Interior Design San Diego firm Navarra Hong’s Austin Hong says, “the first thing we do is survey what we see outside of a house and try to incorporate that environment into the house from both an aesthetic and utilitarian perspective.” “This means that if you live in the Midwest United States in a city where it frequently rains, placing Antelope antlers on the wall next to the door as a place to put your umbrella or coat is both consistent with that Midwest feel and totally usable. And if you want to get a little modern, then how about framing it with a sleek steel frame?” says Hong. “Just because you need to put your umbrella or coat somewhere, doesn’t mean it has to be an eye sore.”

But it’s just this type of thinking that is redefining both interior design and also the industries that feed it. Furniture manufacturers all over the country are starting to create coffee tables that pop up and out to become a table to eat and provide some storage space. These types of furniture reflect more urban exteriors where there isn’t a lot of room so every square foot of space counts.

This home in Tokyo was restricted by not only the restrictions in building in Tokyo but also the restrictions of the river and the road between which it was built. Developing the home with a design that allowed it to fit in such a restricted space due to the environment of Tokyo forced the interior to be designed in such a way that every part of the home had to be carefully placed.

So when you’re designing your interior, take a walk outside and look around you before you go to town with placing that furniture and hanging those pictures.

Marketwatch.com is a global finance site that is part of the Wall Street Journal Digital Network. The site is awash with financial and economic news, commentary and trends. The site is well-designed with clearly marked links and an attractive white and blue color scheme. The right side of the homepage has a market ticker for all the latest information on the day’s trading.

Features

Marketwatch.com has a navigation bar at the top of the homepage that takes you to specific areas around the site. That works well if you know which sector of finance you’re interested in. If not, you’re better off using the search function for the quickest results.

The site is laid out much like a news site, with all the latest economic headlines at the top of the homepage. As you scroll down, you’ll find more topics such as real estate, Washington, entertainment, banks and European markets.

A multimedia section along the left side of the homepage contains all the latest economic and market news videos. The video and sound quality of the videos is very good.

The user forums are under the community section of the homepage navigation bar. A drop down screen will appear. Click “groups” to view the forums. Other users frequent the forums and discuss topics such as market trends, trading advice, politics and medicine.

Tips & Tricks

The tools and research section is the most fun component of Marketwatch.com. The tools include functions that track the best and worst stocks over the past year and the upgraded and downgraded stocks over the last thirty days.

Users can also register and enter the stocks, bonds and mutual funds from their portfolios. Then, when the log on, their daily portfolio performance is tracked and displayed on the homepage. This is useful if you’re in a hurry or at work at you want a quick look at how you’re doing on the market that day.

Pay special attention to note that the site’s search box is located at the uppermost right hand corner of the homepage.

Newbie Friendly Rating

Although Marketwatch.com is loaded with information, its clean design and simple layout make it fairly easy to understand and navigate. Like any site with such a vast amount of information on it, it will take some time to look through everything. Overall, we give Marketwatch.com a Newbie Friendly Rating of 7.

Forbes.com describes itself as the “homepage for the world’s business leaders. The site is professionally designed and fairly user-friendly, though not easy to navigate. This is largely because the homepage is huge, taking up three or four screens. This can be overwhelming to the beginning user.

However, getting acquainted with the intricacies of the site is worth your time. Forbes.com is a tremendous resource of the latest business and economic news from around the globe.

Features

The homepage is filled with equal parts content and advertising. Most of the ads are located on the right side of the homepage, so they’re fairly easy to avoid. The site’s homepage is where you’ll find everything. The center of the page contains links to all the latest business news, stock quotes and most popular stories currently on the site.

The navigation bar at the top of the page contains links to business news, market happenings, and personal finance and opinion pieces.

Users can register and then set up their own personal financial portfolios right on the site.

Some of the best content on the site are the feature stories. They are well-written and provide a glimpse into the inner workings of the financial world. You can find them divided by topic halfway down the homepage on the left side.

Tips & Tricks

The website features an awesome search function. Users can set the search to find stock quotes, news, videos and blogs. There’s even an advanced feature that lets you hone in on a very specific topic not generally found on the basic search.

Users can also sign up to receive a free copy of the Forbes magazine by filling out your name and address.

One of the most interesting parts of Forbes.com is the “Forbeslife” tab on the navigation bar. It takes you to compelling stories about how the economy and business world impact every sector of our daily life. This is a must see; the writing is outstanding and the stories are something you won’t find on other sites.

Newbie Friendly Rating

The new user has to take their time with Forbes.com. It’s a bit congested, especially on the homepage. Thankfully, the content is organized and the beginning user can use the search function if they want to bypass the information overload. Although the site may be a bit crowded, it more than makes up for it with tremendous content and special features. We give Forbes.com a Newbie Friendly Rating of 7.

Springer is a publishing group that claims to ‘disseminate knowledge’. The company is the largest producer of books dealing with science, technology, and medicine. The company’s website, www.springerlink.com aims to give people access to its repository of journals, books, and other publications on science, technology and medicine.

Features

The website lets you register. You can customize the website by logging in. You can also translate the website into a number of languages. The home page of the website is simple. There is no need to scroll down as the home page fits right on your screen with a resolution of 1024×768.

The information available on the website is classified on the basis of the content type, subject collection, and the library it is stored in. Categories make it easy looking for information. Almost all the categories and information available on the website are listed on the main page. Adding to the convenience is a content search box available right on the home page of the website. Once you have selected a category from the home page and reached the results page, you have the flexibility to refine these results by searching further. Also, the results page has sub-categories on its right-hand panel.

Tips and Tricks

People may find a little difficult to locate the link for the frequently asked questions on the website. The link is located right at the bottom of its page. There is another link available at the bottom of the website’s pages called Impressum. Clicking this link will take you to the main website of the publishing group, www.springer.com. You will get more information on the company on this website.   

One can improve the way content is searched on the website by clicking the link that’s called more options. This link is located near the search box on the home page. Clicking the link takes you to a page with options for advanced search.

Newbie Friendly Rating

Though simple, the website has not positioned the link for the frequently asked questions strategically. Also, the website has no Help or About Us section which makes it a little inconvenient for visitors. First-time visitors may be at a loss when they visit the website. However, because of the way the content on the website is categorized and organized, people will like the website. The good organization of content on the website makes it eligible for a rating of 8 out of 10.

www.southewest.com is the official website of Southwest Airlines, one of the largest yet low-cost airlines in the United States. This airline has been operational since 1971. Its website aims at making online air booking and check-in convenient for consumers. The website also offers vacation packages to its patrons.

Features

The website of Southwest Airlines has a neat interface. It has clearly defined categories neatly placed on the home page. The tabs on the top of the website are: Book Travel, Special Offers, Travel Tools, and Rapid Rewards. Apart from these, the categories corresponding to only the flight booking are displayed vertically as follows: Book A Flight, Check In Online, Check Your Flight Status, and View or Change Your Flight. The clear segregation of categories makes it easier for people to access the information they are looking for

Apart from flight bookings, this website lets you book cars, hotels, and vacation packages. It is easy to make travel and vacation plans on the website. Other deals offered by the website are presented on the home page with a brief description.

The Book Travel tab will take you to a comprehensive web page that will help plan your travel. The website is visitor-friendly. One can make travel plans starting from booking the air ticket to renting a car, making reservations in a hotel to booking on a cruise in a matter of minutes.

Tips and Tricks

The About Southwest section will give you much more information than the company’s history. There are sub-sections like customer service commitment, safety commitment, investment relations, programs & services, careers, supplier information etc.

The Help section of the website will take you to a page full of helpful information. Apart from getting the answers to the frequently asked questions, you will get other information intuitively categorized. The categories present in the Help section are: Boarding Process, New Booking Process and Fare Products, Travel Tools, Southwest Policies, and Travel Tips/Airport Information.

If you are looking for Southwest contact information, you will find the Contact Us link at the bottom of the home page, on the About Southwest and Help pages.

The links displayed at the bottom of the webpage will take you to the relevant section without you having to look around.

Newbie Friendly Rating

The website does not appear cluttered. A first-time visitor will not be lost here. The booking section is easy for a newbie. The website of the Southwest Airlines deserves a rating of 8 out of 10.

FT.com is the electronic version of the well-known newspaper, The Financial Times. While the newspaper has an online and offline combined readership of 1.4 million across the globe, the website claims to have 7.1 million unique visitors. A website dedicated to world’s business news, views and opinions, FT.com ropes in quite a few business commentators for their comments and analysis.

Features

The categories of news on the FT website cover almost all aspects of the world business. The main tabs on the website are dedicated to the following categories: World, Companies, Markets, Lex, Comment, Business Life, and Weekend. Lex is a special column of the FT which they claim is an agenda-setting column on business and financial topics. Each piece of news displayed on the home page of the website has related links displayed below the headline.

The FT website lets you subscribe to the financial news, thus delivering daily news right in your inbox. The website’s homepage contains sections titled Interactive, Quick Links, Tools, Services, and Updates. These sections help the visitor explore the FT website thoroughly.

The website gives you up-to-date information on the markets around the world. The delay estimated between the actual market status and the FT status is said to be of minimum fifteen minutes.

The website lets visitors access videos and podcasts on financial topics. The website lets you register for free.

Tips and Tricks

In the About Us section you will get useful information for contacting the FT group and its media center, learning more about the FT group companies, the who’s who at the FT, its history and career opportunities at the FT.

Visit the Comment section of the website if you want views and opinions on financial news by the experts as well as the general public. The section is further divided into sub-sections such as Opinion, Analysis, Columnists, Editorial, Letters, Blogs, Debates and polls, and Ask the expert. The Ask the expert page lets website visitors get answers to queries related to business and finance.

You can get updates from the FT website on your mobile by selecting the appropriate option in the Updates section. The website also provides you a tool for currency conversion. This tool is available in the Tools section.

Clicking the Help link on the home page of the website will lead you to a page with a variety of information. Apart from a link for answers to the frequently asked questions, the FT website has organized website-related information in self-explanatory categories. The categories are: Markets Data & Tools, Search, Video and Audio, Subscription & Registration, RSS feeds, FT on your mobile, News by email, Business school rankings, FT Alphaville, FT Managed Funds, Contacting the FT, Security policy, and Browser Compatibility.

Newbie Friendly Rating

The website’s intuitive categorization will help a newbie browse through the pages. However, the spread of the information on the home page may appear cluttered to a first-time visitor. The website’s proposed new look promises to cut down on the clutter by providing collapsible sections. The FT website should get a newbie friendly rating of 7 out of 10.

Ehow.com is a site that serves as a vast library of how-to articles on any subject imaginable. Users can browse through the collection of articles or become free members and write their own articles for extra cash. In addition, Ehow has an extensive collection of instructional videos as well. The site is clear and easy to navigate, providing the new user with an enjoyable experience. Additionally, users that want to write for Ehow will find the registration process simple, although you have to provide your social security number for tax purposes.

Features

The homepage is well constructed and the beginner can quickly find their way to the collections of articles and videos. Clicking on the “How Tos” tab at the top of the page brings up a categorized list of all the instructional topics. This is the simplest way to find exactly what you’re looking for quickly.

The How To section covers just about any subject, and if a user can’t find what they are looking for, there’s an article request form at the bottom left of the homepage. Ehow writers take the requests and create the specific article you need.

Browsing through the “parenting” section of articles, you’ll find more than 2,600 essays on babies alone. The articles are reviewed by readers and the article rankings are posted just to the right of the article title. Since Ehow allows anyone to write for them, this is an effective way of sifting through the garbage and finding quality writing. Thankfully, Ehow lists the articles with the best reviews at the top, so you don’t even have to look at the shoddy articles.

Tips & Tricks

One of the easiest ways to browse the site is with the tab at the far left of the homepage. The tab is divided into sections that will take you to each section’s subdivision. Make sure to stick with the articles at the top of the list as the others have been found less informational to fellow readers.

Don’t miss the resources section which provides users with online product reviews and price quotes in addition to helping you find the resources you’ll need to accomplish your how-to tasks. The far right of the section features a user forum where Ehow users are busily discussing the Ehow topics of the day.

Newbie Friendly Rating

Ehow.com is an incredibly easy site to use. The site’s layout is simple and modest and the new user will feel comfortable immediately. Finding what you are looking for is quick and easy and a user can find a how-to article on any topic within minutes. We give Ehow.com a Newbie Friendly Rating of 10.

Ancestry.com is a site wherein one can find the world’s largest collection of the Jewish family history records. They have different records of all time categorized into photographs, holocaust, immigration records, memorials and many more. It features the collections of the family trees which have been submitted to them by across the world. Their collections includes Jewish family History, African American Family History, U.S Immigration collection, U.S Military collection and International records. The U.S. Census collections will take you way back in to the history of year post 1700. It also showcases the Birth, Death and Marriage records for anyone belonging to these family trees.

Features:

Best search features available on this site is that of type-ahead tool which has all the records saved and memorized, so if you type a particular name it will give you a list of options even before you finish typing. It has a very simple and easy to read format layout. One can save the already viewed content so that without wasting time you know if you are heading for the right content. One can also network on this site and stay connected to your long lost family members and relatives. One can merely find their ancestors by keying in simple facts about their family. It provides you access to the historical records of over six billion people all over the world. They are constantly making improvements on the site so that the search person has a pleasant experience searching for the information.

Tips & Tricks:

One can easily jump to the specified categories available on this site without wasting time. There are easy links available to help you find specific data related to your search. One can make use of links likes ‘The best way to find historical record’, ‘what to do after finding a historic record’ and many more. You can maximize your search by just keying the abbreviations or nick names as well. Make use of the categories which defines the content available in it like Newspapers & Periodicals, Court, Land, Will and Financial data, Immigration and Emigration and more to select from. All these categories have further sub categories and titles which will enhance your search.

Newbie Friendly Rating:

Ancestry.com is a published in a simple format and easy to understand. There are no slang words or usage of jargon on this site. It is a very helpful site which will provide you details on your ancestors. Ancestry.com is a very informative site and can be given a rating of 8 on 10.

Ultimate-guitar.com is the guitar enthusiast’s dream Website. The site was the brainchild of Russian student Eugeny Naidenov and contains over 20,000 guitar tabs. The site claims to be the fastest-growing guitar enthusiast’s page on the net. Upon loading the homepage, the user is greeted with a dark page literally filled with links containing tabs, the latest rock news, musician interviews, music reviews and guest columns. The site is a bit overwhelming to the beginner in that it is loaded with options. To unlock all the features of the site, users will need to complete a simple free registration.

Features

The first thing you notice on Ultimate-guitar is the sheer volume of guitar tabulations. The tabs are arranged in alphabetical order, but due to the huge number, it takes a few minutes to find your artist. We checked out Eric Clapton and found well over 600 tabs for “Slow Hand” alone. Dozens or versions of his popular hit “Layla” were readily available. The site seems to have almost every song by every artist covered.

The articles section contains some great writing on guitar advice and the music scene in general. We were amazed at the quality of the writing in the section – this is a terrific feature of the website. New articles are posted everyday and users spend time in the forums talking about them.

The forums are fantasic. Dozens of topics are in play and there’s even a songwriting and lyrics forum where users can participate in a songwriting tournament. One forum – guitar basics – contains helpful playing instructions from seasoned artists to the newest guitarists among us.

Tips & Tricks

Since the site is flooded with information, we’d suggest checking out the site map at the very bottom of the page. Clicking on that gives the user a less intimidating list format of where everything is located on the site. When looking for a band or individual artist, use the search bar at the top of the homepage. Clicking through the vast library manually is far too time-consuming.

Music lovers will want to check out the news section. It’s packed with up-to-the-minute rumors and hard news from around the music world.

Newbie Friendly Rating

Ultimate-guitar can be a bit congested with information and somewhat confusing to the new user. Additionally, the site is filled with pop-up ads which become annoying quickly.  Many sites wouldn’t be worth the aggravation, but Ultimate-guitar certainly is. It might not be an overly friendly site, but we must recommend it based purely on its vast wealth of content. Overall, we’ll give Ultimate-guitar.com a Newbie Friendly Rating of 5.

Openoffice.org is a business network site wherein one can outsource projects as well as seek projects. It is an international office suite which can be run on any operating system platforms. It is highly sponsored by the Sun Microsystems who maintains the code of projects online. Some of the other contributors are RedFlag, Novell, RedHat, IBM and Google. This software was founded in Germany in mid 1980’s and later was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999 who further released it in year 2000. This site is governed by the Community Council who is responsible to solve any conflicts and disputes and provides a forum for authenticating the issues related to the projects.

Features:

All the projects are widely distributed in any of the 3 categories – Accepted Projects, Native – Lang and Incubator. Accepted projects are the ones who have voting rights and incorporate the well being of the communities. There are technical as well as non-technical projects under this category. The in-house native languages projects fall under this category. Incubator are the community sponsored projects, usually has experimental and small term projects. One need not register on this site to get information on the ongoing and new projects posted; however one can subscribe to the mailing lists and can get this information on a regular basis. If you have your own site it let you link to the openoffice.org site thus making it accessible to different community members. To get more information related to this site one can check the useful links available on it.

Tips & Tricks:

The titled tabs make it easier to browse what you are actually looking for.  One can browse the projects category wise or even project lead wise. Most of the projects displayed on this site are hard core technical ones and require good programming ability. One can download the software by selecting the different themes and clip arts available as per your like. To keep you updated with the recent events on Openoffice.com, one can check the News tab and avail all the details. It is very simple to register on this site and ne can save the project details or the pages browsed in their personal folder. There is a dedicated community available if there are any issues related to the project you are working on so that you can report abuse and or any discrimination. One can also make use of the different supports like training, communities, books to further enhance your growth ability on the Openoffice.org

Newbie Friendly Rating:

Though it is a very innovative and aggressive platform available for the techies, the site overall looks plain and crafted only with words. It does not have graphical interface which could have made operating more interesting. With so many business networking sites available online, there is nothing outstanding or exceptional about this site. The only fact which can come handy is that one can find each and every kind of technical project on this site. Openoffice.org can be given a rating of 6 on 10.