Name That Tune - Tips For When You Can't Remember the Song Title Or Artist

For years, you have been searching for a song lodged in your brain that is driving you nuts. Unfortunately, you have forgotten both the song title and the artist and all you remember are a few words. Don't you wish you could just name that tune once and for all so that you can get on with your life?

Below is a simple yet surprisingly effective procedure for naming that tune when all you have are a few song snippets and some hazy memories. Your search will draw from the voluminous Usenet archives which contain one of the largest repositories of searchable song fragments on the Internet. Write down the most unique words and phrases of whatever song fragments you can remember. Jog your memory by brainstorming on the following: Who? What? When? Where? Why? The "who" could include the singer, the person(s) to whom the song is addressed, the subject of the song (e.g., as in a ballad), or any other person, animal, fictional character, or even cartoon character. Tip: If you can remember any first names, surnames, nicknames, titles, and proper nouns, you may already have an important clue as to what the title of your "mystery song" could be. The "what" could include any material objects, ideas, concepts, or events that may be central to the theme or otherwise contribute in some way to the story line. The possibilities here are endless, e.g., relationships, phone numbers, first dates, current events, modes of transportation, symbolic objects, the supernatural, anatomy, flora and fauna, food and beverages, drugs and alcohol, etc. (you name it). The "when" could be the time of day, a season, a day of the week, or a year. The "where" could be a city, state, or country, a street address, a locale, or a direction (e.g., East, West). The "why" could be an expression of love, a social commentary, or a lament about a relationship gone sour. Try to remember other words and phrases that stand out in any way, e.g., colors, descriptive adjectives, acronyms, numbers, greetings, foreign language words and phrases, sets of rhyming words, and incongruous, nonsensical, or bizarre phrases (e.g., "Crystal Blue Persuasion"). Pay special attention to any repeating words and phrases as may occur, e.g., in a chorus or refrain, as they often point directly to the song title. Verify correct spellings (names can be especially tricky) and also allow for all possible alternate spellings and misspellings as often found in Usenet postings. Here are some alternate representations of some words often found in pop tunes: tonight/tonite; love/luv; going/gonna; want to/want to; night/nite; out of/outa; you/ya, u; and/'n. Also, for words ending in "ing" an ending apostrophe (') is often substituted for the ending "g." (To cover all bases, try searching on a word both with and without its ending "g.") Go to Google Groups (groups.google.com). Enter the word "music" and up to 9 words in the "with all of the words" field. (Tip: To get as many search results on one page as possible select "100 messages" for number of results to display.) If your initial search results look hopeless, cut and paste your word set in the "with at least one of the words" field, leaving "music" in the "with all of the words" field. If you are getting too many hits and your song is not on the first page of search results, narrow your search using any of the following methods as appropriate. Remove any unnecessary "OR"s in the search box at the top of the first page of search results. (To be systematic, shave off one "OR" at a time starting with the ones that are between those words about which you are most certain.) If you find a group of words that occurs as a phrase in your song, enclose it in quotes. Sometimes, certain common words such as "I," "a," "was," and "in" may be ignored in a Google search, even when the entire phrase is enclosed in quotes. In case that happens, just repeat your search with a "+" sign in front of any word that was ignored the first time around. Repeat Step 7 as necessary. It is generally best to experiment with one permutation at a time. As you try different combinations, this will further jog your memory and you can weed out any words you discover to be incorrect. If your first word set does not pan out, try a new set or change one or more words in your original set (e.g., see the tips above on alternate word spellings). Repeat Steps 5-9 until you find your song (hurray!). If you have no luck with Google Groups repeat your search on Google. Good luck in your song search!

(c) Copyright 2005, allbutforgottenoldies.net

Emigrating to Canada - Priority Number One

So it looks as if the Canadian Electorate are fairly happy with what they have!

You don't re-elect the incumbent Prime Minister if you are dissatisfied with your lot in life or if you feel insecure about your financial future. If the bottom has dropped out of the housing market or businesses are going to the wall you show a lack of confidence in the current Government by voting them out don't you? Well, that's not happened here. Stephen Harper has got back into power and has the peoples' backing for the next term of office. What does that say to you? Wherever you are living at the moment just think about your current situation. If you are in the UK would you vote Gordon Brown back in if an election was called tomorrow? If you are in the USA and George Bush was able to run for another term, would you give him your vote? I think not on both counts.

Over here in Canada, we have no worries as such about the banks folding and losing all our money. The Canadian Banks are rated in the top four in the world (last I heard the UK had slipped way down the league!) They are closely regulated and have not been lending money 'willy nilly' to all and sundry without security. The housing market here is trundling along the same as usual. Houses are selling and even the construction companies are doing alright thank you very much. Where we live there are new subdivisions being built on in every town. It's still seems to be an expanding market place. Emigrating to Canada seems a good move! Can't say I've heard of anyone being laid off recently either. In fact, many of the Provinces have work and are in need of people to fill the vacancies. What's your skill? Maybe Canada could offer you more than just a job. It could offer a whole new life with no 'Big Brother' watching you all the time, reasonable taxation, space and the freedom to enjoy your life.

If you are thinking of Immigrating to Canada, by all means look at the various Realtor websites, and look search for which pick-up truck, 'Ski-Do' machine, Quad bike or whatever you would like to buy when you have emigrated to Canada, but remember that in order to emigrate to Canada successfully, your first port of call is (a) securing a job, creating a business or investing in a Canadian business and (b) acquiring a Canadian Visa. In order to obtain a Canadian Residency Visa, you need to relate to one of the requirements in (a) and be issued with a Canadian Work Permit or be sponsored by a close relative to live in Canada. A close relative is usually a brother or sister, a parent or a child. I don't think that cousins or uncles/aunts/nephews.nieces count as a 'close relive' for the purpose of acquiring a Canadian Visa under the Family Class.

Just to summarize then, a strategy to start the process of emigrating to Canada is to start looking at finding work or a Business opportunity. Once you have done this, then you can start to apply for a Visa for you and your family to live and work in Canada. See you in Canada!

Man and His Planet: An Unauthorized History

In his book, 'Man and his Planet: An Unauthorized History,' James E. Strickling Jr. presents an analysis of a topic that has been debated by scholars, scientists, and religious leaders for generations - Creation versus Evolution. In his book, he examines both sides and provides an argument that refutes both their conclusions. His argument is based on the following specific line of reasoning: "Natural selection is Science's equivalent to religious fundamentalism and Creationist's interpretation of the origin of life as the 'Great Mistake.'" The overall objective of 'Man and his Planet' is to show that the creationists' "fixity of species" and the evolutionists' "very orderly gradual evolution of life on earth" are in error, and it is disadvantageous for them not to listen to opposing views as there is another potential alternative to how life emerged and evolved.

Strickling contends that "the creationist system of belief offers little value to our understanding and enlightenment." He also challenges the evolutionary concept of speciation by natural selection by arguing: "By surviving, it produces a circle; the surviving species survive because they are the fittest, and they are adjudged to be the fittest because they survive. Explains nothing - survived has survived. There are no facts to support speciation by natural selection." Instead, Strickling argues that natural selection allows a species to maintain its identity by means of natural selection.

Strickling provides an account of the Standard Geological Column Geological Record where the picture presented is a very orderly gradual evolution of life on earth. He details an assessment of Uniformitarianism vs. Catastrophism and argues that speciation is accelerated in times of catastrophe such as the ends of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic periods that were marked by extinction on a global scale. He contends Uniformitarianism does not satisfactorily explain evolution by natural selection.

Strickling provides a possible alternative that takes into account ancient documents that reveal natural electrical phenomena. The idea is that matter emerged from energy. That is, a burst of energy erupted and subsequently transformed to matter. This theory is comparable to the scientific 'Big Bang Theory' as well as to Deepak Chopra's spiritual system of beliefs pertaining to energy which asserts that there is an elaborate connection between quantum physics and consciousness. According to Chopra, "We are each a localized field of energy and information with cybernetic feedback loops interacting within a non-local field of energy and information."

'Man and his Planet: An Unauthorized History,' provides an intriguing look into the origins of life with a compelling critique of established religious and scientific explanations. I found myself appreciating the arguments presented while agreeing with some and disagreeing with others, such as Man's inability to impact the global climate. 'Man and his Planet: An Unauthorized History' is highly recommended as a book well worth debate and readers will gain insight into another way of looking at how the earth evolved without feeling like their own beliefs are being judged or ridiculed.

Tracy Roberts, Write Field Services

Purchase: Amazon.com

Plug-In Hybrids Are Electric Cars With an Insurance Policy!

The idea for a plug-in hybrid is fairly basic: You get a mix of an internal combustion engine (ICE) and a battery powered motor. The first one for long environment damaging trips and the other for short and clean ones!

Most major manufacturers seem to have got the idea of a plug-in hybrid is a great stepping stone to all-electric vehicles or fuel cell cars without the need to fully give up on the ICE as it's what they spent so many years perfecting.

Everyone who is deciding to make a plug-in hybrid is giving us the impression that:

In the next few years they'll be everywhere and almost everyone will have one. That they'll save the struggling car industry and also save the planet while they're at it!

So how do they work?

Well basically they use the electric motor for as long as they can which is usually about 40 miles and then when the battery is almost gone they change to the ICE.

In some cars like the Chevy Volt the ICE will only be used to charge the battery like a generator when it gets drained but in others the ICE will move the wheels when the battery runs down.

The great advantage of how they work is if you just do your daily commute each day, and plug the car in at night to charge, you end up burning no fuel at all. Most people only travel about 40 miles on average a day in America, which means that you could end up spending days on end without ever even burning a drop of fuel!

So - I can usually take it for granted that there isn't much out there right now when it comes to alternative transport and plug-in hybrids are no different. But I have to say the future looks pretty good for plug-in hybrids right now!

To put it in perspective - Toyota hopes to sell one million hybrids every year starting this year (2010).

So thinking of that, what plug-in hybrids should we expect to see in the near future?

Well after lots of promising and pushing back deadlines it looks like Toyota is finally going to make a plug-in version of the Prius. They say they're now going to release it fully in 2011. They say they put it off for so long as it was a lot harder to change to plug-in than people think, even though many companies have been modifying them to plug-ins for years now!

The BYD F3DM (now there's a hot little name!) may not be the most exciting looking car but it is ALREADY FOR SALE, but just in China at the moment, for around the equivalent of US $20,000. It's also supposed to be exported in 2010 sometime.

Well we need something to spice this back up after that! In late 2010, Fisker will start delivering the Karma which is a plug-in hybrid sports car available for $87,900. Henrik Fisker, the CEO of Fisker used to be a designer for BMW and Aston Martin. So if he didn't pick up a few tips on how to make a car look good from them then there's no hope for the world!

The last promising car then out of a big bunch of expected plug-in hybrids is the Chevy Volt. It's being talked about as if it's going to save Detroit and America's car industry and it's going to be available in the US in 2011. It should also be available as the Opel Ampera in Europe around the same time. To be honest though for an 18 year old like me 2011 seems like an extremely long time away!

OK - so you heard all the up sides to plug-in hybrids but what are the downsides (apart from mainly not being available yet)? Well here are some that I see:

They have a lot of unproven technology as they have never really been tried in mass production yet so it could take a while to iron out the kinks. Some people could have a problem trying to find a place to charge them - which could mean they take the "lazy" option of mostly using the engine all the time. Obviously another one is the price! - at the moment they look a lot more expensive than even the usual hybrids which are already more expensive than a regular car. The Prius had a problem with price for a long time. And finally Are they too little, too late - to save the environment, because that's what they're all about aren't they?

So in summary: It looks like out of all the options for Electric Cars for me - the Plug-in Hybrid seems like the best one - especially compared with the All-Electric Cars around at the moment. But we'll also have to wait a year or two first. Right now though I have to get my hands on some of those electric scooters and electric bicycles around at the moment!

The ABC's on How to Achieve Your Dreams - Lesson V

Welcome back again to learning your ABC's on how to achieve your dreams. This article is talking about our letter V lesson.

The letter V stands for: Visualize it!

Visualization is a big part of attracting and manifesting goals and dreams in our lives. It is a simple process but a lot of people tend to not do one of three things. The three biggest things you have to work on with visualization are:

1) Making sure you have a clear picture of what you want in your mind 2) Making sure you are seeing this clear picture in the present moment 3) Making sure that you are in the picture of your goal

Why are these things so important? They are key points to making any successful visualization create and manifest in your physical life now.

If you do not have a clear picture of what your goal or dream is than the Universe will not know what you are wanting. For example, if you are wanting more money if your life and you do not let the Universe know how much you are wanting it may bring you a dollar more or a thousand dollars more. So make sure you have a clear picture in your mind of what you want!

If you are not focusing your clear picture in your mind in the present moment, and focusing this on the future, guess what will happen? The Universe will always be putting this in the future for you, and you will never receive what you want to receive. It will always be in the "future". So make sure you see it today, right now, in the present moment!

Lastly, make sure you see yourself in the clear picture. If you are not in the picture the Universe will see this as a wonderful idea but will not connect it to your energy frequency and it will never materialize in your life. It may materialize somewhere else, but not right where you are unless you let the Universe know.

So make sure to follow these three key pointers in your visualizations for the best results!

Ipod Guide - Some Info about Ipod; Portable Digital Device

An ipod is a portable digital media player designed by Apple Computer. IPod is currently very much popular for storing and playing audio files. It offers great sound quality and can store up to ten thousand songs. Standard ipod has built-in hard drive to store media files while shuffle, smallest ipod and ipod nano use flash memory. It can works as external data storage device after connected to computer.

IPod is selling like hotcakes throughout the world. All generations of ipod have monochrome screens excluding fourth generation ipod that has color screen. 'iTunes' is software that is used for transferring music, photos and videos to the ipod. Actually it is music jukebox that holds complete library of users' music on their PC. Apple's iPod came with unique white headphones.

Ipod is an easy to use portable digital media player. It can easily communicate with iTunes as connected to PC either Windows or Macintosh. It doesn't require user interference to coordinates with personal computer. Ipod plays MP3 audio files as well as AAC; advanced audio coding that was designed by Dolby Labs as a part of MPEG-4 audio/video standard.

People generally buy ipod due to certain reasons such as it is thin as pencil and can be easily fit into wallet. It offers great listening pleasure. Its screen is unbreakable and strain proof thats why you can use it without any fear. You can easily access listen world's great selection of music due to iTunes music store. It is an expensive media player that costs US$199 for 2GB and US$249 for 4 GB.