Announcements

New Message Board!!

If you stopped by the message board over the last day or two, you've no doubt noticed we've changed to a different message board.

The reasons?

Well, we had a lot of complaints about the old board. It had a tendency to run slow, the organization was bad, and there was no real way to stop abusive people. Still, we're going to leave it up for another month or so for archive purposes. After that, it's going to be gone.

I know that many of you have gotten used to the old board, and I really hope you'll give this new one a fair shot. There were just too many abuses on the other board and we had to take control. In addition, we are growing faster than we ever imagined and the board is going to start getting a lot more traffic as the year progresses. We had to have a new solution.

The new board is much faster and offers a lot more. First, you have to register - but don't worry it's painless. Just pick a user name, password, and enter your e-mail address (and you can choose not to display your address if you prefer). You can enter lots of other profile info if you like, completely up to you.

Because you do have to register, it is much easier for us to ban people from the board who are only there to start trouble. It also keeps people from "pretending" to be one of the trusted folks on the board (yeah, we had trouble with that too).

In addition, it makes checking out the posts much easier. The old board required you to click each and every message that was related to a post in order to view it. This new one shows you all of them, top to bottom. Much easier to find out what's going on with a topic. In fact, I find that I'm checking out posts on this board more than I ever did the old one. It's more fun :-)

Those are the major reasons - speed, registration, and getting all the messages on one page. The board also allows you to do a whole bunch of other cool stuff (rate members, send private messages, use icons, etc). Overall we think it's going to work out a whole lot better.

Finally, keep in mind we're still doing some testing with the format and layout (thanks to your comments). I think we pretty much have it down now, but we are dealing with computers here...

Anyhow, take a look and try it for yourself. Hope to see you there!

http://www.worldstart.com/message-board/ctmb.htm

Awesome Clipart Deal (and I do mean awesome) -

How would you like to get 360,000 clipart images (graphics, photos, etc) AND some excellent imaging software for only $24.97? (Free US Shipping, international shipping varies). Since this normally sells for $69.95, this is one of the BEST DEALS we've ever offered!!

Let me prove it:

I checked Amazon.com and they closest they carry is a collection of 250,000 (110,000 less). They get a "discounted" price of $24.95 for it plus $4.98 shipping (our shipping is FREE)! And their version doesn't even have as much bonus software! So, for the same price, you get a whole lot more!

Read on - This is a 17 CD set that has 360,000 various clip art images, photographs, web graphics, fonts, fine art illustrations, and more - plus some excellent publishing and imaging software that's easily worth the price of the whole package!

Here's a quick rundown:

Tons of different images (and fonts, sounds, etc) - Let's face it, at one time or another we all need clipart. Trouble is, when you hunt through the junk that's supplied with most desktop publishing programs or word processors, you just can't seem to find what you want. Well, with all the images this thing includes, that shouldn't be much of a problem anymore.

If you're worried that you won't be able to locate the image you need, don't. This package includes the best image search I've ever seen. Most programs put an image browser in as a second thought, but these guys have it right.

As if that wasn't enough, you also get all these additional programs!

Desktop Publishing Software - You have to be able to actually do something with all this clip art, right? Well, the included software allows you to create greeting cards, banners, signs, pamphlets, photo pages, letterhead, business cards, envelopes, calendars, postcards, post-it notes, online greetings, and TONS more! Super easy to use! And yes, you can use this clipart with your existing software too (word processors, publishing software, etc).

WMF Editor - Ever wish you could actually edit some of these clip art images? Maybe you find a good image, but the color is all wrong. Well, with the WMF editor, you can change that, along with lots of other image aspects (size, crop, etc). I think this is one of the coolest aspects of the suite.

Photo Organizer- Put sets of photos together for easy viewing and retrieval. You can even do stuff like create slide shows, send the images to someone via e-mail, print them out, and more. It even has some basic image editing facilities. I really like this part of the suite and would hand over the $24.97 just to have this cool photo organizer!

I've been using clip art for years now and this company puts out the BEST of the bunch. You'll be able to create just about anything you want with all the images you'll find in this program!

That's the overview. For more info and / or to place your order, head to:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/clickart360.htm

Computers 101

Q:
How do I add pictures / clipart I see on the web to a letter I'm writing in my word processor?

A:
It's easy! Here's how to do it:

1. Just right click on the picture you want from the web site.

2. A window will pop up with a lot of options. Click on "Copy".

3. Now, go to your word processing document and just right click the mouse. Another options window will pop up. Click on "Paste".

4. And there you have it. Just go ahead with your letter!

~ Dale Gunnels

Want to write for us too? Head to:
http://www.worldstart.com/writers-guidelines/index.htm

Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitquestion.htm

Tip of the Day

Choosing Computer Speakers

It used to be that choosing speakers for your computer was an easy task because there weren't really any options to choose from. Sound was typically an afterthought and most speakers made for computer use weren't exactly what you would call "ear candy".

That has all changed now. Many well-respected audio/video speaker manufacturers have gotten into the computer speaker game. It is not uncommon to see well-known names like Klipsch, Bose, Polk & JBL on either side of computer monitors now.

When it comes to picking out computer speakers, the same rules that you would use to choose speakers for your stereo or home theater system still apply. Obviously, unless you are very lucky, there will be budget constraints. While cheap, no name speakers are never a good deal; there are many inexpensive entry-level models from reputable manufacturers that will do a great job of accurate sound reproduction.

Everyone hears differently and will have a different definition of great sound, which is probably why there are so many different speaker manufacturers. Musical tastes can also have an effect on the perceived sound quality of a pair of speakers. While a good speaker is always a good speaker, rock and roll fans may have different requirements for a pair of speakers than classical fans. A gamer may also have different needs than a music listener.

When choosing speakers, there are three things that you need to listen for in your auditions. The first is tonal balance. The instruments and voices should sound natural, like they would in real life. No single part of the frequency spectrum should be exaggerated or suppressed. While speakers with an exaggerated bass or treble response might stand out at first listen, they will usually become fatiguing after an extended amount of time.

The next thing to listen for is bass response. Because of the size constraints placed on most computer speaker systems it will be necessary to have a separate subwoofer (a speaker made to solely reproduce low frequencies) that can be set off to the side or on the floor. Listen carefully to recordings with male vocalists to make sure that the subwoofer blends seamlessly with the smaller satellite speakers. The subwoofer should not call attention to itself. In fact if it is set up correctly is will seem like all of the bass is coming from the desktop satellite speakers.

Lastly, you will want to listen to how set of speakers image. Imaging is the most magical quality that speakers can possess. It is the ability of a pair of speakers to throw a sound stage. This is not only left to right information, but also depth and height. Having a huge monitor between your speakers can make good imaging harder to achieve, but with a properly set up pair of speakers, playing a good recording, you should be able to close your eyes and see where everything is positioned in the mix. The first time you hear this it will blow your mind!

This is a very basic guide, but if you spend a little time and follow the advice above you should have no problems at all picking out computer speakers that are satisfying for whatever application you need them for.

~ Bruce Neher

Want to write for us too? Head to:
http://www.worldstart.com/writers-guidelines/index.htm

Have a tip for the newsletter? Submit it below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitatip.htm

Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

Urban Legends

If you hear about something you're not sure about (especially in your e-mail), check it out with the site below. They have a search engine that will help you quickly determine what's real and what's not. Additionally, it's a cool site to browse through.

http://www.urbanlegends.com/

Do you have a cool site that you want to share? Send it to Amanda!! Here's the address:

amanda@worldstart.com

Oh, and we're looking for non-commercial sites. We generally don't run sites that are strictly for shopping.