tips for effective study

Tips for Effective Study

The most common barrier to success encountered by college students is a lack of effective techniques for study and exam preparation. If you are one of the vast majority of students whose answer to the question, "How do you study for your tests?" is, "I go over my notes," then you need to take a serious look at your study skills. Here are some suggestions to increase your effectiveness as a student.

I.

Day to Day

A.

Take good notes.

Very few students leave high school with this skill. College of DuPage's Learning Lab can help you here. Some suggestions and observations.

1.

Always take the notes for a particular class in the same notebook. Spiral bound notebooks were invented because they solved the problem of keeping related information consolidated in one place. Take advantage of this.

2.

Date

each entry into your notebook.

3.

It is usually best to keep the notes for different classes separate from each other. Spiral notebooks with built in dividers are excellent for this purpose.

4.

Your notes should contain as complete a record of what the instructor said as possible. Of course, you should not try to write every word spoken, but don't leave out ideas. When you study, your notes should call back to your mind the entire sequence of ideas presented. Take care to spell all new words carefully. It you don't know how to spell a word, ask your instructor to write it on the board. Most will automatically do so for new or difficult terms.

5.

Anything the instructor writes on the board should appear in your notes. If the instructor took the time to write it out, he or she considers it important. You should do the same.

6.

If possible, try to take your notes in some kind of outline form. The organization of ideas is as important as the content of those ideas, especially when it comes to learning the material for an exam.

7.

You might find it useful to have a second color of pen or pencil available for highlighting important ideas or indicating vocabulary.

B.

Be involved in your classes.

Don't simply pretend you are a sponge, ready to soak up whatever the instructor says. You are there to learn, not to be taught.

1.

If the instructor is moving too rapidly for you, or if you don't understand what is being said, say something!

2.

Ask questions

if you are confused. Confusion is definitely your worst enemy.

3.

If your class includes group activities, participate as fully as you can. Such exercises are done for your benefit, not to provide a break for the instructor.

C.

Review your notes every day.

This suggestion is one which we have all heard a thousand times. Unfortunately, most of us never really believe it until we actually try it. Spend 30 minutes or so each evening going over the notes from each class. There are at least two tremendous benefits to be gained from this discipline.

1.

Research has shown that reviewing new material within 24 hours of hearing it increases your retention of that material by about 60%. This means that you will be 60% ahead of the game the next time you walk into class. If you want to significantly reduce the time necessary to prepare for exams, this is the way to do it.

2.

Reviewing material before the next class period enables you to identify points of confusion or omission in your notes, which prepares you to ask the questions you need to ask before the next lecture. Again, confusion is your worst enemy.

D.

It is excellent policy to give high priority to new vocabulary. Language is the most fundamental tool of any subject, and it can seriously handicap you to fall behind in this.

E.

Keep up on your reading.

Unlike most high school teachers, many college instructors don't give specific reading assignments. You are expected to go to your text for the reading related to the materials covered in class. Be independent enough to do this without being told.

II.

Using Your Textbook

A.

Don't expect your instructor to give you detailed, page by page textbook assignments. While some may do so, many do not. College teachers are much more likely to expect you to use your own initiative in making use of the text.

B.

In most cases, it will be most useful for you to at least skim the relevant chapters before each lecture. You should receive a course outline/syllabus at the beginning of the quarter, which will tell you the subject for each day. You may receive chapter references (or even page references), or you instructor may expect you to be perceptive enough to refer to the Table of Contents.

1.

When you first approach a chapter, page through it fairly quickly, noting boldface headings and subheadings, examining figures, illustrations, charts, etc., and thinking about any highlighted vocabulary terms and concepts. Also take note of the pedagogical aids at the end of the chapter--study questions, summary, etc.

2.

When you have finished surveying the chapter, return to the beginning and read in more detail. Remember to concentrate upon understanding. Don't simply read through the words. Any words which you don't understand you should look up. If you own the book and intend to keep it, you may want to write definitions of such words in the margins. You may also find it helpful to make observations and other useful notes in the margins. If you don't intend to keep the book yourself, you should carry out similar activities on a page in your class notebook.

3.

On this first trip through the chapter, you should concentrate upon catching the major subjects and points of the material. Also take note of those things which you don't understand. If the lecture on the material doesn't clarify those points, you should ask your instructor to explain.

C.

Following coverage of the chapter's material in class, you should go back to the book and read it again. It will probably be helpful to skim through it first, as you did when you first looked at it. The tables and figures should be more readily read in detail. If you are a truly conscientious student, you will outline the chapter and prepare a vocabulary list of the terms which are pertinent.

D.

At this time you should think seriously about the review and study questions at the end of the chapter. Do your best to answer all fo them as if they were a take-home exam.

E.

You may also want to develop a system of cross referencing symbols to use when comparing your class notes to your notes from the text.

F.

Remember that your instructor will probably not use the same words which you find in the text book. nothing is more frustrating than to discover that what you hear in class is no more than a rehash of what you read in the book. However, if your instructor knows his/her subject, and the author of your text knows his/her subject, the meat of what they say should be the same. NOTE: Nobody is infallible. Your instructor may make mistakes. Don't expect him or her to be more than human.

III.

Preparing Assignments

A.

Here's another thing we have all been told thousands of times: Don't leave assignments until the day before they are due! If you have a paper to write or a lab report to prepare, begin it as soon as possible. In most cases, instructors will be delighted to receive work early. Remember that many papers or projects require quite a bit of research before you can even begin writing. In most cases, it is impossible to accomplish the necessary preparation in one day or even one week. In some cases, instructors won't accept late work at all. They are perfectly justified.

B.

Another sore point:

Be aware of the appearance of the work you submit. You should want to be proud of every assignment you submit, and that includes being proud of its appearance. If possible, assignments should always be typed. Never turn in an assignment written in pencil. Pages torn out of notebooks are sloppy and unsightly. Think about this point every time you hand an instructor an assignment. That paper represents the quality of your work, and your instructor is perfectly justified in taking its appearance into consideration when assigning a grade.

C.

An increasing number of instructors are requiring that all outside work be typed. If you don't type, you should consider learning how. If you don't want to do this, you should begin investigating ways and means of getting someone else to type your papers. This will often mean paying a professional typist. Costs vary, but be prepared to pay a considerable amount. A really good typist may be able to turn out 6-10 pages an hour. Think about what you consider an appropriate hourly wage when you consider how much you should expect to pay a typist. Another point you must consider is that it will add to the time necessary to prepare a paper it you have to go to someone else to type it. In planning the time necessary for typing, consider the following points:

1.

Your typist may have other customers who are just as anxious as you are.

2.

A paper takes time to type.

3.

Even the best typist makes mistakes. your paper must be carefully proofread by you.

4.

After proofreading, the typist must have time to make the necessary corrections.

IV.

Preparing for Exams

A.

Keep in mind that you want to be an active learner, not a passive one. The more you use and manipulate the information, the better you will understand it. Using and manipulating information in as many ways as possible also maximizes your ability to access your memory.

B.

Do not wait until the night before an exam to study!

Of course, you should be regularly reviewing your notes, but the preparation still takes time.

C.

If your instructor hasn't explained to you how he or she designs exams, ask. this is a perfectly legitimate concern. However, keep in mind that an instructor has the right to design exams in whatever fashion he or she sees fit, and in most cases you have no business asking for changes in that design. You need to learn to handle all testing styles--including the dreaded essay exam!

D.

A good first step in preparation is to read through your notes a couple of times. While you are doing this, you might also

1.

Highlight

major topics and subtopics, with the goal of generating an outline of your notes. Even if you take your notes in outline form, this is a good practice. Major topics often extend through more than one day's lecture, and it is easy to lose track of the overall picture from day to day.

2.

With a second color, highlight all vocabulary terms.

E.

Outline the entire set of notes. When you study a large body of information, you should study from concept to detail, not the other way around. It will, in fact, be much easier to learn the details if you take the time to learn the concept and theory first. The least efficient approach to studying is to attempt to memorize your notes from beginning to end. It's not the words which are important--it's the ideas.

F.

Consider ways of dealing with the information other than those used in class. the more ways you can manipulate and experience the material you are trying to learn, the more secure your understanding and memory will be. Some suggestions:

1.

Make charts, diagrams and graphs.

2.

Make lists.

3.

If the subject matter includes structures, practice drawing those structures. Remember that a drawing is useless unless the important structures are labeled.

G.

There are almost always types of information which you will have to memorize (eg. vocabulary). No one has ever invented a better device for memorizing than flash cards.

H.

One of the most universally effective ways to polish off your study activities is to prepare a self test.

1.

Challenge yourself as severely as you can.

2.

As you are studying, keep a running collection of "exam questions." If you seriously attempt to write difficult and meaningful questions, by the time you finish you will have created a formidable exam. When you begin to feel you're ready for your instructor's exam, take out your questions and see if you can answer them. If you can't, you may need to go back and reinforce some of the things your are trying to learn.

I.

Never, ever pull an "All-Nighter"

on the night before an exam. This is a "freshman trick," meaning that good students learn very quickly that it is futile. What you may gain from extra study time won't compensate for the loss of alertness and ability to concentrate due to lack of sleep.

J.

On exam day:

1.

Try not to "cram" during every spare moment before an exam. this only increases the feeling of desperation which leads to panic, and then to test anxiety. You may find it useful, on the night before an exam, to jot down a few ideas or facts which you wish to have fresh in your mind when you begin the exam. Read through your list a couple of times when you get up in the morning and/or just before you take the exam, then put it away. This kind of memory reinforcement not only improves your performance on the test, it also improves your long-term memory of the material.

2.

Be physically prepared.

a.

Get a good night's sleep.

b.

Bring necessary writing materials to the test--at least 2 writing tools, erasers, blue books if necessary, calculators if appropriate and allowed. Be aware of what the instructor has specified as permitted for use. Some instructors object to exams written pencil; some prohibit use of tools like calculators. It is your responsibility to know these requirements; you should be prepared to take the consequences if you don't.

c.

This may seem silly, but go to the bathroom just before the exam. Don't expect your teacher to let you leave to do this during the test! The tension which generally goes along with taking an exam may increase the need to perform this physical activity, so you may need to go, even though you don't particularly feel like it.

V.

Some Final Suggestions

A.

You should receive a syllabus for each class. This is the Rule Book for that class (in my classes, we call it the Survival Manual). Know everything on that syllabus! Your teacher has the right to expect you to know and abide by any rules and stipulations on that document, and it is perfectly within his/her rights to penalize you for failing to do so. Respect dates and deadlines, and expect to lose points if you turn things in late.

B.

Never miss an exam

if you can help it. You will rarely be more ready for the exam in two or three days than you are on the scheduled date, and the annoyance the teacher will feel about having to arrange a special exam time for you can actually hurt your grade in the end. Miss exams only if you absolutely have to.

C.

Save everything.

Never throw away a handout or a returned assignment or exam. With this in mind, equip yourself with a pouched folder for each class.

D.

Develop systematic behavior patterns associated with your schoolwork.

1.

Keep your class materials together and neat.

2.

Never

allow yourself to be caught at school without the necessary notebooks and materials. If you develop systematic habits with respect to attending classes, etc., this will be no problem.

E.

It is excellent practice to set aside a study area at home, and to designate a particular span of time each day as study time. However, don't fall into the trap of feeling that study should never exceed the preordained time limits. You put in as much study time as is necessary to master the material for your classes.

tips on how to save money

• Save Money Tip 1
• Spend Less. This is not over simplifying the best way to save money! It is essential if you are serious about being a long term money saver and being able to save money every day. Review what you spend and look at ways you can save money. Consider making telephone calls for instance only at off-peak times. Do you really need to have newspapers and magazines delivered? Can you do without those coffees you buy at break time everyday - would a flask of coffee taken to work save you money? What about using the public lending library instead of buying books or music CDs? Once you start looking for little ways to save money and spend less you will quickly become an expert and really save money. Save Money Tip One
  
  
• Save Money Tip 2
• Establish a personal budget. This is essential for families and individuals and can be the fastest way to save money. You will instantly see your incomings and outgoings once you create your budget. You will not be able to save money unless you know how much money you have coming in, and how much money you have going out. Once you have prepared a budget of incoming money and outgoing money, you WILL be able to identify areas where you can save. It is MUCH more difficult to save money over a long period of time (the rest of your life?) without a budget. Save Money Tip Two
  
  
• Save Money Tip 3
• Bulk is good. Think about shopping and buying in bulk. Save money grocery shopping by planning meals in advance and bulk-buying. You can also save money by cooking in bulk. This is a real way you can save money with little preparation and almost no extra outlay. Always purchase generics when you can. Prepared foods and convenience foods will always be much more expensive than the generic ingredients needed to make the food. Preparing food in bulk and in advance also gives you the opportunity to plan ahead and be more accurate in your budget. Save Money by buying in bulk whenever you can. One thing to be aware of when buying in bulk is to be sure that any product you buy will get used before it goes bad - you won't save money if you have to throw stuff away. Buying in bulk is not only a good way to save money it is also a good strategy for coping with and surviving emergencies. Save Money Tip Three
  
  
• Save Money Tip 4
• Make sure a sale is a sale. By this I mean do your price research before you commit to making an expensive purchase in a retailers money-off sale. You have to be sure the sale really is a sale and not a creative marketing strategy of the store to encourage you to spend your money without thinking. Once you have researched the true price of a product (any product) you are in a good position to take advantage of a sale, special offer or discount and really save money. "Buy one get one free", "50% off", and "Huge Discount" will only help you save money if the actual price you pay is lower than you would pay somewhere else for exactly the same product. Save Money Tip Four
  
  
• Save Money Tip 5
• Buy used. Sure, we all like to buy new. But there are huge money savings to be made in buying used. Typically cars lose one-third of their value in the first 24 months from new. Why not buy a car 24 months old? Other items such as clothes can be worth even less just the day after new. Look for ways to buy "as good as new" items and save money. Typical products you might consider buying used to save money include: cars, clothes, electrical goods, garden items... tools and sheds, household items... pots and pans, the list of used goods where you can save money is endless. Save Money Tip Five
  
  
• Save Money Tip 6
• Don't carry excessive debt. Some debt in our lives may be essential. We may need a mortgage to purchase a home, we may need to use our credit card to make purchases until pay-day, but your aim to save money should be to have as little debt as possible. Credit Card deb is typically the most expensive debt we may carry. You will be able to save money every month if you make it an absolute rule to pay off your outstanding balance every month. If you can have the discipline to do this you will save money by effectively having no debt, and thus no interest charge on your credit card(s). Save Money Tip Six
  
  
• Save Money Tip 7
• Save Money. No, I mean really save some money. Each week or each month get into the habit of putting an amount, however small into your savings. You could start by saving a very small fixed amount each time and then move to putting in larger amounts once you begin to save money from your other money saving strategies. You will find that by saving money on a regular basis you will quickly build up a store of reserve money and also feel motivated to save more. The hardest part is to take the first step and start saving money - so START TODAY and save some money NOW! If you find it impossible to save money once you have it, consider having money deducted from your paycheck direct each month. This can be a great way to save money rapidly as once it is set up you will not notice it is being collected and your savings will grow with no more effort from you. Save Money Tip Seven
  
  
• Save Money Tip 8
• Shop Wisely. Consider markets, superstores, farmer's markets, local shops, marts and stores. Anywhere is worth checking out to see if you can save money. Farmer's Markets can be particularly good places to save money. Typically you are buying direct from the producer of the product so the savings are passed on to you. Use your bulk buying strategy here - farmer's markets often offer opportunities to save money by buying larger quantities of staples, for instance potatoes, rice or corn. Save money and shop wisely. Save Money Tip Eight
  
  
• Save Money Tip 9
• Eat in rather than out. This is a huge area where you can save money. A cup of coffee taken out could easily cost you TWENTY times (or more) what it would cost you to make it at home. So think before you drink when you are out. Eating is the same. Fast food restaurants are counting on you eating food that you perhaps don't really need at that time but buy just because it is quick. Why not wait until you get home and have a more nutritious meal and save money at the same time. Save Money Tip Nine
  
  
• Save Money Tip 10
• Use less. This money saving tip is a lesson we all need to learn. We live in a consumer society where waste is a huge problem. If we could all use and consume less there would be less waste, less power consumption, and the benefits for you are SAVING MONEY. Consider using less shampoo when you wash your hair, this may not mean washing your hair less effectively it means not flushing the excess shampoo and your money down the drain. What about saving on heating? Turn the thermostat down or put on extra clothes when you are cold. Turn off lights, the TV and the computer when they are not in use. Each little saving you make will build up and enable you to save money. Huge savings in energy can be made which will save you money and be good for our planet and the other people on it. Save Money Tip Ten

most expensive cars in 2011

Basing on the prices received from car manufactures, the Forbes magazine has recently released the list of the most expensive cars of the year 2011. All the cars which have been named in the list have luxurious interior and futuristic design. Their maximum speed can reach over 400 km/h. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, Koenigsegg Agera, Maybach Landaulet, Pagani Zonda C9, Hennessey Venomo GT, SSC Ultimate Aero, Ferrari SA Aperta and so on are considered as the most expensive cars of this year. Let’s have a look at the photos as follows to get more information about these luxurious cars.

The new version of Bugatti Veyron Super Sport will be equipped with a W16 engine and 1200 horse power. Its fuel consumption is 10% smaller than a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport.

Maybach Landaulet: 1.4 million dollars

Featuring an AMG V12 5.0 liters twin turbo 604 horse power engine, smart head lights, bi-xenon, parking guide and etc, this Maybach Landaulet can reach the maximum speed of 447 km/h

Hennessey Venomo GT: 895,000 dollars

The body of Venomo GT will be made out of carbon fiber. The car will have the design of Lotus Elise and a V8 1,200 horse power engine. Its maximum speed can reach 445 km/h.

LeBlanc Mirabeau: 728,000 dollars

LeBlanc Mirabeau is equipped with a V8 engine, 700 horse power and 850 Nm torque. Its body is made out of carbon fiber. The maximum speed of the car is 370 km/h.

Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe: 447,000 dollars

Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe is equipped with a V12 with direct injection and a maximum power of 453 horse power. Its maximum speed is 240 km/h.

Koenigsegg Agera: 1.5 million dollars

The body of Koenigsegg Agera is made of carbon fiber and aluminum. The car is powered a V8 910 horse power engine that can reach 100 km /h in less than 3 seconds.

Pagani Zonda C9: 1.3 million dollars

Pagani Zonda C9 will have Mercedes-Benz AMG V12 6.0 liters engine with 700 horse power and 1,000 Nm torque.

SSC Ultimate Aero: 750,000 dollars

The newest Aero model has a maximum speed of 440 km/h and a V8 1287 horse power. It is powered with air conditioning, electrical mirrors and windows, a premium audio system and so on

Ferrari SA Aperta: 520,000 dollars

Ferrari SA Aperta has a V12 670 horse power engine. It can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds.

Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce: 455,500 dollars

The SuperVeloce is powered with 6,5 liters engine, V12, 670 horse power. The maximum speed of this car is 340 km/h.

Article Source: http://vehicle.ezinemark.com/most-expensive-cars-of-2011-77368a7e76db.html

Tips for Building a Strong Relationship

We have entered into relationships since the stone age, what we have not been able to accomplish yet is healthy strong relationships. We do have some out there but from a National standpoint , there are very few. What exactly is a strong relationship? It is a relationship where there are two people working together towards a common goal. It is not abusive in any manner. It is talking things out and coming to a common compromise, there are no winners because you worked together. So what does it take to build that strong relationship? Here are some tips.
Tip # 1
Trust is everything. Without trust there will be no relationship. You can have a shell of a relationship but there will be nothing truly there. Think about all the people you know that question their spouse about every little detail of the day. This is not trust. Trust is vital for any relationship to become strong and everlasting.
Tip # 2
Honesty. Where does a relationship go without honesty? No one truly wants a relationship based on lies. Even white lies will eventually turn into great big lies that forever need to be covered up. Be honest with your spouse at all costs. I can personally see no reason for any lie in a relationship. Lies are like a poisonous gas that will silently kill your relationship.
Tip # 3
Spending time together. Sounds easy right? Think again, with the hustle and bustle of this world it is extremely hard to make time for anyone in your life. Sometimes you have a tendency to forget that the other person is there. Do not let this happen to you. Always make time to spend with that special person in your life.
Tip # 4

Forgiveness. Forgiveness is essential for a strong relationship. Now , I am not saying to forgive unfaithfulness, for that there is none. What I am saying is to learn to forgive your mate's quick tongue every now and then. Sometimes we get into moods and say things we really don't mean. As long as this does not happen everyday or even every week , take the time to find it in your heart to forgive your mate.
Tip # 5
Don't fight. Disagreements are going to happen. There is no doubt about that. Steer away from fighting. Fighting only fuels the fire and we always end up saying something that we really don't mean. Hurtful things happen when we fight, stay as far away from that as possible.
Tip # 6
Agree to disagree. I have found this is extremely important in a relationship. We know that not every couple is going to agree on everything . What successful couples do is agree to disagree. If it is not a life threatening matter then just let it go. It is alright to not agree on everything , we would not be human if we did. That is what robots do.
Tip # 7
Compromise. Ah, where would this world be without compromise? Nowhere is the answer. That is exactly where your relationship will end up if you do not practice compromise. We have to understand that we will not agree on everything and when you just can not agree to disagree you must compromise.
Tip # 8
Communication. This is a vital key to your relationship becoming strong. How are we to know what our spouse is thinking or what is going on in their life if there is no communication. Did you know that most arguments or disagreements between couples generally stems from a lack of communication?
Tip # 9
Listen. Always give your spouse your full attention and really listen to what they are saying to you. There is nothing more annoying than talking to someone's back. Listening when your spouse has something to say or a gripe is 100% vital to a strong relationship. this goes back to the communication, without it there is nothing.

(Demetria Rupkey)

Top 10 Most Popular Female Singers in 2011

1. Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga is now the first most powerful woman
of the world after Oprah Winfrey and her powerfulness is her talent and hard work with which she makes amazing songs that totally move you! She started her career in 2005 and in 2008 she released her singles like Poker Face and Just Dance. Then later in 2009 she released another album of hers which contained the songs like Bad Romance, Telephone, Alejandro and now her album in 2011 contains the songs like Born this way, Judas, The Edge of Glory which are super duper hits and are topping the UK Top 40 charts.

2. Adele

Adele is an English Singer who started her career in 2006 and in just a short span of time she won many Grammy Awards for the best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Her best numbers include Someone Like you, Rolling in the Deep and Make you feel my love. She has such a magical voice that totally takes your breath away. You can also see her top ten songs in our list.

3. Katy Perry

Katy Perry is one of the best singers in the world, she started her career in 2001 and released her first album in 2001 and later she recorded another album which was released in 2004 and 2005. In 2007 she released another internet single called “Ur So Gay” and then in 2008 her single “I Kissed a Girl”. Her songs like Teenage Dream, California Gurls, Firework, E.T, and Last Friday Night are among the Billboard Hot 100.

4. Rihanna

Rihanna is a talented young singer, songwriter and philanthropist, she started her career in 200 and presently she is working hard in her music career. Her songs like SOS, Pon de Replay, Umbrella, Take a Bow, Disturbia, Don Stop the Music were huge success and were nominated for the Grammy Awards and won the Ran/sung Collaboration for the song Umbrella with Jay-Z. Her songs like Russian roulette, Rude Boy, What’s My Name, S&M, Only Girl and California king Bed are topping almost all the lists.

5. Britney Spears

Britney Spears is one of the best female singers of the world, she started her career in 1992 and released her first album in 1997 and in 1999 another album called Baby One More Time. Her tracks like Baby One More Time and Oops! I Did It Again were huge hits and in 2001 and 2003 she released her single numbers like “Toxic, Everytime and Me against the Music. And up till now she has been singing quite a large number of hits including the songs like Gimme More, Piece of Me, Womanizer, Hold it Against Me and till the end of the world.

6. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is a talented American singer plus songwriter, musician and an actress who started her career in 2006 with her debut single called “Tim McGraw” and in 2008 she again released her second album called Fearless and it did let her win four Grammy Awards. In 2010 she again released her new album called Speak Now which sold more than 1,047,000 copies in just one week. In such a short span of time she earned so much fame and made millions and trillions of fans.

7. Kesha

Kesha is also a very talented singer plus songwriter and she also raps well, she started her career in 2005 by signing to Dr. Like’s record label then in 2009 she had her first single hit called Right Round and Tik Tok which were huge success and now her songs like We R Who We R are no doubt among the Billboard 100.

8. Shakira

Shakira started her career in 1990 and is an amazing singer, songwriter, dancer and philanthropist. She used to sing and belly dance at school and in 1995 she released her first solo album which brought her great fame and then in 1998 she released another album which sold 7 million copies throughout the world. In 2002 she released another album and her song Whenever Wherever was a huge hit, then her song Hips Don’t Lie and the FIFA song Waka Waka was among the hits. The songs like She Wolf and Rabiosa are no doubt THE BEST!

9. Beyonce

Beyonce Knowles is also an amazing American actress, singer and a fashion designer. She started her career in 1997 with a girl group called Destiny’s child as the lead singer and in 2003 she released her own solo album which was a huge success and then in 2005 and 2006 she released other albums and some of the songs were on Number one in Billboard 200. Then in 2008 her songs like Single Ladies were again a huge hit. Now in 2011 she just released the album Run the World (girls) which is also an amazing album with a lot of huge hit numbers like best Thing I never had and many other.

10. Nicki Minaj

Nicki Minaj is an amazing rapper and a songwriter plus singer, Nicki Minaj started her career in 2004 and released her first mix tape in 2007 and later next year she came out with the albums like Sucka Free and Beam Me Up Scotty. The woman signed a deal with Lil Wayne to Young Money entertainment in 2009. She has most of the singles in the top 100 Billboard, as she had 9 of them in the top 100 Billboard with her songs like Your Love. Now days her songs like Super Bass is among the super duper hot songs in the UK Top 40 chart.
 SOURCE:http://www.tiptoptens.com/2011/02/11/top-10-most-popular-female-singers-in-2011/
http://son-2be.blogspot.com/2011/08/top-10-most-popular-female-singers-in.html

TOP 10 LATEST GADGETS OF 2011

1.ElectroHub

ElectroHub is a new charging station that will offer compatibility for a huge amount of devices including the TV remote, toys and smartphones. Similar to the Powermat chargers,
ElectroHub requires additional add-on cases to make your smartphones compatible although it will charge tons of other gadgets with its use of AA and AAA batteries. It will charge up to six devices at one time (including smartphones) and works by replacing a gadget’s original AA & AAA batteries

Read more: http://realitypod.com/2011/01/top-10-gadgets-in-2011/#ixzz1VBstOa5B

2PlayStation Phone by Sony

Sony, the leader of innovative technologies is ready to launch playstation phone code named “Zeus” in early 2011. Zeus would have Andriod 3.0 Gingerbread operating system. It also contains 8GB of memory with 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor. This superb phone also contains 1GB ROM and 512 MB RAM. 3.8? touch screen and its touch pad is just like gaming console of PSP.

Read more: http://realitypod.com/2011/01/top-10-gadgets-in-2011/#ixzz1VBsqHcj9

Increasing Alexa Traffic Rank in 20 Easy Steps

Alexa Ranking

It’s a ranking system that keeps you updated about the number of visitors who visited your website. You only need to install the Alexa toolbar to your website. More description about this can be found if you look up for Alexa Traffic Rank definition.

The Alexa toolbar collects the three months data at first step and gives the number of the pages of the website used and visited. It computes the reaches and views of the number of pages of all the websites on an everyday basis.

This reflects both the number of users of the particular site and the number of the pages viewed on that site. Then by calculating the simple arithmetical mean, the site is ranked.

Why increase Alexa rank?

Alexa rank is used by most of the expert webmasters, advertisers, and ad networks as measures to testify the merit of your blogs. In simple, when it comes to ad pricing, Alexa can make you sit at a better bargaining position. 

Problems It is often pointed by the users that Alexa has imprecise and sometimes careless methods of ranking the sites. It has a tendency to show the hierarchy as ordered by the large webmasters and/or tech audience. The reason for this can be stated as the most of the professionals have the Alexa toolbar installed in their webs which is unknown to the common user. Many, also, have indicated that Alexa is a vastly inaccurate method of measuring a website’s reach, traffic and potential.

It is true as we are living our lives in an imperfect world where so many things can’t be brought under the logics. Alexa, no doubt, sometimes may seem absurd yet it is weighed high by the webmasters and advertisers, and that is the main goal of it.

In a very short time Alexa has achieved a high rank among the latent ad providers.
Getting started with Alexa Two easy ways can be adopted to start with Alexa. If you are using Internet Explorer, visit this page and download the Alexa Toolbar. If you’re using Firefox, download the SearchStatus extension which displays the Alexa Rank, Google PageRank as well as other useful features.

Using Firefox and SearchStatus are highly recommended in this regard.
Can some body fixture or manoeuvre the Alexa Ranking? There are some designs which allocate one to straightforwardly bring an Alexa ranking in the millions down to the 100,000 level but bringing it precedent the 10,000 or 1,000 grade is a significantly more difficult process because of the inflexible struggle among websites.

Some have obstinately assured that there are no proven ways to fixture Alexa, while others have declared that auto-surfs and scripts do work to some scale.

It still can’t be said authoritatively that auto-surfs or other artificial methods will have similar consequences for every blog.

You can try the below given tips to check the reality about getting a higher Alexa Rank.
20 Tips for Increasing your Alexa Rank

The following tips have been derived from the successful experiences of several Alexa using webmasters.

Working of these tips is highly dependant on the consistency of your action performing. However, it is highly advised to improve the quality of your content that automatically attracts the traffic. It is a better, slightly more demanding, way than artificially increasing your Alexa rank.

You should dedicate most of your labours in mounting your site audience alongside incorporated implementation of any of the following tips.

1. The most important step is Installation of the Alexa toolbar or Firefox’s SearchStatus extension and setting your blog as your homepage.
2. Persuade others to use the Alexa toolbar. This comprises of friends, fellow webmasters as well as site visitors/blog readers. Be sure to link to Alexa’s full explanation of their toolbar and tracking system so your readers know what installing the toolbar or extension necessitates.
3. If you are working in an Office or own a company, get the Alexa toolbar or SS Firefox extension installed on all computers and set your website as the homepage for all browsers. Perhaps it will be useful to note that this may work only when dynamic or different IPs are used.
4. Ask your friends to review and rate your Alexa website profile. It can also help in some way in improving your ranking.
5. Write or Blog about Alexa. Webmaster and bloggers love to hear about ways to increase their Alexa rank. They’ll link to you and send you targeted traffic (i.e. visitors with the toolbar already installed). This gradually has effects on your Alexa ranking.
6. Create an Alexa rank widget on your website. By doing this you can receive a fair amount of clicks every day. Each click tot ups as a visit even if the toolbar is not used by the visitor.
7. Exhibit your URL in webmaster forums. Webmasters usually have the toolbar installed. You’ll get webmasters to visit your website and offer useful feedback. It’s also a good way to give back to the community if you have useful articles to share with others.
8. Inscribe content that is associated to webmasters. This can fall in the category of domaining and SEO, two fields in which most webmasters will have the Alexa toolbar installed. Promote your content on social networking websites and webmaster forums.
9. Use MySpace. This is a little shady so it is not recommended unless you’re really interested in artificially pumping up your Alexa Rank. Use visually attractive pictures or banners and link them to your redirected Alexa URL. This will be most effective if your website has content that is actually relevant to the MySpace Crowd.
10. Use Alexa redirects on your website URL. Undertake this:
    http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?www.dirmaxe.com . Replace dirmaxe.com with the URL for your website. Leave this redirected URL in blog comments as well as forum signatures. This redirect will count a unique IP address once a day so clicking it compound times won’t help. There is no official proof that redirects positively profit your Alexa Rank, so use with carefulness.
11. Post in Asian social networking websites or forums. Some webmasters have suggested that East Asian web users are big Alexa toolbar fans, judging by the presence of several Asia-based websites in the Alexa Top 500. this is suggested to be tried only if you have the time and competence to do so.
12. Generate a webmaster tools section on your website. This is an attraction for webmasters who will often revisit your website to put on access to the tools.
13. Get Dugg or Stagger. This generally fetches massive numbers of visitors to your website and the steep amount will have a positive impact on your Alexa Rank. Logically, you’ll need to develop link worthy material.
14. Use Pay-per-Click Operations. Buying advertisements on search engines such as Google or Exact Seek will help bring in Traffic. Doubly useful when your ad is highly relevant to webmasters.
15. Try Alexa auto-surfs. They would work very suitably for brand new sites that have a very poor Alexa rank. Note that there be problems when you try to use auto surfs alongside contextual ads like Adsense. They aren’t also long term solutions to improving your Alexa Rank so I suggest using with caution.
16. Create an Alexa category on your blog and use it to include any articles or news about Alexa. This acts as an easily accessible resource for webmasters or casual search visitors while helping you rank in the search engines.
17. Optimize your popular posts. Got a popular post that consistently receives traffic from the search engines? Include a widget/graph at the bottom of the post, link to your Alexa post or use Alexa redirection on your internal URLs.
18. Buy banners and links for traffic from webmaster forums and websites. A prominent and well displayed ad will drive lots of webmaster traffic to your website, which can significantly boost your rank.
19. Hire forum posters to pimp your website. Either buy signatures in webmaster forums or promote specific articles or material in your website on a regular basis. You can easily find posters for hire in Digital Point and other webmaster forums.
20. Pay Cybercafé owners for installing the Alexa toolbar and set your website as the homepage for all their computers. This might be hard to manage and isn’t actually a doable solution for most. Some have suggested that it does work and it is the only reason for recommending this step.
21.