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You don’t have to look hard to find places to download music online – websites of all sorts will readily pop-up at your mouse click. Many will tempt you with fantastic free offers, including the software that enables you to download music online for free and then share it with other users. And while everybody knows that these music sharing or p2p sites are potentially dangerous, to resist their offers may be really difficult.

If RIAA suing “online music sharers” is not something that can stop you from downloading free music files and you are still pretty much inclined towards p2p sites, be aware that you are putting yourself at risk. In case anything happens to you or your PC, nobody will bear responsibility, except for you, yourself. Just remember that there are legal and safe ways to download music online, even if you have to pay a few bucks.

The file share software available on p2p music websites is what you should be cautious about in the first place. Yes, it will let you download music online for free, but at the same time it may be a source of huge trouble – with various malware and viruses coming along with it.

Adware, installed in most file sharing software, is what you can get as a package along with a music file. You may think that it is not harmful – it is not a virus, after all. But your PC will be stuffed with unwanted advertising, which can cause its system to slow down or even collapse. Spyware is even worse, because it has the ability to gather your personal data and surfing habits; operating in conspiracy, it can even modify your files and computer system settings.

And needless to say, every time you download music online your computer gets exposed to viruses and worms of all sorts. Though file sharing and music downloading software evolve all the time, trying to find ways to protect the users from virus attacks, you are still in a very vulnerable position unless you decide to switch to a legitimate music downloading website.

If you are a regular visitor of p2p sites, the least you can do to protect your PC is make sure your antivirus program is effective and up-to-date. But even in this case you are not 100% safe; while antivirus and file sharing software advance, so do viruses and malware.

One more risk associated with downloading music online for free is pornography content. A music file, which you have downloaded, may turn to be a link to a porno site. Apart from new dangers for both your privacy and PC, your concern should be kids and teenagers who may use p2p sites for free music. If as a parent, that’s where you spent most of your free time, chances are your child will follow your example.

It is crucial to learn as much as possible about the website and the file sharing software it offers. It also makes sense to surf around and see what your options are. After all, the last thing you want is to regret about your decision to download music online when there are so many other better methods.

Why not check out the available alternatives at my music blog where you can safely download music online and enjoy millions of songs for a one-time flat fee that even a teen can afford?

It may sound a little bit strange at first – games for girls. Games are games. Is there really such a thing as games for girls? You bet there is. In fact, games for girls are becoming so popular that there are entire websites dedicated to these games. So what makes these games so different from all the other games?

Fashion games.

Games for girls appeal to girls because they have something to do with what girls are most interested in. They can be shopping, fashion, dress up, etc. What is important is that these games allow the girls to spend time in a make believe world. For example, a girl can pretend to be a model and choose her favorite dresses. These games are categorized as fashion games. They are really simple, and don’t require much thinking. But they sure appeal to the girls.

Doll games.

This is another category of games that is very popular among girls. You get to play doll games that are named after famous dolls, such as the Barbie doll game. These games are very similar to dress up games. You can dress up your dolls in many different different ways.

Dress up and makeover games.

In a similar fashion, dress up and makeover games appeal to the vanity of girls. Girls like to be vain, and this is apparent even in online games. They like to put on make up, wear designer clothes, buy designer bags, and basically just have a good time. It is easy to see why such games are so popular among girls.

Cooking games.

Sometimes, girls (and boys too) like to pretend they are all grown up. Cooking games allow them to do that, without having the responsibilities of a real grown up. They can cook whatever they want and whenever they want in their little make believe world. Boys will probably prefer building, business, or more violent worlds. But for girls, cooking games will do nicely.

Non-threatening games.

Girls don’t like violence. It’s not in their nature to resort to violence. They may quarrel, but they don’t like fighting. That’s why they prefer non-threatening games. Very few girls like to fool around with games that involve shooting and killing. Most just like to keep to simple games like Super Mario or animal games.

Room decoration games.

This is another big hit with girls. For some reason, girls like to decorate their own rooms. They may want to put up posters, paste stickers, and make their rooms comfy and cozy. Such games allow their imagination to run wild. They can redecorate their rooms as many times as they want. So they never get bored!

To play these games, all that is required is a computer, a browser, and an internet connection. If you are not careful, you can end up spending hours playing games for girls!

I listen to music all the time; at home, at work, in the car, sometimes even to help me sleep. But without the ability to find new music, I would soon get bored of the same old play lists. I’ve tried different methods over the years to expand my musical tastes, so hopefully some of these can be useful to somebody else.

1) BBC iPlayer Radio

Now I’m not a great fan of everything played on mainstream radio stations, including the BBC ones, but I do really enjoy using the BBC iPlayer radio. Annoyingly the BBC seems to have the habit of putting all it’s niche shows on a stupids hours of the day, when nobody is listening, but with the iPlayer you can simple pick any of these shows from the last 7 days, and re-listen to it on your PC.

2) Music store latest releases

I find my local music stores pretty uninspiring at times, but it doesn’t stop me walking in to check out the new releases, and staff recommendations stand. They may only have a handful of CDs in them at a time, but every few weeks I will walk in, scoop up a copy of each CD, and stroll over to a listening post to review my selection.

3) Last.fm

There are many social music sites about, but I seem to have made the most use of Last.fm. A simple plug-in to iTunes allows it to monitor all the music I listen to on my PC and iPod, and uploads the data to the Last.fm website. It’s very interesting to be able to see some statistics on your listening habits, but it’s most useful feature is the ability to view the listening habits of people that are deemed statistically similar to you. You can browse through your musical neighbors, looking out for bands that they listen to but you are not familiar with, and then even listen to sample tracks of them using the built in music player.

4) Pandora.com

Pandora is an automated music recommendation service, which allows you to input a band or track you enjoy, and it will build you a radio station of similar music for you to listen to. I used Pandora for about a year until sadly the service was restricted to only be available in the USA, although many similar services have popped up since, such as One Llama.

5) Go to gigs

Going to see a band you love live is fantastic, but often it’s easy to underestimate the support bands. Support bands tend to be up and coming, or local bands you wouldn’t normally run into, so are a great source of new sounds.

6) Pick up a music magazine

I confess I don’t often buy music magazines, as I find the articles a waste of time. It might sound cheap, but often in shops I will pick up a copy of Kerrang, or the NME, and flip through to the new releases section, have a quick read and then return it to the shelf. I make a mental note of the bands, and then look them up later on the Internet, when I get home.

7) iTunes

I often use the iTunes store to search for and listen to samples of bands I’m investigating, such as ones I found on Last.fm. You may only have the ability to listen to short samples, but the iTunes catalog is vast, which means you’ve got a good chance of finding what your looking for. Once in a blue moon I even purchase using the store, as I’m to damn impatient, and can’t wait for a CD to be delivered.

Magnatune

I discovered Magnatune at work, where I use an Ubuntu based Linux box for my daily tasks. The latest version of Rhythmbox that comes with the operating system, has been integrated with the Magnatune service. Magnatune allows you to listen to all the music you want for free, and even purchase songs using a “Pay what you deem fair” system. The music isn’t very mainstream, but selecting a bunch of tracks and playing them on random keeps me entertained.

9) Put you MP3 Player on random

I have a large MP3 collection, which played end to end would span many weeks. It’s very easy to find you have music you hardly ever, or never listen to. Putting your player on random, can often help your rediscover some hidden gems.

10) Ask your friends

Don’t under estimate your friends or co-workers, even if they do seem to have lame taste in music. It’s good to take interest in what other people are listening to, as it helps you diversify your listening habits, and explore something you wouldn’t usually listen to.