Free Web Design Online Tools Opus

Free Online Tools to Design (and Maintain) Your Website

These days, it seems that everyone has a website. Unfortunately, many of these websites are either bland, or sloppily designed by people who don't understand how to use HTML effectively or are intimidated by it. And, they don't have the money to spend on a good page editor, so they limp along using the page templates that their website might provide, or they attempt to use programs like MS Word, which offers conversion to HTML. Yet, there are many free tools available that people can use to give their sites some extra polish that will put them a cut above most sites on the WWW. Here is a listing of three of my favorite online tools that will help you create and manage your site:

ColorMaker http://www.bagism.com/colormaker/
This is an essential site to use when designing web pages. It allows you to select the text, link, and background colors from a table. Then, you can preview your choices, and make changes to them to compare different color schemes and change them instantly. It even allows you to upload multiple backgrounds and combine them with your color choices. Once you have found the combination you're going to use, click the link that says, "copy the Body Tag," then copy the text that is shown, and paste it into your document.

Media Builder http://www.mediabuilder.com
If you don't have a graphics program, you can still have pictures on your site, and not be limited to their original size or color. GifWorks, part of the MediaBuilder Networks, is a free, online GIF editing program that will transform these files with a number of effects, and even make buttons for your site from any GIF that you upload.

QuickCheck http://www.elsop.com/linkscan/quickcheck.html
Nothing is more annoying on a website than dead links. But, checking links manually is quite time consuming, especially if you have many links on your pages. However, there is a free service that checks the links on your webpages, and even validates the HTML. Your pages can have up to 200 links each, and you can check 10 pages per hour and 50 per day.

I hope these tools help you to make your website even better than it is currently. Please let me know what you think of them.

Susan Gross, Avalon Technical Services, How-to articles on computer topics updated often. Forthcoming: topic-based webguides. If you have any topics you'd like to see an article or webguide on, please let me know. http://avalon-technical-services.com.

Witches' Market Poem

The Witches' Market

"Son para dinero y trabajo," the plump little witch raises the talismans to eye level. "Con estos tu tendras buena suerte."

Magic talismans for money and jobs? Do they work? Of course not, but I need all the luck I can get, so I purchase the talismans for five Bolivianos. Darn cheap if they'll do as claimed. Depositing the new toys in my leather shoulder bag I continue down the street, with my wife teasing me to the tune of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." She says that I have the hat, jacket and bag similar to Indiana Jones', but lack the bullwhip and gun. I left those in the States. The cobbled street of Calle Linares hosts a crowded line of unusual stores collectively known as El Mercado de las Brujas, The Witches' Market, located in downtown La Paz, and it sums up Bolivia's strangeness quite well. Bolivia is where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and revolutionary Che Guevara all met their fate. This is where the British ambassador to Bolivia was strapped naked to a donkey, paraded around the capital, and forced to eat a huge quantity of chocolate after declining the local drink 'chicha.' This is where the original Garden of Eden is located (or so the locals colorfully exclaim). This is where the Salt Palace sits, a hotel made entirely of, well -- salt. And this is where a young girl in Aymara dress, sitting amidst an array of several curiosities, offers my wife and I a dried llama foetus to protect our house against evil spirits. I nod my approvement, Veronica makes a face and shakes her head.

"Por favor entren," with a slight bow the girl opens her hands to the store's entrance. "Hay muchas mas cosas adentro."

The untidy place looks like something out of a horror movie. Mounted animal heads glare at me with unseeing eyes, feathers and potions adorn the tables, herbs spill from their dirty bags onto the wooden floor as a dog sniffs the powerful smells. I examine the items in no particular order as the girl offers them. For luck with a new business enterprise I can buy a llama foetus burnt on a plate of sweets and herbs -- too big to pack. The love amulet is to get married -- don't need that one. An amulet of a naked couple embracing to improve the sex life -- hhhmmmmm. Dried frogs for more money, armadillos to prevent thieves from entering the house, love potions, magic charms, animal skins, medicines and remedies used in Aymara traditions are all for sale -- what should I choose?

I notice a large collection of different colored candles. Intent upon making several sales the girl provides me with an explanation of their powers. They are made of animal wax and when burned release their magical properties. The blue candle is for good luck with work, yellow - health, green - money, purple - happiness, black wards off evil spirits, only to be used in a cemetary covered by night, white - protection... With reverence I pull the black candle off its shelf . "Look at this Vero! This is what we need." "Hey Indiana," she looks up from the naked couple amulet. "I don't think so."

Where did I leave my bullwhip?

If the black candle is going to cause problems a few talismans will have to do. I load up ten more in my shoulder bag, making sure that I include the toad talisman for good luck with money, and the deity talisman for buena suerte with jobs.

But do they actually work? Well, you're reading this article.

SIDEBAR
Name: El Mercado de las Brujas/Mercado de Hechiceria (Witches' Market)
Street Location: Calle Linares, between Calle Sagarnaga and Santa Cruz
City: La Paz
Country: Bolivia
The Witches' Market is only a couple of blocks from Plaza San Fransisco, behind the Iglesia San Fransisco, and near the Museo de la Coca. From the centre of La Paz, Plaza Murillo, a taxi ride to the market will cost about 8 - 10 Bolivianos for one or two people, and about four more Bolivianos for each additional person. A vast array of unique and highly unusual items are for sale at the Market, many of which are used in Aymara traditions and to honor the earth goddess Patchamama. Bargain with the vendors and shop around to purchase merchandise at a lesser price.

Thomas Carroll shows you how to get paid to travel the world with travel and adventure jobs, how to travel on $25 a day, and how to travel for free. Subscribe to his free newsletter at http://www.lonewolfadventure.com.

Got Listed in Yahoo! Serenade

How To Get Listed in Yahoo!

Getting listed in Yahoo! (The Very Top Search Engine/Index) is a lot like getting a date with the most beautiful girl in high school - often all you have to do is ask PROPERLY. I can make that statement because I have NEVER submitted a site to Yahoo! that wasn't listed. I've read a lot about how difficult it is getting listed, and how frustrating it is - so maybe I am just very lucky. Then again, if you follow the same steps that have ALWAYS worked for me, there is no reason to believe that they won't work for you too. So I wanted to share with you in four short steps how to get listed.

The first step is ensuring your site is READY. The staff at Yahoo! is very busy. A person has to physically look over your site and decide if it's appropriate for the category submitted and if it's worth listing. They get thousands of submissions to review. So begin by putting yourself in the reviewer's shoes; if you would be unimpressed by reviewing your site, then the reviewer probably will be too. If that's the case, fix the problems with your site before submitting it. The reviewers are humans - with all the quirks that humans are subject to, and you must account for that.

Site readiness means two major thing to me: (1) It contains sufficient content worth listing and (2) It is complete enough that it contains absolutely no dead links, and it can be easily navigated. Every site should be under constant update - so that's not a real problem - just leave off leave the unnecessary "under construction" gifs.

Most people who visit the internet are looking for free information on some topic - furnish this information and your site fills a need and is therefore worth listing. My main site is a perfect example of this. It contains articles on internet marketing by a variety of diverse, experienced authors. A surfer gets a lot of very useful CONTENT from visiting and therefore my site is "worth" listing. I am constantly adding to this storehouse, so it is never really complete, but it was ready for listing when first submitted. Every link led to some real resource, and not a disappointing "file not found."

After you know that your site is ready, step two is simply submitting it properly. Using the Yahoo! search box, find sites similar to yours. Click on the "suggest a site" icon and suggest your site in the same category. Fill in all of the fields completely and accurately. You're not going to fool the reviewer and if you submit to the wrong category you annoy a very busy reviewer - and guarantee that you won't be listed.

Step three is probably the hardest - you wait. While some search engines list your site within days, Yahoo! may take months. So after you know that you have properly submitted your content rich, submission ready site in the proper categories, you display a little patience.

But not too much patience; step 4 is resubmitting. If your site isn't listed in about 6 weeks, resubmit. Keep resubmitting until it is listed! That's partly how I can honestly say that I have never submitted a site that wasn't listed - I am very, very persistent. In marketing, whether on or offline, persistence is the key. Sort of like asking that pretty girl out again - eventually she would probably say "why not." While my main site at http://www.williecrawford.com was listed the very first time it was submitted, and shows up under "INTERNET MARKETING 101" (with quotation marks) as the first listing, I have client sites listed in Yahoo that I did have to submit several times - but they all got listed.

It all boils down to realizing that of all the search engines and indexes, Yahoo! generates the most hits. So it's definitely worth the effort! You will not get listed if you don't submit your site, and you probably won't get listed if you don't submit properly. Do it right the first time and profit from this most cherished of listings.

Willie Crawford is a marketing consultant, promotion specialist and popular writer. His website contains over 180 articles on internet marketing as well as a very active discussion forum. Visit today and begin learning what really DOES work in building your business http://www.williecrawford.com.

Romantic Relationship Problems Verse

Romantic Relationships, Relationship Problems

Why It’s Worthwhile To Maintain Romantic Relationships And How To Keep The Relationship Problems Out.

If you’ve never been in a relationship before than it’s no surprise that you wouldn’t know what to do. But don’t panic, being in romantic relationships can be very rewarding and you might actually enjoy it compared to dating and one night stands. However like everything else being in a relationship has its problems.

The way to enjoy a relationship is to try to avoid as many of these problems as possible. And when you can’t you have to be willing to work things out in order to salvage your relationship instead of just deciding that things are not working out at the first sign of trouble.

Romantic relationships can work but you have to put effort into making it work. The first thing to remember is that when you are in a relationship, it involves two people. And the most important thing you need to do in a relationship is to compromise. Learn that you can’t always have your way, but you have to know when to put your foot down. Giving and taking is part of life and is crucial to keeping a relationship successful. As a man it is vital that you figure out when you need to give. Over giving is a turn off because women will start to view you as a pushover. So just like dating, remember to be nice but not too nice.

Women also love men who are thoughtful so making dinner arrangements, surprising her with dates and romantic gifts also help keep the relationship afloat. Again you can’t do this too often or she will come to expect it. Worse she will assume that you’ve done something wrong and you would have created problems for yourself when nothing was wrong with your relationship in the first place.

The next part of maintaining romantic relationships comes from communicating with your partner. You have to understand that women and men communicate differently. A lot of relationship problems actually occur because of simple misunderstandings when the couples are unable to communicate with one another. Take the time to understand your partner and how she is feeling (especially when she is emotional and needs time to calm down). I’m not saying that you need to take the emotional rubbish that women dish out but you have to try to understand where she is coming from and deal with it appropriately and not just slam the door on your way out.

Of course the biggest problem that relationships deal with are jealousy and betrayal. It would help greatly if neither your or your girlfriend are cheating types of course. As for jealousy if your girlfriend is the jealous type, either dump her if you can’t deal with that, or work out an arrangement with her. Get her to understand that woman A is just a close friend or colleague and nothing more. If you have jealousy issues you might want to meet up with her guy friend and who knows, you could be best of friends. But if that doesn’t work out, the best way to deal with it is to try to get over the jealousy issue because if you continue to harp at it your relationship will fail and that guy would have won.

Romantic relationships will come across problems. This is normal and the only way for you to ensure that you can maintain your relationship is to avoid as many of them as you can is to not give up on it. If you don’t think you can commit to a relationship then its better not to get into one at all because it will come with a whole bunch of problems that you might not have been ready to face.

Cher Sern Lim. Visit http://www.datingartist.com now to get more FREE tips to double your dating success overnight! Discover the players’ secrets to meeting, dating & seducing women.

Coin Collecting Started Ode

Coin Collecting: Getting Started

Okay. So you've been diagnosed with the collecting bug. Don't panic. Here's what you need to do: first, visit the library. Pick up some standard reference catalogues (for example The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, or Haxby's Coins of Canada) and read them thoroughly, along with every book you can find on collecting. Contact your local coin dealer or numismatic club, and ask them to recommend good websites and other resources. Become a member. Buy a magazine or two. That way they'll know you're not going to waste their time. You might also want to take a course. The Canadian Numismatic Association offers one by correspondence at www.canadian-numismatic.org.

Once you've done your homework, the next step is to decide what, specifically, you'd like to collect. The best advice here is to follow your interests. Collect what you love, and, again, learn everything you possibly can about your chosen specialty. Most collectors go for issues of a particular country or time period, some go with themes, like airplanes or animals. Silver dollars, $100 gold coins, bi-metallic coins, coins featuring flowers…whatever you choose is fine, there are no rules. Many collect coins to commemorate great events in their lives, a child's graduation, a new baby…or to mark historical events such as the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

The more knowledge you have, the more fun collecting becomes. Learning what to look for, how to identify quality items, how to use the lingo, and how to establish a fair price will make the hunt that much more exciting. The more you know about pricing, the easier it will be to recognize a good bargain. And getting good bargains is a big part of what it's all about. To the collector, bragging about 'finds' constitutes one of life's most enjoyable pastimes.

The final step is to get out there, enjoy the hobby and pull together the most amazing collection of coins ever assembled.

For more information on this exciting hobby, and ideas on what to collect, visit the Royal Canadian Mint on the Internet at www.mint.ca.

News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web.

Father's Day Poem

Celebrating Fathers

On Father's Day, we celebrate the guys in our lives. Not just our dads and the fathers to our children, but all the men who have made a positive impact on a child’s life.

A number of recently published studies call attention to the effects of good fathering. Men who play an active role in their children’s lives stimulate all aspects of development: emotional, academic, behavioral, and social, even when those men don’t live in the same home as their children.

But we don’t need a study to understand that the men in our lives matter, whether he’s a husband who lives at home, an ex-husband who lives across town, a stepfather, a grandfather, an uncle, or a mentor in the community.

Even from a child’s conception, a supportive father makes a difference in the lives of mothers, their children, and the world-at-large. In fact, research shows that women with supportive partners experience fewer health complications in pregnancy and have better attitudes about the inevitable physical changes to their own bodies. Studies indicate that even labor and delivery may be shorter and easier when your partner is by your side.

Men lend a sense of self-control. They model their work ethic. They make us laugh and help us develop a sense of humor. Men teach self-reliance, self-confidence, discipline, independence, and the ability to deal with frustrations, large and small. They help their daughters understand how to relate to men and the meaning of trust and intimacy in all relationships. They help their sons understand what it means to be a husband and a father and a man.

This Father’s Day, let us remember the father’s role. Let us actively engage him in this day-to-day process of parenting. Let us stand back so he can take charge and do things his way once in a while. Let us see his parenting style as a complement - and not an opposition - to our own.

Let us celebrate our fathers and honor them for making a difference in our world.

Susie Michelle Cortright is the founder and publisher of Momscape, a website devoted to nurturing the nurturers through empowering articles, inspiring essays, and daily pampering tips, as well as freebies, contests, and giveaways just for moms. Visit her at http://www.momscape.com and get inspired to be the best mom you can be.

Online Business DOING Success Serenade

The Secret To Success Is In The **DOING**

One of the unique features about doing business on the net is that you are exposed to unimaginable volumes of information. It can boggle your mind. You can read until you go cross eyed and your head starts to spin. You read because you believe that reading contributes to the acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge is supposed to be the all important ingredient to every form of success.

This afternoon I read an article that stated "knowledge is power".

Broad knowledge is a valuable asset but possessing it by itself will do little towards the creation of any specific achievement. Accumulated knowledge does not automatically assure you of success nor does it assure you of experiencing any form of power.

You may have learned how to perform a specific task. You may even confidently admit that you really know the subject, but until you attach action to this knowledge, this knowledge will lie dormant.

Action is what proves how well you really know the subject. Regardless how much knowledge you possessed before you start a project, you will probably discover that additional knowledge may be required to really make your project shine. Knowledge tends to multiply once you take the first steps towards converting information to action.

Action unleashes the power present in the knowledge. Your success depends solely on your ability to bring life to your knowledge. Knowledge plus action equals results, equals power. Success is only achieved if you possess the intestinal fortitude to stick it out long enough to see the true signs of success begin to emerge from the marriage of your knowledge and action.

The secret to success is in the **DOING**!

You have an idea! You can think about a specific project, gather all required information and create a sure fire, workable plan. You can commit to all kinds of fancy goals and then -- decision time. Do you go ahead and jump in with both feet or do you bail out because it looks too hard and risky.

This is where the greatest challenges emerge. Many Internet marketers expect results even before they start doing anything. Many marketers even take the first step but if they do not experience phenomenal success immediately they quit and wonder why this program didn't work. Did they work the program?

The secret to success is in the **DOING AND DOING**.

For HOW LONG?

For as LONG AS IT TAKES!

What do you HAVE TO DO?

You have to do WHATEVER IT TAKES!

You yourself are the sole judge about how much time and effort is required and how much time and effort you are prepared to exert to ensure that your project flourishes.

You may follow the plan of others. Be aware, just because someone else had success or lack of desired success with a specific plan, it does not guarantee your outcome will be the same. You are a unique individual. Your talents, your habits, your character, your energy all play a contributing part in your story. Only you can ultimately write your own story and create your own outcome. Whatever the outcome is, it is an experience that was worth having. You either learned HOW TO DO something or HOW NOT TO DO something.

This does not mean that the assistance you receive from others is of little value. On the contrary, the length of your learning curve can often be influenced by the support and the knowledge obtained from others. However, the final buck still stops with you. It is your decisions that determine your involvement, your learning curve and ultimately your success. Even if you follow someone else's plan, the buck stops here!

All this sounds so simple and inconsequential and yet this simple lesson is the single reason the SINGLE SOLITARY REASON why so few people really succeed to achieve their dreams.

Most people are 'UNWILLING TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES, FOR HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES' to realize their dreams!

Few people fail, many people quit, most people don't even try!

The secret to success is in the DOING! JUST DO IT!!

Paul Verigin operates the successful Internet Resource Center: http://www.theinternetresourcecenter.com. The Internet Resource Center markets products that every marketer needs. Recently The Internet Resource Center concluded an arrangement with Corey Rudl to market all his *million dollar* information.

Art of Music Opus

The Art of Music

Music is the art of arranging sounds in periodic time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre.

It is also the vocal or instrumental sounds possessing a degree of melody, harmony, or rhythm. Music can also be when an aesthetically pleasing or harmonious sound or combination of sounds are produced example the music of the water falling from a tap in a vessel.

Most of the time music is kept in memory and performance only. If handed down orally, this music may be considered "traditional" or not considered composed by individuals. Different musical traditions have different attitudes towards how and where to make changes to the original source. If the music is written down, it is generally in some manner which attempts to capture both what should be heard by listeners, and what the musician should do to perform the music.

In most of the parts of the world music is a part of everyday life. Chanting and singing during religious rites and festivals are very common. Music as a performing art is very usual among Indians. It was also among the seventeenth-century New England settlers who used music during their religious observances by chanting psalms in the meeting house as an important communal activity.

By the end of the century psalm singing had become dissonant since worshipers could no longer read the musical patterns in the religious book. The right rendering of tunes was of lesser importance than religious passion so many ministers and musical refreshers, observed the teaching of musical notation to restore order in the community. Regular singing soon gave rise to the development of singing schools and the creation of music for secular entertainment.

The revolutionary war saw a flowering of musical creativity. Supporters of the American cause quite often changed the words of British songs, such as "Yankee Doodle," to taunt their adversaries. The immediate post revolutionary cultural climate was one of optimism that Americans could create their own culture free of English influence.

In the 1850s, the call for an independent American music was heard again, this time from a composer whose New York lectures in the early fifties inspired an interest in the development of an American musical language. But the drive for cultural independence fell short.

With the wars came the marches and sentimental songs that spoke of home, wives, mothers and children became popular. Composers and entrepreneurs printed many of these. In the second half of the century, many successful American composers had studied in Europe and adopted the romantic style despite the ongoing arguments for an American music. Many men who earned their livelihoods as professors achieved respectability with works that bore considerable resemblance to similar pieces being composed in Europe at the time.

In the end of the century, major orchestras came up in New York. Smaller communities observed performances by local bands, which reflected the popular taste for dances, marches, and synchronizing excerpts. The troupes moving throughout the country, performed combined comedic episodes, scenes from Shakespeare's plays, dancing, and minstrel songs performed in black face.

Patica Masicuz is the owner of BTX Music which is a premier resource for music information. for more information, go to http://www.btxmusic.com.