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The lazy days of sleeping-in, laying out by the pool and hot summer nights are coming to an end. Whether you're excited or dreading getting back into your regular routine, proper preparations should be made.
Here are some basic tips to help students and parents get a jump start on the fall:
1. Check your mail, e-mail and/or school websites for information periodically. These may include change in timings, bus routes, schedule/class assignments, etc.
2. Go shopping for new clothes. Set a proper budget and choose clothing that expresses you (or your kids) as individuals but is appropriate for school and your climate.
3. Call up friends. Talking about upcoming events and issues can help to relieve anxiety and verify information.
4. Go shopping for supplies. Make a supply list or use the one you're given and stick to it. If not, try to stay near the necessary things such as backpacks, laptops, printers, software, storage media, and of course, basics like calculators, binders, notebooks, pencils, etc.
5. Get onto a better schedule. Chances are, you or your kids have begun to sleep in over the summer, which is perfectly fine. However, it is now time to get back on track. Each day, go to bed/wake up one hour earlier. Stop when you have reached your normal timings. If you have trouble falling asleep, read a book or take a warm shower. For trouble on waking up, set multiple alarms.
6. Do some meditation or yoga. School is important, but not worth your health.
7. Get on campus and track down your classroom(s). This will help ease stress on the first day.
8. Clean out things from last year. You might need storage space for extra items
9. Wrap up the summer. Read up on courses that you are taking this year. Make a plan of how you will utilize your time wisely and do well.10. Get some exercise. Play out in the sun. When school starts, you may or may not be able to do so due to weather or time restrictions.
11. Relax. Have a quiet, relaxing night to yourself. Take a bubble bath, give your self a manicure, whatever you do, just focus on relaxing.
12. Get some sleep. Make sure to get at least eight hours of sleep the night before schools starts.
13. Take a shower or bath in the morning. You'll feel more energized and be more pleasant to be around.
14. Brush your teeth. If you didn't floss your teeth the night before, do so now. Nobody wants to talk to a person who has bad breath!
15. Wash your face. Remember to put on moisturizer, as well. You'll look happier, feel more energized and you're preventing future break-outs and infections. 
16. Dress to impress. If your school allows you to wear home clothing, wear the clothing that works for you. Wear your style and what makes you feel comfortable and confident.
17. Get ready for school - your backpack, your lunch and other things. It helps to make a list on a white board in your room, or a note on your desk at night. Before leaving, look at it, and make sure you have everything.
18. Eat a good breakfast. It must be a well-balanced and healthy one so that you can stay energized all the way until lunchtime. Toast or cereal and a piece of fruit is quick, easy and nutritious. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You need it because you will perform worse in school if you were to skip it.
Original Content from WikiHow.com
By Laura B. Whitmore
Here are some suggestions to help you select the product that’s perfect for you.
What are your needs?
It’s important to know how complex your notation tasks will be before you can figure out which program to choose.
How many staves does the program allow?
Just about every program out there can allow you to create a simple lead sheet, but multi-stave orchestrations are another matter. For example, in a top-level program like Finale 2010 you can have unlimited staves. However, when you move to something like Finale Songwriter, it allows a maximum of 8 staves.
What are your input options?
You can link a controller to your computer and play the music in, scan in pre-printed music, input the notes using your computer keyboard or even use a keyboard or fretboard screen on your computer to “play” in the notes. You can even import a MIDI file and it will appear as notation. So think about how you like to get your scores into the program and how much flexibility in this area is important to you.
How easy is it to add marks, lyrics and other instructions?
A good notation program makes it easy to add things like dynamics, codas and other performance instructions, and helps keep those items together with the notes and measures that you intend them to relate to. For example, Sibelius 6 has a new feature called magnetic layout that not only connects these items to the right notes and measures, but also makes sure they appear properly without crowding or overlap.
Appearance matters!
Top end programs offer more flexibility and features in this area so your frustrations with getting your notation to look perfect are eliminated.
How quickly does your program update the changes you’ve input?
If you ask a program to do something like transpose a horn part or an entire orchestra score, consider how long that might take. Top-level programs like Sibelius excel at updating your requests in the blink of an eye!
How does your notation program sound?
This might seem like an odd question, but today’s notation programs come with amazing sounds built in so that you can play back your compositions and hear how they sound. For example, Finale 2010 comes with over 300 sounds created by the makers of the Garritan Orchestra samples. Lower end versions come with less sounds of lower quality. And programs like Sibelius and Finale allow you to create an audio file or burn a CD of your score as well.
Can you extract parts?
If you’re writing for a band or orchestra, you can create your whole score and then automatically pull out the part for each instrument. Or play back just that part of the score. More flexibility here saves you time and aggravation.
Are options like guitar tab and lyrics manipulation important to you?
There are software programs out there that are focused on notating for the guitar. Both Sibelius 6 and Finale 2010 offer top-notch flexibility that allows you to write in guitar tab and add chord fingering charts.
What other enhanced features would make your life easier?
Sibelius 6 offers new features for teachers like the ability to control students’ satellite programs in a lab, the ability to track and see all changes in the file and include “sticky” notes comments. Finale enables you to convert your notation files to SmartMusic accompaniments or enter notes by playing a brass or woodwind instrument using its MicNotator® feature.
Today’s notation products bring a huge amount of power and flexibility to your computer, so don’t be afraid to jump in!
This classic user guide to QuarkXpress 8 is an interactive, easy-to-read manual which will give you the competitive edge you'll need.
And if you're already familiar with QuarkXpress, check out what's new with QuarkXpress 8. The new features give you the ability to work faster and more efficiently.
Calling All Teachers!
This Teacher Resource Guide has everything you need to get you and your students up-to-speed with QuarkXPress.
The Guide is applicable for students learning the software for the first time as well as experienced QuarkXPress users. It is available for both Mac and PC users in a single, downloadable file.
The Guide contains a sample syllabus, 14 training modules, and an outline for deploying the modules in a classroom environment. The syllabus includes a capstone project for students to develop as part of the course, with class-time suggestions, and a sample grading scale.The training modules are designed with standard system fonts, so it is easy to deploy in your class as well as for take-home work. You can teach the software from start to finish, or you can pick and choose individual modules that complement your class.For New to Advanced StudentsAnyone brand new to page layout or QuarkXPress should start with module one — QuarkXPress Basics — and get up to speed quickly with the essential elements of working in QuarkXPress, from creating a new project to collecting for output. To prepare your students with basic skills for the creative job market, you will want to cover core modules in Text and Typography, Page Elements, Transparency and Drop Shadows, and PDF Output.
You can also explore more advanced topics such as Job Jackets and Shared Content to broaden your students’ skills in work-flow and collaborative design.
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- Open and print a QuarkXPress 8 project created anywhere in the world
QuarkXPress 8 equips all designers with the expertise, confidence, adventure and control needed to perfect all of their projects.
VisTablet is the new standard in graphics tablets! With a 12.1" widescreen tracing surface, 29 customizable macro fields and an incredibly slim design, this highly affordable tablet is optimized for Windows Vista's advanced tablet capabilities and compatible with Apple's OSX and Windows XP/2000.
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If you're an avid user of Sony Creative Vegas Pro software, take a look at these excellent Top Ten Tips for efficiency in Vegas Pro!
1. Prepare in advance.
Create intros, "outros," theme music, and templates before you go. A well-produced intro sets the tone for a video; don't spend hours doing that on-site.
2. Use Sony Cinescore software for "instant soundtracks."
Nothing helps make a video more professional than a good soundtrack, and Sony Cinescore software delivers. However, rather than using Cinescore "hints" to control how the soundtrack unfolds, I prefer to generate 15 to 20 minutes of music for a 5 to 10 minute video, then rearrange (cut and paste) different sections within Vegas Pro software.
3. After transferring clips and stills to your hard drive, label them.
"Clip1.avi" doesn't mean much, so take a few minutes to give all your data descriptive names. You'll save time overall.
4. Don't bring an audio interface—USB mics are great.
It's a good idea to record the narration first, then lay in video to match the audio. However, not all USB mics work well for narration.
5. Bounce while eating, render when showering.
Do something else while your computer is tied up. For example, at hotels I start bouncing a one-hour tape over to the hard drive, then go to dinner—which typically takes just under an hour. Rendering while showering also saves time.
6. Create a test video using all the gear you'll take on the road.
This verifies that everything works, and when it's time to pack up, you won't forget anything—simply bring the gear you used to make the video.
7. Install both 64- and 32-bit versions of Vegas with 64-bit computers.
64-bit computing is in its infancy; install Vegas 32-bit also in case you have problems.
8. Take still shots to cover rough edit points.
Rather than trying to fix tough edits—for example, if someone walked in front of the camera—take lots of still shots. Drop them in, then add some zoom and pan to give action. 
9. Use Sony Sound Forge software to clean up audio tracks.
Sound Forge software can solve audio problems fast, thanks to tools like noise reduction. Also, if there are level variations with narration, you don't have to draw gain envelopes in Vegas Pro software—use the Sound Forge Wave Hammer processor to even out the dynamic range.
10. Exploit the Vegas Pro "Paste Event Attributes" command.
Often, several pieces of video or stills will need the same processing—for example, video clips that were shot in a room with low light, where all the clips require brightness and contrast adjustments. Get one clip right (before you do any pan, zoom, or other actions specific to that clip), copy it, then right-click on each of the other clips and select "Paste Event Attributes." This transfers all your settings to the clip.
Original Content By Craig Anderton
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School’s almost back in session, and with it comes life-lessons in money management for students. But personal finance can be easy, even if you’re just starting out. You just have to know how it works.
Money Management
- Join a credit union. Don’t just sign up for a random bank giving away t-shirts or frisbees at registration.
- Don’t get a credit card unless you absolutely need one.
- Avoid non-academic debt.
- Save and then splurge. If you you just have to have something, wait until you can pay cash.
- Pay your bills on time.
Organization and Planning
- Track your spending. Good records will prevent you from getting overdrawn at the bank or charging more than your credit limit. This habit also allows you to detect spending patterns.
- Make a budget. At the start of the month, estimate how much money you’ll receive and decide where needs to go.
- Save your receipts. You’ll need to be able to compare them with statements at the end of the month. And some you’ll need to keep for several years.
- Guard your vital stats. Don’t give out your social security number or your credit card info except to known and trusted sources.
Campus Life
- Buy used textbooks. You’re just going to sell them back at the end of the term.
- Skip spring break. Forget the long road trips. You can have a lot of fun for cheap close to campus.
- Live without a car. Cars are expensive: gas, maintenance, insurance, registration, parking.
- Don’t hang out with big spenders.
- Take advantage of campus activities. Get the most from your student ID!
Personal Life
- Go to class. What you learn and do now will have a profound impact on the rest of your life.
- Get involved. It will help you build skills and form social networks that will last a lifetime.
- Stay active. A healthy body costs far less to maintain than an unhealthy body. You don’t have to do much to avoid gaining weight in college.
- Eat healthy. It’s possible to eat well on a small budget if you know what you’re doing.
- Limit vices. Alcohol and cigerettes are expensive. They are also bad for your body and mind.
- Learn the art of the Cheap Date:
o Take advantage of mother nature
o Go for coffee
o Use CitySearch to track down cheap food and activities
o Attend campus events
- Have fun! Your college years will be some of the best of your life. Make the most of them.
Decision Making
- Make smart choices. Decide what’s important to you, and pursue that. Remember to leave time for yourself.
- Don’t buy on impulse. When you want to buy something, ask yourself “Do I need it?”
Making Money
- Spend less than you earn. Don’t earn much? Then don’t spend much.
- Be an outstanding employee. Good work habits can pay enormous dividends, leading to recommendations and contacts that you can use after you’re out of school.
- Start your own business. Charge cheap rates and exceed expectations. Word will spread. When you’ve built up a customer base, you can raise your rates a little.
- Learn to invest. Find a discount broker and begin making regular investments.
Original Content from Get Rich Slowly
By Laura B. Whitmore
At some point, you have probably thought about doing some recording using your computer or laptop. If you've finally decided to jump in, then you probably need an audio interface. An audio interface's purpose is simply this; it helps you bring audio signals into your computer. Here are some of the things you need to think about when choosing the best interface for you.
In or out of the box?
Most audio interfaces are external devices that you can connect to your computer using a high speed USB or Firewire connection. However you can actually install an audio interface into your computer using an interface card. You’ll have to open up your computer and use one of your card slots.
Connection options
It’s important to know what kind of ports your computer has available for connecting your interface. Your choices are: USB 1.1 – if you have a computer that is over four years old or so, you might have this port. USB 2.0—the faster, newer version of USB, has been a standard port for more recent computer models. And finally Firewire – fast and widely available on newer Macs.
The ins and outs
Think about what are you going to plug into your interface and how many you’ll plug in at once. If you are recording multiple instruments at once, you’ll want more ins. And don’t forget about outs! Use these to connect your computer to some great sounding monitors, a PA or even your stereo. The important thing is to plan ahead and get what you think you’ll need up front.
Sample rate
When you convert audio through an interface, it does the conversion at a particular sample rate. The standard sampling rate is 44.1 kHz, the same resolution that is used for audio CDs. However, if you are working in a high-end recording situation, you might want to consider a higher rate like 192 kHz resolution and a more high-end interface.
Microphone essentials
All microphones require their signal to be boosted so that the levels are hot enough for recording. If your interface has a microphone in, it will have some pre-amplification for this purpose, but if you prefer to use a condenser mic, you’ll want an interface that also has phantom power. This is not included in all interfaces, so you’ll have to look for it.
Software choices
Check to make sure that the interface you choose is compatible with the software you are using for recording. For example, Digidesign’s Pro Tools will only work with a Digidesign or M-Audio interface, depending on which version you are using. Also, some interfaces come with recording software, so read the fine print!
Learn how to create rollover images in Adobe Dreamweaver!
What is a rollover image?
- A rollover increases the interactivity between the user and the page and physically involves the user "rolling the mouse cursor over the button," which causes the button to react visually.
So how can I create a rollover in Adobe Dreamweaver?
- First, choose two separate images with the same height and weight that you would like to use for your web page.
- Next, place the cursor of the mouse where you want to insert your rollover image.
- Click on "Rollover Image" on the "Insert" pallet line or choose Insert --> Interactive Images --> Rollover Image
- In the window that pops up, in the text field "Image Name," write the image name (but be careful not to use special characters).
- Now, insert your two images.
- Click "Browse" and insert images for both the Original Image and the Rollover Image.
- In the text field "When clicked, Go to URL," you'll need to insert the URL location for your rollover image.
- For Alternative Text, use whatever text you like - but it is suggested that you use text which describes your image as much as possible, without going over 15-20 characters.
- Also, you don't have to insert Alternative Text, but it will help you get a better search ranking and will also help users using older browsers because they won't be able to see the rollover image, but only the Alternative Text.
- Finally, just click "OK!"
Click here for more helpful tips in Adobe software and don't forget to check out all the great summer deals from Academic Superstore!And right now, you can SAVE 50% on Adobe Dreamweaver with your Academic Superstore discount!
For a limited-time only you can SAVE 60% on MakeMusic's latest Finale 2010 - the world standard in music notation software!
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With Finale 2010, you can compose, arrange, notate and print the highest quality sheet music that plays back with world-class sounds. Finale continues to lead the way, helping you reach perfection faster!
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Sibelius 6 is a giant leap forward in notation software - with amazing new features and improvements for educators, students, composers, arrangers, copyists and musicians of all kinds.
Sibelius 6 allows you to:
- Save time with magnetic layout
- Track changes and compare versions
- Conduct your scores
- Produce great new sounds quickly
- Sync with sequencers and DAWs
- Beautiful keyboard and fretboard windows
- Easy chord symbols and guitar diagrams
- Unrivaled pro-engraving
- Sell your scores around the world
...plus dozens of more new and improved features!
Look no further than Vegas Pro 9 from Sony Creative!
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Vegas Pro 9 offers:- Broad Format Support- Superior Effects Processing- Unparalleled Audio Support- A Full Complement of Editorial Tools- Powerful Blu-Ray Disc Authoring- Interactive Tutorials
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