Branding Guru Anyone?

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Pornography Wins Out Over Protective Parents

In another attempt to control internet pornography, a federal judge in Pennsylvania struck down the government’s suggestion to limit the ability of pornographers to allow access to minors. Judges ruled that parents should be protecting their children against the allure of internet pornography.

Many technology experts have said that in the gambit of internet danger, online pornography is not the top issue. These same experts make reference to predators and bullies, which may in fact cause physical harm to children. Benjamin Halpert, an online security expert, has set up a tutorial for parents called "Safeonline 101", which offers parents tips and solutions to combating online dangers.

UK Broadband Price Comparison

One of the most useful things that many websites offer today is a fast and rapid roll up and review of price comparison services. It is definitely not easy to investigate mutliple broadband providers, run the research, pull the numbers and chop down an apple into an orange to compare it to another service. That is where many service like this UK Broadband Provider comparison can really save you a great deal of time and research.

I came across their site and it provides very detailed comparisons between UK broadband providers. They provide an extensive capability to view monthly rates and Compare Broadband services. There is no point in doing this type of research all over again yourself when a site can cover the work for you aggregating the data and providing a useful means of analyzing the results.

They also provide an extensive list of reviews of Broadband Internet ISP services. Its never easy to find a good service provider but with an aggregation and comparison of rates and reviews readily available it is much easier. Their ISP service provider list is very comprehensive and covers thirteen of the top ISP service providers in the United Kingdom

Apple TV, Where's the Snore Button?

In a statement released Wednesday, Apple Inc. will ship their new Apple TV box to U.S. stores immediately. The new product by Apple Inc. will allow consumers to transfer their music, videos and pictures to play on their television. The revolutionary product will allow over 50 hours(Wow! That's amazingly very little!) of video, 9,000 songs or 25,000 photos or any combination of the three.

The device functions via wireless connection and boast similar quality to that of a standard DVD player. The current suggested retail price for the Apple TV is $299.99 and will be available in the U.S. in the spring.

It remains unclear why Apple would use a device that has a hard drive approximately the same size as a portable MP3 player?

I guess you could call me a naysayer as I just don't get this concept yet maybe you just have to try to understand it...

Web Marketing Services in Dallas

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Their focus is a local focus looking to the Dallas area and this has its advantages because there are times when customers, especially those new to the Internet or new to their own web design on the Internet, need a face-to-face in person approach.  Sitting down with your Web designer and working out a plan and a strategy while you share with them information about your business so they can capture the egos of the work that you do can be invaluable at times and Dallas Web services looks to help customers in that regard and Dallas.  Did I mention that they're in Dallas?

So Sue Me

In another battle over copyright infringement, Viacom is challenging Youtube and its parent company Google. Viacom claims that Youtube has displayed well in excess of 150,000 videos and images from its various networks (VH1, Comedy Central etc.).  Many broadcast companies are in fear of the growing video-sharing outlets due to the increasing numbers of internet viewers.

With Viacom the situation is even more dire, due to the nature of their cable programs and the fact that they are targeted towards a younger audience who carries higher internet usage. It is unclear what will happen in the lawsuit, however this suit is the largest confrontation regarding video sharing to date.

Note.  The title "so Sue me" is not intended to reference the infamous Apple copyright infringement suit with Apple records.  During the uglier days that battle Apple created music software called sosumi which was pronounced so sue me hinting that if Apple records it like what Apple Computer was doing they could just . . .  :)

Getting Mini Recording Studio Set up

I finally have my mini recording studio set up in my
room. I set it up to try and get the best of any
situation whether it's recording guitar tracks or
vocals. I have a nice corner desk located in my room
with a couple of folding chairs for myself and vocalist to sit in while
recording. On the desk I have my Macbook Pro, a 160GB
external hard drive and speakers for playback. My
guitars are located just to the right of my desk and
it works great. I love my setup and it works great for
frequent music writing.

Coffee Cups going Unused as Pen Holders

It is an unfortunate reality that the digital revolution has brought about a transition that has unbalanced the need for people to utilize coffee cups for pen holders.  Coffee cups haven't just been outsourced they have been automated out of the picture as a necessity to keep your desk free of clutter.  People don't need to collect 50 or 60 pence to make sure they've got one around in case somebody snagged their favorite pen.

They still keep one or two of their favorites) in case they need to write something archaic like to check or fill out a form for the human resource Department or their taxes or some other strange entity that hasn't found its way into the digital world.  Often times companies don't even buy pens that often anymore.  Employees of many companies have to rely on free gifts,  Advertising pens, provided by visiting sales folks or more than likely recruiters trying to drum up business.  But nobody thinks about the poor coffee cups are no longer needed.

Many times today coffee cups are actually used for strange things like holding, coffee!.

There's not much we can do to save the coffee cups these days, they should've seen the writing on the wall and Joe sought additional training or job placement services.  Their demise also spells the demise for another staple in the office place, the filing cabinet is sure to go next!

Vacations.net re-Launch

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You can just focus on having carefree fun in the sun and not worry about writing your credit card up to limit in past while you're traveling.this is a great way to travel if you're on a budget or looking to hold tight to the budget did you set before you left the docks.

Retirees "Wii Would Like To Play!"

Nintendo's Wii video game system has made its way into many homes since its release last Christmas and has recently been found in retirement communities across the country. Seniors enjoy the social benefits as well as the exercise offered by the console system.

"It's a very social thing and it's good exercise ... and you don't have to throw a 16-pound bowling ball to get results," said Flora Dierbach a senior from Chicago.

Boasting a console without all the bells and whistles of the X-Box 360 and PS3, Nintendo's Wii offers an interactive forum, cardiovascular exercise and is just plain fun. Nintendo's goal with the Wii was to make game play easier, more intuitive and more appealing to a mass-market, and with sales exceeding its major competitors, Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo has done just that.

Drug Rehab continues to Demonstrate our Inability to Master Our Own bodies when they become Dependent

There have been a number of celevrities in the news lately with drug incidents and issues(I could have probably made that last statement on any given week of the last 30 or 40 years). Sylvester Stallone, Britney Spears, and Anna Nicole Smith all made headlines in incidents involving drugs or Drug rehab.

The truth of the matter is that many governments, countries, communities, and healthcare institutions have not figured out a good way to deliver drug rehabilitation.  In the United States part of the problem relates in part to an unrealistic approach to dealing with drugs.  Many drugs that are less physically dangerous to the human body are touted as more evil than some drugs that are far more dangerous to the body such as cigarettes and alcohol.

This serves to reduce the credibility of the authority figures that are trying to help people overcome these problems.  I think however that there is probably something that's been missed or overlooked.  I'm no biologist but I suspect that there is a better way that technology could be implemented to help people overcome problems of this nature.  This is a bit off topic but I strode out there from the perspective that I think somebody could probably do a better area and coming up with a technological solution or supplement that could help people overcome their issues with drugs and alcohol.

Safe Online 101 - Teaches Parents how to protect their Kids Online

Instant messaging, chat-rooms and other interactive media have been an outlet for children around the country for what seems like forever. Unfortunately these outlets have been the cause of much dismay for parents around the country, the world. With online predators and bullies, parents have to take to the front lines to protect their children from these new age dangers.

Benjamin Halpert, an online security expert, has released a program entitled "Safeonline 101." In his program, Halpert teaches parents a number of preventative measures to help safeguard their children online. Halpert says that parents need to become more web-savvy and generally computer literate. The online tutorial offers explanation of lingo used in chat rooms and also tips regarding computer use and location.

The right Cable- HDMI

Its always a struggle to setup a new device, even harder when you are making the move to high definition TV with hidef components.

With a high definition TV you cannot just go to your closet and pull out the extra RCA cables that you have lying around from an old TV or sound system.  You have two typically get into the car and drive down to the local store and pay $60 - $100 per cable for wires that you know are definitely not worth that price.

But if you need something like an HDMI cable you might be better off picking it up online, if you can wait for him the shipping.

Hot Enough for this Dating Site? Only the Beautiful need Apply

There is a new dating site on the web, but prerequisites for access may surprise you. Jason Pelligrino, creator of HotEnough.org, has crafted a dating site that is only for "Hot" singles. The subjective nature of the site has roused much curiosity over the weekend. Anyone who wishes to register at the site must submit photos of themselves, which will be rated on a one to ten scale by current members. If the photo is rated eight or higher, access is allowed but if you fall below the cut off you will have to try your luck elsewhere.

Pelligrino developed his site after coming to the consensus that dating sites bring in desperate and not necessarily attractive people. Pelligrino also said that anyone can call the site "shallow and superficial", but went on to add that many aspects of dating are just that

Telecom Consulting Moving into the Home?

My neighbor just had a T1 line and communication package installed in his home.  How far away from needing Telecom consultants is the average person getting?

I suspect the distance isn't very far.  I think this is probably more true for small business owners and professionals trying to get a leg up in a corporation that doesn't provide them all of the remote tools they need to get the job done effectively.

A car or a truck mechanic will go out and spend 10 to 20% of their income on the tools they need to do their job.  A tech worker and a corporation typically relies on the corporations cover all their expenses.  However at that tech worker were to invest 5% of their income, say $5,000 on a $100,000 per year salary and they could deliver greater results that might earn them a promotion or a raise of $10-$20000 a year that investment will be worth it.

That is the potential opportunity for Telecom Consulting to move into the home.  Cable modems and DSL don't know was cut it for a tech worker that's trying to work from home.  In a corporation that's cutting costs may not make those tools available, and so the tech workers sometimes may need to take things into their own hands to get ahead in the game.

Citizendium

Wikipedia designer Larry Sanger has devised a new online encyclopedia that will be free of the inaccuracy, petty vandalism and unknown sources, which contribute to its predecessor. The new encyclopedia entitled "Citizendium", will require contributors to leave their name and profile as well as offer experts from various fields who will weigh in for accuracy,

Citizendium will be a non-profit organization based off of Wikipedia and will remain devoid of advertisements and banners. Sanger wishes to build a better free online encyclopedia and hopes the new format will bring more academics forward to contribute.

X-Box 360 Elite

Expected to hit U.S. shelves April 29 this year, Microsoft will release the X-Box 360 Elite. The new X-Box will boast a 120-gigabyte hard drive instead of the prior 20-gigabyte drive offered by the "archaic" 360 released last Christmas. Microsoft's goal is to further define their entertainment console as a digital media center instead of just a video game console.

The 360 Elite will have an initial retail price of $479.99, whereas its predecessor the 360 (20 gig.) prices out at $399.99. Microsoft will release snap-on hard drive for owners of the 20 gigabyte 360 for $179.99. Consumers have demanded a larger hard drive due to all the downloaded media from online stores, game content and other digital media. Other upgrades featured on the Elite are a, HDMI connection, which will improve digital picture and sound quality.

Reigning in Out of the Box Thinking with Ethics

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It's never an easy thing for a law firm to think outside the box as they continually have to remain both inside the law and inside ethical guidelines.  It's very easy to be creative to come up with an idea but it's not easy to come up with a creative solution that saves money and is completely above board.  Many unique solutions are to been identified or utilized in coming up with something brand-new that still within the rules is a tough game that our sponsor continually works to improve.

Digitize Spare Change with a Garbage Man?

Every time I think I have truly become high tech, I get a stupid re-awakening to the doldrums of reality.  This often times happens when I leave a McDonald's Drive thru.

I always end up with spare change, which goes in the change holder and then my 4 year old proceeds at some point to play with the money and its lost.  My four year old doesn't recognize the value (or lack there of) and my vacuum cleaner for the car doesn't discern between straw paper wrappers and a quarter.

Now when I'm on top of things the spare change gets dumped into a big jar at home and every now and then the jar gets taken to a Coinstar where I pay 6-8 percent to have the machine count my money.  That's pretty stupid, I know how to count money, but my bank is 1,000 miles away and I can't mail them the change.

Plus I do not have a coin sorter or anything to rapidly count and bundle it all together. What I need is a nice system where I can dump the money in and have it converted to e-cash or PayPal funds on the quick.  My garbage man comes once a week to pick up trash for about $50 a month, why not send the recycling guy around to pick up my spare change every 6 months.  We just need an incorruptible counter and system so that I can dump it in a safe bin and they can come pick it up and credit my account for the collection.

 

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Fly Me to the Moon

NASA has begun preparations to test an inflatable structure that if

successful may offer a livable habitat for an outpost on the Earth's Moon. The inflatable habitat will be tested at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. Although the project is still in its conceptual stage, the research and development of the project has led to a design, which may offer more refined exploration and research of other celestial bodies.

Inflatable Structures Project Leader Karen Whitley said that the project is still conceptual, and has been used for publicity. Senior staff and also a number of congressmen have viewed the inflatable device.

Are You Ready to Deal with an Emergency

I really like this idea and its fairly simple.  An innovative company has put together some relatively low tech solutions to help organize people for emergency.

They have created a backpack with multiple compartments that can open up and provide easy access to each of those compartments which contain Emergency Supplies ready to be used very quickly.

The thing I like about this solution the most is the fact that the supplies are ready to go, ready to travel, ready to be thrown into a car at moment's notice and they are organized in a way that makes them readily accessible when they're needed.

Now I just wish that I could find a backpack to hold my laptop in gear that worked half as well!

Digital Pioneer Backus

John Warner Backus, a name synonymous with the high level programming language of FORTRAN, passed away at his home in Ashland, Oregon a week ago Saturday, he was 82.

Backus led the IBM team, which created FORTRAN in the mid 1950's. The program was created as using a mixture of English words and algebraic notation, commonly used at the time by engineers and scientists in the field. In addition to his work on FORTRAN, Backus also worked in the creation of ALGOL 58 and ALGOL 60, which standardized publishing algorithms.

His accolades stretch across the better half of the 20th century, his work represents the passion of a scientific mind. Due to the efforts of this great mind we are able to live the way we do. John Warner Backus truly was a pioneer of the digital age.

Getting Travel Right with Web 2.0 Tools for Geeks

Ten Years ago it was cool to plan a trip with MapQuest, because it would print out maps!

That doesn't cut it today, today's savvy travelers need many better tools.  We're not looking for tools that simply give us the directions to find a place, we need the tools that get us there faster, more efficiently, using less fuel, avoiding traffic, showing us the best places to park would we get there, and a lot more.

A great little website called VroomVroomVroom.com offers up 25 great Web 2.0 Travel tools to help you get where you're going and do it in a way that works for 2007.  They provide tools that display traffic density charts in one section and consumer driven reviews of the destinations that you're going to another.  They bring together some of the best sites offering up GPS and wireless solutions and significantly more.

Basically they put together the top 25 Web 2.0 tools to help you get from a to B using all the best technology available today.  They've managed to cover some of the best sites and very quick and comprehensive manner you're definitely going to find something useful that will help you on your next trip.  Right off the bat I recognized the couple wed to point out names like Traffic, but they offer up so 24 other new sites that I haven't covered yet or hadn't heard.  Needless to say, I was sufficiently impressed.  I came across them searching through Dick's front page today after they recently climbed to the top.

Zdnet Confused over Concept of Hacking and Modding

I read a relatively dull article on ZDNet about the new Apple ITV product.  The article commented on the fact that only one day out of the chute, people were already taking the Apple TV product and reconfiguring it so that it will work to their needs.

Now the interesting aspect of this story is the fact that Apple got the product wrong people have to refine it to work, that was pretty obvious from jump.

The interesting thing about this article is that ZDNet doesn't seem to understand the difference between hacking and modding.  They talk about people opening up the box and put it in larger hard drives and adding other refinements to the gadget.

The title of the article seems to have been written to attract attention "Apple TV = hacked".  Just like TiVos and many other devices before the Apple TV, many people have modded out the device, so that it will have a useful hard drive and many other features.  (The Apple TV comes with a 40 GB hard drive for some unfathomable reason.  That might be okay for an MP3 player but that's terrible for a video player.)

UMPC - Old Product New Specs

Samsung has recently announced plans to improve their UMPC (ultra mobile personal computer). Samsung's latest UMPC the Ultra Q1 boasts higher res., better connectivity, a lighter sleeker design and also improved battery life. In addition to the improvements, the Ultra Q1 will feature Windows Vista as its operating system in place of Windows XP, which is run on the original Q1.

With a price expected to come in just over $1000, depending on variation, the Ultra Q1 is the first wave of upgraded Samsung products scheduled for release. Executive V.P. and General Manager of Samsung computer division HS Kim has also said the company is close to offering hybrid drives (flash and hard disk) as options as well as a lower cost version of the Ultra Q1.

Tagging Your Property Hasn't gone High Tech with RFID or GPS Yet

I have this stupid pink tape in my back yard as a form of yard markers are.  The fluorescent pink tape hangs from a tree and is staked into the ground into different corners of the back of my property.  Somebody came in to do the survey around the time that we bought our house and that marked the plot.

My families have a lot of experience by & property over the last century and I've also noticed that many of the more permanent markers get lost or broken or damaged or destroyed.  It strikes me that the government could start to sponsor program where people could sink GPS markers to 20, 50, or 100 feet into the ground.

The entire country could be put onto a grid system that can be monitored from space.  All that private property could then be easily maintained and monitored in a handheld GPS device.

It wouldn't completely eliminate the need to do physical surveys but it sure would decrease things over time as more of the grid was put into place.

 

Arctic melt will heat planet while Antartic melt will flood planet?

 OK, here's the skinny as best as I can unravel the science.  The phenomenon that is melting the polar ice caps at either end, you can it call global warming if you like or what ever it seems to be occurring, is resulting in two different things.

1.  The Arctic melt it is melting ice that's already in the Arctic Ocean.  That means it's not going to raise sea levels, because it's already in the sea.  However decreasing the ice will increase the amount of heat that it absorbed into the ocean.  This will decrease the salinity of the ocean as natural water melts and will reinforce the heating effect around the globe.

The Antarctic melt is melting ice that sits on land, very similar to a glacier melting.  That ice is going to run off the Antarctic and into the sea.  That will increase ocean levels.

One recent report indicates that the Arctic in particular seems to be on a one-way path towards continually decreasing and might reach a day when it will be permanently unfrozen in the near future.

"While the Arctic is losing a great deal of ice in the summer months, it now seems that it also is regenerating less ice in the winter,"

So if you hear the argument about either of these areas will know which ones are contributing to the rise in the ocean levels and which one is contributing to the rise in the Ernst temperature.

In the meantime the real estate market is going topsy-turvy, and if you're looking for a goodbye here's a future tool that might help you find a home in the right spot!

Its brought to you by flood.firetree.net and its basically a Google map overlaid with technology to show you where the ocean levels will be with every 1 m increase in water.  Now I used to live in Boca Raton on a block or so away from the beach, and our elevation was 7 feet above sea level.  In trying to model out I can tell you that it's a little bit inaccurate.  It's an accurate for the perspective that it doesn't flood areas fast enough.  I had to crank the model up to 9 m to show my old house going underwater when I know that it's only 2 1/2 meters above sea level. 

So as you look at it keep in mind that it seems to have a glass as half-full sort of attitude, or maybe that the glass half empty?  a glass half empty would be better global warming?

Oh and happy Monday!

 Source: iTWire - Arctic triggered climate change may have reached tipping point: study

 

Un-Functional Furniture too Froofy

I am a form over function type of person. I don't normally go on for froofy furniture. After living in Boca Raton for several years I've learned that froofy equals expensive. However I do feel that you're setting does drive your mood, and if you've got cold furniture in a cold work setting or cold home and you are probably going to have a cold attitude.

so you have to balance things out little bit and if you got to do that then get some furniture that slow but functional envelope and inviting as well. Our sponsor  Powell furniture does a pretty good job of achieving this balance. And they don't delivered a Boca Raton prices! (Someday I'll tell you the story about how a salesperson almost conned my wife and I into purchasing a foot stool with elephant prints on it for $1000- keyword there is almost)

MY Super Sized Map

 We don't talk about mapping french fries very often here at maven mapper's information -- the dark.

There's a good reason for that, it's a stupid idea.  But that's exactly what someone did when I created fastfoodmaps.com.

They created something that maps out fast food restaurants especially in metro areas all around the country.  There's probably a socially conscious reason for doing this so that we can all feel guilty about the plethora an overabundance of fast food restaurants.

However even a person that thinks that french fries are good for them probably doesn't need a map to tell them that there's a lot of fast food restaurants in the United States.  Furthermore we don't really need a map to find a fast food restaurant.  You only need to travel a couple miles in any direction and you are bound to find one eventually.

Paint Technology Made to Fade or Made to Last?

When I was in college I worked one summer as a painting contractor.  It was a great experience and I learned a good deal about business at the time.  I also learned that I hate paying my own house.

Now I am getting ready to move in a few months and have to throw a few dozen gallons of paint on my house, a cedar sided job.  10 years ago when I was a contractor, the technology was improving and people were starting to use spray guns more and more.  The real estate boom had quite kicked off but the stock market boom was in full swing.  Now this year Sherwin-Williams and several other paint companies of loss and major lawsuits relating to lead based paint.

The market is primed for some improvements.  We're getting to the point with nanotechnology and a number of other composites that painting companies should be able to find a paint that can be applied easily and rapidly to existing homes and that will last for hundreds of years.

Now I paint my house I'm going to hire House Painters to do the job for the most part.  The point is it is not really a necessary job, or to say that more aptly, it's a job that shouldn't have to be done as much anymore.

In addition to vinyl and aluminum siding, someone should come up with a solution for painting homes that makes it a one-time affair until the home is destroyed.  I really like the concepts coming out of Germany with some plastic that can be applied to Windows turn the windows into solar panes.  Maybe they can find an application that turns citing into a solar panel as well, and a panel that lasts forever.

Vonage Plays Catch Up after Judge awards injunction for Verizon patent

Vonage is having a very bad month.  First they lost a lawsuit brought against them by Verizon claiming patent infringement.  At the time of that loss they were quick to reassure investors and customers that they would not likely lose in the follow on quest by Verizon to get an injunction against Vonage for using that same technology.

They were wrong.  They lost that fight in the injunction is coming.

judge said he will sign a permanent injunction restraining the company from using technology needed to connect many of its customers.

 

Now they are stating that they need more time before the injunction goes into effect.  They claim that they have a workaround technology that they can use instead of Verizon's technology, however they need more time to implement it so that customers will not be impacted by the injunction.  They are hoping that the courts side with them this time, and possibly for the first time so that the customer base belonging to Vonage is not harmed.

Of course Verizon feals that the customer base wouldn't exist if Vonage hadn't improperly used their patents and technology.  Of course Verizon was a little slow to adopt this technology themselves as a weatherbeaten in their own customer base.  That makes it a little hard to feel sorry for Verizon, but a patent is a patent (concept that provides fictional ownership over a fictional concept that used to be called a "good idea" to a fictional entity called Corporation -- you got to love the rule of law!)

Many people are wondering of fries and might go after other people in this market, however it's unlikely as they have provided Verizon with money which seems to heal all wounds.  This money came in the form of payments to Verizon as the other players in the field are Verizon's customers.

Nice how that works, is in it.

 

 

  Source: Vonage denied Verizon patents | Chicago Tribune

MyCoupon Social Network

Some smart entrepreneur was bound to put the idea together eventually.  This week it appears Mycoupon.com wins the prize.  They have built an online coupon repository that currently has over 14,000 coupon codes for products services and items all across the Internet.  That's pretty good considering they've just recently relaunched their site in the numbers of grown by several thousand just since the launch have been a few days ago.

Combining the powers of social networking with concept of sharing a coupon code is kind of like evolving the concept of a chariot wheel to a radial tire.  Coupon codes probably are one of those things that have been shared socially sent shortly after the Internet was created in formalizing that in a structured website that enables people to do that with the latest technology and social networking is bound to make the experience easier.

The result is that instead of having to do a quick Google search every time you're about to check out a product looking for that coupon code essay via fiber 10%, instead you can go to MyCoupons.com and have instant access to thousands of special offers, discount codes, coupon codes and more.  And of course since it's a social network that also encourages you to share the coupon codes and discount codes to find right back in the same repository for the next people in a long.


LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Still Dealing with the Daily Light Savings Time Bug

I work on a 30 hour day schedule.  I stay up as long as it takes to get the job done I relax as long as I need to relax and I sleep about eight hours a night.  So for me time as a relative issue anyway.  However since March 11 at daylight savings time situation is created a new snag in my schedule that makes it even more difficult.

I'm running Windows XP as far as I can tell my system can't quit seem to figure out how to update for daylight savings time.  Microsoft recommended before daylight savings time went into effect that people should run automatic update on Windows XP and and get a patch to fix things for the bug.  I do that and I've got a brand-new computer running XP and Randy of days before I ran the updates after in my computer still can't seem to synchronize Microsoft get the time right.  

So I've had to turn off the automatic synchronization that comes with the operating system and I've had to change the time manually.  This is fine so that my computer knows the right time, however I'm finding that it's extremely annoying to coordinate times with people in international time zones outside of the US that is.

To make matters worse I drive a Treo 600, the finned Cadillac of the Treo series as I like to refer to it, and I've downloaded an update for or by phone and the new daylight savings time, however I've been too busy with several large projects last couple of weeks to take the time to install the update of my phone.  So I've got it manually corrected for the right time as well and again my city Time function in my phone is also off.

The next time I schedule a meeting I will probably have to go with a less tech-centric approachand just clutch at my great-great-grandmother's rosaries while hoping for the best. She lived in a time where day light savings time was never an issue.

I personally didn't experience any problems with Y2K, but this silly daylight savings time is sure proving to be a pain in the neck!

The Wild Wild Net

The internet can be a dangerous place, and running around unprotected isn't recommended. In Symantec's recent release of the Internet Security Threat Report, they chronicle just how true the threat is. Released every six months, the report find that over 6 million computers are infected with a "bot" and are connected to an underground network of thousands of computers. The report documents its current findings as a whopping 29% increase over the prior report.

Symantec's findings also include arise in Trojans by 23%, also the findings of 12 zero-day vulnerabilities (up from just one last report). The findings also report a shocking rise in underground online databases dealing in stolen credit card numbers, personal identification info and bank account numbers among other articles. The report goes on to document the countries with the most malicious activity, The United States being number one on the list. In this day and age, internet security is not to be taken lightly.

Physical Relocations Don't Phase Web Businesses- too much

This summer I am moving from the Atlanta area to the Charlotte, North Carolina area.  I'm packing up my web business and I'm moving down the road about three hours. 

The funny thing is the move is in going to have a significant impact on my business.  99% of my business is conducted on the Internet and the 1% of the business I do that's conducted in person I can still do regardless of where I am.  I may take an extra couple of road trips to visit some of my clients in the Atlanta area, but it's not going to be a big change.

Tuesday to like and do business anywhere I could back up shop and check out Raleigh North Carolina Real Estate and do business there for a week, or anywhere in the United States for that matter.  However sometimes we in the states take the excessive amount of Internet access for granted.

My brother-in-law recently moved to Australia.  He was surprised to learn after the move that it's actually fairly difficult to get broadband installed in that area and he lives in the second-largest city in the country.  Internet access has spread out to reach the world but it takes different forms of overseeing the United States often times.

So if you're planning and international move, make sure you take a couple weeks and test out Internet connection so to know what to expect.  Internet cafés are prevalent sometimes but that's a whole lot different for a mobile worker used to working in their basement.

Water to Ice in a Nanosecond

Researchers in Albuquerque, New Mexico have discovered a process in which to transform water to ice in a nanosecond. Sandia National Laboratories, using a process of twenty million amperes of electrical pulses through water held in a small aluminum chamber under extreme compression, has created a phase of ice known as "ice VII".

The machine, known as Sandia Z, is expected to help scientists understand the effects of extreme conditions on a wide variety of applications and materials. The preliminary conceptions of applications currently range from manufacturing to defense. More detail on the results of the Sandia Z research and experimentation can be found at Sandia.gov.

Vegas Trends

A word for our sponsor . . .

South Florida may have made the concept of a luxury condo famous, but they have nothing on Las Vegas now.  Las Vegas long known for its hotels and casinos is rapidly going condo.

Las Vegas Luxury Condos are popping up in the desert faster than slot machines can be spit out Nickels.  This is probably much more practical for the desert town than a sprawling suburb with a house on a lot of sand and rock for every family.  Condos may hold as many people utilizing up the water resources, however released from landscape perspective they don't increase sprawl nor do they waste the land providing a fixed space or plot for a family that won't build to do much with the land in the first place.

Florida is very similar in this regard and almost the opposite fashion.  They are the tropical climate creates undergrowth so thick and so fast that yards are kept to a minimum because the upkeep will kill you.  And Las Vegas there's nothing to keep up.  Both scenarios point towards condo living.

Archaelogical Blogging in the Public Domain

I've picked up a new hobby.  I am blogging in the public domain in regards to an old medical encyclopedia originally drafted in the 1860's and my version last published in 1916.

The journal is a 1700 page encyclopedia called the Library of Health and I am going through the book a section at a time and reviewing the book, soon the images, and the belief systems that directed the creation of the book.

This is something that I could not have done in years past without the benefits of a blog, content management system (wordpress), scanner, digital camera and more.

I've establisehed a new site and blog at htp://www.bookofmedicine.com/history/.  You can check out my Book of Medicine and track my progress with the review.  I originally purchased the book ten years ago at an auction, but only recently discovered the jujitsu lesson section.  It features images of two people (presumably Americans in the early 1900's demonstrating jujitsu moves.  One of the men looks just like my Great Grandfather when he was in his late 40's, which was a pretty surreal find for me!

Video Games Contribute to Future Risk

According to German research, there is a direct link between aggressive and dangerous driving behavior and racing video games. The findings show that both men and woman take greater risks while driving after playing virtual racing games, and that even those who played less frequently showed an increase in risk taking while on the road. The American Psychological Association published the German experiments results in the March issue of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

With an eye on the future, researchers conclude that children who begin playing these games at a young age may actually adopt riskier behavioral patterns. These patterns, which develop over the years, suggest that in the future, individuals who spent significant time playing these games will hold a greater risk of being involved in accidents.

Symantec’s Threat Report Findings

In its recent Internet Security Threat Report, Symantec's findings claim that stolen credit cards are being sold online for as little as one dollar. Symantec's report also indicated that of all the stolen cards, approximately 86% of them were issued in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom coming in around 7%.

A number of other items were also indicated to be hot commodities in underground circles, ranging from 10,000$ bank accounts for 300$, government issued identification cards at 14-18$ to "World of Warcraft" accounts coming in at 10$. Symantec's report goes further to state that internet phishing scams are possibly so wide spread because, in order to make any money, scam artists need thousands of victims at the current rates of 3-5$ per host.

Quotes vs Prices

Many websites these days offer quotes online. You can find mortgage quotes, service quotes, car insurance quotes even home make over quotes.

There comes a point when its just easier to buy than it is to compare quotes. The technology is present online to provide the price as opposed to the quote. Quotes in essence become a way to capture our attention and force us to pay attention to a product, price and program that we would much rather shop around.

I suspect that this form of marketing is going to result in some modernization soon. Wal-mart is starting to enter into insurance and mortgages and Google has some experience with Froogle and online shopping. Its just a matter of time before one of them comes up with a real time personalized pricing product that skips the quote submission process all together.

Inter-Office E-mail Sparks Comradery

Interoffice e-mail has always been a good way to send messages to multiple colleagues at one time, however in a police department in Victoria, Australia it was an interoffice e-mail that sparked scandal. In an apparent get-well soon/joke e-mail, a topless female officer posing in uniform found its way into the inbox of several police officials.

The Geelong Advertiser has published an edited version of the photograph. However, The Victoria Police Department has been offered $500 dollars for an unedited image, and in a show of comradery has resisted the temptation of trading the image for cash. The constable in question Melissa Scannell is currently facing disciplinary action for her semi-naked photo.

Domain Business Techniques 201

Over the last year I have done a good bit of work in the domaining business. I have purchased and managed approximately 200 domains in the last twelve months.

Over that time I have occasionally written about the business of buying domains, investing in domains, or strategically purchasing domains for the launch of a website.

Aviva Directory has just released 28 thorough tips on the practice of getting started as a Domainer.

It covered all of the essentials, more thoroughly and more concisely than I have seen elsewhere.

It does seem to miss one key tool (I left a comment there too). Whenever you buy a domain you should insure that the domain has not been blacklisted as a spam domain or banned by Google for some other reason.

Here's a few other tips to be prepared to work with after investing in a domain:

  1. You can park a domain, but you will make more money if you turn it into a functional blog (see one of our examples at History of the Book of Medicine). Don't have the time, then hire a blogger to do it for you (ask us how to hire a blogger without paying a penny at Softduit Partners.)
  2. Learn how to setup a 301 Redirect in your htaccess
  3. Setup a Sitemap for the new site and submit it to Google and yahoo (don't know how to code it try this automated tool or this WordPress tool or this review for the same plugin)
  4. Softduit's review of 2 of the 3 largest Domain Parkers that will accept your new domain without any problems.
  5. Auto Renew is both your Friend and your Enemy.
    1. Friendly Situations
      1. If you want to keep a domain, it is your friend.
    2. Enemy Situations
      1. If you want to get rid of your domain or just let it expire, it is your enemy.
      2. Similarly, if you are paying to much for domain renewals, it is your enemy. Get on top of this long before your renewal comes around.

Lip Technology - Lip Stain

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Our sponsor DivaBeautyProducts.com provides products created Senegence international. They been the leading retailer for senegence products since 2003. Senegence products provide a lip stain beauty product that allows people to apply multiple layers of protection increasing gloss and luster their lips.   This alternative approach to applying color and shine to lips is a simple enough concept in technology, but in application much more complex to execute as successfully as Senegence has done.

Multiple layers also allow for mixing of multiple colors for the optimum color and hue effect.  This solution enables a greater ability to provide protection from checking and dry lips. In addition these products are FDA approved. 

Senegence does provide many reselling opportunities for individual small businesses online businesses that are interested in reselling these products to different clients.

Launch of Top10Tech

This month Softduit Partners has launched a new website called Top10 Tech.com

Softduit Partners also owns this site maven mapper's information -- the dark.  The launch of this new site is indicated of of a move into additional websites that will segment information more specifically.  Over the years several of Softduit's sites have become all-inclusive for many different technology topics.  The new sites will break up these topics more specifically and provide a means of attracting more writers for collaborative work.

Google Acquisres Adscape and Adds Gaming Ads to its Adsense and Adwords Advertising Advantage

Google recently acquired Adscape media Inc. closely held company out of San Francisco.

A company whose name sounds as if it was almost tailor-made for a Google purchase, Adscape has now been acquired by Google for terms which have not been disclosed.

Google's primary revenue stream comes from online advertising, especially ads designed to show up on other websites around the Internet.  There AdSense and Adwords lines of business now have a component that will enable advertising to be generated through online gaming systems.  It sounds like a custom fit for Google despite the excessive use of the word 'Ad.'

Just like Apple has attempted to trademark the word 'pod' blatantly after the fact, I wonder if Google will attempt to trademark the word ad?

Stranger things have happened in technology.

When Technology is Purchased for Looks instead of Utility - Farmers Get a Bargain

When I was growing up in the middle of no where, farmers often times had transfer tank holding extra fuel in the back of their dueley pickup trucks.

The primary purpose of this technology was to refuel tractors in the middle of fields or construction zones. In the last few years just before oil went nuts, and a lot of people wanted to look like a farmer apparently. They purchased big monster trucks only to later learned that these vehicles used a lot of gas. Plus, they often outfitted these trucks with extra tanks for fuel.

When gas prices went nuts, people had a chance to consider the results of their actions and many began re-evaluating their purchase decisions. So now the market is starting to balance itself out. Farmers, who used to struggle to sell corn are now on the ethanol band wagon and they have many great used trucks to choose from at discounted prices.

Better Furniture Needed For Work at Home Comfort

Often times we look at technology and we don't associate all the accessories that go with it.  We do not always look at the furniture that holds our computers keyboards and mice, when at furniture is not your typical desk or chair.

As more people are starting to work from home this focus needs to change and move towards the other furniture that occupies the rest of our 'home' and not just that furniture in the office. As I write this article I am working on my deck outside in the warm spring sun.  I am fortunate to have some great deck furniture.  However, it's not ergonomically the best for use with a laptop let alone a mouse.

Now, There are many states specialized in textiles including my current state residence Georgia, and my future state of residence North Carolina, where north carolina furniture abounds. North Carolina in particular has a tech triangle with many programmers and technologists and scientists concentrated in a tight geographic area code located in the same place where textiles are manufactured.

I do not believe it would be very difficult for these two industries to come together.  They could share some common interests, insights, and develop goals that would be mutually beneficial for both industries.

Astronaut Email Teasing on the Space Shuttle

The ass cannot love triangle that rocked the world when a female last or not drove cross-country wearing diapers to attack a female rival got a little bit weirder this week.  Several "sexy e-mails" were revealed to have been passed back and forth between the female last or not and her off-again on-again currently off again boyfriend, while he was in an outer space on the space shuttle.

It would seem that taxpayers hard-earned money and parts of NASA's budget were utilized to fan the flames of love in outer space.  Suppose it could be worse could've had a web cam going during strip teases for each other, but it just goes to show the matter how smart are capable you might be it won't prevent you from going crazy. 

Future Bets on Technology - Focus on Ease of Interaction

Since I started using voice recognition tools to compose and write my articles, I am now spending a lot less time in front of the computer monitor. This is significantly reducing the amount of eyestrain that I would normally experience. So it doesn't look like I'll be needing a prescription for Fioricet or another case of tylenol anytime soon.

Soon I think technology will improve to the point where human interaction and creative work with computers will be even more effortless. This is the area where we will see a new round of both creative achievement and large strides in productivity improvement. Keep investing long in technology that focuses on these areas in tools such as 3d, virtual reality, audio and video tools and you will do well as a whole.

Cable Boxes to become Universal

The FCC is forcing the cable industry to start using Universal cable boxes.  The new cable boxes would remove all of the security identification from the inside of the cable box and store that secure permission on a smart card that can be inserted into the box.

This technology is very seller to the types of cable boxes of long been used with dish and DirecTV systems.  For security reasons the smartcard solution protects customers more as a cable box might get passed around from one user to the next holding the access information that may have been captured from a former customer.  Now a cable customer can simply remove their smartcard and all their private information will be safe and sound of the card away from potential recipients that may inherit that old box.  This will also make it somewhat cheaper and easier to upgrade to a new cable box, however it is very likely that cable companies will find someway to turn this into a profit center that will end up costing consumers more than current cable box upgrades.

See WSJ Article "A Makeover for the Cable Box"

Do you Have the Bug to Throw Up Your Own Shingle?

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If you have ever thought about throwing up your own shingle and going into business for yourself as a consultant, you might take a look at our sponsors recent somewhat of a report or almost a white paper on starting a consulting business.

Their report covers a number of topics from the arts of finding prospects as an example to many other aspects of consulting including writing proposals some of the pitfalls to avoid determining what to do as a consultant leveraging your abilities and your revenue through multiple income streams, and the power of passive income trying to find ways to earn money while you sleep.  As an individual person it's important as a consultant to try and find those things that can keep working even when you're not.

Firefox Market share 38.9% | Internet Explorer 56.9%

 The browser wars continue as Mozilla's Firefox continues to gain ground on Internet Explorer.  In February Firefox's market share increased to 38.9% going up 1.3% while Internet Explorer dropped by .7% down to 56.9%.

An interesting trend in browser use movement, is that small and medium-size businesses are now using Firefox as much as they are Internet Explorer.  Smaller firms are often less burdened by IT infrastructures and bureaucratic boards and purchasers that select desktop images for all employees of a big company.  Therefore they been able to adopt and move in to the superior browser environment of Firefox, despite Microsoft's updated Internet Explorer 7.  Microsoft isn't dead yet, but they have definitely had a very bad year with their browser market share. 

In an environment where more people are computing online into browser based services and tools, this is not bode well for Microsoft.  They're losing their foothold in the browser's, and they're losing a little to the foothold in operating system to linux.

 

Link to iTWire - Firefox challenging IE for dominance in US SMBs

Get Creative to Great Domain Name

Is getting real close to that time when everybody starts heading out for spring break. I live in the Atlanta area and its 74° outside right now, so it's probably in the 80s down in Florida.

Working in marketing and Web designers see a lot of domains that cater towards websites for Florida. I came across one the other day though that's caught my eye. The website is moremouse.com.

The concept is simple if you are looking to set up an Orlando Vacation, then you'd make a connection to go to more mouse.com where you can get more Mickey. It strikes me as a great example of people getting creative finding a good domain name. Which is essential to launching successful web business.

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