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They’re generous, they’re consistent, they’re giving…and most of all…they love your music. They’re your fans and they come to every one of your live shows, fork out money for cover charges, CDs and t-shirts, bring your band gifts, throw you house parties, and spread the word of your music on the internet and beyond. Your fans are the single most important ingredient to the success of your band. Without them, you’d be rocking out in your Aunt’s basement to an audience of none…well, maybe her cat.

But there can be a dark side to the hoards of happy humans drunk on your future #1 hits. Sometimes the folks barreling in to see you play, or flooding your websites with their online presence are causing more harm than good to the reputation of your band. Rude behavior, message board flaming, compulsive sticker-ing and flyer-ing, may all seem like helping to your flock of followers but to club owners, industry and those newly interested in your music, they may seem like trouble-makers, belligerents and vandals.

It may be simply a case of over-exuberant fan zeal. Your fans think they’re preaching the gospel of your band to anyone with eyes and ears: by dropping your postcards all over town like a bird with irritable bowel syndrome, by filling up strangers email in-boxes with bulky MP3s and HTML photo-heavy notices about how much you rock, and by yelling your band’s name at the top of their lungs during another band’s set like a parrot with Turret’s Syndrome. These unsolicited over-promotions…albeit well-intentioned…are hard for the average person to separate from your band’s own promotional efforts and may not be appreciated in the way they were intended. On the other hand, it may be that your fans are so revved up by the love of your music that they’ve become arrogant, aggressive and just plain out of control in any arena (or cyber place) your band inhabits. At any rate, you may find that you need to dial these folks back a bit to create a environment that is fan-friendly without comprising your band’s opportunities.

The following are a few tips that will help you to guide your supporters in their quest to be adamant fans without allowing them to turn into an obnoxious, rowdy, gang of rabid baboons.

1.) Communicate With Your Fans—A lot of problems can be eliminated by simply setting up a line of communication between your band members and your fans. For instance, if you know that a particular club forbids setting around flyers, postcards or other promo materials, post it on your website with the upcoming show info-blast. Set guidelines for your band and for each individual show and let your fans know that they need to follow these simple rules or they’re no longer permitted to attend live gigs and to post on your cyber message boards. A little information can go a long way and your fans will be happy that you let them know what they can and can’t do at any particular show.

2.) Learn From Experience—Sad but true, often the best way to learn what’s not appropriate at shows is for inappropriate things to happen. When fans begin their overblown behaviors, benign-intentioned or not, you will learn by the reaction of the clubs, the industry and your other fans what’s okay and what’s not going to fly. A good example is this…placing bumper stickers on club walls may be encouraged at some places but forbidden at others. The first time you get a call from a red-faced bar owner screeching through clenched teeth that his men’s room walls have to be repainted, you’ll know that it’s time to email your fan base and let them know to leave their reserve of band stickers at home when the band plays that club again. In another example, it may not occur to your band that certain fans are behaving rudely to club personnel or to your other fans, at your shows, until someone makes you aware of it. At that time, you may need to email your naughty fans and let them know that certain bad attitudes are unacceptable at shows, and on your message boards, and that fans who can’t be pleasant will not be invited back.

3.) Friends And Family Are No Exception—As awful as it sounds, often times a band’s family and friends are the most out of control and obnoxious at shows…and on the web. Maybe it’s because they’re more emotionally invested in the band and its members, or maybe because the musicians forget to remind their loved one about fan etiquette. You and your bandmates may think it’s a given, but some of the biggest jerks, idiots, and rebel rousers at gigs are your loved ones. It doesn’t matter it’s the bass player’s ten year-old brother to the drummer’s 60 year-old dad, you don’t want to be banned from your favorite showcase venue because granny kicked the bouncer in the shin. Don’t be afraid to sit your friends/family down and spell out the live show/internet rules for your band. Sometimes you can’t control the fans you don’t know, which makes it all the more important than ever to control the fans you do.

4.) Lay Down The Law—Once you become aware of the “problem” fans, it’s time to explain to them what they can and cannot do at your gigs and on your website. Before banning anyone from visiting the band’s shows and sites, try sending out a polite, but firm, email with some specific guidelines and a serious warning that the next step will be cutting these bad elements out of the band’s loop. It’s important to try not to make the email too harsh, as it may insight further acting up. So, just deliver the message in a casual way, explaining that their actions are hurting and not helping the band…a fact that they honestly may not realize. Honestly, you may need to give it some backbone so that your jerky fans really understand that their jig is up. If you’re having trouble with someone you know well…a particular friend or family member…a phone call or face-to-face meeting might better do the trick. No matter how the message is executed, it’s important to let your fans know that certain behaviors will not be tolerated by the band under any circumstance. Most fans would rather shape up that be cut out of all of the fun, and the band’s reputation will be safe from troublesome followers for the time being.

It’s true that fans are a band’s biggest asset. But left uncontrolled they can also be the biggest liability as your band takes on the responsibility and reputation for the antics that its fans pull at live shows and on websites. Like crazed leprechauns, full of mischief, each fan’s silly stunts and nasty attitude problems will eat away at your band’s good name with tiny bites…like a school of piranha in a stream eating a full sized goat down to the bone in seconds…until your band is left, a former shell of itself, wandering your town trying to figure out why you can’t get booked and no one visits your website. It’s not a good sign when you see a tumbleweed blow through your music career. Nip it in the bud now. Control your fans behavior. Trust me; you’ll be glad you did.

Like cable television, Satellite radio is fast becoming a new genre of and unto itself. While not having to endure the same regulations as applied by the FCC in regards to free radio, the broadcasters of satellite radio, like cable television, have more options available to them and are able to offer a wider variety of programming as a direct result.

Satellite radio is the cable television of the radio broadcasting world. People can buy a satellite radio subscription in much the same manner that they would subscribe to cable television. The subscription includes various types of radio broadcasting not otherwise available to the listener. These usually include more adult-oriented radio broadcasting since the FCC does not regulate the industry in the same manner that they do for the free radio airwaves.

Since people are paying for the privilege of listening, and satellite radio is a buyer’s market, the wide selection of broadcast media that is available are regulated mostly by what the listeners want and what they are willing to pay for. While satellite radio may not be a viable alternative for everyone, it does offer more listening opportunities for those people who are willing to pay for it. Satellite radio subscriptions vary in cost, but all things being equal, the subscription fees are not at all unattractive when the broad spectrum of radio programming is compared to what limited choices are available without satellite radio.

There are also still some limitations in the availability of satellite radio. While these areas are in steady decline as satellite radio listeners increase in numbers, there are still voids in the market where it is not yet financially feasible to install satellite radio options. It is best to check for the availability of satellite radio before purchasing any satellite ready receivers.

Satellite radio receivers vary in all manner of shape, style and output range and are available to fit the needs of most any satellite radio listener. Deciding which one is best for any given use will require the purchaser to do a little research into satellite radio and what local options are available, then adjusted according to the personal preferences of the listener.

While the advent of Satellite radio technology is seen as a new path to freedom for some and a road to decline for others, the satellite radio of today looks like it is here to stay. If satellite radio is available in your area, it can be a worthy investment. Satellite radio really does offer many options not available to the regular radio listener.

Your iPod uses a lithium ion battery. That is not the round kind found in a flashlight. Rather, it is a light, thin battery that is more powerful than conventional batteries. Using your device causes the battery to drain – simple enough. However, every time you charge your iPod battery, it loses some of its total charge. Over time, it will simply run out of power and you will have to replace the iPod battery with an iPod battery replacement kit.

You are walking along, listening to your favorite tunes when your iPod shuts down. You go home to charge it up, and after a few hours, you are ready to go. You pop in your headphones, turn it on and nothing. Your iPod battery has died.

Now before you shake your fist in anger or frustration, it is good to understand why your iPod mini battery has kicked the bucket. It might not be of much consolation now, but knowing how iPod batteries work is always useful information to have.

Let us say that an iPod mini battery holds enough power to play for one hour. After an hour, it dies out, so you charge it again. It is now full, but instead of an hour, it only plays 59 minutes. Over time and repeated charges, the battery simply cannot hold a charge any more. Once that happens, it is time to change the iPod battery.

Now, you may be asking yourself why your iPod does not use conventional batteries. Here is the answer: find any size battery in your home and try to place it in your iPod. You will soon figure out why lithium ion is the weapon of choice for iPod mini batteries. They are smaller, longer lasting, and have the juice to power today’s high-performance devices.

When an iPod battery dies, you can easily purchase an iPod mini battery replacement kit, instead of purchasing an entirely new unit. According to Apple, iPods are designed to last for years to come.

Therefore, the key to long iPod battery life is to only charge it when you have to. And remember, dead iPod batteries are those that won’t hold any charge at all. An iPod battery with some charge left can hold some charge can still be useful, but you will still want to consider purchasing an iPod replacement kit.

Also keep in mind that when your iPod mini battery does die, it requires a proper funeral inside a proper container. No, you don’t need to buy a casket and a plot, but you do need to adhere to local laws when it comes to battery disposal.

There was a time not too many years back when inground pools were far too prohibitively expensive for many families to have installed in their backyards. However; times have changed and new construction techniques and materials are now being used to make inground pools far more affordable.

For instance, new advancements in plastics composition and manufacturing technologies means that so many more options in plastic pool linings are now available. Many of these newer plastic pool linings don’t even look like plastic at all and in fact, faux “pebble” plastic inground pool lininers look so much like the real thing, that people standing at the pools edge will have to be told that the lining is made from plastic, not real rocks.

Also, new high tech plastics and upgraded industrial metals have found their way into the other components of todays inground pools, making them so much more impervious to the elements, which in turn makes them longer lasting. This means that unlike the prefabricated inground pools of decades past, todays prefabricated inground pools will last for years and years if properly maintained.

One more aspect of todays inground pool that has added to their affordability is their ease of construction. While they do require a reasonable degree of labor to install, the fact is, that they can now be installed by a homeowner. The job will require more then one person to complete but it can and is done every day.

Accessories and hardware for your inground pool is far more affordable then it used to be now. Pumps and equipment can now be purchased over the Internet and don’t require a specialist to install it. Even pool toys and features such as diving boards can be purchased online now and are now very affordable.

Just as satellite dishes competed with cable decades ago for premium movie channel services, dishes are now back, offering satellite acces to the internet to compete with cable and DSL. In a practical sense, satellite Internet access isn’t so much of a competing technology as much as it is an alternative in areas where cable or DSL services are not available. Internet access via satellite is a somewhat pricey option at this time, though with downstream rates from 150-1,200 Kbps and upstream rates around 50-150 Kbps, available bandwidth is far greater than dialup connectivity.

Satellite Internet access operates via geostationary (fixed-position) satellites that beam microwaves from about 22,300 miles above the Earth’s equator to your dish antenna and transceiver (transmitter/receiver). Satellite Internet access is available in two forms: two-way and one-way.

A typical two-way satellite Internet connection allows for upstream and downstream transmissions via satellite. Here is an example of a typical two-way satellite data transmission:

1. Your transceiver (connected to your computer) passes the digital signal to your dish antenna, which beams the information to the satellite (transponder).

2. The transponder forwards/beams the digital signal to a network operations center (NOC) back on the ground.

3. The NOC forwards the data request on to the Internet via land-based infrastructure.

4. Data returning from the Internet follows the same process (in reverse) back to your computer.

In theory, this entire process takes only about half of a second, but in practice it takes longer, so this isn’t the method of choice for online gamers. (The time delays inherent in satellite communication can be somewhat distracting to online gainers.) A two-way setup provides always-on Internet connectivity that makes access convenient.

A one-way satellite transmission downstreams data from the transponder to your dish antenna but does not allow for transmitting data upstream in the same manner. One-way internet satellite access requires that you transmit upstream data through a dialup connection but only downstream data travels via satellite.

It is worth noting that because satellite Internet access operates off “lineof-sight” communication, transmissions are susceptible to heavy precipitation signal degradation (rain fade) and occasional solar interference. A variation of this technology called fixed wireless uses cell towers and has less latency but even more line-of-sight problems. But with the growth of the internet, and need of customers, satellite internet service is improving both in practicality and price.

So if DSL or cable or even dial up internet service is not an option for you, satellite internet service may be your ticket to net freedom.