Archive for February, 2010

What Are Pentecostal Beliefs?

February 28th, 2010 |

What Are Pentecostal Beliefs?

Pentecostal Christianity is one of the least understood Christian denomination. Most of what people know about “Pentecostals” (as they are called) is superficial – the women wear very modest clothing, rarely have short hairstyles, etc.

Pentecostals get a bad wrap probably because the faith started (and flourishes in) low income parts of the country. Besides that obvious obstacle, they are believed to have a very strict view of Christianity which requires them to dress and act a certain way. However, this article will try to break some prejudices. Some people believe that Pentecostals have to wear certain clothes and that women should not cut their hair. According to some of the members of the Pentecostal Church, this is not true.

It is believed that there are half a billion Pentecostals around the world.

Pentecostals tend to “stick together”, most likely because of strong feeling of belonging, but it might also be because of the “rigorous” nature of their spiritual system. But what do Pentecostals believe?

Basic Pentecostal Beliefs

The word Pentecost refers to a kind of spiritual “baptism” by a figure known as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is Christianity’s vision of the spiritual aspect of God — whereas there is God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ of Nazareth), the spiritual embodiment of the Christian deity is called the Holy Spirit. “Pentecostal Baptism” refers to a spiritual change that takes place internally, and is seen as a gift from God.

A part of Pentecostal worship is speaking in tongues. The Christian Bible makes a few references to this practice (in which a believer is briefly given the gift of speaking in God’s own language) but most Christian denominations do not consider it an active part of their worship. Pentecostal Christians speak in tongues quite often, and consider it as much a part of their worship as any other. Speaking in tongues can be quite a sight for the uninitiated.

Pentecostal Sacred Texts

The Bible is pretty much the only text needed for the Pentecostal Christian church. Pentecostals take a different view of the Bible than most other Christians do, reading it literally and believing it is the holy word of God himself.

Because of their belief that the Bible is literally true, in the Pentecostal Church you can see foot-washing, public repentance of sins, speaking in tongues, and many other activities that most Christians don’t perform.

Pentecostal Christianity is a growing faith — the church holds massive “revivals” or prayer meetings all over the world with the intention of bringing more people into their fold, spreading the teaching of Holy Spirit baptism, and increasing their numbers on a global scale. While many people don’t understand Pentecostalism, the faith itself seems to not care one bit what the world thinks. For more info on Pentecostalism, check out this page from SpiritualAbuse.org.

This post is part of a series of articles about Religious Beliefs. The other posts in this series are:

What Are Confucianism Beliefs?

February 27th, 2010 |

What Are Confucianism Beliefs?

Unlike the other religions in our Beliefs series, Confucianism cannot be defined properly as a “religion”.

Confucianism is more of an ethical system of philosophy originating in China. Though Confucianism is practiced as a religion these days (in countries like  Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, and even the US) it wasn’t meant to be a religion when it was developed.

Most followers of Confucianism follow some semblance of  traditional Chinese religion, which is a blend of old school Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and any number of localized traditions and ritual.

History of Confucianism

A Chinese writer named K’ung Fu Tzu spent thirteen years wandering China and giving advice to local politicians.

His wisdom led to people following him, writing down his teachings, and eventually deifying him. He died about 479 BCE at the age of 72. Interestingly enough, Confucius (as we call him in English) had just about the same life span during the same time of Gautama Buddha — only the Buddha died two years later to the day.

The writings of Confucius are mostly dictums on morals and ethics, as well as long passages on the proper use of political rule.

According to modern census takers, as many as 350 million people world wide follow some form of Confucianism. It gets a little confusing as Confucius’ teachings are often blended with that of Gautama Buddha into a quasi religious / political belief system.

Sayings of Confucius
We’ve all heard the jokey “Confucius say” jokes — and you may be familiar with some actual sayings of Confucius. Some of the most famous are “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves” and “Study the past if you plan to define the future”. While there are lots of false “Confucius sayings” out there, the only way to get access to the real deal is to pick up a copy of The Confucian Canon from any major book retailer. This includes four texts thought to have been written down by followers of Confucius after his great period of teaching.

Confucianism Beliefs

Confucianism holds six teachings central to its philosophy. These beliefs are –

  • Li: a system of ritual and etiquette
  • Hsiao: familial love
  • Yi: righteousness
  • Xin: honesty
  • Jen: benevolence (this is the highest Confucian value)
  • Chung: loyalty to the government

This post is part of a series of articles about Religious Beliefs. The other posts in this series are:

What Are Muslim Beliefs?

February 26th, 2010 |

What Are Muslim Beliefs?

The religion of Islam is still a mystery to much of the Western world. Though there are nearly 2 billion Muslims and Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, it is mostly misunderstood by Americans as the religion that terrorists belong to.

Much like Judaism, there is no set of laws which a person  must strictly adhere to in order to be a good Muslim. A recitation of something called the  Shahada will do just fine — this recitation is “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet.”

Beyond this core statement of belief Islam can be summed up pretty well by something called the “Six Articles of Faith.” Even though it is not specifically referred to as such in the holy texts of Islam, the six articles of faith are generally thought to be the requirements for being a Muslim.

Six Articles of Faith

1. A Muslim believes in One God, Supreme and Eternal, Infinite and Mighty, Merciful and Compassionate, Creator and Provider.

2. A Muslim believes in all the Messengers and Prophets of God without any discrimination.

This is one of the more fascinating aspects of Islam — a belief in many other world religion’s figures, prophets, and messengers. Islam honors Jesus, Moses, Noah, and plenty of other Jewish and Christian prophets along with their own.

3. A Muslim believes in all scriptures and revelations of God, as they were complete and in their original versions.

4. A Muslim believes in the angels of God.

5. A Muslim believes in the day of Judgement.

6. A Muslim believes in “Qadaa” and “Qadar”.

Muslim Life and Salvation

For a Muslim, the object of life is to please Allah with every facet of their life — int his way, a person can gain access to Paradise. Muslims believe that a person’s life is recorded beginning at puberty, and a full  account of each person’s life will be used at the Day of Judgment to determine their ultimate fate.

Sacred Texts

The Qur’an is the main holy text of Islam. It contains the revelations of God to the prophet Mohammad and along the way contains some of the most beautiful language of any holy text. The Qur’an contains many narratives that would be familiar to Jews and Christians, including accounts of the lives of Jesus and Moses, the story of the Great Flood, etc. My favorite scripture from the Qur’an is 16:65 — “Allah sends down rain from the skies, and gives therewith life to the earth after its death: verily in this is a Sign for those who listen.”

If you are curious about Islam, check out more facts about the world’s second largest faith at IslamCity.com.

This post is part of a series of articles about Religious Beliefs. The other posts in this series are:

What Are Jewish Beliefs?

February 25th, 2010 |

What Are Jewish Beliefs?

Judaism is one of the most important religions in world history. Why? Christianity, the world’s largest religion, sprung directly out of Judaism. That means that you can credit Christianity’s 2 billion members to the existence of Judaism. In fact, Christianity and Judaism are so closely related it would be impossible to think of them distinctly.

Jewish Dogma

Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism does not really have an offiicial set of doctrines or political associations. In fact, all that is required for a person to be considered “Jewish” is their ethnicity. Because being Jewish means being a religion as well as an ethnic group, the lines between religion and race get blurred. These days, a person can be called Jewish whether or not they adhere to the strict system of Jewish beliefs about God or not. Many Jewish families maintain only the  simplest basic beliefs about God and carry out a few simple rituals. Many Jews don’t believe in God at all.

The most important thing in Judaism is action — good deeds and not personal beliefs are far more important to Jews than to Christians or Muslims.

Jewish Sacred Texts

The  Torah and the Talmud are the two main texts for Jews. These books (one of which makes up most of the Christian old testament) tell many stories and facts about God, humanity, even the meaning of all life — and even though Judaism today is more a set of ethnic identifiers and systems of ritual than it is about spiritualism,  throughout history Jewish scholars have had a big impact on our understanding of spiritual principles.

Jewish Traditions

Religious Jews recognize a large number of holy days and feast days as well as periods of fasting and praying. From Rosh Hashanah (like a Jewish new year but sprinkled with repentance) to Yom Kippur (“Day of Atonement”) it is very important for religious Jews to observe certain holidays and traditions throughout the year.

Judaism and the Messiah

Unlike Christians, whose Messiah appeared in the person of Jesus of Nazareth two thousand years ago, the Jews are still waiting for the appearance of the Messiah who will set in motion the Messianic Days, a time of peace and prosperity for all nations.

Some Jews have branched out to recognize Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah  – they refer to themselves as “Messianic Jews” and are generally looked down on by the rest of the Jewish community.

Judaism is as varied as the millions of people who celebrate it. From orthodox Jews who adhere strictly to codes set down in the Torah to new-wave Jews participating in mystical rituals and prayers taken from the Jewish text knwon as the Kabbalah , the beliefs of Jews are just as varied as that of any other large religious system.

This post is part of a series of articles about Religious Beliefs. The other posts in this series are:

What Are Catholic Beliefs?

February 23rd, 2010 |

What Are Catholic Beliefs?

Catholicism is relatively simple to understand due to a large number of recited prayers, statements of belief, and a centralized structure built around the infallibility of their church leader, the Pope.

Whereas other spiritual traditions like Buddhism reject the kind of patriarchal order found in most Christian sects, Catholicism is a well-ordered system with very little variation from church to church or family to family.

The Basics

Catholicism is considered the first Christian denomination, since it was started by the apostle Peter who is considered the first Pope. When Jesus picked Peter to be the head of the church following Jesus’ death, he created Catholicism. Since the Catholic church keeps good records of their Popes and Bishops and can trace a direct path back to Peter, followers of Catholicism feel they have a direct linage to God. A church gets a lot of authority when they can present direct evidence of their relationship with their deity. Thus, Catholics feel pretty strongly about church dogma and tradition, as part of that tradition involves Jesus, their savior.

Sacred Texts of Catholicism

The Bible is really the big sacred text of Catholicism and all of Christianity. The Bible is a collection of texts written over a large period of time — some chronicle the history of the church or its main figures, while some books are collections of proverbs or rules on living. Toss in a smattering of romantic poetry and the occasional apocryphal text (favored by Catholics but not by any other Christian denomination) and you’ve got the Holy Bible.

The Bible is often cited as the most popular book in the world or the most printed book in the world, but regardless of printing statistics it cannot be denied that the Bible is one of the major influences on Western culture.

Catholic Dogma

Consumption of the Host at Catholic Mass is one of the major tenets of the Catholic church. Catholicism, above all other Christian faiths, puts emphasis on consuming the metaphorical “body and blood” of Jesus Christ on a weekly basis. Many people take Communion (as this procedure is called) multiple times a week or even every day. It is seen as a necessary spiritual ritual.

Another big part of Catholic dogma — a belief in a plane of existence known as Purgatory. Think of Purgatory as the middle place between heaven and hell. Catholics believe that some people (who are on God’s “good side” but not good enough to go to heaven) will be judged in Purgatory for some time before being allowed entrance to heaven. This is a controversial belief among Christians and leads to much disagreement between Catholicism and Protestantism.

Catholicism has a long and rich tradition — much longer than any other Christian faith — and millions of followers worldwide. The whole world looks to the Vatican and the teachings of the Pope, even world leaders who want nothing to do with Catholicism. Even though the church has been criticized lately for actions outside the realm of individual control, Catholicism is a proud faith with very specific beliefs and a solid moral code.

This post is part of a series of articles about Religious Beliefs. The other posts in this series are:

What Are Buddhism Beliefs?

February 21st, 2010 |

What Are Buddhism Beliefs?

It is just as difficult to describe the “beliefs” of all Buddhists as it is to describe the same for all Christians. Religions often have different sects, belief systems, even different core philosophies while still sharing the same name. Think of a Baptist church in Mississippi compared to a Catholic mass in upstate New York just for one example.

Still there are some basic principles about Buddhism that are common to all people who call themselves Buddhist. In this article, we’ll take a look at rebirth and reincarnation, the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Five Precepts. Understanding this basics will give you a quick and dirty understanding of Buddhism.

Rebirth and Reincarnation

Don’t confuse the two things — the idea of ‘rebirth’ is that a person’s energy is retained although the form changes. Buddhists will tell you to think of rebirth as like a leaf on a branch that eventually withers but grows back. Same energy, different form. ‘Reincarnation’ refers to a rebirth of the exact same being back into the physical plane. Contrary to popular belief, there are many cycles of life, death, and rebirth that happen in a person’s life — too many cycles to number.

The purpose of these rebirths is to purify the spirit so that eventually one can attain a state known as Nirvana, or perfect oneness with the universe. When a spirit reaches Nirvana it is relieved of all form and therefore all suffering.

Four Noble Truths

Buddhists believe that Gautama Buddha reached a state of enlightenment and many things were revealed to him. One of these enlightenments is known as the Four Noble Truths. These concepts are an exploration of human suffering. The Four Noble Truths are –

1. Dukkha: Simply, this says that suffering exists.

2. Samudaya: This means “There is a cause for suffering.” It turns out that desire is the cause of all suffering.

3. Nirodha: This concept suggests that there is an end to all suffering.

4. Magga: Like all good religious systems, this Truth is self-referential in a sense. It says that in order to end all suffering and reach Nirvana, you must follow the Eightfold Path.

So what is the Eightfold Path?

Eightfold Path

According to Buddhists, the way to Nirvana is through following these instructions to the letter.

1. Right Understanding (of the Four Noble Truths)
2. Right Thinking
3. Right Speech
4. Right Conduct
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Meditation

Buddhism’s Ten Commandments

Spoiler alert — there’s only five of them.

Certain followers of Buddhism hold fast to the Five Precepts which come from a document produced by a specific sect of Buddhism. These Precepts are –

Do not kill.

Do not steal.

Do not lie.

Do not misuse sex.

Do not consume alcohol or other drugs.

These are not hard and fast “rules” passed down by a deity, but precepts interpreted by the people out of thousands of years of history to help them live the right way. There are as many interpretations for each of these Precepts as there are sects and practices of Buddhism.

If you’re interested in learning more about Buddhism, check out these blogs by Buddhists and gain some insight into their world.

Brad Warner’s “Hardcore Zen”.

Shambhala SunSpace

“bee and me”

This post is part of a series of articles about Religious Beliefs. The other posts in this series are:

What Are the Most Famous Places in the World?

February 18th, 2010 |

What Are the Most Famous Places in the World?

Some spots on Earth are so beautiful or unique in a way that makes them stand out. From the canals of Venice to bright lights of Broadway, there are a few places on the map that are recognizable to any human anywhere on the planet.

Here are the top ten most famous places on Earth in no particular order.

1. The Kremlin

The Kremlin is really one of a series of fortified units within Russia, but the one in Moscow is the most famous. Kremlins are Russian-style citadels usually befit with towers, walls, cathedrals, government buildings, and other official features. The Moscow Kremlin is home to St. Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square.

2. Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built to honor the favorite wife of an Indian emperor. Beset with jewels and other precious artifacts, the Taj Mahal includes the body of its builder as well as the body of the woman it was built for.

3. The Great Sphinx

On the West bank of the Nile set among the Giza pyramids is this sculpture of a reclining figure — a lion with a man’s head. The Great Sphinx is the oldest and largest single monolith in the world, having been constructed originally around 5000 years ago.

4. Stonehenge

Wiltshire, England holds this mystic wonder — a collection of plain earthworks built around something truly remarkable and mysterious . . . a circular setting of giant stones whose purpose we’re still not sure of.

5. Great Wall of China

Nothing more than a series of stone and dirt walls and fortified positions (not the giant brick wall most people imagine), the Great Wall was built to protect the Northern border of China from invaders.

6. Angkor Wat

A temple in Cambodia of exceptional beauty, Angkor Wat is depicted on the Cambodian flag and is the most popular destination in that tiny country. Once a Hindu temple, the temple is now a holy site for Buddhists.

7. Acropolis of Athens

The Acropolis in Athens is famous enough to be called simply “The Acropolis”. In truth, there were many Acropoleis built throughout Greece and other parts of the world, but the crumbling feature in Athens is the most famous. These temple-like structures acted as nuclei for the city they were built in.

8. Colosseum

Also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, the Roman Colosseum was the largest building built in ancient Rome. This Colosseum is considered the hight of Roman art and architecture. Significant reconstruction has allowed people to use the Colosseum for a few limited events, such as theater in the traditional Roman style and a few other events.

9. Statue of Liberty

You can’t visit New York City without getting an eyeful of Lady Liberty standing guard in the harbor. Originally given to us as a gift from France for inspiring their revolution, the Statue of Liberty is now a symbol of our country.

10. Potala Palace, Tibet

This might be the least famous of our list of famous places — then again, this chief residence of the Dalai Lama is home to one of the world’s most famous people. The Potala Palace is a thing of beauty — thirteen stories and featuring tens of thousands of rooms (some of which it is rumored have never been walked in). A visit to Potala Palace is as rare and privileged an event as any in the world.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about the best places on Earth. The other posts in this series are:

Where Are the Most Beautiful Places in the World?

February 17th, 2010 |

Where are the most beautiful places in the world?

Beauty is a subjective trait — what is beautiful to one person may be detestable to another.

I’ve picked five of the most beautiful spots on Earth to highlight. This list is a mix of man made and natural beauty and contains five sites that no one could argue with.

Looking for a vacation to a truly unforgettable location? Any one of these spots would be the trip of a lifetime.

The Grand Canyon

The only American site on our list is maybe the grandest of all the natural beauty in the world.

Situated along the Colorado River in Arizona, the Grand Canyon is known exclusively for its scenery. The Canyon itself is about 300 miles long, and at different points in the canyon it is between 4 to 20 miles wide. The entirety of the canyon is about a mile deep.The Grand Canyon was created by the movement of the Colorado River over the past six million years.

The Grand Canyon is not the deepest canyon in the world but the sheer size of it and the beauty of its landscape make it one of the most famous. The Grand Canyon National Park was one of the first national parks in the country and it attracts millions of tourists a year.

Check out the Grand Canyon and enjoy a really varied experience. You can be sitting in winter snow at the rim of the canyon while the interior is experiencing desert conditions.

The Great Barrier Reef

Considered one of the natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef (which sits off the east coast of Australia) is the world’s largest coral reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is made up of more than 600 islands and coral cays, which means the reef covers an area of over 180,000 square miles.

Coral structures compose most of the reefs and island cays allow a variety of sea life to exist there. From turtles, to sharks, whales and dolphins you can see more wildlife per square mile here than anywhere else in the ocean. There are over 1500 different species of fish that live on the reef as well as 200 species of birds.

The Great Reef Marine Park is a popular tourist destination — millions of tourists visit this area every year. They come for sailing, SCUBA diving, and ultimately the natural beauty.

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is one of the best-known man made structures in the world. It is a mausoleum constructed by an Indian emperor, Shah Jahan, in memory of his favorite queen, Mumtaz Mahal. This mausoleum, located in Agra, is made of white marble. The Taj Mahal is not just spectacularly beautiful, it is considered the pinnacle of a certain period of Indian architecture.

The story of the Taj Mahal is part of the reason this site is one of the most beautiful on Earth. An Indian emperor was grieving over his third wife (Mumtaz Mahal) and decided to honor her memory with the largest and most beautiful mausoleum ever built. Twenty years after the plans were made, the Taj Mahal was finished. Besides the perfectly cut white marble, the entire mausoleum is covered in precious stones.

The Taj Mahal is now the tomb for Sha Jahan as well as his lover. About two million tourists come to see the Taj Mahal each year. This is a site that should be one everyone’s list of “Things To Do Before You Die”.

Machu Picchu

The name Machu Picchu means ‘Old Peak” and the site there in Peru lives up to the name. Machu Picchu was created by Incan peoples thousands of years ago. The site is part ancient city (carved out of stone) and part work of art, and must be seen to be believed.

Machu Picchu sits two thousand feet above the Urubamba river in Peru. The site is made up of stone ruins — baths, palaces, temples, and even small homes have all been perfectly preserved over time. Some of the individual carvings at Machu Picchu weigh over 50 tons. This is truly a beautiful and marvelous sight and really drives home the notion that human beings are capable of anything.

The Egyptian Pyramids

Last but not least on this list — the Pyramids of Egypt. The Egyptian pyramids are monuments to the dead.

The best-known and largest of Egyptian pyramids are the Pyramids at Giza, considered by many to bethe largest pyramids ever built. The beautiful and well preserved Great Pyramid at Giza took only 23 years to complete, and that is using a work force of somewere around 30,000 slaves and workers.

A trip to the Egyptian pyramids can not be surpassed. They stand both as a monument to the human spirit and as a thing of beauty for the world to enjoy.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about the best places on Earth. The other posts in this series are:

Where Are the Best Historical Places to Visit?

February 16th, 2010 |

Where Are the Best Historical Places to Visit?

Even though our country is relatively young compared to the rest of the world, we have amazing historical places to visit right here in America. You probably don’t have to travel very far from your neighborhood to see these historic sites.

Here’s a short list of my favorite American historical places to visit.

North

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum — Springfield, Illinois

Lots of places lay claim to Lincoln, from the small town in Kentucky where he was born to several sites in southern Illinois looking to soak up your tourist bucks. This library and museum is the official deal.

Maine Maritime Museum — Bath, Maine

Antietam National Battlefield — Antietam, Maryland

Fort McHenry National Monument

This is a national park and monument erected to honor the site of the composition of our national anthem, “The Star Spangl’d Banner”.

The Freedom Trail — Massachusetts

USS Constitution — Boston, Massachusetts

Better known as “Old Ironsides”, this is the world’s oldest warship still afloat. Check out a totally free guided tour several times a day.

Harvard University — Cambridge, Massachusetts

Henry Ford Museum — Dearborn, Michigan

Thomas Jefferson National Historic Site — West Orange, NJ

Ellis Island Immigration Museum — New York City

Statue of Liberty — New York City

US Military Academy — West Point, New York

The nation’s greatest military heros and military minds train here before being shipped off to the front lines.

Gettysburg Battlefield — Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Independence Hall — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Washington, DC

Instead of listing individual sites to see in our nation’s capital, I recommend visiting the town for a few days and seeing everything. From the White House and the Capital building to the Smithsonian museums, DC is a “can’t miss” historical American spot.

South

Kennedy Space Center — Florida

National World War Two Museum — New Orleans, Louisiana

Vicksburg and Shiloh National Military Park — Mississippi

Two of the bloodiest battles in our nation’s history took place in Mississippi. A trip through this state means a stop at both is a must.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park — North Carolina

Fort Sumter — South Carolina

The official “first shots of the Civil War” were fired here at a man-made island off the coast of South Carolina.

The Alamo — San Antonio, Texas

Johnson Space Center — Houston, Texas

West

USS Arizona Memorial — Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

A must for those visiting this country — see the place where Japan sneak attacked and engaged America in the second World War.

Death Valley National Park — California

Alcatraz Prison — San Francisco, California

Yosemite National Park — California

Hoover Dam — Nevada

Far from a cliche “drive over a dam”, you could spend most of a day at the Hoover Dam site touring, taking photos, eating lunch in the shadow of the great dam, or one of the many other activities at this amazing man made site.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about the best places on Earth. The other posts in this series are:

Where Can You Find the Cheapest LCD TV?

February 15th, 2010 |

Where Can You Find the Cheapest LCD TV?


LCD TVs have been around since the late 80s when Sharp introduced a relatively small LCD TV — a fourteen inch screen described as more of a “boutique” item rather than a TV for everyday use.

LCD technology used to be very expensive (hence the small size of the 1988 LCD TV screen) and with the rise of plasma screens in the late 90s and early 2000s most people thought LCD was dead in the water. Due to the high cost of plasma screens (a cost that never really went down) and the advances in LCD technology, LCD stuck around and by 2006 were cheaper and more widely available than plasma.

Because of this boom in LCD technology, prices have really started to come down. It is common to find a decently-sized (26 – 32 inch) LCD HDTV for around $600 – $700.

But what’s a technophile to do if he wants to score a big screen LCD HDTV and doesn’t want to pay an arm and a leg? Discount retailers.

Deals on LCD TVs

Pricing LCD TVs is a matter of matching your wants with what deals are available. You might be drooling over a 52-inch 1080p widescreen LCD HDTV from Samsung but unless you’ve got $2,000 in your TV budget, that might be a bit unrealistic.

The best way to save money shopping for an LCD TV is a one-two punch — cut back on your expectations a little and shop at retailers who offer big discounts.

I’ve been browsing Overstock.com this morning looking at LCD television prices. That massive and powerful Samsung we were just talking about? Overstock has it for sale at just under $1,500 — that’s greater than $500 savings without really doing too much digging.

Another way to save a little money on LCD TVs is to shop for refurbished items.  Websites like RefurbDepot.com and SavingLots.com have plenty of refurbished LCD TVs to choose from all carrying big discounts on the sticker price. Just looking at their front pages, I see a 55-inch Olevia 1080p LCD HDTV for under $1,200 which is a savings of around $400.

Refurbished LCD TVs

There’s no reason to be scared of refurbished LCD TVs.  If you buy a “factory refurbished” TV set, you can still get a manufacturer’s warranty or even a warranty extension on the original warranty. Buying a refurbished LCD TV is a great way to save money on otherwise expensive technology while still ensuring you’ll get the best customer service. Especially if you can secure a manufacturer’s extended warranty.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about where to find cheap deals. The other posts in this series include:

Where Can You Find the Cheapest Cars?

February 14th, 2010 |

Where Can You Find the Cheapest Cars?

Believe it or not, the cheapest cars are not used cars on sale at your local discount lot.

The Internet is a beautiful thing, having already changed the way we work, bank, play, and buy just about everything else, now we can buy super discounted luxury items like houses and especially cars.

Here is a breakdown of a few sources for the cheapest cars on the web.

CarsForAGrand.com

This website is really special — they gather really cheap car deals from around the country into one location for your browsing pleasure. You can search by your zip code (a search in my area revealed a 1991 Peugeot for $385), by car make or model, or just browse their available deals from all over the country. True to name, you’ll find plenty of cars for $1,000 and under — just don’t expect them to be new, attractive, or in good working order. If you don’t mind depending on a 97 Honda Accord with over 200,000 miles on it, you can pick it up for under $400 bucks.

AutoPen.com

Another site that bills itself as a “cheap car search”, AutoPen.com is far more user-friendly than the above discount car site but a big downside is the fact that they list used car dealer’s cars and not just private sales. Yeah, there are benefits to buying from a used dealer, but they won’t have the cheapest prices. The cheapest car on this site (as of this writing) comes in at just under $1,000, with every other car listed well over $1,000. If you’re looking for a super cheap car or feel you must buy from a private dealer, AutoPen.com is not for you.

GetSetAuto.com

This may be the Ferarri of cheap car sites — I love the ‘compare’ feature that allows you to compare the ins and outs of new and used cars as well as their prices even if you’re not a customer. I also love that you can find new cars on the site as well as used, meaning that more users will get good bang for their buck out of the same site. Unfortunately for me, when I tried to search in my zip code I found no results. Typing in a few other zip codes I found similar situations all over the country. Either their search feature is busted or they don’t have that large of a client base. What cars I could find did have cheap prices — a 2006 Honda for under $5,000 or a 2 year old BMW for just under $20,000 — but many customers won’t be able to find deals convenient to their hometown.

Like with all discount shopping online, please compare prices and fees before you settle on a cheap car retailer.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about where to find cheap deals. The other posts in this series include:

Where Can You Find the Cheapest Hotels?

February 13th, 2010 |

Where Can You Find the Cheapest Hotels?

Finding cheap hotels is easy using the Internet. There are plenty of websites advertising cheap hotel rates and package deals. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is poring over hundreds of hotel deals and gimmicky websites to find a good deal.

We’re going to talk about a few of the most popular discount hotel websites and test them by looking for the same hotel stay on different sites. For this article, we’re booking a weekend hotel in Boston in March.

Priceline

These guys are known for having goofy commercials and offering good package deals — flight + rental car or flight + hotel or some combo of all three. The thing is — you don’t have to book a flight to get a cheap hotel deal. Use their simple website interface to search for a hotel deal in a specific city or near a specific airport. As an added bonus, Priceline promises no change or cancel fees on their “published rate” hotels, meaning it is possible to book a discounted hotel room that won’t bite you in the butt if you need to change your plans.

The deal we found — $89 per night at the Courtyard by Marriott.

Discount Hotels

DiscountHotels.com is a misnomer — this site doesn’t just offer discounts on hotels, but on flights, car rentals, cruises, vacations, and surprisingly wide array of other things too. I had never heard or dealt with this website before, so I called customer service to get an idea of how the site works. Seems to be very similar to other discount sites (big shock there) in that plenty of restrictions apply to your rate, so before you get amazed by the Boston hotel deal we found, understand that it may not be the most convenient way to find a cheap hotel.

The deal we found — $79 per night at an unnamed Back Bay hotel, though the site claims it will be much nicer than the Courtyard by Marriott that we found through Priceline.

Hotwire

Hotwire.com may have the prettiest site of all three we’re looking at, but that has no bearing on the kinds of deals available there. I was shocked by the high prices on similar hotels compared to their competition. It is possible that Hotwire offers better package deals than the other sites, but their “discount” rates for top hotels are all rate and no discount. That’s really the story with Hotwire — pretty website, well known for solid customer service, but featuring hotel rates that just don’t cut the mustard.

The “deal” we found — $109 per night at the same Courtyard by Marriott that Priceline offered us at $89.

Just looking at the variety of prices we found at the above three discount hotel providers, you can tell that the market is pretty wide open. Unlike discounted flights which pretty much run the same price at all the different discount sites, hotel rates seem pretty mutable. If you’re looking for a cheap hotel (and have a few weeks to plan) you should definitely search a number of websites before deciding on a rate.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about where to find cheap deals. The other posts in this series include:

Where Can You Find the Cheapest Laptop?

February 12th, 2010 |

Where Can You Find the Cheapest Laptop?

Shopped for a laptop computer lately? If you’ve visited all the computer retailers in your area pricing laptops, I’m sure you’d like to know how to find cheap laptops.

Laptops are great — convenient and cool — but if you are unable to drop thousands of dollars in one go, you may feel left out. Laptop prices have dropped a good bit in the past few years (like all new technology, it will  eventually become more and more affordable) but finding a quality laptop computer at the cheapest price possible can be a chore. You want to pay less for a laptop you can actually use, not spend a little less money for a piece of technology that won’t function right.

Why Laptops are Expensive

Laptop computers are considered the top of the line in computer technology and thus they can be  sold for higher prices. Convenience items are always going to be more expensive — the thinking is that people are willing to spend a little more money for an item that will make their life easier.

Since the rise in popularity of personal digital assistants, Blackberries, Bluetooth devices and cell phones that now basically act as computers (and become the new cutting edge items) the price of good laptop computers has dropped so that many retail stores now carry good laptop computers for much less than you may be expecting.

Shop and Compare

Start looking for your new cheap laptop by taking stock of the price of the kind of machine you want. Do this by visiting the website of the big name manufacturers, retailers, and resalers and writing down the item’s prices alongside the matching laptop’s tech capabilities. The next time you visit a big box retailer or computer retailers, you can take notes and compare what you found to the prices that these retailer’s  laptops are going for.

Where to Find Cheap Laptops

My favorite spots for inexpensive laptops and laptop computer components are Overstock.com’s computers section (selling plenty of refurbished laptops for well under $500), laptopbroker.com (with many less powerful but completely new laptops around $400 – $500), and even used sites like usedlaptop.com. Just make sure you do your research before settling on a discount or used laptop. Remember, a computer’s components will great affect your laptop experience.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about where to find cheap deals. The other posts in this series include:

How Does Soap Work?

February 9th, 2010 |

How Does Soap Work?

There’s a complex chemical in our homes that we use daily with little regard  to what it is or how it works — soap. This substance seems simple. Just rub it on your hands or pour it into a washing machine and instantly make something clean. But using soap can be important, for example, if you want to prevent boils.

The Basics of Soap

Soap is the name we give any blend of  sodium or potassium-based “salts” of fatty acids. When you think of the word “salt”, don’t think of the stuff on the kitchen table — in chemistry terms, a “salt” is a compound that forms when acids become chemically neutralized. These compounds are produced when fats undergo a process called “hydrolysis”. This process is known as saponification, or soap-making.

Each molecule of the soap on your kitchen counter or under the bathroom sink contains a long chain of hydrocarbons (known as the “tail” of the molecule) and a chunky”‘head” made of carboxyl acids. Look at the structure of a molecule of soap and you’ll be reminded of a tadpole.

How Does Soap Clean Things?

When it is introduced to water, the sodium or potassium ions of the soap float away freely, leaving behind an oppositely charged “head”. To explain how this works as a cleaning agent, think of putting soap into dirty water.

When you put soap into dirty water it is easy to see its emulsifying properties. We call soap an emulsifier because of its ability to disperse liquids into each other, especially for its ability to mix water with another liquid that normally wouldn’t mix well. You know how oil doesn’t mix well with water? The use of a soap will help suspend oil or dirt so it can be washed away with water.

Seems complicated, right?

More Chemistry

Remember that negatively-charged molecule we talked about? It turns out that the “head” of a soap molecule undergoes some big changes when it contacts water. The other part of the molecule (the hydrocarbon “tail”) does not change in the presence of water.

What happens next is pretty cool — the various “tails” of the soap molecules come together to form “micelles” which are like tiny spheres of negatively-charged ions, with hydrocarbons inside them. The bottom line is that these micelles are negatively-charged and push away from each other, allowing them to stay suspended in water.

Getting Rid of Grease and Oil

Certain compounds are insoluble in water — grease and oil are two of these that we combat with soap all the time.

Dirty oils (when mixed with soap) are broken up by the soapy micelles. Interestingly enough, this forms a different compound much like the original micelle that traps the dirty molecules in the center of the compound.This trapping of dirt and oil is what makes soap turn us squeaky clean — the oils and dirt can be easily washed away by plain water which would not normally be strong enough to get rid of the grease and oil.

The Dirty Side of Soap

Natural soaps are some the best cleansers we have, but these natural products come with a few downsides. Remember that natural soaps are “salts” of pretty mild acid compounds. This means that mineral acids are used to form natural soap from fat, and some of these fatty acids are not soluble in sodium or potassium and form “soap scum”.

This also explains why tap water (tap water is pretty much “acidic” everywhere in the US) is not a really effective medium for natural soap. Another form of water that doesn’t work well with natural soap is hard water, or water that naturally contains chemical compounds like calicum, iron, or magnesium. This is why it is hard to lather up in hard water.

The next time you dirty a plate and slide it into the dishwasher without a moment’s thought, think of the complex chemical reaction happening inside of soap. Without the interaction of soap and water, we’d all be a lot less healthy and a lot stinkier.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about How Stuff Works. The other posts in this series include:

How Does Wi-Fi Work?

February 7th, 2010 |

Wi-Fi has become such a standard part of everyday life that most people accept its presence without thinking about it. We use our wireless smartphones, laptops, video game systems, even printers and other peripherals without understanding how the magic beams are zipping around the room from device to device. Ever wondered how Wi-Fi works?

What is “Wi-Fi”?

Wi-Fi is a trademark of something called the Wi-Fi Alliance, a group that (you guessed it) came up with the technology and controls the standards of Wi-Fi worldwide. Don’t give yourself a headache trying to figure out what “Wi-Fi” stands for — many people think it stands for Wireless Fidelity, much like Hi-Fi stands for High Fidelity, but that’s not true. The company made the name up on the spot. They needed something catchier than the technical name, which is “‘IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence”. I think you’ll agree that “Wi-Fi” caught on quite nicely. Other names considered by the company — Skybridge, Torchlight, and Flyover.

Enough with the name stuff, how does Wi-Fi work? Without going into too much technical detail, Wi-Fi uses radio waves just like your cellphone, your television, or your car’s radio.

First, a wireless adapter device (like the kind found in PCs and smartphones) translates data into a radio signal and broadcasts that signal using some kind of antenna. After the message is broadcast, a wireless router device receives the message, decodes the waves back into data, and sends the information to the Internet using an Ethernet connection.

Wi-Fi also receives information. To do this, the whole process runs backwards. A router receives data from the Ethernet connection, translates it into radio waves, then broadcasts it to the wireless adapter device.

Wi-Fi “Radios”

The basic process that Wi-Fi operates on is pretty simple. The walkie-talkies you may have used as a kid to play army are similar to the Wi-Fi devices you use now to check your email.

The “radios” on Wi-Fi devices have the ability to translate 1s and 0s (the basic building blocks of computer speak) into radio waves and also to receive radio waves and translate them into 1s and 0s.  Wi-Fi radios operate at super high frequencies, well above those used by telephones and other devices, which gives them more “room” to transmit large amounts of data.

Limitation of Wi-Fi

Because of the nature of the technology, Wi-Fi networks have a limited range.

Most wireless routers using either 802.11b or 802.11g with a standard antenna can be expected to have a range of about 120 feet indoors or 300 feet outside. A new version of Wi-Fi has been developed that is purported to double that range. The limitation on the range of Wi-Fi has been the main complaint about the technology since its inception.

Wi-Fi technology seems complicated. Wi-Fi is simply a system of radios that can communicate with the Internet through a wired Ethernet connection. Think of Wi-Fi as the cellphone of the Internet, allowing people to communicate electronically without using a mile-long extension cord.

The next time you use your Blackberry device to get directions to a restaurant or send a document to your office printer without being attached to it by USB, remember that Wi-Fi technology is responsible.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about How Stuff Works. The other posts in this series include:

How Does Rent to Own Work?

February 5th, 2010 |

How Does Rent to Own Work?

Rent to own may sound like an exciting option for people who don’t have a ton of capital in the bank but still want to live a certain lifestyle.

Rent to own refers to one of any number of purchasing plans whereby you pay a monthly rate on an item for a certain period of time. At the end of that period of time you have the option of purchasing the item outright.

This option is popular with everything from computers and furniture to cars and even homes. Here’s a quick look at how rent to own works, and a couple of arguments for and against using rent to own.

Rent to Own Furniture

Let’s say it’s a week to the Super Bowl and you want to impress your friends and family with your new 500 inch rear-projection plasma-injected hologram-enabled television. If you’re like most Americans, you don’t have thousands and thousands of dollars on hand to shell out for a new TV set. There’s good news! You can march down to your local rent to own furniture store and take that massive television home for way less than what you’d pay at the big box electronics store. How?

You sign a contract which requires you to pay xx amount of dollars every month (or week) for a set amount of time before you’re given the option of purchasing the item.

Depending on the contract you sign, this kind of rent to own purchasing could be really dangerous for your finances. You don’t want to sign up for a contract that locks you into an amount you simply can’t afford — and you don’t want to end up paying more for the device than it costs to buy outright. This is basic math, people — if the television you want costs $1200, don’t sign a twelve-month contract that charges you $150 a month.

If you’re in a bind and really need a piece of furniture fast or for a limited amount of time, rent to own furniture makes sense. Just make sure you read your contract thoroughly and shop around.

Rent to Own Cars

Most basic car leases are a “rent to own” contract. Rent to own cars work something like this — you pay a down payment (which can be high or low depending on the model of car and the dealership) then sign a contract to make a payment for a specific amount of time. Most “rent to own” car leases have strange contract arrangements whereby you pay every week or, at best, once every two weeks. Make sure that you can swing a weekly payment (even if it seems low, remember that you’ll be paying this amount every week) before signing up. Most of these leases run for between 18 and 30 months.

Once you’re finished with your weekly or biweekly contract, the car dealer signs the lease over to you and you own the car. The advantage of this over purchasing a car outright is that you don’t have to secure financing for a rent to own car lease. Other advantages? The rent to own car dealer pays licensing and sales tax costs for you, and you don’t have to pay property tax on the car until your contract is finished — after all, the car isn’t technically your property.

Be careful when signing a rent to own car lease — if you can’t make your payments, you will lose not only the car but your payment history.

Rent to Own Houses

If you need to buy a home but don’t have the credit score to secure financing, there is a rent to own option available. You will end up paying more for the home, but if the rent to own system gets you in a house of your own, who cares if you spend a little more money?

A home’s seller determines their sale price as well as the monthly rental price they’d charge for the rent to own home. The “rent to own” term on a home is usually one to three years so be careful that you establish a fair value. No matter how much home values fall or rise during that one to three year period, the price will remain the same.

The person who wants to “rent to own” puts down an option fee that the home owner holds onto during the rental period. If the person renting decides to buy at the end of the period, that option fee becomes part of the downpayment. If the renter doesn’t buy the house, that option fee becomes pure income for the home’s owner.

Rent to own can be a valid option for people with poor credit. Make sure and read the contracts thoroughly before you decide to rent to own, regardless of whether you’re buying a television or a new home.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about How Stuff Works. The other posts in this series include:

How Does Gravity Work?

February 4th, 2010 |

How Does Gravity Work?

We’ve all heard the schoolroom description of the discovery of gravity — that Sir Isaac Newton was hit on the head with an apple and instantly postulated the concept of gravity. If only this were true!

We know a few things about gravity — we know that it causes two objects to be drawn to one another, such as when you flip a coin and it hits the floor.

We also know that gravity had some hand in forming the planets, stars, and other bodies that make up the universe. We learn that gravity keeps the moon in orbit around the Earth. Wee see gravity being used in industrial applications as well — gravity powers some engines and other technical features. But what we don’t know about gravity is far more interesting (and expansive) than what we do know.

Science Behind Gravity

Sir Isaac Newton was the first to define gravity as a force that attracts all things to all other things. Sounds vague, doesn’t it?

We know on the other hand that Albert Einstein said gravity is “a result of the curvature of space-time” — whatever that means.

These two theories are considered the most correct — and they have a lot to do with one another. Without Isaac Newton and his apple we wouldn’t have Einstein and his theory of relativity.

The basic science behind gravity suggests that (if there are no other forces at work like wind or density) an object will always travel in the straightest line possible. That’s basic mathematics and physics.

By that same token, any two objects moving along a similar paths will always remain in that similar path, meaning they will never meet. Unfortunately for science, we don’t live in a world without external forces, and it is common for particles that start off on similar paths to end up on a collision course.

Isaac Newton’s theory says this happens because of gravity, which he described as a force that attracts objects to one another.

Albert Einstein also says this phenomenon is due to gravity — but in his theory, gravity is not a force but a curve in space-time.

Let’s take a closer look at both theories.

Two Theories of Gravity

Sir Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation spells out the theory that all particles in the universe posess some kind of gravitational force. According to Newton, gravitational force was everywhere, from that infamous apple falling from a tree to the moon holding its place in orbit though a kind of mutual attraction with the Earth.

Newton publicized this theory in the 17th century. His theory holds that gravity is a predictable force that acts on all matter in the whole universe. According to Newton, this force is a function of both mass and distance. The Newtonian theory of gravity says that every bit of matter attracts every other bit of matter with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses, also affected by the distance between them. You can do a basic Newtonian gravity test at home. Stretch a bedsheet and place two coins anywhere on the stretched surface. You’ll see “gravity” pulling the coins toward or away from one another based on their position and their weight.

Einstein begged to differe, holding that those two objects are still constantly travelling along the straightest possible line (as the laws of physics says they must), but because of a distortion in space and time, the straightest possible line changes into a spherical one. This means that two objects that were moving along a flat plane alongside one another are now moving along a spherical plane. This is what causes their collision.

We see gravity at work all the time. Drop a pen and it will hit the floor. The idea of gravity doesn’t need much reinforcement, but the idea of how it works is much more complex. Two of humanity’s greatest thinkers — Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton — struggled with the idea of gravity. It may be up to some future scientist to completely pin down this mysterious force.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about How Stuff Works. The other posts in this series include:

How Does Twitter Work?

February 3rd, 2010 |

How Does Twitter Work?

Social networking sites have risen to a position of dominance on the Internet. Where once employees and students got “busted” for using their personal e-mail or reading The Onion, social networking has taken over top spot as Internet-based Time Waster.

The social networking site featuring the most meteoric rise to fame is Twitter. Unlike other popular social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, Twitter has very little in the way of “bells and whistles”. People on Facebook are encouraged to posts pictures, videos, links, and all kinds of gadgets like quizzes and “gifts” that attempt to “amp up” the social part of social networking. Twitter, on the other hand, limits users to posts of 140 characters or less. Called “micro blogging”, these short messages are both the appeal and the limitation of Twitter.

Why Twitter?

When a user signs up with a Twitter account, that user intends to post and receive messages to a kind of network of their personal and business contacts.

Instead of sending out a dozen e-mails or hundreds of text messages (or depending on blog traffic that can be sketchy and difficult to track) you can send one message to your Twitter account. The service then automatically distributes that message it to all your Twitter “friends”.

The limitation of Twitter basically dictated its purpose — people use Twitter to throw parties, meet up for lunch, schedule meetings, entertain a big group discussion, or (most annoyingly) to send out updates to let people know what’s going on in their lives. This is why most people’s Twitter experience is hundreds of messages like — “Going 2 lunch at Burger King. Who wants in?” These short messages are called, affectionately, Tweets.

Tweets

A Tweet is any message sent on Twitter. A tweet can be a noun, or one can “tweet” a message, making a verb.

To send or receive a Tweet, a user must create an account with Twitter (which is free) and build a list of friends and contacts. These contacts have to have Twitter accounts as well — otherwise you’re typing to no one.

That may be the beauty of Twitter. In order to make it work for you, you have to build a network of other people who use Twitter. It is a kind of self-fulfilling marketing ploy, and one that works well based on the size of their customer base — in the millions at this point.

Another way to use Tweets is what we referred to before as “micro blogging” — make all your Tweets public and allow any Twitter user to stumble across them and read them. Ideally, this person would be interested by your tweets enough to become a contact of yours.

Building a Twitter Network

Once you have an active Twitter account you can start building a network of contacts. This works a few ways — you can either invite other users to receive your Tweets and start following other member’s posts or you can invite a million people to follow you and hope that works out.

As you receive Tweets from other people, you can respond and in that way gather new contacts. If people want to take part in larger Twitter debates or conversations, they’ll have to become a member of all of the participant’s networks.

Why So Short?

Comedians make jokes about it. Headline news complains about our “micro” culture — and yes, Tweets are very short messages. But there’s a beauty to a Tweet’s length.

Tweets can only contain text — you can’t Tweet pictures, video or other files. Twitterers who want people in their network to look at multimedia content must find a page to host the files, then send a link in a message containing the page’s address to their various networks. It sounds way more complex than it is.

People complain about the brevity of Tweets, but the short length of Twitter messages not only fits our fast-paced modern lifestyle, it causes people to get right to the point. If brevity is the soul of wit, Twitter should be one of the wittiest places on the Internet.

Twitter is a great tool for social networking as well as business applications. I was stunned last week to discover that my father is on Twitter as a representative for his company. My dad had a Twitter page before I did! Businesses and non profits have found that Twitter is a cheap and effective way to get the word out about their products and services.

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about How Stuff Works. The other posts in this series include:

How Does a GPS Work?

February 2nd, 2010 |

How Does a GPS Work?

A GPS works by using satellites to send signals to devices here on the planet’s surface to indicate where we are. A compute with a database of driving directions usually provides directions based on the information that’s being received from the satellites.

The GPS system in my car is my lifeline. It gets me to lunch meetings, important dates, and around traffic when I’m traveling. I’ve never stopped to think how it works before, and the process by which GPS guides people around the world is fascinating.

What is GPS?

GPS, or Global Positioning System, uses satellites to send signals to specific pieces of equipment here on Earth. All GPS receivers work passively. meaning they receive signals from those GPS satellites, but they don’t transmit information back to the satellites.

GPS receivers, such as the one in your car’s navigation system, require unblocked access to the sky. That’s why these receivers are used exclusively outdoors. In fact, I’ve found that my GPS system doesn’t perform up to snuff when I’m near a big forest or in a big city. The trees and buildings block the access to GPS satellites.

How Does a GPS Work?

How Does a GPS Work?

Because GPS systems depend on having an accurate understanding of the time, these satellites are all tied to the atomic clocks at the U.S. Naval Observatory. Atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks we have; they use atomic degradation and frequencies to keep time rather than relying on mechanical means like a wristwatch. Every GPS satellite has at least one atomic clock on board.

GPS Transmission

GPS satellites constantly transmit information that tells both the satellite’s location and the current time where it is. This allows pinpointing in both time and space.

GPS satellites are all synchronized so that their operations and repeating signals are transmitted at the exact same instant. This keeps GPS positions standard worldwide. The signals they transmit, which move at the speed of light, arrive at GPS receivers at slightly different times because of the fact that some satellites are farther away than others. This distance (from the satellite to the receiver) is what allows the exact location of GPS satellites to be determined. The time it takes for a satellite’s signals to reach a receiver is estimated, and when a receiver makes this estimation to four different GPS satellites, that receiver can figure out its position in three dimensions.

As of January 2010, there are at least 24 GPS satellites operating at all times. These satellites, put in place and kept running by the U.S. Air Force, orbit the Earth in a 12 hour period. Air Force ground stations track each satellite’s orbit within a few inches.

Determining Position

A GPS receiver “knows” the location of the satellites because a satellite’s position is transmitted along with whatever other data it is transmitting. Taking in this data from four sources, a GPS receiver determines the size of several spherical orbits, one for each satellite that it is pinging for location. The receiver is located where these spheres intersect–quadrangular positioning. This is what makes our modern GPS systems so accurate.

GPS Accuracy

The precision of accuracy of a position given by a GPS receiver depends on the type of GPS receiver being used.

Most cheaper hand-held GPS units now have about a twenty meter accuracy (about sixty feet). This is plenty good for most basic operations, including navigational.

Other types of GPS receivers use a method called Differential GPS (DGPS) to obtain a level of accuracy that is much greater than twenty meters. DGPS requires an additional receiver fixed at a known location nearby for this increased accuracy. DGPS can pinpoint the receiver’s location within two feet. This kind of GPS accuracy is reserved for military or research purposes and is not available to the public.

Concerns about GPS accuracy led to the Air Force’s decision to initially limit the accuracy available to civilian GPS operators. When the system was created, timing errors were intentionally inserted into GPS transmissions to make sure that non-military GPS receivers were only accurate within a few hundred feet. In the year 2000, this feature was removed.

GPS makes our lives easier. It helps us find a pharmacy or a drive-through restaurant when we really need them and military and scientific applications are even more important. Now that you understand how GPS works, you can appreciate the effort put into powering your Garmin on a daily basis.

As of January 2010, this Garmin GPS is the topselling GPS on Amazon. If you don’t already have a GPS, you could do a lot worse than to buy one using our link. (We make a tiny commission too.)

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about How Stuff Works. The other posts in this series include:

How Does Electricity Work?

February 1st, 2010 |

How Does Electricity Work?

Electricity works using three forces:

  1. Voltage
  2. Amps
  3. Resistance

These three forces work as a unit inside of a given electrical circuit to allow the free flow of electricity from one place to another.

Electricity and the process of transferring electricity begins when an atom’s electrons are excited into action and start to move in what we call a “current” or flow. Different items are better or worse at conducting an electrical force due to this atomic action. If an atom holds tight to its electrons (meaning the electrons are really close to the nucleus) then it won’t be as conducive to the flow of electricity as an atom that keeps its electrons further away from the nucleus.

This is why certain materials (metals like silver, gold, and aluminum) are good conductors of electricity. They are made up of these types of atoms that don’t hold tight to their electrons. When we think of materials that aren’t conducive to electricity, we think of glass, plastic, and even the air. These items are called “insulators” and the makeup of their atoms obstructs electrical current flow.

Voltage and Circuits

How Does Electricity Work?

How Does Electricity Work?

Now that we understand electricity at a molecular level, let’s take a look at the physical process of electricity. Electrons, even though they are tiny, need some sort of force to keep them moving in a current, just like a stone needs to be pushed to roll down a hill. The force that moves electrons in a current is called electromotive force, or “EMF”. The term you may have heard to describe EMF is “voltage”.

This voltage is carried along a circuit. An electrical exchange is made up of an electrical source, something called a load, and at least two wires that carry the current between the electricity’s source and the electrical load. Imagine our electrical source is a battery and the electrical “load” is a light bulb screwed into a desk lamp.

All electrical sources have a positive and a negative terminal. The negative terminal is the part of the circuit that is used to push electrons along the electrical circuit. The wire running from the negative terminal is attached to the load (in our example the load is a light bulb), and then that same wire runs from the load back to the positive terminal attached to the source. The amount of force applied by the electrical source is what determines how much voltage moves through the electrical circuit. The word “amps” refers to the amount of electrons moving through this electrical circuit. The word is “amperage” and is a measure of electrical current.

Resistance

The final aspect of electricity you need to understand is called “resistance”. Think of water running through a pipe. The larger the pipe the easier it is for water to move through that pipe. Pushing a million gallons through a garden hose would take longer than letting the same amount of water run through a canal.

When the electrical current enters the “load” part of an electrical circuit (like our light bulb) some aspect of the load takes on the same amount of current. In a light bulb, the little filament wire inside the bulb becomes as electrically charged as the wire that’s moving the electricity.

When the electrical current flows through the light bulb’s filament, the electrons of the atoms of the current become really thick because they’re moving through a smaller space — like water building up behind a dam. Just like the small space of a dam reservoir holds back water, the small space inside the filament greatly increases the energy of the electrons. This buildup of energy is what lights up the light bulb.

Voila!  That’s how electricity works.

Want to learn more about how electricity works? Take a look at Electricity Demystified, available at Amazon. (We make a tiny commission if you buy a copy via our link.)

This is part of a series of blog posts we’re publishing about How Stuff Works. The other posts in this series include: