Guide to buying a used guitar : Learn where to look and what to look for when purchasing a used electric or acoustic guitar

Where to look:

• craigslist > musical instruments
• Kijiji > buy and sell > musical instruments
• Other online classifieds

What to look (out) for:

Take a look at the sample ad below. On the first look it looks like a really good deal. It comes with a cool box. Only few scratches and chips? No biggy. And all those cool sounding specs. This is the best deal in the world!

Lets take a dive into reality now. The cool box, which is obviously not very portable because of its weight, is a bait for potential customers.
The ad fails to mention that each scratch and chip can cost the potential customer $50-$100 to repair. Yes, even the small one may cost that much to repair. Also don’t take the advice to cover up those cracks and chips by yourself. That will cost you more when repairing the finish, since the repair guys are paid by the hour on top of labor. It takes hours to repair a small chip, and when you cover it up it makes the job harder and more time consuming for the repair guy.
And those cool specs are standard on most guitars.

Here are some really good and elaborate guides on buying a new or used guitar:
http://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/how-to-buy-a-used-acoustic-guitar/
http://www.essortment.com/all/buyusedguitar_rmfh.htm
http://exclaim.ca/musicschool/needtoknow.aspx?csid1=86
http://musiced.about.com/od/beginnersguide/qt/buyguitar.htm
http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/guitars/electric-guitars/buying-guide.php
http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/guitars/acoustic/buying-guide.php
http://pages.ebay.com/buy/guides/vintage-electric-guitars-buying-guide/
http://www.guitarimports.com/acoustic-guitars.htm
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=99234
http://www.guitarbitz.com/buyersguide.asp
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/the_guide_to/beginners_guide_to_buying_an_acoustic_guitar.html
http://www.guitar-resource-center.com/beginners_electric_guitar.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/52426/the_complete_guide_to_buying_the_guitar.html

How to Create a bootable USB Memory Key

If you do not have a floppy disk drive, you may want to create a bootable USB memory key which will allow you to boot into a pure DOS environment. This can be very useful if you want to flash your BIOS. Here is a step by step procedure on how to perform this operation. NOTE: Your computer must support booting from a USB device in order to boot from the USB Memory Key. Step 1 – Download and install the Windows based HP USB Disk Format Tool. For your convenience, you can download it from HERE. Step 2 – Download the Windows 98 system files from HERE. This is a zip file that contains all of the system files that you will need. Create a new folder and extract these files into the folder that you just created. Make sure that you preserve the directory structure. Step 3 – Insert the USB Memory Key into the USB port of your computer. NOTE: Make sure that the lock/unlock switch (if present) is set to the unlock position.
	Step 4 – Launch the HP format tool program. Under the device drop down list, make sure that the USB memory key is selected.
	Step 5 – Under the file system drop down list, select FAT32. This is important to do correctly.
	Step 6 – Check the box next to Create a DOS startup disk. Select “using DOS system files located at: Then click on the square box with 3 dots on it.
	Step 7 – Browse to the folder that you extracted the Win98 system files and then click on the OK button.
	Step 8 – Now click the Start button.
	Step 9 – You will receive a warning message. Make sure you have the USB memory key selected. If you are sure, then click the Yes button.
	Step 10 – Your USB memory key is now being formated and the DOS system files will be copied onto it. Once the program has completed the operation, click on the Close button. You now have a bootable USB memory key.
	On the USB memory key, you will see these files. These are the basic Win98 system files.

How to bypass Mega Video time limit

Are you frustrated with Mega Video time limit, and don’t want to pay for the premium account? I tried Firefox’s addon like “DownloadHelper” but it only downloaded 72 minutes of the flv file. Well, I found a solution to bypass this timed out limit, thanks to Scribd. It’s a simple way to get around it.

Step 1: When you click play on a Megavideo video, click pause and allow the video to buffer all the way to 100%.
Step 2: Once the video is done buffering, go to your menu bar on your browser, and click on File > Work Offline.
Step 3: Watch video.
Step 4: Unclick the “work offline” button.

Note: The trick here is to block MegaVideo from connecting to your PC once the buffering is done. So, alternatively,you can pull the ethernet cable, turn off WiFi, or turn off the modem.

ReadPlease 2003 will read your text out loud

Overview:

Reads any text you see on your screen – all purpose text-to-speech software.

Features:

* Microsoft voices: Mike, Mary, Sam
* Customize font and background colour
* Reads text via Windows clipboard from any program (copy/paste)
* Control reading from system tray
* Reads e-mail emoticons such as 🙂 or 😦
* Adjustable voice speed (rate)
* Low vision colour option
* ReadPlease Enable your website

Review:

If for some reason you would need to have text read out to you using voices then ReadPlease 2003 is a good option. ReadPlease 2003 will read out loud any text that you copy or load up into it using 4 distinct voices (tough more can be downloaded even ones with foreign languages like spanish) the voices that come with ReadPlease 2003 can be pretty robotic when talking but for the most part they are understandable, one thing that i found to be pretty cool is that ReadPlease 2003 knows several abreviations and symbols and reads them as you would do normally. For example “Ave” becomes “Avenue” and “#” becomes “Number” this greatly helps the listening of text. Also you can place links in text files that you open that will take you to other text files (only if they are in the same directory tough) you can make a table of contents this way if you’d like. ReadPlease 2003 has a”Plus” version that you can buy if need a lot more features.
In conclusion ReadPlease 2003 is a pretty solid way of doing text to speech. Available for all Windows versions.

Get it at http://readplease.com/english/readplease.php

S2 applications : S2U2, S2P & S2V

S2U2 (Slide 2 Unlock 2)

S2U2 is a simple lock/unlock application which has the iPhone style slide unlocking. It can be used as a screensaver while you don’t use your device. It has CallerID function (but may not work on some devices, so please try it first); S2P control plugin; and volume control.

Requirements:
– WM5 Phone or WM6/6.1 Professional devices
– free RAM: at least 1M for QVGA; 4M for VGA

S2P (Slide 2 Play)

S2P is a stylus-free MP3/WMA player application. It simply lets you browse your music files & play. It fully integrates with S2U2 & supports A2DP & AVRCP as well.

Requirements:
– WM5 Phone or WM6/6.1 Professional devices (with built-in Windows Media Player)
– free RAM: at least 3M

S2V (Slide 2 View)

S2V is a stylus-free picture viewing application. It can also be used to set up the wallpapers for S2U2 (v0.97 or later); assign a pic to a contact; set it as Today’s wallpaper; or send it via MMS/email.

Requirements:
– WM5 Phone or WM6/6.1 Professional devices
– free RAM: at least 6M for QVGA

Top 10 Most Awesome Approaches to Photography

Point, shoot and … what? From amazing architecture to abandoned places, sometimes the subject is at the center of compelling photography – but at other times the types and approaches take the proverbial cake. These fascinating photography techniques take the art of image-making into entire new dimensions.

Some photographers seem to freeze, slow, or speed up time. Others rotate our views in dizzying directions elevate our views to dazzling heights. Featuring eye-popping works from 3D, panoramic and high-speed to infrared, HDR and tilt-shift photographers, here is a visual guide to ten of the world’s most awesome ways to take a photograph.

1) Epic Panoramic and 3D Photography

Who says photography is limited to what a standard frame or even a panoramic one can see? Some photographers shoot entirely in the round, creating amazing full-circle spiralling panoramas or even fully-mobile three-dimensional shots that can only be viewed via computer.

2) Spectacular High-Speed Photography

While most images capture moments in time that any ordinary human could see some high-speed shots provide us with photographic glimpses of faster-than-sight phenomena invisible to the naked eye, from bullets piercing bottles to aesthetically splendidly water splashes.

3) Fantastic Time-Lapse Photography

At the opposite extreme from high-speed photography lies the vast world of motion-blur imagery. From a single time-lapse shot it can be possible to see many moments collapsed into one and create permanent montage artworks from ephemeral events.

4) Inspiring Infrared and HDR Photography

Employed to the extreme and they can seem like gimmicks but taken to just the right degree and color-altering approaches like infrared and HDR can take ordinary scenes and make them extraordinary, enhancing contrast and rendering some aspects of an image more real than reality.

5) Nuanced Night Photography

Night photography can bring out the best in photographers, playing on subtlties of shadow, shade and contrast not visible during the daytime. These photographers range in their approaches but universally add something new to the art of creating nighttime images.

6) Mold-Breaking Black-and-White Photography

Black and white is, of course, where photography began – but is not at all where it has ended up. However, some contemporary photographers have reclaimed this original art and applied new techniques to the old approaches begun by the original masters of photography.

7) Masterful Monochromatic Color Photography

: Monochrome and duotone photography are not, however, limited to black and white. Many photographic artist make marvelous compositions from a single color, shade or tone beyond greyscale. These works can be potently expressive despite their singular colors.

8) Mesmerizing Reflection-and-Mirror Photography

Mirrors are found in many places in nature and architecture – from smooth running streams to finely polished floors. Many photographers continue to experiment with the myriad possibilities of reflection that present themselves in our everyday experience.

9) Head-Twisting Tilt-Shift Photography

Scale are perspective are pervasive issues in the realm of photography – mastering them is one thing, but twisting them to a whole different purpose can be quite another. Tilt-shift photography tweaks our ideas of relative and real sizes and unique and creative ways.

10) Pinhole and Photogram Photography

Who says you need a camera to take pictures? Long before cameras as we know them existed, innovative artists and scientists used these techniques to create images – creative contemporary photographers have returned to them as well.

BONUS: 20 Funky Frozen-in-Time Photographs

While they stage their work very carefully – to the point of it being as much about performance as freeze-frame photography – Denis Darzacq and Liwei have made an incredible art out of perfectly timed and angled photographs.

BONUS: 14 Hilariously Twisted Monument Photos

As with Darzacq and Liwei, Michael Hughes has made a mission of somewhat less-than-serious but strangely compelling photography. He travels the world and replaces real-life monuments and wonders with his own miniatures in self-made images.

18 Health Tricks to Teach Your Body

Eating 10 hot dogs in 6 minutes and belching the national anthem may impress your friends, but neither of those feats will do much for your body—at least not much good.

Instead, why not train yourself to do something that may actually pay off?

We’re not talking bench presses and interval training (though those do help). You can teach your body to cure itself from everyday health ailments—side stitches, first-date jitters, even hands that have fallen asleep.

Just study this list, and the next time your friends challenge you to an ice cream eating contest, chow down: You know how to thaw a brain freeze—and 17 other tricks that’ll make everyone think you’re the next David Blaine. But without all that “hold your breath for 17 minutes” mess.

SEE ALL LISTS IN THIS SECTION »

How To Pick A Padlock With Only Two Paperclips!!!!!

6 Online Tools for Text to Speech you would not want to miss

Once in a while, all of us face a need to get some text synthesized into speech. Maybe we want to know how someone would pronounce a complicated word, or sometimes we just want an entire passage to be read out to us.

These online tools are a great help when you face such a requirement. Some of them will allow you only to synthesize a small passage; others would read out entire PDF or DOC files to you!

1. Vozme

vozMe an online text to speech tool with an ultra-simple interface; a baby could use it! You have a large text box where you type or copy-paste whatever you want to convert to speech, and click the ‘Create MP3’ button. That’s it. A new window would open, and in a few seconds, your MP3 file would start playing. Large chunks of text were translated – the text field seems to accept a pile of text easily.

Save as MP3 file. Integrate into websites or blogs (WP plugin available) Add as iGoogle gadget

2. Expressivo

This text to speech conversion tool from Expressivo has a maximum limit of 200 characters. So large chunks or text at one go are out. But it is easy enough to use. Type or copy-paste your text, choose one of the four voice options (You have female US-English, female Romanian, male Polish and female Polish accents as options), and hit Read Me.

Epressivo produces a short URL to the speech file you created which you can email, IM or blog Option of entering text directly into the address bar of the browser

3. Cepstral

At Cepstral, the text to speech conversion converts the text into a .WAV file. Type in the text, hit Say It, and you will be asked to download s small WAV file. The ability to save the file is a great convenience here.

4. Ivona Speech Synthesizer

The Ivona Speech Synthesizer text to speech conversion tool online has a charcter limit of 200, and the same voice options as Expressivo. Ivona, however, allows you to save the converted speech file as an MP3 for private, non-commercial use.

5. SpokenText

SpokenText is packed with features – but it wants you to register, a small hassle. The registration is a bit too comprehensive – but I think it’s worth filling it out. Once you click on the link in the activation email, your registration is ready to go.

Log in, and click on the button ‘Create a New recording’. Choose from one of the 5 voice options, choose a words-per-minute speed for spoken text and – there is no text box! You have to upload a PDF, .txt, .DOC or .PPT file.

Conversion from multiple file formats. Conversion status indicator Email notification on conversion Filter words Your own Spokentext web address to share your recordings

6. Talkr

Talkr is not so straightforward – but that’s only if you land up on the site looking for a text to speech synthesizer. Talkr is not for that exactly – have an RSS feed you want read out?

Yes, this one is for instant podcasts – it converts RSS feeds into MP3 files for podcast! Once you sign up, all you need to do is to point it towards a feed of your own or someone else’s and it converts it into an MP3 file.

• Player to embed the mp3 file into your blog
• MP3 voice mails
• Listen to text only blogs anytime!

Avoid talking to the customer support bot!

When you’re tired of wasting money and time due to phone systems that require you to press 10 or more options in order to reach a real person and spending many minutes or even hours on hold, consult the GetHuman database of secret phone numbers and codes that immediately get an actual, live person on the line for customer service at nearly 1000 major companies. Click here for a full list or use our search below to find a company by part of its name, industry and/or country.