Windows 7: A great gaming platform?

With the release of Windows 7 in October, PC gamers will finally have another platform on which to play their favorite games. Those who didn't quite enjoy Windows Vista as a game platform or have stuck with Windows XP are probably looking forward to the opportunity to buy some new hardware, install Windows 7, and get the most out of their favorite games.

But is Windows 7 a promising gaming platform? Now that its development is over, it's time to ask questions. What kind of gaming experience will it offer? Does it have features that will help it beat out Windows Vista or Windows XP in the game space?

Let's take a look:

DirectX 11
DirectX 11, which is set to run on both Windows 7 and Windows Vista, is highly anticipated. A recent blog post on Advanced Micro Devices' official blog asserts that DirectX 11, "in combination with new graphics hardware, and in some cases Windows 7, brings significant changes to the computing experience, changes that mean upcoming games and other applications are about to get a lot better."

AMD believes that with the help of "a beast called the tessellator," game developers will be able to create even better-looking games. The company contends that titles will be "smoother, less blocky, and more organic-looking."

Thanks to better support for multithreading and GPGPU compatibility, game developers should be able to get more out of their games on Windows 7 than any previous version of the operating system.

AMD contends that games will have "higher frame rates" and "more realistic characters." It also believes that game development costs might be kept down, thanks to a simplified, more efficient Windows 7.

Performance
In a recent posting on the Windows Partner blog, Intel's Brandon LeBlanc wrote that Windows 7 will be a far more efficient platform than its predecessor. According to LeBlanc, Microsoft worked with Intel to implement "a new feature called SMT parking, which provided additional support for the Windows 7 scheduler for Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, enabling better performance on hyperthreaded, multicore Intel processors."

Nvidia product manager Chris Daniel wrote on the Windows Team blog last week that Windows 7 is "the first Windows operating system to treat the graphics-processing unit as a real peer to the CPU." He went on to say that Windows 7 is doing a fine job of making its platform more appealing to gamers.

"Microsoft is really opening up the immense parallel-computing horsepower of the GPU natively right in the operating system," he wrote.

Those are just a couple examples, but most companies, albeit with a vested interest in seeing Windows 7 succeed, are saying the platform is more powerful than its predecessors. Regardless of the motives, that can only be good for gamers.

Games Explorer
Perhaps Games Explorer won't top the list of the features that will help make Windows 7 a great gaming platform, but it could help.

Although that feature originally launched with Windows Vista, Microsoft has promised that the Windows 7 version of Games Explorer will make gamers much happier with what they find.

Once they add titles to their PCs, gamers will be able to update those games from the Games Explorer pane, rather than open up each title and download updates in the software. If they want in-game statistics, they can have that too.

Compatibility
Compatibility is always a major concern for gamers. Will the games they enjoy work on Windows 7?

From Crysis to Call of Duty to Far Cry, most major games will work with Windows 7. If you're looking for a full list, compiled by Windows 7 beta users, follow this link. It has all the games that work and don't work with Windows 7.

Project Natal
In an interview with CNET News earlier this month, Bill Gates said that Project Natal will also work with Windows PCs.

He said Windows PCs could be using Natal not just for games, "but for media consumption as a whole, and even if (users) connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting, in terms of meetings and collaboration and communication." But it will all start with gaming.

Bottom Line
Will Windows 7 be a great gaming platform? Until we get our hands on the final build, there's no guarantee. What we do know now is that Windows 7 has some features that should make it far more appealing than its predecessor. And by the looks of things, as development for the platform becomes easier over time, and hardware continues to improve, we could be enjoying a stellar PC-gaming experience.

Resources: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10296339-17.html

How to Convert HTML to PDF

Before we look at specific ways to convert HTML to PDF, lets consider the task in more detail. HTML is the programming language that is used to create websites. Obviously, HTML is more versatile — it supports Flash, animated images, embedded video, background music (this is thankfully rare) and other dynamic page elements. These and some other features of HTML pages can’t be converted to HTML, so when choosing a html-to-pdf converter it’s important to
take into account what HTML features it can handle.

Another factor is how you want to use the converter:
* Do you simply need to convert a single page?
* Or do you want to make an application that lets other people convert certain HTML documents to PDF?
* Would you prefer something you can download and install, or an online service?
* How much are you willing to pay for the Html to pdf converter ?

The third and final issue is whether the page that needs to be transformed to PDF was created specifically for that purpose, or is it just some arbitrary webpage. This is important because if you want the resulting PDF to be easy to use, with fulltext search and clickable links, the source HTML should be built appropriately. Some HTML pages uses images to represent text, which means that text won’t be searchable. Also, menus and navigation links that rely on JavaScript won’t be clickable in PDF format. As a rule of thumb, if a webpage
has good accessibility, it will work well when converted to PDF. On the other hand, pages that rely or browser-specific feature or flash-based sites usually aren’t suitable for PDF conversion.

Finally, lets look at specific HTML to PDF
converters. For the average user, PDFonFly is likely the best choice. It’s a free online service that takes a webpage URL and creates amatching PDF file for you to download. The only annoyance is having to enter a captcha, but that’s a
small price to pay for a quick and painless HTML to PDF service. The conversion quality is very good - the colors and fonts look nearly as good as in a web browser, with a few minor layout glitches for some webpages. If you want to
convert a lot of HTML documents to .pdf, take a look at html2pdf (a commercial online service, average quality) or XHTML2PDF (an open source Python library).

SEO - What Is A Quality Incoming Link?

What is a quality incoming link? This article describes the key characteristics of a perfect link. For explanation purposes, the sample company is a shoe retailer called Fred’s Sports, and the keyword phrase being optimized for is “blue Nike sneakers”.

Key word phrase in anchor text

Unless you put your keyword phrase in the anchor text (the text that describes the web site being linked to), you are wasting a lot of link power. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t know this an end up putting their company name in the link text rather than the keyword phrase that they want their company to be found by. Much better that they link anchor says “blue Nike sneakers” than “Fred’s Sports Store”.

The link is from a relevant page

Google and the Google-powered search partners seek relevance in the interconnectedness of web pages. Incoming links should be from pages where the content on that page is related to the content of the page that is being linked to. A fishing related page linking to a casino site is an example of a non-related link. A jogging related page linking to a blue Nike sneakers product page is related and is looked upon favourably by the search engines.

The link goes to a relevant page

Another mistake that people make is always linking to the home page rather than to the most relevant page to the anchor text. If the link anchor text is “blue Nike sneakers” then the link should go to a page about blue Nike sneakers, for more details visit to www.the20seotools.com not the home page. This is by far and away the most common linking mistake.

The link is from an authority site

Links from high Google PageRank sites are worth more, a lot more, than links from other sites. It’s all about trust. A link from a trusted site tells the search engines that the sites linked to are also trusted - it’s a vote of confidence from a credible source. Links from .gov, for more details visit to www.offline-promotion.com and .eddo sites are also reported as having more weight than standard links. They are also more difficult to get adding to their perceived quality.

The link is at top of the page

Links from the top of a page (except for the header), are said to have more weight than links at the bottom of pages. It’s the same with keyword phrases. A keyword phrase in the heading is worth more than in the body text.

The link is one-way, not reciprocal

Google’s algorithm looks for link exchanges between sites and rates these links lower than straight one-way links. If possible, look for one way links by creating link bait - compelling content that will encourage people to link to your pages.

The link is within the body copy - not an advertising zone

Linking should be a natural part of the body copy. Recent reports suggest that the search engines will derate links from parts of the page that are traditionally sold for advertising. these tend to be the margins, header and footer areas of the page.

The link does not have a nofollow tag

The nofollow tag is a recent innovation that tells the search engines that although I am linking to this other page, I do not vouch for the page’s integrity. In short, the nofollow tag tells the search engines to ignore the link. Obviously you do not want links to your web pages to have nofollow tags. Be careful with link exchanges. Some dishonest people will exchange links with you but use nofollow tags in the links to your pages to preserve their own link power.

There are few links on page (less than 20)

One link to your web site from a page with hundreds of links does little for your SEO results. The page’s SEO power is being distributed over all the other links on the page. Goo;le’s guidelines recommend no more than 100 links per page, but I believe 20 is a reasonable goal. You never know when the Google algorithm may change. The perfect page that links to your pages should have no more than 20 links.

source: http://www.article-buzz.com/Article/SEO---What-Is-A-Quality-Incoming-Link-/277216

Internet Marketing - some simple steps on how to use follower building

This sounds good but there are some draw backs.

1. Some people will unsubscribe as soon as they get the free gift or after a short time
2. Your emails can get caught in spam folders
3. Your emails may never be read
4. Some people will put in a junk email address that they do not check

So, now your emails will not be as effective as they have been in the past. What do you do?

Raise your game and start building a following using social networking sites. Many of these sites offer features that allow you to 1) get followers or “friends” and 2) post tidbits of information which could be, and should be, of interest to these followers. This information you post is often considered mini blogging. Your followers can then subscribe to your mini blog to receive current updates on what you are doing. These updates are acquired by your followers through a “feed”. Providing updates is a good way to keep in contact with your customers. Continually giving your followers information that is relevant to their interests and needs can be a powerful communication tool. Your updates get read by real people all the time. Yes, building your followers can be just as good as, or better, than building your email list.

Here are some simple steps on how to use follower building

1. Sign up for a free social networking site
2. Start to give short blocks of information about your product or services to create value for your potential or existing client.
1. Give discount coupons or ideas on how to use the product or services
2. Use this as a tech support line
3. Show that a real person is behind the company
4. Offer tips about your product
5. In your post link to pages deep into your site.
3. On your web site ask people to follow your company for valuable information

In my research I have found that some people or companies will pay you or give you something to follow them on the social networking sites. This reinforces how powerful this type of marketing is. Also major companies have reported positive feedback and customer services with the use of these techniques. For more details www.autoresponders-unlimited.com This marketing can be done with no cost and a little time. Most social networking accounts are free and it can take just 10 minutes a day to check the account and post a tidbit of information.

Take the time to build your following as well as your email list, pairing these two very powerful Internet marketing techniques for the best results.

If you would like to work with a marketing company with integrity that knows how to provide the total package I invite you to view work with us.

source: http://www.article-buzz.com/Article/Internet-Marketing---some-simple-steps-on-how-to-use-follower-building/311198

List Building Tips for Internet Marketing

As an internet marketing beginner, you should know that the money is on the list. You can generate enough income for your site and your business by building a functional, targeted email marketing list. This should be your primary goal as you go along your internet marketing strategies for the benefit of your chosen internet business.

You have to use the power of internet marketing in order to increase your sales volume. Without utilizing emails, you might just lose half of your target online income. Emails are very potent tools in furthering your site, your landing page, or your affiliate link, if any. To use it properly, here are general tips on how to build your email list for internet marketing:

1. Make sure that your list is targeted.

A targeted email list is something that contains the email addresses of people who are most likely to buy your products. For example, you are selling men’s apparel then your email marketing list should consist of men and not women or kids. For more details www.website-convertion-secrets.com.You should make sure that the email marketing list you’ll buy is at least categorized according to demographics accordingly. And so you won’t send emails to people that have no use for your products.

2. Don’t buy email list.

Don’t choose the easier path and buy email lists. You are better off creating them rather than buying them from so called internet experts. There are a lot of people who poses to be one but in reality, they are not a notch better than you are. Buying email marketing list would cost you a good amount of money. But it can no where guarantee your success. The best way to build an email marketing list is to patiently add one email address at a time from your growing list of subscribers.

3. Consider partnering up with another site.

There are a lot of things you can accomplish online if you join resources with other people. This is very true with email marketing list building. You can sponsor an opt-in list with another site that requires registration for any of the products that they are offering. An opt-in list is a part of the registration process wherein users would check on the things they are interested with as they go through the registration process. Every time they check on the category where your product belongs they would be receiving emails from you because their addresses get directed to you right after they have accepted the terms. Keep in mind that this process should never be carried out in a discreet manner. Else, you can be regarded as a spammer. You have to tell your prospect right on that by selecting anything in the list, they are also agreeing to receiving emails regularly.

4. Be patient when sending mails.

Never get tired of sending mails to your prospects. Do you know that your sales won’t come in before your 12th contact with a customer? Therefore you should hang around until after you have sent at least 12 emails to your prospect. Anything less, they won’t buy. You even have to send them more than 12 to be sure that they are reminded of your product, business, or service every time.

5. Create subscription pages and send to a friend scripts for your site.

Make it so much easier for your customers to subscribe to your feeds or email marketing campaigns. If you have the links in the most convenient places, they are more likely to subscribe to your website, blog site, or newsletter. For more details www.squeeze-page-profits.com.Don’t make it hard to send you an email either. If you have the right buttons in your site, then you will be able to contact them directly in response. Now that’s a live, email address for you to keep. With their permission, you can send these people some updates about your site, your business, or your products.

6. Utilize the power of social communities.

Social communities are a plenty over the internet. Make sure that you adequately use the potential of these communities to your advantage. Be active in a well populated forum. From there, you can send in traffic to your site. Traffic translates to sales. And that’s exactly what you need.
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