macrolinx:: siku's blog

Basic Internet Infrastructure

2006-09-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things about the Internet is that nobody really owns it. It is a global collection of networks, both big and small. These networks connect together in many different ways to form the single entity that we know as the Internet. In fact, the very name comes from this idea of interconnected networks.

Since its beginning in 1969, the Internet has grown from four host computer systems to tens of millions. However, just because nobody owns the Internet, it doesn't mean it is not monitored and maintained in different ways. The Internet Society, a non-profit group established in 1992, oversees the formation of the policies and protocols that define how we use and interact with the Internet.

In this article, you will learn about the basic underlying structure of the Internet. You will learn about domain name servers, network access points and backbones. But first you will learn about how your computer connects to others.

this information has been taken from howstuffworks.com... they're gonna hate me for this!!!

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

2006-09-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is a technology that allows you to make telephone calls using a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line. Some services using VoIP may only allow you to call other people using the same service, but others may allow you to call anyone who has a telephone number - including local, long distance, mobile, and international numbers. Also, while some services only work over your computer or a special VoIP phone, other services allow you to use a traditional phone through an adaptor.

How VoIP works…

VoIP converts the voice signal from your telephone into a digital signal that travels over the Internet. If you are calling a regular phone number, the signal is then converted back at the other end. VoIP can allow you to make a call directly from a computer, a special VoIP phone, or a traditional phone using an adapter. In addition, new wireless "hot spots" in public locations such as airports, parks, and cafes, allow you to connect to the Internet, and may enable you to use VoIP service wirelessly. If you make a call using a phone with an adapter, you'll be able to dial just as you always have, and the service provider may also provide a dial tone. If your service assigns you a regular phone number, then a person can call you from his or her regular phone without using special equipment.

What Kind of Equipment Do I Need?

A broadband (high speed Internet) connection is required. This can be through a cable modem, or high speed services such as DSL or a local area network. You can hook up an inexpensive microphone to your computer and send your voice through a cable modem or connect a phone directly to a telephone adaptor.

Is there a difference between making a Local Call and a Long Distance Call?

Some VoIP providers offer their services for free, normally only for calls to other subscribers to the service. Your VoIP provider may permit you to select an area code different from the area in which you live. It also means that people who call you may incur long distance charges depending on their area code and service.

Some VoIP providers charge for a long distance call to a number outside your calling area, similar to existing, traditional wireline telephone service. Other VoIP providers permit you to call anywhere at a flat rate for a fixed number of minutes.

If I have VoIP service, who can I call?

Depending upon your service, you might be limited only to other subscribers to the service, or you may be able to call any phone number, anywhere in the world. The call can be made to a local number, a mobile phone, to a long distance number, or an international number. You may even utilize the service to speak with more than one person at a time. The person you are calling does not need any special equipment, just a phone.

Because VoIP is digital, it may offer features and services that are not available with a traditional phone. If you have a broadband internet connection, you need not maintain and pay the additional cost for a line just to make telephone calls.

With many VoIP plans you can talk for as long as you want with any person in the world (the requirement is that the other person has an Internet connection). You can also talk with many people at the same time without any additional cost.

What Are Some disadvantages of VoIP?

If you're considering replacing your traditional telephon service with VoIP, there are some possible differences:

Some VoIP services don't work during power outages and the service provider may not offer backup power.

But here’s an advantage. You may be able to use your VoIP service wherever you travel as long as you have a high speed Internet connection available. In that case it would work the same as from your home or business.

Does my Computer Have to be Turned on?

Not if you are making calls with a phone and adaptor or special VoIP phone, but your broadband Internet connection needs to be active. You can also use your computer while talking on the phone.

Analog vs. Digital

2006-09-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

What do these two terms mean?

Analog is a term that refers to the ability of an instrument’s circuits to produce and process continuous electrical fluctuations, which match in some one-to-one fashion to the back-and-forth movement of air that we distinguish as sound. These electrical fluctuations are converted to movements of air when they are passed through an amplifier and on to a loudspeaker.

Digital synthesizers, on the other hand, create sounds by working with digital representations of sound waves, in the form of binary numbers (collection of 1s and 0s). These representations can then be treated in a variety of mathematical ways, but in order to hear the results of these manipulations, the numbers have to be passed through a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), which changes the numeric representations to equivalent electrical (analog) voltages. Ever connect the dots to draw a picture? Well, that’s pretty much what the DAC does. It receives a series of numbers and responds by connecting the dots from number to number and outputting a voltage that changes in the same way.

These voltages only become sound (that is, movement of air) after being fed into an amplifier and out of a speaker system—just like the voltages of an analog synth. Many people describe digital synths as sounding thin and crisp, while saying that analog synths sound fat and warm. These descriptions are misleading, since what’s really being described is the sound of the particular synthesis technique used by the instrument. While digital synthesizers may use any of a number of different techniques, virtually all commercially available analog instruments use a system called subtractive synthesis to create sounds.

What complicates matters is that most instruments produced in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s were hybrid combinations of both analog and digital technology—though most, if not all, were actually subtractive synthesizers. These machines often used analog sound-producing circuitry linked with a digital microprocessor (computer) that kept track of the analog settings in order to memorize sounds. Time marches on, however, and slowly but surely these hybrid instruments began incorporating more and more digital circuitry. By the early ‘90s, it was hard to find any instruments that used analog circuitry, but their popularity is on the upswing again today.

How do you know if a particular instrument is using subtractive synthesis? The answer is simple: look for a filter. Subtractive synthesizers build sounds by starting with a broad palette of audio components (called overtones) and then removing unwanted ones. A device that’s capable of removing some of the frequency components of a sound is called—you guessed it— a filter. It doesn’t matter if the filter is analog or digital, or if it’s a lowpass, highpass, or bandpass filter. It also doesn’t matter if the instrument is called a "wavetable" synth or not. The bottom line is that, if it’s got a filter, it’s basically a subtractive synthesizer.

But what about samplers? After all, most of them have filters, too. Even though samplers technically aren’t synthesizers (since they can’t create sounds from scratch), if they contain filters, they are using a subtractive processing technique. Their filters simply remove unwanted overtones that were in the original sampled sound.

Let’s focus on how subtractive synthesizers actually work. The sound source in these instruments—the place where everything begins—is a device called an oscillator. If the instrument is an analog synth, the oscillator will be a physical component that generates regularly changing electrical signals. If the instrument is digital, the oscillator will simply be a table of numbers (a wavetable) that is stored in memory and repeatedly read out.

Controls on the oscillator, whether digital or analog, allow you to alter the frequency, or pitch, of the sound. You can also select the waveform (different waveforms produce different sets of overtones, making for different tone colors). In addition to responding to dials or sliders on the front panel, the oscillators react to controlling signals from the keyboard and other sources, such as envelope generators, LFOs, (Low Frequency Oscillators), and various MIDI messages.

A signal from the keyboard (or an incoming MIDI message) tells the oscillator what note to produce. Other sources, like the envelope generator, produce a one-time-only pitch change, the shape of which will vary depending on how you set the envelope controls. An LFO can be used to add periodic pitch change—better known as vibrato, although other effects, such as trills, are also possible. In analog systems, the controlling signal will be a voltage; in digital systems, it will be a series of numeric (digital) commands.

If the oscillator in question is built to react to voltages, then it is said to be a voltage-controlled oscillator, or VCO. If, on the other hand, it responds to digital control signals, then it is said to be a digitally-controlled oscillator, or DCO. Typically, there will be two or more oscillators present so that you can blend different frequencies and/or timbres together in order to create a richer sound. The signal from the oscillators is routed to a passive mixer so that you can determine the relative volume of each. But it’s after the signal leaves the mixer and enters the filter that the real fun begins.

The filter is where hardcore subtractive synthesis takes place. Its task is to remove harmonics (overtones) from the waveform produced by the oscillators. Which overtones get removed—high ones, low ones, or both—is determined by the type of filter used. The most common kind of filter cuts out high frequencies and lets the low ones through—that’s why it’s called a lowpass filter. A control called the cutoff frequency determines the point in the frequency spectrum at which the filter begins working. In the case of the lowpass filter, frequencies above the cutoff frequency get rolled off (gradually attenuated, or lessened).

A highpass filter does just the opposite. It cuts frequencies below the cutoff and passes those above it. If you plug a lowpass filter into a highpass filter (or vice versa), you end up cutting both high and low frequencies, allowing only those in the middle to pass through. This is how a bandpass filter works. There are other types of filters, but you’re not likely to find them on many instruments. In every instance, however, the filter is removing frequency components—and that is the key to subtractive processing. Many filters also have a resonance, or emphasis control that boosts those frequencies immediately around the cutoff frequency, thus making the sound thin and nasal.

To round things out, the signal will then move on to an amplifier, which will be either voltage-controlled or digitally-controlled, normally by an envelope generator. This will have the effect of finally shaping the loudness contour—changing the amplitude of the sound throughout its duration. If the synth is analog, the resultant signal appears at the output jack, ready to be routed to your mixer/amplifier and loudspeakers; if the synth is digital, the signal first has to pass through a DAC before arriving at the output jack.

Advertising On Google.com

2006-09-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Ok let's find out how you can advertise on Google.com (The Famous Search Engine)...

Advertising on Google.com is very easy. It doesn't matter what your budget is, you can display your advertisements on Google and their advertising network (of millions of website) and the best part is, you only pay if a visitor click on your respective ad.

So how do you do the magic?

It's simple. All you have to do is sign-up for your Google Adwords account for free (use the Adwords link on the side bar of the blog to sign up). You create your ads and choose keywords, which are words or phrases related to your business. When people search on Google using one of your keywords, your ad may appear next to the search results. Now you're advertising to an audience that's already interested in you. People can simply click your ad to make a purchase or learn more about you. It's that easy!

So why does this work?

Google Adwords offer you:

Targeted reach
Now you can advertise to people searching on Google. Even if you already appear in Google's search results, AdWords can help you target new audiences on Google and our advertising network.

Greater control
You can edit your ads and adjust your budget until you get the results you want. You can also display a variety of ad formats and even target your ads to specific languages and geographic locations.

Measurable value
There's no minimum spending requirement or time commitment. And with the cost-per-click option, you're only charged if people click your ads. This means every dollar of your budget goes toward bringing new prospects to you.

Now don't be too concerned about costs. Don't worry—AdWords puts you in complete control of your spending.

Set your budget
There's no minimum spending requirement--the amount you pay for AdWords is completely up to you. For example, you can set a daily budget of five dollars and choose to pay five cents each time your ad is clicked.

Avoid guesswork
We provide keyword traffic and cost estimates so you can make informed decisions about choosing keywords and maximizing your budget.

Pay only for results
You're charged only if someone clicks your ad, not when your ad is displayed.

Local and regional targeting

Set your ads to appear only to people searching in a particular region. Now it's easy to target online customers within, say, 25 miles of your front door.

Use the Adword link on the side bar to sign up for free...

Effects of radiofrequency on human health

2006-09-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

RF fields penetrate exposed tissues to depths that depend on the frequency - up to a centimeter at the frequencies used by mobile phones. RF energy is absorbed in the body and produces heat, but the body's normal thermoregulatory processes carry this heat away. All established health effects of RF exposure are clearly related to heating. Exposure guidelines have been produced by a number of bodies around the world, including the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), that ensure that heating within the human body as a result of exposure to RF energy does not result in a hazard to health. These guidelines are designed to assure the safety of all persons regardless of age and health.

While RF energy can interact with body tissues at levels too low to cause any significant heating, non-heating effects continue to be the subject of current research.

How Does a Mobile Phone Work?

2006-09-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Mobile telephones are similar to two-way radios. When you talk into a mobile telephone, it picks up your voice and converts the sound to radiofrequency energy (or radio waves). The radio waves travel through the air until they reach a receiver at a nearby base station. The base station then sends your call through the telephone network until it reaches the person you are trying to reach.

When you receive a call on your mobile phone, the message travels through the telephone network until it reaches a base station close to your phone. The base station then sends out radio waves that are detected by a receiver in your telephone, where the signals are converted back into voice or data.\Depending on the equipment and operator, the frequency that each operator utilizes is 900 MHz, 1800 MHz or 2100 MHz.

Base stations are designed for a number of different purposes, such as to provide coverage to a wide area or to increase capacity in a heavily congested area. Base stations are divided into three "cell" categories.

Macrocells are the main structure for mobile phone networks and work up to a theoretical 22-mile range. In reality, they usually cover a much smaller area, possibly as little as a mile or two, because the signal strength is reduced by buildings, trees and features of the landscape.

Now let’s take a look at Microcells. They are used to improve the capacity of the main network, especially in areas where the volume of calls is high, such as in airports and shopping centres. They emit less power than the macrocells and have a range of only a few hundred meters.

Picocells. They are situated in buildings and give dedicated coverage and capacity to a very small area such as a particular floor in a building.

Techie Term Cookies: In Simple Words

2006-09-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

Cookies, a common word from the internet… but what are they and why do they exists?

Cookies are text files created by a Web Server and are stored on your computer. It can be readily deleted from your computer by you at any time. The information within cookies is limited to the information you have submitted to a respective website that created the cookie. Cookies do not contain viruses or scan your hard drives and a Web Server can only read the information that it stored to the cookie it wrote.

Now there’s a lot of concern about personal privacy issues related to cookies. But this is more from a lack of understanding of what they are. Properly used cookies can be used to enhance a website visitors experience to a particular website. When a visitor provides information to the website through forms and the like, the web server can determine what a visitor's preferences are and better deliver website content based on those preferences.

Cookies are also used on websites that have memberships. When you login to your account they are used to ensure that you see all the information that relates to you and your account. These cookies also ensure that only those persons with the valid login information can view the information in your account and therefore have the ability to change things.

It’s also used in the ad serving solution. In these instances, the cookies are employed to ensure visitors see the appropriate advertising in a predetermined volume. This is to ensure that the ads presented can be controlled to a reasonable level and to prevent the same ads being shown over and over again to a particular individual during an individual visit. Without it most visitors to virtually any website would be inundated with horrific volumes of ads. This would both diminish the effectiveness of the ads and be detrimental to the visitors’ enjoyment of the particular website.

Cookies are used in shopping carts as well. When you are browsing an online catalog and select items that you wish to purchase, cookies are used to keep track of those choices for you until you are ready to go through the check-out process. In many cases, you can even leave the website and come back later and the cookies will ensure that you pickup where you left off.

Cookies are an important and beneficial tool for webmasters to improve the visitors experience to their website, but they are equally important to the website visitor. Much of the experiences we enjoy when navigating the World Wide Web simply wouldn't be possible without them.

From this standpoint, cookies are good for you...

Spam & Viruses

2006-09-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Nowadays Spam and Viruses are common words but some understands what it exactly mean. So let me give you a basic idea of what it is and what it does.

Spam simply refers to electronic junk mail and some refer to it as unsolicited email. It floods your email inbox with unwanted mail sent from unknown sources. Spam also consumes a lot of network bandwidth as the emails are being downloaded to the system. The gloomy part of this is that Internet is a public network and little can be done to prevent it. Even though no one has control over the internet software filters in emails can be used to remove most of the spam or junk mail sent through emails.

Now let’s take a look at Viruses. In computer science technology a virus is defined as a self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of it self into other executable code. A virus behaves in a way similar to a biological virus, spreading itself into living cells. Not to mention a properly engineered and developed virus could have an amazing effect on the internet, destructing millions of computers world wide. A good example of this is the ILOVEYOU virus which had a devastating effect in year 2000. However you can prevent your systems from these by installing good anti-virus software like Norton Anti-Virus and by keeping it updated. Don’t forget to do research on the internet for the latest anti-virus software.

Adware and Spyware!!!

2006-09-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

These are tiny software-applications (runs on the background) that clandestinely gather information from host computers and transmit the collected information to unknown points.

Adware differs slightly in that it will also run advertisements on your computer. The ads usually appear as pop-ups, banner ads, or even as plug-ins for your web browser. Some Adware programs will change your homepage, add bookmarks, or add invisible links to websites that you might be viewing. This process is known as Browser Hijacking.

Adware and Spyware have a lot in common with viruses and some of these could be very hard to remove from your system. Usually these programs are capable of re-installing themselves once deleted.

These programs can infect your computer in many different ways. Clicking on a banner, closing a browser window, saying "No" or "Cancel" to prompts, and many other actions can install these programs without you even knowing.

While looking around for a good anti-Adware and anti-Spyware program for your computer you must be careful as some of these programs are actually Spyware in disguise.

Remember to always keep your anti-Adware/Spyware updated.

To keep your computers safe from these vermin, always remember to keep your anti-Adware/Spyware up-to-date. It’s always good to keep a firewall like Zone Alarm installed and running on your computer.

Here are some of my recommendations and it’s FREE:

Ad-aware Personal Version & Spyware Doctor

Build Your Own Global Business at Home and Earn Millions

2006-09-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here's an easy way to start your own GLOBAL BUSINESS and EARN Millions... Read On!!!

The proprietary InteleFone Compensation Program is perhaps the most lucrative in the industry. You can earn money through Four (4) Separate Income Streams, including ongoing Residual Income from the Monthly Billing and Usage of InteleFone Customers and Three (3) Incentive Bonus Programs.* Simply by GIVING AWAY a Free InteleFone to new Customers, you begin earning money through these Four (4) Income Streams:

1. The Uni-Level Compensation Program has 7 distinct Levels and pays Distributors on both Customer Acquisition and Residual Monthly Usage. Each level has specific criteria for qualifying.

2. The Fast Start Bonus Program is a Bonus that pays the Sponsor of a new Associate or Account Representative (AR) up to $150.00.

3. The Powerline Bonus Program is an automated system that pays you Bonuses for building a Sales Team based on a 2 x 2 Infinity Matrix that pays you $50.00 Bonuses.¹You must meet Powerline Qualification to receive Powerline Bonuses.

4. The Powerline Matching Bonus Program Once you achieve the position of National Director, you can earn a 10% Powerline Matching Leadership Bonus on every Powerline Bonus earned by all of your Personally Sponsored Distributors.

1. Intelefone Uni-Level Compensation

The Uni-Level Compensation Plan pays you for both Customer Acquisition and Customer Monthly Usage. These payments are made Seven (7) Levels deep based on the Titles and Qualifications listed below.

Uni-Level Compensation for the 7 Qualified Levels

New Customer Acquisition Pays - $20.00:

Level 1 40% $8.00 To Distributor for Personal Sales

Level 2 16% $3.20 To Sponsor of the Distributor

Level 3 12% $2.40 To Manager

Level 4 8% $1.60 To Executive Managers

Level 5 8% $1.60 To Directors

Level 6 8% $1.60 To Regional Directors

Level 7 8% $1.60 To National Directors

Total 100% $20.00

Monthly Usage Pays – 16% of Total ($25.00) Bill.

Level 1 40% $1.60 To Distributor for Personal Sales

Level 2 16% $0.64 To Sponsor of the Distributor

Level 3 12% $0.48 To Managers

Level 4 8% $0.32 To Executive Managers

Level 5 8% $0.32 To Directors

Level 6 8% $0.32 To Regional Directors

Level 7 8% $0.32 To National Directors

Total 100% $4.00

2. InteleFone Fast Start Customer Bonuses

Associates can earn $50.00 for helping their newly sponsored Associates and AR’s enroll their 1st new Customer. AR’s can earn $50.00 for helping their newly sponsored Associates enroll their 1st new Customer AND up to $150.00 ($50.00 per Customer) for helping their newly sponsored AR’s enroll their first three (3) new Customers. The Customers must be enrolled within the first thirty (30) days to earn the Bonus. (Affiliates do not earn Fast Start Bonuses).

3. InteleFone Powerline Bonuses

The InteleFone Powerline Bonus Program is an “Automated System” designed to help every new Distributor build a Sales Organization with two (2) Sales Teams. The real power of the InteleFone Powerline comes from the fact that the InteleFone Powerline is based on a “Two by Two” (2 x 2) Matrix, which means that you can benefit from the sponsorship efforts of ALL the Distributors in the Powerline.

Earning Powerline Bonuses

To earn Bonuses through the InteleFone Powerline component of the Compensation Plan, you need to build a Sales Organization. To get started, the first two (2) Distributors you sponsor must be placed beneath you in the Matrix, one on your Left side and one on your Right side. As you build your Sales Organization, the “Automated System” fills the Matrix for you.

Since there are Distributors above you and below you in the Powerline

Matrix who are sponsoring new Distributors all the time, the “Automated System” insures that ALL new Distributors are “placed” beneath you in the best position to enhance your Bonus opportunities. This also means that your Powerline Bonuses can come through your own efforts, the efforts of anyone below you, as well as, the efforts of anyone above you in the InteleFone Powerline.

Powerline Bonus Qualifications

Powerline Customer Points are earned whenever new Associates enroll their first Customer (1 Point) and/or new AR’s enroll their first two (2) Customers (1 Point each). Associates and AR’s earn the full $50.00 Powerline Bonuses. Affiliates do not earn Powerline Bonuses.

Bonuses.

All Powerline Points are saved or “banked” for each Associate and/or AR. Powerline Bonus Points remain in each Associate’s and/or AR’s Powerline “bank” until “Bonus Dollars” are earned. To convert “banked” Powerline Customer Points into “Bonus Dollars,” you must first qualify. As an Associate or AR, you qualify by helping an Associate and/or AR you sponsored on your Right Sales Team and an Associate and/or AR you have sponsored on your Left Sales Team acquire one Customer each.

Earning Powerline Customer Points

Once you have qualified as an Associate, whenever you help an Associate or an AR that you sponsored enroll his or her first Customer, you earn 1 Customer point.

Once you have qualified as an AR, whenever you help an Associate that you sponsored enroll his or her first Customer, you earn 1 Customer point.

Once you have qualified as an AR, whenever you help an AR that you sponsored enroll his or her first 2 Customers, you can earn 1 Customer Point for each new Customer.

In addition to your own efforts as an Associate or an AR or higher, you also benefit from the efforts of other Associates and AR’s in the Powerline. You can accumulate additional Powerline Customer Bonus Points whenever:

1. Any Associates sponsored by your downline enroll their first Customer and/or AR’s sponsored by your downline enroll their first 2 Customers.

2. Any Associates sponsored by your upline and placed in your Powerline enroll their first Customer and/or AR’s sponsored by your upline and

placed in your Powerline enroll their first 2 Customers.

Remember, as an Associate or an AR, ALL Customer Bonus Points flow up to you from ALL the Levels below you in the Powerline Matrix. (Associates and AR’s earn FULL Powerline Bonuses. Affiliates do not earn Powerline Bonuses).

The Powerline Bonus Cycle

Once you are qualified to earn Powerline Bonuses, every time you and/or your entire downline Sales Team generate 9 Customer Points, (with at least 1/3 or 3 Points on either your Left or Right side), you earn a $50.00 Powerline Bonus. (Associates and AR’s earn FULL Powerline Bonuses. Affiliates do not earn Powerline Bonuses).

When the $50.00 Powerline Bonus is paid or awarded to you, 9 Customer Points, which were “banked” by the Powerline System, are then deducted from your Powerline Bank. Each time there is a payment of $50.00 and the deduction of 9 Customer Points that is considered a “Powerline Cycle.”

An Associate and/or an AR can “Cycle” up to thirty (30) times per day, i.e., earn up to $1,500.00 per day, everyday, or a total of $10,500.00 per week, every week, as depicted in following Chart.

This is a Graphic example of qualified cycles paying up to the maximum of Thirty (30) Daily ($50.00) Cycles.

The Powerline Bonus Program pays out $50.00 for every 9 Customer Bonus Points as long as 3 (or 1/3) of those points are earned on one side (Left or Right). Customer Points can be generated quickly by all the Distributors who are above and below you in the Powerline. One side of your Powerline may grow faster (the stronger side) and accumulate more Customer Powerline Bonus Points then the other side (the weaker side). If you have accumulated a large number of points on your stronger side, you can generate Bonuses, and earn $50.00, every time you get 3 Points on the “weaker” side of your Powerline.

For example: Let’s assume you have 90 Points “banked” on your Right Side (stronger side), and no Points on your Left Side (weaker side). Every time 3 Points are generated on your Left (weaker) Side, you will “Cycle” and be paid $50.00. Then 9 Points will be deducted from your Powerlines: 3 Points from your Left (weaker) Side and 6 Points from your Right (stronger) Side. This would put your Left (weaker) Side back to Zero and leave you with 84 Points still “banked” on your Right (stronger) Side. When another 3 Points are generated on your Left (weaker) Side, you earn another $50.00, and similar Point deductions are made to each Side.

Since Powerline Bonus Points are saved or “banked” for you, they are always available to you for “Cycling” and for earning additional Powerline Bonuses.

4. Powerline Matching Leadership Bonuses

Once you achieve the Position of National Director, you can earn a 10% Matching Leadership CASH Bonus on every $50.00 Powerline Cycle Bonus earned by any of your Personally Sponsored AR’s (or those who earned Higher Titles).

For example, if 10 of your Personally Sponsored Account Representatives (AR’s) earn $1,000.00 each in Powerline Commissions ($10,000.00), YOU would earn 10% or $1,000.00.

Getting Started

The InteleFone Compensation Plan has three (3) Starting Positions: Free Affiliate, Associate and Account Representative (AR).

I. The Free Affiliate Position

As a Customer of InteleFone, you can take advantage of the InteleFone Compensation Plan by simply joining the InteleFone Team as a Free Affiliate. When you join as an Affiliate, you receive your own Business Opportunity Web Site, you are placed in the Powerline Bonus Program and you can sponsor other Free Affiliates, Associates and AR’s.

-Affiliates can earn 1/2 Uni-level Commissions on Levels 1 and 2.

-Affiliates do not earn Fast Start Bonuses.

-Affiliates do not earn Powerline Customer Points or Bonuses

-Affiliates do not “bank” Powerline Customer Points.

Affiliates can advance to Associate by sponsoring 2 new Associates or sponsoring 1 new AR , or enrolling 15 new Customers - or by paying $149.00.

Affiliates can advance to AR by enrolling 30 new Customers -or by paying $298.00.

Annual Renewal Fee: -There is no Renewal Fee for Affiliates.

II. The Associate Position

You can join InteleFone as an Associate for $149.00. When you join as an Associate, you receive your own Business Opportunity Web Site, you’re placed in the Powerline Bonus Program and you can sponsor other Free Affiliates, Associates and AR’s.

-Associates can earn FULL Uni-level Commissions on Levels 1 & 2.

-Associates can earn Fast Start Bonuses.

-Associates can earn FULL Powerline Customer Points and Bonuses.

-Associates “bank” ALL Powerline Customer Points.

-Associates can advance to AR by sponsoring 2 new Associates or sponsoring 1 new AR – or by enrolling 15 new Customers – or by paying an additional $149.00.

-Annual Renewal Fee: - $79.95 for Associates.

III. The AR Position

You can join InteleFone as an AR by purchasing the AR Starter Kit for $298.00². When you join as an AR, you receive your own Business Opportunity Web Site, you are placed in the Powerline Bonus Program and you can sponsor other Free Affiliates, Associates and AR’s.

-AR’s can earn FULL Uni-level Commissions on Levels 1 & 2.

-AR’s can earn Fast Start Bonuses.

-AR’s can earn FULL Powerline Customer Points and Bonuses.

-AR’s “bank” ALL Powerline Customer Points. Annual Renewal Fee: - $99.95 for AR’s and higher.

N.B. There is no requirement that you purchase the products. However, if you would benefit from using the products and choose to become a Customer, you count as your own Personally Sponsored Customer.**

** “Personally Sponsored Customers” are Customers sponsored by Distributors, i.e., Account Rep’s and higher titles.

¹ Powerline Bonuses = $50.00 Bonus paid when you and your Sales Teams generate 9 Customer Powerline Points and you have at least 1/3 or 3 Points on your weaker side. When the 9 Points convert to $50.00 that is called a Powerline Cycle; 9 Points are then deducted from your Powerline, 6 from the stronger side and 3 from the weaker side. You can Cycle up to 30 per day based on the number of AR’s you personally sponsored that have at least one Customer. See chart in InteleFone Compensation Plan document. Please Note: Associates and AR’s earn Full Powerline Bonuses of $50.00 and Affiliates do not earn any Powerline Bonuses.

²InteleFone International Starter Pack includes:

• InteleFone Retail Website

• InteleFone Business Opportunity Website

• InteleFone Business Opportunity Presentation

• InteleFone Training Website

• InteleFone Marketing Materials Website – with customized Flyers, Web Banners, Card Decks and Door Hangers, etc.

• InteleFone Back Office - real time genealogy & sales reporting.

• Two FREE Travel Phone - Suggested retail price $69.95 each or $139.90 total - (require activation + monthly plan)***

• Ability to build a global business.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED

A huge income with Google AdSense

2006-09-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

Okay let’s talk a bit about Google AdSense. First of all let me give you a basic idea of what it is and what it does.

Google AdSense is a program designed by google.com to give you advertisement revenue from your own website with least investment and no extra resources. It delivers text and image ads that are precisely targeted to your website contents.

Now the question is “How do you generate income with Google AdSense?”

You can maximize your revenue potential by displaying Google ads on your website using AdSense. Google places relevant CPC (cost-per-click) and CPM (cost per thousand impressions) ads through the same auction. The auction takes place immediately, and, when it’s over, it automatically displays the text or image ad(s) that will generate the maximum revenue for a page -- and the maximum revenue for you.
How do you get started?

Becoming an AdSense publisher is simple. All it takes is a single online application. Once Google approves your application, it takes only minutes to set-up. You don’t need much experience or knowledge in HTML. Just copy and paste a block of HTML and targeted ads start showing up on your website.

Access Thousands of Advertisers

With Google's extensive advertiser base, they have ads for all categories of businesses-and for practically all types of content. And the best part is since Google provides the ads, you have no advertiser relationships to maintain. This tremendous advertising program represents advertisers ranging from large global brands to small and local companies. The ads are also targeted by geography, so global businesses can display local advertising with no additional effort plus you can use AdSense in many languages.
Google grasps the meaning of your website contents

AdSense can deliver relevant ads because Google understands the meaning of a web page. They refined this technology, and it keeps getting smarter all the time. For example, words can have several different meanings, depending on context. Google technology grasps these distinctions, so you get more targeted ads.
Make Money from Google Search Box

Place a Google search box on your website, and you can start monetizing the results from web searches. You pay nothing to participate. Show only appropriate ads Google's ad review process guarantees that the ads you serve are not only family-friendly, but also comply with their strict editorial guidelines. They combine sensitive language filters, your input, and a team of linguists with good hard common sense to automatically filter out ads that may be inappropriate for your content. Not to mention, you can block competitive ads and choose your own default ads. IT'S YOUR SHOW FROM START TO FINISH!!!

Customized AdSense for you Website or Blog

You can customize the appearance of ads, choosing from a wide range of colors and templates. Your reports are customizable, too. Flexible reporting tools let you group your pages in any way you want so you can view your results by URL, domain, ad type, category and more to learn where your earnings are coming from.

Some of these information is "shamelessly" taken from Google AdSense Website… however I’ve added a few lines (including my own experience) to it. Anyways who cares about copyrights these days huh!

Linux vs. Windows

2006-09-15T04:33:00.000-07:00

The versions of Linux are referred to as distributions. All the Linux distributions released around the same time frame will use the same kernel (well you can say that it’s the guts of the Operating System). They differ in the add-on software provided, GUI, install process, price (mostly it’s free), documentation and technical support. Both Linux and Windows come in desktop and server editions.

Linux is customizable in a way that Windows is not. There are many special purpose versions of Linux above and beyond the full blown distributions described above. For example, NASLite is a version of Linux that runs off a single floppy disk and converts an old computer into a file server. This ultra small edition of Linux is capable of networking, file sharing and being a web server. I sure windows can’t do this.

Both Linux and Windows provide a GUI and a command line interface. The Windows GUI has changed from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 (drastically) to Windows 2000 (slightly) to Windows XP (fairly large) and is slated to change again with the next version of Windows, the one that will replace XP. Windows XP has a themes feature that offers some customization of the look and feel of the GUI.

Linux typically provides two GUIs, KDE and Gnome. See a screen shot of Lycoris and Lindows in action from the Wal-Mart web site. The lynucs.org web site has examples of many substantially different Linux GUIs. Of the major Linux distributions, Lindows has made their user interface look more like Windows than the others. Here is a screen shot of Linux made to look like Windows XP. Then too, there is XPde for Linux which really makes Linux look like Windows. Quoting their web site "It's a desktop environment (XPde) and a window manager (XPwm) for Linux. It tries to make easier for Windows XP users to use a Linux box."

Is the flexibility of the Linux GUI a good thing? Yes and No. While advanced users can customize things to their liking, it makes things harder on new users for whom every Linux computer they encounter may look and act differently.

Text Mode Interface

This is also known as a command interpreter. Windows users sometimes call it a DOS prompt. Linux users refer to it as a shell. Each version of Windows has a single command interpreter, but the different flavors of Windows have different interpreters. In general, the command interpreters in the Windows 9x series are very similar to each other and the NT class versions of Windows (NT, 2000, XP) also have similar command interpreters. There is however differences between a Windows 9x command interpreter and one in an NT class flavor of Windows.

Linux, like all versions of Unix, supports multiple command interpreters, but it usually uses one called BASH (Bourne Again Shell). Others are the Korn shell, the Bourne shell, ash and the C shell (pun, no doubt, intended).

Cost

For desktop or home use, Linux is very cheap or free, Windows is expensive (Bill Gates is greedy). For server use, Linux is very cheap compared to Windows. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows to be used on only one computer (That’s how Gates got to be a billionaire). Starting with Windows XP, they use software to enforce this rule (Windows Product Activation at first, later Genuine Windows). In contrast, once you have purchased Linux, you can run it on any number of computers for no additional charge.

The irony here is that Windows rose to dominance, way back when, in large part by undercutting the competition (Macs) on cost. Now Linux may do the same thing to Windows.

You can buy a Linux book and get the operating system included with the book for free. You can also download Linux for free from each of the Linux vendors (assuming your Internet connection is fast enough for a 600 MB file and you have a CD burner) or from www.linuxiso.org. Both these options however, come without technical support. All versions of the Ubuntu distribution are free.

I don't know if there will ever be an objective measure of the ongoing care and feeding costs for Linux vs. Windows. If there were however, it would have to consider:

Dealing with bugs in the operating system
Dealing with bugs in application software
Dealing with viruses, worms, Spyware, etc.(big advantage to Linux here)
Dealing with software upgrades to new versions (both the OS and applications)

Getting the Operating System

Nothing need be said about getting Windows. As for Linux, you have to look around to buy a new computer with it pre-installed. The major PC vendors sell Linux based machines only as servers, not to consumers.

If you are up to installing Linux yourself, you can buy a new computer without any operating system, perfect for installing your favorite flavor of Linux.

And what about installing Windows and Linux? Installing Windows from scratch is much easier than installing Linux from scratch, in my opinion. If nothing else, installing Windows is always the same whereas the different distributions of Linux have their own installation programs (these may even change with different versions of the same distribution). You can't read an article on this however, without it saying how installing Linux is getting easier all the time.

Installing Linux on a computer without an OS is much easier than installing it on a machine with an existing OS that you want to preserve. The later should only be attempted by experts, it is all too easy to lose the pre-existing OS and setting up a dual-boot environment is tricky.

Part of the difficulty in installing Linux is terminology and documentation. The install process is designed by Linux people for Linux people. A Windows-only person is likely to encounter terminology and concepts they are unfamiliar with.

Running from CD

One thing that Linux can do that Windows can not, is run from a CD. To run Windows, it has to first be installed to your hard disk.

Normally Linux also runs from a hard disk, but there are quite a few versions of Linux that run completely from a CD without having to be installed to a hard disk (the term for this is a "Live" CD). This is a great way for Windows users to experience Linux for the first time. Among the Linux distributions that have a CD-only version are Knoppix, Gnoppix, SuSE (called Live-Eval), Linspire (formerly Lindows) and Slackware. The version of Linspire that runs from a CD used to be called Lindows CD, then it was called Lindows Live and now it is called Linspire Live. It's available for download.

And you're not limited to CDs. A number of Linux distributions can run from a thumb drive (a.k.a flash drive, USB drive).

Application software: There is more application software available for Windows.

Obtaining application software: If you buy a copy of Windows on a CD-ROM, you get no application software with it. If you buy a copy of Linux on a CD-ROM (or two or three) it typically comes with free application software.

Application software installation: The installation of applications under Windows, while not standardized, is generally consistent. Installing software under Linux varies with each distribution and is not nearly as simple, easy or obvious as Windows.

Viruses and Spyware: Spyware has become a generic term, much like "Xerox machine" (which is taken to mean any copying machine, not just those made by the Xerox corporation). The term "Spyware" now refers to a whole host of malicious software such as worms, Trojans, dialers, keystroke loggers, browser hijackers and, of course, actual Spyware. The vast majority of all malicious software (of all types) runs on Windows. I don't know the actual percentages, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was 98% or so.

Spyware on Windows has become such a problem that Microsoft purchased an anti-Spyware software company and released their product as the Microsoft Anti-Spyware program in early 2005. As this is written the product is still in beta form, but Microsoft has stated that it will be free even when complete. Spyware is the worst problem effecting Windows based computers. In addition to running an anti-virus program constantly, Windows users also need an anti-Spyware program constantly running in the background to protect them.

Linux privileges are basically whether you can read, modify or execute a file. Files in Linux are always owned by a specific user and group. Windows has similar file-related privileges but only when using the NTFS file system. The earlier FAT and FAT32 file systems had no file level security.

I'm told that Windows NTFS permissions are a bit more functional than those in Linux, but that Linux distributions are starting to use extended Access Control Lists as a part of the file system, bringing them more on par with NTFS. (I won't swear by this)

Bugs: All software has and will have bugs (programming errors). Linux has a reputation for fewer bugs than Windows, but it certainly has its fair share. This is a difficult thing to judge and finding an impartial source on this subject is also difficult.

In March 28, 2003, Microsoft decreed that it will not issue a Windows NT4 bug fix for a security problem that effects Windows 2000, XP and NT4. They would prefer customers to move off of NT4, thus making Microsoft more money. It is their ball, their bat and their field. This is not true with an open source operating system such as Linux. No one can decree that a bug will not be fixed in a specific version of Linux.

The difference in OS development methodologies may explain why Linux is considered more stable. Windows is developed by faceless programmers whose mistakes are hidden from the outside world because Microsoft does not publish the underlying code for Windows. They consider it a trade secret. In contrast, Linux is developed by hundreds of programmers all over the world. They publish the source code for the operating system and any interested programmer, anywhere in the world can review it. Besides the wide audience for peer review, there is likely to be pride of ownership on the part of the developers of Linux that can not exist with Windows. The official term is "egoboo" which refers to the rush a programmer gets from public recognition, especially for something done for free.

Is It Soup Yet? When is a new version of an Operating System done? Hard to say. All software has bugs and OSs, being very large software is very likely to have many bugs. When a new version of an Operating System is being developed, someone, at some point, has to say "enough is enough". That is, someone decides that a reasonable number of bugs have been found and fixed and the OS can now be considered finished. Linux and Windows differ greatly in how this decision is made.

With Linux, the decision is made by a computer nerd with a public reputation to protect. With Windows, the decision is made by business people with billions of dollars in profit at stake. Speaks for itself.

Software restrictions: A program written for Linux will not run under Windows and vice versa. For example, Microsoft makes a version of Office for Windows and another version for the Mac. They are two different products, each capable of only running on the operating system it was designed for. There is no version of Microsoft Office for Linux. Some programs, such as Firefox, are available for multiple operating systems (Firefox runs on Linux, Windows, Macs and more). Vendors of such software go to the trouble of making different versions for each supported operating system.

This is the rule, but there are a fair number of exceptions.

The most ambitious exceptions allow for installing one operating system under another. For example, on a computer running Linux (referred to as the host or native OS), you can install a copy of Windows (referred to, in this case, as the guest OS). In the Windows OS running under Linux, you can install any and all Windows programs. Somewhat like a split personality, one computer can run two operating systems at the same time. The guest operating system runs in an environment referred to as a virtual machine (VM). A company called VMware was the first to market with a virtual machine product (also called VMware) for personal computers. Virtual PC, competes with VMware. The two products differ in their supported host and guest operating systems. Virtual PC used to be from Connectix but Microsoft purchased them in 2003. The first release from Microsoft, Virtual PC 2004 will run Linux, but Microsoft does not provide support. Microsoft also lowered the price to $129.

Supported Hardware Devices: More hardware works with Windows than works with Linux. This is because hardware vendors write drivers for Windows more often than they do for Linux. When Windows XP came out however, many existing peripherals would not work with it because XP required new drivers and the vendors had little motivation to write drivers for old hardware.

Hardware the OS runs on: (Updated March 2005) Linux runs on many different hardware platforms, not so with Windows. For example, Windows NT used to run on MIPS CPUs until Microsoft changed their mind. It also used to run on Alpha CPUs, again, until Microsoft changed their mind. No one gets to change their mind with Linux. It runs on a very wide range of computers, from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high. The supported range of computers is all but stunning.

Multiple Users: Linux is a multi-user system, Windows is not. That is, Windows is designed to be used by one person at a time. Databases running under Windows allow concurrent access by multiple users, but the Operating System itself is designed to deal with a single human being at a time. Linux, like all Unix variants, is designed to handle multiple concurrent users. Windows, of course, can run many programs concurrently, as can Linux. There is a multi-user version of Windows called Terminal Server but this is not the Windows pre-installed on personal computers.

Networking: They both do TCP/IP. Linux can do Windows networking, which means that a Linux computer can appear on a network of Windows computers and share its files and printers. Linux machines can participate on a Windows based network and vice versa. See Mixing Unix and Windows By Larry Seltzer (July 2002).

Hard disk partitions: Windows must be installed to and boot from a primary partition. There are a maximum of four primary partitions on a single hard disk (a computer with two hard disks can have eight primary partitions). Linux is better in this regard as it can be installed to and boot from either a primary partition or a logical partition. Logical partitions reside inside a special type of primary partition called an extended partition. There is no practical limit to the number of logical partitions that can exist on a single hard disk. Thus you can easily experiment with a dozen different Linux distributions by installing each one in a different logical partition.

Windows must boot from the first hard disk. Here too Linux is better, it can boot from any hard disk in the computer.

Swap files: A swap file (a.k.a. page file) is used by the Operating System when the demands on RAM exceed the available capacity. Windows uses a hidden file for its swap file. By default, this file resides in the same partition as the OS, although you can put it in another partition, after Windows is installed. In Windows XP, the swap file resides initially on the C disk as a file called pagefile.sys. Linux likes to use a dedicated partition for its swap file, however advanced users can opt to implement the swap file as a file in the same partition as the OS. I'm not sure if this issue is clearly presented and explained when installing Linux. Probably not. Xandros v4, for example, may use a separate swap partition or not, depending on the partition environment it finds at install time. Xandros 4 does not explain any of this.

With Windows XP the default size of the swap file is 1.5 times the amount of RAM in the machine at the time Windows was installed. I don't know how Linux chooses a default swap file size. In Windows XP you can change the swap file size and location with Control Panel -> System Properties -> Advanced tab -> Performance Settings -> Advanced tab again -> Change button, which opens the Virtual Memory window. Be aware that this window violates user interface standards. It is the only window I know of where clicking the OK button after making a change, does not activate the change. To change the size of the page/swap file, you must click the Set button. I don't know how to change the size of a Linux swap file.

File Systems: Windows uses FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and/or NTFS with NTFS almost always being the best choice. The FATx file systems are older and have assorted limitations on file and partition size that make them problematical in the current environment. Linux also has a number of its own native file systems. The default file system for Linux used to be ext2, now it is typically ext3.

All the file systems use directories and subdirectories. Windows separates directories with a back slash, Linux uses a normal forward slash. Windows file names are not case sensitive. Linux file names are. For example "abc" and "aBC" are different files in Linux, whereas in Windows it would refer to the same file. Case sensitivity has been a problem for this very web page, the name of which is "Linux.vs.Windows.html". At times, people have tried to get to this page using "linux.vs.windows.html" (all lower case) which resulted in a Page Not Found error. Eventually, I created a new web page with the name in all lower case and this new page simply re-directs you to the real page, the one you are reading now (with a capital L and W).

File Hierarchy: Windows and Linux use different concepts for their file hierarchy. Windows uses a volume-based file hierarchy, Linux uses a unified scheme. Windows uses letters of the alphabet to represent different devices and different hard disk partitions. Under Windows, you need to know what volume (C:, D:,...) a file resides on to select it, the file's physical location is part of it's name. In Linux all directories are attached to the root directory, which is identified by a forward-slash, "/". For example, below are some second-level directories:
/bin/ ---- system binaries, user programs with normal user permissions
/sbin --- executables that need root permission
/data/ --- a user defined directory
/dev/ ---- system device tree
/etc/ ---- system configuration
/home/ --- users' subdirectories
/home/{username} akin to the Windows My Documents folder
/tmp/ ---- system temporary files
/usr/ ---- applications software
/usr/bin - executables for programs with user permission
/var/ ---- system variables
/lib --- libraries needed for installed programs to run

Every device and hard disk partition is represented in the Linux file system as a subdirectory of the lone root directory. For example, the floppy disk drive in Linux might be /etc/floppy. The root directory lives in the root partition, but other directories (and the devices they represent) can reside anywhere. Removable devices and hard disk partitions other than the root are attached (i.e., "mounted") to subdirectories in the directory tree. This is done either at system initialization or in response to a mount command.

There are no standards in Linux for which subdirectories are used for which devices. This contrasts with Windows where the A disk is always the floppy drive and the C disk is almost always the boot partition.

Hidden Files: Both support the concept of hidden files, which are files that, by default, are not shown to the user when listing files in a directory. Linux implements this with a filename that starts with a period. Windows tracks this as a file attribute in the file metadata (along with things like the last update date). In both OSs the user can over-ride the default behavior and force the system to list hidden files.

Case: Case sensitivity is the same with commands as with file names. When entering commands in a DOS/command window under any version of Windows, "dir" is the same as "DIR". In Linux "dir" is a different command than "DIR".

Modems: To save money, many internal modems do not include their own processor, instead they rely on the main cpu in the computer for their processing needs. These cheap modems are referred to as "winmodems" because they typically include low level calls to the Windows operating system that can not be replicated in Linux. For the most part, winmodems will not work under Linux. If you need to run a winmodem under Linux see Linmodems.org and www.linuxant.com/drivers.

Scripting: Windows started with BAT files (a combination of OS commands and optionally its own language) and then progressed to Windows Scripting Host (WSH) which supports two languages, JavaScript and VB Script. Windows also has WMI, the Windows Management Interface which makes many functions available to scripts.

Linux, like all Unix variants, provides multiple scripting languages, referred to as shell scripts. Among them are the Bourne shell, the C shell, Perl, Python and Ruby. I have used the first three, but not Python and Ruby. I find the Linux scripting languages cruder than WSH but much more powerful than BAT files. They tend to use special characters instead of English commands and don't support objects (this only matters to programmers).

One scripting language that can run on both Linux and Windows is PHP. It always has to be installed under Windows, it may have to be installed under Linux. PHP is typically found running on Linux based web servers in combination with Apache, but it is capable of running "client side" (on your computer).

Printer Drivers: Every computer printer ships with drivers for last last few versions of Windows (at the time it was manufactured). Running the printer on a very old or too new version of Windows may or may not work. Still, this a far better situation than with Linux which does not support as many printers as Windows. In an environment with many Linux users, shared network printers a tech support staff, this should not be an issue as you can limit yourself to well supported printers. Home users of Linux however, will no doubt suffer from the relatively poor support for printers.

User Data: Windows allows programs to store user information (files and settings) anywhere. This makes it impossibly hard to backup user data files and settings and to switch to a new computer. In contrast, Linux stores all user data in the home directory making it much easier to migrate from an old computer to a new one. If home directories are segregated in their own partition, you can even upgrade from one version of Linux to another without having to migrate user data and settings.

Shutting Down: Both have to be told to shut down and for the same reason, to quiesce in-flight activity in an orderly manner. You shut down Windows thru the Start button, then select Shutdown. In both the KDE and Gnome GUIs for Linux, you shut the system down by first logging out (equivalent to logging off in Windows). In Gnome, you select the Halt option, in KDE, the shutdown option. Linux can also be shut down from a command prompt using the shutdown command which can either shut the system down immediately or be told to shut it down at some time in the future. Windows XP also has a shutdown command, earlier versions of Windows did not.

scheduler built into Windows XP is not able to schedule programs to run at shutdown time. I find this annoying, because its an excellent time to schedule backups. Linux can schedule programs to run automatically at shutdown time. I haven't tried this but a quick glance at How Linux boots makes it seem complicated. I'm told to follow the instructions in this article but replace runlevel 5 with runlevel zero, which represents shutdown time.