What is the Sun?Believe it or not, the Sun is just a star, just like those we see twinkling at night. The Sun, however, is so much closer to us on Earth that it looks much bigger, much brighter, and we can even feel heat coming from it.
Scientists know great deal about the stars that shine at night. Compared to these other stars, the Sun is actually quite average. Many of the stars that appear so small in the night sky are actually much bigger than our Sun. Others, however, are quite tiny in comparison. Some are much hotter, and some are so cool and dim we can barely see them. But for us on Earth, the Sun is just right!
What is the Sun made of?The Sun is made of hot gases, containing many of the same materials we find here on the Earth. These materials, called elements, include hydrogen, helium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, and iron. You can find all of these on any periodic table of elements.
Did you know that most of the atoms in our bodies were made inside stars? As the famous scientist and educator Carl Sagan says, we are "star stuff."
How big is the Sun?The Sun is HUGE! Even though it looks small in the sky it is actually bigger than you might imagine. It only looks small because it is 93 million miles away. (That's about 150 million km.) The Earth is very tiny compared to the Sun. In fact, if you think of the Sun as a basketball, the Earth would only be the size of the head of a pin -- a mere speck.
The Earth is about 13 thousand kilometers (8000 miles) wide, whereas the Sun is roughly 1.4 million kilometers (900,000 miles) across. This means it would take more than 100 Earths to span the width of the Sun! If the Sun were a hollow ball, you could fit about one million Earths inside of it!
How far away is the Sun?The Sun is very FAR from Earth. In fact, it is 93 million miles away. (That's about 150 million km.) If the Sun were the size of a basketball, and Earth the size of the head of a pin, the basketball and the pin would be separated by about 100 feet -- a third of a football field (30.5 meters). If you were standing at the basketball (and didn't have a telescope to help you), you wouldn't even be able to see the pinhead Earth.
Another way to understand the distance is to think of driving to the Sun in a car. If you actually could do this, and drove really fast, say 60 miles an hour (80 km/hr), it would take you 176 years to get there! Light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach the Earth. If you understand how fast light travels, you can recognize that the Sun must be very far away.
How heavy is the Sun?Although we cannot actually weigh the Sun with a scale, we can compute its weight by studying the way it affects other objects, like the Earth. We do know that it contains virtually all the mass in our solar system! We can also understand this better by making some comparisons. Since the Sun is so much more massive than the Earth (over 300,000 times heavier) its gravitational pull is also much larger. A child that weighs 75 pounds on Earth would weigh about a ton on the Sun. The weight increases by a factor of 30. (Of course, we cannot really stand on the Sun, for it is too hot and has no solid surface.)
How old is the Sun?The Sun is about 4 1/2 billion years old. Humans have only been around for a tiny, tiny fraction of this time. As a comparison, if you think of 4.5 billion years as the length of a 12 inch ruler, then the time humans have existed wouldn't even be the width of the lines marking the inches. (Metric equivalent is 30.5cm and it would still be just the width of the markings.)
The Sun will remain more or less the way it is now for about another 5 billion years. After that, it will exhaust the hydrogen it currently "burns" and will enter a new phase of existence. During this phase the Sun will begin "burning" helium and will expand to about 100 times its current size and become what is called a red giant. Once it runs out of helium it will collapse into a much smaller object called a white dwarf.
How hot is the Sun?The Sun is extremely HOT! The middle of the Sun is at least 10 million degrees. The "surface" of the Sun (what we see) is only 5800 degrees. This is cool for the Sun, but is actually about 16 times hotter than boiling water (ouch!). The outer atmosphere of the Sun (which we don't really see with our eyes) gets extremely hot again, about 1.5 to 2 million degrees. These huge temperature changes are very interesting to scientists.
Can the Sun be dangerous?Never look directly at the Sun, even with sunglasses. The human eye is not made to look at an object that bright. It is so bright it could easily blind you in just a few seconds. Have you ever looked at a bright light bulb and then had to look away after a short time? Well, the Sun is about a million times brighter than a household light bulb. This is why you can injure your eyes: if you look directly at the Sun, the inside of your eyes can burn severely and may never heal again. You could lose your sight permanently. In order to study the Sun, scientists look directly at the Sun only with the aid of special instruments that are made to tolerate the extreme brightness.
The Sun also emits harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which can damage your skin and eyes. In fact, any tan is a sign of damage to your skin! A sunburn may hurt for a while, but damaging your skin over many years can cause many problems, including skin cancer. That is why you should always wear sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher when you will be out in the Sun for more than a few minutes. This applies even for cloudy days -- though not as bright as sunny days, much of the harmful UV light still comes through. Note that having a tan is little protection from skin damage, providing an SPF of only about 2.
To help protect your eyes, use sunglasses that filter 100% of UV light. When you buy glasses, check for labels that say 100% UV Protection. People who don't protect their eyes when they are young run the risk of loss of sight when older, including getting cataracts .
Why do we study the Sun?Without the Sun, life on Earth would not exist. Our planet would be a frozen dark ball, drifting dead in space. We need the Sun for light, heat and energy. With the Sun, plants can grow, and animals can eat. The Sun's output changes over time. These changes affect not only our daily lives and climate, but also our communications, such as by satellites. The more we know about the Sun, the better we can deal with these changes.
In the past, we know the Sun was a little different than it is now, and at those times the Earth experienced ice ages. During the most recent ice age, almost all of Canada and the Northern US was covered in a huge sheet of ice about a mile thick! (That's about 1.6 km.) Even recently (the late 1600s) Europe and North America were a bit cooler than they are now, experiencing a little ice age, and changes in the Sun were most likely responsible.
The ozone hole is something different. Ozone is important to humans because it shields us from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The chemicals from leaky refrigerators and air conditioners make their way up in to highest part of the Earth's atmosphere. Way up there, these chemicals destroy ozone, and scientists have noticed recently that the layer of ozone in the upper atmosphere is becoming thin in some places. Scientists must study this so we can understand why it is occurring, and to take action now to protect it. It is interesting, however, that ozone is considered a pollutant when it is close to the ground. It hurts plants and trees, and our lungs. But we need it way up high to shield us from the UV.
Also, learning more about the Sun helps us to understand better other stars. And this helps us understand better the universe in which we live.
How do scientists study the Sun?Studying the Sun and how it affects the Earth is a very complicated process. In order to successfully do this, scientists approach the problem in many different ways. They separate their scientific efforts into categories and usually specialize in specific areas, such as How the amount of light from the Sun varies over time, or How the Sun's light affects the Earth's climate.
Some scientists study the Sun using computers to predict what the Sun may do in the future. Others build special instruments which look at the Sun and make measurements; they use computers both to collect and later make sense of the measurements.
What are the aurorae?The Aurora are colorful, whispy, moving curtains of light that occur in the night sky near one the Earth's poles. This light moves around in and changes color in a dazzling dance of light. The aurora are caused by energetic particles coming from the Sun. The Sun is very active, always putting stuff out into space. Every once in a while it can suddenly eject material -- a million tons of it -- into space. Some of this comes towards the Earth and hits our atmosphere.
The material (small particles) interacts with the Earth's outer atmosphere, causing the gas in the atmosphere to release light. This light appears in many different colors (green, blue, and red), and we call it the aurorae.
In the north they are called aurora boreallis, or northern lights. In the south they are called aurora australis, or southern lights.
What is an eclipse?Periodically the Moon will move directly in front of the the Sun. When it does, it blocks the light coming from the Sun. If it blocks out the Sun totally, we call this a total eclipse. If the Moon only blocks part of the Sun, it is a partial eclipse. You may wish to visit a real total eclipse, observed from the South American country Chile in 1994.
During a partial eclipse, you can still see part of the Sun behind the Moon, so you must not look at it. But, if you look at shadows from the leaves in trees you'll see they appear crescent shaped. Ask your teacher to make a pinhole camera, or project an image of the Sun using a mirror, and you'll be able to see the Moon blocking the Sun.
During a total eclipse, the bright Sun is completely blocked. At this time, the outer atmosphere of the Sun, or corona, becomes visible. During this brief occurrence, you can look at the corona with your eyes, because it is a million times dimmer than the Sun. Be very careful though -- even the slightest portion of the Sun poking past the edge of the Moon can hurt your eyes!
As you may know, the Moon is much smaller than the Earth, and it cannot block the Sun from the whole Earth at once. For this reason, eclipses only affect a small portion of the Earth's surface when they occur.
By the way, during a total eclipse, the stars are also visible!
Facts and figures
The Sun's mass is 2 x 1027 tonnes
About 75% of the Sun is hydrogen, the rest is mostly helium.
Gravity holds the Sun together.
The weight of the outer layers of the Sun causes the density and temperature to increase inwards, until at the centre the temperature is 15 million degrees Celsius and the density is 160 times that of water!!
At the centre of the Sun, hydrogen nuclei fuse into helium, releasing the energy upon which we depend.
The layers of the sun
The sun is not just a ball of gas in the sky, it is made up of different layers that all look different:
The surface of the sun is called the photosphere and is made up of thick gases. It is called a surface, but you couldn't walk on it - you would sink into the hot gas! It looks yellowy in colour and is marked with dark splotches called sun spots. Sun spots are not there all of the time, but change from day to day.
The photosphere is covered by two layers of atmosphere called the chromosphere and the corona. They are both almost invisible because the photosphere is so bright, and can only be seen properly with special telescopes or when there is a solar eclipse.
The chromosphere is made up of hot gases (mainly hydrogen), that swirl around the surface of the sun. Within these gases storms can occur and even hurricanes!
The corona is the outermost layer of the sun and stretches towards the planets as far as Mercury, getting thinner all the time.
Under the photosphere is the interior, made up of three hot layers. The core (the central part) is the hottest, we think it is around 15,000,000 °C (remember that water boils at 100 °C and freezes at 0 °C). This is where the light we see is created by nuclear reactions between hydrogen and helium. In the next layer up, the radiative zone, the heat created in the core moves outward through the gases.
In the convective zone, energy is transported by convection (like boiling soup). Convection therefore allows the photosphere to be heated up by the interior so that we can see the light from the sun.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
ArcObject community
Dear All
This is my personal Blog and i would like to invite those guys who want to Join me to for making a community of ArcObject Development. I want to know about you and your workprofile so that we can build a group which will help out for the programmer of Arcobject. I have started this by this blog with name ArcObject Help Online.
So please tell me about you or post your resume here so that i can know about you and we will together help out to arcobject guy.
This is my personal Blog and i would like to invite those guys who want to Join me to for making a community of ArcObject Development. I want to know about you and your workprofile so that we can build a group which will help out for the programmer of Arcobject. I have started this by this blog with name ArcObject Help Online.
So please tell me about you or post your resume here so that i can know about you and we will together help out to arcobject guy.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
What do you think about How to think?
When we start thinking, we factually start producing a chain of thoughts. Incidentally the Almighty has bestowed this capability of limit less continuous thinking on human beings. There are 8.4 million species of all beings in the world. Except human beings the other 83,99,999 species of our fellow beings do not possess this power or it might be with them only in negligible dimensions. Mostly they do all acts instinctually.Conversion of thought from the state of idea / desire to determination and finally to instincts / emotions /’Sanskars’ is the result of its bonds with force of Pran, we are able to put in. Further, a thought can propagate only due to Pran as carrier and in 'Akash' as medium. If you think of some body, the thought carrying ‘Pran’ moves and strikes directly on the Pranmaya Kosh of that fellow. It shakes to the thoughts of that envelope and depending on its might, it may bring the desired thought on the surface so as to strike on the ‘Chitta’ screen and from there get appreciated by the brain of that fellow. This is how the telepathy becomes possible. In the wake of emotional surges, occurrences of such communications are observed clearly. A mighty thought means that it carries a lot of Pran. The Pran is a mysterious element and one who wants to learn meditation, must have some knowledge of it. In order of decreasing density, the Earth, the Water, the Air, the ‘Agni’ and the ‘Akash’ are five elements used by the Almighty in creation of ‘Jad Prakerti’. Pran / Chetna, is still finer form of chetanya Prakerti. Since a human being has been bestowed with enormous capacity to think continuously, formation of a strong chain of thoughts becomes possible by him. If the chain is strong, he can become effective in continued displacement of a lot of Pran embodied with the thoughts.
Do you belive in Punarjanm
REBIRTH (PUNARJANM) The Concept of Life and Death
Birth and Death Immortal soulWhat is Rebirth Law of Action (Karm Phal) Rebirth and past Memories
Everyone who is born has to die. It is the law of the animate (living) world that whoever is born must die. What happens to the body and the soul after death? This always remains the question. According to Vedic Scriptures the body perishes after death, but this is not the case with the soul. The soul (Atma) in reality is beyond birth and death. The so called ‘birth’ of the soul is its entry into a body and its so-called ‘death’ is its separation from that body. After it discards a body the soul enters a new body in accordance with its actions (deeds). This cycle is known as REBIRTH I REINCARNATION or PUNARJANM which is one of the main principles of the Vedic Religion. Birth and Death The animate body comprises five elements: ether (space), air, fire, water and earth. When the soul enters the body it gives it life. The body becomes lively and starts performing deeds (actions). It continues doing so as long as the soul resides in it. When the body becomes aged, diseased or inactive due to certain reasons, the soul leaves it, causing it to become lifeless. This is known as DEATH. The dead body is unable to perform any action by itself. According to the Vedic scriptures, the body is cremated (burnt) as mentioned in the Yajurved (40.15) “BHASMANTAM SHARIRAM”, i.e. the body burns to ashes. “The elements of ether merges into the cosmic space, the life giving breath returns to the atmosphere, the heat of the body merge into the heat of the sun, the liquid unites with the water and the material body mixes with the earth. (Rigveda 10-16-3)
The soul is immortal (does not die)
After death the body perishes, but the soul does not perish because it is, by nature, immortal. When the soul establishes a link with a body we refer to it as birth, and when it leaves the body we call it death. This means that the soul existed before birth and will exist after death. The Gita (2-23) very well describes the immortality of the soul thus: - “Weapons cannot injure it; fire cannot burn it; it cannot be soaked in water nor can the wind dry it.”What is Rebirth? At the time of death the soul does not die. What happens to it then? The soul follows the cycle of birth after death and vice versa. It is always discarding an old body and entering a new one. This is known as rebirth. The body undergoes three stages, i.e. childhood, youth and old age. Similarly, death can be understood as the fourth stage when the soul departs from the old body to reside in a new one. Gita (2-22) clarifies this point further: - “Just as a person discards old and dirty clothes and puts on new ones, so does the soul discard the old or weak body and enters a new one.” Rebirth and the Law of Action (Karm Phal) The principle of Rebirth is tied up with the Law of Action. One reaps good or bad fruits in accordance with one’s actions. The Principle of Law of Action applies to both the present life and the life to come, i.e. the life after death. The soul carries with it the impressions of its actions into the next life. Happiness and sorrows are associated with life from birth. Children are born under varied conditions and circumstances. Some are born cripple or lame, some healthy and some strong. Some take birth in poor homes while others in rich homes. Some are intelligent, while some are mentally retarded. Why are these differences found amongst children? Even children born in one home of the same parents have differences among them. Anyone who believes in the Justice of God will not accept that such differences are brought about by acts of God. God cannot practice such thoughtless acts. If He does, then He is unfair and unjust, which He is not. These differences help to prove the principle of Rebirth, that is, a person takes birth according to one’s actions in the previous life. One reaps in the present life the fruits of his or her actions of the past life. It is with the justice meted out by God that one takes birth according to one’s past actions. God is omniscient. He operates with justice and thoughtfulness. He shows no favouritism and does not make mistakes. A person has to accept God’s justice and undergo happiness or suffering according to one’s deeds in his or her previous life. Even though we realise that such persons are suffering through their own actions, it is our duty to lessen their suffering through appropriate means. The theory of Rebirth enables one to understand the cycle of life and death and realise the justice and orderliness in the creation of God. Thus the principle of Rebirth and the Laws of action (karm) are inseparable. Rebirth and past Memories The theory of Rebirth raises the question, “why are we unable to recall events of our past lives?” When we examine deeply, we find that we are forgetful of many events even in our present life. It is difficult to remember what we ate only a few days ago and even more difficult to remember events of childhood days. Life ends in death and changes the existing circumstances completely. Therefore it is natural to forget all events associated with previous lives. Another significant fact about past memories is that it is to our advantage to forget the past life. If one were to remember all the associations, troubles, pains and sorrows of the past then the present life would become a miserable one. If unhappy events of the past were to remain unforgettable and fresh all the time then the present life would be unhappy. Therefore in the process of rebirth God’s act of destroying our memories of the past is a blessing to us. If one does want to know about one’s past and future then he or she has to develop such powers through Yoga and Meditation.
Birth and Death Immortal soulWhat is Rebirth Law of Action (Karm Phal) Rebirth and past Memories
Everyone who is born has to die. It is the law of the animate (living) world that whoever is born must die. What happens to the body and the soul after death? This always remains the question. According to Vedic Scriptures the body perishes after death, but this is not the case with the soul. The soul (Atma) in reality is beyond birth and death. The so called ‘birth’ of the soul is its entry into a body and its so-called ‘death’ is its separation from that body. After it discards a body the soul enters a new body in accordance with its actions (deeds). This cycle is known as REBIRTH I REINCARNATION or PUNARJANM which is one of the main principles of the Vedic Religion. Birth and Death The animate body comprises five elements: ether (space), air, fire, water and earth. When the soul enters the body it gives it life. The body becomes lively and starts performing deeds (actions). It continues doing so as long as the soul resides in it. When the body becomes aged, diseased or inactive due to certain reasons, the soul leaves it, causing it to become lifeless. This is known as DEATH. The dead body is unable to perform any action by itself. According to the Vedic scriptures, the body is cremated (burnt) as mentioned in the Yajurved (40.15) “BHASMANTAM SHARIRAM”, i.e. the body burns to ashes. “The elements of ether merges into the cosmic space, the life giving breath returns to the atmosphere, the heat of the body merge into the heat of the sun, the liquid unites with the water and the material body mixes with the earth. (Rigveda 10-16-3)
The soul is immortal (does not die)
After death the body perishes, but the soul does not perish because it is, by nature, immortal. When the soul establishes a link with a body we refer to it as birth, and when it leaves the body we call it death. This means that the soul existed before birth and will exist after death. The Gita (2-23) very well describes the immortality of the soul thus: - “Weapons cannot injure it; fire cannot burn it; it cannot be soaked in water nor can the wind dry it.”What is Rebirth? At the time of death the soul does not die. What happens to it then? The soul follows the cycle of birth after death and vice versa. It is always discarding an old body and entering a new one. This is known as rebirth. The body undergoes three stages, i.e. childhood, youth and old age. Similarly, death can be understood as the fourth stage when the soul departs from the old body to reside in a new one. Gita (2-22) clarifies this point further: - “Just as a person discards old and dirty clothes and puts on new ones, so does the soul discard the old or weak body and enters a new one.” Rebirth and the Law of Action (Karm Phal) The principle of Rebirth is tied up with the Law of Action. One reaps good or bad fruits in accordance with one’s actions. The Principle of Law of Action applies to both the present life and the life to come, i.e. the life after death. The soul carries with it the impressions of its actions into the next life. Happiness and sorrows are associated with life from birth. Children are born under varied conditions and circumstances. Some are born cripple or lame, some healthy and some strong. Some take birth in poor homes while others in rich homes. Some are intelligent, while some are mentally retarded. Why are these differences found amongst children? Even children born in one home of the same parents have differences among them. Anyone who believes in the Justice of God will not accept that such differences are brought about by acts of God. God cannot practice such thoughtless acts. If He does, then He is unfair and unjust, which He is not. These differences help to prove the principle of Rebirth, that is, a person takes birth according to one’s actions in the previous life. One reaps in the present life the fruits of his or her actions of the past life. It is with the justice meted out by God that one takes birth according to one’s past actions. God is omniscient. He operates with justice and thoughtfulness. He shows no favouritism and does not make mistakes. A person has to accept God’s justice and undergo happiness or suffering according to one’s deeds in his or her previous life. Even though we realise that such persons are suffering through their own actions, it is our duty to lessen their suffering through appropriate means. The theory of Rebirth enables one to understand the cycle of life and death and realise the justice and orderliness in the creation of God. Thus the principle of Rebirth and the Laws of action (karm) are inseparable. Rebirth and past Memories The theory of Rebirth raises the question, “why are we unable to recall events of our past lives?” When we examine deeply, we find that we are forgetful of many events even in our present life. It is difficult to remember what we ate only a few days ago and even more difficult to remember events of childhood days. Life ends in death and changes the existing circumstances completely. Therefore it is natural to forget all events associated with previous lives. Another significant fact about past memories is that it is to our advantage to forget the past life. If one were to remember all the associations, troubles, pains and sorrows of the past then the present life would become a miserable one. If unhappy events of the past were to remain unforgettable and fresh all the time then the present life would be unhappy. Therefore in the process of rebirth God’s act of destroying our memories of the past is a blessing to us. If one does want to know about one’s past and future then he or she has to develop such powers through Yoga and Meditation.
Hand Main Line
Main Lines of Hand Some lines are generally formed on the palm of the person at the time of birth. These are called Main Lines. These lines are found in almost every human being. Some lines are formed by subconscious mind when the underlying thought process is continuously directed to one direction. These are called "Secondary Lines". Some lines keep on appearing and disappearing from time to time. They reflect the activeness of the subconscious mind; they are called "influence lines".
Main LinesA semi circular line found on the palm is called the Line of Life. It reveals physical vitality, health, or unfavorable circumstances, stamina, potential and change of residence of the person.Lower horizontal line is popularly known as the Line of Head. This is the most important among the main lines on palm. It reveals a person's mental ability, memory and concentration power. A long deep head line indicates excellent brain and good flow of thoughts.
The upper horizontal line near the base of finger is popularly known as Line of Heart. This line reveals the emotional capacity of a person. The degree of sympathy and compassion the person possess and his sentimental status. The line of heart also indicates the physical ability of our body organ in the heart.
To learn Palmistry, one can join wonderful courses provided by the Institute of Palmistry. To know more about courses, please Click here. To know you future, please Click here. To see our books on Palmistry, Click here.
Secondary Lines
Those lines which are formed by the electric currents emanating from some centers of the brain. They run from wrist towards the fingers. They are the Line of Saturn, Line of Sun, and the Line of Mercury. These lines are not found on all hands. They reveal about the ups and downs in a person's life. The questions regarding divorce, career, success, profession, travel, journey etc can be answered through the study of these lines.
Line of Saturn is also called fate line. This line indicates the amount of money, property a person will possess and his prospects in business or in employment.
Line of Sun reveals the success of a person's endeavors. It is a subsidiary of the line of Saturn. To answer the questions relating to business, employment, career etc., along with the Saturn line the sun line should also be considered.
Line of Mercury:- Not formed on all palms. It indicates about person's health, cleverness, business acumen or the ability to study science or energy in research field.
Monday, June 9, 2008
IMxDocument with Example
This interface is a starting point for much of the other objects in ArcMap. For example, this interface provides access to the current active view, the currently selected map, all of the maps, and the style gallery. This interface also has many properties reflected in the running application including: the text font, the text size, and the search tolerance. Almost every ArcMap customization uses IMxDocument one way or another.
Obtain a reference to this interface via IApplication::Document.
To edit the contents of a map document saved to a file (*.mxd) outside of an ArcMap session or without instantiating a new Application (ArcMap process), see IMapDocument. IMapDocument provides the ability to edit and save the contents of a map document.
[Visual Basic 6.0]
In ArcMap's VBA environment, the MxDocument object is exposed globally through ThisDocument (which supports IDocument). From this object you can obtain an IMxDocument reference. You can also obtain a reference to the same object through the Application object (which supports IApplication). The following VBA code shows both techniques. Dim pMxDocument As IMxDocument
Set pMxDocument = Application.Document
' or
Set pMxDocument = ThisDocument
Obtain a reference to this interface via IApplication::Document.
To edit the contents of a map document saved to a file (*.mxd) outside of an ArcMap session or without instantiating a new Application (ArcMap process), see IMapDocument. IMapDocument provides the ability to edit and save the contents of a map document.
[Visual Basic 6.0]
In ArcMap's VBA environment, the MxDocument object is exposed globally through ThisDocument (which supports IDocument). From this object you can obtain an IMxDocument reference. You can also obtain a reference to the same object through the Application object (which supports IApplication). The following VBA code shows both techniques. Dim pMxDocument As IMxDocument
Set pMxDocument = Application.Document
' or
Set pMxDocument = ThisDocument
Online Begging/Smart and Educated begger
History
During the early days of the Internet, cyber begging was evident in the form of personal advertisements for help on local bulletin board systems (BBS). As personal websites became more popular, individuals began advertising their needs using the features available through website authoring. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offered a free homepage along with the basic dial-up connection service to the Internet. For many people, this was an opportunity to create an inexpensive website to host and share their personal experience and need.
As non-profit organizations began moving their fundraising efforts from snail mail (postal mail) to the World Wide Web, individuals began to create more elaborate forms of personal 'fundraising' by utilizing many of the same Internet techniques.
During the late 1990s, as the Internet became more sophisticated, resources became available allowing any individual to create an attractive website without requiring the knowledge of HTML or other web authoring systems. These free-to-inexpensive web hosting services remain a constant on the Internet making it easy for the public to access, create and advertise an Internet begging website.
Internet begging gained notoriety and momentum after June of 2002 when Karyn Bosnak started SaveKaryn.com as an attempt to have the Internet public help pay her credit card debt, which was in part due to her predilection for Designer Clothing & Starbucks coffee. For Bosnak, the results led to traditional media attention, appearances on popular television programs and a book. Her website was probably the first Internet begging site to gain wide exposure and it became the example for many to follow.
[edit] Internet begging sites
With hundreds of Internet begging sites on-line, it has become common practice for web beggars to register and own the domain name of their websites. Using free to inexpensive hosting services, Internet begging websites ask the public for help with many needs including breast augmentation surgery[1], cancer treatments, new cars, preventing personal homelessness, and medical bills to suggest a few. Websites with names reflecting their needs directly or indirectly are panhandling for help with a variety of human needs and conditions, from deeply personal to very humorous.
Many 'cause websites' accept contributions via clickable hyperlinks. Internet services like PayPal and the Amazon.com Honor system offer free to inexpensive credit card and payment acceptance services making it easy for cyber beggars to collect donations directly from their websites.
Many of the Internet begging websites appear to be the result of an individual’s legitimate desire for attention and help. However, a new trend is emerging in 'Mega' begging sites that are ostensibly offering would be Internet beggars help with the details of website design, hosting and advertising. [2]
Internet begging websites are essentially as transient as traditional off-line panhandlers with respect to territory and accessibility. Many Internet begging websites are not long lived.
[edit] Begging in online poker rooms
Sometimes beggars use the chat facility in online poker rooms to beg for money. This practice often occurs at high stakes tables, where the beggars may believe they have a better chance of being paid by people who play for high stakes. However, this practice is usually frowned upon,[3] and most online poker rooms employ countermeasures to prevent it.[4] These countermeasures include revoking offenders' chat privileges, limiting chat to seated players only, and placing limitations on who may chat as an observer.
[edit] Laws against internet begging
Some countries and other jurisdictions have passed laws prohibiting or restricting internet begging, though enforcement has been minimal, and there have been no major reports of anyone being prosecuted for the practice in itself.
The United Kingdom has outlawed all internet begging, but has not actively tried to crack down on the practice
Mexico has a law requiring those engaging in internet begging to positively identify themselves and to accurately specify why they need money.
In virtually all places, those receiving money through internet begging are required to pay taxes in accordance with all national, state, and local laws.
District attorneys in all places where such laws exist agree that enforcement is difficult, given that the internet is worldwide, and since funds are usually solicited across jurisdiction lines, such prosecution is difficult.
During the early days of the Internet, cyber begging was evident in the form of personal advertisements for help on local bulletin board systems (BBS). As personal websites became more popular, individuals began advertising their needs using the features available through website authoring. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offered a free homepage along with the basic dial-up connection service to the Internet. For many people, this was an opportunity to create an inexpensive website to host and share their personal experience and need.
As non-profit organizations began moving their fundraising efforts from snail mail (postal mail) to the World Wide Web, individuals began to create more elaborate forms of personal 'fundraising' by utilizing many of the same Internet techniques.
During the late 1990s, as the Internet became more sophisticated, resources became available allowing any individual to create an attractive website without requiring the knowledge of HTML or other web authoring systems. These free-to-inexpensive web hosting services remain a constant on the Internet making it easy for the public to access, create and advertise an Internet begging website.
Internet begging gained notoriety and momentum after June of 2002 when Karyn Bosnak started SaveKaryn.com as an attempt to have the Internet public help pay her credit card debt, which was in part due to her predilection for Designer Clothing & Starbucks coffee. For Bosnak, the results led to traditional media attention, appearances on popular television programs and a book. Her website was probably the first Internet begging site to gain wide exposure and it became the example for many to follow.
[edit] Internet begging sites
With hundreds of Internet begging sites on-line, it has become common practice for web beggars to register and own the domain name of their websites. Using free to inexpensive hosting services, Internet begging websites ask the public for help with many needs including breast augmentation surgery[1], cancer treatments, new cars, preventing personal homelessness, and medical bills to suggest a few. Websites with names reflecting their needs directly or indirectly are panhandling for help with a variety of human needs and conditions, from deeply personal to very humorous.
Many 'cause websites' accept contributions via clickable hyperlinks. Internet services like PayPal and the Amazon.com Honor system offer free to inexpensive credit card and payment acceptance services making it easy for cyber beggars to collect donations directly from their websites.
Many of the Internet begging websites appear to be the result of an individual’s legitimate desire for attention and help. However, a new trend is emerging in 'Mega' begging sites that are ostensibly offering would be Internet beggars help with the details of website design, hosting and advertising. [2]
Internet begging websites are essentially as transient as traditional off-line panhandlers with respect to territory and accessibility. Many Internet begging websites are not long lived.
[edit] Begging in online poker rooms
Sometimes beggars use the chat facility in online poker rooms to beg for money. This practice often occurs at high stakes tables, where the beggars may believe they have a better chance of being paid by people who play for high stakes. However, this practice is usually frowned upon,[3] and most online poker rooms employ countermeasures to prevent it.[4] These countermeasures include revoking offenders' chat privileges, limiting chat to seated players only, and placing limitations on who may chat as an observer.
[edit] Laws against internet begging
Some countries and other jurisdictions have passed laws prohibiting or restricting internet begging, though enforcement has been minimal, and there have been no major reports of anyone being prosecuted for the practice in itself.
The United Kingdom has outlawed all internet begging, but has not actively tried to crack down on the practice
Mexico has a law requiring those engaging in internet begging to positively identify themselves and to accurately specify why they need money.
In virtually all places, those receiving money through internet begging are required to pay taxes in accordance with all national, state, and local laws.
District attorneys in all places where such laws exist agree that enforcement is difficult, given that the internet is worldwide, and since funds are usually solicited across jurisdiction lines, such prosecution is difficult.
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