Pocahontas – A Legend Comes To Life

by Steve Collins

In 1995, Walt Disney Pictures released the first Disney feature where, as the tagline states, “an American legend comes to life.” Pocahontas, the first Disney film based on an genuine historic figure, was the 33rd animated film ever released by Disney Studios and marked the high-watermark for the Disney Renaissance which had begun in 1989 with The Little Mermaid. This film was one of the few Disney films to ever portray an interracial romance (between Pocahontas and John Smith).

The anticipation for the production were very high. Jeffery Katzenberg, the then-studio chief, considered it a prestige project capable of vying for a Best Picture nomination in the same vein as Beauty and the Beast. Indeed, Katzenberg felt Pocahontas would out-perform the tremendous returns The Lion King enjoyed. Unfortunately, the adult themes of the film undermined its appeal to children and though it failed to meet expectations, Pocahontas did earn approximately $142 million domestically and $348 million worldwide.

Pocahontas enjoyed the largest premiere in film history, premiering at Central Park in New York City. Though the publicity certainly did sell revenues, the film was criticized for several historic and ethnic inaccuracies. Some critics felt the characterization of Pocahontas was too “fashionably exotic,” while other critics condemned the historical accuracy. In reality, Pocahontas was prepubescent when John Smith encountered the Powhatan tribe. She was kidnapped by the English, converted to Christianity, married to both a Powhatan warrior, Kocoum, and then to the English tobacconist John Rolfe. Furthermore, most historians discount the notion of a romantic relationship between Pocahontas and Smith.

By contrast, the film was celebrated for its distinct animation style. The sparse color palette and, by Disney standards, unusual use of a mother spirit motif set Pocahontas apart from typical Disney fare. The score of the film, composed by Alan Menken, was likewise well-received – so much so that it earned the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The theme song, “Colors of the Wind,” also written by Menken, with Vanessa Williams on vocals, won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Song.

Though Pocahontas was a commercial disappointment, it would prove to be more successful than its successor The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Indeed Hunchback would mark the end of the Disney Renaissance, during which the studio raked in nearly $1 billion. The studio would release a sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, in 1998, direct-to-video.

About the Author:

Producing Writing Talent

by John Read

Writing is a occupation where the aim is to produce a worthwhile item that supports a particular thought, point of view or business. Great copywriting will start to explain to the audience the merit of the products or idea and why it is ideal for them. Examples of where business writing is used are for television commercials, brochures, internet pages, billboards and any written material used in advertising media.

A writer works in conjunction with an art team to create a multimedia work that uses words, colours and visuals to endorse the merchandise and promote to the reader. The writer has accountability for the written substance of the work and the art director has accountability for the visual content of the piece, as well as overlooking the final work itself. The greatest material is created when the copywriting and art parties work together and work in agreement.

Business writing is an central part of the promotional world as it is accountable for the slogans that stay with us, showing us how an issue is vital to listen to, how a piece of merchandise would be necessary for us. Copywriting is accountable for the content and, in this way, is alike to a technical writer although a business writer works to promote merchandise or thoughts and not only to educate the reader of it.

With the arrival of the net, new opportunities have happened for writers as they strive to publicise websites, new goods, new services and new opinions through the net. The net has also made it simpler for business writers to find and get in contact with businesses that want their skills and to make money from freelance copywriting. There are many web-pages that are now dedicated to matching writers with potential employers.

The web has also meant that writers have been required to learn new abilities, such as SEO. Search engine optimization allows for a copywriter to ensure that their goods can be promoted effectively through the net. Using strategies such as strategic word placement and the repetition of certain keywords helps the work to be ranked highly by a search engine, an integral copywriting talent in today’s web-savvy world.

To be a great business writer, it is essential to have exceptional communication skills. All business writers should have a have a wide-ranging vocabulary and exceptional word, spelling and grammar skills. It is also helpful to have some education in copywriting and there are many institutions and businesses that specialize in training you to be a copywriting professional. Many of these institutions and companies offer online courses and there are many guides that also offer guidance.

As a writer, you will find your talents in demand across the globe and across thousands of industries. Not only with advertising agencies, business writers are in demand for all companies that have merchandise, service or idea to promote. Television networks, radio shows, start-up businesses, e-companies, small companies, multinational businesses and everything in between have a desire for the advertising of their company and their work. Many in the copywriting business now work freelance for themselves and are hired on a contractual basis, allowing them to choose the jobs they work on and the companies they work for, all at times suitable to them.

Business writers are behind some of the most respected promotional campaigns in the world. It was famous business writer David Ogilvy that created the famous Dove soap slogan “only Dove is one-quarter moisturizing cream” and William Bernbach was a business writer who came up with the “think small” ad campaign for Volkswagen Beetle, a campaign recognized as one of the top publicity campaigns of the 20th century. Therefore copywriting has the power to not only touch the audience but to create a lasting impression on the world through the excellence of their abilities.

About the Author:

Having Fun With Green Lasers

by Richard West

Every good geek has played around with a laser pointer that has a red beam. You might have used one for work, to highlight and gesture when giving a PowerPoint talk. And to tease your cat or dog, make fun of your friends by planting a red dot in their forehead, and lots more fun things.

But, let’s face it, red laser pointers are just so old school now. Everyone has one. Your grandmother has one, and she doesn’t even use PowerPoint. You need a new toy to make you the top geek at work and create new fun with your friends, furry and not.

Any techie knows that the red beams use 650 nm wavelengths. Powerful new laser pointers on the much improved 532 nm wavelength are now available on the market. And do you know what the more intense frequency creates? It creates a green beam.

So if you got your kicks by using your old red laser beam to highlight things on a projection screen across the room, imagine how good you’ll feel using a green laser pointer to highlight things that used to be out of reach. Because a green laser beam is more powerful than a red one, it can highlight clouds, low-flying aircraft, and even star constellations. Best of all, you can see the green laser beam outside during full sunlight.

In fact, if you use this laser outside and do happen to point it at an airplane, it’s so powerful you could get yourself put in jail. Yes, pointing a sighting device at a plane could get the feds coming to your house to investigate whether you are planning to point something more than a laser at planes. What little red pointer can get you in that much trouble?

When you point it at something, the pointer doesn’t just produce a tiny dot on its target, either. You can see the entire beam traveling all the way there. People seeing your beam will think it’s a light saber. How cool is that? Think of the new possibilities for light saber swordfights.

A green laser pointer is at a whole separate plane from the old-style red laser pointer. For a true green, a pointer needs a green direct injection laser diode. These diodes could be potentially dangerous if handled by the public at large, so they’re not even available wholesale. So this complicated process follows to keep hazardous material out of peoples’ hands. (And only the geeks in the room will understand a word of it.)

The green laser pointers, available on the market today, all use Diode Pumped Solid State Frequency Doubled technology, aka DPSSFD, which is good news for everyone. Basically, this means that an infrared laser diode pumps out 808 nm, which is then altered to 1,064 nm, which is then shot into a crystal that doubles the frequency to produce the green beam at 532 nm. (It should go without saying, because only card-carrying geeks are reading this, which with frequency smaller numbers mean stronger.)

So it is no wonder that green laser pointers are a must-have for the geek elite. While the green laser has been around a while, it’s not so easy to find outside of technical settings (again, remember they can target airplanes). They’re also not cheap. While you can pick up a red pointer for less than $10, a green one will set you back $50 or so, not out of reach, just not something you might purchase casually (or more to the point, something your grandmother won’t purchase on the spur of the moment). Go on, you know you want one. Yeah, you know you really need one. What’s stopping you?

About the Author:

How To Select Modern Office Furniture

by Jimmy Boyle

Office furniture must be both appealing as well as utilitarian. The basic components of office furniture are tables, chairs, sofa sets, cabinets, file drawers and presentation boards. There can be many more components depending on the budget and tastes of the office owners.

Most modern office furniture is made of vinyl and steel. The traditional patterns of wood are out. There is also a profuse use of glass, which enhances the look of the furniture. Glass can be molded, colored and etched, giving it various designs and patterns. Glass coupled with other materials, or even alone, is an integral part of office furniture.

It is this very approach that is responsible for the mushrooming of identical work places. The one USP that sets your office apart from the rest is missing. And all this due to ignorance about the vitality of a work place in the success of any venture. Take, for instance, the office furniture. The desks, tables and chairs are getting increasingly meaner. To put it in other words, more is being pushed into the office than its appropriate capacity.

The economic multiple cubicles have replaced the separate rooms. Where, earlier, a single person was accommodated in the room, the cubicles, with all the compact furniture in place, now offer seating for at least three officials in the same area! The furniture used in the modern offices makes all the difference. A desk, with those drawers and shelves, made of solid Amish Oak furniture can lend the missing grace to your office environment. Instead of compact plywood tables, the durable Amish furniture should be your ideal choice.

The reason for relying on the Amish made furniture is simple. The craftsmanship shown by Amish artisans, with all the toil and labor that goes into making a single article, is not only unique but classy also. The Amish handcrafted furniture provides a visual treat to the visitors as well as a rejuvenating feeling to the employees. The results are obvious – enhanced productivity from the employees, improved goodwill of the concern and obviously, more business from the present as well as the prospective clients

Office furniture is often termed commercial furniture. Even mortgages available for office improvements are levied at commercial rates of interest. Naturally, building a whole office setup requires a lot of planning and investment. Office furniture cannot be changed again and again. There are many reasons for this. One reason is the difficulty in stopping work for a number of days. Another is that staff and clients are often nonplussed by changing office furniture, as they prefer familiar surroundings for them to work in. It may

About the Author:

GPS Tracking System for Car Travel

by Gary Pearson

You may not realize how useful GPS tracking system can be when you travel long distance in your car. Once you have downloaded the required information of the city and the state you are traveling through you have almost no chances of losing your way with the GPS tracking system to assist you.

Not only can a GPS tracking system help you from getting lost, it can help you verify that you are on the right track. You may also find that when you drive with the help of a GPS tracking system you can find shorter routes, routes that do not take you through the hub of a city where you are more likely to run into traffic or even cause you to pass by areas of interest.

GPS tracking system is not only useful for people who live in a big city, irrespective of the size of the place it guides you to find the most convenient route to go from one place to the other with least effort. GPS is a precious device for everyone traveling by road. It is much easier to find the way with the help of GPS tracking system, even if you have a good map of the region with you. You will be able to travel around the world easily with the system.

If map reading is not your forte, a GPS tracking system can easily become your best friend. Of course, if you are going on long trips and such, you may want to invest in a high end model that will help you in many different ways and is likely to be more accurate. However, if you want to tinker with a GPS around town, you can probably get away with one of the more affordable models.

GPS tracking system preinstalled models, of a number of vehicles are being sold nowadays. It is becoming more convenient to drive and travel with the tracking system and this is being realized by all. Keep yourself stress free while driving as you won’t get lost with a knowledgeable buddy just next to you.

About the Author:

What is a Conventional Home Loan?

by Ethan Hunter

While most people have heard of a conventional home loan, few really understand what all is involved with this particular type of loan. What is a conventional home loan? The main difference from other types of loans will be discussed. Because the real estate market is where it is today, we see the government scrambling to educate people so they have more loan knowledge.

You can get your answers right here.

What Is That Conventional Home Loan?

Many loans are really complicated so you should not feel odd if you are not sure what you are dealing with. You won’t have to ask what a conventional home loan is again and should learn to be patient.

In summary, a conventional home loan is a loan in which the lender’s agreement is not backed completely by the Federal Housing Administration or FHA, or the Veterans Administration or VA. In other words, this type of home loan is different.

If you’re still wondering on the specifics on your question – what is a conventional home loan – don’t worry. I’m not done explaining it quite yet!

For instance, conventional home loans are used as a broad term that covers a lot. Therefore, we wanted to address some of the other types of loans that work with this loan option.

For instance: Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM)

This fixed rate conventional home loan is a very common one and the borrower will have a locked in interest rate for the life of the loan.

This means that the borrower will pay on the principle and the interest until it’s paid off. Your interest rate will never go up or down.

However, for what is a conventional home loan, there are many more questions that need to be addressed.

Another conventional home loan type is: The Conforming Home Loan

This is where the borrower and the lender agree to go with rules that may have been set by a federally run organization. This may be Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. These loans are not approved or denied by either place, they are just really there.

It benefits the lender most of all to have this, because the lender can then sell your loan – yes, I said sell! – to one or the other, and receive the funds that you would normally pay them faster.

There is the: Jumbo Home Loans

Jumbo home loans are simple – these are loans that are so large, they fall out of the ‘purchase limits’ set by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. They normally have higher interest rates, and come from a private investor.

The Bottom Line

While you might ask, what is a conventional home loan, remember, it is not always an easy thing to understand, we believe the provided information will help clear up some questions.

About the Author:

Incorporating Sales Development In Your Corporate Model

by Bob Johnson

New business development is the act of educating a person in the act of sales. Sales, which can be done individually or as part of a team, is where a person sells a merchandise or service to a buyer. It is often believed that sales is the same as marketing but there is a distinct difference – marketing exists to promote a item by making it of use to a potential buyer and, through this, may inactively generate a sale. On the other hand, a sales person actively communicates with a potential customer, showing specifically how their goods or service can assist the customer by telling them tailored information. The best sales team is someone who works together with their customer and works to answer the customer’s wants and goals with the merchandise or service to be sold.

Sales is an important part of contemporary work models. Not only does the sales person sell a corporate product or service, they also act to generate unique corporate opportunities and generate clients for their company, thereby sustaining and growing their business’ customer base and reputation. Sales is often the public face of a business so it necessary that correct sales development is provided to the sales person so that they can excel in their selling role but also know how to be the best promoter possible for the goods and the corporation.

There is a variety of methods a company can use to connect with their customer. Direct sales – where the business interacts directly with their customer – is probably the most recognized. The most well-known direct selling methods are door-to-door selling and telemarketing; in both cases the company directly connects with the client at home or at their place of business to tell them about the product. Another form of direct selling is ‘consultative selling’ whereby the business interacts directly with the buyer but first begins by collaborating with the customer about what goods or services they need and developing answers in collaboration with the client. Businesses also often sell goods through retailers – so called ‘middle men‘ – and through mail order, while the rise of the net has given businesses a new field in which to deal with future buyers. As can be seen, there is an incredible variety in the way businesses contact, connect and potentially sell to a buyer, which has increased the necessity of sales training.

Sales development concentrates on the range of approaches a sales person can use when directly talking with the customer, so necessary in these days of direct selling. Although there are a range of particular approaches tailored for different varieties of selling, the main thought behind excellent sales practice is five-fold: analyze a client’s needs, offer solutions to the client, discuss the benefits of the item, overcome any questions the buyer may have and close the sale. This practice can sometimes be condensed to a three-part methodology: find the client, present to the client and close the sale.

New business development classes are widely available with many training colleges and expert businesses offering classes that you can take in person or via correspondence or the internet. Many large businesses have also developed their own in-house new business development programs. There are also a plethora of books available on the topic.

Exceptional sales development will always highlight the need to ask clients questions in order to better provide them solutions, will always highlight the importance of knowing your goods and will include motivational material, as selling is a high-pressure occupation that not only needs a lot of self-motivation but also deals with a lot of rejection as well.

Incentive programs, what they’re for and how to use them are also included in a lot of sales training. These ‘sales incentive programs’ or SIP’s, are a tool used to focus a sales teams and sets out specific goals for attainment, which aims to focus selling activity.

Sales training will show you self-motivation, direction and great communication skills and, as such, would stand any person in good stead for any managerial role outside of sales, as well as within.

About the Author:

Buy To Let Mortgage Best Fixed Rate Mortgages

by Gibson Maseko

With fixed rate mortgage, considering whether you need a 30 or 15 year, fixed mortgage rate is important for people looking to buy a home and concerned about their monthly payments. Buying a home later in life means that many people want to have the mortgage paid off early. In a situation as important as this, time needs to be spent considering all the available options. Probably the most important point is a guarantee of a constant interest rate for the duration of the loan.

If you are offered a deal that appears to be too good to be true than it probably is. Interest rates remain the same throughout the life of the loan for 15 year fixed rate mortgages. For many people with regular incomes, this is a definite benefit as there are no hidden charges. My wife and I had already decided to research long term fixed mortgage rates when we started looking at homes for sale.

Having a realistic, sustainable monthly payment on our mortgage was important even though we wanted to pay off our debt as soon as possible. This meant we had to consider 30 year fixed rate mortgage plans as well as those of 15 years. Still, having a mortgage close to retirement was not what we were looking for, so we decided to try for a loan with a 15 year fixed mortgage. We were worried about the emphasis placed on early completion of the mortgage.

Taking everything into account we finally went for the easier 30 year mortgage plan instead. Many factors were taken into account when reaching this decision.Probably the over-riding decider was the fact my wife was expecting a child.

The problem we could see was the increased financial commitment on a monthly basis if we had opted for the 15 year fixed mortgage rate. We just simply did not want to get in over our heads with a higher monthly payment. The monthly payments on a 30 year loan were quite a bit lower.

Being able to make additional lump sum payments during the year means the outstanding loan reduces faster. We also found that we were reducing the number of years left on the mortgage by making these payments. This may be difficult but well worth the effort in the a few years down the line. Our desire for a 15 year fixed rate mortgage was second place to our more immediate needs. Things worked out well anyway, even though we were unsure about it to start with.

About the Author:

What’s Necessary for Ventrilo server hosting?

by Jarrod Ploof

If you’re part of the gaming community, you know that this is something very unique. If you want to jump to the next level in your gaming, you’ll need Ventrilo server hosting. To consider Ventrilo server hosting, as a community, you’ll need to decide what you’re looking for in a hosting company.

There are a number of aspects to consider when it comes to Ventrilo server hosting so it is important to field what are the most important aspects to your particular gaming community. Ventrilo server hosting is done for groups that have less than 1000 slots needed for the pro version but need access to more than the eight slots that are provided by the freeware version.

Ventrilo server hosting basically rents slots so if you need 50, 100, or 200 you can rent them from a server host. As with just about anything you get what you pay for. You are going to want to avoid the cheapest server hosting companies as well as the most expensive.

This is because with the most expensive hosting companies, you’re being charged for things you probably don’t need. And by the same token, the cheapest hosting companies are probably not going to give you a lot of features or perks that you’ll find necessary, including customer service. Perhaps most importantly, though, a major consideration with choosing a hosting company is to decide how much bandwidth you’re going to need. This is especially true if you’re part of a gaming community. Especially for gaming communities, you need enough bandwidth that everyone can be accommodated when the server becomes active, so that people won’t lose or have a poor connection.

It’s also important to have customer service and technical support, of course, but this is probably not your most important consideration with a hosting company when it comes to gaming. With Ventrilo server hosting, customer service is ranked as the satisfactory, but not at the very highest level. It’s still probably perfectly adequate for your gaming beauty’s needs, though. Your community should still be able to get any questions or concerns addressed as needed, while still providing the features you want so that you can spend the money on things you’ll really use.

Active or uptime is also very important when it comes to Ventrilo server hosting. The server has to be active or up most of the time so that you and those in your community can use it. This is why you want to choose a hosting company that’s going to give you a high percentage of uptime. In fact, you’ll want a guarantee of 99%; it’s very common that most companies have a downtime of approximately 1% for maintenance and emergency issues, and this is true of Ventrilo server hosting, too.

There are some major considerations when looking into Ventrilo server hosting and because of this it is a good idea to take the time to make the decision on which aspects are important and even if you need server hosting as a community. Many times it is the community that helps to pay for the costs that come with gaming and these add on applications, which is why it is best decide on Ventrilo server hosting as a community.

About the Author:

Payday Loans With No Faxing

by Gibson Maseko

We all need a little extra money from time to time to cover something that has happened quite by accident, but that doesn’t mean that the only option available is arranging a personal loan. To get over this short term financial situation, a ‘payday loan’ can be arranged which until recently normally require a bank checking account to arrange. By understanding exactly how this works, it is easy to see why it’s such a popular form of loan and why so many people opt for it today.

Perhaps you have had some unexpected medical expenses or had repairs carried out on your car or home. If this is the case and you know that the following month’s money can cover the amount then a payday loan is an ideal method of arranging early payment of the bill. Lenders will forward you a sum, usually less than 1,000 dollars and once your next paycheck comes through they take the money when you get your next paycheck; it is a quick and easy way not only to get money but also to pay it back.

Most people with internet access now arrange their payday loans online as it is much more convenient. The online application should only take a matter of minutes and the funds can be transferred to your bank account directly. A few years ago, it was impossible to get a payday loan if you had no checking account as a checking account was the lender’s way to ensure that the crediting and depositing of the money was done without any problems.

Lenders today are much easier to please and often just proof of a savings account will do while some are actually happy to lend to people with a poor credit rating. Many just accept proof that the person is actually employed and receives pay regularly. Therefore, the next time you need to take a payday loan but have no checking account, relax.

As the process is simpler, you will only need to prove that you have a job or some money in a savings account. However, be careful not to get caught in a cycle of borrowing as these loans are pretty expensive and if you get into the habit of taking one frequently, you could be spending a lot of money. From time to time, we all need the extra cash but reliance on this facility is not the answer to organizing your finances better.

About the Author: