Make Your Own Cartoon

ANIMATION TOOLS :

Are you an artistic Person? You know the kind of person who spent most of their time in school doodling rather than taking notes or someone who really enjoys telling stories or creating characters.

Make Your Own Cartoon

If you answered yes to any of those questions then making your own cartoon just might be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things you'll ever do.

It doesn't require that much to make your own cartoon.

All you need is:

o The desire to make your own cartoon

o An animation program such as Macromedia Flash or Toon Boom (both of which you can Download for free just Google them)

o A little artistic talent

o And an imagination

Once you have these things your ready to start making your own cartoon.

Make your own cartoon in 5 stages

There are 5 major stages that you need to go through to make your own cartoon.

1. Story

You need to have a basic series of events that will happen in your cartoon. This can be as detailed as a full length film or as simple as something moving from one point to the other. Either way you at least need to have a rough idea of what the point of the cartoon is and how you're going to get there.

2. Characters

Now that you know who and what you need to get the point of you story across to your audience, its time to design your characters. It is important to make sure that your characters will be easily animated. If you make your characters to detailed it will take way to much work to animate them and you may get discouraged and abandon the project.

3. Story board

Now that you have your story line and characters ready you can start story boarding your cartoon. For those of you who don't know what story boarding is it is a series of pictures that depict the main events of your story. I usually start by doing a different drawing for each scene. Then I go back and do storyboarding for each scene that needs more than one image to depict what its going to show.

4. Sound

Now is the time to record the sound for your cartoon. Depending on how much your cartoon depends on the sound to carry the story forward you may actually want to record your soundtrack before you storyboard. And then make the storyboard follow the sound. However most of my animations rely mainly on the visual aspect rather than the audio ( there isn't any dialogue in most my cartoons) so I record the sounds to follow along with my story board.

5. Animate

And now for the final step in making your own cartoon, the animation step. Your animation style will greatly affect this step but here are some basic guide lines.

Firstly you would want to choose a scene, in this scene you should have already decided on the cameras perspective in the story board stage.

You will then draw the background and map the lighting, after which you will draw the all the key frames (the frames where the extreme poses happen) and then do the inbetweening (the frames between the keyframes).

Keep in mind that you do not add color to the animation until you have gotten the movement to exactly where you want to be. After your done drawing all the frames and the scene is running smoothly you will add the base color to your character.

Then you must remember where the light source is coming from you can then add your highlights and shadows.

You then continue to follow this same routine through all the scenes in your cartoon. When you are done you will have successfully made your own cartoon.

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Chicken Coop Designs Tips

ANIMATION TOOLS :

A Chicken Coop is a building where female chickens are kept. A chicken coop is a hen house purposely built for egg laying chickens.

Chicken Coop Designs Tips

A properly designed hen house will have nest boxes for egg laying and perches on which chickens can sleep.

Choose the chicken coop site carefully:

You need to choose the right location where you can build your hencoop. The best site for building a nice hen house should naturally be a flat area. If you can't find a flat area you would better flatten the available location to make it flat and thus desirable for you chicken coop. You may flatten the area manually or you can deploy the necessary machinery to achieve the desired results.

Build your hen house on a safe location:

The coop should be built-in a safe and secure area where the birds are not exposed to any type of danger. The hen house shouldn't be built under trees because branches can fall on it nor should it be built-in a forested area where the birds can fall prey to wild animals.

The size of the house is also important:

You should consider the number of chicken before designing your hen house because you don't want to clam a large number of birds into a very small coop. If your plan is to raise a big number of birds you need to build a bigger coop to avoid unnecessary and unhealthy chicken congestion.

Hencoop design materials:

The necessary materials that you are going to need when building a hen house are; nails roofing, screws, wood and fencing. Here are the tools you will need; hammer, measuring devices, and cutting tools.

There are 5 chicken coop designs that you can choose from to build a properly designed bird's house. These designs are; chicken barns, large coops, two storey chicken arks, mid-sized chicken house, and portable ark houses.

Ventilation must be considered as a crucial requirement:

A good hen house must be properly ventilated to ensure the birds' fresh air, good health and a stress free environment. Proper ventilation ensures that the coop isn't damp and humid, no accumulation of ammonia gases from chicken feces and fresh air flow to keep stress levels low.

Lighting is needed too:

Chicken thrive in an environment that is well-lighted. Dark places are not friendly to birds therefore you need to make sure natural and human made lighting is available to your birds.

Make sure you have drainage and waste disposal plans well taken care of by your chicken coop design. This means that your hen house should have access to clean water for both the birds and cleaning purposes.

Backyard chicken coop designs should also consider the direction of the wind because you don't want your neighbors to call the authorities on you due to the bad smell emanating from your chicken house.

For an in-depth look at immaculate chicken coop designs please visit the authors website now.

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Protect Your Home and Your Pet With a Magnetic Cat Flap

ANIMATION TOOLS :

A cat flap is a wonderful invention. It allows your cat to enter and exit different rooms of the house where he is allowed to be without giving access to rooms that are off limits. It can also allow access to the outside so the kitty can go to his private corner of the lawn to do his business. But what if a neighbor's cat who is not so well trained gets into the home or a small dog follows kitty into the house? Today, it is possible to protect your home and your pet with a magnetic cat flap.

Protect Your Home and Your Pet With a Magnetic Cat Flap

A magnetic cat flap uses very powerful magnets to lock the flap in place when the cat is not actively entering or exiting. These magnets are powerful enough to stop a full grown human from being able to open the flap without the proper magnetic key, which can be added to the cat's collar without any problem.

When a magnetic cat flap is in place, the cat can enter and exit at will because the magnetic key in the collar deactivates the magnetic locks. The neighbors' pets will not be able to enter, even if they follow the cat because the locks will pull the flap closed quickly behind the animal and before another creature can make entry.

This factor will protect the home from invasion by neighboring animals who could destroy things or make a mess in the home. In addition to that, it provides protection for the cat in the event it is chased back into the house by another animal.

Unlike traditional cat flaps and doggie doors that can be used by thieves to gain entrance into a home, the magnetic cat flap provides protection from this possibility as well. The only way the flap will open is if the cat approaches with the magnetic key, a thing not likely to occur if there is a stranger right outside. This means that would be thieves will not be able to use the pet entrance as a way to get tools inside the house that would allow them to circumvent the locks and open the doors.

There are several different levels of security provided by cat flaps. The most secure, and the most expensive, provide for a four point security lock. This means that four separate magnets hold the flap in place until the magnetic key on the pet's collar deactivates them. Cheaper units can come with as few as one magnetic lock. These are not as secure as the four point lock, but are still almost infinitely better than a simple pet flap that has no security features built into it.

It is up to the homeowner to determine how secure the magnetic cat flap needs to be based on the value of the cat and the contents of the home. One thing is certain: a magnetic cat flap can provide a great deal of protection to both one's home and one's pet.

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Adobe After Effects CS5 Animation - Keying the Timeline

ANIMATION TOOLS :

The key to animation in After Effects CS5 is keying the timeline or more properly, setting keyframes in the timeline. How do you get started? Using graphic icons, stopwatch, and time indicator on the timeline you will be creating animation on your first outing.

Adobe After Effects CS5 Animation - Keying the Timeline

As you review the timeline panel with resources on the left side and the timeline on the right, you see your composition time displayed as the length of your composition. For this exercise let's create a composition, choosing 'Web Video 320 x 240' from the preset compositions and we'll call it 'gravity'. Set your movie duration to 10 seconds by entering 10:0. This designate 10 seconds and 0 frames.

I chose a light color for my composition background color, the last option presented in the new composition window. We're going to animate a ball rolling down a ramp, doing some physics, obeying gravity.

We can create a simple ramp using the rectangle tool and it should be safe to 'eye this in'. Right click in the timeline resource area on the left, hover over the 'New' option, and click on 'Shape Layer'. About midway on the top tool bar you see a shape with a pull down arrow tag in the lower right of this icon display. Clicking the arrow presents the shape options available to you.

Choose rectangle, place your cursor in the composition area, on the left, and draw a rectangle. If you click, then drag to the right creating just a wee bit of depth, you will create a ramp with a little thickness to it. Now create a ball. Under the same shape option choose ellipse tool and hold the shift key while drawing it. This will create a perfectly round circle. In fact you can draw your ellipse dragging out your mouse, then click the shift key off and on and see it become then discard the circle 'perfect roundness' the shift key provides.

Now you have a ball and a ramp. Great start! I hope you placed your ball to the left, on top of your ramp as it would be in real life. Now click on your ball layer, click the layer open with your 'twirly arrow', do the same with the transform layer and click the stop watch next to the 'Position' attribute.

You immediately see a little golden diamond on your timeline. This is a keyframe and you will become very familiar with keyframes. This tells After Effects to record a value, typically a change and here you have recorded the beginning position of your ball at the beginning of your composition.

Now move your ball to the end of the ramp. You can choose the arrow tool on the far left of the tool panel and simply 'pick it up' and move it graphically. Notice the 'x,y' value changes next to your position when you do this. You could move your ball to the end of the ramp by adjusting the 'x' value in your resource area, increasing its value until the ball is at the end of the ramp.

It's worth noting that you always have this option, to adjust the exact values under the 'Transform' attributes or visually adjust your object. Both are valuable. There are times for precision and synchronicity that you want to set a precise value. At other times your visual inspection and adjustment may be more useful.

With your ball at the end of the ramp, click the little diamond to the left of 'Position'. You see a new keyframe added to your timeline. You have 'told' After Effects where you want your ball to start and that you want its position to move to the end of the ramp by the end of your composition.

Hit the 'Home' key to return your time indicator to the beginning of the composition then click the right arrow under your preview options (or use shortcut by hitting the 'enter' spacebar key) and you will see your ball move from the beginning to the end of the ramp.

Pretty cool and pretty easy? Well yes, but there is a whole lot missing. For example your ball isn't rolling like it would in real life. We'll take care of that in the next lesson.

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Teaching Characterization With Lists of Descriptive Terms - Primary Grades Through College Students

ANIMATION TOOLS :

Regardless of the age level of your students, you are teaching characterization of one type or another. It may be through traditional literature study or it may be through the examination and analysis of political figures. By using a list of 1001 Descriptors, some of which are shown below, you can open up words and meanings to students so that they experience and express characterization in a far more expansive way than they would have otherwise. From a huge list I created for my own use (and that you could create for yourself, too), here are just a sample of the "A" words:

Teaching Characterization With Lists of Descriptive Terms - Primary Grades Through College Students

1. able
2. abstemious
3. academic
4. activist
5. adaptive
6. addled
7. adept
8. adjunct
9. adolescent
10. advanced
11. affluent
12. afraid
13. African
14. aggravated
15. aggressive
16. agitated
17. agrarian
18. alien
19. aloof
20. alternate
21. amateur
22. ambivalent
23. Amerasian
24. amiable
25. amicable
26. ancient
27. androgynous
28. angelic
29. Anglo
30. Anglo-Indian
31. Anglo-Irish
32. annoyed
33. antagonistic
34. anti-______________
35. antiquated
36. anxious
37. apprehensive
38. appropriate
39. apt
40. aristocratic
41. Aristotelian
42. Armenian
43. artsy
44. ascetic
45. Asian
46. assertive
47. assistant
48. assured
49. atrophied
50. autocratic
51. autodidactic
52. autosuggestible

Regardless of whether you teach young students, middle grade students, or right on through the college level, you can use lists of descriptive words (appropriate for your students' learning levels) to enhance and expand your teaching of characterization. A few suggestions for using a list of descriptors for narrative and expository text follow.

Narrative Text

If you have your students read any type of narrative text (poetry, short stories, children's literature, novels, etc.) as part of your content, then creating or having a list of 1001 Descriptors is perfect for use in your classroom literature study. Learners can use words from this list to describe more precisely the characters in a short story or novel.

Also, since one of the reasons that you have students read children's literature, poetry, young adult literature, short stories, and/or novels is to expand their vocabulary, then using an expansive list of great words gives you an opportunity to do just that. You might have the full list of 1001 Descriptors available for the students to access during their literature study or just a portion of that list.

Let's say that one of the characters in this story is old and you let students know that the word 'old' will not be acceptable to you when they are characterizing this person, creature, or animal. Maybe students will then look through the list and find the word "ancient" to use instead. Maybe that same character is also 'gruff' and you want them to learn a new word that has a similar meaning to 'gruff' but is in fact a better and more accurate descriptor, for example the word 'curmudgeonly.' Using either a list of great words, or getting students to use the tool found at www.MyFavoriteThesaurus.com, helps them find and experiment with alternative ways of describing a person, animal, or some other being that they want to characterize.

One of the positive outcomes (unplanned) that I noticed in my literature classes when I did this type of activity, especially when students found words that were fun to say (e.g., 'curmudgeonly'), is that they would end up making statements to each other about how 'curmudgeonly' (or some other new and interesting word) their classmate (or another teacher) was behaving. All I could do was laugh when this happened (and smile on the inside at the same time).

Expository Text

Teaching characterization (and using the 1001 Descriptors list) is not just for literature study. If you are having students describe and discuss various political figures, historical figures, or other current or past individuals, then using a massive list of descriptors provides words students can learn and use that will more specifically depict whoever it is that they need to characterize. When I taught high school US History, we used lists of interesting descriptors because I wanted my students' vocabularies to be expanding consistently and continuously.

Another idea to help your learners with their awareness and ultimate use of sophisticated vocabulary is to ask them to listen to (and watch) the news to hear how various newscasters characterize the current political figures. To ramp it up even further, they could listen for the differences in the words that commentators on one network use vs. the words that commentators on a different network use - all when 'characterizing' the same person.

With all the fabulous shows on TV, you could assign the children, young adults, or adults that you teach to watch a show on the Discovery Channel or the History Channel (e.g., "Biography") and have them take note of particular words that were used to characterize those individuals. They could bring all those words into class the next day to compile with their fellow classmates - and then find on the 1001 Descriptors list or to add to the list.

For the advanced students you might even have them segment the 1001 Descriptors list into those words that were more likely to have been used in past times rather than in current times. In addition there would be students who would be interested in finding out about certain words that did not appear in the past but moved into the modern vernacular based on a particular event or political movement.

Tying in characterization terms with other subject areas is just one more possibility. For example the word 'octogenarian' and 'nonagenarian' are both on the list. Certainly in a mathematics class, you can make connections by looking at the word roots. It helps when students see connections between and among their various subject areas (rather than thinking that each one is discrete).

Have fun with this. Learning new words - and using these new words - is a blast! Be a model of that fascination for seeking, finding, and then using the precise word for what you are trying to say when characterizing yourself and others. You can certainly amass your own list of these words or access the one that I created.

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How to Learn Remote Influence Through Mental Telepathy

ANIMATION TOOLS :

Doctors and researchers use hypnosis for everything from helping people lose weight, quit smoking and overcome fears to developing ESP capabilities and healing incurable diseases. Studies done in parapsychology labs show that PSI scores are higher when the subject is in a state of psychological inadequacy according to Dr. Jan Ehrenwald. He named the state the "minus function". It is a state where the conscious mind relaxes or doesn't function and allows the subconscious to work. Subjects achieve the state when asleep or under hypnosis. Of course, when the subject is under hypnosis there's a possibility for researchers to speak with them.

How to Learn Remote Influence Through Mental Telepathy

The Soviets have always been proponents of continuous research into PSI. As early as 1920 professor Lionid Vasiliev from the Leningrad University Department of Physiology began to experiment with mental suggestion. He first hypnotized subjects then without speaking a word, mentally gave a command to have the subject move a specific muscle or their arm or leg. As he worked, he found that he could even be successful with great distances separating him from the subject.

The research into remote manipulation continued at the Institute of Cybernetics of the Ukrainian Academy of Science and another in the Soviet Union. Instead of selecting trained people to experiment upon, the studies focused on using unsuspecting subjects or even large groups as their experiment. They also used the mind studies to see the effect they could have on bodily functions of both animals and individuals. In one case, a researcher stopped the heart of a frog by simply using his mind. Another Soviet PSI researcher controlled the blood flow to other's brains and created situations where his influence was so great on his unsuspecting subjects, many nearly passed out.

For a period, there was a group that charged the Soviet government with attempting to control a large portion of the population's minds with the use of a mechanical device that basically hypnotized them into following orders. The group never got very far since many of them had mental problems and the fact negated their efforts. Some wore tin foil caps in order to block the rays they believed came from the government. Did this really occur? Those knowledgeable about the studies of the government aren't saying but it did do one thing. It unfortunately created the symbol of the tin foil cap as the badge of a PSI crazy conspiracy fanatic.

Hypnosis is a powerful tool and even more powerful when directed by the person under hypnosis. This technique is self-hypnosis and it opens a world of possibilities for the person using it. Self-hypnosis uses many of the same techniques as the Zen masters to achieve the relaxed state necessary for psychic development. It is a shorter trip to the relaxed state than the Zen masters follow but may not produce the same height of development they find after decades of practice. It is however, a good method to begin your psychic investigation into the powers of the mind and is far easier to learn than many other techniques. Direct access to the psyche with the help of a trained hypnotist is also another route to use to access the psychic powers.

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How to Create and Capture Writer's Inspiration

ANIMATION TOOLS :

Writing while "in the flow" of inspiration is a delicious, highly personal, and exhilarating experience. It seems like you can't type fast enough to express your thoughts on the page!

How to Create and Capture Writer's Inspiration

And like the masters from the Renaissance era, you create a beautiful mental masterpiece, passionately painting nuances here and mysterious shadows there with each additional word, sentence, and paragraph.

The mental high is intoxicating. You celebrate this adventure and, when finished, marvel at your literary creation.

But how do you create and capture writer's inspiration in those times of low/no inspiration?

Here's how I do it...

INCREASING AWARENESS

Some people go about their days and nights on auto-pilot. To them, they feel like they've seen it all so many times that nothing is new or exciting. But is this really the case?

Indulge me for a moment.

If the following exercise does not make you aware of some previously "hidden" things in your daily life; make you remember a long forgotten experience, place, or person; or immediately crystallize a new idea to write about, don't waste your time reading the rest of the article.

AN EXERCISE FOR SUPER-AWARENESS

The following is an exercise that I formulated to boost awareness and magically manifest writer's inspiration instantaneously!

1. First, relax. Slow down your breathing.

Close your eyes for at least 10 seconds.

Now, open your eyes and look around you and stop at the first object that interests you. It could be an object that you've never noticed before. Or it could be an overlooked aspect of an object you've seen everyday. It might even be a hint of movement that you catch in your peripheral vision.

Imagine that you just pressed the "pause" button on your mind/eye remote control and "Freeze Framed" your image in your mind.

Once you've envisioned the frozen frame, close your eyes again and see if you can still see the "still picture" that you've just created.

If you can't, do the above steps again.

If you can still see it, then go on to Step 2.

2. Do a "Matrix-Style Still Pan" (i.e., imagine viewing your "still" and then floating around it to get a 360 degree panoramic view.)

Describe what you see.

Describe what you feel.

Describe what you think happened before your still image.

Describe what you think will happen next.

For most people, the above exercise reveals that everybody's daily lives are filled with hidden details, images, feelings, imagination, anticipation, and predictions.

THIS IS THE STUFF THAT WRITER'S INSPIRATION IS MADE OF...

Here's a quick and simple example:

I am in front of my laptop writing this article right now.

To relax, I think about the last time I felt totally content, serene. It was last Sunday (the only day of the week that I don't teach English). I lounged about my apartment, savoring the opportunity to just watch T.V. with my girlfriend.

No lesson plans to prepare. No homework to grade. No attendance or test scores to record. The upcoming week's work clothes were laundered and ironed. It was a total respite from my normal hectic schedule; just some sweet, unhurried time for us to enjoy each other's company.

Feeling relaxed, I am slowing down my breathing. Now I close my eyes for ten seconds.

When I open my eyes I see my girlfriends stuffed animals on the bed. I "Freeze-Frame" it in my mind.

Then, I close my eyes and still see my "still picture" in all its vivid detail.

I mentally float around my mind's "still picture" and imagine what I would see while getting a 360 degree panoramic view.

I see her stuffed animals on the bed. Her folded T-shirt is beside her pillow. I see the neatly folded blanket at the foot of the bed. Glancing back to her T-shirt, I see her mobile phone headphones and late night novel peeping out from under it.

I am aware of many feelings connected to my visual (i.e., love, gratitude, anticipation, excitement, contentment, humor, dedication, etc.).

I imagine the scenes leading up to my "mental, panoramic, still picture." For example, since I leave early every morning to go to work, I can see my girlfriend waking up to an empty apartment. I can see her sleepily, but lovingly folding our blanket...

Then I imagine what might happen after my "mental still picture." For example, maybe after changing into some jeans and blouse, she went shopping? Or maybe she's visiting our sick friend and waiting for me to tell her I'm home from work?

EXPERIENCE WITH ALL YOUR SENSES

Using the above example, I could write:

...I looked at the stuffed animals I'd given her on our last visit to the fair. I walked over to the bed and picked up the Doraemon stuffed toy (a Japanese cartoon character that my girlfriend is fond of). Even at arm's length, I could smell her perfume. God, I missed her. (She would still be away for another two days visiting her mother up north). The toy was almost as soft as her hands, the hands that would instinctively reach for mine while we walked. Looking at this silly stuffed toy, I let out a long sigh. My soul ached to enjoy her smile, laugh, and tenderness again.

Grudgingly, I deal with the next reminder of our temporary separation: eating alone. To be honest, if she we here, I'd even hold my nose and eat that fishy smelling, weird tasting Thai dish she always recommended...

Do you see how I described my "visual" with all the senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing)?

ROLE PLAY

Another great tool I use to inspire my writing is role play.

This is where I imagine and describe playing a different role in the same situation. For instance, how would the above paragraph read if I were an angry boyfriend?

What if I was a cheating boyfriend (womanizer)?

What if I was a rich boyfriend? A poor boyfriend?

What if I was not American, but a local Thai boyfriend instead?

What if I was younger or older?

How would I perceive and describe the above "stuffed toy" scenario? How differently would the story unfold?

Do you see the endless possibilities just by assuming a different role in the same scenario?

SIMULATION

The last tool for creating and capturing writer's inspiration I'll discuss is Simulation.

Simulation is different from role playing. In role playing, you (or your story's main character) assume a different personality and perspective. In Simulation you remain unchanged, but the situation or scenario changes.

For example, in the previous "stuffed animal" paragraph, how would the narrative change if my girlfriend left without telling me where she was going?

What if we'd been fighting before she left?

What if she left a "Dear John" letter?

What if there were signs of another man in the apartment (e.g., strange brand of cigarette butts in the ash tray, mud of unknown origin tracked through the apartment, beer cans in the trash - at noon, etc.)?

What if my neighbors saw her leave with another man?

What if all of her belongings (clothes, cosmetics, books, CD's, etc.) were gone?

What if she (or someone else) ransacked our apartment and my belongings were gone too?

Again, do you see the limitless writing/storytelling possibilities open to you just by simulating a different situation or scenario?

Whenever I am at a loss for writing inspiration, I always go back to the methods outlined in this article. The exercises and answers generated from the related questions never fail to create vivid images in my mind and a mountain of ideas to write about - instantly, effortlessly, and naturally.

It's my way of creating and capturing writer's inspiration.

Try it for yourself. I'd love to hear what you come up with.

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Greeting 123 Cards - Free E-Cards

ANIMATION TOOLS :

Greeting 123 cards (also known as 123 Greeting Cards) are one of the most popular forms of free ecards. Free online greeting cards have become one of the most popular methods of sending greeting cards and has now eclipsed the paper greeting card business in terms of the sheer number of cards sent.

Greeting 123 Cards - Free E-Cards

The reason why services like this, are able to offer free online ecards is that they display advertisements on their website and around each card that a customer is viewing. The advertisers hope that the reader will click on their advertisement and visit their website to purchase products. They also offer a staggering variety of cards for all occasions. The only thing they don't offer is the ability to print the cards on your home printer. As with many other free ecard services, they also offer music and animation with many if not most of their ecards.

One of the best features on their website are the three categories of "Most Popular Cards", "Most Viewed Cards", "Highest Rated Cards". This can save yourself a lot of time since many people have already spent time sifting through all the other ecards and now you can see which are the most popular. Think of it like reading a movie review based on viewer ratings.

Of course there are many other free online ecard websites. However, some of them have chosen a slightly different way to monetize their website. On these websites, the reader is forced to view an advertisement before they can see the ecard. I find these websites quite frustrating because sometimes it takes many viewings of different cards to find the right one. If you have to view an advertisement before each card, that adds a lot of time to your search. So in your search for free online ecards make sure you find a website without ads on each card and also with categories such as "most popular cards".

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"Bolt" Movie

ANIMATION TOOLS :

"Bolt" (quality rating: 7 out of 10)
(Animation feature)
Directors: Byron Howard, Chris Williams
Screenplay: Dan Fogelman, Chris Williams
Voices: John Travolta, Susie Essman
Time: 1 hr., 36 min.
Rating: PG (some mild action and peril)

"Bolt" Movie

A holiday reliable for the tots.

"Bolt," playing in 3-D in some theaters, will also keep parents reasonably amused. It's devoid of any special new style. Rather, this is yet another talking animal animation movie with ultimately flawless technique, if not the Pixar Studio productions finesse. Its action is so smooth and real.

And y'know, there's a question at this point in time that bothers me. Like,...um...why?

Why? Well now, recollect for a moment the Looney Tunes classic characters Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Yosemite Sam, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck. And the visual design behind them. Taken as a whole, there was an intended cartoonishness of the visuals, that is, their disconnect from reality was actually part of the comic effect. The characters and the technique were not supposed to be reality; they were supposed to be essence - lampoons of the way people are. The action, especially the exaggerated mishaps that befell them (like in the roadrunner cartoons), had to do with what would happen to people if the laws of physics did not exist (like when Wile E. Coyote was hammered into the ground or blown up, then was seen in the next scene none the worse for wear). There was no audience requirement, no yearning, for seamless motion, toning, shadow effects and other ironed-out action, like as if what we were seeing on the screen in these cartoons was somehow imperfect.

By contrast, modern animation characters now require for their funniness witty dialogue, dramatic story elements, context and situation to ignite laughs. Those characters of old had irony, wit and urgency built in. They were immediately funny. You were chuckling before they even did anything.

So here's "Bolt," dressed impeccably in modern digital dress.

Gee, you sure don't want to see a poor doggie disillusioned.

But that's the story of Bolt. As a hit TV show star, this white hound lives in a world of staged adventure, peril and scripted villainy - he can demolish a company of soldiers, a fleet of trucks and helicopters as he leaps and soars. All by special effects, of course. As such, he's been notably ill-equipped to descend into the real world with real everyday events. And that's just what happens. Inadvertently, through his owner Penny's inattention which has caused her to be distracted by a sleazy movie agent, he finds himself being shipped off from Hollywood destined for New York City.

The problem here is that he'd always thought that his great feats and special powers that had been set up for him on the TV shows were real, that he actually had those capabilities. Now he's finding that he's been deluded. He's going to need some aid as he seeks out just whom he is.

Help will arrive in the person of a traveling companion, Mittens, who is a burned out, abandoned and emaciated housecat, and, in an RV camp, Rhino, a TV-obsessed hamster who rolls around in his plastic ball. Slowly but surely he'll realize that he doesn't need all those superpowers to be a hero.

First off, Mittens advises him that nothing he thinks is real is really real. He must learn to be, well, - a dog. Like he should enjoy sticking his head out of car windows to catch the breeze. And certainly to mix with other dogs. And it's kinda cute when they get into a pre-fab home in transport in which Mittens can show Bolt what Man's Best Friend is supposed to do around the domestic scene.

Mittens' arguments with Bolt are vigorous but lifeless of screen energy. That's all they are, bicker and banter. And what's all this about Bolt's fear of Styrofoam? Whatever, it ain't funny.

Still, this is all for the kiddies. Let 'em have fun with it. There's a lot to be said for innocence.

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Project-Led Learning - A 12 Year Old Girl's Plan

ANIMATION TOOLS :

So you are intrigued by the concepts of project-led learning for your child? What would a year's set of projects look like for a particular student? I will share with you the layout that my twelve-year-old daughter presented me with and that I worked together in the project-led learning model. This will be her seventh grade year.

Project-Led Learning - A 12 Year Old Girl's Plan

First, her choices.

Natural - raising rabbits in the back yard; Physical - play little league baseball; Scientific - particular interesting kits from Pitsco; Mathematical/Logical - designing and building toothpick bridges; Technological - robotics kits; Literary - write short stories; Vocational - learn woodworking skills; Artistic - learn to draw sketches; Social - a country of the world project; Spiritual - go on a missions trip.

(Because I am the writer of Micro-Business for Teenagers, she will be starting her own business on a smaller basis as four of her fourteen projects. That leaves her with one choice from each of the ten categories.)

This is her list, now I have molded it together into working relationships with adjustments that fit the reality of our family situation.

I grouped together Natural, Literary, and Artistic into this layout. We will build a rabbit coup in the back yard and pick a rare and unusual breed of rabbit to buy. We will purchase 2 or 3 rabbits for her to care for. Before she gets the rabbits, she will study what they need and how to care for them. Meanwhile, she will study the life of Beatrix Potter and her animal stories. She will pay close attention to Beatrix Potter's sketches and style of writing. She will also read Watership Down, to see how small animals can become wonderful heroes in story. We will get a booklet that teaches her how to sketch animals. Her goal will be to write children's stories about animals, particularly rabbits. She will create her own sketches of her story animals. She will draw and write from her experiences with her own rabbits. She will publish her children's stories with sketches on the Internet, including on Squidoo.com. She will offer copies of her children's books for sale as part of her business-based learning.

You should have seen the lights shine in her eyes when I shared this plan with her.

I then grouped together the Scientific, Technological, and Mathematical projects into a series of robotics kits, electrical kits, and toothpick bridge kits from Pitsco with a focus on engineering and design.

In addition, she will go out for little league baseball in the spring. I have woodworking tools and am a woodworker, so I will teach her to make beautiful wooden boxes. She will do the country project, but we will find a girl her age in that particular country for a pen pal relationship. Because a missions trip may or may not work for an eleven-year-old, I will include her in a through-the-Old-Testament devotions that I will give to my whole family. If some sort of missions trip could work out - you bet. In addition, she will most likely continue with her violin lessons.

All of these projects will include study along with the active parts. She will be making photo-journals of her work, some of which will be published online.

She will certainly learn more from this coming year's schooling than she ever could chained to a desk doing busy-work seven hours a day.

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Restaurant City Quiz - A Path For Becoming a Wildly Successful Restaurant Mogul

ANIMATION TOOLS :

Restaurant City is a Playfish game that is popular on the Facebook social media website. The game allows players to start their own restaurant and to create their own dishes - the object being, of course, to create an extremely popular restaurant. The Restaurant City Quiz is a vital part of the game as it allows users to obtain more ingredients, which means they will be able to create more tantalizing, tasty - and expensive - dishes.

Restaurant City Quiz - A Path For Becoming a Wildly Successful Restaurant Mogul

When playing Restaurant City, users can have their friends become waiters and chefs. They can also design their own restaurant with the furniture, decor, and equipment of their choice to create a personally-styled eatery. Players can also visit their friends' restaurants, and trade ingredients with friends who are restaurant owners.

Why Answering Quiz Question (Hopefully Correctly!) Is So Important

This is why answering questions using the Restaurant City Quiz can become important because the more questions you answer correctly, the more ingredients you will obtain. Thus you will have more ingredients available for trade and to create Level 10 items for your menu. These dishes are so important because they earn a good deal of money for your restaurant. The problem: they require 2000+ ingredients!

The Restaurant City Quiz is a really cool part of the game as it helps players learn about different foods and spices. There are a number of websites online that people can go to get answers to many of the questions asked in these quizzes. There is also a Quiz tool available in the tools section of the application. Here are a few examples of some of the quiz questions you will find on Restaurant City with the answers supplied as well.

Q: Agar is a gelatinous substance derived from what?
A: The answer is seaweed.

Q: To blanch a vegetable, means to?
A: The answer is to boil and cool off quickly.

Q: Foie gras is food made from which part of an animal?
A: The answer is the liver.

There are hundreds of questions available as part of the quiz, meaning you will be able to obtain a number of random ingredients. This is why taking the Restaurant City Quiz can be vital part of a player's success in the game, as the more ingredients they obtain, the more profits they will earn. The fact that players can trade ingredients presents the advantage of being able to get the ingredient you need to prepare a certain dish without having to acquire the ingredient financially - some are rare and hard to get.

For all fortunate eatery owners, the Restaurant City Quiz presents an opportunity to not only add the ingredients you need to your repertoire, but also gain additional real world knowledge about food related topics.

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Sex Toys & Masturbation - The Facts & Myths

ANIMATION TOOLS :

If you grew up in little old Ireland like I did, you are probably familiar with the phrases "masturbation is a sin" or "masturbation will make you go blind".

Sex Toys & Masturbation - The Facts & Myths

The first time you heard this was probably in school by the school nun or from the guys in your class who had got the same lesson from the school priest. Believe it or not, the Catholic Church long believed that masturbation was a sin (they probably still do!). In fact they believed (and again probably still do) that using any form of contraception was a sin also because they believed you were killing tiny little human beings and therefore should not be using sex for any other reason other than conception.

Thank God we've moved on from those days - but there is still a large section of people who believe that any form of masturbation is wrong or abnormal. Hopefully in this article I can clear up many of the misconceptions people have around sex toys and masturbation.

Only for Singles or those with a bad sex life... Yes it's probably fair to say that those without a partner probably masturbate more often than those who have one. But that doesn't mean people in loving, sex filled relationships don't masturbate. If you're one of the lucky ones, you probably enjoy masturbating together as part of your exciting sex life. In fact a recent study shows that 50% of respondents have used a toy at least once in their lifetime. 40% of women admitted using a sex toy with their partner during sex or foreplay.

Sex Toys & Masturbation are Addictive Masturbation and the use of adult toys is not an addiction. It's true that some people can become reliant on using sex toys in order to orgasm, but there are no withdrawal symptoms associated with the use of sex toys.

If she masturbates and has a sex toy... she won't need a man.... How ridiculous is that. I've never had or heard of a sex toy that wakes me up in the morning with a smile and a cuddle like a man could. Many men are afraid of sex toys, but that's because they are brought up believing that it's their little man is what rules the world. Like men, women masturbate for a very specific reason...

Guys only masturbate because they're sad losers... The image of a man masturbating using a sex toy will draw so many different pictures in different peoples minds. Some will like it, while others will scream "eeeewwwwww" in disgust. I personally feel it's quite sad that the image of a man using a sex toy to masturbate generally speaking, conjures up an image of a sad old man sitting at home watching sleazy porn. Men, just like women need to explore their bodies and understand what it is that makes them tick, or better still... work on their ejaculation control!

It's not natural Well what can I say? There are many examples of animals in the wild who masturbate, it's not just a Human phenomena. And why with brains like ours, is it so unnatural to have the ability to create wonderful tools to enhance our sexual pleasure? Need I say more?

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Working With a Free Web Builder

ANIMATION TOOLS :

If you don't know how to create a website and want to avoid hiring a programmer, you should consider using a free web builder service. Sites like Moonfruit, Wix and Webstarts allow their members to build a website for free and publish it instantly without getting into the nuts and bolts of programming. Here is what these free web builders offer:

Working With a Free Web Builder

1. Web builder sites feature an easy-to-use interface that can help members create web pages, navigation bars, content, forms and internal links. Once created the website can be previewed and published on any server at the click of a button.

2. Members can also publish their website for mobile and Facebook users. The software built by these web builders helps create different optimized versions of a website at the mere push of a button.

3. Members don't have to worry about hiring a programmer or a web designer because website creation sites feature many good-looking web templates, and all the programming is already done. Members can also get backgrounds, stock images, animations and more. Moreover, image editors are available too and members can crop and resize (and more) images if they'd like to.

4. Website building tools also feature shopping carts that can be easily integrated with Paypal and other payment options into the site. The shopping cart can also be shared on networks like Twitter and Facebook.

5. Members can also build in blogging into their website. Good and regular content on blogs is rewarded by Google and therefore it is important for every website owner to have a blog. Thankfully, free web builders allow their users to build blogs into their site.

6. Members can also generate traffic with the tools provided by the free website builders. The "mark-up" tools provided by these sites help highlight important keywords, which are then easily picked up by search engines. This helps make the website more visible to searchers. Members can also use in-built SEO tools to add page titles, tags, description, keywords, etc.

7. These sites also allow members to integrate Google Analytics into their website so that they can keep a track of visitors and further optimize their site for specific and niche audiences.

These are the broad features and benefits of working with a free web builder company. So, if you don't know how to create a website, do not panic. Just go online and search for a free web builder and build your site in a jiffy. Good luck with that!

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Games for Girls Keeps Girls Happy

ANIMATION TOOLS :

Girls love playing online games as much as boys do. One site, Games for Girls, has everything a younger girl could want to play. Everything from Barbie to Make Up is included in this site. No matter what your girl's interests are, she can find a game here on this site. These games are in high quality and are very expertly done. Your little girl can spend hours playing on this site. Finally, there is a site for girls that cover the whole spectrum of video games online.

Games for Girls Keeps Girls Happy

Some of the games included in Games for Girls include McDrive Serving, Models of the World, Little Farmer, Magical Kingdom and other games. Game choices are many and no matter what game is chosen, it can be a fun time for all little girls on this site. This site has free games for girls to play. The games are interesting and easy to play. Many different interests can be found here from animals to celebrities and beyond. The games are fairly quick loading and the sounds are fun. This site could keep a little girl entertained for hours.

It is not hard to see why this site has come online now. The facts are that boys are more catered to than girls as far as online gaming goes. This is specifically targeting little girls as they enjoy these video games as well. The colors are brilliant in the games and the games themselves are very attractive. They are also linked with the interests that girls have so that the games themselves have become very popular. With so many categories to choose from, it is little wonder that this site is becoming so popular with girls worldwide.

For example in the celebrity section, there are many different celebrities listed under this such as Justin Bieber. There are many different games in this section that allow your girl to change the way the celebrity dresses and so on. Food games are also here as well as Dancing and other categories. These are just a few of the games that are included in this site for girls. There is much to do and to play on this site. These games will keep girls happy.

The site is free to play games on. It can be a wonderful way for a girl to spend an afternoon if she is inclined to play video games. Sites like this are cropping up all over the place as more girls are playing video games. It can be an ideal way to spend a rainy day for a child. These games are fun, fast paced and keep the attention for hours. Consider this site when your girl wants to play online video games. This is a site that is great for girls and their desire to play video games. It meets the needs of girls everywhere.

Girls are as interested as boys when it comes to playing video games. This can also be a tool of empowerment for the girl in question. With so many different games online that can be chosen from, you have a wide variety that a girl will like. So the next time your little girl wants to play online, direct her towards these games. She will spend hours using her imagination and building different skills. She will enjoy the wide variety of games and game titles on this site and spend hours playing in different games.

It is not hard to understand why these games keep girls happy. They engage the mind as well as the creativity. Problem solving and other skills can also be taught with these games.

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My Favorite Thing About Jogging Is The 'Not Getting Bit By A Dog' Thing

ANIMATION TOOLS :

I love jogging so much. I really enjoy getting up early before the sun is even up, stepping out into the cold air of an early autumn morning and just hitting the streets of my neighborhood for 20 minutes. I may not be as fleet of foot as I was in my twenties but I can still run a 5k in under 25 minutes. One thing that has really helped me stay in reasonably good shape all these years has to be the supplementation, good diet and most of all not having my throat lunged at by a ravenous pit-bull.

My Favorite Thing About Jogging Is The 'Not Getting Bit By A Dog' Thing

Supplementation and a proper diet have allowed me to receive all of the various nutrients a body needs to run at peak performance. Not being bitten in the head and/or neck region by a 95 pound Rottweiler has really helped me not bleed to death in agonizing pain and terror.

Stretching has also played a key role in helping me to stay young and not be chased down and tackled by a huge mastiff looking to bite himself a big old piece of jogger neck.

Proper equipment is also vital. I am pretty cheap most of the time and certainly one to buy generic if it makes fiscal sense o do so but one thing I will not skimp on is running shoes. First of all a decent pair of running shoes will last 3 times as long as a cheap pair and they will also help you run faster should a huge Cujo-looking beast chase you down to get some jogger giblets.

Hydration is also key when trying to maintain a high level of fitness, especially in the summer months when you are sweating more profusely and dehydration is a bigger threat. Proper hydration also prevents muscle cramps which can be a huge problem for runners of all ages. Water is great but I like to make sure I drink plenty of sports drinks that replace key nutrients and minerals that are lost when we sweat, like sodium for example. The summer months are also when you are more likely to be viciously attacked by a dog so please stay hydrated so that you don't cramp up while fleeing for your life.

Last but not least I always make sure there is one item I bring along on all of my runs and that is an electronic dog repeller. Nothing is more effective at stopping the approach of any shady looking canines when out for your morning run. The electronic dog repeller works by emitting a super high frequency noise, audible only to dogs, that works to confuse and deter the dog. It also has a super bright flashing strobe that works in the same way as the high frequency noise in that it confuses and deters the canine. I assure you that although these are effective tools in avoiding unruly dogs they are also quite safe for man and beast alike and so much so that the electronic dog repeller even has a training setting that can be used to humanely and effectively train dogs.

So please, next time you head out for a jog around the neighborhood please remember to bring along an electronic dog repeller so that you can help assure a safe arrival home after your run.

Stay Safe,

Carl Vouer

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Telepathy Uncovered

ANIMATION TOOLS :

Telepathy is typically defined as the ability to sense another person's thoughts or feelings without the use of the commonly used senses of hearing, sight, smell, touch or taste. Often referred to as a sixth sense, telepathy is essentially the ability to sense things about another without having to be face to face with them. Scientific research over many years has shown that many animals use telepathy to communicate the location of food sources or transmit danger signals, often over large distances.

Telepathy Uncovered

For many scientists, this fact has led to the belief that ancient humans, too, had this ability as part of their survival tools. It is also believed that while the majority of humans no longer has, or at least is unaware of, these abilities, some are still able to use them. In reality, telepathy is latent in all humans, but today it tends to be called instinct, intuition or 'just a feeling'.

A particularly striking example of telepathy in ordinary people is that of a woman hearing a loud crash one day. After investigating the noise and finding no reasonable explanation for it, she eventually blamed her daughter, assuming she had dropped something in her room and decided not to own up to breaking something. A few hours later, her husband, who had been taking the family car to its annual check, returned home, looking somewhat distraught. It turned out that he had been involved in a serious car accident.

On discussing events, it came to light that the woman had heard the crash at the precise moment her husband hit a truck in a collision that should have cost him his life, but miraculously left him uninjured. At the moment of impact, he had cried out for her in despair, not wanting to leave her and their two daughters in this way. He stated that he very clearly felt her presence at that moment. She called it intuition, he called it coincidence, and both of them should have called it telepathy.

Essentially, this vital tool of survival is still present in everyone, but as a result of cultural changes, technology and the tendency of religious institutions to brand these perfectly natural abilities as the work of the devil, most have lost the ability to use it. Why this is done is easy to see - by declaring these abilities are unreal at best and evil at worst, religious leaders were able to force the masses into putting their trust into what they were told by the church. Instead of taking their destiny into their own hands by following using their own abilities, they began to do as they were told and followed rules imposed on them. There could not be a better way to control the masses.

Fortunately, the tide is turning and more and more people are taking note of the truth. Those who have not forgotten how to use this ability are helping others and increasing numbers of individuals are realizing just how helpful it really is.

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Tattoos-Popular Tattoo Designs for Girls

ANIMATION TOOLS :

Girls are always asking me what tattoos they should get or what I think are the hottest tattoos for girls. Unfortunately there is no clear cut answer simply because there are as many different types of tattoos are there are girls. What one person might find sexy another might consider unattractive or very unfeminine.

Tattoos-Popular Tattoo Designs for Girls

Certain styles of tattoos might not suit the image you want to project. For example certain work environments may not accept highly visible tattoos even though tattoos are becoming more and more accepted. It may be wise to hold off getting that sacred heart tattoo emblazoned across your chest if your boss is going to flip out if (s)he sees it!

So in saying that what I hope to do in this short article is offer my insight and experience within the tattoo industry for the past 9 or 10 years and point out the current tattoo trends and what the most popular styles of tattoos are for girls. At the end of the day you want a tattoo that has lasting appeal and not a tattoo that was done on a whim. If I give you some good ideas for your next tattoo all the better...

Trends come and go. What was cool ten years ago is no longer cool. In the nineties certain types of tattoos such as cartoon characters like Betty Boop, barbed wire armbands and dolphins were in. Looking at them now they appear very cheesy and basic.

Tattoo art has come such a long way in the past few years even. Certain styles of tattoos have become perennial and have risen to a point where they are getting the respect and acknowledged they deserve for their intricacy and artistry.

Styles as diverse as Japanese tattoos, Indian/Hindu tattoos, Anime, Traditional American and Floral designs are raising the bar higher and higher and becoming increasingly popular.

Alongside that is the fact that people are beginning to see their skin as a human canvas and not just settling for random tattoos placed haphazardly on a part of the body that is hidden. Nowadays more and more girls are getting larger tattoos and more of them.

This may explain the popularity of Japanese tattoos. In traditional Japanese tattoos each character has a meaning and interacts with the other tattoo designs as part of the whole.

The same is true for Traditional American tattoos. Previously what were once done as individual tattoos from disparate elements of American culture are now being woven into an organic and is more like a story unfolding.

Top Five Most Popular Tattoos for Girls

Irezumi - Traditional Japanese tattoos - More and more girls are asking for large tattoo designs such as koi fish, dragons on their hips, back and arms.

Traditional American tattoos - Old school 'Sailor Jerry' tattoos and images such as classic American cars, pin-ups, swallows and nautical stars are becoming more popular on girls chests, abdomen, back and legs.

Floral tattoos - So many girls are getting flower tattoos as full sleeve tattoos or covering their entire back or legs with floral designs. Flower tattoo designs such as lotus flowers, peonies, orchids, chrysanthemums and flowering vines are the most popular.

Anime - Japanese animation has become massive and doesn't show any sign of disappearing any time soon. As a result Anime tattoos have become popular in the past five years or so. The only risk with Anime tattoo is that unlike other styles will probably age much quicker even though it looks great now.

Indian / Hindu tattoo designs - Like ancient Indian texts and spirituality being rediscovered by people in the West since the 1960's it has been reflected in the demand for Indian tattoo designs. They say everything old become new again.

Finally the most important decision is not to get a tattoo on a whim or choose a tattoo that you think is cute or trendy. Give it a lot of thought. Good art should last. Think of Mona Lisa's smile...

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