"Wil?" my mom said, a bit of an edge to her voice.

"Uh-huh," I said, my eyes darting from the Star Wars vehicles to the figures to the playsets and back. A stream of numbers and calendar pages flew through my head, accompanied by John Williams' famous theme.

"Wil, I'm going to count to ten, and then we're leaving." my mom said

Oh no! She was counting! This was serious.

"...three...four...five..."

Three? What happened to one and two?

"...eight...nine..." Why couldn't I just make a decision? All the figures sucked. This should be easy.

But there are so many right there, and how can I walk out of the toy department without buying something?! Jeremy has an airplane!

"Ten. What are you doing?" Hide excerpt...

Weblog entry:

Hey, Party People!

I've just come home from the San Diego Comic Con, where it's very possible I gave you a lame flyer for this very lame website. So you actually came, huh?

Suh-weet.

I feel just slightly less lame than I did last night. Want to know some cool stuff that's happened in the recent past? Tough. I'm telling you anyway. Here we go.

See, TNN is rebranding themselves. Rebranding is when a network changes it's image and programming and goes after a new audience. Well, that's what TNN is doing. I guess someone decided that there were more Gen-X'ers than rednecks out there (thank God), and they've changed The Nashville Network, home of NASCAR and Hee Haw, to The National Network, home of Miami Vice, Starsky and Hutch, NASCAR and Hee Haw, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. So this is quite cool, if you ask me. I've been doing lots of stuff with the TNN folks in the last few days, and they are really some of the coolest people on Earth. And I'm not just saying that because they gave me a free trip to New York. OK. Well, maybe a little.

But check this out: there's this thing called the Television Critics Association. I think there are TV critics in it, or something. Anyway, they get together every year to run up huge tabs on their corporate credit accounts and see what's coming up on TV in the next quarter. That's where I come in.

TNN asked me to go to the TCA (you see, when you're hip and edgy, and a media-savvy person, you use a lot of acronyms, FYI) to be part of this TNG launch thing. So I went. And it was so cool. I got to see some of the old TNG kids that I never get to see anymore because they're millionaires, and I live in a refrigerator box.

And the coolest thing of all? I got to take a pee right next to BILLY FREAKIN' IDOL. Yeah, you read that right. Here's how it happened. Hide excerpt...

STEP 4: Reapply the right way (if you're rejected)

If your site is rejected, here's what we recommend you do:
- Determine whether you were rejected immediately (within the first hour or two) or if it took longer. If it took longer, you know your site was on the borderline, and so it's definitely worth doing everything you can to clean it up. If it was immediate, you could have more work to do.
- Review Step 2 carefully.
- Google will not tell you why you were rejected. So, put yourself in Google's shoes and try to figure it out. See if you can determine what Google could be objecting to.
- Re-read all the Program Policies, FAQ and T&C. Look for places your site may violate Google's requirements.
- Now, do another honest evaluation of the site you submitted. Again, see if you can figure out why you were rejected.
- Make any necessary changes based on your evaluation.
- Add more pages of high quality content. Make sure the 'look and feel' of your site is clean. Improve the navigation.
- Make sure you don't sell on your home page, and that you're providing links to great content.
- Remove links from affiliate programs that produce no or little income so you don't have too many affiliate links. Also remove banners ads and excess graphics. Hide excerpt...

STEP 8: Own the experience

This is an interesting step, and it will take you from the level of a competent interview, to a guest that everyone wants, time and time again.

Own the experience. Grab the bull by the horns. Treat that radio station and the talent on the air as if they were your best friends. If you've done your homework, you'll know the players, the station, the city and the situation you're in on the show.

If your competitors are mentioned, go with the flow. Say one gracious thing about them, and then move on to mow them down with your superior offerings.

Most of all Ð have fun. Be the life of the party. Pretend you're in a bar or at a party with the people you're talking to. Joke around at their level. Be one of them. Fit in. And be ready to be a friend of the show.

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STEP 6: Gather your witnesses

You are human, and you can only recall so much. As you go through this process, the same is true; thus, there is a need for witnesses. The best witnesses are those who have known you your whole life long. Parents, siblings, and life-long friends all can qualify.

You really want to choose the ones who are able to tell parts of the story. Your childhood friend who lives a hundred miles away and you see once a year may not be the best to give testimony. Once you have figured out whom you would like to ask, give them a call and ask them to participate in the process. This will give them time to collect their thoughts so that they can honestly and candidly respond to the inquiries they will receive. Hide excerpt...

One universal truth...

Pay attention. This is going to be something that you'll scoff at, you'll pooh pooh and you'll think you know better than I do. But listen up: I know. You're tempted to play God with your data - deciding which is more deserving than another in some thrifty effort to save on CD-ROM blanks.

Don't do it.

First off, it's dangerous. Should something happen to your core system files because you didn't backup properly or you didn't include your boot drive in the backup process, you could lose countless hours rebuilding your hard drive from scratch. When you back everything up, you simply restore it all back onto the replacement hard drive or the new computer.

Second, it's annoying. You could easily overlook your preference or mod files, rendering any delicate tweaks you've made to your system no longer tweaky, should you have to recover from a failure - you have to reset them all.

Third, it's harder. You have to actually make the decision as to what goes into that special folder that you back up. Just back everything up, and you'll lose less sleep at night.

Fourth, it can be downright sad. You do not want to face an angry spouse's tears when you tell her or him that all those digital pictures of the kids weren't included in Dads_backup_folder. Hide excerpt...

STEP 2: Learn the lingo

"Archiving" means storing copies of past blog entries and making a list of archived entries available to readers. Most blogging software and services provide automatic archiving of entries.

"Back-end" programs and services are types of software that work behind- the-scenes, communicating with databases, organizing and displaying your blog's content and so on.

A "blog" is an online journal kept by one or more people, regularly updated and including text, images and often links to other sites.

"Blog-fodder" is not something that's about to "make you an offer you can't refuse". Blog-fodder is any news item or subject matter that could spark an idea for a blog entry.

A "blogger", aside from being the name of an online blog hosting service, is a person who keeps and regularly updates a blog. Hide excerpt...

STEP 5: Watch the roads

There are tons of tools available to you in websites that support the mechanics of blogging, and help you learn the topography of your audience and blogspace.

Some of the tools simply make the process of posting easier. Some are monitoring tools to see what and where and how people are tracking what you're posting. Some extend the functionality of the more common tools like Blogger.com and Movable Type. And some automate the drudgery of hand coding HTML. Examples:

- Technorati.com will give you an idea as to who is linking back to what you're writing.

- Feedster.com will track your RSS feed(s).

- Weblogs.com will let the world know the moment you've updated your blog.

- Textamerica.com will let you create a moblog (mobile blog), making a blog phone-update friendly - with photos.

- Zonkboard.com will give you a semi-live chat (they call it a blabber board) for your blog.

- Scriptygoddess.com will show you how to pump up your blog with fancy scripts and blogging software add-ons and plug-ins.

- Virtualvenus.org will help Movable Type users through their group blog.

- Mandarindesign.com will give you even more blogging design tips and tricks.

All of these resources are available to you at little or no charge. And more and more blogging tools are developed every day. Add them only if they make sense to your blog's purpose, but consider them a spice in the soup that is your blog. Hide excerpt...

STEP 6: Brag about yourself

This is the part of the proposal where you get to brag about yourself. Are you an expert on the topic? Say so, and then prove it with credentials like published works, job and lecturing experience, or advanced degrees and certificates. Dig deeply into your own past. If you've got enough knowledge about the topic to write a whole book on it, you should have enough credentials to prove it.

I've found that the more writing I do, the easier this part of the proposal gets. In my first book proposal, I could only list some computer training experience and chapters of a book that I'd ghostwritten. Now I've got so many writing credits in my own name that I can pick and choose among them, using only the ones that most closely represent me as an expert to write that book.

If you're a first-time author, you must be able to prove that you know enough about the topic to write about it and that you have the writing skills necessary to prepare a publishable manuscript. Don't be discouraged if you have few (or no) published works in your list of credentials. The rest of your proposal should provide enough of an example of your writing skills. Hide excerpt...

STEP 4: Factory/custom, buy/build, new/used

There are many ways you can buy your bike, and here we'll discuss each of them, along with specific tips for saving money.

- Factory vs. Custom

One of the first things your bike-junkie friends will tell you is that you need a custom-made frame. Unless you are extraordinarily short, tall, or otherwise oddly proportioned, tell your friend to pound sand.

There used to be a time when frames custom-made for each rider were de rigueur in the professional bike racing ranks. Today, factory-made frames are of such high quality that pro riders like Lance Armstrong regularly ride factory bikes.

As you can expect, custom-made frames are typically more expensive than factory bikes. The quality of construction between the two is not noticeable to most cyclists. Ninety-nine percent of you out there will be more than happy with a properly fitted factory bike.

Having said that, there are certain circumstances where a bike custom-made to your dimensions will make you happier. If you are unusually tall, short, have weird body proportions, or find that factory-made bikes don't feel comfortable no matter how you adjust them, then a custom-made frame might help.Hide excerpt...

STEP 4: Budget for the brand

As in all creative business endeavors, creating your brand will require money, time and energy. Making smart choices and learning to allocate your funds, prioritize your needs and quantify your results will lead to a satisfying return on your investment.

Be Fearless

When it comes to money, there are often many fears and excuses that stand in the way of good decisions. Ask yourself if any of these hurdles are in your way:

- Fear of numbers: Budgeting is a matter of simple arithmetic along the lines of what most of us learned in grade school. There's no need to be afraid of budgeting numbers because they do not require advanced mathematical knowledge. If you can add and subtract, you can put together a budget for your brand.

- Can't afford it: Budgeting certainly requires prioritization. An important part of the commitment to creating your brand is to allocate an appropriate portion of your startup investment or revenues to maximize your brand's performance.

- Fear of making the wrong decisions: Since there is no crystal ball for budgeting, it isn't possible to fully predict the outcome of your decisions. Making decisions can be scary, but necessary to growing your business and your brand. Analyze, evaluate, create and commit. Consider what can go right and wrong and then conservatively fund your course of action. Hide excerpt...

(We'll be adding an excerpt from the PDF version of 10 Quick Steps to Winning Craps soon.) Hide excerpt...

STEP 4: Budget for the brand

As in all creative business endeavors, creating your brand will require money, time and energy. Making smart choices and learning to allocate your funds, prioritize your needs and quantify your results will lead to a satisfying return on your investment.

Be Fearless

When it comes to money, there are often many fears and excuses that stand in the way of good decisions. Ask yourself if any of these hurdles are in your way:

- Fear of numbers: Budgeting is a matter of simple arithmetic along the lines of what most of us learned in grade school. There's no need to be afraid of budgeting numbers because they do not require advanced mathematical knowledge. If you can add and subtract, you can put together a budget for your brand.

- Can't afford it: Budgeting certainly requires prioritization. An important part of the commitment to creating your brand is to allocate an appropriate portion of your startup investment or revenues to maximize your brand's performance.

- Fear of making the wrong decisions: Since there is no crystal ball for budgeting, it isn't possible to fully predict the outcome of your decisions. Making decisions can be scary, but necessary to growing your business and your brand. Analyze, evaluate, create and commit. Consider what can go right and wrong and then conservatively fund your course of action. Hide excerpt...

STEP 8: Supplement with solutions

Develop strategies and solutions to help clients succeed. Find the pain. Find out what makes your client's life difficult in terms of their work. Is there something you can do or provide that can help them? Perhaps there is a different level of service you can provide (for a fee, of course). Try to customize to deal with your client's issues to help make his or her life easier in the work environment. In this way, you add to their success.

- If you go in this direction and decide to test a new service or product, offer your client a discount to be the first one to receive the service - a special promotional offer. Your only requirement is a little of their time to evaluate and help you perfect it for the future.

- Invite some of your key clients in for a session to help you evaluate potential new services or products. Make it a festive occasion, and make them feel special for being selected to be on the advisory group to help you decide business strategy.

- Have a contest to develop new services or products. Hide excerpt...

STEP 5: Look out for shady sellers

Since eBay has a community of 70 million people transacting business, you may eventually come in contact with a few bad folks. There are a few things you can do to protect yourself.

Some eBay sellers are retailers with standard merchant accounts. If you buy an item using your credit card, you can often use the clout of your credit card company to resolve disputes with the person who accepted your payment.

You'll find, however, that most eBay sellers do not accept credit cards directly. Instead, they accept checks, money orders, or credit card payment through the Paypal service. For non-credit card purchases, you'll need to be more vigilant and rely on Square Trade or other dispute resolution services.

When viewing an eBay item listing, to the immediate right of the seller's eBay alias you will see a number between parentheses. This number is the eBay user's feedback rating, as calculated from scores given for previous transactions with other buyers and sellers. Click on the feedback score to display a breakdown of how the seller has been rated by other buyers and sellers for the past few months.

In general, a feedback score is raised one point for each good (positive) transaction and it is reduced by one point for each bad (negative) transaction. A buyer or seller can also receive a zero feedback rating for a neutral transaction. Each feedback transaction is accompanied by a short comment related to the feedback. Hide excerpt...

STEP 4: Add a photo

A picture adds value to your item listing like words cannot. Some people will look at only auction items that have pictures. In some cases, a picture may flip the emotional switch that will cause a person to place a bid. Some bidders will bid more money for an item they can see. A picture may answer questions that you would otherwise have to address in individual e- mail to 20 prospective buyers. Besides, if you've already made the effort to list an item, doesn't it make sense to spend just a few more minutes to make your listing outstanding with a picture?

Borrowing digital images of your item from others

You should not use an image from someone else's item listing or website unless you have first received permission from the owner of the image. With that in mind, you should know that it is easy to copy images from just about any web page to your hard disk. To do this, place your cursor on the image, then click the right mouse button (not the left button), or in the case of single-button Macintosh mice, CTRL+click, to display a drop-down menu. Select either "Save As..." or "Save Picture As...," then name the folder and file to save the image to on your computer's hard drive. Be sure to explain any differences in your actual item if it is not exactly like the image you are using.

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STEP 7: Go far from the mall-maddened crowds

Specialty shops, artisan galleries, museum stores and independent gift, book, and floral stores are often sources of... you guessed it... truly special gifts. Or at least gifts that can't be found in the chain stores at the mall.

Going to a party where both members of the hosting couple are avid art collectors? Browse an artisan shop or gallery. On a recent trip, I found little treasures beginning well under $20 that were so delightful, they would be sure to please an art lover of any taste. These were items such as hand- wrought metal coffee-bean measures with fanciful creatures on the delicate handles, an any-time-of-year ornament selection, and amazingly heavy-for- the-size, two-inch-long, leaden holders designed to display a solitary photograph or card on a desk, mantle or bookshelf.

The selection of specialty stores is almost unlimited when you shop online. A search on "custom necklace silver butterfly" may net you a creative jewelry maker in South Dakota or a nearby city. If buying online from an unknown company makes you nervous, check out the wide range of items now offered through an established entity such as Amazon or look for established verification logos on the Web site of a company in question.

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STEP 3: Avoid distractions

Driving is an activity that requires concentration, so the more you do to prevent yourself from concentrating on the task at hand, the more you increase your ability to notice that your speedometer is suddenly 20 mph over the speed limit; of not noticing that police car parked behind an upcoming bridge; of causing an accident that may take your life or somebody else's life.

There are so many ways that we distract ourselves from concentrating on driving that if aliens dropped down from the sky and studied our driving habits, they'd conclude we were insane.

Let's start with the ubiquitous cell phone. I'm not going to quote statistics regarding to what degree using a cell phone in a car increases your chance ofan accident, but no matter what the percentage may be, everybody can agree that it increases it by some factor, so using a cell phone in a car is just plain stupid. Anybody who brings their cell phone into their car to take and make phone calls really needs to ask themselves if a missed phone call is more important than their life or somebody else's life. The fact of the matter is, most of us do not need to make phone calls from our car or answer the phone while we are driving. Very few of us, despite what we might think, are that important. Most of our cell phone conversations that take place in the car are conversations that could have waited five or ten minutes or even an hour.

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STEP 6: Link, quote and shoot

The length of a 10 Quick Steps Guide usually runs between 30 and 90 pages, depending upon the number of product shots, screen grabs and graphic links you have. Don't over-write it, but do include everything you can to give the reader or listener direct paths to solving their problems.

Screen shots/product shots

If your Guide is tech-oriented, or the subject is well represented on the Web, make sure to bring visuals to the Guide in the form of screen grabs of Web site front pages, screens, dialog boxes and menus in applications, and product shots of the items you want readers to use on your recommendation. Screen shots can be a bit trickier. Windows, MacOS (both 9 and X) and Linux all have built-in screen grabbing options, but if you're serious about taking screen shots, you need the right tools. Here's what we recommend.

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STEP 7: Count your pixels

The dictionary defines resolution as "the fineness of detail that can be distinguished in an image," as on a video display terminal. That fineness is measured in terms of pixels. The more pixels on the screen, the better the image will appear. As I stated at the beginning of the Guide, current analog TVs have slightly more than 211,000 pixels; the highest resolution (1080i) HDTVs have over 2 million.

Televisions display motion by flashing a series of pictures on the screen; the pictures move so rapidly the human eye sees them as fluid motion. Each picture (or frame) is made up of a set of horizontal lines called scan lines. Standard definition TV uses 480 scan lines to make up each picture. There is a catch: for standard definition, the frames are interlaced, meaning only half of the lines (every other one) show up on the screen at once. The result is a loss in clarity and definition.

There are two HD formats: 720p and 1080i. The number represents the number of scan lines in each frame, 720 and 1080 respectively. The p stands for progressive and the i stands for interlaced. All HDTVs can display both resolutions.

When the TV is displaying a progressive (this is true for progressive scan DVDs as well) signal, all 720 (480 for DVDs) lines are displayed every 1/60th of a second. That means 60 frames of video are displayed on the screen every second. Progressive scan virtually eliminates motion artifacts and is ideal for fast-action sports like football. Both ABC and ESPN have chosen this resolution for their HD broadcasts.

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STEP 5: Discover your children's learning styles

Everybody learns in different ways. That's what drives teachers crazy. There is no one way to teach. So no matter what approach is used in schools, some students get ahead, and others fall behind. The secret to success in homeschooling is to figure out the learning style to which your child responds the best, and adapt your teaching to maximize their learning.

Researchers have written volumes about learning styles. I figure that as long as graduate schools require research papers, we'll continue to hear new theories on the matter. But while experts disagree on the precise categories and terminology, it's enough to understand there are different approaches to try.

Parents, over time, realize that boys and girls think, speak, and behave differently. That's because there are actual differences between the way a boy's brain works and a girl's brain works.

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STEP 5: Choose a processor/amplifier

The "processor" is where the audio signal is decoded, amplified, and routed to the speakers. This is where the TV, DVD, satellite/cable, and AM/FM tuner meet. The processor is the hub of the home theater system.

In the high-end systems, the sound processing and amplification are separated. The sound-processing unit is called a pre-amplifier, while the amplification unit is simply called an amplifier. This type of arrangement is far more expensive than an all-in-one unit. The Aragon Stage One pre-amp costs $4000. The Aragon amplifier unit is another $3000 Ð and that's without speakers.

For the purposes of this Guide, we will focus on processor/amplifier combo units and refer to them as "receivers." For almost all home situations, a combined unit will provide a quality listening experience with plenty of "oomph." When choosing a receiver, the most important thing to do is go to an electronics store that has a listening room and let your ears make the decision for you.

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STEP 4: Listen to what you donÕt hear

Resumes and interviews are, to be totally honest, sales vehicles. They are the job applicantÕs tools for selling themselves. The accuracy of what youÕll find on a rŽsumŽ or in speaking to the candidate will vary widely. In addition to making sure that they fit your needs, your job is also to validate what youÕre told. An important technique is to pay attention to whatÕs not being said.

The most common example IÕve seen is unstated teamwork. For example, consider the following on a resume:

Wrote software in C++ to emulate a grocery store cash register for EE 474, Software Engineering course.

That statement is fairly interesting and has some strong possibilities, but unfortunately you canÕt assume it tells the whole story. The best way to validate the unstated is simply to ask probing questions about the work. You can certainly ask if this was a team project, and if so how many were on the team and what was this personÕs specific role? Depending on the project, he or she could, in fact, have written all the software while other team members handled design and testing roles.

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STEP 6: Focus on what youÕve done

When IÕm looking to fill a job opening, I care about what you are able to do and how that matches what I need to have done. One way to show me what you can do, is to show me what you have done.

A common trap that folks fall into is to talk about positions or roles rather than accomplishments. Titles are a dime a dozen and when it comes down to evaluating your abilities they mean absolutely nothing. Actual accomplishments, the things you did, show not only what you are capable of, but also give me insight into where your passions lie.

For example if youÕre just coming out of school you might have classes like ÒEE 441 Ð Software EngineeringÓ on your rŽsumŽ. As an interviewer, even if IÕm familiar with the course, it tells me very little about you. On the other hand, ÒIndependently wrote device drivers in C providing access to a computer controlled HO train set, and supported other students using themÓ really piques my interest and tells me much more about what you are capable of.

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STEP 3: Turn theory into reality

Leadership trait theories are only substantiated or confirmed once Ôthe rubber meets the roadÕ and positive results are produced. Effective leadership goes above and beyond reaching the goal or objective. Under solid leadership, success is realized in a manner that positively wins the hearts and minds of your team members.

Short-term wins are fleeting. True success is realized once a leader has, over time, cultivated a team to develop a Òhabit of successÓ. The habit is present when daily accomplishments are simply a way of doing business. This Òsuccess habit lifestyleÓ is apparent in the work environment of all great leaders. Leadership trait theories speak to what ÒsuccessÓ is. For example, the achievement of a goal, the realization of a vision, etc.

However, these examples miss the bigger picture of what success is all about. In the final analysis, success in life is determined by two things: the quality of our relationships, and the quality of our contributions to others Certainly, no one lies on their deathbed wishing for more money or for more power.

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STEP 8: Oh! The Audacity!

Because many people want a free solution for their PC projects, I've included this open source application. Audacity is currently available for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Classic Mac, and in beta format for Mac OS X. For the most part, Audacity performs identically on all platforms, which makes it something close to a ubiquitous editing solution for consumer audio needs. Find out more about Audacity online.

First, launch Audacity.

Create a new file by choosing File/New (Ctrl+N on the keyboard). Click the record button (the red dot) and start playing your record/cassette. Either stop and then restart the record process for each track on the LP, or record the whole thing and edit the file to individual tracks when the side of the LP has completed. You'll want to save your raw audio tracks before editing them, as a precautionary measure. Listen back to at least a portion of the recording, to determine if you like the sound or not, prior to investing time in editing the tracks. Apply noise reduction as needed following the instructions in Step 9, to improve the audio sound Finally, save your finished track by choosing File/Export As WAV.

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