The Refresh Orlando Heirs

Most computer users use spreadsheets software such as Microsoft Excel in their daily home and office. However very few are aware of the potential of spreadsheets in helping them in financial accounting and statistical analysis.

There are many uses of spreadsheets beyond the simple arithmetical and data analysis we are used to. Spreadsheets can assist us in many tasks with accuracy and speed.

Before we look at some of the uses we can put Spreadsheet software to let’s look at a few of its features, which make it unique and useful.

The most important features of any spreadsheet are the calculation of figures using arithmetic signs or functions. While not completely unique to spreadsheets, this feature is particularly more visible and word processing software.

For example in Microsoft Excel, there is a formula bar for typing or displaying typed formulas. The formula can be inserted in this bar or in a specific cell preceded by an = (equal) sign.

You need not insert actual figures, as that would be cumbersome. You simply specify a function such as SUM, AVERAGE, e.t.c and enclose into brackets the beginning column and row numbers and the ending column and row numbers.

The use of functions helps to easily perform calculations. Not only would the computation be accurate but it helps to simplify an otherwise complicated calculations process.

As we have seen, Spreadsheets have many useful features, which make calculation of figures simpler. Now let’s look at some of the uses you can put spreadsheets to:

Whether at the office or at home, drawing and maintaining budgets is important. Not only will you be focused and be able to pursue your financial objects clearly with a budget, but you can compare your actual versus planned performance. You can easily prepare a detailed budget with spreadsheets. The calculations can easily be done by entering appropriate formulas and getting the totals and differences.

So you can prepare a cash flow analysis for Monitoring and predicting likely income and expenditure to keep in track with financial affairs of your office or home.

Similarly you may easily predict changes in values such as effects of a price change on costs, discounts and profit. A fixed table can be prepared to show these changes but more significantly the figures could be changed from time to time to reflect new situations with same formulas in place.

Perhaps the most frequent use of spreadsheets is in financial and cost accounting. Many businesses use spreadsheets to calculate balance sheets, profit and loss accounts and cash books.

You can perform bank reconciliation, calculate jobs costs, taxes, schedule payments, forecast profits and control stocks. In all these tasks the spreadsheet proves a very important tool in simplifying the computation process and production of the results.

In data collection and analysis, spreadsheets can be used to record, present and analyses the results of polls, surveys and research. With new gadgets such as handheld, laptops and computerized. Mobile phones, you can do all that while on the road and getting the results instantly.

For teachers and students, in addition to the foregoing, spreadsheets can be used in class work and research activities.

In mathematics and the sciences, spreadsheets could be used to convert temperature figures whether in Celsius or far hermetic, metric to imperial measurements, pounds to kilos, exchange rates among a host of other measurements.

You can also calculate trigonometric and logarithmic functions, standard deviations and critical path analysis.

In addition, the computations may be presented in table on graphic form. There are buttons you can click to make your data appear in table format or in the form of graphs and charts. These enhance the presentability and understanding of the data.

I could give you a hundred or so uses of spreadsheets. However, the few I have mentioned are the more important. Suffice it to say that spreadsheets software is some of the most important application software used at the office and home.

About The Author

Abdallah Khamis Abdallah is a freelance copywriter and ghost writer. To find out how you can enhance your business’s sales and profits through credibility and viral marketing solutions visit his website at: http://www.qualitywritingsolutions.com/

quantumpro@lycos.com

Behind the Files: History of MP3
by Gabriel Nijmeh

In just over a couple of years, the MP3 audio file format has caused a big stir and captured the minds and hard drives of millions of people worldwide. MP3, short for Moving Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer III is a compression format that compresses audio files with only a small sacrifice in sound quality. MP3 files can be compressed at different rates, but the higher the compression, the lower the sound quality. A typical MP3 compression ratio of 10:1 is equal to about 1 MB for each minute of an MP3 song.

It all started in the mid-1980s, at the Fraunhofer Institut in Germany, where work began on developing a high quality, low bit-rate audio format. In 1989, Fraunhofer was granted a patent for the MP3 compression format in Germany and a few years later it was submitted to the International Standards Organization (ISO), and integrated into the MPEG-1 specification. Frauenhofer also developed the first MP3 player in the early 1990s, which was the first attempt at developing an MP3 player. In 1997, a developer at Advanced Multimedia Products created the AMP MP3 Playback Engine, which is regarded as the first mainstream MP3 player to hit the Internet. Shortly after, a couple of creative university students took the Amp engine, added a user-friendly Windows interface and called it Winamp. The turning point was in 1998, when Winamp was offered to the public as a free music player, and thus began the MP3 craze.

As the MP3 craze mushroomed, it didn’t take long for other developers to start creating a whole range of MP3 software. New MP3 encoders, CD rippers, and MP3 players were being released almost every week, and the MP3 movement continued to gain momentum. Search engines made it easy to find the specific MP3 files, and portable MP3 players like the Rio and the Nomad Jukebox allowed people to copy MP3 songs onto a small portable device, no different than your Walkman or Discman.

By early 1999, the first peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing software application was released, one which shook the world overnight. Napster, the killer app that will be remembered like no other MP3-related software was developed by nineteen-year-old university student, Shawn Fanning and his idea for Napster was to allow anyone with an Internet connection to search and download their favourite songs, in minutes. By connecting people, Napster created a virtual community of music fans.

However, along came the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) which as a representative of the major record companies and owners of the sound recordings, successfully battled Napster for copyright law infringement and an injunction was issued that effectively shut down Napster. The RIAA argument is that all the free downloading is in breach of copyright laws and therefore promotes audio piracy. As a result, file sharing impacts their ability to sell CDs and make a profit. Despite the legal problems that Napster has faced and the fact that they are currently not operational, MP3 file swapping and has continued on, and for a number of reasons.

A big reason MP3s have become the de-facto audio standard is that the original patent holders made it freely available for anyone to develop MP3 software. This open source model allowed early MP3 pioneers to develop MP3 software that accelerated the acceptance of the MP3 audio format.
MP3 being just one of several types digital audio formats is not necessarily the most efficient or of highest sound quality. Better compression technologies have existed for some time now, but the success of MP3 is due to the relatively open nature of the format. Companies such as Microsoft and Yamaha have developed proprietary formats, but have placed restrictions on how developers can utilize their technology. For example, Microsoft’s Windows Media Audio (WMA) file format, which they claim is a higher quality audio format at smaller file sizes, is starting to gain more acceptance as it comes bundled as the standard audio format in Windows 98/2000/XP. Microsoft might be able to challenge the dominance of MP3s or at the very least offer a second, popular audio format choice.

All the downloading and swapping of MP3s has attracted the wrath of the RIAA because there are no digital security features associated with MP3, so millions of songs are freely shared everyday by millions of users. The files are small enough to be downloaded easily, or even sent to a friend as an email attachment.

Another thing that makes MP3s very exciting and compelling is that it is easy for people to become DJs by mixing their favorite songs. A lot of people have created their own compilation CDs where they take all of their favorite songs from different artists and bands and burn them to CD very quickly and easily.

Webcasting or Internet radio has also become very popular allowing listeners to “stream” audio on their computers. Unlike downloaded MP3s, streamed MP3 files aren’t stored on your hard drive, but are broadcast like traditional radio through your MP3 player. Real Networks was one of the first to offer streamed audio software, which uses a proprietary format known as RealAudio. Microsoft allows offers their own proprietary streaming audio through their Windows Media Application. If you do a search for “Internet radio” or “webcasting”, you will find hundreds of Internet radio stations offering every imaginable type of programming.

Of course, as exciting as MP3s are, there are some legal and business battles that are being waged. MP3 itself is not an illegal audio format, but when people offer up MP3 versions of copyrighted material that is considered a copyright infringement. The Home Recording Act allows you to make copies of your music CDs for personal use but by law, you are not allowed to distribute or share these files with friends or family if they do not own a copy of the CD.

The debate rages on as to whether or not MP3 and P2P file sharing programs are good for the music industry. MP3 proponents believe that MP3s help promote music and musicians by getting the music heard far and wide. On the other hand, MP3 critics argue that free music will kill the music industry and the artists who depend on it. Essentially, it is a battle for control of music distribution. Artists can now bypass record labels and distribute their music very easily and effectively.

A balanced and compromised solution should benefit artists and music labels. There is no doubt that artists and musicians should be compensated for their efforts, yet a lot of new and upcoming bands distribute free MP3s as way to get their music heard. As the buzz and excitement builds around the band, people are more inclined to support the bands by buying their CDs, attend concerts and purchase other band merchandise. Ultimately, bands and music labels probably don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them.

So, where does that leave us? Well, as we have seen many times over the years, hot technology trends come and go. However, MP3s have really captured the ears of music aficionados worldwide. With millions upon millions of MP3 audio files out there, and hundreds and maybe even thousands of MP3 related software that has been developed by software developers worldwide, there is no doubt that MP3s are here to stay.

About the Author

Gabriel Nijmeh is the software editor at MP3-CDBurner.com - http://www.mp3-cdburner.com, where we feature software reviews and downloads of MP3 software including CD rippers, MP3 CD burners, MP3 converters and more. Stay up-to-date on the latest and hottest MP3 software downloads and enjoy our MP3 tutorials, FAQs, music articles and shareware developer profiles.

Introduction
Designing a disaster recovery system requires planning and consideration of the available options that will best fit your company’s needs, SLA and budget.
This guide will help you design an exchange disaster recovery plan in conjunction with SANRAD Replication. The guide assumes that you have basic knowledge of SANRAD V-Switch and Exchange Administration.

Exchange Disaster Recovery Planning
This section discusses both general and Exchange specific considerations that need to be addressed when designing a disaster recovery solution combining SANRAD replication and Microsoft Exchange Server.

General Considerations:
SANRAD replication solution allows for flexibility with exchange disaster recovery design.
The most influential factors affecting design consideration are:
• Budget limitations
• Recovery Time Objective (RTO) requirements (the time until the data is back online)
• Recovery Point Objective (RPO) requirements (the amount of data that can be lost)
• Network bandwidth between the local site and remote site
• Replication method: Synchronous versus Asynchronous
• Replication frequency (only for Asynchronous replication)
• Initial volume synchronization

RTO (Recovery Time Objective)
• With high level RTO, duplicate hardware is required to allow quick recovery making the solution more costly.

RPO (Recovery Point Objective)
RPO requirements are best defined by the amount of data that the company is willing to lose.
• High level RPO requires more bandwidth for both Synchronous and Asynchronous replication.
• Low level RPO requires less frequent replication and increases the risk of losing more data.

Network Bandwidth between the Local and Remote sites
Bandwidth between the sites is generally the most crucial factor affecting the replication component of a Disaster Recovery solution.
• T1 (1.5Mb) links impose less frequent data replication and the use of asynchronous replication methods.
• T3 (45Mb) links or a 1Gb links allow frequent replication and the flexibility to choose between synchronous replication or asynchronous replication methods.

Replication method
When considering which replication method to choose it is important to remember:
• In Synchronous Replication the I/O commands are written to the local disk and to the remote volume at the same time. Every IO command requires an
acknowledgment from both the local and remote sites before the next command.
Consequently, synchronous replication is best deployed with a high bandwidth
connection in order to allow the remote acknowledgment to arrive back to the local site as fast as possible and the replication can run faster.
• In Asynchronous Replication the I/O commands are written to the local volume and local journal volume which in turn is replicated periodically to the remote volume as periodically defined by the user. Consequently asynchronous replication can work well with lower bandwidth (minimum recommended for Exchange replication is 1.5Mb) since both acknowledgements are local (from the primary volume and the journal
volume) and thus the replication is fast by default.
• For Asynchronous replication, you must decide the data replication frequency. There are three factors that must be considered:
1. The size of the network bandwidth between the sites.
2. The amount of data changes that need to replicate each time.
For example, large amounts of data changes take longer to replicate using T1
links.
3. The RPO requirements.

Initial Volume Synchronization
SANRAD replication solution can be used to protect existing production Exchange data. SANRAD Disaster Recovery solution supports both online and offline synchronization. When using SANRAD replication with existing Exchange data, an Initial synchronization of the Exchange volumes on the local site to the remote site must be performed.
The initial volume sync method depends on:
• The size of the volumes needed to be synchronized.
• The network bandwidth between the sites. For example, the bigger the volume size, the longer it will take to synchronize over a T1 link.
Online synchronization starts immediately when replication is started and uses the same network link that will be used during the replication.
Offline synchronization is a manual process where SANRAD replication prepares the volumes on the primary site and the user must copy the data to the remote site. It is the user’s responsibility to make sure the volumes on the remote site are synchronized.

Exchange Considerations
Any exchange disaster recovery planning should (at the very least) consider the following requirements:
• Quick access to the most recent copy of the Exchange database and the transaction logs. In a disaster situation SANRAD replication provides fast access to the replicated data on the remote site.
• The Exchange database and its related transaction logs must be replicated together to the remote site. SANRAD replication uses consistency groups to ensure simultaneous replication of all volumes assigned to a consistency group.
• Exchange is integrated into Active Directory. An Active Directory domain controller (running Global Catalog) which is part of the same Active Directory domain that exists in the primary site, must exist in the remote site as well (or at least the capability to rebuild one and reconnect it to the existing Active Directory Domain).
• The most up to date replicated copy of the Windows backup set (which includes system state) to expedite Exchange Server recovery.

SANRAD is a leader in IP Storage Networks enabling organizations to effectively Access, Share & Manage Stored Data across Standard Ethernet Environments.

SANRAD delivers simplified networked storage with excellent price/performance by coupling open IP storage connectivity with comprehensive network-based data management using IP Storage Area Networks (IP-SANs).

With SANRAD, organizations of all sizes can leverage the benefits of networked storage to link employees and clients with stored data for full storage availability, flexible and scalable storage using an economical Ethernet (IP/SCSI) network.

For further reading click here

1. Organizing the DVD Collection

The first thing to consider when you decided to organise your collection is the system that you are going to use. This could include any of the following:

• Alphabetical
• Date of Release
• Genre
• Director
• Main Star

The main thing thing to consider when deciding on how you’re going to organise your collection is how it will be stored. If you’re putting them in boxes then it may be better to organise by Genre rather than Alphabetically, if you’re using slotted shelves then sorting Alphabetically could be a pain as you’d have to move each DVD down a notch if you buy a new one starting with “A”.

Once you have decided on the storage, it’s time to move on to top-level categorisation, then once you’ve chosen your categorisation method, are you then going to order by a sub-category (which could be any of the examples above)?

What if DVDs are stored in multiple locations? Then it may be better to have no organising as such on the DVDs themselves but rather a list of locations and approximate order the DVDs are in.

Once you have chosen your category then stick to it. Don’t vary sub-categories within the main category contexts as you’ll loose all benefit of the top-level organisation.

So basically the workflow is:

Storage Solution > Main Category > Sub Category* > Track

* If required

2. Tracking your DVD collection

Once your DVD collection reaches a certain size it can, and will, become difficult to remember what you have, who you lent it to and whether your bought the limited edition or standard DVD. This is where Tracking tools come in.

You can start off with a simple list or spreadsheet, make a database or use the various software/webtools that are available (see below). Sample information you could use (and this will be dependant on what tool you use for the job) could be:

• Movie Title (Obviously!)
• Director
• Script Writer
• Year of Release
• Length
• Format (this could include widescreen, 4:3, or DVD region code etc.)
• Main Cast (probably best to limit this to about 5 or so)
• Comments
• Rating
• Date Purchased
• Purchase Cost
  (Useful for keeping track of a running total for insurance purposes - you’d be surprised how much it’d cost to replace your collection)
• Purchased From
• Lent to
• Date Lent

Of course, not all of this information may be applicable or they may be further categories you wish to add, just use what’s relevant to you.

3. Storing the Information

Once you’ve decided what information you want to store about your DVDs then you can decide on the appropriate tool to use.

For example, a simple spreadsheet may do if you just want to keep the Movie Title, Director and who you lent it to but you’d probably be better off with a database if you wanted to record anything more complicated.

If you don’t currently have a spreadsheet package on your machine (such as Microsoft Excel, MS Works or Lotus) then I’d highly recommend OpenOffice which is a fantastic free package and easily rivals Microsoft office.

If you want to use a database then MS Access would work quite well (or the database that is shipped with OpenOffice 2), however if you want to get more complicated you can always use MySQL as an alternative (using a web-based front-end).

But then again why build your own (like the muppet that I am) when there’s so much stuff already available that’ll download Covert art, running times etc when you select the item in  your collection? Here are a few examples:

Websites

• DVD Affictionado
  (I started using this before fiddling about with my own system)
• DVD Tracker
• DVD Town

Software

• Movie Organiser From Collectorz (Windows) (Mac version soon)
• DVD Collector (Windows)
• DVD Shelf (Mac)
• Delicious Monster (Mac only?)
• DVD Listing (Pocket PC)

So, organise your collection and never be wondering who you lent that DVD to again!

Katy Whitton has over 10 years experience of web development and web design. Find more articles about blogging, productivity, marketing, software and more at her blog http://www.flippingheck.com or download her latest programs, code and tutorials at http://www.katywhitton.com

There are many experiences prove to me that there’s power lies
in the sentence “Ask and you shall receive.”

Whenever I know someone is going overseas, I will not hesitate
to ask him to get me one or two bottles of Coca- cola for my
collection. You know what, they are more than willing to buy for
me or even give me for free as gifts.

I even went to the extent of asking for loans during my
difficult times! And of course, I managed to get what I wanted.

The examples given here are to show to you the power of asking.
My real life examples are endless.

If you don’t ask, people don’t know what you are looking for and
therefore, in most cases, you won’t get what you want. It’s
common sense.

This is what happens to most people. The problem is they don’t
ask. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

If you dare to ask and if what you ask is within the reach of
the other party, he will give you what you want.

Why most people don’t ask?

First of all, they fear rejections. They are worried that what
they ask for will be turned down.

Secondly, they are afraid that they ask the wrong thing and this
makes them look stupid and less intelligent.

And thirdly, they don’t even know they can get what they want
just by asking in the first place!

Where can you apply this?

You can ask for what you want in every situation of your life or
business.

In selling, asking plays an important role. You have to ask for
closing which many people afraid to do.

If you want your spouse to do something, just ask for it.

If you want to buy something but you can only afford a lower
price, ask for it. Or you can trade in something for something.

If you want excellent customer service in a restaurant, just ask.

If you need help to do something, open your mouth and ask.

Basically, you can apply this in any situation. More often than
not, you’ll be surprised what you get just out of asking.

But how do you ask?

1) Know what you want - You can only ask for what you want only
when you know what you want. Set a target figure in your mind if
you are in a business dealing.

2) Be specific - Don’t say “Give me a lower price.” Say “I’ll
offer you $100 instead.”

3) Be daring - Ask for something much better than what you want
and you’ll get what you want. If you want to buy something and
you are willing to pay $500 for it. Offer the shop owner that
you can only pay $300. Then negotiate from there to get what you
want - $500.

4) Assume that you already get it when you ask - Don’t hesitate
and be confident when you ask for what you want.

5) Forget about how people look at you - what is important is
you get what you want. And it’s up to the other party to decide
whether your request is reasonable or not. You are not here to
please anybody and to look good.

What’s the worst thing that can happen to you when you ask? You
get a ‘no’. It’s no big deal and you have nothing to lose when
people say ‘no.’

But if you don’t ask, you’ll definitely get a ‘no’ for it.

By simply applying the steps outlined above, you’ll see that
your life will become richer and more exciting. Remember if you
don’t ask, you don’t get.

It is extremely stressful to spend many years saving money and
preparing for buying a home. Looking for new home is fun and
exciting. However, there are many unexpected costs and details
to be considered before contacting a real estate agent. Home
buyers should be aware of every aspect involved in purchasing a
home before they take that big step towards home ownership.

You should be aware of every detail in regard to the home you
wish to purchase. Home inspections can reveal many hidden flaws
and problems that could cost you thousands of dollars in
repairs. Be aware of your right to a home inspection and contact
a professional, licensed home inspector.

You should also compare the mortgage terms and interest rates
offered by various mortgage lenders. Even a slight difference in
your interest rate can add up to thousands of dollars over the
length of your mortgage. A pre-approval from the lender of your
choice will not only give you added confidence when shopping for
a new home, but could give you added leverage when bargaining
with the seller. A pre-approval will let you know the exact
amount you are approved for and will save you time after your
offer has been accepted by the seller.

Using services from a buyer agent is an excellent way to help
protect your interests when shopping for a home. A buyer agent
will be responsible for helping you get the best deal possible
on your new home. While shopping for a home, be aware that
certain features can adversely affect the resale value of the
home. Detached garages and swimming pools can actually lessen
the value of the property. Protect your investment by educating
yourself on the home buying process and the way property is
appraised.

If you are careful before buying home and take a lot of
consideration, you may find that the home buying process is not
that difficult as you think. To remind you, you must choose your
lender carefully. Interest rates and closing costs vary from
lender to lender and the difference could mean thousands of
dollars over time. There are numerous flexible loan programs
available. Finding the loan that will best suit your long term
needs will be of great value to you when it is time to sell the
home. Just a half point difference in your interest rate will
translate into a lot of money over the years.

There are additional costs involve in this purchasing.
Homeowners association fees, furniture, annual heating and
cooling costs, and homeowners insurance need to be considered
when planning to purchase a new home. Buying a new home does not
have to be stressful and frustrating. Make sure you know the
facts and your home buying experience will be quick and
painless.

From the boardroom to reality: RFID in the fashion apparel / textile industry

Many Fashion Apparel / Textile companies - particularly those with a large network of stores - are well underway in terms of streamlining their supply chain and optimizing sales forecasts and distribution. They are now looking for ways to enhance revenues and market share by adopting modern ways of managing stores and inventory. RFID has now become a centrepiece in their strategic thinking. Some companies are also stepping up the process into actual implementation.

A new business model for Fashion Apparel and Textile chains

Leading Fashion Apparel / Textile companies have significantly modified their business model.

Shifting away from manufacturing, Fashion Apparel & Textile companies have built competitive advantage, based on new ways of delivering value to their consumers.

A new business model has developed and stabilized based on a centralized approach to design and logistics. A typical business model now includes central design, hundreds of external suppliers, (most often in Asia), and one or two central warehouses that serve as a logistical hub for stocking a large networks of retail outlets.

The new frontier is in the retail store

The cost cutting side of supply chain management is to a large extent behind us. It has already yielded most of its benefits.

The time is coming for additional revenue generation. Today, most large network Fashion Apparel & Textile companies focus on improving the
About the Author