Schoolies Week Travel Tips

February 1, 2010 – 10:14 am

Schoolies, or more correctly, school leavers week, is a yearly right of passage for thousands of Australian teenagers. It usually happens a week or so after the end of Grade 12 exams. Originally starting at the Gold Coast in Queensland, it has grown to include many more tourist destinations. Schoolies is very big business and injects millions of dollars into the tourism economy.

If you believe the news, Schoolies is all about drugs, sex, music, car accidents and violence. It isn’t. It’s just that the conservative press play to established prejudices so they can sell products that appeal to the over 55 viewing audience.

Notwithstanding all the bad press about Schoolies week, tens of thousands of Australian teenagers have a memorable time during their post exam Year 12 break. The reality is that because of all the bad publicity, Schoolies is now a very safe activity well serviced by police, ambulance and volunteer organisations like Red Frog. The local and State governments pour lots of taxpayer’s resources into helping keep Schoolies safe.

If you or your children are considering going to Schoolies this year, here 10 tips to improve safety and enjoyment.

Fights - get help, don’t get involved
When lots of young men, and more recently, young woman, get into large groups and consume alcohol, there is an increased chance of disagreements leading to fights. If one of your friends gets involved in a fight, don’t get involved, get help from police or other authorities. If you get involved one of two things may happen: you will get hurt, or you will hurt somebody. Both can have very bad consequences.

Learn what a standard drink looks like
If you are going to drink alcohol, drink in moderation. Three to four standard drinks in a six hour period would be a reasonable amount. Ask your parents what a standard drink of beer, spirits or wine looks like, or read the label. A standard drink is a lot less than you may think.

Use protection
Did you know that 500 babies are conceived at schoolies each year? Boys will be boys and girls will be girls. Unfortunately this leads to unwanted pregnancies and the spread of nasty diseases. If you are going to indulge in sexual activities, use protection.

The Police are there to help you
Police love Schoolies week. It means they get to do what’s called “Specials”; big slabs of overtime. If you do get involved with police be polite and don’t be a smart-mouth. You will not win a battle of wits or a physical encounter. And having to fetch your parents or guardians and go to court the next morning is not a good look.

Leave no one behind
When at Schoolies team up with a friend or two and don’t get separated. At the end of the night’s activities make sure you are still all together and do what the Marines do: leave no one behind. That cute guy you met will still be around tomorrow morning. Give him your number and agree to meet-up in the morning. In the harsh light of a sober day you may have to reconsider.

Have an escape and evasion plan
If you are really unlucky and everything turns pear-shaped, make sure you have an escape and evasion plan. Agree with your friends a secret code word that when spoken means “lets get out of here right now and meet up at the agreed location”. Make sure you have enough cash, enough clothing and all the location details you need to get back to your emergency rendezvous point to plan the next move.

In case of emergencies
A lot of people don’t know this but police, ambulance officers and other emergency service workers when dealing with an unconscious person look in the address book of the person’s mobile phone. They are looking for an entry called ICE. It stands for “In Case of Emergency call this number”. Make sure you have an ICE number in your phone. It could be a friend, it could be a parent or guardian. Do it now.

Watch out for the unknown silent killer
Do you know what the biggest life-threatening risk at Schoolies is? It’s not drugs, car accidents, or violence or the other risks reported in the news. It is sunburn. The second degree burns you get during schoolies week this year may turn into the skin cancer that kills you in 20 or 30 years time. As the ad says, slip on shirt, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a hat. Get in shade in the hotter parts of the day and if you are drinking alcohol, drink at least one glass of water for each standard drink.

Watch Out for Valuables
Lots of young excited people tend to attract thieves and other low-life. If you are going to Schoolies only take stuff you are prepared to lose. Borrow you Dad’s old clunky mobile phone, leave the fancy jewelry and shoes at home, don’t make yourself a target by strutting around with the latest iPhone or notebook.

A Note to Parents
If your child is going to Schoolies make sure they understand that’s it’s OK to call them at any time of the day or night. Preplan an emergency pickup point. Work out a way they can get emergency cash in a hurry.

Want to book some accommodation for schoolies? For schoolies gold coast or schoolies Lorne, visit bookschoolies.com and browse and book the wide range of locations both in Queensland, New South Wales and Bali.

Small Laptops Pack a Huge Hit

January 30, 2010 – 10:18 am

Small laptops let students the possibility to function on their newest essays away from their desk. Small laptops are great to take into lectures. Small laptops are effortless to bring, lightweight, and have become increasingly user friendly. Frequently called netbooks, web books, and mini laptops they are fast getting the most recent must have item.

Small laptops additionally are less expensive than most of the regular notebooks. Netbooks are low- cost portable PCs whose main role is to access the Web. They generally aren’t designed for multitasking or handling jobs like complex photo editing. Best Small Laptops are modest in size. They normally have a screen of about 10 to 11 inches.

Usually, small laptops use low-energy WiFi and reduced-contrast displays to prolong their battery lifespan. For a similar reason, they also use a powered- down version of common CPUs. Typically the traditional laptop equation is that the smaller you get, the more costly. This breaks that tendency completely. Standard netbook’s are nevertheless in the 8- 16GB range, although harddisks are up to 160GB. This is a big punch in a small arrangement and allows for the vast bulk of daily computer utilization.

Many best small laptops also arrive with all the software and accessories you need to get the task done. All are preloaded with the operating program and usually weigh approximately 2 pounds. Most small laptops incorporate WiFi, 3 USB ports, have a built- in card reader, speakers, as well as microphone. If they’ll be taking it with them, small laptops is an important concern.

Tropical Cairns Queensland

January 29, 2010 – 10:16 am

Tropical happiness, heart-warming sun and images of a stress-draining FNQ getaway, these are fundamental parts for the holiday of a lifetime when you trek to Cairns and Australia’s Queensland.

Gifted with an ideal climate most of the year, boasting temperatures in the summer months (October-April) of 29-33 degrees C, and winter (April-October) 25-29 degrees C, Cairns can offer some of the earth’s most exotic natural things to see and do, the reef, the rainforest and the Australian outback, and they are all here awaiting for you to discover.

The very friendly locals of Tropical North Queensland will offer you the kind of warm and unassuming friendship that has become the envy of other tourism destinations. Adventure tourism, night life, fine dining and shopping add to the excitement and sexiness of this secret city.

If you have been here recently, welcome home. If you are here for the first time, bask in our attractions and make the most of your stay. Queensland’s finest non-capital city, Cairns is the world’s front door to Tropical North Queensland. It is a vibrant cosmopolitan city with warm, sunny tropical days contrasted by refreshing onshore vespers.

Enjoy a stroll along the iconic Esplanade or satisfy your lust for food in one of Cairns’ many multi-cultural, diverse and award-winning restaurants. Cairns gives access to the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforests along with the Australian Outback. Cairns, with its international and domestic airport, is the first stop for many visitors who want to see the Dundee Australia. Laze on the glorious beaches, dive on the reef and experience the unique tropical rainforests that date back to when Australia was part of ancient Gondwanaland, thousands of years ago.

Take a swim in the ultra-modern Esplanade lagoon, then cast your eyes across the calm waters of Trinity Inlet and you will view coastal mountains and mangrove environs that have not changed since the site was named by Captain James Cook in 1770. The beautiful Esplanade Lagoon is the perfect place to spend a sultry day soaking up the sun and wading in the lagoon’s cool and seductive shallows.

There are many shaded spots to take refuge from the sun in the heat of the day, as well as barbeque facilities. The boardwalk has unique displays of Cairns’s local history and has many exercise facilities for those keen on getting a bit of exercise.

Cairns is very well suited to travel by foot, or transport by cycle. Well used pathways and dedicated walking paths are popular. A tour of the Cairns Botanical Gardens is not to be missed out on. It claims 38 hectares of native tropical gardens which are maintained to big city botanical garden standards, and many species found here cannot be seen elsewhere.

Located among the vegetation is a coffee shop and restaurant, which is open daily for breakfast and lunch. Access to the gardens is free.

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Fix Windows 7 Freezes

December 29, 2009 – 10:04 am

Windows 7 is a technological marvel; it is fast despite all the eye-candy, and contains many new features. However, it does have its share of problems. One of Windows 7’s problems is that of occasional freezes.

This can happen at any point in time. It can happen when you’re surfing the net, listening to music or when you’re doing some work. When you have unsaved work and Windows 7 freezes at that time, it results in a big waste of time as the work has to be done again after you restart the computer. Provided it doesn’t freeze again.

In some cases, this can be due to driver incompatibilities. By making sure that you have the latest version of drivers for your system, you can pretty much eliminate this possibility. If the freezes occur again, it is likely due to the next reason, which is the most common cause of problems in Windows.

Windows 7 makes heavy use of a system-wide information repository called the registry. In fact, many other programs, in addition to Windows itself, store settings and other information inside the registry. There is no check to ensure that the information stored within is valid and correct, and problems commonly happen because of errors in the registry. Because the registry is such an integral part of Windows, problems in it can cause error messages in Windows or cause the system to freeze.

The way to resolve it is to fix all the errors in the registry by using a registry cleaner software. A good registry cleaner will scan the entire registry for errors and fix them. After getting rid of the registry errors, computer freezes will be a thing of the past. In addition, Windows will feel faster than before.

You can also read about how to stop Windows 7 crashes.

Windows XP Blue Screen

December 29, 2009 – 10:04 am

The ultimate error message in Windows XP is the blue screen. The blue screen contains many lines of text that means nothing to most users, except that they know that once they see it, there is nothing they can do except to restart the computer, and hope that it doesn’t happen again.

The thing is, once a blue screen shows up, it is almost a given that it will show up again in future, perhaps with an increasing frequency. When there is a blue screen, it means that Windows has just crashed and that something is quite wrong with it. Usually the root cause of most errors in Windows is the Windows registry.

The Windows registry is a system database of information. Windows and other software store a lot of settings and other information in it, and retrieve such information from the registry all the time. The registry is also a bottleneck in that because it is the heart of the operating system, any problems with it can cause errors and bring the operating system down.

Registry problems are common because many programs often leave obsolete or wrong data inside the registry. It bloats over time, and begins to degrade in performance and cause issues. It used to be that fixing registry problems were the domain of experts who could manually look through all the entries in this potentially huge registry as they hunt for errors. Nowadays, it’s thankfully much easier.

Registry cleaner software make this tedious and risky task much easier. Any mistakes when changing the registry can cause more damage to the operating system, so using a software tool to do this makes more sense. A registry cleaner who comprehensively go through every entry in the registry, look for problems and fix them. Good cleaners also offer backup and restore functions for more security. By using such a tool, it can resolve all the errors in the registry and prevent Windows errors like the blue screen from happening.

You can also read about how to stop Windows 7 crashes.

No One Will Bother You When You Have a Stun Master 775,000 Volt Stun

December 29, 2009 – 10:04 am

Walking through the darkened parking lot Late at night can be a frightening experience, certainly if you don’t have any sort of self defense product. Having a flashlight to see can help, but it might still not be enough. In fact, a light probably won’t stop attackers. For that, you need something with some real fire power. You need a Stun Master stun gun. One of the more popular Stun Master products is the Stun Master 775,000 Volt Stun Gun. This bad boy pumps out 775,000 volts of electricity into your attacker, dropping him like a sack of grain and giving you plenty of time to get to your vehicle or call for help. Just touch the business end of the stun gun to your attacker for a few seconds and you’ll be free.

The Stun Master 775,000 Volt Stun Gun is powered by four batteries, so be certain you’ve always got a fresh set on hand just in case. The device also comes with a wrist strap so you can keep your weapon even if it’s knocked from your hand. If it’s pulled away from the strap, a disable pin will pull out. This way, your attacker can’t turn your own weapon against you.

Stop Worrying About Attacks with the Stun Master Multi Function Stun

December 29, 2009 – 10:04 am

There are so many different Tasers and stun guns out there that it can be difficult to decide which one is right for you. Do you want one that provides a huge jolt of electricity, or do you go with one that features extras? How about one that has it all? That’s what the Stun Master stun guns feature. The Stun Master Multi Function Stn Gun includes everything you need to protect yourself after dark or any time of day or night. The Stun Master Multi Function includes a 2.7 million volt stun gun that is certain to stop your attacker in his tracks. But what good is a stun gun if you can’t see your assailant? To help with that, this device also features a bright LED flashlight. It also has a flashing red emergency light and a super loud alarm. A disable pin can be placed in the stun gun to make certain it doesn’t accidentally go off. The entire thing is rechargeable, so all you have to do is make sure you plug it in every now and then to keep its charge up. It’s small, too, and features a wrist strap so even if your attacker knocks it from your hand, you won’t lose it.

Thrill With Classic Car Magazines

December 26, 2009 – 9:59 am

There’s nothing as exciting as a classic auto exhibition or auto show, with some of the loveliest and lush cars to be seen. Classic car magazines offer fantastic photos of these world-wide shows, including classic autos for sale and articles on some of the top winners. In July of each year, Cruise Night in Kearney, Nebraska, is the classic auto highlight of Central USA with BBQs, prepared events, and streets lined up thru the main part of the city with lawn chairs, lager, pop, and folks of each age to see this city-wide party. Events like this are listed in classic car magazines to inform the entire world of such events, with many traveling both short and long distances to take part and win prizesand naturally to have heaps of fun! Classic autos are gorgeousall types and kindsloaded with the extras which make it a classic winner.

They can be dear and sophisticated, or they can be reasonable and still a winner. Quality accessories or auto parts are put into the car of all price ranges, with the classic automobile magazines offering many concepts and loaded photos to simply drool over. Some of the custom classic vehicle accessories in the classic vehicle magazines are the Sherwood Dash Thirty-four Piece Dash Kits to alter the looks to the classic wooden look of the dashboard. Naturally, if cash is no object the Laurance Gartel Signature Series Dash Art can be added, offering a top notch and unique look to the classic auto’s dashboard. These are just two concepts which can be borrowed from the magazines to add a certain look to the customer’s classic auto. Dashboards are just one area which can be changed, with multi-faced radios containing color digital display with the Sirius Satellite Radio technology, running into the greenbacks but worth each penny of it. The classic vehicle magazines offer tons of concepts and reviews on certain products and kits over others.

Looking smooth and glossy can eliminate scratches with a Vertical Lambo kit for the doors JT vehicle Style or adding a spook griddle to add a power-look with pure style. If a patron knows what he wants to use for his classic automobile, ordering through a classic car subscription mag or through the mag’s online version can be quite successful. They may be installed professionally or can be done at home with somebody with experience. Everything depends on the individual who owns the classic auto, what quantity of cash they have to spend, how much experience they have in auto alteration, and what type of classic car they own.

Rapidweaver – Create Your Web Pages With Ease

December 25, 2009 – 10:01 am

Rapidweaver is a web page creation software that runs on Macs. It is a very popular program that can help you to easily create good-looking web sites without needing to know HTML. You can get a site up-and-running quickly.

The first thing you need to know is that Rapidweaver is not a WYSIWYG web page creator. That is, you cannot drag-and-drop layout elements into the page. Instead, every page that you create in Rapidweaver has a page type. For instance, if you want to create a blog page, select a Blog Page. If you want to create a web page using a rich-text editor, use a Styled Text Page. There are many types of Pages that are available that you can use.

For design, Rapidweaver utilizes templates. It comes with a selection of templates which cover a broad range of sites. If you feel that none of the default templates are suitable for your site, you can always turn to using third-party templates. There is a thriving community of template designers who make available templates that suit a wide variety of uses. These templates are generally very reasonable in price and have demos, so you can have a look at them before buying.

The power of Rapidweaver is extended greatly by the usage of plugins. External developers create plugins for use in Rapidweaver that allows for many more possibilities. For example, content on a web page can be embedded in another web page, or they can be arranged in blocks on the page to help in layouts. Also available are various image galleries.

Rapidweaver is available for download so you can try before you buy it. Don’t forget to test out the various Rapidweaver plugins and templates available to increase your web pages’ features.

Joomla CMS - Why Do People Use It?

December 25, 2009 – 10:01 am

You may have of Joomla but are not sure what it brings to the table. Why is it so popular? Here we take a brief look at the reasons people choose to use Joomla.

Joomla is an open-source software that runs on a web server. It is a Content Management System, which allows multiple users to access, create and manage content. There are different Content Management Systems available, both commercial and free, and Joomla can be considered to be one of the most popular ones.

There are a few reasons why Joomla is so popular. Cost is one big factor. You can’t get it for any cheaper, because it’s free. Anyone can download and use Joomla without worrying about licensing costs. You can install it on as many servers as you like, and on as many domains as you wish. This appeals to individuals and businesses with tight budgets.

But big companies may have reasons of their own for using Joomla. Being an open-source framework means that websites and applications built on it can be maintained and enhanced in future by anyone. This is especially true if external developers are hired to build the sites. Companies are free to engage other developers to do further work on the sites in future because there is no lock-in. There is no proprietary technology or framework to force the companies to re-engage the original developers.

The versatility of Joomla is greatly increased by the usage of extensions. A Joomla extension is a software that runs within the Joomla environment to add additional functionality. Chances are, if you require a functionality that the standard install doesn’t provide, you may be able to find a plugin that can do the job for you. Some of the most popular plugins are free, and if you are not able to find a free one to suit your purpose, see if you can find a commercial plugin that can fit. While commercial plugins do come with a price, they are usually far cheaper than hiring a developer to build a plugin from scratch for you.

If you have not given Joomla a try, now is a good time as any to do it. There is no cost to it other than your learning time. Once you have mastered the basics of using Joomla, be sure to check out what the various Joomla plugins can do for you.