Archive for January, 2008
Zamzar.com
January 30th, 2008
MatthewI came across this website trying to convert a file from one type to another. Zamzar is dedicated to helping you transform your songs, videos, images and documents into different formats. You should check it out when in need Zamzar.com
A quarter of Apple iPhones “unlocked”
January 29th, 2008
MatthewMore than a quarter of people who bought Apple Inc’s iPhone are using them on wireless networks other than AT&T’s, the exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.S., a "stunning" number that will pressure the company’s business model, an analyst said on Monday.
Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi said analysis of sales numbers from Apple and AT&T Inc revealed about 1.45 million phones were "missing in action" at the end of 2007.
About 480,000 of those were believed to be held by AT&T as inventory, leaving another 1 million phones, or 27 percent of the total, that Sacconaghi said were "unlocked" so they could work on non-AT&T networks.
Apple executives said last week the number of unlocked phones was "significant" but declined to give an estimate. Most analysts had estimated the portion of unlocked phones at under 20 percent.
Spokespersons for Apple and AT&T declined to comment.
The higher number is worrying for Apple because the company receives a cut of AT&T’s iPhone service fees, revenue that carries a high gross margin and has fueled optimism over its earnings potential.
For example, Sacconaghi said, if Apple hit its sales goal of 10 million iPhones by the end of fiscal 2008 but 30 percent of those don’t result in any carrier payments, its revenue and profit would be $500 million and 37 cents per share lower than expected.
If Apple cracks down on unlocked phones it could preserve its high margins but miss its sales target, whereas allowing them could erode profitability and make it tough to sign more carriers to similar revenue-sharing deals.
"Besides the financial implications, we believe the prevalence of unlocked iPhones presents a significant strategic dilemma to Apple," Sacconaghi wrote.
Apple shares closed unchanged on Monday at $130.01. Over the past month the stock has fallen 35 percent on concerns over consumer spending and what some analysts say are a lack of must-have products Apple has lined up this year.
Catching up
January 29th, 2008
MatthewIn an effort to make up for a lack of attention to our blog I have put together some cool links and the following statistics in reguards to the future of internet website design.
· 43% of all retail sales are expected to be influenced by or made on the Internet by 2012. · 75% of web users admit to making judgments about the credibility of an
organization based on the design of its web site.
· 83% of businesses use the Internet to research and find potential vendors.
I am going above and beyond for one client with assisting them and there wording. I came across the following websites to assist me.
Style & Diction
This is an interactive web page for checking a sample of writing. It is modeled after the ancient Unix utilities style and diction. Enter or copy text into the first box below. The scores to the right give the readability of the text according to various formulas. The Flesch reading ease score is based on a range of 0-100, with lower values for harder text and higher values for easier text; the other scores show the approximate (
Tests Document Readability And Improve It
This free online software tool calculate various readability measurements like Coleman Liau index, Flesh Kincaid Grade Level, ARI (Automated Readability Index), SMOG. Document readability is the indication of number of years of education that a person needs to be able to understand the text easily on the first reading. Comprehension tests and skills training.
Tool is made primary for English texts but might work also for some other languages.
Also came across a cool idea but I am not sure how practical it really is. Anyways, take a look.
paypal phone number
January 25th, 2008
admin1-888-221-1161.
Get your documents remotely
January 21st, 2008
adminI came accross this information at msn.
To use Google’s software — among the most popular — follow these steps on both your work and home PC. First, you’ll need to set up a Google account on both machines by visiting Google.com/accounts. (Be sure to use the same account on both computers.) Then go to Desktop.Google.com to download the search software. When it’s up and running — again, do this on both machines — click on Desktop Preferences, then Google Account Features. From there, check the box next to Search Across Computers. After that point, any document you open on either machine will be copied to Google’s servers — and will be searchable from either machine.
Getting hold of your company’s internal documents could give others insight into your plans, and losing certain information could have legal repercussions. In particular, myriad state laws regulate how a company has to react when it loses private information about customers or employees; most require notifying those people about the breach in writing. Sending those notifications can be costly for your company — not to mention damaging to its reputation.
On top of that threat, researchers have found vulnerabilities in Google’s desktop-search software that could let a hacker trick a user into giving up access to files, says Schmugar of McAfee. (Those vulnerabilities have since been fixed, but more could crop up, he says.)
Matt Glotzbach, product management director for Google Enterprise, says that there are bound to be vulnerabilities in any software and that, to the best of his knowledge, none of the Google Desktop vulnerabilities were exploited by hackers. He adds that when Google finds out about a vulnerability, it quickly fixes it and notifies users.
How to Stay Safe: If you have any files on your work PC that shouldn’t be made public, ask your IT administrator to help you set up Google Desktop to avoid accidental leaks.
An alternative to this is to store your work files online.
How to store work files online
The Problem: Desktop search aside, most people who often work away from the office have come up with their own solution to getting access to work files. They save them on a disk or a portable device and then plug it into a home computer. Or they store the files on the company network, then access the network remotely. But portable devices can be cumbersome, and company-network connections can be slow and unreliable.
The Trick: Use an online-storage service from the likes of Box.net Inc., Streamload Inc. or AOL-owned Xdrive. (Box.net also offers its service inside the social-networking site Facebook.) Most offer some free storage, from one to five gigabytes, and charge a few dollars a month for premium packages with extra space. Another guerrilla storage solution is to e-mail files to your private, Web-based e-mail account, such as Gmail or Hotmail.
The Risk: A bad guy could steal your password for one of these sites and quickly grab copies of your company’s sensitive files.
How to Stay Safe: When you’re thinking about storing a file online, ask yourself if it would be OK for that file to be splashed all over the Internet or sent to the CEO of your company’s top rival. If so, go for it. If not, don’t.
Notable 2008 CES products
January 16th, 2008
MatthewI am very disappointed that I did not make it out to vegas for this years CES. Maybe in 09?
Here are some of the most notable ones I’ve come across online so far:
Receive A Text Message From Your Dog… If You Can Afford It!
The economics of fear are ever-evolving. Now even dogs can have a cell phone: The bone-shaped Zoombak device attaches to your dog’s collar and sends you a text message when she goes out of a certain zone, with her GPS position. But as always with pet-related gizmos, they know you love your dog so the price is hefty: $199 for the device and $14.99 per month for the service plan. Crazy, isn’t it? But rejoice, since for that much, you will have the jaw-dropping excitement of tracking your dog in real time as she scours the streets.
In-phone Video Editing
The Motorola Z10 features in-phone video editing: Add a soundtrack and text to your videos right on your cell phone or go as far as cutting and inserting videos or images, just like a professional video editor. You can even send the final cut directly to Youtube.
Shake Control
The Sony Ericsson W760 has an accelerometer (just like the iPhone) but it doesn’t limit itself to switching the display from landscape to portrait. Moving it up and down will adjust the volume accordingly and shaking it sideways while pressing the Walkman key will skip to the next song. You can even control games by shaking it but at the Sony Ericsson booth at the CES, the demo’s battery died just as they were about to show me that feature.
Gesture Control: Wave At Your Phone
The Sony Ericsson Z555 lets you mute ringtones or snooze the wake up alarm (among other things) by waving your hand two times in front of the camera.
Morphing keypad:
The Motorola ROKR E8 is the latest Motorola music phone. It features 2GB of built-in memory but also a “morphing keypad”, which is in
fact a touch-sensitive flat keypad that only shows the keys you need for what you are doing. Music playback brings up music controls and camera
use, zoom in and out controls among others.
7 cool webmaster sites
January 16th, 2008
Matthew1. SharedBook: SharedBook Inc. offers a collaborative, on demand Reverse Publishing Platform that maps data into an online book-making template. Individual users can write and manipulate content and invite friends and family to contribute. The end result is a unique, personalized product that can be presented in a virtual flipbook or professionally-published book format, giving websites a unique way to present their content and build brand awareness. SharedBook recently introduced an open API that will enable any website to transfer data to the ShareBook platform. Developers can use API calls to send comments and photos into the ShareBook bookmaking space, taken from blog posts, comments, photo galleries or other sources.
2. FormSpring: FormSpring offers an easy way to build, host and process online forms — ideal for independent marketing campaigns or promotions, surveys, order forms and complex registration forms. Forms can be created through FormSpring without having to know any HTML or Web programming. FormSpring makes collection of the data exceedingly simple by sending submissions to users in a single spreadsheet or from an RSS feed. All submissions are through a secure 128-bit SSL site that encrypts data with PGP. FormSpring offers a basic free account with nothing to install or download.
3. Google Checkout: Google Checkout™ is a new way to process online transactions. Checkout can work independently to pay for or accept transactions or, in tandem with Google’s AdWords search advertising program, to increase sales and minimize expenses throughout the online purchasing process. Google Checkout also offers fraud protection as well as a unified page for tracking purchases. An added benefit, merchants can process sales from Google Checkout for free until the end of 2007.
4. Y!Q Search: Successful website owners all have one thing in common — they provide content relevant to their users’ needs. If you’re struggling to find additional sources of relevant content, consider Yahoo’s Y!Q contextual search. Y!Q lets users search from what Yahoo calls “the point of inspiration” — your site. Simply cut and paste a simple string of Javascript code into your own site’s HTML and you’re off and running.
5. Snap Preview Anywhere: Snap Preview Anywhere provides link previews for site visitors. Users can get a glimpse of the link destination without needing to click on the link and leave your site. Snap Preview Anywhere is a complimentary service and supports nine languages — English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), French, German, Spanish and Portugese. In a world of information overload and short attention spans, tools like this are providing value to end-users and advanced functionality for websites.
6. ClipSyndicate: A new Web publishing platform that enables users to find relevant video clips for use on their sites. Search by keyword or browse content providers like AP, Bloomberg and others, or through pre-defined channels such as News, Entertainment or Health. Then reformat video content for your website or blog through various integration formats like HTML, JavaScript or RSS. The ClipSyndicate Media player is launched directly upon click, allowing users to view a selected video and browse deeper into a channel. Still in beta, ClipSyndicate presents an interesting alternative with an opportunity to share in revenue. It might be a competitor to big players like YouTube that will ultimately release a competing service.
7. AnswerTips: If your website is loaded with jargon or complex terminology, you may want to look into AnswerTips — a free product from Answers.com that displays small “bubbles” of information when users double click on a word in question. It’s quick and easy to integrate and won’t distract readers or cause site owners to lose visitors, as new browser windows are not initiated. Make sure your users are aware of the feature so that it does not get overlooked.
Key to optimizing web graphics
January 16th, 2008
MatthewOne of the most important aspects of graphics optimization is to have a strong understanding of the various graphical file formats available and how (and when) to use them. For example, .jpg is often used as the default file format by many Web developers when inserting images into Web pages. However, the .jpg format works best for photographic imagery, and any “drawn” imagery (buttons, logos, etc.) will often look as good or better and be substantially smaller if saved into an 8-bit .png format. A .gif will also work but the .png file format tends to achieve better results for most
drawn imagery.
It’s also important to understand color bit-depth, and the fact that minimizing the number of colors needed to display a graphic on-screen will result in significantly smaller file sizes. Many Web developers will often load all of their .gif or .png imagery with a full 256 colors (8-bit), when 5-bit (32 colors) or 6-bit (64 colors) will display the same graphic with no discernible difference on-screen.
If developers around the planet would commit to performing the above two steps when inserting graphics into their websites (selecting the optimal file format for the job, and minimizing the number of colors needed to display the graphic on-screen without negatively impacting its appearance), there would be a dramatic decrease in bandwidth consumption and page load times across the Internet.
Expiring Domains
January 15th, 2008
MatthewI am currently going through two extreme pains with registrars on domains so I did some research and came up wit the following information.
What happens after a domain name “expires”For 40 days, the domain is in a grace period where all services are shut off, but the domain owner may still renew the domain for the standard renewal fee. After 40 days are up, the domain goes into a “redemption period”. During this phase, it will cost the owner additional fees to re-activate and re-register the domain. The average fee is around $150, depending on your registrar. If a domain name enters the redemption period it is unlikely that it will be renewed. After the redemption period the domain goes into the true deletion phase. This phase is 5 days long, and on the last day between 11am and 2pm Pacific time, the name will officially drop from the ICANN database and will be available for registration/The entire process ends exactly 75 days after the listed expiration date.
Getting your domain
We know that domains are available to the general public 75 days after the expiration date, and there is the unpredictable three hour period of time in which the domain is deleted from VeriSign’s database and released back into the registry pool. There are three major services which specialize in hammering away on VeriSign’s servers during the drop period. The three companies are — Snapnames.com, Enom.com, and Pool.com — the all work in a similar manner. They use a network of registrars to hit the Verisign servers at frequent intervals and grab as many requested names as possible. If you don’t get your name, you don’t pay.
Snapnames.com
Snapnames.com (the exclusive partner of Network Solutions) charges you $60 for your domain unless there are multiple interested parties, at which point there is an open bid auction between all parties. Seems fair enough. Snapnames is a bit of a newcomer to the game, but with their Network Solutions affiliation, they are said to be improving their success rates.Snapnames has an exclusive partnership with Network Solutions which allows them first shot at any and all expiring domains that are currently held by Network Solutions. The domain I got was not held by Network Solutions but a great many are. If yours is, Snapnames is your best bet. You’ll still have to bid against any others who may be after the same domain, but the auction process at Snapnames is pretty fair and straightforward. If you are the only bidder, it will cost you a flat fee of $60. Not bad.
Enom.com
For over 6 years, ClubDrop has been eNom’s exclusive destination for aftermarket domain names, including Pending Delete and Pre-Release names. On
Pool.com
Pool has a cool feature called Catch and Release. Catch and Release (C&R) is a fast and easy way to acquire available domains and assess their value prior to making a final purchase decision.
Email Marketing Tips
January 10th, 2008
MatthewGrow your list at every turn. Every day there are opportunities to add someone to your e-mail list. Train yourself and those you work with to take advantage of every opportunity to grow your list. If you haven’t added a sign-up box to your website, now’s the time. If you have a store front, keep your e-mail book on the counter and ask every customer to sign it. Consider setting a goal to grow your list by a certain percentage this year.
Spend more time on e-mails. If you want your e-mails to be valued by those on your list, put more time into them. Are you giving yourself enough time to think about what you’re trying to accomplish? Are you giving your best effort to creating content that is interesting and useful to your list members? Do you have great ideas for e-mail promotions that you haven’t put to work yet? Let this year be the year. The little bit of extra time and energy you spend on creating your e-mails can get a big return.
Keep a clean list. Doesn’t it feel great to sleep in clean sheets, eat in a clean kitchen or put on a clean shirt? We love when things are clean, but it takes work to get them that way. It’s the same with your e-mail list. It might take some work to get rid of old e-mails and hunt down the issues for those being blocked, but it’s worth it. And once you’ve spent the time to do a deep cleaning, the upkeep is easy. Make it your goal to give a little bit of time to list cleaning each month so you can get that good feeling that comes from having a sparkling list made up of people who want to hear from you.
Test, test, test. Testing is the best way to determine what you can do to get optimal results from your audience. By testing, you can learn what day and time of day to send, what subject lines get the most opens, and what topics, promotions, offers, and calls-to-action get the best responses. Your open and click-through rates will give you the answers. By testing and using your findings you’ll be better equipped to create highly effective e-mails. Make sure to take good notes.
Segment your list. Dividing your list into categories based on interests, shopping habits, geographical locations or any other criteria you choose is an excellent goal for this year. Targeted marketing can make a huge difference in the responses you get from your e-mails. If you can communicate with your contacts about something that you know is of interest to them, you have a much better chance of getting them to open the e-mail, read it and act on it. The more targeted the message, the better the response.