Homepages

Written by Richard Lowe


In my humble opinion, everyone should create a homepage. Wait, let's back up a minute. What's a homepage? Well, there are really two definitions. First, a homepage isrepparttar first page of a web site, usually named index, default or home. Second, a homepage is a web site with one or more pages which is personal. It'srepparttar 134637 second definition which we are using in this article.

Okay, so why would anyone want to create a homepage? It's simple really. The internet is all about communication. A homepage is a method whereby you can communicate about yourself, your family, hobbies, pets, likes, dislikes, religion or anything else that you desire. Oh, there are limits to what you can put on your web site - you must stay withinrepparttar 134638 contractual terms ofrepparttar 134639 company which is hosting it. You also should not violate any laws - but besides that, post away.

You say you have nothing to communicate that anyone would want to know? Hmmm. You're alive, aren't you? You have a family, a job, a pet, a hobby, anything? Let's see what kind of topics you can choose.

- Make a fan site for your favorite television show (Star Trek, Wonder Woman, Dallas, whatever)

- Create a personal diary.

- Post a photo album.

- Put up pictures of all ofrepparttar 134640 trash cans in Disneyland (someone already did it).

- Write about and include drawings and photos of your cat, dog, fish, armadillo or snake.

- Tell everyone about your job.

- People are always interested in religion - talk about yours.

- You like your car? Create a web site all about that.

- What about your travels aroundrepparttar 134641 world? A diary and/or photos is a good thing to put on a homepage.

- Did some school papers of which you are proud? Post them.

- If you are an artist or photographer, display your work.

- Figure something out? Tell us all about it.

- Had an out-of-body experience, been kidnapped by aliens or remember your past lives? Well, we'd all like to know.

That's just a sample, there are an infinite number of subjects that you can write about.

All right, so now you want to create a home page. How do you go about it? Find a company (a provider) to host it, choose a web editing package (optional), and get to work. If you want to include photos or other graphics you will need to get a graphics editor and possibly a scanner. Don't worry, just start small and work your way through it. The providers usually make it pretty easy to get started.

Visit some ofrepparttar 134642 sites listed inrepparttar 134643 article on freehosts (http://www.internet-tips.net/Homepages/freehosts.htm). Read their information and FAQs (frequently asked questions) until you find one that you like.

STREAMING MEDIA - Leveling the Playing Field for Small Business - Part III

Written by Don Rhodes


IS YOUR WEB SITE READY FOR PRIME TIME??

Inrepparttar first two articles on streaming media, I discussed audio,repparttar 134636 maturest streaming technology, and streaming pictures, which marries photos and graphics with an audio presentation. (If you missed these two installments, please go to http://www.wbcimaging.com/articles/audio_article.htm). I'd now like to tell you about streaming video,repparttar 134637 hottest and most exciting media development onrepparttar 134638 web today!

Just as television progressed fromrepparttar 134639 black and white, sometimes snowy, broadcasts ofrepparttar 134640 1940's and 50's torepparttar 134641 elaborate home theatre systems of today, streaming video is makingrepparttar 134642 transition from tiny, blurry pictures to 1/4 screen color presentations with near CD quality sound. And with surprisingly good quality overrepparttar 134643 28.8 connections that most web visitors experience today! I credit this breakthrough to RealNetworks,repparttar 134644 creators of RealVideo, which is currentlyrepparttar 134645 most popular streaming video format in use. (Others about which you might have heard or read are Vivo and Microsoft NetShow.) Atrepparttar 134646 end ofrepparttar 134647 first quarter of 1999, RealNetworks reported that over 45 million of their FREE players had been downloaded; this number is growing by 15,000 per day!

An online streaming video presentation is another marketing tool that is now affordable and extremely effective. Streaming video adds far more than just a personal touch to your web site; it actually sets you miles apart from your competition. As with streaming audio or pictures, a video presentation guarantees that at least 86% of your visitors will stay to listen or to watch. Statistics have shown that over 90% of white collar workers have a PC on their desks, but only 9% have access to television inrepparttar 134648 workplace. That means that you can reach more white-collar office workers during normal office hours than all ofrepparttar 134649 network and cable stations combined.

Streaming video enables you to combinerepparttar 134650 best attributes of web-based media withrepparttar 134651 compelling nature of broadcast media. On-line advertisers are realizing significantly higher click-through rates withrepparttar 134652 adoption of streaming media technology. Recent studies have found that streaming media advertising substantially increases brand recall, brand awareness, and positive brand perception. This really gives yourepparttar 134653 opportunity to deliver a powerful message about your products or services - much like having your own, personal "infomercial. " Unlike a television infomercial, however, yours is available for one fixed price and it runs 365/24/7... thanks torepparttar 134654 Internet.

Your streaming video presentation can be submitted on VHS tape, CD, and DVD; most encoding companies will be able to use those formats. (If your presentation is in another format, such as 8mm, check with them before sendingrepparttar 134655 media.) The quality ofrepparttar 134656 finished product will be dependent upon how it's encoded for transmission. Standard practice is to encode video to stream overrepparttar 134657 Internet at 28.8 connections. In order to stream smoothly at this slow speed, an extremely high level of compression is required for bothrepparttar 134658 audio and video tracks. This compression causes small portions ofrepparttar 134659 data to be "eliminated." (That's why some ofrepparttar 134660 video presentations you now see are not as clear as you would like them to be. Withrepparttar 134661 advent of higher bandwidth, however, this situation will vastly improve inrepparttar 134662 future.) When completed, your encoding company will provide you with web ready files to place on your site, or you may choose to have your encoding company host your presentation.

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