The way we communicate with each other keeps changing. Once, we relied on letters, telephones and fax machines but now we prefer speedier and sometimes less intrusive forms of communication like email or instant messenger. Even more popular, however, and a phenomenon of communication experienced worldwide, is sending SMS text messages to each other via cellphones (also known as mobile phones or cellular phones).

So, what is SMS?

Short Message Service (SMS) is the general name for the technology which enables people to send and receive text messages via cellphones (or mobile phones).

The GSM digital mobile phone standard (popular in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and some parts of North America) state that: “Messages can be up to 160 characters of text in length”. CDMA networks allow greater message size and operate in North & South America, Asia (China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, etc).

(In actual fact, most modern cellphones using the GSM standard send messages larger than 160 characters, but they do so by sending multiple messages of 160 characters. That means that when you send a message of 330 characters in length, you have actually sent two messages of 160 characters and one message of 10 characters.)

SMS messages can comprise of words, numbers or an alphanumeric combination; binary format is even supported.

Technically speaking, SMS is a store and forward service. This means that messages are not sent directly from sender to recipient, but always via an SMS center instead. You have a limited time to download or receive your messages (this happens automatically when you switch your cellphone on), otherwise the messages are removed from the SMS center concerned.

Message delivery (or failure) can be confirmed, too.

Note: this is a limited definition of sms. A fuller explanation can be found at

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texting

How Can You Send SMS Text Messages For Free?

Sending SMS is a great, quick way to communicate with friends and family. Unlike sending email, though, sending SMS messages is often not free. In the United Kingdom, for example, messages often cost £0.10 per message. And with people sending tens or hundreds of messages each day, costs can mount up.

So mobile phone companies design payment plans that allow you to send a certain number of text messages free per month. Or, if you pay enough of a monthly fee (or top-up your pay-as-you-go phone often enough) you may even be allowed to send an unlimited number of sms messages for free.

Still, this is a costly way to send ‘free sms’.

A much better way is to use so-called ‘free sms sites’.

Yes, there are many, many websites that allow you to send free SMS text messages online. Simply type in your message at such a website, then the cellphone number you wish to send a text message to, and click the send button. Sometimes the messages are delivered immediately, or within the space of an hour or so. Also, quite often there is no need to register to use the free sms service.

Example free sms sites include sms.ac, cbfsms.com and Fonetastic, and you can now find free sms on myspace.com too.

Like anything else on the web, some free SMS sites work better than others. For example:

* Some open for business one week and are closed the next, unable to recover their costs of delivering thousands of sms text messages. (There is always a cost associated with sending sms text messages online for the sms site concerned.)

* Some free sms sites work in one country but not another.

* And, most worryingly, some free SMS sites are simply not free — either it costs the person to send the sms messages, or it costs someone to receive them.

Basically, a lot of free sms text messaging sites start out free, then either stop working or start to charge.

That’s why a visit to a free SMS directory, where sites are reviewed or commented on, is recommended. For example, there are more than 150 free text messaging sites currently listed at TextMeFree.com.

Is Sending Free SMS Really Safe?

Yes. Usually.

It should be safe to send free text messages using a text messaging site, but many people have been caught out by services that sneakily get you to first join a subscription service, that often costs several dollars per week. It can be quite difficult to unsubscribe from such services, too.

Generally speaking free SMS sites profit from the advertising on their websites or in the actual text messages being sent; these sites don’t normally abuse their relationship with the people doing the SMS texting. It’s also generally true that text messages get sent quickly and people do not receive so-called SMS spam on their cellphone or mobile phone afterwards.

Again, a good free SMS directory will provide enough information about a free sms service or site for you to be able to decide for yourself.

Sending SMS text messages to your friends and family is quick, easy and fun. But it doesn’t have to cost you anything, if you find and use a free SMS text messaging site that lets you send text messages to the country where they live. Happy texting.

As the Pentagon and the state Department of the United States predicted North Korea has detonated their first nuclear weapon test underground and it caused an earthquake of 3.5 on the Richter scale magnitude. The test was conducted in the northern part of North Korea. It is estimated at North Korea now has enough plutonium to make 5 Nuclear Bombs.

The test comes on the eve of the South Korean to become United Nations Secretary General to replace Kofi Annan and on the night of North Korean Anniversary of the appointment of North Korean Leader. Japan and Chinese Leaders met and talked about this two-days the prior and said it was unacceptable. Now that North Korea has detonated a nuclear weapon in an underground test; now what?

Have the six party talks failed? We all know that North Korea is a proud and stubborn country and listens to no one. They are saying this historic event brings strength and hope to the North Korean Country and a deterrent to US invasion? One has to ask whether this will cause an escalation of nuclear weapons in the region?

Will Japan now seek a nuclear weapon too now even though their constitution says that they will not make weapons to use outside their country. Some very serious questions lie ahead and there are not very many options to solving this problem. Please consider all this in 2006.

1930

Did you know- Uruguayan squad, the host country’s team,claimed the first-ever Men’s World Cup title over Argentina, 4-2.

1934

Did you know- At the II World Cup, Italy, host country, became the first European squad to win a global tournament. The subsequent tournaments were held as follows: 1938 in Paris (France, Europe), 1950 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil, Latin America), 1958 in Stockholm (Sweden, Europe), 1962 in Santiago (Chile, Latin America), 1966 in London (England, Europe), 1970 in Mexico City (Mexico, Latin America), 1974 in Munich (West Germany, Europe), 1978 in Buenos Aires (Argentina, South America), 1982 in Barcelona (Spain, Europe), 1986 in Mexico City (Mexico, North America), 1990 in Rome (Italy, Europe), 1994 in Los Angeles (USA, North America), 1998 in Paris (France, Europe), 2002 in Seoul and Tokyo (South Korea & Japan, Asia), 2006 in Munich (Germany, Europe).

1950

Did you know- Bolivia competed in 1950 but not again until 1994 in the United States of America.

1974

Did you know- For the first time, West Germany hosted the global tournament in July 1974. Historically Germany had been competitive in soccer. Under the leadership Franz (“Kaiser”) Beckenbauer, the host country-which never finished below sixth place since 1954– won the X FIFA World Tournament. Outside of the Berlin Olympics (1936) and the Munich Games (1972), this event was the largest ever held in Germany.

1978

Did you know- Tunisia (Africa) placed ninth at the 1978 FIFA World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

1982

Did you know- At the 1982 FIFA World Tournament in Madrid (Spain), New Zealand, a rugby-loving nation, had the worst result for its region -Oceania- in World Cup’s history. Unfortunately NZ placed 23rd. For the country, it was its first appearance in the universal event.

1990

Did you know- At the 1990 FIFA World Championship in Europe,Cameroon’s football player Roger Milla, one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most respected footballers in the 20th century, helped his team towards eighth position, the best result ever for an African country in soccer history.

2002- 2010

Did you know- Brazil -one of the world’s biggest democracies– has historically been competitive in football since the 1950s.The soccer players from Brazil have conquered five out of eighteen tournaments: Sweden’58, Chile’62, Mexico’70, USA’94 and South Korea & Japan’02. In 1950 and 1998, Brazil was runner-up. By 2010, the Latin American nation is attempting to become the first country to win six World Cup titles in football history.

2010

Did you know- The 19th global tournament will be held in South Africa, one of the youngest members of the FIFA. It’ll be the largest event ever held in Africa. There’s only event that rivals the FIFA World Cup: the Summer Olympics.

Visiting a country's supermarket can be just as, if not more revealing, than traveling to all of its tourist spots. I live in South Korea, and have visited the N Seoul Tower, which is considered one of the big tourist destinations in Seoul. I told a Korean friend about it who has been living in Korea her entire life, and she has never been. But a Korean Supermarket: that's another story. Go to a Korean Supermarket, where Korean people go at least once a week, and you'll find so many interesting things out about their culture, and just awesome things in general, such as:

1) It's exceptionally crowded. On the weekends, it's overwhelmingly crowded. You will not be able to walk straight and simply get what's on your list. Be prepared to take detours. Be prepared to come to a grinding halt. What's cool about this experience, though, is that your shopping carts are built for crowds. Not only does your cart go forward, but it goes left and right as well, smoothly and seamlessly. Find yourself lucky enough to push a cart in an empty aisle, and you'll never want to push anything but Korean supermarket cart again.

2) Free samples galore. Feeling hungry, but you're on a tight budget? Go to a supermarket and eat more than you can possibly handle. We're talking about free samples of fruits, milk, cheese, yoghurt, steak (yes, steak), donuts, and more. And there's also no need to worry about that pesky one-sample-per-person rule. In Korea, you'll find lots of people snapping up a bunch of samples, so do not feel ashamed to do the same.

3) Get ready for some noise. Forget about the peaceful shopping music you might be used to. Instead of music, get used to shouting. Lots of shouting. Men shouting. They'll shout from across the store, just to let you know about the sale. MEAT SALE! DELICIOUS MEAT SALE! COME HERE NOW AND GET THIS REALLY DELICIOUS MEAT ON SALE! You'll know about the sale without even reading a sign about it. That's these men's jobs. And it's not as easy as just going to the meat sale and grabbing some: there'll be a line of people waiting to get their's (remember the big crowds?). So wait in line to get a product, and then wait in another line to pay for it. Yikes!

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the cool things you can find at a Korean Supermarket. I will not tell you the rest, because that'll ruin the fun. But, if you ever do find yourself in Korea, skip a tourist spot or two and head over to a Korean Supermarket. You will not regret it!

Investing in the Crypto Currency market space can be a little daunting for the traditional investor, as investing directly in Crypto Currency (CC) requires the use of new tools and adopting some new concepts. So if you do decide to dip your toes in this market, you will want to have a very good idea of what to do and what to expect.

Buying and selling CC’s requires you to choose an Exchange that deals in the products you want to buy and sell, be they Bitcoin, Litecoin, or any of the over 1300 other tokens in play. In previous editions we have briefly described the products and services available at a few exchanges, to give you an idea of the different offerings. There are many Exchanges to choose from and they all do things in their own way. Look for the things that matter to you, for example:

– Deposit policies, methods, and costs of each method

– Withdrawal policies and costs

– Which fiat currencies they deal in for deposits and withdrawals

– Products they deal in, such as crypto coins, gold, silver etc

– Costs for transactions

– where is this Exchange based? (USA / UK / South Korea / Japan…)

Be prepared for the Exchange setup procedure to be detailed and lengthy, as the Exchanges generally want to know a lot about you. It is akin to setting up a new bank account, as the Exchanges are brokers of valuables, and they want to be sure that you are who you say you are, and that you are a trustworthy person to deal with. It seems that “trust’ is earned over time, as the Exchanges typically allow only small investment amounts to begin with.

Your Exchange will keep your CC’s in storage for you. Many offer “cold storage” which simply means that your coins are kept “offline” until you indicate that you want to do something with them. There are quite a few news stories of Exchanges being hacked, and many coins stolen. Think about your coins being in something like a bank account at the Exchange, but remember that your coins are digital only, and that all blockchain transactions are irreversible. Unlike your bank, these Exchanges do not have deposit insurance, so be aware that hackers are always out there trying everything they can to get at your Crypto Coins and steal them. Exchanges generally offer Password protected accounts, and many offer 2-factor authorization schemes – something to seriously consider in order to protect your account from hackers.

Given that hackers love to prey on Exchanges and your account, we always recommend that you use a digital wallet for your coins. It is relatively easy to move coins between your Exchange account and your wallet. Be sure to choose a wallet that handles all the coins you want to be buying and selling. Your wallet is also the device you use to “spend” your coins with the merchants who accept CC’s for payment. The two types of wallets are “hot” and “cold”. Hot wallets are very easy to use but they leave your coins exposed to the internet, but only on your computer, not the Exchange server. Cold wallets use offline storage mediums, such as specialized hardware memory sticks and simple hard copy printouts. Using a cold wallet makes transactions more complicated, but they are the safest.

Your wallet contains the “private” key that authorizes all the transactions you want to initiate. You also have a “public” key that is shared on the network so that all users can identify your account when involved in a transaction with you. When hackers get your private key, they can move your coins anywhere they want, and it is irreversible.

Despite all the challenges and wild volatility, we are confident that the underlying blockchain technology is a game changer, and will revolutionize how transactions are conducted going forward.

Over the past decade coaching businesses are flourishing rapidly. According to Crisil Research report, in the year 2014-15, tutorial business witnessed a market growth of almost 75,629 crore that remarkably increased from 40,187 crore that was in the year 2010-11.

In the year 2015 a study was conducted by Global Industry Analysts, it declared that the global private tutoring market is projected to surpass $102.8 billion by 2018. If we further probe into the GIA figures then India is leading the path of online tutoring by offering varied professional and academic courses at affordable costs.

Other followers of this league are United States, Europe, and Asia-Pacific (notably Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and China) that are responsible for more than 90% of the global private tutoring market.

According to a survey held by ASSOCHAM’s, a massive number of close to 87% of primary school children and up to 95% of the higher secondary attend private coaching classes.

With such escalating figures of the coaching market we can very well infer the productivity of this business and to make it well fit for the market, an online exam maker is undoubtedly a supportive tool. Those days have long gone when coaching institutes used to follow the rudimentary pattern of conducting paper based tests. Now candidates prefer to enroll themselves in coaching institutes that can offer them latest practices.

So, here we are providing you an insight to the benefits of using an online quiz maker which holds a key to the growth of your coaching business; keep reading to know how.

Parent’s satisfaction- Effective way to maintain your progressive student count

Various features of online examination software make it a handy tool for coaching institutes. Parents who enroll their children for coaching pay a lot of fees and in return they expect to be regularly updated about the progress of their child. With an ease to conduct online test the administrators get the option to instantly share the computed result with the parents, on a steady basis. Preparing an online exam is not a time taking procedure neither does it involve vast logistic so you can easily develop test series to maintain a regular report of your students.

Earning reputation in the market

These days one can easily find a coaching institute in almost every lane that promises to give 100 percent result but it is all in words. Online examination platform lends a practical approach for showing the parents what you have in store, for their child. Parents prefer coaching centers that can practically demonstrate the ways of assisting the student’s in achieving their goal. This makes your coaching center stand and achieve a reputation in the market.

Result oriented

When a candidate achieves high score then his/her achievement is directly proportional to the repo of the institute.

An online exam maker platform constitutes of various preparatory examination attributes that prepare a candidate in advance to perform well in the competitive exams. Continuous exposure to the setup of competitive exams with the preference to conduct online test identical to the same format can reduce the nervous factor in the students, in return procuring maximum candidates with positive result. This way the coaching center acquires a tag of being result oriented.

Sell and earn

Selected online examination platforms have got a feature in which you get a choice of selling your test series to the candidates who find them relevant and are willing to purchase. You can create your very own question paper that is significant and can attract the attention of buyers this way you get a profit by publishing it in the market. So, be wise while selecting online examination software, keeping in mind that this feature can get you some added profit.

Conclusion

If we put some light on the recent survey conducted by ASSOCHAM, then coaching centers providing admission to IIT’s and other engineering colleges are in itself minting a whopping amount of 10,000 crore every year and constitute a big part of the coaching industry in terms of minting money. To be a part of this race one needs to upgrade teaching techniques by the application of an online quiz maker which is a vast platform and has got endless possibilities for the administrators to use it as a magic wand in achieving the desired result for their candidates. Coaching centers that are still running on the old pattern have lost their charm and are outdated for today’s time. So rather get upgraded to modern technologies and stand out of the group by being an achiever.

Field Hockey

Did you know- Field hockey is extremely popular sport in the nation and despite many problems Pakistan is one of the few places in the Third World with one of the best field hockey teams. In the 60s, this country was the only one to challenge the Indian supremacy. Between 1971 and 1994, Pakistan won the hockey World Championship four times. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the men’s hockey tournament was won by the nation for the third time, having also been champion in Rome’60 and Mexico City ’68. In Rome’60, Pakistan was the only Asia’s team to win an Olympic gold medal. By 2008, Pakistan’s hockey player Zeeshan Ashraf was the flag-bearer for the nation’s Olympic delegation in the 29th Summer Games in the People’s Republic of China.

Asian Games

Did you know- The nation competed in the Asian Games since 1954. During that event (Manila, Philippines), it won 4 gold medals and took fourth place in the unofficial team championships. Subsequently,at the IX Asian Games in Seoul (South Korea) in the mid- 1980s, the national team finished eighth in the medal count, with a total of nine medals (2 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze), outpacing Indonesia, Hong Kong and Qatar. But more than two decades later, it reached 23rd in Busan (South Korea’s second-largest city).

1980 Olympics

Did you know- Because of the Pakistani government boycott of the Moscow Summer Olympics in the early 1980s, the men’s field hockey team -which had won the bronze medal at the 1976 Games in Montreal (Canada), behind New Zealand and Australia– could not compete in the Olympic tournament.

Volleyball

Did you know- By the early 1960s, the men’s volleyball team finished third place, behind Japan and India, in the Asian Games of Tokyo, Japan. It was the first time the national squad had won a medal.

National Idol

Did you know- The greatest name among Pakistani athletes is Abdul Khaliq, who was known as the “Fastest Man in Asia” in the 50s. Mr Khaliq won the 100m and 200m at the 1954 Asian Games and the 100m at the 1958 Asian Games. In the Melbourne Summer Games in 1956, he set a new national record of 10,4s in the 100m; this record was not broken until 2001.

Cricket

Did you know- Cricket is another popular sport in Pakistan. Abdul Khaliq Khan, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee, once said, “The most popular sport in our country is, in fact, a non-Olympic sport. Cricket is widely played and very popular with the youth who hero-worship the elite players and there is a lot of sponsorship, commercial activity and media coverage around the sport…”

Stuff is the world’s best-selling gadget monthly magazine for over a decade, published by Haymarket Consumer Media. The magazine started off as a bi-monthly in the US in 1996 by Dennis Publishing and the focus shifted to being more lifestyle orientated in 1998; the same year that rival publishing group Haymarket Consumer Media bought the title in the UK. Haymarket Consumer Media also took over ownership of Stuff magazine in 25 other territories, such as: Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Middle East, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam. It has a global circulation of 1.36 million copies.

Stuff is a men’s magazine carrying reviews on various consumer electronics, and previews of possible future technology. With a Stuff magazine subscription, you can take an alternate look at the planet’s best gadgets, tech and apps. The magazine is all about the pure, unfiltered joy of tech and gadgets. It provides a monthly project that helps you get more from your already existing gadgets, including learning new skills, tricks, and hacks to bring your level up to a new standard, and breathe new life into old kit.

The magazine investigates and uncovers new trends in tech. Some of the past episodes included the championing of 3D printing, the Internet of Things, and going behind the scenes with Vine – 6-second video app and its makers to discover how it conquered the world of social media. Stuff is first to tread where no other technology magazines think to tread. Whether you are an Apple or Android fan; the magazine caters to everyone. By being global and having 25 editions with 1.36 millions readers, it has definitely come to be known as the best technology magazine to like-minded tech fans every month.

The magazine produces the world-famous Stuff magazine Top 10s, and ranks everything including latest phones, computers, tablets, games, apps, TVs, home cinema, hi-fi, headphones, cameras, consoles, media players, sat-nav, etc,. So whatever you decide to get in the tech world, be sure to first check the latest issue of the magazine to get acquainted with all the info you will need to get the best gadgets.

Haymarket has always been trying to spice up the magazine for its readers and recently unveiled a new look for the magazine in 2013. The aim is to continue providing a premium monthly magazine that is more relevant in an ever changing media landscape, in competition with other abundant free technology news and features. The editor of the magazine is Will Findlater.

Redesigning the magazine every few years is sometimes necessary; especially now since apps and OS updates have become pivotal in technology enthusiasts’ lives. Therefore, the magazine needs to revamp itself and find better ways of integrating latest news and features that tech fans are wanting to read about. However, Stuff magazine is not all about gadgets; cars, robots, sport, toys, watches, music, films, fashion, and funky furniture also don several pages of the magazine.

The team also created templates that work on the iPad and other mobile devices. This enables the magazine to go into the digital platform and reach more interested readers. A Stuff digital subscription will give you access to all that you expect from the print version of the magazine. The team has maintained Stuff’s distinctive character, by keeping its accessibility and with that has been a big part of the brand’s success to this point. So grab a copy of the Stuff digital magazine and enjoy every aspect of the latest in tech news from around the world.

Imagine yourself flying to South Korea to finally watch a K-pop girl group for the first time, in person. The concert ticket was bought and you’re ready to catch the fever and enjoy this unique and exquisite musical experience. Unfortunately, upon arriving to Seoul, you were informed that for a certain reason, the concert won’t push through.

What if you are attending a Digital Start-up Conference in Berlin, but before you board the plane, you were informed that for a number of reasons, the organizers were prevented to set up and it cannot push through.

In cases of events cancellation, travel insurance can definitely help as it offers coverage for cancelled events.

For a claim to be valid, the following conditions should be met:

• The event cancellation should be beyond the control of the insured.
• The event cannot take place before your flight back to your home country.
• The organizer should provide a written confirmation that the event was cancelled.

There are two (2) circumstances that can occur when availing this insurance coverage. These are:

1. Event was cancelled before departure – If you were informed before travelling to the venue, the maximum sum insured per person shall amount to £400 for Unused Event Tickets and specific limits as indicated in the insurance policy that covers unutilized travel arrangements such as flights, accommodations, and excursions, as well as other additional travel expenses associated with the trip.
2. Event was cancelled after arrival at the country/city of destination – For this case, up to 50% of the travel costs and seven (7) days of accommodation will be covered by the insurance policy.

Since this is an additional cover, do check if your standard or comprehensive policy has this feature. If it doesn’t, you can always contact the insurer to include this feature.

It’s noteworthy that your claim cannot be considered if the event is re-scheduled before your flight back home. Also, the insurance should only indemnify those that are not reimbursed by the organizers. The claim also doesn’t include costs of food and drink, as these are regular, recurring, everyday expenses.

To experience an event cancellation, specially one you have financially and emotionally (significantly) invested in it can be heart-breaking. That’s why it’s worthwhile to ensure that we are able to recover our pre-payments upon the occurrence of this cancellation and one can do that through the purchase of the right travel insurance policy with event cancellation cover.

Event Cancellation

There have been many debates among linguists with regard to the classification of the Korean language. Most of them have managed to reach a consensus and place Korean in the Ural-Altaic family of languages. Others consider it an isolate language due to the lack of evidence of its belonging to a particular group.

In spite of the similarities it shares with Japanese, linguists have failed to find a historical relationship between the two languages.

The Korean alphabet consists of a mixture of native alphabet (Hangul) and Chinese ideograms (Hanja). The Chinese alphabet was used during 108 BC and 313 AD when Korea was under Chinese occupation. The Korean alphabet was promulgated during the reign of King Sejong (1418-1450) and at the end of the nineteenth century it got the name of “Hangul”. It is still used nowadays and it contains 14 consonants and 10 vowels which are combined to create syllable bodies.

Korean has several dialects, most of them grouped around the two main dialects spoken in Seoul (South Korea) and Pyongyang (North Korea). These dialects are generally mutually intelligible, the main difference between them being the use of stress.

The North Korean leaders have tried to eliminate all foreign influences they detected in the language and thus contributed to a further differentiation between the language spoken in Pyongyang and the one used in Seoul.

The Korean vocabulary is made up of Korean words mostly (60%, a high percentage of them derived from Chinese). The rest are borrowed directly from Chinese, Mongolian, Japanese and, more recently, from German and English.

Korean is spoken by over 75 people living in the Korean Peninsula as well as in China (over 2 million speakers), the US (also 2 million), Japan (approximately 700 thousand people) and Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (around 500 thousand people).

It ranks fifteenth in the top of the most widely spoken languages.