The 11 Most Influential Microprocessors of All Time

From the brains of the Voyager space mission to the inspiration for modern CPUs, here are the chips that built our modern technological culture.

The 11 Most Influential Microprocessors of All Time

The 11 Most Influential Microprocessors of All Time (Image courtesy of PC World)

Chips That Made a Difference
Microprocessors are wondrous devices: They integrate the brain of a computer onto a single electronic component. The computing power that once required a room full of equipment now fits onto a razor-thin slice of silicon, usually no larger than a centimeter square. Almost everything we do these days -- such as cooking our food, driving our cars, doing our laundry and, of course, reading articles just like this one -- depends on these mighty mites.

In the wide field of microprocessors, some chips have stood out for the influence they've had technologically, culturally and economically. They aren't necessarily the most successful, the best-selling or the most powerful, but they each started an important and persistent trend -- an architecture, a marketing concept or a whole new use for computing.

11. Intel Pentium (1993)

Breakthrough application: Brand-name processors

After a court rejected trademarking "386" in a 1991 ruling, Intel realized that it would need to move beyond mere numbers in naming its eagerly awaited new processor, which had been known as the 586. So the processor giant devised a unique, easy-to-trademark identity: Pentium.

Initially, critics ridiculed the name, but in fact the Pentium opened a new era in consumer-microprocessor marketing. No longer were CPUs referred to solely by numbers such as 286, 386 and 486; instead they carried a brand name that resonated in the public consciousness.

That brand gave Intel processors a certain cachet that computer owners could easily brag about. Rival manufacturers could no longer produce clones and call them "486" or the like -- a chip was either a real Pentium or a knock-off. The trademarked CPU became a status symbol, and it remains so today.

10. Motorola 68000 (1980)
Breakthrough application: Apple Macintosh (1984)

When Motorola released the 68000 in 1980, it was one of the most powerful chips on the market. Initially the 68000 powered Unix workstations and servers, including the Sun-1. But the hybrid 16/32-bit processor didn't make huge waves in the personal-computer world until Apple incorporated it in 1984's Macintosh. Descendants of the 68000 powered all Macintosh computers until Apple switched to PowerPC chips in the late 1990s.

After Motorola dropped the 68000’s price in the mid-1980s, the processor also saw significant use in the Atari ST and Amiga computer lines, the Sega Genesis video game console and arcade machines. The 68K core still lives on in embedded microcontrollers used in various applications such as automotive-engine controllers, front-panel displays and weather-monitoring instruments.

9. AIM PowerPC 601 (1992)
Breakthrough application: Apple Power Macintosh 6100 (1994)

PowerPC sprang out of an unnatural and unholy alliance among three fierce competitors: Apple, IBM and Motorola. The tech giants threw their weight behind this new microprocessor architecture in hopes of breaking the stranglehold that Intel and Microsoft had over the personal-computer market.

Although it didn't vanquish Intel, PowerPC found a niche as the heart of the Apple Macintosh (a runner-up in our list of The 25 Greatest PCs of All Time), which used versions of the CPU from 1994 to 2006. The processor also found acceptance outside of PCs, powering several generations of game consoles, including the Nintendo Wii and the Microsoft Xbox 360. It’s also a component of the Sony PlayStation 3's Cell processor.

9. AIM PowerPC 601 (1992)
Breakthrough application: Apple Power Macintosh 6100 (1994)

PowerPC sprang out of an unnatural and unholy alliance among three fierce competitors: Apple, IBM and Motorola. The tech giants threw their weight behind this new microprocessor architecture in hopes of breaking the stranglehold that Intel and Microsoft had over the personal-computer market.

Although it didn't vanquish Intel, PowerPC found a niche as the heart of the Apple Macintosh (a runner-up in our list of The 25 Greatest PCs of All Time), which used versions of the CPU from 1994 to 2006. The processor also found acceptance outside of PCs, powering several generations of game consoles, including the Nintendo Wii and the Microsoft Xbox 360. It’s also a component of the Sony PlayStation 3's Cell processor.

7. AMD Opteron 240 (2003)
Breakthrough application: IBM server hardware

Developing computing technology is as much about change as anything else. So when it came time to move from the 32-bit world to the 64-bit world, Intel tried its hand with Itanium, a 64-bit processor that had 32-bit support. Unfortunately, the Itanium ran existing 32-bit code slowly.

Meanwhile, AMD was busy extending Intel's existing x86 instruction set to incorporate 64-bit support without any performance cost on 32-bit software. Known as "x86-64" or "AMD64," this instruction-set design premiered in the AMD Opteron 240. The design was so effective that Intel adopted it as well, incorporating the instruction set into all of the x86 processor lines except Itanium.

All desktop-PC microprocessors manufactured today use Opteron's x86-64 instruction set, and the standard will likely persist for many years to come.

6. Zilog Z80 (1976)
Breakthrough application: Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I

The 8-bit Z80 started out as an enhanced clone of the popular Intel 8080 CPU; but because the Z80 had better features for a lower price, it soon eclipsed the 8080’s popularity.

The Z80, teamed with the CP/M operating system, became the first multivendor computing standard. Much like Windows and x86 processors today, the CP/M-Z80 combo powered hundreds of business-computer models in the late 1970s and early 80s, perhaps the most popular of which was the Trash-80.

Like many processors, the Z80 has enjoyed a rich second life as an embedded processor in consumer electronics, powering the Nintendo Game Boy, the Sega Master System and other game consoles, as well as many Texas Instruments graphing calculators. Modern versions of the original 8-bit Z80 are still sold for embedded applications, making it one of the microprocessors with the longest continuous history of production.

6. Zilog Z80 (1976)
Breakthrough application: Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I

The 8-bit Z80 started out as an enhanced clone of the popular Intel 8080 CPU; but because the Z80 had better features for a lower price, it soon eclipsed the 8080’s popularity.

The Z80, teamed with the CP/M operating system, became the first multivendor computing standard. Much like Windows and x86 processors today, the CP/M-Z80 combo powered hundreds of business-computer models in the late 1970s and early 80s, perhaps the most popular of which was the Trash-80.

Like many processors, the Z80 has enjoyed a rich second life as an embedded processor in consumer electronics, powering the Nintendo Game Boy, the Sega Master System and other game consoles, as well as many Texas Instruments graphing calculators. Modern versions of the original 8-bit Z80 are still sold for embedded applications, making it one of the microprocessors with the longest continuous history of production.

6. Zilog Z80 (1976)
Breakthrough application: Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I

The 8-bit Z80 started out as an enhanced clone of the popular Intel 8080 CPU; but because the Z80 had better features for a lower price, it soon eclipsed the 8080’s popularity.

The Z80, teamed with the CP/M operating system, became the first multivendor computing standard. Much like Windows and x86 processors today, the CP/M-Z80 combo powered hundreds of business-computer models in the late 1970s and early 80s, perhaps the most popular of which was the Trash-80.

Like many processors, the Z80 has enjoyed a rich second life as an embedded processor in consumer electronics, powering the Nintendo Game Boy, the Sega Master System and other game consoles, as well as many Texas Instruments graphing calculators. Modern versions of the original 8-bit Z80 are still sold for embedded applications, making it one of the microprocessors with the longest continuous history of production.

3. Acorn Computers ARM2 (1986)
Breakthrough application: Acorn Archimedes (1987)

ARM originally stood for "Acorn RISC Machine," a name that reveals its heritage. ARM started as a simple, low-cost, 32-bit RISC (reduced instruction set computer) processor line designed by British computer maker Acorn Computers. It premiered in the form of the ARM2 in 1987's Acorn Archimedes, a 32-bit computer released only in the United Kingdom.

The Archimedes and its descendants fared well in the U.K., but never reached U.S. shores. However, the ARM architecture truly shone in its second life as an embedded microcontroller for consumer electronics, powering intelligent gadgets that hundreds of millions of people use every day. ARM processors have found their way into PDAs, cell phones, the Nintendo DS, iPods and iPhones, GPS units, digital cameras and much more. And they've done so by the billions, making ARM the most-used 32-bit embedded processor architecture of all time.

2. Intel 8080 (1974)
Breakthrough application: MITS Altair 8800 (1975)

Some people would say that the 8080 was the first "real" microprocessor, the first one well-suited to general-purpose computer use. This 8-bit CPU ignited the PC revolution as a part of the MITS Altair 8800, the first mass-produced personal-computer kit. The 8080's success quickly spawned competitors such as the Motorola 6800 and enhanced clones like the Z80, expanding the microprocessor's market potential. More important, the 8080 became the foundation of Intel's 80x dynasty of successors -- a long, proud line that includes the 8085, the 8086, the 8088 and chips beyond. The 8080's footprint on history is quite large indeed.

1. Intel 4004 (1971)
Breakthrough application: Busicom 141-PF Calculator (1971)

What microprocessor could be more influential than the first commercial model of all time? The 4004 was a 4-bit processor designed specifically for Busicom desktop calculators. It proved that a potentially wider market for microprocessors existed and it led Intel -- then a memory-chip manufacturer in search of a calling -- to its true destiny, that of a microprocessor innovator and a trendsetter for decades to come.

-- Benj Edwards, PC World

Source: MSN

Rapplez Game Features

Action Icons
Rappelz optionally provides the use of icons for actions, allowing them to be assigned to a hotkey. Some other actions may also be used through the use of icons (those available in the control window).

Lak and Chips
A Lak is magical energy from monsters and can be obtained by defeating monsters while wearing the appropriate necklace. This necklace will be available fairly early in the game. Gathered Lak can be consumed if the player dies, preventing him to lose experience points (the amount of Lak consumed increases with the level of the character), or can be traded at any Lak Trader for either chips or in-game currency, rupees. Lak Traders also provide the option to buy chips with rupees. However, it is more cost-efficient to obtain chips via Lak.

There are three types of chips: Force Chips, Soul Chips and Luna Chips. These chips are items that characters can use to significantly affect a battle by increasing the amount of damage the target takes for a limited amount of time. They come in different ranks which allow different levels of users to use chips. Force Chips increase physical damage, Soul Chips increase magical damage, Luna Chips affect both physical and magical damage, but cost slightly more than Force and Soul chips.

Items and Equipment
Equipment in the game have their own level and can level up by means of upgrading. Items that are able to do this display a section at the bottom of their status window showing the upgraded status effects, allowing players to know ahead of time the quality of the equipment. By visiting a Blacksmith, which is available in every town, players are able to upgrade their currently equipped (and upgradeable) equipment for a fee.

In addition, combinations of equipment with the appropriate enchantment cubes can further increase its potency, and as is the case with weapons, even be reflected graphically through a glow effect. This is called 'enchanting' an item. A weak weapon or armour can be formed into a stronger item without having to sell it and buy a new one. This can also substantially increase both the item's in-game market value. The only non-equipment item that can be enchanted is the skill card.

Items can also be improved by 'socketing' Soul Stones. This is done by visiting a Soulcrafter. Soul Stones are drop items that cannot be bought from any NPC. When socketed, they will increase one of the primary stats of one's character, if three conditions are met: the equipment with the Soul Stone is equipped, the Soul Stone's level is lower than or equals the character's level, and the Soul Power of the equipment is charged. Soul Power can be charged at the Soulcrafter of each town, and will be paid in Lak. Most equipment has two sockets for Soul Stones, however two-handed weapons have four.

Pet System
One of Rappelz's defining features is its Pet system. Pets are creatures that adventure alongside players, aiding them in battle. They come in many varieties, and can be made to fulfill numerous roles. Additionally, pets have many of the properties of player characters: they gain levels alongside their owners, learn different skills, and can make use of equipment.

Pets can be used by all races and classes: the only requirement being two skills, Summon Creature and Creature Control, which are available early in the game. The basic classes (Rogue, Guide and Stepper) and fighter classes have little emphasis on creatures through the availability of creature affecting skills while the others, especially summoner classes (Breeder, Spell Singer and Sorcerer) can affect creatures more greatly.

Pets are attained by taming a pet while having the appropriate card for that pet in the player's inventory. The three most basic pet cards can be bought in any town, while other cards are only found from defeated monsters. Once tamed, pets can be summoned and banished at will by their owners.

Upon reaching a certain level, pets can "evolve" to a different type. A pet evolves twice during its lifetime. Additionally, pets can learn skills at higher levels that allow them to be used as equipment, augmenting their owner's power. There is also a feature known as "overbreeding" which requires a somewhat longer time to achieve. Overbreeding grants pets more job points and stats than non-overbred pets. Overbreeding begins after a pet can evolve but not allowing the city tamer to evolve it. Generally if a pet is not Overbred, it is considered worthless to players wishing to buy a pet.

Current Pets
The Rappelz Reference Guide lists the pets in order of taming chance, using tiers. As of Epic 4, pets from tiers 1 through 3 are considered Basic, and tier 4 pets are considered Rare. Pet cards for pets from tier 1 can be purchased from NPCs, pet cards for tiers 2 through 4 are drop-only items (though sometimes they do appear in the Cash Shop as bonus items on special packages). tier 1, 2 and 3 are all listed as "basic" on their pet cards, however different drop rates and tame rates may put them into different tiers as shown below. Each pet has a specific 'Unity' which is a toggle self-buff for itself and its owner. The rarer the pet, the better its unity.

Tier 1 (Basic):
Pantera: A muscular tiger creature. It focuses on movement speed and physical attack. Its unity adds P.Atk.
Poultry: A large chicken creature. It focuses on attack speed and accuracy. Its unity adds Acc.
Tortus: A giant tortoise creature. It focuses on defense and high hp. Its unity adds P.Def.

Tier 2 ("Common"):
Red Pixie: A small red glowing fairy. It has very high magic (fire) damage capabilities but has low defenses. Its unity adds M.atk.

Orc: A green humanoid creature with high attack and defense. Its unity adds P.Atk and P.Def.
Blue Pixie: A small blue glowing fairy. Great healing abilities, but low defense. Its unity adds MP.Recov.

Siren: A beautiful humanoid female. It has abilities to debuff enemies. Its unity adds Acc and M.Acc.

Skeleton: A skeletal warrior. It has fast physical attacks and extraordinary damage-dealing capabilities. Its unity adds Atk Speed.

Yeti: A white yeti creature with a mask. It has remarkably high defense and health. Its unity adds P.Def

Wolf: A gray wolf. It has very high evasion. It's hp and mp are not very high. Its unity adds evasion.

Tier 3 ("Un-Common"):
Hawkman: A bird/human hybrid resembling an avian. Its skills and abilities focus on high physical attack and high physical defense. Its unity adds P.Atk and P.Def.
Salamander: A red bipedal fire-based lizard. Its skills and abilities are based around high damage dealing potential in both magical and physical areas. Its unity adds P.Atk and M.Atk

Harpy: A bird/human more resembling a winged archer. Its skills and abilities focus on high dexterity and p.atk, but low p.def. It also has very low HP and MP. Its unity adds attack speed.

Tier 4 (Rare):
Angel: An angel-like creature with wings. It focuses on healing with great defensive potential. It also bears several magic attacks of notable power. Its unity adds M.Atk and P.Def
Kentauros: A centaur equipped with a spear. Its strength lies in enormous physical attacks and fantastic damage-dealing potential. Its unity is P.Atk

Cerberus: A three-headed dog creature. It focuses on extremely powerful physical attacks and high attack speed. Its unity adds P.Atk and Acc.

Gnoll: A bipedal hyena creature, which focuses on good block rate and p.def. Its unity adds block chance, block power and also P.Atk.

Tier 5 (Unique):
White Dragon: An ice-themed dragon creature. White Dragons have higher defense and magic attack (and thus damage) than any other pet, making them simply "the best". They are also nearly unheard of in terms of rarity.

Mystic Koala: A koala type beast. Has the 2nd highest defense of all pets and boosts on the user's chance to score a critical hit. It is the only pet that can be obtained without having it tamed.

Purchased from the Ursa Caverns Shop Dealer for 1,000,000 Gen Points. This pet's unity increase does not increase the chance for more or better loot because luck is unrelated.

Rapplez The Story

The oldest race is the Gaia, and to assist them, the gods of Creation and Extinction brought two more races into the world. They were the Deva who represented the Light and the Asura who represented the Darkness. With this, there was a period of peace and stability in the world.
As the ages passed by, there was one among the Gaia who called herself "The Witch". Over time, she grew in tremendous power and with a ruthless ambition, rallied the people of Gaia to rebel against the world.

Not all the people of Gaia heeded this call, however, and the world was thrown into chaos. It was only through the combined efforts of the three races of Deva, Asura, and Gaia that "The Witch" was finally captured and burnt alive. It was a victorious outcome of a unity between the three races.

Now at the present time, the three races continue to co-exist with each other in the world of Rappelz but dark rumors have surfaced about the second coming of "The Witch" and the return of her terrible forces. The backstory plays a substantial role in the game itself.

Glorious History of Rapplez

The Open Beta version of Rappelz launched on October 2, 2006,[25] with two separate servers available: "Tortus" , the normal PvE server, and "Pantera", the more PvP/PK-oriented server. Those who had previously downloaded the Closed Beta version of Rappelz were not required to re-download the Rappelz client to play in Open Beta; however, extensive automatic patching was done by the client before Closed Beta players could enter Open Beta.

Closed Beta ended on September 26, 2006. Closed-beta characters were deleted at the beginning of Open Beta; however, characters created during Open Beta were not deleted prior to the game's release. Open Beta ended with the official release of the game on November 03, 2006.

There are currently seven servers in service namely, "Bahamut", "Tortus", "Yeti", "Lydian" and "Pantera (PVP).", "Salamander" and the newest (opened on August 14 2007) - "Tanda", named after the game's head Game Master.[citation needed] The US test server for Epic 4 testing was called "Siren".

Epic 3: Siege for Glory
The release candidate for Rappelz right after open beta.

Epic 4: Revolution
Rappelz Epic IV was released on July 27, 2007. The expansion included a complete skill revamp, changes to the pet system, the inclusion of a second job class, and many small tweaks to the system and graphics. However, the majority of bugs and issues reported in Epic III were not resolved and Epic IV introduced many new bugs including missing skills, broken skills and items/ descriptions not translated from original Korean.

Epic 5: Dragonic Age
The first part of this update went live on August 12, 2008 and contained:
two new pets, Pet skills and development changed/added, decorative pets have been added
new dungeon, new armors, weapons, cloaks and helmets
The second part released on October 15 2008 and brought:
two new dungeons, level limit raised to 170 new armor, weapons, and accessories
a new ridable mount (ornitho) for level 120+
job points were reset for all players

Epic 6: Navislamia
This update was released on the 20th of May 2009 and contained:
High level field area updates (Level 120+), new teleport routes
two new higher level dungeons and changes to dungeon monster drop rates and items
Some monsters can now detect stealthed players.

Three new pets added, Trainee Island updated, new quests, areas and dungeon

User Interface changed, keymapping enhanced, changes to donation system and ranking.

Rapplez The Online Multiplayer Game

Rappelz is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The game is developed by the Korean company nFlavor, and published by the Californian company Gala-Net Inc. It is published in Europe by Gala Networks Europe in French, German, Polish and Turkish. As of October 2008, Rappelz was also being published by the South East Asia based game publishing company AsiaSoft, as RappelzSEA, however was later dropped by the company on September 1, 2009.
Rappelz is set in a medieval fantasy world, dominated by three races: the Deva, who represent light, the Asura, who represent darkness, and the Gaia, humans that possess an affinity with nature.
Each major installment of the game is referred to as an "Epic", similar to Lineage II's "Chronicles". The current installment is called "Epic 6: Navislamia".

How to Get Free Stuff

The best things in life are free. Atleast that is what mom always told us. The internet has given us all an advantage to getting free stuff, free samples, online coupons, free catalogs, and free magazines. All over the web you see websites with promotions, coupon codes, and other things claiming to give you "free" things. While sometimes these are honest offers, other times they are not so honest. The best way to tell if the free stuff you are getting is legit is to make sure that it does not ask you for any payment information. If the website wants your credit card or other billing information do not do it. It might not charge anything up front but later on may surprise you.

Things You'll Need:
Internet

Step 1
Some websites that offer great links to free stuff are:

www.totallyfreestuff.com
www.freestuff.com
www.thefreesite.com
www.freestufftimes.com
www.sweetfreestuff.com
www.freakyfreddies.com
www.justfreestuff.com

These websites offer free stuff such as free samples, free magazines including free trials and full subscriptions, free catalogs, t-shirts, mouse pads, stickers, online coupons, and much more.

Step 2

If you have a teen who might be interested in getting some cool free stuff you might want them to check out www.teenfreeway.com but make sure you supervise which offers they are signing up for. Some of the offers here do require that you purchase something, while others are 100% free such as free magazines, cosmetic samples, and free catalogs.

Step 3

There is also www.freecycle.org which is an organization that is divided into seperate sections based on location. You are more than likely to find one in your area. This website is basically like a forum or group in which members post what they are giving away such as furniture, baby clothes, law mowers, coupons, etc. The really cool part is that if you are in need of something but your low on cash you can post a wanted ad and will most likely find someone who has what you are looking for and are willing to give it to you - for free! This free stuff is the best free stuff.

Step 4

Other than what I have mentioned above you can also get free stuff in the department stores with nice online coupons that you can get from the internet. Some people have become so involved in coupon hunting that it is a big part of their life. They have a proven organized method of using online coupons to save money each and every month up to hundreds of dollars.

Here are a few links to some great websites where you can find amazing online coupons that you can print right from home. Most stores accept printed coupons. When in doubt just go to Wal-Mart, that's where I always use mine.

www.wow-coupons.com
www.coolsavings.com
www.hotcouponworld.com (My personal favorite.)

Step 5

When left with the question as to why use online coupons, why get free stuff, why take offers, there is only one answer. Why not. Free stuff is the best stuff and I may have developed an addiction myself, but I guarantee this one is healthy for you, your family, and your pocket book.

Types of Internet Communities

The Internet is the fastest way to reconnect with old friends, learn about new media trends, communicate with multiple people at one time, and keep abreast of current events. Internet communities are engaging virtual spaces that assist you with finding out information about people, places, and things. You are able to speak freely and openly about things that are on your mind.

Joining
Social networking communities allow you to link up with old and new friends, see photos of them online, and meet new people. Many social networking sites have a search engine that allows you to find people by name, email address, location, and schools they have attended. Generally you will need to request the person as a friend. Sites such as MySpace and Facebook are very popular social networking communities.

Expression
Blogs are used to express a writer's political and personal views, as well as display a person's creativity through artwork, photography, written words, and video. Blogs are also used as online diaries. Writers also may critique restaurants, retail stores and travel destinations.

Dating
Dating sites are used to match people with a prospective mate. Websites such as eHarmony, ask you to register and fill out a detailed questionnaire to help match members with the same interests. The site also offers member testimonials for readers.

Games
Online gaming communities are very popular. Community members share tips on how to master video games, learn about game developers and products, improve gaming skills, and update each other on the latest games, animation, and highlights. Some gaming communities offer the inside scoop on DVD movie and music releases.

Business
Professional networking sites and communities are designed to help you meet serious professionals with your same interests. You can research a person's work history, resume and organization affiliations. Oftentimes, community members list their educational background, and you can network with alumni of your college or university. Members of this community may advance in their careers by inquiring about new job opportunities.

Forums
Message boards, also known as online forums or discussion sites are popular places to find information needed to make decisions on things such as purchasing electronics and fixing technical problems on your computer. Users also use forums to discuss current events or find support in reaching a common goal. Message boards are also a helpful tool when researching health related issues.

How to Beat Any Online Game

We've played them before. There's no denying it. But have we all won, in a sense, countless times that it gets boring to keep going? I think not, and that's why I'm giving you a very basic instruction on how to beat any online game.

Things You'll Need:
A relatively fast Internet connection

Step 1

Beating an online game requires you to know strategy, and strategy can only be obtained by watching the pros play and practicing. But some basic strategies in online games, especially in an online multiplayer flashgame, is to know the strengths of your arsenal and the weaknesses of you and your opponents.

Step 2

Figure out a loophole in the game. Is there a really easy way to get kills or points quickly? Figure that out and then you'll pretty much get the game underway right away!

Step 3

Use common sense. Let's suppose an opponent was waiting at the corner just waiting to bite, destroy, or demolish your life. Just move away, dude. It's really much easier when you DON't be really stupid.

Step 4

On online paid games such as the Call of Duty series, the online multiplayer game is very fast-paced, very exciting to not only watch but be a part of. There are many pros and experienced players who know the map inside out. Know your map first of all, know your ways out, and know your ways in.

Step 5

Obstacles are the essence of any online game. An obstacle may be time, many or very experienced opponents, or any factors that could cause you to lose focus. In a fast-paced timed optical illusion challenge that I had recently played, you had to multitask, paying attention to the swirling colors while keeping track of time. The objective is to get the highest number of point while in a timeframe, so don't lose track of your time, or time will be used against you by others!

Step 6

Practice, practice, practice. There's no use reading through all of this and still not getting what it means to make a chain reaction of wins. It's practice that what really makes a player at any game good and able to defeat others. It's the experience and knowledge of the different weapons and strategies in your arsenal of skills that makes a pro what he/she is. Hope this helped!

How to Avoid Unintentional Plagiarism

Most people think of plagiarism as a writer blatantly stealing the work of another author and attempting to pass that work off as his or her own. The fact of the matter is that there may come at time when you plagiarize without even being aware that you're doing it. This actually happens more than you may think because of published work on the internet. There are steps you can take to ensure that you don't copy somebody else's work. Here is how to avoid unintentional plagiarism.

Step 1
Write about what you know. This will allow you to work without having to do research, thus keeping all of the information you know about the certain subject your own thoughts. Try to add any personal experiences to a piece that you are working on whenever possible. Doing so enables you to write in your words, thus avoiding any type of plagiarism.

Step 2
Take some time between reading on a subject and writing about it. Plenty of people accidentally plagiarize while paraphrasing because they are writing about a subject they read about only a few minutes before. Instead, read on that subject and then take a 30-minute break. This will allow you to take what you have read and turn it into your own thoughts.

Step 3
Rewrite twice after paraphrasing. This is exactly what it sounds like. After you've put a piece into your own words, write that section again using different words and thoughts. Repeat this step once more. Forcing yourself to twist words and sentence structure will help you to both avoid unintentional plagiarism as well as obtain a better grasp on that particular subject.

Step 4
Write as you talk whenever possible. Many people have a similar writing style but very few people, if any, talk the exact same way that you do. This doesn't necessarily mean “dumbing” your piece down. Pretend that you are talking about the subject that you are writing about with friends or colleagues. Imagine the words that you would use during that conversation and then put those words down on paper.

Step 5
Use quotes and cite sources. There may come a time when you're completely struggling to put a section of your paper or article into your own words. Instead of spending an hour on this, simply place the portion in quotes and make sure to give credit to the original author. Remember that it's better for an entire paragraph to be in quotations than for you to unintentionally (or intentionally) plagiarize.

How to Improve Adsense Earnings Without Increasing Traffic

Are you tired of checking your AdSense earnings only to see that you've made just a few cents - or nothing at all? We've all been there. It's frustrating. Sometimes you feel like it's hopeless. Here are a few things you can try to increase your earnings - without increasing traffic.

Step1

CHANGE AD PLACEMENT When you visit a web page, where do your eyes fall first? More often than not it's the top left area of the page. Why? We read from left to right, top to bottom. Our minds are trained to start there. Because this is the case, content in the top left area of a page is perceived as more important than content in the lower right portion of a page. For ads, this (typically) corresponds to more clicks. If you don't want to place ads in the top left, make sure you place them in a prominent location on the page. If users have to look around for your ads, they won't get clicked.

Step2

Google provides several color templates and allows you to create and save your own.

CHANGE AD COLOR You have two basic options for the look of your ads. Do you want the ads to 1) stand out from the page or 2) appear to be part of your content? If getting clicks is your goal, the second option is usually better. Ads that stick out and look ugly are less likely to be clicked than ads that fit in nicely with the surrounding page. The ad setup page of Google's AdSense site allows you to customize the shape and color of your ads. Try to match your webpage's font and color. It probably won't be exact, but an approximation is better than hideous, contrasting colors on an otherwise great-looking site.

Step3

VARY AD TYPES Google AdSense offers several ad types for websites: text, image, and link unit. Each type has advantages and disadvantages. Image ads are great for getting attention. They stand out while looking good on the page. Text ads integrate well with text content on the page - i.e. inside of artcles. Link units usually perform best near a navigation menu or header. If the user doesn't find what he/she is looking for, perhaps one of the ads will appeal. Which type of ad you should choose depends on two things: - Where will the ad be placed? - What will be near the ad? In my experience, text ads work best when in/near text. Image ads are best in the header or on the sidebar. Link units are most profitable near menus and other links.

Step4

TRACK ADS AdSense provides the option to track ads via "channels." If used properly, channels can show you which ads are being clicked and which aren't. For example, my blog has two AdSense units at the top of the page. Each has its own channel. The 250x250 square on the left is assigned to a channel called "250Square" - and the 468x60 rectangle in the header is assigned to a channel called "HeaderAd." You may say, "That's great, but what's the point?" Let's consider a scenario for a moment: The 250x250 ad gets 3 clicks, and the 468x60 ad gets 2 clicks. Without channels, AdSense would show me that my ads got 5 clicks altogether. That's nice, but I have no idea which ads were clicked. With channels, I can not only see that my ads received 5 clicks. I can see *which* ads were clicked, how many views they got, etc. With this information, I can see which ads are performing well and which ads are not. If I know what's working and what isn't, I can use what works and lose what doesn't.

Step5

INCREASE CONTENT KEYWORD DENSITY Google AdSense picks ads to display based on your content. If you want ads about a given topic to be displayed, you should use keywords about that topic. You know your visitors better than AdSense. So to make sure Google serves ads that you know will appeal to your audience, you may have to tweak your keywords a bit. For instance, if you want ads about iPods to show up, use the word "iPod" as many times as you reasonably can without keyword stuffing. Make sure you maintain readability, though. Your content needs to make sense and be readable to humans - not just search engines. Don't use your keyword so many times that your content quality suffers.

Step6

PLACE ADS INSIDE YOUR CONTENT Put banners and small ads inside your content. Your readers are going to be looking there anyway. As I stated earlier, text ads seem to perform better inside text content. However, there are cases in which this isn't true. It depends largely on 1) your keywords and 2) your target audience. So experiment a bit. Play around with the type of intra-content ads you use.

How to promote your blog for free

How to promote your blog completely free in your spare time.

Things You'll Need:

• blog

1. Step1

   Make sure to write atleast once a week in your blog, the search engines LOVE fresh new content

2. Step2

   Use blog carnivals to start. Submit one article every week to the carnivals that are related to that post. Only submit your best articles. No advertising articles. This will kick start your blog

3. Step3

   Submit and bookmark every article you write to places like digg.com and stumbleupon. This will help your posts get placed in the search engines.

4. Step4

   search for related blogs and become active members of other blogs by writing comments and using your name as the link to your blog. The more you are active on other blogs the more links to your blog.

5. Step5

   Email the blogs and offer to write a guest article for their blog and many will say yes once you are active on their blogs for a while. This will help increase your subscribers and traffic to your blog if the blog has a lot of traffic / subscribers

How to Promote a Blog

All the time that you spend slaving away on your blog will go to waste if you do not know how to properly publicize a blog. When you have a blog, it is necessary to promote your blog by all the means that you have available to you. Luckily for you, promoting a blog can be fun and easy. You can follow these simple steps to learn how to effectively promote a blog and bring more readers to your blog.

Step1

Think about why you want to promote your blog. Why do you blog in the first place? Are you hoping to bring more readers to your blog simply for the satisfaction of having more people read your blog or are you promoting your blog because you make money on your blog? Depending on your intentions for your blog, you might promote blog sites in different ways. For instance, if you get money from advertisements on your blog, you will want to promote your blog to bring in more paying blog readers who will click on ads.

Step2

Spread the word. The easiest way to promote a blog is to post frequently on blogs with similar topics. If you make your comments on similar blogs interesting and entertaining, other readers of these blogs will recognize the worth of your words. Include a link to your blog in your signature field on all of your blog postings and your blog comments on other people's blogs. If you add something of value to the conversation, people will want to check out your blog. This way of promoting a blog is simple but can be time consuming.

Step3

Use social networking and content sites like eHow to provide links to your blog. You can promote your blog on all of these channels. When you write an eHow article related to your blog topic, for instance, you can promote your blog by linking back to your blog for further information. Promote your blog in as many places as possible and soon you will increase your blog readership.