iPhone's GPS Comes in Handy

Smartphone indeed. It has a lot of feature which comes handy. Just like built-in GPS through Maps App, and many more that you can just download in a snap then, it is there in a heart bit! We used to have Garmin GPS but it requires upgrade, which is a normal thing, but the husband doesn't like it. Let alone you have to pay to have it upgraded. He is always on the traditional map, the paper way, an old school one. He is master on it. I guess, because he is a mapper by line of work although he now uses a computer to make maps, isn't it odd? Or just a norm? Whatever it is, if one is comfortable with it then go for it. But that's not where the story goes. Ha! Okay, the wife is the only one who uses iPhone, tech-person, maybe? And so, because the husband saw his wife often in dealing with GPS through the Maps in the smartphone, he was interested of knowing it, of how to use it! And lo and behold, you guess it right, he has become addicted to it that anywhere we go, he is always dependent on it. Why? That is because it gives correct and shortcut information what way to go. It gives an estimate how many minutes to arrive in the destination, even when not in driving, just a foresee. It is FREE. And he don't need to put a big book of map on his lap while driving, but only a little device (the phone) which directs by voice! Isn't it that amazing? It is impressive, isn't it? (You just need to have a reliable phone company provider for the signal, which is common sense, of course.)

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How Social Media Drives Oblique Business Advertising

 The full power of social media as a business tool is just beginning to evolve. Sites like Facebook which are creating personalities for their products are just one way that businesses have found to engage with those online and help to bring themselves more business. By creating a persona instead of an institution, people are more likely to react to these businesses, psychologically, as if they were a friend. This powerful marketing tool has been long used, but today it is even more powerful.

Twitter and Pinterest

The newest tools in the social marketing department are twitter and pinterest. Twitter seems to be most often used by creating a pithy teaser and a link to something else. This may benefit businesses directly or indirectly. The tweet seems to be most successful, however, when it is applied indirectly, and relates to something like a funny blog with an oblique message supporting a particular business. Pinterest, however, has a few interesting things going for it in regards to advertising. The biggest one is that as a reader, you are not limited to a small circle of voices that you subscribe to. Instead, you choose a topic of interest, and you will see both the new and the popular together. This creates opportunities for people to see sites they had no idea they wanted, and to use them as a basis for knowledge, or better yet, purchase. For example, a person looking for outdoor hot tubs might stumble across some Blue Green Resorts pins, and get excited about staying in a location with a beautiful example. A spontaneous person would be likely to link to this and buy a weekend, particularly if an incentive is attached to the pin like a contest or sale.

Multiple Platforms

While some people are visual, others are idea-driven. A social media campaign that offers both words and photos meant to capture attention (separately, not together) will be more likely to target a wider group of followers. Word campaigns that do well are either useful, funny, or both. They also create an implicit loyalty with regular readers, as they are subconsciously grateful for receiving something of value for free, and may return this gratitude with brand loyalty.

Trick or Service?

While some see this as a trick, others see this as a service. This is not a new argument, however, as there have been free entertainment offerings with implicit advertisements for centuries. Television, sponsored festivals, and many other things fall into that category. They create a situation where a business looks like a good guy for donating air time/sponsoring a festival, and a client can feel both free to purchase nothing, or happy to support a business who loves what they do. This idea is really the crux of why social media and business go hand in hand.

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3 of My 5 Blogs are Back on the PageRank Table

You know that I have five blogs and you also know that I was not able to show-up here for too long as I have family matters to handle first which needs my attention. After all, blogging can wait. But, I did not let go of my domains other than my Food Blog (Foods 'n Bites). But hey, lo and behold I just came here as I got notification on my email about expiration of the three to which I remember I set-up an automatic renewal for it just for the meantime that I'm still thinking and debating if I have to let go of it soon or then, to my surprise, I got an awesome news! My main blog (Cacai's Steps & Journey) got its pagerank back for how many years of waiting, although it has decrease from PR3 to PR2 but hey! Who won't not be surprised of that? Not unless if you're just came in blog land or don't have any idea about it, other than that, I think everyone will be delighted and that doesn't excludes me, apparently! Ha! Thoughts?

Hooray! Smile. :-) Have a great day!

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Link Building

 Link building takes a lot of time and effort. It totally is a complete pain in the head. But it is still Google's #1 factor for giving website a high ranking. So, how to do it? How one can build a link? It seems like it is really hard to build a link for a blog. No, it is not that really hard to do it. As I have mentioned above, it will just take a lot of time and effort. So, here is the easiest way to build links. When you visit a blog, leave a comment on that blog, but be sure that your comment is relevant and valuable, so that the owner of the blog will not consider you as a spammer. Leave your name (in the name section) and not the title of your blog so it won’t look like you are a stalker, and most importantly, don’t forget to leave your link (in the link section, of course). It is just that easy, right? Just post a comment to the different blogs (especially of your blog's same niche) especially to high ranking ones (at the same time hoping that they don't block low link pagerank that comment on that particular blog) with links back to your site. With that, Google find the links and increases your search rankings.

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Brand Recognition is the Art of Repetition

Marketers have a tough job. There is only so much attention span the average consumer will dedicate to listening to your message. To complicate matters, many of your competitors are saying the exact same thing. Some of the more effective marketing strategies take advantage of human psychologies in subtle, yet powerful ways. Using a system of repetition to reinforce a positive image of your products and services increases the likelihood that consumers will choose to spend their money with your company. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Saying the same thing over and over again can gets tedious, and when your audience starts to tune you out, you are in trouble. Every marketer fears becoming redundant, but the truth is that brand recognition is the most powerful tool available to drive long term sales. It takes some skill to get inside of your customer’s heads and stay there without wearing out your welcome. Fortunately there are a number of established methods and useful techniques that can help create the positive brand recognition you need. You need to understand how to use these subtle marketing tools and build your customer’s confidence in your products over time. When you control perceptions, you can be certain that your share of the market will be robust and stable. To find out more about the importance of brand recognition and some of the more effective methods, read through the infographic below:
Click here for the full-sized image.
Enjoyed this infographic? Read more promotional marketing tips from HALO.

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Choosing the Right Keywords

You might think that publishing an article in the World Wide Web is just like submitting a thesis, or essay to your professor. If you think like this, then you are absolutely wrong. When you publish an article online, you are submitting it to the world and not to a one person only. The only difference of the two is that, on the essay, there is merely one person who could read and rate your work, and that is your professor. On the other hand, publishing an article to the WWW, it's Mr. G.'s judgement (or Google). If Mr. G. likes the performance of your blog, he then gives you a good grade or rate which is what is called, Page Rank.

So, the question is, how would you create a good article, and how would you get a lot of readers without inviting them personally? First and foremost, it must be fresh content which coincide with a fresh news (like what's new, what's the latest)! Okay apart from that, I will share to you the very simple technique which I have learned from a friend which I believe (it's a good advise and I think I gonna do it then, if remembered). :-) :-D, though I don't really exercise such in my blog. I just blog whatever I love to, as long as it coincides with what the blog is all about.

Alright, it's what she said. When you compose for an article, the title of your article must include a keyword. This keyword should be mentioned, three times or less than, in your article. Mentioning this for more than three times, the spider web that crawled to our blog might consider your keyword as invalid. As a result, when the surfer searches on the net typing your keyword, the search engine couldn't find your article, or if it does, it would land on the last page of search engine like Google. So, avoid mentioning it for more than three times.

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Having A Split Screen Made Easy

Many times you see a video which shows two phases at the same time. Ever wondered how it is done? It’s done with the help of a tool called the split screen. Although the name sounds complex, the process of doing it is way easier than you expect. Having the split screen is made easier by Movavi who have produced for you the best video editor ever. Safe and easy this is the editor you dreamed of having.

So if you have some videos and you want to add a touch of drama to it, use the split screen tool by following the instructions mentioned below:

 First, download and install the Movavi editor from http://www.movavi.com/support/how-to/how-to-make-a-split-screen-video.html and run the program. The program opens all by itself once its setup is done.

Now, click on the “Add Media File” option and select all the videos you want to add to have the split screen. Click on ok or you could drag the video to the timeline area. The timeline area has a few options for audio, video and subtitles. Choose the video tracks as per your requirements and as many times as you want.

Next, choose the appearance of the screen you want by clicking on the effects panel and selecting the split option from the transformation option. There are more than two effects by which you can split the screen. There are four types of spits and each of them corresponds to a typical effect group. Choose the effect that you think best suits your split screen. You can split the screen in four quadrants, in half or in thirds. Vertically or horizontally is your decision.

Then you might want to crop or trim the video to make the parts that you want to show visible and for this you will have to crop the video. To crop drag the mouse over the video and select the area. It will be shown in dotted lines. Now hit on “Apply”. After this select the next video by choosing it from the timeline. Do the same things to this video too. Repeat the process if you have more videos in your timeline.

Well now, almost all your work is done and you can add other things like audio, images, animation, titles, etc. Now save the movie you made by selecting the “Save Movie” option. Dazzle your audience with your creativity.

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Are you a Techie?

There are people who are tech [y] [ie] and there are also those who are not tech [y] [ie]. If I am the one whom you will ask, nope, I am not that techie. I may know some stuffs but not all. I got it through experience and I also study. Truth to be told, technology is running fast paced. We have to keep up in order to level-up or at least we know the basic thing. Ignorance is a cruel word so we strive hard to get rid of it. You know.

If there are technology jobs to be done in my websites, I try to solve it on my own. However, if time is running out, I just pay someone to do it, the quickest and easiest option. There are many advantages if you are a techie (technologically knowledgeable) person. You can work at your own pace, with your own style and it seems that working your ideas is never ending. I admire people who can just tweak and edit the design of their websites given any time. Maybe one day, I will also try to explore that area. I know there is no time in trying and time is gold, so let's see how far can we go, isn't it? We must learn how to use time management. Good luck to us. Ooh time! :-)

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In any business where you have to deal directly with customers, it's vital that you know how to provide great customer service. People stop patronizing businesses every day because of bad customer service experiences. You want to make sure you never give your customers an excuse to leave you. If you set the bar above and beyond what would normally be required, you can make a difference that reflects back on your business in a positive way. Here are just a few tips on how you can make customers feel like royalty every time they do business with you.

 1. Make Sure They Get Their Answers

Too often, customers asking for help find that they're passed back and forth between various departments without actually getting answers to their problems. Whenever you do need to send someone to another department, send a follow-up email or call the customer to make sure their issue actually got resolved. Even if they did find their answer and no longer need your help, that little gesture can go a long way toward customer service improvement.

 2. Listen to Them

 You may hear the same problem hundreds of times a day, but if you interrupt a customer to explain what you think is the answer, you not only make them feel devalued, but you could be missing out on vital information. It's worth a little extra time to truly listen to the customer before you jump straight to the solution.

 3. Build a Relationship

 While it may seem silly to think in terms of building a relationship for someone you may never see or hear from again, it can actually be very helpful. For one thing, you represent the company. If each representative makes the customer feel like they want to get to know them, customers are going to feel like they have a good relationship with the company overall. It can also make solving their problems much easier, as it relaxes them and puts you both in a friendly mood. As you help them, use their name a lot and latch onto any common ground to make them feel like you're connecting with them.

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Finding the Zip Code Extension

Zip code typically only consists of five(5) digits. It can be used with a typical mail. Zip code in USA has extensions but as I said it is not necessarily needed when mailing mails unless if it needs to have a complete one, or the one that has extensions. Like for example legalities, important documents needed like for example from Department of Homeland and Security and all such and alike. You might not know your address extension right at this moment or maybe you are checking in how? Then following is for you to know of how to do it. And so, how to get it? Just go to usps(dot)com and hover your cursor down to Get Zipcode. Enter complete address and there, voila! You now know your address zip code extension! Enjoy and happy knowing! ;-)

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Learn a New Skill Every day! Tips for Mastering New Skills

Have you ever learned a new skill from YouTube? There are so many instructional videos on YouTube these days that you could probably learn a new skill every day for a year! Whether the videos are made by experts or amateurs, funny or serious, YouTube is a great source for instructional content – so if you are ever wishing you could learn something new, why not do a YouTube search or use a Youtube downloader and see if there is a video for it? This infographic reveals the informative side of YouTube, showing some great examples of instructional videos that you can find on the website. YouTube can teach you how to change a car headlight or bulb, how to speak a foreign language, how to play the piano, how to remove stains and how to perform CPR. Did you know that YouTube had such a great array of informative videos? Take a look at the infographic to learn a little more about the educational and instructional side of YouTube. Are there any skills that you would like to learn? If you could learn one thing from a YouTube video, what would it be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Yes, you can master a new skill in a day - An infographic by the team at youtubedownload

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Most-Downloaded Free Apps in Apple and Android

Since the existence of Social Networking sites, it has been noticed that the most downloaded applications are from the mentioned category. According to the online poll the following are the most downloaded free Apps both in Apple and Android. First in line is the Facebook application which undeniably the most visited website from the young ones to the oldies. Because of the famous Selfie term of taking pictures and its different effects, Instagram made it to top. Some of the famous celebrities were discovered online and also teens nowadays are fun of posting their own videos and so YouTube is in. Online friends are also in trend today, and the most downloaded app for it is Skype. HashTag, the most known way of spreading a topic and gossips and because of that, Twitter is counted. Aside from the Social Networking applications, Games are also in the list. To name a few, Temple Run, Fruit Ninja, Minion Rush and so on and so forth.

Do you have something to add?

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Reviewing Executive Profiles

Reviewing executive profiles is but one way to learn how a person like John Studinski his way in the business community. Every executive is different, and every aspiring business person should learn that lesson before they choose their path in the world. Reading through an executive's profile will reveal all the following things to someone who looks closely.

They All Went To School Somewhere

Most executives that are high up the corporate ladder went to college somewhere. However, where these people went to college varies. There are great schools all over America, and it is hard to say that one is better than another. There are successful business people who attended Harvard. There are successful business people who dropped out of Harvard, and there are equally successful people who went to a community college. Rather than assuming a prestigious college is a gateway to success, it is better to remember that a nice school is but one step up the corporate ladder.

They All Had An Idea

People who work in the investment field do not have ideas that are household names, but they had ideas that made them well-known in their field. Other business people who have ideas make those ideas come to fruition through whatever means are necessary. There is no reason for aspiring entrepreneurs to assume that they can climb the corporate ladder without an idea. The idea may be simple, but there must be something that makes the businessman unique.

They Are Disciplined

The successful business person who continues to grow in their success has a work ethic that would put anyone to shame. Rather than becoming complacent, these business people work harder to make sure they can make more of themselves. People who understand their own potential will not be topped by obstacles or success. The best lesson for a new business person is to never stop working.

They Work With Others

People who are successful in the business community know how to work with others. No one can succeed in the business community without getting along with others. Everyone has friends, acquaintances and enemies, but no one succeeds with only enemies. If someone is making their way up the corporate ladder by treating people poorly, that karma will come back to haunt them at some point.

They Are Generous

The best executives in the business community are very generous with the people who work closest to them. Their secretary is paid extremely, and these same executives understand the value of a good receptionist. These executives praise people for their good work, and they make sure to criticize others constructively.

They Hire Smart People

The best executives in business hire people who even smarter to work for them. Business advisers who work under high profile executives hire the most intelligent people they can find. No one succeeds alone, and wise executives value people who are even smarter than they.

Valuing intelligence, being generous, getting some kind of education and working hard are all hallmarks of the best executive.

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Visualize Before Creating a New Blog/Niche

You have been blogging for a year, or couple of years now, and then you wanted to create another blog. You chose that topic for your brand-new blog because you have knowledge about it. Do you think that your new blog might stick around, or it might not? Relating to your old niche or existing blog, look back at how it all got started and what you have been doing to be able to stick around.

Now, think of any changes that might happen in the blogosphere. Include in your thought with Mr. G., does this gigantic robot have a good heart to give you a reasonable rank in the World Wide Web? If there are changes, what changes do you wish would come? You probably noticed the current fads or trends, will they stick and change your niche, or will they fade away? Do you see that your new blog, new niche will stay for years just like your other blogs? Well, for those who have planned to create another blog, all I can say is that, write with your heart content. Just be yourself and one day soon, your blog will be discovered and you'll reap what you sow. Good Luck to you and to your blog. Have a great day!

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What Successful Businesses Have in Common

Successful businesses stand high above the rest for a reason. Attention is paid to every aspect of the business and nothing is left unattended. Companies that don’t reach the standards of their competitors often don’t excel because certain details have been overlooked. This is a fatal mistake, and it’s important to follow a set of guidelines to ensure that every need has been met.

Business Plan

Vital to the success of your company, a business plan needs to be set in stone from day one. That’s not to say that things can’t be changed along the way, just be sure to outline goals and procedures early. By making sure that you know exactly where you want to be in the coming days, months or years, you are helping yourself to put together practical steps to get there.

Strategy

Like your business plan, a strategy needs to be in place early. This is where you consider all of the possibilities, wanted or not. Consider the risks that you are taking and all of the potential outcomes. By discussing risks and consequences, you can equip yourself to be able to deal with unwanted situations. A business is successful because of the way it deals with issues and comes out on the other side.

Communication

Successful businesses ensure that there is never a lack of communication. They know that for the company to succeed, every person involved needs to be aware of as much as possible. Issues are addressed as quickly and transparently as possible, and all employees are welcome to voice their beliefs and concerns about the company. If possible, regular meetings are held where people can gather and talk about these things in a safe and open environment.

Support

A fundamental factor for any successful business, support for employees helps productivity on several different levels. If an employee has a problem, productivity and efficiency are likely to be affected. Similar to the transparency factor, consider having an open door policy. It can be helpful to appoint someone in a manager position the go to person for any personal or workplace related issues. Maintaining a supportive relationship with your workers helps them to feel more comfortable under your wing, and sorts out issues to maintain productivity at the same time.

Passion

The most important part of running a successful business is making sure that everyone involved is passionate about their role. As the founder, you must have been bursting with inspiration, and it’s important to pass that morale onto all workers, partners and stakeholders. Enthusiasm is a key factor in ensuring that your workers will strive and push the boundaries.
A successful business is made up of several key factors. The spark of passion needs to be there, and stay constantly lit throughout the company’s duration. Additionally, it’s important to plan. Planning and sorting out possible issues before they arise are wonderful ways to make sure that unexpected events won’t have a negative effect on things running smoothly. Most importantly, think thoroughly about everything before jumping in the deep end. For more information about growing a successful business you may visit axcelerate.com.au

 

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Plane Mode Charge Fast and Conserves Battery

I already know that Turning-ON Airplane Mode button for iPhone and iPad, conserves battery. Meaning it slows down the battery life consumption. The con is it would turn-off the Wi-Fi ability. But still you can do anything but Wi-Fi data activity.

I heard lots of complains about iPhone slow charging "thing". And yes, as to my experience, it does. What I did if I like it to charge fast, I got the iPad charge and had it do its task = it works like magic! Don't you like to try it? Tell me about it, then!

And so, just recently, I am into turning-on the button of plane mode in my iPhone (don't feel  bad if you read this randomly and you don't have iPhone or iPad and yet you have Plane Mode capability, then this is also for you!) when I charge it. Before I have this apple phone, I use to turn-off my mobile if I charge it, this way it relaxes the phone and speeds-up its charging. With iPhone, even if I turn it off, it still turn-on if it has its battery. So instead of doing it, I just turn-on the plane mode button and not bother to turn it off completely unless if I have a lot of time chasing the charge phone.

Also, don't forget to have the plane mode ON when you're about to go sleep for the alarm, or better yet, turn your phone off, so it could completely.

So, which is which? The good thing is there's an great option, isn't it? Have a great day!

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Surprise....!

Wow... I can't believe it was already a quarter of a year (three months of course) that I was not able to do something here until today.

I so missed blogging but family life has to come first. It had been stressful for some point but life is like that, I believe it is not always smooth. It does not happen all the way one likes it to be. I just miss being here. Talking about my personal view about technology, gadgets, computer, Internet, finances and so on and so forth. I miss you too guys!

So how's everyone doing? I heard there's iPhone6 coming. After just few months of having the iPhone 5S and 5C, then there's got to be new one? Hooray! Whew! I still have my two-years warranty of my iPhone5 Oops! Iphone5 is still great like the latest ones, only just few features differ though it won't be that visible if you're not into the field of so-so in the security level, though. When it comes to the Operating System (OS), it is updating from time to time, so it's really not so biggie, it is still iP5, so! Smile. -_-

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Corporate Executives Serving on International Councils

Some important executives enjoy venturing outside of the corporate world in order to make some real impacts in other global issues. Some business leaders take positions in independent councils and organizations that are not affiliated with any political entities or corporations. The goal of such entities is to improve the world in areas such as education, economy and peace. Executive leaders use their knowledge and expertise in the business world and apply it to various causes that are motivated by sincere care and not just profits. John Ferraro Ernst and Young is an example of a successful executive that sits on the board of a major international economic council.

The goal of independent councils is to improve the lives of business people and ordinary hard work individuals. Group meetings are held regularly in order to come up with new ideas on regulations for international commerce. For example, business leaders may discuss ways to change the tax code that is discouraging some American companies from doing business at home. Outsourcing is becoming a growing trend that causes a lot of job losses in the United States. New tax legislation can be achieved if economic councils place some pressure on American politicians to make some changes. Additionally, council groups can focus on changing some regulations on international commerce. Heavy tariffs on imported goods are causing some businesses plenty of losses in annual revenue. Economic councils can pressure politicians from various countries to agree on a fair rate of taxation that involves imports.

Improving education worldwide is another goal of members of independent council groups. Such organizations focus on setting scholarships that allow students from developing countries to pursue higher education in western countries. International students can be chosen based on merit and other qualifications. However, the goal of international education initiatives is to allow underprivileged youth to attain something that is not available in their native countries. There are international boarding schools that accept students from all over the world with the hope of building great relations among the future generations. Such schools focus on creating peace between countries that are often at hostility with each other. Of course, rigorous educational programs are also part of boarding schools designed to accommodate the youth of countries with serious problems.

Economic councils try to make relevant suggestions to those that have true power in changing policies. Therefore, some council members often meet with politicians in order to pursue a certain agenda. After every meeting, an economic council usually comes up with some important ideas that should be pushed forward and applied to international policies on commerce and education. Such ideas often suggest loosening taxes and border control on international transactions. In other words, it is important for people and goods to move about freely in today's global economy.

Independent council groups actually consist of diverse members that include corporate executives, university professors, skilled tradespeople, attorneys and other individuals with great ideas about the global economy. The councils usually meet in neutral locations that are immune from the pressures of external politics and other ideas. For example, it's common for international economic council groups to meet up in Switzerland to avoid external interference from the mass media. Such meetings would not be functional in the United States because of all the crazy media hype around.

(Thanks for the guest post)

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Photography Is a Trend

If you can notice even in Online, Photography is one of the hobbies an individual is fan of doing. In whatever gadget they use like cellphones, digital cameras, tablets, iPads, laptops, and DSLR then after which some upload it rightaway, others still enhance it before uploading. Some consider it as a hobby others consider it as source of living. I even have friends who were featured on local televisions because of Photography.

For a list of top 10 digital cameras base on best choice reviews for 2013 are as follows, for beginners its highly recommended The Sony DSC-W360. For a high exactitude digital camera, The Olympus Evolt E-3, is perfect for you, it can dust out of the shutter by silently vibrating. For those who are a bit of on a professional end, you may try the D3S from Nikon. For a bit of high end piece of gadget, an end user may try the Pentax K100D which has multiple functions that can automate settings in the field. The Canon PowerShot is still in the list because of its sleek design but can produce a very good quality pictures.

Regardless of the camera, according to experts, it’s the matter of taste of the Photographer in taking the angle of the pictures.

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Most Download-able Free Apps in Apple and Android

Since the existence of Social Networking sites, it has been noticed that the most downloaded applications are from the mentioned category. According to the online poll the following are the most downloaded free Apps both in Apple and Android. First in line is the Facebook application which undeniably the most visited website from the young ones to the oldies. Because of the famous Selfie term of taking pictures and its different effects, Instagram made it to top. Some of the famous celebrities were discovered online and also teens nowadays are fun of posting their own videos and so Youtube is in. Online friends are also in trend today, and the most downloaded app for it is Skype. Hashtag, the most known way of spreading a topic and gossips and because of that, Twitter is counted. Aside from the Social Networking applications, Games are also in the list. To name a few, Temple Run, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Minion Rush.

What about you, what did you download as free?

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