Blogger BlogNet2671

A quick forethought: You can find loads of "expert" reviews from hard-core gamers out there; their reviews might be more technical and comprehensive than what I am sharing with you. I am just an average guy that plays video games every so often, and this is my experience with Rock Band. If you're a causal gamer wondering if shelling out the (around $200) is worth it for this game, you'll probably find this review helpful.

My buddy picked up the video game Rock Band last night for the PS3; in all honesty I was hoping he'd eventually get it. I wasn't there when it actually took the pieces out of the box but he did mention that there was a heck of a lot of them. No I don't think it'll take a rocket scientist to put everything together, but step up might take a little longer than expected.

As far as the game itself, I enjoyed it. For a guy who's always fancied himself as the world's best air drummer, this provided some great fun. I was, like most other reviewers a little disappointed in the limited number of songs. Many of the songs I'd never heard of...but you might expect it coming from someone who loves 70's and 80's music. As you go further into the game you can unlock more songs - I guess that's a good reason to practice and get good at the game. One terrific feature the game includes is the ability for each player to select her/his own difficulty level. This means if you've got a seasoned guitarist, she can move the difficulty level to "Hard", while the drummer (which was me), can still play along and not get too frustrated on "Easy" - allowing people with different skill levels to play together.

The game includes some introductory levels that you can experiment with before jumping in, these could have been done a little better but the concept was good. There is of course a learning curve to the game, but what would you expect - that you'd come right out and play like Eddie Van Halen?!? People that have no rhythm, no coordination and no patience will probably do one of two things: break one of the instruments (which a lot of true musicians do anyway), or they'll just get frustrated. After about 3-4 hours of solid playing - yes it is a fun game...I was doing pretty well on "Easy"; however, the further we got into the game the more complicated and intricate the drum beats got. I'll enjoy getting better at this game, but I'd really like to invest time into being able to play the drums better, if you're not in that boat you might get bored or frustrated.

Pros:

• Skilled and non skilled gamers can play together.
• There is a bit of a learning curve, but if you have any rhythm you'll be playing pretty well on "Easy" in an hour or two. The difficulty level gets proportionately harder as you get better at playing and getting further along in the game.
• The game's a blast in co-op mode, being able to look at your buddy when he's not playing the right notes and saying "Dude, what are you doing?!?!"
• The songs sound great (assuming your playing your instrument correctly), the crowd noise and involvement adds to the ambience.
• You can purchase more songs through the PS3 online interface...however the usability needs to be improved.
• By the third time I'd played Rock Band, I'd moved up the medium difficulty level on the drums, and while it's still a little challenging, the game is still fun. I've played this game for several hours at a time and haven't gotten sick of it yet. I am sure I will someday, but as long as they keep pumping out songs, this game will be around for a while.

Cons:

• Limited song selection, many of the songs I'd never heard of...maybe I am too old or too unhip.
• Some people might get bored with playing many of the same songs over and over again.
• Playing in single player mode might get boring quickly.
• I agree with the experts, the drum kit and kick petal are cool but I am a little nervous about their durability. If you've got friends that get "too into the game", you might not let them get a hold of these instruments. I haven't busted one yet.
• I am not sure about the vocals portion of the game, I wasn't sure if the game really could accurately pick up shifts in pitch.

Bottom Line

Was it worth about $200?

Yeah, I think it was, but I've always wanted to do a little more than play in an "air band" with my buddies. Rock Band allowed me to be a little more than pretend I was playing a music instrument in thin air - and at the same time I didn't build up nasty calluses on my fingers from strumming the guitar for hours.

Jeremy has a decade of experience with brand identity, web design, marketing strategy, advertising creations, direct mail, content editing, custom photography, photo editing/manipulation, and multimedia presentations.

He is also the author of, "Being a Starving Artist Sucks" (which some call the bible of graphic design success, 500 pgs) and "Verbal Judo for Designers" and the Work Smarter NOT Harder Contract Package: all easy to use, proven resources geared towards helping new or struggling creative freelancers run a more profitable, more enjoyable business in the shortest time possible by covering the areas that freelancers struggle with the most: pricing, negotiating, contracts, finding business, and customer service.

In late 2007 he added a 1 on 1 coaching/mentoring component to the product mix and will offer seminars and teleseminars in 2008. Learn more about what he's up to by visiting:
http://www.beingastarvingartistsucks.com
http://beingastarvingartistsucks.typepad.com

If you are looking for a NextGen Console, then the three main choices are the PS3, the XBOX 360, and the Nintendo Wii. Each have their own characteristics, advantages, game catalog and selection, so it pays to review the best of each before you make your decision, if it is time for an upgrade or new purchase. The Playstation 3 or PS3 is from Sony. This game box is set up for online multiplayer gaming with three Ethernet networking ports for broadband internet connections or linking up with your computer. The PS3 has next-gen storage capabilities, at 80, 60, 40 or 20 GB. The system also has wifi and usb ports. Some of these systems also accept flash cards and have Blue-Ray capabilities, as well as DVD. You should be able to keep your old Playstation games with an upgrade.

The XBOX 360 is a mash up from Microsoft, IBM, ATI, and other companies. It is said to be part of Microsoft's strategy to compete actively in the gaming market. This set up comes with a nice, custom gaming console that is sure to make playing all the games easy and fun. It also has a remote control and head set. There is a lot of hard disc space and a Microsoft operating system, so that and the many, many excellent games for the XBOX systems make it the top choice.

Compared to this is the Nintendo Wii, the new release following the Game Cube series from Nintendo. The operating system is also quite good on this system, with lots of memory and storage space. This comes with a remote control and a nunchuck, but it is no comparison to the XBOX set up. The real hope is the Wii may generate some new concepts in gaming and gaming possibilities. There is still the excellent round up of games for the system. In summary, the recommendation is to go with the XBOX 360 for its great all around package of console, operating system, ports, and game catalog. The Nintendo Wii will come on strong if game developers expand some of the new possibilities inherent in the system. Otherwise, we'll be waiting for Wiii.

Tony James writes about console games. Read more about console trends on his blog and you can download some fun games from his games website

Popular perceptions about health insurance are often wrong. Here are some of the more misunderstood concerns that individuals have when it comes to obtaining health care coverage.

Myth#1: Since my employer provides me with health insurance, I'm OK.

Truth: While an employer based group health plan is still the most common type of health coverage, there has been a reduction in the number of employers who provide them. A growing number of employees are loosing their employer provided health care. Many employers are finding it difficult to continue to pay the rising premium cost and no longer offer healthcare benefits. Another drawback, an employer group policy will only cover an employee while they are employed there. Should they loose or leave their job, the employee would be vulnerable, especially if he/she had health problems or pre existing conditions. Individual health plans are portable so the employee can keep their coverage should they decide to change jobs or retire.

Myth#2: I'm healthy so I'll worry about health insurance when I get older or become sick.

Truth: It is usually more cost-effective to buy a healthcare plan when you are younger and especially if you are healthy. The cost of buying coverage tends to increase as you age. And buying coverage when you are young and healthy means you will already have the coverage if you develop a health condition later in life that could make you uninsurable. You purchase a healthcare plan to protect against unforeseen risk. Health care insurance is really no different than auto insurance... you can not get coverage after you have had an accident so why should your health plan be any different. If you can possibly afford the insurance, then there is no excuse for not having it.

Myth#3: It is easy for individuals and small businesses to purchase healthcare insurance.

Truth: Not really. Because the risk pool is smaller than employer group plans, the rates are generally higher for these markets. This leaves the most vulnerable individuals - those with pre existing conditions - either unable to find insurance, or when they do find it, the premiums will be more than they can afford. At the same time, small businesses are seeing their premiums rise each year, often times to a point they can no longer afford to pay.

Myth#4: The uninsured are usually able to get health care even without health insurance.

Truth: Unfortunately, access to affordable health care services is greatly diminished for individuals lacking a health plan. The uninsured are more likely to delay healthcare, live with illness longer and when they do seek help, it is usually at the most expensive setting, such as the emergency room. Out-of-pocket expenses in this manner are far from cost-effective. Ensuring affordable health care coverage will allow individuals to seek preventative care at appropriate times and hopefully stem the tide of mounting medical expenses.

Myth#5: Most uninsured individuals are uninsured by choice.

Truth: Not so. Cost, premium increases, and affordability are listed as the major reasons for not having health coverage. Additionally, others cited a loss of employment as a reason. Only about 10% give no real reason for not having a health plan. This would imply that most individuals do want health insurance but simply cannot afford it.

About the Author: Rudy Wilson is currently active in the insurance industry. He is also a researcher and an author. Visit his web site at http://www.UninsurableHealthSolution.com to view more information on finding affordable health care for the uninsured, the underinsured and the uninsurable.

Recent reports of insurance rules and regulations have unearthed unfair policy acceptation for those in a civil partnership. Thankfully changes are already underway.

Article:

Recently this month the association of British insurers have decided that all United Kingdom insurance businesses are to scrap a controversial exemption that states there is to be differences of premiums and charges between those married man and wife and those in same sex civil partnerships.

Although the majority of the insurance businesses I the UK do not take this approach to how their policies are drawn up, the association has declared that not one will be able to do so by the end of August 2010.

The director of general insurance in the United Kingdom has said that the whole industry and association is against the discrimination of same sex couples and fully supports the movement for people to be treated fairly. He feels that insurers should base their treatment of all customers on a fair analysis, and of the risks they represent, not their sexual lifestyle.

Policies are going to be unavoidably different to an extent however due to gender, as depending on age one sex can be more at risk of illness etc than the other. However the differences will be hardly noticeable between two women, a man and a woman, and two men.

A representative of the insurance change quite rightly says that things as logical as insurance should reflect on how a person rates on the "risk factor" as a human being alone and sexual orientation should not need to even be addressed.

It is very likely to be a well received change by the British public, with the modern opinion towards gay couples being open and friendly. Changes in insurance show the extent to how much acceptance has changed in the last decade, with there hopefully not being too many stones left un-turned when it comes to gays having equality in all areas of life.

Be sure you look carefully at what your insurance covers you for. Insurance does not have to be expensive, there are many ways to lower the cost, and companies specializing in cheap insurance.

We see different types of images on websites. Some of them are personal photographs and some are of creative, social and knowledge oriented images. These images are uploaded and managed by an image host. The image host stores the image on to its server, and shows the individual different types of code to allow others to view that image. Many users do not have personal web space, but they want to view their images on web or allow others to view, either as a paid service or through an ISP offering people using the image host services and making these wide spread and popular. The explosion of web blogs, forums and other interactive web pages, leads the image hosting services to huge popularity.

HOW IT WORKS:

Generally, the image hosting website provides an upload interface, i.e. a form in which you specify the location of an image file on your local computer file system, using a browse button. After clicking 'submit' the file is uploaded to the server of image host. Some image hosts allow you to specify multiple files at once, in this form you can able to submit one ZIP file consisting of multiple images. Some hosts allow FTP access system as an appendix, in which single or multiple images can be uploaded in one attempt using FTP cable browser or FTP software.

On the completion of the above process, the image will be hosted on their web server. That means it is available on the website to view for public. You may also be allowed to make inline links to the hosted image, to insert or show or link it on other websites. We can link the images in multiple websites by using:

Linking with HTML.

Linking with BBcode

The Thumbnail, which is a clickable that is linked to the full page.

Normally the image host can constrict on the maximum size of the image to be allowed, or the space or maximum band width allowed to the user. Because of the band width costs, the free server allows a limited band width per image when compared to the paid image hosting server, but allows the user to hotlink their image. The users need to host a large images should purchase the image hosting services, or may consider purchasing of web hosting services, by that they may maintain their own web site as they wish.

USEFUL TOOLS:

Image hosts provide different types of tools for user to upload and access the image. They allow tools such as the ability to create image blogs or photo galleries with your images, or add them to a slide show to easier view of them. Some image hosts offer advanced tool to the user such as ability to add some text to an image the user uploaded, browser side bars or the side loaders. Other hosts are introduced some novel and ideal futuristic tools such as to resize or crop an image down to the user opted size.

The linking options and the tools may vary on the image host's status. Some of the image hosts are free hosts and some provide the image hosting by paid service. The quality, features, options and the space for the images may differ from host to host. Generally, the above features may provided better by the paid image hosts when compared to the free image hosting service provider.

Web Marketing
Onilne Marketing
Website promotion

In search of a webhosting company for personal or small business purposes? We advise you to take a look at this article to understand the hosting industry and study its dynamics to know what to look for before you make your choice.

First, a brief introduction to the webhosting chain: the end consumer is served by about 3 upstream providers: the webhosting provider that they have direct contact with, the webhost's upstream company who maintains the servers and sells space to webhosts, and above that, the datacenter that provides the connection and houses the servers. Some webhosts are also the server admins and liase with the datacenters directly.

The webhosting industry has been claimed to be near saturation point as there are hundreds of web-hosting providers clamouring to provide cheaper and better services to businesses and individuals. This upsurge of supply is largely due to resources becoming readily available (and at cheaper costs) with plunging diskspace and data-transfer prices. The barriers to entry in the web-hosting space is low as large resellers of server space provide cheap hosting and reselling plans that create opportunites for new webhosts to join in the market. With increasing number of suppliers with ever cheaper reselling plans, more webhosting businesses are sprouting up to provide web-hosting solutions to business and individual websites due to lower fixed costs and investment. In addition, this increase in supply is not caused by factors in any particular country. The internet is global and as such, datacenters in US, or in fact, any part of the world, can provide the server and webspace for a local webhosting company. It is taking place in internet space and consumers and providers can easily find each other and exchange services in the global space.

Increasing the supply is naturally a good thing for the customer who is on the demand side. This inbalance has caused new web-hosting providers to offer extremely low prices for their webhosting plans or packages in order to compete in the tough market. Customers get to choose from a myriad of hosting providers who are constantly lowering their prices. However, this might not be a good thing. By offering low prices, companies are earning small margins that may not cover their support costs. Support is vital in the webhosting business as most customers want to be able to get help with their web-hosting accounts. If the profits do not justify the costs, web hosting companies will easily close down - and take their clients' sites with them.

So what are the factors to look at when choosing a host for your website?

Support is the single most important factor for any individual or small business looking for a webhost for their websites. Any internet web hosting provider that does not respond to emails for at most 24 hours is probably having problems providing fast and reliable support services. These services are essential to customer satisfaction and especially for customers who are new to webhosting will need guidance with publishing their websites on the webhosting account provided. The webhosting business is about relationships between webhost and webhosting customers. You should want to know that you can get help when you need, and want to be informed when your website is going to be offline for maintainance.

Stability comes in second as a factor when choosing a webhost. Stability refers to how much uptime you can expect from the webhosting provider. This actually depends on the providers' servers and network. If they do not have reliable and stable providers, it would affect their servers and cause problems for your website. An uptime of about 99.5% is considered reliable in the industry as there are external factors which may be beyond control of the provider. External agencies like Alerta.com provide server monitoring services that webhosting companies might use to proof their reliability.

Cost is a factor depending on the purpose of the website and budget. Personal /Individual websites might have smaller budget and choose to go with a cheaper webhosting provider, possibily in exchange for support and stability. Business sites might have larger budgets and should definitely place stability and support above all else. The cheaper webhosting deals that offer enormous diskspace and huge amounts of data-transfer at a dollar rates has continuously proven to be a one-off hit that attracts customers in numbers, but fail in providing quality support. Large numbers of client sites also cause sustained high server loads that might cause the server to crash and thus affecting stability.

Location of the server is generally not an important issue depending on your ISP/country's connection to the datacenter where the server is located. Pings to the server can normally tell you the network latency to expect when people from your area access your site. Lower ping rates means that your site will load faster.

Lastly, take time to identify and contact a webhost to ask about their service. This would give you an idea of the kind of support that you might receive and help you in deciding if you want to go with the web-hosting provider.

About The Author

Dax Christopher is the owner of BuildtoLearn Networks which specializes providing free webhosting and other web-building resources to assist budding webmasters launch their websites. Visit http://buildtolearn.com to obtain free webhosting or http://buildtutorials.com to learn more about web-development.

Aviva Life Insurance Company is a well known life insurance company in the continental United States and all through out the world. This large corporation as we know it started in the year 2000 when CGU and Norwich Union merged together; however, its history traces back to more than 300 years. Ever since that February day in the year 2000, Aviva has been growing at a tremendous rate and it was not until the year 2002 in July that the name Aviva and what the company called the "Aviva Brand Identity" was launched.

Aviva first made moves to enter the global market, by acquiring other firms in the countries of New Zealand, Turkey, Canada, Spain, Italy, Brazil, the United Kingdom and many others. After establishing a presence through out the world and building strong reputation that could result in a good experience in the American market, Aviva decided to buy AmerUS in the year 2006 and strengthen its products in the United States. Because CGU had been active in the United States before 2006 and AmerUS had been active for over one hundred years; Aviva assures its American customers that they have a history in the United States.

Nowadays the company is the fifth largest insurance group in the world and the biggest one in the United Kingdom. Ever since the company was formed it was headquartered in London, England and for them this island part of the European country is a focal point in reaching all of the countries that they have business in. They specialize in insurance products, long-termed services and fund management as listed by their main website. They pride themselves in the flexibility of their products and the excellent services that they offer to customers all around the world and through out the seven continents. All around the world the company employs over 58,000 employees and has over 35 million customers, while in the United States the company has been growing tenaciously and now they pride themselves in having about 32,850 agents that help as many as 1,115,000 customers.

Aviva Life Insurance Company offers only two types of life insurance to residents of New York. Whole Life Insurance and Universal Life Insurance are the only two plans designed for New Yorkers by Aviva, which means that they do not have term life insurance and whoever purchases either of these two types will be covered for life. On the other hand, the rest of the United States has many choices when it comes to life insurance policies. Those choices will be briefly described below. Keep in mind that most of these products came from when the company merged with AmerUS and for this reason the products would be the same for both companies.

Indexed Life Insurance

Universal Life Insurance

Single Premium Life

Indexed Survivor Universal Life

Level Premium Term Insurance

Excess Interest Whole Life Insurance

As you can see Aviva has a big variety of products for the general public and they are very flexible in the options that they give to customers. Although they have a worldwide business an American customer should feel safe with this company. Aviva Life Insurance Company has been breaking the boundaries of the life insurance business and should continue for years to come.

If you think that Aviva life insurance company may be a good choice for your life coverage needs then be sure and speak with a licensed life insurance professional that can help you compare quotes from top companies. Be sure and look up any Aviva life insurance company complaints and check their track record in your state against other top companies. Get started comparing life insurance quotes from multiple companies side by side today at http://www.LifeInsuranceQuote360.com

Students interested in becoming licensed chiropractors can choose from 16 accredited programs in chiropractic medicine in the United States. However, before you rush to apply, know that applicants should have a minimum of undergraduate education in a number of studies including biology, chemistry, English, and physics, among others.

Programs in chiropractic medicine are typically comprised of over 4,000 hours of intensive studies. These courses include clinical, class, and laboratory training. Some of the many sciences taught in chiropractic courses are anatomy, biochemistry, microbiology, pathology, physiology, and more. Field-focused training entails spinal adjusting techniques, orthopedics, neurology, radiology, and other specialized instruction.

As all States (including the District of Columbia) require chiropractors to have licenses to practice, once candidates have successfully completed any one of the programs in chiropractic medicine, they will need to take the National Board of Chiropractic Examiner's test. These are typically recognized by most State boards.

Over half of the professional practitioners, who have completed programs in chiropractic medicine, go into solo practices; however, employment for this natural health occupation is expected to grow much faster than other careers through the year 2016. Some of the great aspects of this career field are that qualified practitioners are able to help individuals with natural healing techniques, which do not require invasive surgeries or drug treatments. Those who have established a good repertoire with patients find that success lies in the quality of their holistic healthcare services and individualized health regimens.

If you (or someone you know) are interested in learning more about these or other complementary medicine programs, let professional training within fast-growing industries like massage therapy, naturopathy, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, Reiki, and others get you started! Explore programs in chiropractic medicine near you.

Programs in Chiropractic Medicine
Copyright 2008
The CollegeBound Network
All Rights Reserved

NOTICE: Article(s) may be republished free of charge to relevant websites, as long as Copyright and Author Resource Box are included; and ALL Hyperlinks REMAIN intact and active.

Resource Box: CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd - Freelance Writer and Web Consultant for HolisticJunction.com, in association with CollegeSurfing.com - Educational Resources for Programs in Chiropractic Medicine, Complementary Medicine Schools, and other unique training programs.