Google / Yahoo / Bing will redirect you through their own website before sending you to the target website that you want. If you have the redirect virus, it will hijack these links and send you to the fake websites, which is why many people actually call this infection the "Google Redirect Virus"

How To Remove The Redirect Virus

The way to remove this virus is actually a little different than most infections you can get on your PC. Instead of using a traditional antivirus application, you should look to use a tool that will open up onto your computer and then fix the various infected parts of your computer that could be causing problems. There are 2 ways to get rid of the redirect virus, depending on which version of the virus you have:

1. Use A "Trojan Remover" Tool. One of the main types of redirect virus you can get are actually Trojan Horse infections which will take over various browser settings that your system may have. You should look to use a program that will specifically remove the Trojan Horse part of the virus, allowing your PC to run much smoother as a result.
2. Use A "File Scanner" Tool. File scanner applications are antivirus tools which will be able to identify abnormalities inside specific files of your system. You can use a tool such as "ComboFix" to get rid of any problems that the Windows files has on your system, allowing your PC to run much smoother again

Benefits Of Ethical Hacking - Using Hacking For Good

Many people would be confused to read about the benefits of ethical hacking. To them, such a concept does not exist as hacking in itself is automatically viewed as unethical or illegal. Indeed, hacking is normally all about the breaching of barriers that have been put in place for the protection and security of the people. So to talk in terms of benefits of such acts is naturally quite alien to people (at least initially.)
Initially hacking really was all about the breaking of laws and accessing information that should not normally be accessed by certain groups of people. But life is never as black and white as we may first perceive. As such, it will come as a surprise to a good number of people that several major computer companies such as IBM, Microsoft, and Apple all have a large and dedicated team of hackers. Yes, you read that right.
They are not, however, breaking any laws so far as anybody can tell. No, these types of hackers are there for entirely good reasons. They are used as security testers for all sorts of programs. Basically, whenever a company comes up with a program, they'll usually bring it to their team of hackers who will then have a go at it ("hack") to see how many holes in security the program has.
They will see if the program can be exploited in anyway and then return it to the programmers along with a list of the vulnerabilities found. This is just one of the benefits of ethical hacking. The program can then be fixed, or strengthened, and sent back again to the hackers to confirm whether there are still any problems with it.
The aforementioned is just one example of the benefits in carrying out hacking. Did you know that there are actually courses being taught on this subject as the demand for hackers has actually increased? As the world becomes ever more reliant on computers, the potential damage that can be caused by a hacker, or groups of hackers, has grown to whole new levels. This is not something large companies can afford to ignore.
As such, learning how to be a hacker can lead to a very promising career indeed, working for one of the many major companies. As discussed, there are several good reasons for ethical hacking to be carried out "in-house" and all of them can help companies potentially save millions of dollars, and minimize the risk of ruining their hard earned reputation with their customers and peers. It is not only the companies who benefit but the people who buy their programs as well.
A team of good hackers can make sure that a program is as safe as possible, making the work of any would-be hacker that many times harder, often forcing them to move on to easier targets. This makes sure that any programs in wide circulation will rarely be tampered with and help protect the privacy and integrity of the computers of people all around the world.

But wait, there's more! If you're looking to learn more about ethical hacking, whether for career purposes or plain curious to know more on the subject then check out EthicalHackingBlog.com today

What Are The Different Places To Go To For Buying This Accessory

Today, there are a lot of different places that you can go to in order to purchase a good R4 DS card, but then; you might not be getting a particularly good deal. Hence, there is a need to know more about places that you can go to in order to buy this kind of card. After all, you wouldn't want to simply end up paying more than you should, simply because you didn't know. Listed below are some of the different places that you can go in order to be completely sure that the R4 DS is in fact a good deal to go in for.

Going to an electronics store

If you want the least technical option, then you can probably get in your car and drive to the closest gaming store in order to buy your very own R4 DS. This is probably the solution that you would want to go in for if you are really not keen on ordering from the internet and would much rather prefer checking out the product in person and then deciding whether or not this is the option for you to go in for.

Going online

The other thing that you might perhaps want to consider is to go online and buy the accessory. As you might have figured, this is essentially one of the best ways to acquire this accessory. Not only is it cost effective, you will also be able to get the accessory at a significantly reduced rate. You should be able to save quite a bit of money in this manner and have many options to pick from as well. All in all, it is a very good option to go in for. In many cases, online stores even give discounted rates, which means that you can get the R4 DS for a lower than expected rate.

Bidding at an auction

Some people are willing to do what it takes to save money while buying the R4 DS. In this case, you might perhaps want to think about the option of buying used or even buying at some kind of an auction store. There are a number of such stores as well, but be warned that this might not necessarily be the best option of the lot. You might want to consider the above alternatives if you can afford to do so. The cost is not all that much more and is definitely worth it.

At the end of the day, you might perhaps want to consider the option that gives you the best balance between price and quality. There are a lot of pros and cons with both methods, and you should pick the right one without having to think too hard about it. In any case, the cost of a good R4 DS card is something that is worth investing in. Since you have in any case spent a lot of money on the console, a couple of extra dollars on this card shouldn't make as much of a difference.

If you are looking for a good website to learn more about the R4DS or R4, consider checking out the site nds-gear.com

Japanese Snack and Drink Vending Machines

The Japanese have long been recognized for their advances in the world of technology. At times they're applauded; at others, ridiculed, and they never stay out of the spotlight for too long. For example, in October news hit the web of a startlingly lifelike robotic nurse, the Actroid-F, made by Japanese company Kokoro, that can speak and make appropriate facial expressions. (This comes just about a year after news of a robotic nurse made to look like a giant teddy bear, called Riba, which can lift elderly patients out of bed and wheelchairs.)
One of the bits of technology Japan is most known for is its vending machines. The country has the highest number of vending machines per capita (as of summer of 2009 it averaged 23 per person, though that figure's most likely increased), and the products one can buy from them run an impressive gamut. Japanese vending machines tend to be somewhat... unorthodox, and are by no means restricted to just snacks and drinks. Some of the other surprising products people can get from Japanese vending machines are eggs, bowls of hot Ramen, live lobsters, name cards, flight insurance, prophylactics, fresh Hello Kitty! popcorn, underwear, kerosene, toilet paper, flowers, eggs, pornography, rhinoceros beetles, neckties, batteries, sneakers and dry ice. They also have large robot-shaped Coke machines that actually walk around, as well as drink vending machines with photos of a surly looking Tommy Lee Jones endorsing the products.
The latest craze is drink vending machines that use facial recognition technology to make recommendations to customers. When the machine senses someone approaching, a large touch-screen panel takes in and compiles data about them (gender, age) along with information about the weather, date and time to make its recommendation.
A company spokesperson said, "If the customer is a man, the machine is likely to recommend a canned coffee drink, since men tend to prefer these. If the customer is in their 50s, though, that recommendation is likely to be green tea."
These recommendations come from extensive market research, research that also says women in their 20s are more likely to be recommended something sweeter than coffee or green tea.
One machine was already installed in a Tokyo train station in August and five more are slated to hit the public shortly. According to a representative of the company that designed them, JR East Water Business Co., sales for beverages from these machines are already triple the sales of regular drink vending machines. They plan to roll out about 500 more over the next couple of years.
The question now is, how long will it be before facial-recognition snack vending machines start cropping up in Japan? And how long after that will it take a chubby Japanese kid to sue JR East for hurting his feelings when their machines offer him a bag of carrot sticks instead of the pack of Pocky he wanted?

At find traditional or non-traditional , food, drink vending machines, or coffee vending. USI works with you to develop innovative equipment solutions, financing programs that meet your needs, management systems leading the industry with vending programs to maximize profits for any size location.

How Much Does a Bluray Player Cost

How Much Does a Bluray Player Cost

As technology grows, you're going to find that you're going to want to update some equipment that is laying around in your home, such as a DVD player. Long gone are the DVD players, as well as a VCR. Seriously, does anyone own a VCR anymore?

If you're looking to purchase a Bluray player, you're probably wondering what you're going to have to set aside for the player. I wrote up a simple guide that you can use, when you want to find out the price. But first, let's take a look at some of the factors that you're going to have to consider, when you want to make a purchase.

• The features: What kind of features do you want? Do you want a gaming system such as the PlayStation 3?
• The quality: What kind of format do you want? You're going to have to look at what your TV is going to handle, before you set out and purchase one.
• The brand: Like many things in life, you're going to find that the brand is going to influence your price tag. Be sure to compare brands, when ready to make a purchase.
• Where you buy it: Stores will vary, when it comes to price. Make sure that you look at more than one store, when you want to compare prices.

Most of your lower end Bluray players are going to run you from $50 to as much as $200+. If you want a system such as a PlayStation 3, you will find that you're going to have to spend more than $300 for the whole system, but you're going to get more than a player, since it's a gaming system in itself.

As newer models come out, you will find that the newer ones are going to cost more, while the older ones are going to go down in price. What you're going to want to do is look into reviews to ensure that you're getting one that works the best for you.

Want to know what you're going to pay for a bluray player? t the bluray player cost in your area, as well as find out what other people are paying

Reasons My PC Gets Infected - It Is Time to Prevent Computer Viruses



Computer is a very important part in our daily life. With the help of computers, people can work efficiently, enjoy colorful entertainment and gain accurate calculations. The truth of the matter, however, is that computers also provide many possible chances for computer crimes. Hackers can use the internet to damage other users' computers or even steal sensitive information and rid off money from the victims. Therefore, as a computer user, you'd better learn reasons for why your PC gets infected and it is time to prevent computer viruses.

# Reason 1

When you insert a portable hard drive with viruses in your computer, viruses on the portable drive may spread on your computer quickly because viruses have the ability to automatically run on your PC without your permission.

# Reason 2

Some websites contain malicious code and if you open these websites careless, they will force a change in your web browser's homepage or even install some Trojans on your PC in a secret way. Later, hackers can use Trojans to control your PC and do some sinister tricks.

# Reason 3

Many computer users like to download some movies, materials or free software from the internet. It offers a chance to hackers to install Trojans or viruses on your PC because staff which you download from the internet may have Trojans or viruses.

# Reason 4

Virus/worm can be transferred via Email. If you receive Email with attachments from strangers, it is very possible that the Email is virus/worm. Once you open the Email, your PC will be quickly infected. Furthermore, the worm can send itself to all your friends in your Email contact list and then find the next victim.

Since you have learned reasons why your PC gets infected, you may be eager to know how to prevent viruses. You have two choices available:

(1) the traditional method is to keep your anti-virus update so that you can fight against with the newest viruses;

(2) the new method is to protect your PC with a professional and legitimate Online Computer Support Company which offers immediate remote tech help 24/7 to take care of your PC.

Converting VHS and Beta Video Tapes to DVD For Best Quality

I have found that most software companies like to promote how easy it is to transfer your VHS tapes to DVD when using their software. Although their products do make this process very easy, I have found that the final video on DVD is worse than the original VHS tape. After trying several common VHS to DVD software products I became frustrated that I could not achieve the original video quality of the original VHS tape. DVD technology surpasses VHS tapes by a long shot and in my mind there is no reason why there should be any degeneration of video quality after the transfer. After much trial and error and hundreds of hours spent I have written this article. This article reviews three (3) popular software products and describes a method on how to convert your VHS tapes to DVD while achieving little to no degeneration in video quality on the final DVD.

Common Software Products Tested:

Three (3) software programs were tried:

1. Roxio VHS to DVD
2. Homestech 4.0 VHS to DVD
3. Pinnacle Systems - Dazzle DVD Recorder

The above software packages were the most popular and seemed to be very attractive to get the job done. They were available at local computer stores and were also the most popular software packages found within internet search engines. The above software packages use a small USB device that allows the VCR to be connected to the computer. The USB device converts the analog signal to digital before sending it into the computer. The final DVD produced by each of the three (3) products was less quality then the original VHS video. The software that came with each of the packages installed properly and was working fine. The Pinnacle Systems product did not come with a driver. Their website did not have any drivers. After several hours I could not get the Pinnacle product to work at all. The other 2 products were returned due to the video quality being noticeably lower than the original VHS tapes. It was determined that the digital signal produced by each of the small USB devices was a major cause of the final DVD being of poor quality. It was also determined that the software in each of the packages contributed to the final DVD to also have lower video quality then the VHS tapes.

Final VHS to DVD Process Used:

After trying and then returning each of the software products above, I spent many hours researching this task. I have managed to talk to some video experts and read hundreds of forum posts. The final process to convert VHS to DVD with little to no degeneration in video quality was:

1. Use the Canopus ADVC-300 Advanced Digital Video Converter to convert the VCR output to digital format. This unit needs a firewire connection on your PC.
2.Use a free software called "Win DV" to capture the digital video (DV) and create AVI files on your hard drive. Capturing digital video software only captures to AVI files. There isn't software available that captures directly to MPEG files which is what you need for DVDs. Additional file converting is necessary.
3. Use "Canopus Procoder 3" to split the AVI files into M2V video and WAV audio files.
4. Use "TMPGEnc MPEG Editor" to combine the M2V video and the WAV files into MPEG files.
5. Use "TMPGEnc MPEG Editor" cut and remove portions of the MPEG files if needed.
6. Use "TMPGEnc MPEG Editor" to author and create the final DVD's

The Canopus ADVC-300 is a unit design specifically for converting analog to digital signals from VCRs. It has several built-in filters designed to filter out common noise that is found on video tapes before it encodes the digital signal. Though trial and error I have tried all combinations of settings of these filters. These filters made no improvement in the final DVD quality. The 3D filter left a ghost trail behind objects as the camera panned. The 2D filter and the Y/C separation had no effect at all. My final DVD's were created with all of the filters turned off. Although I didn't use the filters, it is highly recommended that everyone try all combinations of these filters for each of their tapes. Every VCR recording has its own unique noise characteristic. One combination of filter settings does not work for all tapes so you need to experiment with these filters.

The output file settings on the Procoder were:

1. Quality/Speed: High Speed
2. Bitrate Type: Variable Rate (VBR)
3. Number of Passes: 2 Pass.
4. Video Bitrate: 4500 kb/s
5. Max. Bitrate: 7000 kb/s
6. Min Bitrate: 2000 kb/s

Increasing these numbers may make your final DVD non-standard compliant.

Why do many of the popular software programs degrade the quality of the original video? This requires an understanding each of the processes involved during the conversion:

1. Convert the original signal from analog to digital.
2. Encode and create a file from the digital signal.
3. Convert file to MPEG file format.
4. Convert MPEG file to VOB files for use on final DVD.

Whenever there is an encoding or conversion process a "codec" is needed. A codec is a technical term that can be best described as being an interpreter between two different speaking languages. Most language interpreters have an accent. This accent is the interpreters' own degeneration of the language they are interpreting to. Some interpreters have heavier accents than others. Very few interpreters have no accent. Since converting a VHS tape to a DVD involves more than one interpretation, or conversion, the opportunity for degeneration will always be present. The conversion process needs to be programmed by the software developer. The less the accent, or degeneration, the more time, knowledge, and skill are required on behalf of the programmer who is creating each of the codecs within the software programs. The three (3) software programs that were tested and returned cost around $50.00. The developers are not going to spend excess resources on a software program costing this little.

So how one to know which software is converts the best? You don't. The only way is through lengthy, timely, and frustrating trial and error. The author of this article went though months of trial and error and reading forum posts from many experts. The purpose of this article is to give you a way to convert your VHS tapes to DVD with near perfect quality while sparing you the timely trial and error.

The Final Cost:

Although they cost around $50.00 dollars, the three (3) software packages tested earlier in this article have poor conversion and are not worth using if you are trying to achieve the best quality in converting your VHS tapes to digital format for DVD or Blu-Ray. I have purchased the ADVC-300 converter, Procoder, and TMPgenic software from eBay totaling about $550.00. After all VHS tapes were converted the ADVC-300 and software was sold on eBay and the net cost was about $120.00. Although the up-front cost of the equipment and software may be non-desirable, your final cost is well worth having the best quality of your old video tapes on DVD.