How many times did you visit a dictionary website to get meanings for words that you did not understand when reading a web page or document? How did you feel to stop any and all reading to go look for a word? I know it is frustrating and uneasy. It happens to everyone and more importantly, happens frequently. We all have to rely on a dictionary, semantics or language tool. Think of the comfort and easiness one would have if a language tutor were explaining any word or phrase that is not clear while reading.
Now, you can get the same comfort from this innovative web application called as XemanteX (http://www.xemantex.com). It allows obtaining language help in the form of meanings instantly and easily. Did you ever think of double-clicking words in this document to get meanings right away? If so, visit www.xemantex.com to read any thing and everything with a built-in dictionary.
XemanteX allows users to double click any word on the web page to retrieve its meaning. Users get meanings to words on the same screen eliminating need to make trips to other dictionary tools. Does that sound cool?
The word XemanteX originates from semantics - the study of language meaning. The goal at XemanteX Inc. is to enable every internet user grasp, understand and assimilate the content presented on the web by providing efficient and user friendly semantic assistance. Any internet user can (and need to) use this application. A person who does lot of research work by reading technical documents on the web may find it an absolute necessity. If you have kids who read and learn through web, then this application can help build their vocabulary fast. On the other hand, if you are the person who thrives on hard cover dictionary or web dictionary then this is time to look at www.xemantex.com. It will make your life happier.
When you visit www.xemantex.com you can use its services in two ways: 1) Get language help on a web-published document specified by a URL. 2) Get language help on text pasted on xemantex’s screen.
In the first case, type (or copy and paste) the URL in to the text box on the first page. Click on the button “pass this URL”. On the next page double click any word to get it is meaning. It is that simple.
You can also paste text to xemantex’s screen. XemanteX enables language help for the text that you pasted. Double click any word in this text to get meanings. This constitutes case 2.
Does it seem like a pleasant reading experience with no trips to other pages for language help? It sure is; people at XemanteX Inc., are working hard to make your reading easy (It offers its services in English only at this time). Write to them at team@xemantex.com with your suggestions, comments, and / or ideas.
With the enormous amount of information available on the web, there is a dire need for such a tool. The exponential growth in the information being made available through internet requires tools like this to assume the important role of delivering the information meaningfully. There is an enormous scope for applications like XemanteX that open a window to the new world with this concept: “web reading made easy”.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Learn the Lost Art of Touch Typing
Computers have replaced typewriters, but two-finger, hunt-and-peck typing can never replace the touch typing of a trained professional.
A recent report by Robert Johnson in the Boston Globe highlights the decline of typing skills. Human resource managers are finding it surprisingly difficult to recruit candidates with the most basic of all office skills. According to Johnson, “the rapid-fire 100-word-per-minute applicant has virtually disappeared. Today, a mere 40 words per minute is enough to gain many administrative jobs.”
Paradoxically, as computers are being used by more and more people, it has become apparent that typing is not just a skill required by typist anymore. Strong typing skills are vital when conducting a thorough web search, entering data into a spreadsheet or using any other computer program. Ubiquitous email means that merely doubling your typing speed could save hours each week! Yet many of us persist with the two-finger, hunt-and-peck typing method.
How did we end up in such a mess? When people first begin to use computers, many do not take the time to learn how to type correctly. Using keyboard may seem to be simple, when compared with learning complex business software. People do not realize that by learning how to type properly, their use of software will be more effective and their time spent on a computer will be more productive.
Attitudes in school teaching have also had an impact. Typing skills were once taught in most secondary schools. Johnson notes that these low-tech classes consisted of little more than a teacher with a wind-up clock and rows of typewriters. The textbook showed the keyboard and specified which fingers should strike various letters and numbers in order to quickly copy business documents such as invoices and memos. But most schools phased-out the typing class as the demand for broader computer instruction increased.
Of course, many people manage to get by with the two-finger, seek-and-tap method. But getting by is all it is. By learning to touch-type, you step into a new realm of computer experience. No longer do you need to fret over the physical process of keying in information, whether it is a quick response to an instant message or a 30-page report. Instead, as a touch-typist you are free to concentrate on what you are writing, while your fingers do the “thinking” about which keys to hit.
How to Learn the Lost Art.
If you are unable to open e-mail account without mistyping your password at least once or you’re stuck at 20 words per minute, there are a several ways to improve. First, check out your current performance by taking a typing test. You will find a free typing test on the UK Training News website. If you can manage 90-100 words per minute then relax; otherwise read on.
Typing tutor software is a low-cost approach that can easily transform you from a hunt-and-pecker to a 100-word-a-minute touch-typist. There are dozens of typing programs available, including freeware and shareware programs. You need to look for a program which won’t bore you to death with tedious drills, won’t frustrate you with poor design or US spelling and which provides enough scope to let you achieve your target typing speed.
“Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing” is the leading typing instruction program, and has been one of the top ten best-selling software titles for over 10 years. A far cry from the first version that came out on floppy disks and had just four colours to display, the latest version has a virtual classroom with the simple to understand icons. Mavis adjusts to the individual problem areas on the keyboard with unbelievable insight and watches for the typist's frustration factor. It will suggest a different words per minute goal, throw in a typing game for a break, or even advise “calling it a day.”
While self-instructional software on typing has proliferated, some say they’re no replacement for supervised classes. Besides, for many programs other than “Mavis Beacon”, the entertainment value seems to outweigh their educational quality. Consider Sega's “Typing of the Dead” tutorial, for which an ad suggests, “Trade in your video game controller for a keyboard and start typing for your life.” The format is to “type” zombies to death by completing words and phrases that appear over their bodies. Some employers say that typing training must be taken more seriously.
Several training companies offer short classroom based typing training in the UK. Examples are “GO Training” in Glasgow and “Training Circle” in Northampton, where you will find instructor-led courses for around £200. For longer courses leading to a professional qualification, many local colleges offer excellent value. Learndirect is a great place to look for courses, as well as the UK Training News website.
By increasing your typing speed, you really could get more done each day. Remember the mantra that training is an investment, not a cost. So put yourself on the path to blazing, machine gun-like typing by buying “Mavis” or enrolling on a touch-typing course.
A recent report by Robert Johnson in the Boston Globe highlights the decline of typing skills. Human resource managers are finding it surprisingly difficult to recruit candidates with the most basic of all office skills. According to Johnson, “the rapid-fire 100-word-per-minute applicant has virtually disappeared. Today, a mere 40 words per minute is enough to gain many administrative jobs.”
Paradoxically, as computers are being used by more and more people, it has become apparent that typing is not just a skill required by typist anymore. Strong typing skills are vital when conducting a thorough web search, entering data into a spreadsheet or using any other computer program. Ubiquitous email means that merely doubling your typing speed could save hours each week! Yet many of us persist with the two-finger, hunt-and-peck typing method.
How did we end up in such a mess? When people first begin to use computers, many do not take the time to learn how to type correctly. Using keyboard may seem to be simple, when compared with learning complex business software. People do not realize that by learning how to type properly, their use of software will be more effective and their time spent on a computer will be more productive.
Attitudes in school teaching have also had an impact. Typing skills were once taught in most secondary schools. Johnson notes that these low-tech classes consisted of little more than a teacher with a wind-up clock and rows of typewriters. The textbook showed the keyboard and specified which fingers should strike various letters and numbers in order to quickly copy business documents such as invoices and memos. But most schools phased-out the typing class as the demand for broader computer instruction increased.
Of course, many people manage to get by with the two-finger, seek-and-tap method. But getting by is all it is. By learning to touch-type, you step into a new realm of computer experience. No longer do you need to fret over the physical process of keying in information, whether it is a quick response to an instant message or a 30-page report. Instead, as a touch-typist you are free to concentrate on what you are writing, while your fingers do the “thinking” about which keys to hit.
How to Learn the Lost Art.
If you are unable to open e-mail account without mistyping your password at least once or you’re stuck at 20 words per minute, there are a several ways to improve. First, check out your current performance by taking a typing test. You will find a free typing test on the UK Training News website. If you can manage 90-100 words per minute then relax; otherwise read on.
Typing tutor software is a low-cost approach that can easily transform you from a hunt-and-pecker to a 100-word-a-minute touch-typist. There are dozens of typing programs available, including freeware and shareware programs. You need to look for a program which won’t bore you to death with tedious drills, won’t frustrate you with poor design or US spelling and which provides enough scope to let you achieve your target typing speed.
“Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing” is the leading typing instruction program, and has been one of the top ten best-selling software titles for over 10 years. A far cry from the first version that came out on floppy disks and had just four colours to display, the latest version has a virtual classroom with the simple to understand icons. Mavis adjusts to the individual problem areas on the keyboard with unbelievable insight and watches for the typist's frustration factor. It will suggest a different words per minute goal, throw in a typing game for a break, or even advise “calling it a day.”
While self-instructional software on typing has proliferated, some say they’re no replacement for supervised classes. Besides, for many programs other than “Mavis Beacon”, the entertainment value seems to outweigh their educational quality. Consider Sega's “Typing of the Dead” tutorial, for which an ad suggests, “Trade in your video game controller for a keyboard and start typing for your life.” The format is to “type” zombies to death by completing words and phrases that appear over their bodies. Some employers say that typing training must be taken more seriously.
Several training companies offer short classroom based typing training in the UK. Examples are “GO Training” in Glasgow and “Training Circle” in Northampton, where you will find instructor-led courses for around £200. For longer courses leading to a professional qualification, many local colleges offer excellent value. Learndirect is a great place to look for courses, as well as the UK Training News website.
By increasing your typing speed, you really could get more done each day. Remember the mantra that training is an investment, not a cost. So put yourself on the path to blazing, machine gun-like typing by buying “Mavis” or enrolling on a touch-typing course.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Help Keep The Computers On Earth Clean And Healthy: Protect Your Techno-Friends From Viruses And ‘Sickness’
Help keep the computers on Earth clean and healthy: Protect your techno-friends from viruses and ‘sickness’.
“Aaaaaahhhhhh! I’ve been invaded by a virus!” Getting a virus means getting sick and no one in their right mind wants to be ill. Well, now that computers have become our close friends, it’s a shock to learn that foreign bodies too can invade them with malicious intent. No, your computer doesn’t get a runny nose or diarrhea. This is a sickness that stops your friend from functioning properly, sick in bed, incapacitated.
Well in Nature viruses occur from a power outside of our control. But, with computers it’s different, humans, mean or ignorant humans are creating these viruses. Why? Usually these are disgruntled people who want to wreak some havoc on others or companies that they feel have done wrong to them. In any case we have to be in the know and prepared to deal with these debilitating scourges.
There are many ways to approach the protection of your computer. First of all there’s the step of awareness. Be aware of how viruses are transmitted. You can catch them from a disc but in most cases it is through your email system. Check your email carefully. Be very wary of anything that has an attachment. Check whom it’s from and look at the title of the mail, is it something you were expecting? Even if it’s from someone you know, be careful as their computer could be infected and the virus being transmitted without their knowledge.
Next, read the cover message, you can’t catch the disease without actually opening the message. Look at the name of the attachment; remember viruses are written to entice you. Beware of free offers and generally anything from people you don’t know, as well as messages that sound irrelevant to your contact’s usual style. Delete them straight away. Delete, delete, delete. This will ensure you of a lower risk of infection. You can even send the message back to the sender without opening it to make sure it is valid.
Now for the heavy protection: Virus scanning and virus protection software, and rescue discs are all readily available and easily utilized. Some are free, and others are obtained for a very small charge. Most software manufacturers offer subscriptions for updating services, which automatically download protection to the latest viruses.
There are two main types of virus scanning software: one searches through your entire computer files looking for recognizable viral signatures, the other scans your incoming and outgoing emails. Alerts will show you when a file needs to be erased or repaired. If you do receive a virus that none of the software can repair you can send a copy of it to a company like Symantec who will be happy to develop a cure for it.
The main message here is not to get too worried about your good friend Mrs. PC getting ill or sick. The humans are on top of the case and they seem much better adapted at fixing their technology than they are at beating the viruses that attack our physical bodies. If only we could cure human virus and illness as easily as we solve the problem of computer sickness.
“Aaaaaahhhhhh! I’ve been invaded by a virus!” Getting a virus means getting sick and no one in their right mind wants to be ill. Well, now that computers have become our close friends, it’s a shock to learn that foreign bodies too can invade them with malicious intent. No, your computer doesn’t get a runny nose or diarrhea. This is a sickness that stops your friend from functioning properly, sick in bed, incapacitated.
Well in Nature viruses occur from a power outside of our control. But, with computers it’s different, humans, mean or ignorant humans are creating these viruses. Why? Usually these are disgruntled people who want to wreak some havoc on others or companies that they feel have done wrong to them. In any case we have to be in the know and prepared to deal with these debilitating scourges.
There are many ways to approach the protection of your computer. First of all there’s the step of awareness. Be aware of how viruses are transmitted. You can catch them from a disc but in most cases it is through your email system. Check your email carefully. Be very wary of anything that has an attachment. Check whom it’s from and look at the title of the mail, is it something you were expecting? Even if it’s from someone you know, be careful as their computer could be infected and the virus being transmitted without their knowledge.
Next, read the cover message, you can’t catch the disease without actually opening the message. Look at the name of the attachment; remember viruses are written to entice you. Beware of free offers and generally anything from people you don’t know, as well as messages that sound irrelevant to your contact’s usual style. Delete them straight away. Delete, delete, delete. This will ensure you of a lower risk of infection. You can even send the message back to the sender without opening it to make sure it is valid.
Now for the heavy protection: Virus scanning and virus protection software, and rescue discs are all readily available and easily utilized. Some are free, and others are obtained for a very small charge. Most software manufacturers offer subscriptions for updating services, which automatically download protection to the latest viruses.
There are two main types of virus scanning software: one searches through your entire computer files looking for recognizable viral signatures, the other scans your incoming and outgoing emails. Alerts will show you when a file needs to be erased or repaired. If you do receive a virus that none of the software can repair you can send a copy of it to a company like Symantec who will be happy to develop a cure for it.
The main message here is not to get too worried about your good friend Mrs. PC getting ill or sick. The humans are on top of the case and they seem much better adapted at fixing their technology than they are at beating the viruses that attack our physical bodies. If only we could cure human virus and illness as easily as we solve the problem of computer sickness.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Short Story: The Next Level of Humanity
“Hey Mac, have you ever been thinking of someone and then-bang! - The telephone rings and it’s them on the phone?”
“Pinkus, why are you always asking me stupid inane questions that have absolutely no relevance whatsoever to the job at hand?”
Mac smiled and laughed loudly. It was the kind of laugh that could boil the water in your fishbowl. He rolled back from his desk slowly in his ergonomic computer chair, and then whipped a super-quick 360-degree wheelie stopping with perfect precision, his eyes staring directly at mine with a look of pure mischievous intent.
“You know Pinkus, I often wonder if you’re actually a human at all. The planet Kleptar 12 definitely seems like a much more probable location from which your form popcorned out and graced our universe with your presence. I’m serious man, answer the question!”
Pushing back from my desk in the cubicle I tried to remember Mac’s stupid question. Had I ever been thinking of someone and then the phone rang, that person calling on the line?
“Of course I have, it happens once in a while. Why do you ask? You got one of your deep-space theories that the reason for this coincidence is actually a sign that humans were spawned by giant mushroom people in another galaxy, or is it a hidden conspiracy where mutants on Pluto are controlling our minds with ectoplasm injected into our chewing gum?”
Mac didn’t seem perturbed by my comments, obviously he was getting quite used to them. A very serious look covered his face; this was a rare event in itself as Mac never looked serious. Normally a smile was permanently imprinted on his mouth, a chilly reminder that maybe I wasn’t as happy as I could be in this life. His face often appeared in my dreams, sometimes whispering sacred proverbs, other times just a giant head chasing me through a tunnel that stretched for eternity. Of course I never spoke of these dreams to him, I didn’t want him to know that he had any effect on me, if he knew it’d be like letting a bee loose in a field of wildflowers. I’d never get him to shut up.
“Have you ever heard of the concept of a collective consciousness Pinkie old boy?” he asked in an unusually intimately sounding voice.
“Yeah of course I have. I’m a computer programmer like you man; it’s called the Internet. Everyone with access to it has a means to obtaining as much knowledge as they like from anyone and anywhere in the world. What, do you think I’m a complete moron or something?”
Mac’s eyes lit up, they gave the impression a tiger was about to pounce on a helpless antelope. In this particular case Pinkus Brewster was the antelope. It was at this moment the Beatles’s famous song lyric “I am a walrus.” popped into my head. I really could have handled being a walrus at that moment. It would have made it a slightly bit more comfortable.
“Collective consciousness is a concept I didn’t create Pinkus me lad. It’s the idea that a species can obtain knowledge mentally from others in the species without even searching for it. Have you ever heard the story of the bird that back in 1927 in England that was documented to have figured out how to rip the lid off a milk bottle and then eat the cream on top?”
“No. What happened?”
“ Just after this event, birds of the same species all over Europe were also recorded as suddenly having gained the new skill. There was no way the information could have been passed by personal instruction, the knowledge had spread out geographically over a large area that the small birds couldn’t have traveled in such a small period of time.”
“So Mac, why do you feel this is so important to be telling me that I’m not getting any work done?”
“It’s like the telephone call Pinkus. Humans are more connected than we are aware of. You know who’s on the line beforehand because we’re all linked to a field of energy that all of our species uses to learn and grow. Have you ever heard of an invention that appears at the same time historically but in two completely different parts of the world where the inventors had no contact with each other whatsoever?”
A stupefied look now covered my face. I know this because I’ve got a computer monitor mirror staring right back at me. Why is this crackpot telling me this bull winkle? As if reading my mind with his ‘collective consciousness’ Mac gave it to me straight.
“The big breakthrough is about to come Pinko. You’re right about the Internet, but you’re not seeing the whole picture. Now that a whole lot of us humans are hooked into this new technology it means we are hearing each other’s thoughts and ideas more easily subconsciously. The feelings you have are being transmitted through your blog’s words as well as the plain information. The Internet is the means for a psychic revolution! It’s going to take humanity to the next level of evolution.”
I sat quietly and thought to myself, “Psycho revolution more like it! This guy sure is making me feel strange. Uh, oh! -Did I just say he was making me feel strange? Already this collective consciousness idea is playing with my brain.” A weird feeling of calm overcame me. Maybe other humans have gotten used to the idea and now they’re sending me the knowledge to relax and take it all in easy and slow. I looked over at Mac. He was looking deep into his computer screen as if it was a set of enchanting eyes and kept whispering to himself over and over:`
“I am you, you are me. Together that makes we.”
“Pinkus, why are you always asking me stupid inane questions that have absolutely no relevance whatsoever to the job at hand?”
Mac smiled and laughed loudly. It was the kind of laugh that could boil the water in your fishbowl. He rolled back from his desk slowly in his ergonomic computer chair, and then whipped a super-quick 360-degree wheelie stopping with perfect precision, his eyes staring directly at mine with a look of pure mischievous intent.
“You know Pinkus, I often wonder if you’re actually a human at all. The planet Kleptar 12 definitely seems like a much more probable location from which your form popcorned out and graced our universe with your presence. I’m serious man, answer the question!”
Pushing back from my desk in the cubicle I tried to remember Mac’s stupid question. Had I ever been thinking of someone and then the phone rang, that person calling on the line?
“Of course I have, it happens once in a while. Why do you ask? You got one of your deep-space theories that the reason for this coincidence is actually a sign that humans were spawned by giant mushroom people in another galaxy, or is it a hidden conspiracy where mutants on Pluto are controlling our minds with ectoplasm injected into our chewing gum?”
Mac didn’t seem perturbed by my comments, obviously he was getting quite used to them. A very serious look covered his face; this was a rare event in itself as Mac never looked serious. Normally a smile was permanently imprinted on his mouth, a chilly reminder that maybe I wasn’t as happy as I could be in this life. His face often appeared in my dreams, sometimes whispering sacred proverbs, other times just a giant head chasing me through a tunnel that stretched for eternity. Of course I never spoke of these dreams to him, I didn’t want him to know that he had any effect on me, if he knew it’d be like letting a bee loose in a field of wildflowers. I’d never get him to shut up.
“Have you ever heard of the concept of a collective consciousness Pinkie old boy?” he asked in an unusually intimately sounding voice.
“Yeah of course I have. I’m a computer programmer like you man; it’s called the Internet. Everyone with access to it has a means to obtaining as much knowledge as they like from anyone and anywhere in the world. What, do you think I’m a complete moron or something?”
Mac’s eyes lit up, they gave the impression a tiger was about to pounce on a helpless antelope. In this particular case Pinkus Brewster was the antelope. It was at this moment the Beatles’s famous song lyric “I am a walrus.” popped into my head. I really could have handled being a walrus at that moment. It would have made it a slightly bit more comfortable.
“Collective consciousness is a concept I didn’t create Pinkus me lad. It’s the idea that a species can obtain knowledge mentally from others in the species without even searching for it. Have you ever heard the story of the bird that back in 1927 in England that was documented to have figured out how to rip the lid off a milk bottle and then eat the cream on top?”
“No. What happened?”
“ Just after this event, birds of the same species all over Europe were also recorded as suddenly having gained the new skill. There was no way the information could have been passed by personal instruction, the knowledge had spread out geographically over a large area that the small birds couldn’t have traveled in such a small period of time.”
“So Mac, why do you feel this is so important to be telling me that I’m not getting any work done?”
“It’s like the telephone call Pinkus. Humans are more connected than we are aware of. You know who’s on the line beforehand because we’re all linked to a field of energy that all of our species uses to learn and grow. Have you ever heard of an invention that appears at the same time historically but in two completely different parts of the world where the inventors had no contact with each other whatsoever?”
A stupefied look now covered my face. I know this because I’ve got a computer monitor mirror staring right back at me. Why is this crackpot telling me this bull winkle? As if reading my mind with his ‘collective consciousness’ Mac gave it to me straight.
“The big breakthrough is about to come Pinko. You’re right about the Internet, but you’re not seeing the whole picture. Now that a whole lot of us humans are hooked into this new technology it means we are hearing each other’s thoughts and ideas more easily subconsciously. The feelings you have are being transmitted through your blog’s words as well as the plain information. The Internet is the means for a psychic revolution! It’s going to take humanity to the next level of evolution.”
I sat quietly and thought to myself, “Psycho revolution more like it! This guy sure is making me feel strange. Uh, oh! -Did I just say he was making me feel strange? Already this collective consciousness idea is playing with my brain.” A weird feeling of calm overcame me. Maybe other humans have gotten used to the idea and now they’re sending me the knowledge to relax and take it all in easy and slow. I looked over at Mac. He was looking deep into his computer screen as if it was a set of enchanting eyes and kept whispering to himself over and over:`
“I am you, you are me. Together that makes we.”
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
A Tale of Might & Magical Teamwork: A Mac OS X Weather Application Review
Once upon a time, a clever guy named, Matt came up with this simply brilliant idea for an app called Meteorologist, that allows you to choose several cities and display their current weather conditions on your menu bar or dock or both. He began working on it and it became a very solid and strong program, but he soon realized he could no longer go further with it as his life was getting in the way of its completion and maintenance. Fortunately, the project didn’t die there. He threw it up for grabs in the Open Source community at Source Forge and it landed in the hands of a small group of compassionate developers that came to his rescue and teamed up to continue his legacy--in all of its glory as well as its trials and tribulations.
This group called themselves, “The M Team.” You know, sort of like, "The A Team. "Okay, I lied. They actually called themselves, “The Meteorologist Group.”
Back to Meteorologist! Meteorologist is a free weather program for OS X. It allows Mac users total control over their weather viewing enjoyment, including simultaneous interlaced weather reports from multiple weather servers worldwide. In other words, this program is cool.
So you say weather is too boring? Think again, my friend. There’s a reason why weather.com is among the top 100 sites (out of 4 BILLION sites, give or take a few thousand): inquiring minds wanna know the weather!
Meteorologist allows you to see the weather of cities of your choice directly on your menu bar or dock, and you can name them whatever you want. I prefer the menu bar because my dock has gotten too cluttered lately. It’s so easy to find Meteorologist and it’s so accessible. For example, I’ve chosen Nice, France because it’s near to where I live, Culver City, California where most of my family is, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey where my sister lives and Lille, France where most of my in-laws live. I just look up at my menu bar and it has the outside temperature with a cute matching icon. (Right now "chez me" it’s 57°F at nearly 8 PM, showing an icon with little gray clouds. I could change it to Celsius if I wanted too.) This is utterly helpful to me because it helps me decide things such as how long of a walk I can take with my dog, or, in case of rain, that I shouldn’t really go out at all.
For some reason, it’s also comforting to know the weather conditions of my loved ones. It’s sort of like your Buddy List on iChat or whatever chat program you use. You see buds and family online and chat sometimes but it’s just reassuring to know that they’re there whether you chat with them or not. You know what I mean? Knowing their climate somehow let's me take part in their lives (somehow in my crazy way) even though I can't be there in-person.
You can see a 3-day forecast of these places too, great for planning part of your week. All of this information is current and changes accordingly if necessary by accessing the closest weather server. For instance, I can see that it might actually snow in Upper Saddle River on Tuesday! I know now I can plan to tease my sister about it because she hates cold weather. See, how indispensable Meteorologist is?! Don’t even ask why she lives in New Jersey.
Meteorologist doesn’t stop at the temperature; it also gives a current account of wind, humidity, dew point, pressure, clouds, forecast and the last time information was updated. However, the pièce de résistance has yet to be announced in this review!
Yes, the most innovative and clever characteristic about Meteorologist, and my personal favourite feature, is its ability to alert you in cases of severe weather conditions! How does it do this you ask? I’m glad you asked because here is the answer: You can choose how you’d like to be alerted with the following options (and you can select as many as you’d like): 1) via email; 2) a Beep; 3) Play a song that you can select from iTunes; or, 4) have the Meteorologist icon bounce violently in the dock.
Of course, having said that, I’ve yet to receive an alert, which is probably a good thing—because receiving an alert could mean, for example, that there’s an imminent tsunami ready to inundate this area in 30 minutes with millions of tons of the Mediterranean crushing everything in its path.
Despite this gloomy scenario, I still think this app is awesome, and so the story and review shall end happily ever after.
Meteorologist is a freeware and work-in-progress by The Meteorologist Team (as well as the Open Source community) at Source Forge Note: You must have internet access to use Meteorologist.
This group called themselves, “The M Team.” You know, sort of like, "The A Team. "Okay, I lied. They actually called themselves, “The Meteorologist Group.”
Back to Meteorologist! Meteorologist is a free weather program for OS X. It allows Mac users total control over their weather viewing enjoyment, including simultaneous interlaced weather reports from multiple weather servers worldwide. In other words, this program is cool.
So you say weather is too boring? Think again, my friend. There’s a reason why weather.com is among the top 100 sites (out of 4 BILLION sites, give or take a few thousand): inquiring minds wanna know the weather!
Meteorologist allows you to see the weather of cities of your choice directly on your menu bar or dock, and you can name them whatever you want. I prefer the menu bar because my dock has gotten too cluttered lately. It’s so easy to find Meteorologist and it’s so accessible. For example, I’ve chosen Nice, France because it’s near to where I live, Culver City, California where most of my family is, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey where my sister lives and Lille, France where most of my in-laws live. I just look up at my menu bar and it has the outside temperature with a cute matching icon. (Right now "chez me" it’s 57°F at nearly 8 PM, showing an icon with little gray clouds. I could change it to Celsius if I wanted too.) This is utterly helpful to me because it helps me decide things such as how long of a walk I can take with my dog, or, in case of rain, that I shouldn’t really go out at all.
For some reason, it’s also comforting to know the weather conditions of my loved ones. It’s sort of like your Buddy List on iChat or whatever chat program you use. You see buds and family online and chat sometimes but it’s just reassuring to know that they’re there whether you chat with them or not. You know what I mean? Knowing their climate somehow let's me take part in their lives (somehow in my crazy way) even though I can't be there in-person.
You can see a 3-day forecast of these places too, great for planning part of your week. All of this information is current and changes accordingly if necessary by accessing the closest weather server. For instance, I can see that it might actually snow in Upper Saddle River on Tuesday! I know now I can plan to tease my sister about it because she hates cold weather. See, how indispensable Meteorologist is?! Don’t even ask why she lives in New Jersey.
Meteorologist doesn’t stop at the temperature; it also gives a current account of wind, humidity, dew point, pressure, clouds, forecast and the last time information was updated. However, the pièce de résistance has yet to be announced in this review!
Yes, the most innovative and clever characteristic about Meteorologist, and my personal favourite feature, is its ability to alert you in cases of severe weather conditions! How does it do this you ask? I’m glad you asked because here is the answer: You can choose how you’d like to be alerted with the following options (and you can select as many as you’d like): 1) via email; 2) a Beep; 3) Play a song that you can select from iTunes; or, 4) have the Meteorologist icon bounce violently in the dock.
Of course, having said that, I’ve yet to receive an alert, which is probably a good thing—because receiving an alert could mean, for example, that there’s an imminent tsunami ready to inundate this area in 30 minutes with millions of tons of the Mediterranean crushing everything in its path.
Despite this gloomy scenario, I still think this app is awesome, and so the story and review shall end happily ever after.
Meteorologist is a freeware and work-in-progress by The Meteorologist Team (as well as the Open Source community) at Source Forge Note: You must have internet access to use Meteorologist.
Monday, February 19, 2007
EBOOKS Are Books Too!!!
Electronic books – that is books you read on the computer- have the same information and entail the same reading experience as books in the traditional form – that is books you actually hold in your hands. An ebook looks just like a Microsoft document but it is transformed into an ebook format such as PDF where the reader cannot make any changes to the document. There are other points of comparisons of ebooks and just regular books.
Anybody can buy an ebook the traditional way, just walk into a bookstore but with ebooks you have to have a computer and internet connection and also a credit card which presupposes your finances are in good order for the bank to allow you a credit card while with a traditional book no matter your financial situation even if you do not have a credit card you can purchase one as long as you have some money.
Suppose you were looking for a book on a particular subject and your local physical bookstore does not carry books on such subjects you can always find books on such subjects on the net (and even subjects you have never dreamed of) and you can purchase a book from someone halfway around the world and have it in minutes!
An ebook is not a book you can physically hold in your hands and it can be irritating to sit in front of your computer to read an entire book while you can curl up with a traditional book anywhere but with ebook readers this make ebooks portable just as the traditional books.
You flick through pages of a traditional book but you scroll down the pages of an ebook.
You can make copies of a traditional book with a photocopier while with ebooks with just a click of a button in mere seconds you can make an entire copy of a book.
You cannot hold ebooks in your hands but the pages will never yellow no matter how long you have it nor get doggie ears no matter how much you read it. The pages will always be crisp and new as the day you bought it (unless your computer is invaded by a worm which destroys all documents on your computer).
Anybody can buy an ebook the traditional way, just walk into a bookstore but with ebooks you have to have a computer and internet connection and also a credit card which presupposes your finances are in good order for the bank to allow you a credit card while with a traditional book no matter your financial situation even if you do not have a credit card you can purchase one as long as you have some money.
Suppose you were looking for a book on a particular subject and your local physical bookstore does not carry books on such subjects you can always find books on such subjects on the net (and even subjects you have never dreamed of) and you can purchase a book from someone halfway around the world and have it in minutes!
An ebook is not a book you can physically hold in your hands and it can be irritating to sit in front of your computer to read an entire book while you can curl up with a traditional book anywhere but with ebook readers this make ebooks portable just as the traditional books.
You flick through pages of a traditional book but you scroll down the pages of an ebook.
You can make copies of a traditional book with a photocopier while with ebooks with just a click of a button in mere seconds you can make an entire copy of a book.
You cannot hold ebooks in your hands but the pages will never yellow no matter how long you have it nor get doggie ears no matter how much you read it. The pages will always be crisp and new as the day you bought it (unless your computer is invaded by a worm which destroys all documents on your computer).
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Hard Drive Crash? The Essential Data Recovery Report
Your worst nightmare just became a horrifying reality. You keep hearing that little voice in your head mockingly shout “you should have backed that stuff up” The voice keeps echoing throughout your head as you perform a quick inventory all of the important information that you just lost…..your client database, a years worth of e-mail, your entire inventory database, even your family photos. Even worse, you’ve got a deposition in two-weeks and key information needed to help win the case were also lost. You quickly call a service technician and have them come over to check the computer out, only to hear the worst news of all….your data has been lost. When a hard drive crashes, it’s too late to worry about what you “should have done.”
Today data recovery is a multi-million dollar industry. The number of data recovery firms out there seems to exceed the number of fast food restaurants for the entire planet. These companies specialize in helping their clients retrieve data on anything from hard drives to flash-roms. In the following report, we will discuss what data recovery really is; the different types, the costs, and what you can realistically expect when it comes to getting your data recovered.
What To Do In The Event Of Data Loss?
Around 44% of all data loss is caused by hardware failure. It’s important to make sure that you immediately shut your system down if you suspect that hard drive has crashed. Don’t even try to go through the shutdown procedure, just pull the plug from the wall. Do not try to run off the shelf data recovery software or drive utilities. Many times these applications will assume the drive is functioning properly and will increase the risk of permanent data loss.
Types Of Hard Drive Failure
When we discuss data recovery in this report, we will primarily focus on issues surrounding hard drive failures; since these types of failures are most common. There are really two primary forms of failure in a hard drive, logical and physical. Logical failures are usually a result of file-system corruption. This can occur due to a virus, accidental deletion of key files or registry components, and in some cases even electro-static discharge. In most cases where a logical failure has occurred, the drive is still recognized by the system BIOS, but it will not boot. In most cases, your data should still be intact on the drive, even though it may appear to be inaccessible.
If the system BIOS does not detect the presence of the hard drive, then chances are a physical failure has occurred. Physical failures can result from a wide variety of causes. There are really two sub-categories for physical hard drive failures; mechanical and electronic. Mechanical failures usually result from a failure of the spindle motor. Spindle motor failure can result from excessive heat due to a bearing failure. The increased heat resulting from the bearing failure will expand the drive shaft and therefore seize the spindle motor. Suddenly, your drive will become inoperative. Occasionally, you will get a warning that something bad is about to happen. You may hear a loud whining, a grinding noise, even high-pitched screeches. If anything like this starts to occur, BACK UP YOUR DATA IMMEDIATELY.
Another physical issue that sometimes rears its ugly head is an electronic failure. If you look at a hard drive you will notice a circuit board on the bottom. This board is basically the brains of the drive, and it is where the computer interfaces to the hard drive. An electrical failure can occur unexpectedly at any time. Even brand new hard drives are not totally immune to having electrical failures. Sometimes it’s just a faulty component, sometimes it’s improper installation (i.e. electro-static discharge, grounding out the board, damaging circuitry during installation). It’s important to also keep your system clean and well ventilated, since excessive heat can damage the electrical components on the drive. If you have a system that is in a somewhat contained area, you may look at adding an additional 80mm fan to cool the internal components of the system, especially the hard drive. No other component of a computer works as much as the hard drive, and therefore it is vitally important not to overlook it when cooling issues arise.
How Is My Data Recovered?
One of the most often asked questions that customers ask is, “how do you get my data back?” Well, it’s really not black magic or rocket science. It’s just a matter of having the right tools and the knowledge necessary to know what to do, much like a surgeon performing heart by-pass surgery. Many prominent data recovery facilities have a large array of hardware, software and tools for recovering data.
Generally speaking when a hard drive is received by a data recovery firm, the first thing they do is evaluate it, and determine what recovery solution will be necessary. If the drive failure is a logical issue as mentioned earlier, then a scan of the drive will be performed to try and repair the file system corruption. Sometimes a partition can be repaired and the drive restored to the status that it was before the failure. If this is not possible, then a very low-level scan will be performed that essentially searches every sector of the hard drive for files. Once the files are located, they can then be copied to the media of choice, i.e. a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or another hard drive. Logical recoveries can take up an enormous amount of time, especially if the drive is on the verge of physical failure. It’s not uncommon to allow for one day of scanning and a day for recovering the found files.
If the drive has suffered a physical failure, then the recovery procedure is quite a bit more challenging. As mentioned above, there are really two sub-categories of physical failure; mechanical and electronic. An important element in recovering data from a physical failure is having the necessary parts to get the drive functioning again. Unfortunately with hard drives if you have a 20GB Maxtor Hard Drive for example, then you will need another identical 20GB Maxtor Hard Drive for salvaging parts. In cases where the electronic circuit board has failed on the hard drive, then you have to have the exact same circuit board on hand in order to retrieve the necessary circuit components for replacement. Many times you cannot even exchange circuit board for circuit board. These repairs generally require soldering skills and a thorough knowledge of electronics to be successfully completed. You will most likely hear “Class100 Clean Room” thrown around a lot when talking to data recovery professionals. Simply stated, a Class100 Clean Room maintains exceptional air purity, and contains less than 100 airborne particles larger than 0.5 microns in each cubic foot of air. This is vital in protecting sensitive internal components of hard drives. Anytime a hard drive is having an invasive procedure performed on it, a Class100 clean room or better is needed.
The time frame for recovery is generally 5-10 business days for physical issues and 2-4 days for logical issues. Sometimes if components are not readily available, then it may take weeks to complete the recovery. Some firms offer expedite service and you definitely pay for this added attention.
What About Data Recovery Software
This is one area where you really do get what you pay for. Try to stay away from software in the $20-$60 range, since these utilities are generally very limited in what they can do. Also make sure that you NEVER and just to emphasize, NEVER EVER get data recovery software that writes anything at all to the damaged disk. You run the risk of overwriting data that may otherwise have been recoverable, but will be lost forever. If you are fairly computer savvy, then there are a few good data recovery software solutions available.
What To Look For When Shopping For Data Recovery
There’s an old saying, “you get what you pay for.” In most cases this is true. However, just because a company with a fancy website quotes you $3,500 for data recovery, does not mean that they are any better than a company that quotes you $1,500. Also, try to stay away from companies that want to charge $50-$300 for evaluating your drive. There has been a movement in the data recovery industry over the last couple of years to offer a number of free services. Most reputable data recovery companies will evaluate standard IDE drives free of charge; so don’t let the word “free” this or “free” that stop you. The data recovery market is quickly becoming saturated, and a company does not necessarily cheapen itself or lack expertise by offering free evaluations.
You will find as you shop around for data recovery that prices vary greatly. You will get quotes that range from $300 to $5,000 for standard hard drive recoveries. It’s not uncommon to literally get quotes that have at least a $1,500 high/low spread. We shopped one prominent data recovery company where we gave them specific indicators of a physical hard drive failure. We were eventually quoted a price range of $600 to $2,900 for the recovery. Many times this is a bait and switch type tactic. They get you to send in the drive with the low-end $600 price, then they let you know it’s going to cost $2,100 for the recovery. You end up being well under the $2,900 high-end price, but well over what other reputable companies would charge. Since most customers won’t go through the pain of having the drive sent back, only to have to send it out to another company, these bait and switch companies end up making huge profits off of unsuspecting customers.
Try to find a company that will give you an up front cost for either a logical or physical recovery. Most companies will be able to tell you within a couple hundred dollars the cost of a recovery. However, don’t misunderstand a company that gives you a price for two different procedures. For example, some companies will give you a price if the failure is logical and a price if the problem ends up being physical. We called one firm and were told that if the drive had a logical failure the price would be $400 and if it ended up being a physical issue the price would be $1,600. This is not a high/low spread as mentioned in the earlier example, this is simply quoting a price for two different types of recoveries.
On average you can expect to pay anywhere from $400 to $600 for logical recoveries, and $1,200 to $2,000 for physical recoveries on standard IDE hard drives. If you have RAID drives, SCSI, etc. depending on the configuration prices can be as high as $15,000. Remember, backup backup backup backup backup!!
Can My Data Be Recovered?
In most cases the answer to this question is yes. On average, the success rate for data recovery professionals is about 75-85%. However, there are times when the data is just lost, either due to extensive damage to the platter or unavailability of replacement parts.
How Do I Get Started?
If you have a hard drive that has crashed, the most important thing you can do is contact a data recovery professional immediately. Make sure you aren’t being charged an evaluation fee if you have a standard IDE hard drive. Most companies only charge evaluation fees for complex RAID and network server drives.
It is important to do your homework, call and talk with the companies. When you find one that you feel comfortable with, give them a chance. Your hardest job, may be finding data recovery firms that actually have someone available to answer the phones. Ask questions and be sure to have the following information available:
* Size of the drive
* Operating system (i.e. Windows 98, Windows XP, etc.)
* Situation of failure (what happened just before the drive stopped working)
* Is the drive recognized by the computer or not
Good luck in getting your data recovered, and make sure you always backup your important information on a daily basis.
Today data recovery is a multi-million dollar industry. The number of data recovery firms out there seems to exceed the number of fast food restaurants for the entire planet. These companies specialize in helping their clients retrieve data on anything from hard drives to flash-roms. In the following report, we will discuss what data recovery really is; the different types, the costs, and what you can realistically expect when it comes to getting your data recovered.
What To Do In The Event Of Data Loss?
Around 44% of all data loss is caused by hardware failure. It’s important to make sure that you immediately shut your system down if you suspect that hard drive has crashed. Don’t even try to go through the shutdown procedure, just pull the plug from the wall. Do not try to run off the shelf data recovery software or drive utilities. Many times these applications will assume the drive is functioning properly and will increase the risk of permanent data loss.
Types Of Hard Drive Failure
When we discuss data recovery in this report, we will primarily focus on issues surrounding hard drive failures; since these types of failures are most common. There are really two primary forms of failure in a hard drive, logical and physical. Logical failures are usually a result of file-system corruption. This can occur due to a virus, accidental deletion of key files or registry components, and in some cases even electro-static discharge. In most cases where a logical failure has occurred, the drive is still recognized by the system BIOS, but it will not boot. In most cases, your data should still be intact on the drive, even though it may appear to be inaccessible.
If the system BIOS does not detect the presence of the hard drive, then chances are a physical failure has occurred. Physical failures can result from a wide variety of causes. There are really two sub-categories for physical hard drive failures; mechanical and electronic. Mechanical failures usually result from a failure of the spindle motor. Spindle motor failure can result from excessive heat due to a bearing failure. The increased heat resulting from the bearing failure will expand the drive shaft and therefore seize the spindle motor. Suddenly, your drive will become inoperative. Occasionally, you will get a warning that something bad is about to happen. You may hear a loud whining, a grinding noise, even high-pitched screeches. If anything like this starts to occur, BACK UP YOUR DATA IMMEDIATELY.
Another physical issue that sometimes rears its ugly head is an electronic failure. If you look at a hard drive you will notice a circuit board on the bottom. This board is basically the brains of the drive, and it is where the computer interfaces to the hard drive. An electrical failure can occur unexpectedly at any time. Even brand new hard drives are not totally immune to having electrical failures. Sometimes it’s just a faulty component, sometimes it’s improper installation (i.e. electro-static discharge, grounding out the board, damaging circuitry during installation). It’s important to also keep your system clean and well ventilated, since excessive heat can damage the electrical components on the drive. If you have a system that is in a somewhat contained area, you may look at adding an additional 80mm fan to cool the internal components of the system, especially the hard drive. No other component of a computer works as much as the hard drive, and therefore it is vitally important not to overlook it when cooling issues arise.
How Is My Data Recovered?
One of the most often asked questions that customers ask is, “how do you get my data back?” Well, it’s really not black magic or rocket science. It’s just a matter of having the right tools and the knowledge necessary to know what to do, much like a surgeon performing heart by-pass surgery. Many prominent data recovery facilities have a large array of hardware, software and tools for recovering data.
Generally speaking when a hard drive is received by a data recovery firm, the first thing they do is evaluate it, and determine what recovery solution will be necessary. If the drive failure is a logical issue as mentioned earlier, then a scan of the drive will be performed to try and repair the file system corruption. Sometimes a partition can be repaired and the drive restored to the status that it was before the failure. If this is not possible, then a very low-level scan will be performed that essentially searches every sector of the hard drive for files. Once the files are located, they can then be copied to the media of choice, i.e. a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or another hard drive. Logical recoveries can take up an enormous amount of time, especially if the drive is on the verge of physical failure. It’s not uncommon to allow for one day of scanning and a day for recovering the found files.
If the drive has suffered a physical failure, then the recovery procedure is quite a bit more challenging. As mentioned above, there are really two sub-categories of physical failure; mechanical and electronic. An important element in recovering data from a physical failure is having the necessary parts to get the drive functioning again. Unfortunately with hard drives if you have a 20GB Maxtor Hard Drive for example, then you will need another identical 20GB Maxtor Hard Drive for salvaging parts. In cases where the electronic circuit board has failed on the hard drive, then you have to have the exact same circuit board on hand in order to retrieve the necessary circuit components for replacement. Many times you cannot even exchange circuit board for circuit board. These repairs generally require soldering skills and a thorough knowledge of electronics to be successfully completed. You will most likely hear “Class100 Clean Room” thrown around a lot when talking to data recovery professionals. Simply stated, a Class100 Clean Room maintains exceptional air purity, and contains less than 100 airborne particles larger than 0.5 microns in each cubic foot of air. This is vital in protecting sensitive internal components of hard drives. Anytime a hard drive is having an invasive procedure performed on it, a Class100 clean room or better is needed.
The time frame for recovery is generally 5-10 business days for physical issues and 2-4 days for logical issues. Sometimes if components are not readily available, then it may take weeks to complete the recovery. Some firms offer expedite service and you definitely pay for this added attention.
What About Data Recovery Software
This is one area where you really do get what you pay for. Try to stay away from software in the $20-$60 range, since these utilities are generally very limited in what they can do. Also make sure that you NEVER and just to emphasize, NEVER EVER get data recovery software that writes anything at all to the damaged disk. You run the risk of overwriting data that may otherwise have been recoverable, but will be lost forever. If you are fairly computer savvy, then there are a few good data recovery software solutions available.
What To Look For When Shopping For Data Recovery
There’s an old saying, “you get what you pay for.” In most cases this is true. However, just because a company with a fancy website quotes you $3,500 for data recovery, does not mean that they are any better than a company that quotes you $1,500. Also, try to stay away from companies that want to charge $50-$300 for evaluating your drive. There has been a movement in the data recovery industry over the last couple of years to offer a number of free services. Most reputable data recovery companies will evaluate standard IDE drives free of charge; so don’t let the word “free” this or “free” that stop you. The data recovery market is quickly becoming saturated, and a company does not necessarily cheapen itself or lack expertise by offering free evaluations.
You will find as you shop around for data recovery that prices vary greatly. You will get quotes that range from $300 to $5,000 for standard hard drive recoveries. It’s not uncommon to literally get quotes that have at least a $1,500 high/low spread. We shopped one prominent data recovery company where we gave them specific indicators of a physical hard drive failure. We were eventually quoted a price range of $600 to $2,900 for the recovery. Many times this is a bait and switch type tactic. They get you to send in the drive with the low-end $600 price, then they let you know it’s going to cost $2,100 for the recovery. You end up being well under the $2,900 high-end price, but well over what other reputable companies would charge. Since most customers won’t go through the pain of having the drive sent back, only to have to send it out to another company, these bait and switch companies end up making huge profits off of unsuspecting customers.
Try to find a company that will give you an up front cost for either a logical or physical recovery. Most companies will be able to tell you within a couple hundred dollars the cost of a recovery. However, don’t misunderstand a company that gives you a price for two different procedures. For example, some companies will give you a price if the failure is logical and a price if the problem ends up being physical. We called one firm and were told that if the drive had a logical failure the price would be $400 and if it ended up being a physical issue the price would be $1,600. This is not a high/low spread as mentioned in the earlier example, this is simply quoting a price for two different types of recoveries.
On average you can expect to pay anywhere from $400 to $600 for logical recoveries, and $1,200 to $2,000 for physical recoveries on standard IDE hard drives. If you have RAID drives, SCSI, etc. depending on the configuration prices can be as high as $15,000. Remember, backup backup backup backup backup!!
Can My Data Be Recovered?
In most cases the answer to this question is yes. On average, the success rate for data recovery professionals is about 75-85%. However, there are times when the data is just lost, either due to extensive damage to the platter or unavailability of replacement parts.
How Do I Get Started?
If you have a hard drive that has crashed, the most important thing you can do is contact a data recovery professional immediately. Make sure you aren’t being charged an evaluation fee if you have a standard IDE hard drive. Most companies only charge evaluation fees for complex RAID and network server drives.
It is important to do your homework, call and talk with the companies. When you find one that you feel comfortable with, give them a chance. Your hardest job, may be finding data recovery firms that actually have someone available to answer the phones. Ask questions and be sure to have the following information available:
* Size of the drive
* Operating system (i.e. Windows 98, Windows XP, etc.)
* Situation of failure (what happened just before the drive stopped working)
* Is the drive recognized by the computer or not
Good luck in getting your data recovered, and make sure you always backup your important information on a daily basis.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Drop Ship To Family Health
Everyone knows that bringing up children is expensive. It is also well known that a lot of business is conducted over the internet.
Parents often get onto the net in the evening, and there is now heaps of scope to join in this commerce.
In fact it may well be a way to excite teenagers to an exciting family dynamic.
Let me explain.
Drop shipping is a term that applies to a supplier having agents who obtain orders for the supplier to fulfil.
As an example I might set up an eBay auction page say binoculars for starting price $1.
I set my reserve at wholesale + $2 (unresearched amount to cover Bay fee and Paypal fees)
As an auction comes to its time, perhaps the final price is 60% higher than the wholesale.
I get the funds from the buyers, which is price +shipping and send the order with details to the supplier.
The supplier delivers the binoculars and bills me for the wholesale + shipping.
I send off the money to the supplier.
Note all my communications with the supplier are by email and money transfer through Paypal transactions over the net.
The result is here 60% or the wholesale figure times the number of buyers, and all I have out-layed a few dollars for eBay and deducted Paypal fees. No big out of pocket expenses at all.
Now that is a model. There is far,far more than binoculars and I can give you links to over 700,000 products, over two wholesalers.
The excitement that a teenager (or anyone else)could feel is in:
skills in selection of goods to sell,
skills in constructing eBay sites,
watching the bid development,
the reproducibility with extra products,
the profit and what options that gives,
sharing the knowledge with others.
There is incidental training in aspects of financial dealings,and setting up a wall chart could be a valuable tool for training in organization.
The areas of potential risk are (you may be able to see more):
losing passwords and web addresses
failure to set a reserve figure
spending the sale price without provision for wholesale payments,
no provision for tax put away for tax time,
delay in payment, incurring a bad reputation on eBay
lack of organization with multiple auctions
(over-trading is not a problem as you don’t buy the goods in the first place.)
These are easily preventable, and can lead to valuable structural lessons.
There is an eBook on eBay that you can download free from http://www.healthinsuranceplus.biz/ebayreports.zip (344Kb) fees that eBay charge are at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html
A Yahoo store is also a possibility but costs,while traffic to it will happen.
Credit card net processors
Paypal (an eBay company) is well received, sign-up free here http://Pay_pal.Opportunity.com
Clickbank http://Click_bank.Opportunity.com
Drop ship merchants are-
FreeStoreClub.com http://www.soy.freestoreclub.com
You can join this one for free, or pay $10 or$50 per month to lock in your place in a net work, and as people join under you, perhaps at your recommendation, you get payments.
Certainly the free option will be adequate for drop shipping.
Worldwide Brands is an operation that covers 120 makers and 700,000 products. http://Drop_ship.Opportunity.com
You will have to download their Directory which has a cost associated but the scope here is enormous.
So those are the tools from which acorns can produce oak trees. Start small and who knows where you will go.
In fact, since there is no loss if a reserve is set, and there is no outlay, I can’t see why you can’t cover all the walls with wall charts, but you would be the one doing it, not me!
If you build your own web page and wish to tune it for the search engines be aware that is a longer term option, even if you are destined for top spot, expect up to 6 weeks.
Parents often get onto the net in the evening, and there is now heaps of scope to join in this commerce.
In fact it may well be a way to excite teenagers to an exciting family dynamic.
Let me explain.
Drop shipping is a term that applies to a supplier having agents who obtain orders for the supplier to fulfil.
As an example I might set up an eBay auction page say binoculars for starting price $1.
I set my reserve at wholesale + $2 (unresearched amount to cover Bay fee and Paypal fees)
As an auction comes to its time, perhaps the final price is 60% higher than the wholesale.
I get the funds from the buyers, which is price +shipping and send the order with details to the supplier.
The supplier delivers the binoculars and bills me for the wholesale + shipping.
I send off the money to the supplier.
Note all my communications with the supplier are by email and money transfer through Paypal transactions over the net.
The result is here 60% or the wholesale figure times the number of buyers, and all I have out-layed a few dollars for eBay and deducted Paypal fees. No big out of pocket expenses at all.
Now that is a model. There is far,far more than binoculars and I can give you links to over 700,000 products, over two wholesalers.
The excitement that a teenager (or anyone else)could feel is in:
skills in selection of goods to sell,
skills in constructing eBay sites,
watching the bid development,
the reproducibility with extra products,
the profit and what options that gives,
sharing the knowledge with others.
There is incidental training in aspects of financial dealings,and setting up a wall chart could be a valuable tool for training in organization.
The areas of potential risk are (you may be able to see more):
losing passwords and web addresses
failure to set a reserve figure
spending the sale price without provision for wholesale payments,
no provision for tax put away for tax time,
delay in payment, incurring a bad reputation on eBay
lack of organization with multiple auctions
(over-trading is not a problem as you don’t buy the goods in the first place.)
These are easily preventable, and can lead to valuable structural lessons.
There is an eBook on eBay that you can download free from http://www.healthinsuranceplus.biz/ebayreports.zip (344Kb) fees that eBay charge are at http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html
A Yahoo store is also a possibility but costs,while traffic to it will happen.
Credit card net processors
Paypal (an eBay company) is well received, sign-up free here http://Pay_pal.Opportunity.com
Clickbank http://Click_bank.Opportunity.com
Drop ship merchants are-
FreeStoreClub.com http://www.soy.freestoreclub.com
You can join this one for free, or pay $10 or$50 per month to lock in your place in a net work, and as people join under you, perhaps at your recommendation, you get payments.
Certainly the free option will be adequate for drop shipping.
Worldwide Brands is an operation that covers 120 makers and 700,000 products. http://Drop_ship.Opportunity.com
You will have to download their Directory which has a cost associated but the scope here is enormous.
So those are the tools from which acorns can produce oak trees. Start small and who knows where you will go.
In fact, since there is no loss if a reserve is set, and there is no outlay, I can’t see why you can’t cover all the walls with wall charts, but you would be the one doing it, not me!
If you build your own web page and wish to tune it for the search engines be aware that is a longer term option, even if you are destined for top spot, expect up to 6 weeks.
Friday, February 9, 2007
What Is Web Site Monitoring All About?
What is web site monitoring all about? Here is Carl's story:
Carl returned to the office after a tough day of negotiations. He still was not sure if the crucial deal was on or off, but dinner would soon be waiting and he had just enough time left to check his emails and his phone messages.
He had twelve phone messages, every one of them urgent. Too late to call back right away; that would have to wait for morning.
His inbox held that familiar email report from his web site monitoring service. He smiled. As usual, there were no error alerts. That's what he liked to see -- his web site still performing well.
He looked carefully at the report. All the forms were functioning. The shopping cart, too. Password protection was functioning. At least he did not have to worry about his web site this evening.
There were still some download speed issues reported by the Hong Kong Monitoring Station. He made a mental note to raise the issue with his web host contact in the morning.
Just as he was putting on his jacket to leave, his cell phone rang.
A few minutes later, he called his wife. "Hi Ruby. How's dinner doing?"
"Great, Carl. You'll be home soon?"
"I was just about to leave when my cell phone rang. It was Dotcom-Monitor calling. It seems the web site went down. They were reporting from London."
"You mean your European customers can't access the site?" Ruby asked.
"That's what I thought at first. When the Hong Kong monitoring station reported an alert, I assumed the transatlantic connection was blocked. But when the Florida monitoring station reported in, I had to check the site. And guess what?"
"I guess that you won't be home for dinner."
"Sorry. I have to get on the line with the web host and straighten this all out."
"Hey, that's OK. I'm just happy you get instant those alerts. I would hate to see you get that call during our dinner and have to go all the way back into the office. Let me know when you're coming home."
"OK. I'll let you know as soon as I do. Bye."
Carl checked the more detailed report online. ( Here is an example: http://www.dotcom-monitor.com/AccessibilityCheck.asp )
As Carl dialed his ISP, he realized it would likely be a long evening. But not as long as if he received less frequent reports. And not as long as the next day would be if the web site had been offline for the next.
And that's what web site monitoring is all about.
Carl returned to the office after a tough day of negotiations. He still was not sure if the crucial deal was on or off, but dinner would soon be waiting and he had just enough time left to check his emails and his phone messages.
He had twelve phone messages, every one of them urgent. Too late to call back right away; that would have to wait for morning.
His inbox held that familiar email report from his web site monitoring service. He smiled. As usual, there were no error alerts. That's what he liked to see -- his web site still performing well.
He looked carefully at the report. All the forms were functioning. The shopping cart, too. Password protection was functioning. At least he did not have to worry about his web site this evening.
There were still some download speed issues reported by the Hong Kong Monitoring Station. He made a mental note to raise the issue with his web host contact in the morning.
Just as he was putting on his jacket to leave, his cell phone rang.
A few minutes later, he called his wife. "Hi Ruby. How's dinner doing?"
"Great, Carl. You'll be home soon?"
"I was just about to leave when my cell phone rang. It was Dotcom-Monitor calling. It seems the web site went down. They were reporting from London."
"You mean your European customers can't access the site?" Ruby asked.
"That's what I thought at first. When the Hong Kong monitoring station reported an alert, I assumed the transatlantic connection was blocked. But when the Florida monitoring station reported in, I had to check the site. And guess what?"
"I guess that you won't be home for dinner."
"Sorry. I have to get on the line with the web host and straighten this all out."
"Hey, that's OK. I'm just happy you get instant those alerts. I would hate to see you get that call during our dinner and have to go all the way back into the office. Let me know when you're coming home."
"OK. I'll let you know as soon as I do. Bye."
Carl checked the more detailed report online. ( Here is an example: http://www.dotcom-monitor.com/AccessibilityCheck.asp )
As Carl dialed his ISP, he realized it would likely be a long evening. But not as long as if he received less frequent reports. And not as long as the next day would be if the web site had been offline for the next.
And that's what web site monitoring is all about.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Got Lingo? The Terminology Of Marketing With Articles
Every field or discipline has its own specialized vocabulary and marketing with articles is no different. Understanding and using the lingo of marketing with articles will help you get the most out of this brilliant technique. Continue reading below for a set of terms and definitions for marketing with articles.
Article Announcement Newsgroups/Lists - E-mail lists that accept article submissions from subscribers. Some newsgroups only accept articles in one narrowly defined topic while others will accept any topic.
Article Directory/Archive - A web site that accepts article submissions in a large variety of topics and organizes them by category. A few of these sites require you to pay to have your article archived on site.
Autoresponder - An e-mail message that is sent automatically when an email is received to the email account address. It is also used by authors in automatically delivering properly formatted text article submissions to editors.
Bibliography - A list of web sites, books and articles referenced in an article or publication.
Byline/Resource Box - A four or five line biography and contact information for the author of an article.
Copyright Notice - A one or two line statement that should be included in every article that includes the copyright symbol, date and owner.
Essay - A short article on a single subject written from the author's personal viewpoint.
E-zines - Periodically published electronic newsletters delivered by e-mail.
E-zine Directories - Online directories of periodically published electronic newsletters.
Ghostwriter - An accomplished writer who researches and writes an article on an assigned topic under someone else's name.
Paid Market - A publication that pays writers for articles. Paid markets often require original, unpublished articles.
Point of view - The perspective from which an article is written.
Query letter - A brief letter often sent by e-mail to an editor that proposes an article topic and content for publication.
Reprint guidelines - A set of guidelines that are determined by the author that must be followed in order to reprint an article.
Style guide - A document specifying the details of writing style such as punctuation, spelling and capitalization, etc.
Syndication - The process by which a web site is able to share information, such as articles, with other web sites.
Synopsis - A general overview or summary of an article.
Writer's Guidelines - A set of guidelines determined by the publisher that outline requirements for articles such as topic, format, length, etc.
Learning these terms is required homework if you're just beginning to market your work. After all, this is our lingo... real words for real writers. Singing our ABC's fuelled us towards writing, knowing our lingo propels us towards success in marketing with articles that sell.
Article Announcement Newsgroups/Lists - E-mail lists that accept article submissions from subscribers. Some newsgroups only accept articles in one narrowly defined topic while others will accept any topic.
Article Directory/Archive - A web site that accepts article submissions in a large variety of topics and organizes them by category. A few of these sites require you to pay to have your article archived on site.
Autoresponder - An e-mail message that is sent automatically when an email is received to the email account address. It is also used by authors in automatically delivering properly formatted text article submissions to editors.
Bibliography - A list of web sites, books and articles referenced in an article or publication.
Byline/Resource Box - A four or five line biography and contact information for the author of an article.
Copyright Notice - A one or two line statement that should be included in every article that includes the copyright symbol, date and owner.
Essay - A short article on a single subject written from the author's personal viewpoint.
E-zines - Periodically published electronic newsletters delivered by e-mail.
E-zine Directories - Online directories of periodically published electronic newsletters.
Ghostwriter - An accomplished writer who researches and writes an article on an assigned topic under someone else's name.
Paid Market - A publication that pays writers for articles. Paid markets often require original, unpublished articles.
Point of view - The perspective from which an article is written.
Query letter - A brief letter often sent by e-mail to an editor that proposes an article topic and content for publication.
Reprint guidelines - A set of guidelines that are determined by the author that must be followed in order to reprint an article.
Style guide - A document specifying the details of writing style such as punctuation, spelling and capitalization, etc.
Syndication - The process by which a web site is able to share information, such as articles, with other web sites.
Synopsis - A general overview or summary of an article.
Writer's Guidelines - A set of guidelines determined by the publisher that outline requirements for articles such as topic, format, length, etc.
Learning these terms is required homework if you're just beginning to market your work. After all, this is our lingo... real words for real writers. Singing our ABC's fuelled us towards writing, knowing our lingo propels us towards success in marketing with articles that sell.
Monday, February 5, 2007
How to Protect your PC from Spyware in the Cyber Age.
Wouldn't you be shocked to find that your personal sensitive information, like files, credit card information, operating system / software and other non-disclosed data to be penetrated by unscrupulous prying eyes? Even worse...
"Is your computer infected by Spyware?"
What is Spyware? Spyware are infectious programs developed to secretly subtract and transfer electronic information over the Internet, without a User's apprehension.
Norton Anti-Virus or any other "virus protection" solution, will not protect your computer from malicious applications like Spyware.
Ever Downloaded any kind of Music, Video or "Free Software"?
On the Internet, anything "free" has a hidden cost... much more than the cost of a highly-priced product.
How much is your Privacy's worth to You?
To diabolic marketing companies, your identity my friend, is worth thousands of dollars... they get rich by capitalizing and selling your privacy to third parties, who will in return, sell (again!) or use you as a guinea pig for their promotions -
your Anti-Virus won't protect you from Spyware!
Hint: Some even sell your information to telemarketers, or bulk e-mail marketing companies.
The question is... are the gigantic companies selling "anti-virus solutions", a part of this greedy industry?
Two of the best "Spyware Scanners" you must-have to protect your computer and identity from prying Spyware.
Free Spyware Removal Tools
No Adware : Stops privacy invaders like Gator, Kazaa or Adware and PC cluttering pop-ups.
http://cyber-software.com/spyware-removal
X-Block Probably the most powerful tool to automatically tracking, cleaning and informing you about malicious spyware, Trojans and Privacy-intruding programs.
http://cyber-software.com/x-block
Scan your Computer now for free. Open the program here and then opt to choose "RUN" instead of downloading it. You will be probably shocked to see how your Computer's system is infected with several spyware programs.
"Is your computer infected by Spyware?"
What is Spyware? Spyware are infectious programs developed to secretly subtract and transfer electronic information over the Internet, without a User's apprehension.
Norton Anti-Virus or any other "virus protection" solution, will not protect your computer from malicious applications like Spyware.
Ever Downloaded any kind of Music, Video or "Free Software"?
On the Internet, anything "free" has a hidden cost... much more than the cost of a highly-priced product.
How much is your Privacy's worth to You?
To diabolic marketing companies, your identity my friend, is worth thousands of dollars... they get rich by capitalizing and selling your privacy to third parties, who will in return, sell (again!) or use you as a guinea pig for their promotions -
your Anti-Virus won't protect you from Spyware!
Hint: Some even sell your information to telemarketers, or bulk e-mail marketing companies.
The question is... are the gigantic companies selling "anti-virus solutions", a part of this greedy industry?
Two of the best "Spyware Scanners" you must-have to protect your computer and identity from prying Spyware.
Free Spyware Removal Tools
No Adware : Stops privacy invaders like Gator, Kazaa or Adware and PC cluttering pop-ups.
http://cyber-software.com/spyware-removal
X-Block Probably the most powerful tool to automatically tracking, cleaning and informing you about malicious spyware, Trojans and Privacy-intruding programs.
http://cyber-software.com/x-block
Scan your Computer now for free. Open the program here and then opt to choose "RUN" instead of downloading it. You will be probably shocked to see how your Computer's system is infected with several spyware programs.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
How To Quickly Fix Nagging DVD Drive Problems
You really enjoy those dvd movies and games and the last thing you need or want is to experience problems with your dvd drive.
To prepare for the possibility of having your dvd drive leaving you out in the cold one morning,we will dicuss problems that may cause dvd failure as well as the procedures you should take to correct these problems.
As with all drives,be sure to double check the failure. If the dvd drive will not read the dvd, try running another dvd in the drive. Make sure the dvd has no scratches and is clean.
Visually inspect the drive if the drive is external and if the drive is enternal,check the computer.Check to see if the computer has good ventilation to help keep it cool.Here are the common dvd problems with their solutions.
DVD DRIVE HAS NO POWER
First..For external drives that have no power,first check to see if anything or anyone has caused the power cord to become unplugged.Rule out the wall outlet by plugging in another device such as a radio and see if it plays.
Second...If you've proven the wall outlet to be good,but you still don't have power,check the surge protector for any signs of damage.If the surge protector is good,check the cord.
Third..If you're certain the surge protector or wall outlet is providing power,double check the cord by plugging it in a few times.If no power is present,you will have to replace the cord or the drive itself.
Internal dvd drives receive their power from the connector from the power supply.Try another connector to the drive. if the internal dvd drive still does not receive power after using another connector,the drive is faulty.
DRIVE HAS POWER BUT TRAY WON'T OPEN
You may experience the tray failing to open.Should this happen,press the button a couple times to see if it will open.If the tray fail to open,reboot your computer and try to open the tray.
When rebooting the system,notice the monitor to see if the drive is recognized by the computer.Some systems will not display installed hardware during bootup.If this is the case,you will have to access your BIOS to check if the dvd drive is being registered.
You can also try the manual eject button on the drive to get it to open.Use something very small but firm to press in the pinhole in front of the drive to open the tray.
Shut the computer off and unplug it.Use something like a long paperclip to insert in the pinhole to open the tray. The tray may open a couple inches and you can grab it with your fingers to open it completely.
DRIVE IS NOT RECOGNIZED BY WINDOWS
Be sure the operating system is recognizing the drive by clicking on My Computer.Windows XP will show "drives with removable storage".If your drive is present, highlight the drive,right click and select properties.Click on properties and you should see "this drive is working properly".
If you see another message such as "this drive is not working properly",you may be able to update the device driver.If the drive is not present in My computer,reboot the computer and access the cmos setup.
In the cmos setup,the dvd drive should be present.The drive may not be properly installed or one of the cables have become disconnected if the drive is missing
If you check the drive cables and are certain they are connected correctly,it may be that the data cable is faulty and the drive controller may be at fault.And we can't overlook the fact that the drive itself may be bad.
DRIVE HAS POWER BUT WILL NOT READ DVD
First..try another dvd since a dirty or scratched dvd may not play.If the new dvd fail to play as well,check to see if the operating system is recognizing the drive
Click on My Computer and highlight the dvd drive.Right click and select properties.The statement "This device is working properly" should be present.If not or you see another message,try to update the device driver.
In the My Computer screen,highlight the dvd drive,and select the Properties screen,select Drivers,and then select update device driver.
Another cause may be the Windows Registry is corrupt. You can use software utilities such as PC Bug Doctor to repair your registry. Download this free repair utility at http://www.pcbugdoctor.com/download.html.
To make a backup of your registry with Windows 98, just go to Start, select Run, enter scanregw and click OK. This will run Scanregw.exe.
Restore your registry in Windows 98 by typing scanreg / restore at the Dos Prompt.You can also use.Winrescue XP at http://www.superwin.com/index.htm is a neat little utility for backup and restore of Windows XP.
The dvd drive or writer is an awesome storage and data backup drive.Use it to the fullest to enjoy music,video, audio,and more.Understand everything about this drive before something goes wrong.
Should your audio die on you,check the dvd to be sure it is not dirty or damaged.Look at the audio cable for signs of looseness.Inspect this cable to be sure it is inserted in the connector completely and that is indeed inserted in the correct connector.
If you have a dvd drive,take the time to visit the support web site and download the latest device drivers or patches to keep your drive running at peak performance.
To prepare for the possibility of having your dvd drive leaving you out in the cold one morning,we will dicuss problems that may cause dvd failure as well as the procedures you should take to correct these problems.
As with all drives,be sure to double check the failure. If the dvd drive will not read the dvd, try running another dvd in the drive. Make sure the dvd has no scratches and is clean.
Visually inspect the drive if the drive is external and if the drive is enternal,check the computer.Check to see if the computer has good ventilation to help keep it cool.Here are the common dvd problems with their solutions.
DVD DRIVE HAS NO POWER
First..For external drives that have no power,first check to see if anything or anyone has caused the power cord to become unplugged.Rule out the wall outlet by plugging in another device such as a radio and see if it plays.
Second...If you've proven the wall outlet to be good,but you still don't have power,check the surge protector for any signs of damage.If the surge protector is good,check the cord.
Third..If you're certain the surge protector or wall outlet is providing power,double check the cord by plugging it in a few times.If no power is present,you will have to replace the cord or the drive itself.
Internal dvd drives receive their power from the connector from the power supply.Try another connector to the drive. if the internal dvd drive still does not receive power after using another connector,the drive is faulty.
DRIVE HAS POWER BUT TRAY WON'T OPEN
You may experience the tray failing to open.Should this happen,press the button a couple times to see if it will open.If the tray fail to open,reboot your computer and try to open the tray.
When rebooting the system,notice the monitor to see if the drive is recognized by the computer.Some systems will not display installed hardware during bootup.If this is the case,you will have to access your BIOS to check if the dvd drive is being registered.
You can also try the manual eject button on the drive to get it to open.Use something very small but firm to press in the pinhole in front of the drive to open the tray.
Shut the computer off and unplug it.Use something like a long paperclip to insert in the pinhole to open the tray. The tray may open a couple inches and you can grab it with your fingers to open it completely.
DRIVE IS NOT RECOGNIZED BY WINDOWS
Be sure the operating system is recognizing the drive by clicking on My Computer.Windows XP will show "drives with removable storage".If your drive is present, highlight the drive,right click and select properties.Click on properties and you should see "this drive is working properly".
If you see another message such as "this drive is not working properly",you may be able to update the device driver.If the drive is not present in My computer,reboot the computer and access the cmos setup.
In the cmos setup,the dvd drive should be present.The drive may not be properly installed or one of the cables have become disconnected if the drive is missing
If you check the drive cables and are certain they are connected correctly,it may be that the data cable is faulty and the drive controller may be at fault.And we can't overlook the fact that the drive itself may be bad.
DRIVE HAS POWER BUT WILL NOT READ DVD
First..try another dvd since a dirty or scratched dvd may not play.If the new dvd fail to play as well,check to see if the operating system is recognizing the drive
Click on My Computer and highlight the dvd drive.Right click and select properties.The statement "This device is working properly" should be present.If not or you see another message,try to update the device driver.
In the My Computer screen,highlight the dvd drive,and select the Properties screen,select Drivers,and then select update device driver.
Another cause may be the Windows Registry is corrupt. You can use software utilities such as PC Bug Doctor to repair your registry. Download this free repair utility at http://www.pcbugdoctor.com/download.html.
To make a backup of your registry with Windows 98, just go to Start, select Run, enter scanregw and click OK. This will run Scanregw.exe.
Restore your registry in Windows 98 by typing scanreg / restore at the Dos Prompt.You can also use.Winrescue XP at http://www.superwin.com/index.htm is a neat little utility for backup and restore of Windows XP.
The dvd drive or writer is an awesome storage and data backup drive.Use it to the fullest to enjoy music,video, audio,and more.Understand everything about this drive before something goes wrong.
Should your audio die on you,check the dvd to be sure it is not dirty or damaged.Look at the audio cable for signs of looseness.Inspect this cable to be sure it is inserted in the connector completely and that is indeed inserted in the correct connector.
If you have a dvd drive,take the time to visit the support web site and download the latest device drivers or patches to keep your drive running at peak performance.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
What is Shareware?
What is Shareware?
Shareware is software that you can try before you buy; shareware is a kind of marketing method for software. Software developers post trial versions of their software on websites. Consumers can then download the trial version to their computer and evaluate it. If the consumer likes the software they can purchase it. Shareware is also called try before you buy.
Today almost every big software company including Microsoft, Winzip, and AOL use trial versions or a form of shareware to market their software.
Why is shareware better than any other marketing method?
Shareware is a good way to market software. It allows consumers to evaluate an application prior to making a purchase decision. They can easily determine if it meets their business or personal needs, which usually results to a satisfied customer. In addition because shareware companies are often small they can provide personalized service that is not found in larger companies. Shareware also allows for instant gratification, there is no need to wait for a shipment. Consumers can download and use the software immediately.
Freeware vs. Shareware.
As you know shareware is a marketing method for software. Freeware is also a way of marketing software. However, freeware is free so the developer does not ever request any money. Shareware is free to distribute but cannot be used for an unlimited amount of time, unless the developer is paid. Freeware can be used an unlimited amount of time and can be freely distributed; payment is not required. Many developers use freeware to draw attention to their shareware applications.
What is software piracy?
There are several kinds of software piracy. One kind of software piracy is hacking into software and disabling the copy protection. Software pirates then distribute or sell the hacked software. The developer does not receive any money for the software the hacker distributed. This is an infringement on the developer's copyright.
Another technique used by hackers is to illegally obtain a registered copy of software. Pirates purchase the software once and use it on multiple computers. Purchasing software with a stolen credit card is another form of software piracy. Unfortunately there are many kinds of software piracy that has slowed the industry's growth. In order for developers to continue to develop software and provide support the software needs to be profitable.
Registration Incentives.
A registration incentive is something that makes the person using the shareware version of the software want to buy. There are a number of incentives developers use to encourage users to buy. One popular registration incentive is to limit the time of the trial version. This is clever because then the user can't use the shareware version forever. It encourages them to buy the software so they can continue to use it when the trial period is over.
Often shareware versions will have "grayed out" features on the menu that the consumer can see, but not use. Typically there is a pop-up windows in the software encouraging users to register in order to take advantage of the additional features. This is a popular registration method because if the person wants to do more things with the program, then they are forced to buy the registered version of the software.
Another innovative registration incentive shareware developers use allows customers to receive discounts on other software once they have purchased the registered version.
Developers also provide support incentives. The shareware version of software will have everything the registered version has, however, if a person buys the registered version of the software he/she will receive tech support, newsletters, and upgrades. Developers can also limit the number of times you can use the shareware version of the product. The trial version may expire after 10 uses meaning the user has to register if they wish to continue using the software.
Shareware now and how the term changed.
Though the meaning of the term shareware has not changed the perception of shareware has evolved since it began. At first when you had a shareware program there was a note that asked for a donation. Now you are required to pay for the registered version of the shareware program. The shareware industry has also evolved and grown into a billion dollar industry.
Shareware is software that you can try before you buy; shareware is a kind of marketing method for software. Software developers post trial versions of their software on websites. Consumers can then download the trial version to their computer and evaluate it. If the consumer likes the software they can purchase it. Shareware is also called try before you buy.
Today almost every big software company including Microsoft, Winzip, and AOL use trial versions or a form of shareware to market their software.
Why is shareware better than any other marketing method?
Shareware is a good way to market software. It allows consumers to evaluate an application prior to making a purchase decision. They can easily determine if it meets their business or personal needs, which usually results to a satisfied customer. In addition because shareware companies are often small they can provide personalized service that is not found in larger companies. Shareware also allows for instant gratification, there is no need to wait for a shipment. Consumers can download and use the software immediately.
Freeware vs. Shareware.
As you know shareware is a marketing method for software. Freeware is also a way of marketing software. However, freeware is free so the developer does not ever request any money. Shareware is free to distribute but cannot be used for an unlimited amount of time, unless the developer is paid. Freeware can be used an unlimited amount of time and can be freely distributed; payment is not required. Many developers use freeware to draw attention to their shareware applications.
What is software piracy?
There are several kinds of software piracy. One kind of software piracy is hacking into software and disabling the copy protection. Software pirates then distribute or sell the hacked software. The developer does not receive any money for the software the hacker distributed. This is an infringement on the developer's copyright.
Another technique used by hackers is to illegally obtain a registered copy of software. Pirates purchase the software once and use it on multiple computers. Purchasing software with a stolen credit card is another form of software piracy. Unfortunately there are many kinds of software piracy that has slowed the industry's growth. In order for developers to continue to develop software and provide support the software needs to be profitable.
Registration Incentives.
A registration incentive is something that makes the person using the shareware version of the software want to buy. There are a number of incentives developers use to encourage users to buy. One popular registration incentive is to limit the time of the trial version. This is clever because then the user can't use the shareware version forever. It encourages them to buy the software so they can continue to use it when the trial period is over.
Often shareware versions will have "grayed out" features on the menu that the consumer can see, but not use. Typically there is a pop-up windows in the software encouraging users to register in order to take advantage of the additional features. This is a popular registration method because if the person wants to do more things with the program, then they are forced to buy the registered version of the software.
Another innovative registration incentive shareware developers use allows customers to receive discounts on other software once they have purchased the registered version.
Developers also provide support incentives. The shareware version of software will have everything the registered version has, however, if a person buys the registered version of the software he/she will receive tech support, newsletters, and upgrades. Developers can also limit the number of times you can use the shareware version of the product. The trial version may expire after 10 uses meaning the user has to register if they wish to continue using the software.
Shareware now and how the term changed.
Though the meaning of the term shareware has not changed the perception of shareware has evolved since it began. At first when you had a shareware program there was a note that asked for a donation. Now you are required to pay for the registered version of the shareware program. The shareware industry has also evolved and grown into a billion dollar industry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
