10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know

Everyday I receive an email from somebody about how their account was hacked, how a friend tagged them in the photo and they want a way to avoid it, as well as a number of other complications related to their privacy on Facebook. Over the weekend one individual contacted me to let me know that he would be removing me as a friend from Facebook because he was “going to make a shift with my Facebook use - going to just mostly family stuff.”

Perhaps he was tired of receiving my status updates or perhaps he didn’t want me to view photos from his personal life. Whatever the reason for ending our Facebook friendship, I figured that many people would benefit from a thorough overview on how to protect your privacy on Facebook. Below is a step by step process for protecting your privacy.

1. Use Your Friend Lists
I can’t tell you how many people are not aware of their friend lists. For those not aware of what friend lists are, Facebook describes them as a feature which allows “you to create private groupings of friends based on your personal preferences. For example, you can create a Friend List for your friends that meet for weekly book club meetings. You can create Friend Lists for all of your organizational needs, allowing you to quickly view friends by type and send messages to your lists.”

There are a few very important things to remember about friend lists:

• You can add each friend to more than one friend group
• Friend groups should be used like “tags” as used elsewhere around the web
• Friend Lists can have specific privacy policies applied to them

I’ll touch on each of the things listed above in more detail later. A typical setup for groups would be “Friends”, “Family”, and “Professional”. These three groups can then be used to apply different privacy policies. For example, you may want your friends to see photos from the party you were at last night, but you don’t want your family or professional contacts to see those photos.

Using friend lists is also extremely useful for organizing your friends if you have a lot of them. For instance I have about 20 friend lists and I categorize people by city (New York, San Francisco, D.C., Tel Aviv, etc), where I met them (conferences, past co-workers, through this blog), and my relationship with them (professional, family, social, etc).

You can configure your friend lists by visiting the friends area of your Facebook.

2. Remove Yourself From Facebook Search Results

My mom is a teacher and one of the first things she asked me when she joined Facebook is how she could make sure her students couldn’t see that she was on the site. Understandably my mom doesn’t want her middle school students to know what she’s up to in her personal life. There are numerous reasons that individuals don’t want their information to show up in search results on Facebook, and it’s simple to turn off your public visibility.

How to Remove Yourself From Facebook Search Results
Now that you’ve decided that you would like to remove yourself from Facebook’s search results, here’s how to do it:

1. Visit your search privacy settings page
2. Under “Search Visibility” select “Only Friends” (Remember, doing so will remove you from Facebook search results, so make sure you want to be removed totally. Otherwise, you can select another group, such as “My Networks and Friends” which I believe is the default.)
3. Click “Save Changes”

By default, Facebook makes your presence visible to the network you are in. Frequently, people aren’t aware of their visibility, so this is one of the first settings that users wish to modify. By selecting “Customize” from the search visibility drop down you can make your settings even more granular.

3. Remove Yourself From Google

Facebook gets A TON of traffic from displaying user profiles in search engines. Not all of your profile is displayed though. Currently the information displayed in the search profile is limited to: your profile picture, a list of your friends, a link to add you as a friend, a link to send you a message, and a list of up to approximately 20 fan pages that you are a member of.

For some people, being displayed in the search engines is a great way to let people get in contact with you, especially if you don’t have an existing website. Facebook also tends to rank high in the search results, so if you want to be easy to find, making your search profile can be a great idea. Many people don’t want any of their information to be public though.

By visiting the same search privacy settings page listed in the previous step, you can control the visibility of your public search listing which is visible to Google and other search engines. You can turn off your public search listing by simply unchecking the box next to the phrase “Create a public search listing for me and submit it for search engine indexing” as pictured in the image below.

4. Avoid the Infamous Photo/Video Tag Mistake

This is the classic Facebook problem. You let loose for a few hours one night (or day) and photos (or videos) of the moment are suddenly posted for all to view, not just your close friends who shared the moment with you. The result can be devastating. Some have been fired from work after incriminating photos/videos were posted for the boss to see. For others, randomly tagged photos/videos have ended relationships.

At the least, a tagged photo/video can result in personal embarrassment. So how do you prevent the infamous tagged photo or video from showing up in all of your friends news feeds? It’s pretty simple. First visit your profile privacy page and modify the setting next to “Photos Tagged of You”. Select the option which says “Customize…” and a box like the one pictured below will pop up.

Select the option “Only Me” and then “None of My Networks” if you would like to keep all tagged photos private. If you’d like to make tagged photos visible to certain users you can choose to add them in the box under the “Some Friends” option. In the box that displays after you select “Some Friends” you can type either individual friends or friend lists.

5. Protect Your Albums
Just because you’ve uploaded photos doesn’t mean that you’ve accurately tagged every photo correctly. This setting is more of a reminder than anything else. Frequently people will turn of their tagged photo visibility to certain friend lists yet keep their photo albums public to the world. If you are trying to make all your photos invisible you must do so on an album by album basis.

There is a specific Photos Privacy page from which you can manually configure the visibility of each album (as pictured below). This is an extremely useful configuration option and I highly recommend that you take advantage of it. This way you can store your photos indefinitely on Facebook yet ensure that the only people that can view your photos are the ones who you really want to see them.

6. Prevent Stories From Showing Up in Your Friends’ News Feeds

Oh, did you really just break up with your girlfriend? I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure all of your friends and business contacts are also sorry to hear that. I can’t tell you how many awkward relationship status changes I’ve seen. The most regular one I’ve seen recently is when an attractive female ends their relationship and numerous guys hop on the opportunity to console her.

I’ve also seen the end of marriages, as well as weekly relationship status changes as individuals try to determine where their relationship stands with their significant other. My personal policy is to not display a relationship status, but many like to make a public statement out of their relationship. For those individuals, it can be a smart move to hedge against future disasters.

There are a number of ways to control how your relationship status is displayed. The first thing that most people should do is uncheck the box next to “Remove Relationship Status” in the News Feed and Wall Privacy page. In the rare instance that a relationship does uncomfortably end, you can avoid making things more uncomfortable by avoiding a friend notification about it.

Second, your relationship status falls within your “Basic Information” section of your profile. You can control who can see your basic information next to the “Basic Information” setting on the Profile Privacy page. Keep in mind that other relevant profile information like your gender, birth date, networks, and other settings are visible within your basic information section.

Making your basic information completely invisible to friends probably isn’t a good idea, but removing the news feed stories about relationship changes most likely is.

7. Protect Against Published Application Stories

This one is a little more tricky to manage but I’ll explain the issue at hand. Frequently when you add an application, a news feed item is immediately published to your profile. One way to get instantly embarrassed is to visit the “Have Sex!” application (found here). This application has no purpose besides telling your friends that you are interested in having sex with them. Without taking any action, the application will post a news feed story to your profile which says the equivalent of “Nick just published to the world that he is having sex!”

This is surely something that none of your professional contacts if any of your contacts are interested in seeing (honestly I’m a bit confused about that application, but that’s a different story). That’s why it’s important to monitor what takes place after you install an application on Facebook. Once you install an application you should visit your profile to ensure that no embarrassing notification has been posted to your profile.

More often then not, nothing will be posted but there are many applications on the platform unfortunately that publish stories without you knowing it. There are two ways to avoid having this happen: don’t visit applications or scan your profile every time that you do. Ultimately you shouldn’t be concerned about applications that you’ve built a trusted relationship with but any new applications could potentially post embarrassing notifications.

8. Make Your Contact Information Private

I personally use Facebook for professional and personal use and it can frequently become overwhelming. That’s why I’ve taken the time to outline these ten privacy protection steps. One of the first things I did when I started approving friend requests from people that I hadn’t built a strong relationship with, was make my contact information visible only to close contacts.

The contact information is my personal email and phone number. It’s a simple thing to set but many people forget to do it. Frequently people we don’t know end up contacting us and we have no idea how they got our contact information. Your contact privacy can be edited right from your profile. If you have chosen to enter this information, you should see a “Contact Information” area under the “Info” tab in your profile.

If it displays, you simply click “Edit” and then a screen like the one pictured below will show up.

For each contact item that you have in your profile you should set custom privacy settings (as pictured below) so that contacts that you aren’t close to don’t have access to your phone number and/or email. It’s a small change but it can save you the hassle of being pestered by people you don’t know well. Also, protecting your privacy is generally a good practice to get in the habit of doing.

As a side note, this is a great area to take advantage of friend lists. By getting in the habit of grouping your friends, you can ensure that you are navigating Facebook safely through privacy settings that are attached to your friend lists.

9. Avoid Embarrassing Wall Posts

Just because you use Facebook for business doesn’t mean your friends do. That’s why once in a while a friend of yours will come post something embarrassing or not necessarily “work friendly” and it can end up having adverse effects. That’s why Facebook has provided you with the ability to customize your wall postings visibility. You can also control which friends can post on your wall. There are two places you can control these things.

Adjust Wall Posting Visibility

Within your profile page you can control who can view wall postings made by your friends. To do so, click on the “Settings” icon on the wall in your profile page. Next, find the box pictured in the image above and adjust the setting which says “Who can see posts made by friends?” I’d suggest using a strategy similar to the one outlined in the previous step regarding contact information.

Control Who Can Post to Your Wall
In addition to controlling who can view wall postings published by your friends, you also want to control which friends can post on your wall. Not everybody needs to do this, but occasionally you simply want to prevent some people from posting on your page. If you visit the Profile Privacy settings page, there is a section labeled “Wall Posts”.

From this area you can completely disable your friends’ ability to post on your wall. You can also select specific friend lists that can post on your wall. Personally, I don’t really care who can post on my wall but I can understand the need to control who can see those wall postings. If you want to limit who can post wall posts on your profile, this is where you can do it.

10. Keep Your Friendships Private

While it’s fun to show off that you have hundreds or thousands of friends on Facebook, some of your friends don’t want to live public lives. That’s why it’s often a good policy to turn off your friends’ visibility to others. I’ve had a number of individuals visit my profile and then selectively pick off friends that are relevant to them for marketing purposes, or other reasons.

Whatever the reason they are doing it, just know that they are … it’s part of what makes Facebook so addictive: the voyeuristic nature. Also, your friends are frequently visible to the public through search engines and exposing this information can ultimately present a security risk. To modify the visibility of your friends, visit the Profile Privacy page.

Navigate down to the setting which says “Friends” and then modify the setting to whatever is right for you.

Conclusion

These are just ten ways that you can protect your privacy on Facebook. While there are a few other small things to keep in mind, these ten settings are most important. Keep in mind that while you may have turned off the visibility of many profile sections, there is no way to prevent all photos or videos from being visible if friends of yours make the images visible.

The best way to prevent embarrassing items from showing up on Facebook in the future is to not make bad judgements in your personal life. We’re all human though and being completely paranoid about every choice you make is probably not the best way to live your life. Be aware of what privacy settings are available and be conscious of what your friends may be publishing about you.

While you may not want to configure all of the privacy settings outlined, simply knowing how to do so is a great step in the right direction. By following the 10 settings listed above you are well on your way to an embarrassment free future on Facebook!

From :http://www.allfacebook.com
By : Nick O'Neill

Get intimates by Lingerie

TODAY swarms of men will hit the High Street in a last-ditch attempt to bag a St Valentine’s Day gift.

Forget hearts and flowers – they know that what we really love is lingerie.

A survey by Figleaves.com reckons 91 per cent of fellas are so baffled by the choice they can hardly make a decision.

Bravellous ... our collection of classy lingerie

So guys, here’s a bit of help – instead of gambling on dodgy red polyester, go for some of these sultry smalls guaranteed to win her heart and boost your fashion credentials while you are at it.

Cheap chic leaders Matalan have fab sets for less than a tenner and M&S are worth a visit for their choice of designs.

How MySpace Works

The idea isn't new: "Social networking" has been around forever. It's the simple act of expanding the number of people you know by meeting your friends' friends, their friends' friends and their friends' friends' friends. And MySpace isn't the first (or the last) Web site to take the concept online. So why does MySpace have more than twice the traffic of Google within four years of its 2003 launch?

Fifty-four million people have profiles on MySpace as of February 2006, and 180,000 more register to use the site every day. By all accounts, it's a phenomenon. Some people call it dumb luck, some call it brilliant and a few call it a sexual predator's dream come true. In this article, we'll find out what MySpace really is, what it can do for you, how it blew past the competition and why Rupert Murdoch thought it was worth $580 million.

Online Social Networking
On MySpace, your social network starts growing from day one without much effort on your part. That's part of the draw. Basic MySpace networking works something like this:

1. You join MySpace and create a profile.
2. You invite your friends to join MySpace and search MySpace for your friends who are already members. These people become part of your initial "Friend Space."
3. All of the people in your friends' Friend Space become part of your network. You now have connections to more people than you did 15 minutes ago.
   

From what the author can tell, there's no way to actually view your Extended Network in any collective way. But this is the idea:

Now, technically, everyone on MySpace is in your Extended Network, because when you create a profile, MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson is automatically added to your Friend Space. We're all connected through Tom. To explore your Extended Network, you can go to one of your friends' profiles, see who's in his Friend Space, click on a picture to visit one of those people's profiles, see who's in that person's Friend Space and work your way down the line. (It's definitely not the easiest way to play the Kevin Bacon game once you take Tom out of the equation.) You can request to add anyone to your Friend Space, and if your invitation is accepted, you can send that person e-mail, instant messages, links to a band you discovered in MySpace Music and anything else you might share with your friends.

There's a lot more to MySpace than networking, but that's the core concept. The big question is why MySpace has succeeded where so many others have failed. Lots of people expound on this mystery from a business or philosophical perspective, but there are at least a few obvious answers. First and possibly foremost, there's the music connection.

Some of the first people to utilize MySpace were musicians and bands, who may have heard about it in the first place from the Web site's founders, who were active in the L.A. music scene. Bands used it to establish a free online presence to post performance dates and communicate with their fans. In 2004, MySpace became a full-fledged Internet indie-music portal with the creation of MySpace Music, a subsection on MySpace. The new area let bands not only create an online presence, but also stream their music through their MySpace profiles and let people download MP3s of their songs, all for free. This attracted even more musicians, along with the demographic most known for consuming music: teenagers and 20-somethings.

And what do teenagers and 20-somethings desire most? Many would tell you it's freedom to express themselves without censorship, and MySpace got it right in this area. The only things MySpace censors is hate speech and extreme nudity (you'll find some bare breasts and buttocks, but that's about it). It's more accessible and more customizable than any networking site that came before it. Users can add music, video, graphics, new fonts and crazy layout schemes to their profiles. They can use graphics and video files that are hosted elsewhere. The "do what you want, we don't care" attitude is a big draw for 16- to 25-year-olds (and everybody else except their parents, probably). Everyone can access full profiles, even if they haven't registered, and they don't need to have any particular affiliation (with a school, business or interest) to use the site.

So, if MySpace is for everyone, who is actually using it? Sixteen- to 25-year-olds make up the majority of MySpace users, and 25 percent of users are registered as minors (aged 14 to 17 -- you need to be at least 14 to register). But you'll find people of all ages using the site for all reasons. There are kids who are clearly about 12 lying about their age because MySpace is the place to be. There are 30-somethings looking to meet people because it's hard to make friends once you're out of grad school, 50-somethings embracing the online networking trend to find new business associates, and 70-somethings looking for a date. You can switch up all of those ages and purposes. You'll find people looking to publish their poetry online or advertise and accept orders for their latest book through their profile page. Unsigned bands use the site to get their music out there and build a following. Established artists like Madonna, the Black Eyed Peas, Audioslave and Billy Corgan use the site to communicate with fans and get feedback on tracks.

It's probably starting to become clear why Rupert Murdoch thinks MySpace is worth more than half a billion dollars. MySpace is a popular-culture magnet.

From : http://computer.howstuffworks.com/
By : Julia Layton and Patrick Brothers

MySpace Turns Over 90,000 Names of Registered Sex Offenders

MySpace provided two state attorneys general the names of 90,000 registered sex offenders it had banned from its site in response to a subpoena.

The figure is 40,000 more than the amount previously acknowledged by MySpace, according to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who along with Attorney General Roy Cooper of North Carolina are among officials pressing social networking sites to adopt more stringent safety measures.

“Almost 100,000 convicted sex offenders mixing with children on MySpace — shown by our subpoena — is absolutely appalling and totally unacceptable,” Mr. Blumenthal said in a statement. “For every one of them, there may be hundreds of others using false names and ages.”

Last year, MySpace, owned by News Corporation, and Facebook.com agreed to set security standards after the Web sites were criticized for not doing enough to protect minors from sexual predators lurking on social networking sites.

Facebook, a privately held company based in Palo Alto, Calif., said the company was still working with Mr. Blumenthal to respond to a similar subpoena.

The disclosure renews the debate of whether social networking sites are a haven for sex offenders. “This is just the tip of the iceberg on MySpace,” said John A. Phillips, chief executive of Aristotle, a company that supplies identity and age verification technologies for companies like the New York State Lottery, breweries and film studios. “These are just the convicted sex offenders” who used their real names.

MySpace’s disclosure follows a report by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a panel created by 49 attorneys general, that said the issue is overblown. It concluded the problem of bullying among children, both online and offline, was far more serious than sexual solicitation of minors by adults online.

Mr. Phillips, who served as a member of that task force, has been critical of the report. Ernest Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said the figure was “disturbing” but that there is no way to know how large the presence of online predators really is.

“We don’t know if that’s 80 percent of the population targeting kids on the Internet or 1 percent,” Mr. Allen said.

He commended MySpace for removing convicted sex offenders from its site. “This clearly reinforces the fact that there are a significant number of people who seek access to kids online,” Mr. Allen said.

Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer for MySpace, said the company had spent the last two years purging problem members from its site.

“The reality is there are 700,000-plus sex offenders living in the streets of America,” Mr. Nigam said. “What we did was build cutting-edge technology to figure out where they might be living on the Internet and remove them from our site.”

MySpace reported that its community grows 10 percent year over year but has also reported a 36 percent drop in the number of registered sex offenders trying to create profiles.

John Cardillo, chief executive of Sentinel Tech Holding, the company that makes the software MySpace uses to find the sex offenders, said that Facebook had become a haven for convicted offenders blocked from creating accounts on MySpace. Mr. Cardillo, who has approached Facebook about using his technology, said he could find 8,000 offenders on Facebook.

Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for Facebook, said that Mr. Cardillo’s figures were inflated. He also said the company actively monitors its Web site and users for suspicious activities.

“When you search for people on Facebook, you don’t get much information — a name and a thumbnail,” Mr. Schnitt said.




from : http://www.nytimes.com
by : JENNA WORTHAM

Forever Stamp Fact Sheet

Here are some Forever Stamp Fact Sheet :

• The Forever Stamp first went on sale in April 2007. Since then, more than 6 billion Forever Stamps have been sold.
• As the name suggests, Forever Stamps can be used to mail a one-ounce letter regardless of when the stamps are purchased or used and no matter how prices may change in the future.
• Forever Stamps are always sold at the same price as a regular First-Class Mail stamp. Forever Stamps are currently being sold for 41 cents and will be sold for 42 cents starting May 12, 2008.
• The Postal Service developed the Forever Stamp for consumers to ease the transition during price changes. There is only one Forever Stamp — it features an image of the Liberty Bell.
• Forever Stamps are available for purchase at post offices nationwide, online at usps.com, by phone at 1-800-STAMP-24, and from Automated Postal Centers and ATMs. They are sold in booklets of 20 and sheetlets of 18.
• Customers can use Forever Stamps for international mail, but since all international prices are higher than domestic prices, customers will need to attach additional postage. The value of the Forever Stamp is the domestic First-Class Mail letter price in effect on the day of use.

What is a Forever Stamp?

A forever stamp is valid for first class postage no matter what the rate. By concept, once purchased, a forever stamp is a perpetual stamp that never expires or declines in value.

The U.S. Postal Service submitted a proposal in May 2006 to the U.S. Postal Rate Commission to create a forever stamp beginning in 2007. If approved, forever stamps would be sold at the first class postage rate, which is proposed to be 42 cents at that time. Future forever stamps would be sold based on the first class rate at the time they are purchased. The idea of a forever stamp has previously been proposed, but not yet approved.

The advantages of a forever stamp to the consumer include the ability to stock up on first class postage at the current rate and use them until the supply is exhausted. It is likely that the Postal Service would limit the amount of forever stamps sold at one time. Also, as the rates change, it would no longer be necessary to buy two or three cent stamps to add to the old postage. For most consumers, the greatest advantage of a forever stamp is convenience.

An advantage to the postal service of a forever stamp is cash flow. The postal service obtains cash in the present for stamps that won’t be used until the future. Also, the postal service would not need to use employees to sell the obsolete two-cent stamps or to handle the rush of consumers seeking new higher-rate stamps.

The likelihood of people hoarding stamps is not expected to be a big problem. Most consumers don’t want the hassle of keeping track of a large quantity of stamps. Business mail is not likely to be overly affected, either, since most businesses use metered or preprinted postage rather than stamps.

Many countries, including Finland, Israel, Belgium, Brazil, and Great Britain, use non-denominated stamps, although the way they are used varies from country to country. Some countries refer to these as “stamps for standardized mail.” The United Kingdom first began using these types of stamps, which they call non-value indicators (NVIs), in 1989 to alleviate problems when postal rates change.

Although the U.S. has used non-denominated stamps in its history, they were not the same as a forever stamp. The U.S. Postal Service used lettered stamps as contingency stamps several times when postage rates increased.

YouTube - The King of Video Sharing?

Nathan Weinberg at Inside Google is claiming that YouTube has moved ahead of Google Video in terms of popularity. I totally agree. But it’s not just Google - these guys have moved ahead of everybody! This week, I caught a roundup of the “Flickrs of video” - here’s the list:

-Clipshack
-VSocial
-Grouper
-GoogleVideo
-Metacafe
-Castpost
-Vimeo
-Revver
-OurMedia

YouTube is way ahead of many of these services - YouTube videos are appearing on blogs and websites all over the place. OurMedia is also excellent, but it’s a non-profit and I’m more interested in startups right now. I’m also a fan of Grouper - it’s definitely one to watch.

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but the only video sharing service with a clear business model right now is Revver - they’re putting ads in videos and splitting the revenue with the content creator. Even this seems like a difficult thing to pull off - can they earn enough from the ads to pay for their bandwidth and reward the content creators? I’m not sure - but I’m keen to find out.

Buying a Bikini Swimsuit Ideal For Your Body

Of all the swimwear products a woman could have, "Bikini Swimsuit" is one of the scariest words in many women's vocabulary, and not because they are hard to get or difficult to use but because the right type of swimsuit is needed to fit each particular body. However if you know what to look for, then almost any body type can look good in a bikini swimsuit. Each woman should learn how to cover the flaws and flaunt your body.

There are various ways to ensure that you use the appropriate bikini swimsuit that would fit your body and make you look as good in it as you should depending on the characteristics of your body shape and size of your breasts and bottoms. By checking your body features with the descriptions and recommendations below you should be able to determine what works out best for you.


Having Small Breasts

In high school, having small breasts may have brought you jeers and perhaps reduced your self confidence, but today designers readily glorify the small breast particularly on the runway. A great majority of their bikini models that take to the ramp in fashion shows have small breast and show them off proudly.
The way to enhance small breasts would be to buy bikini swimsuits that are designed with sequins, ruffles and other different decorations that tend to add an additional layer of fabric on the swimsuit. This gives a nice little illusion that your breasts are fuller. The use of triangular string bikinis also add to this illusion and enhances the look with more fullness of the breasts, the smaller the triangular fabric the larger the breast will look.

Having Large Breasts

While women with large breast are not often heard complaining, there are some that do simply because of some special problems that may arise with having a well endowed front, especially when shopping for a bikini swimsuit. One of the main problems that women with large breasts have is the support and the comfort that the bikini tops provides to them.
The best way to get around this problem is to wear bikini tops with underwire which will provide some support in addition to have a little more full coverage of the breasts to give a better comfort level.

Should you want to draw attention away from your breasts, then the best way is to ensure that your bottoms are eye-catching in some way such as having more details on the bikini bottoms than on the tops. Coordinating the use of a scarf around the hip of your bikini bottoms gives you a way to look more stylish and draw additional attention.
Whether you are endowed with a small or a large butt, there are a few simple ways to enhance your look in a bikini by choosing the bikini bottom that will make you stand out even more.

Having a Small Butt

In general, small butts don't appear as a problem for most people but to those that are concerned then the easiest way to calm your fears with the choice of a bikini swimsuit you should know the following information:

• Thongs and triangular bikini bottoms tend make your butt flatter than brief type bikini bottoms
• Additional decorations to the bikini bottoms enhances its shape
• The use of ruffles will help fill out a rump that is lacking in flesh.

Having Large Bottoms

For those that have more bottom than they would wish to have, what is important is to draw attention away from your butt and more to your top. By mixing and matching the color combinations of your bikini swimsuits to give a light to dark contrast between your bottoms and your tops, this gives you the ability to draw more attention to your tops by making your tops a lot more brighter and eye-catching and making the bottoms a little darker. The brighter the top is the more likely this will draw the greater attention than your bikini bottoms.

Conclusion

Whatever your body type is, by simply mixing and matching different combinations of your bikini tops and bottoms with various styles, you will be able to enhance your look to be the one that is best suited to you and make you look so much more sexy in a bikini swimsuit. Whether you have a small butt, large bottoms small or large breasts, you just simply buy the sizes that gives more emphasis on your figure and shape.

The bottom line is to wear what you are most comfortable in and be as hot as you can.

10 Worst Real Estate Markets for 2009

The housing market hasn't bottomed out yet. For the third quarter, the closely-watched S&P Case-Shiller national home-price index fell 16.6%, and experts are predicting further declines. Of the top 100 markets, here are 10 with the worst forecasts.

1. Los Angeles

2008 median house price: $375,340

2009 projected change: -24.9%

2010 projected change: -5.1%

The median home price in the L.A.-Long Beach-Glendale metro area is projected to fall nearly 25% in 2009 - the biggest drop in the country.

2. Stockton, Calif.

2008 median house price: $248,050

2009 projected change: -24.7%

2010 projected change: -4.0%

3. Riverside, Calif.

2008 median house price: $256,540

2009 projected change: -23.3%

4. Miami-Miami Beach

2008 median house price: $293,590

2009 projected change: -22.8%

2010 projected change: -6.4%

Miami will be nursing the hangover from its epic building boom for years to come. After falling 22% in 2008, prices are predicted to plunge another 23% next year.

5. Sacramento

2008 median house price: $225,140

2009 projected change: -22.2%

2010 projected change: 2.3%

2010 projected change: -4.8%

6. Santa Ana-Anaheim

2008 median house price: $532,810

2009 projected change: -22.0%

2010 projected change: -3.5%

7. Fresno

2008 median house price: $257,170

2009 projected change: -21.6%

2010 projected change: -3.3%

8. San Diego

2008 median house price: $412,490

2009 projected change: -21.1%

2010 projected change: -2.9%

9. Bakersfield, Calif.

2008 median house price: $227,270

2009 projected change: -20.9%

2010 projected change: -2.5%

10. Washington, D.C.

2008 median house price: $343,160

2009 projected change: -19.9%

2010 projected change: -5.7%

Toys Kids And Parents Want Most

Bakugan, a game based on a Japanese cartoon, was the most searched for toy on Google this holiday season.

Just what is Bakugan? If you don't know the answer, you're not alone. Typing in "What is Bakugan game?" will bring up about 1.1 million hits on Google, or about as many as the query "What is a good credit score?"

For those of us who aren't 8-year-olds but are merely shopping for them, Bakugan is a game played with magnetic cards and action figures based on a popular Japanese animation show on the Cartoon Network. It's also the most-searched for toy on Google during the 2008 holiday season.

Google's list of the most-searched for toys spans from Bankugan at No. 1 to "Little Big Planet," a videogame for the Playstation 3 in which users can design their own levels and share them with their friends, at No. 10. The toys on the list--which range in price from less than $10 to more than $150--provide a rogue's gallery of reasons why even shoppers with tight budgets are braving malls during the holiday season.

The high search results on Google also suggest that shoppers are continuing to move toward online retailers as a way to beat crowds.

For parents, the items on the list will be familiar by now--perhaps painstakingly so. While not as hard to find as a Nintendo Wii, Bakugan toys and accessories have sold out within minutes at various retailers across the country. But thanks to its relatively low technology--each action figure comes inside a small ball that is opened by a magnet--the toys are often restocked daily.

But even those parents with the best of intentions are clearly shopping for themselves as well. "Guitar Hero: World Tour" comes in right after Bakugan on the list of most-searched toys. The videogame, which lets users play along with popular songs with simulated guitars, drums and a microphone, sells for around $200 and is available for the major games console.

Playable tracks include the Eagles' "Hotel California," Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again." Tweens raised on Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers can't be the only ones asking Santa for the chance to play along with those classics.

Unexpected tech trends and predictions for 2009

People will buy iPhones. Intel will introduce more powerful microchips. Video games will continue to be popular.

Predicting what will happen in the tech world in 2009 isn't all that tough: The big trends are plain as day, and it doesn't take a psychic to forecast some of the more mundane happenings.

But what about some of the less obvious developments that tech 2009 will bring? I put on my Carnac hat this weekend with the hopes of offering some insight into the unexpected, less hype-fueled, and more obscure happenings we're likely to see in the year ahead, technology-wise. Weigh in in the comments section to let me know if you agree or disagree!

GPS Everywhere - With the exception of super-cheap gear, GPS is going to explode in 2009. Cell phones won't just incorporate GPS nearly universally, you'll see GPS move into more and more other gadgets, including cameras and even hybrid MP3 player and other devices. And applications that make use of GPS technology -- as we're seeing the start of with the iPhone and Android -- are going to grow rapidly. But fundamentally, people will ask in droves: Why buy a standalone GPS unit when your phone does the job just as well?

Blu-ray Ascending - It pains me to predict this, but I believe Blu-ray is going to grow in popularity and market share vs. DVD. Why? Manufacturers are likely to aggressively cut prices on hardware and discs, which is about the only thing that will get consumers to buy this stuff. They have to: Otherwise Blu-ray risks fading away altogether. That said, the overall market for packaged media will likely shrink in '09, with DVD taking the bulk of the hit.

Video on the Go - Watching TV on your cell phone has been huge in Asia for years. Now it's time for mobile video to really make its mark in the U.S., as broadcasters are becoming down-right desperate for new markets to tap into.

It's All About Windows 7 - Windows Vista is functionally dead already. No one will willingly upgrade to Vista now that Windows 7 is just a year away. And when it finally arrives (some predict December 2009 for a release date... but that's speculation), expect a flood of software to be Win7-ready at launch, unlike the pathetic trickle that accompanied Vista. PC manufacturers are down-right drooling for this release to lift them out of their current, Vista-driven agony.

Green Tech Hits the Mainstream - There's a ton of "green" hardware on the market these days -- from bamboo hard drives to solar gadget chargers -- but 2009 should see a substantial focus on environmentalism across the mainstream industry, from decreasing reliance on heavy metals and hazardous chemicals to broader recycling programs.

4G Remains a Niche at Best - WiMax hasn't made much of an impact to date, and it's unlikely that will change in 2009: It's just not fast enough nor does it have a large enough footprint to merit switching carriers and/or investing in new hardware. I can't imagine the major WiMax backer, the troubled Sprint, will find funds to invest in the massive amount of infrastructure it will take to get 4G going in earnest, at least not in '09. Competing technologies have an even grimmer outlook and are certain to be no-shows until 2010 or later.

Android Becomes Competitive - The first "Google phone" was met with an emphatic and resounding sigh, but the beauty of the Android OS is that innovation keeps rolling along quite handily. I expect to see some great strides in the software and the hardware that runs it (the homely T-Mobile G1 isn't making many fans) such that by the end of 2009, Android could actually be competitive with the iPhone.

Discounts Get Silly - Black Friday wasn't the end of absurd deals on tech. I'm predicting hefty price cuts throughout the tech industry to be sustained -- or deepened -- as the year wears on and manufacturers and retailers alike attempt to jump-start their business in the hopes of getting an economic recovery started.

Today's Christmas Fact

• Each year, 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the United States alone. There are 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the United States, and trees usually grow for about 15 years before they are sold.
• Today, in the Greek and Russian orthodox churches, Christmas is celebrated 13 days after the 25th, which is also referred to as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day. This is the day it is believed that the three wise men finally found Jesus in the manger.
• In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous—a lot like today's Mardi Gras parties.
• From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and law-breakers were fined five shillings.
• Christmas wasn't a holiday in early America—in fact Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the country's first Christmas under the new constitution.
• Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the United States on June 26, 1870.
• The first eggnog made in the United States was consumed in Captain John Smith's 1607 Jamestown settlement.
• Poinsettia plants are named after Joel R. Poinsett, an American minister to Mexico, who brought the red-and-green plant from Mexico to America in 1828.
• The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-clad donation collectors into the streets since the 1890s.
• Rudolph, "the most famous reindeer of all," was the product of Robert L. May's imagination in 1939. The copywriter wrote a poem about the reindeer to help lure customers into the Montgomery Ward department store.
• Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.

12 Things You Might Not Know About A Christmas Story

Today’s installment of the “obscure facts about my favorite Christmas movies” series covers A Christmas Story. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I don’t own this one on DVD, but I guess I don’t need to when TBS runs it for 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve. Here are a few tidbits to tide you over until the marathon.

1. Jack Nicholson was very interested in playing Ralphie’s dad. But casting (and paying) Jack would have meant doubling the budget, so he was removed from consideration. Director Bob Clark – who didn’t know Nicholson was interested at the time – says Darrin McGavin was the perfect choice, and I’d have to agree. I think Jack would have been too much of a scene-stealer.
   


2. What does Porky’s, the raunchy ’80s teen sex movie, have to do with a wholesome film like A Christmas Story? Bob Clark directed both – Porky’s in 1982 and A Christmas Story in 1983. If Porky’s hadn’t given him the professional and financial success he needed, he wouldn’t have been able to bring A Christmas Story to the big screen.
   


3. For anyone keeping count, Ralphie says he wants the Red Ryder BB Gun 28 times throughout the course of the movie. That’s approximately once every three minutes and 20 seconds.
   


4. Peter Billingsley, AKA Ralphie, has been good friends with Vince Vaughn since they both appeared in the CBS Schoolbreak Special (their version of the after-school special) in the early ’90s. He doesn’t do much acting these days, but he did make a surprise appearance on the “Vince Vaughn Wild West Comedy Show” in Memphis, Tenn., in 2005. Peter’s doing quite well for himself, though. He was the executive producer of Iron Man and had a brief bit as William Ginter Riva – I’ve seen Iron Man twice, but I can’t place his character. I’ll have to go back and look. Peter also executive produced Vince’s latest movie, Four Christmases (which he also had a cameo in), as well as 2006’s The Break-Up.
   


5. Mythbusters tested whether it was possible to get your tongue truly stuck on a piece of cold metal. Guess what? It is. So don’t triple dog dare your best friend to try it.
   


6. Scott Schwartz, who played Flick (who stuck his tongue to the frozen flagpole), was submerged in the adult film industry for a number of years. He got out in 2000 to try to become a mainstream actor again, but I can’t say he’s done much of note: Community College (“A love story between four dudes and their ability to get free drinks”) and Skinwalker, which starred ex-MTV veejay Jesse Camp, if that tells you anything. Joey Buttafuoco is in it, too, and gets billing over our poor Flick. Sad.
   
7. Next time you’re in Cleveland, you can visit the original house from the movie for only $7.50. It was sold on eBay in 2004 for $150,000. Collector Brian Jones bought the house and restored it to its movie glory and stocked it up with some of the original props from the film, including Randy’s snowsuit.
   
8. Director Bob Clark got the idea for the movie when he was driving in the car with a date. He heard Jean Shepherd on the radio doing a reading of his short story collection, “In God We Trust… All Others Pay Cash,” which included some bits that eventually ended up in A Christmas Story. Clark said he drove around the block for an hour until the program ended, which his date was not too happy about.


9. The Wonder Years was inspired by A Christmas Story. In fact, in one of the last few episodes, Peter Billingsley appeared as one of Kevin Arnold’s roommates.
10. The real Red Ryder BB Gun was first made in 1938 and was named after a comic strip cowboy. You can still buy it today for the low, low price of $44.99. But the original wasn’t quite the same as the one in the movie – it lacked the compass and sundial that both the Jean Shepard story and the movie call for. Special versions had to be made just for A Christmas Story.


11. While we’re talking shopping – you know you want the leg lamp. Put it in your window! Be the envy of your neighbors! It’s a Major Award!
    


12. There’s a sequel of sorts, My Summer Story, which came out in 1994. Kieran Culkin plays Ralphie, Mary Steenburgen is his mom, and Charles Grodin is his dad. I’m not sure if it’s because of this movie or A Christmas Story, but whenever our dogs are running around together in a pack, my husband always yells, “It’s the Bumpus Hounds!” Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Don’t shoot your eye out

taken from Yahoo wrote by by Stacy Conradt

The Most Valuable Source for Leads

Would you like to tap into the most valuable source for leads? You might be surprised to discover that you are climbing over the low hanging fruit in an effort to get to the top of the tree. In your haste to shout your message to the masses, you could be shouting over the heads of the potential business that is already in a queue at your door. Slow down and reflect for just a moment. Then tap into the most valuable source for leads.

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council has just completed a study of channel executives, distributors, resellers, and other channel representatives. The results of the surveys may not surprise you, but the contrasts of the responses provide a shocking insight into the sheer volume of missed opportunities. This is good news for you, because missed opportunities by others can create new opportunities for you. While you may agree with the initial results of the survey, consider how you can adjust your approach to the market and leverage these opportunities.

According to the survey results by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, most valued source of leads is from customer Referrals.

54% Customer Referrals

14% E-Mail or Direct Marketing

8% internet

7% Events

7% Leads from Vendors

3% Third Party Lead Generation Organizations

8% Other


Would you agree that the best leads come from the Referrals of satisfied customers? Is it surprising that customer Referrals were ranked as four times more powerful and valuable than E-Mail or Direct Marketing campaigns? Customer Referrals were ranked nearly seven times more likely to result in sales and new business than leads derived the internet.

Customer Referrals are a means of providing immediate credibility. With the increasing ability for consumers to share personal expression on the internet, Blogs, E-mail, and word of mouth, the ability to communicate has enhanced the voice of the customer. In business-to-business transactions, a customer referral is more likely to lead to an appropriate contact with a relevant message, which is far more powerful and likely to result in success than a cold call from a third party lead generation. Events and trade shows can be a powerful platform to market a brand, but fall short in delivering valuable leads.

With all of this insight, how did the same channel executives, distributors, resellers, and channel representatives respond to the survey by Chief Marketing Officer Council with regards to tactics for generating new leads in the coming year?

14% Plan to use Direct Marketing and E-mail campaigns

13% Plan to use Sales Brochures and collateral

10% Plan to focus on Tradeshows for lead generation

8% Will use Seminars to generate leads

7% Will rely on Print Advertising

7% Plan to use Public Relations and Article Placement

7% Plan to use the internet and Online Advertising

6% Will revert to Telemarketing

6% Plan to invest in internet Search Engine Marketing

5% Plan to engage customers in User Group Gatherings

4% Plan to rely on Yellow Page Advertising

4% Will experiment on the internet with Blogs and Social Networking

3% Will use Online Directories

3% Will create Webcasts

1% Plan to use Content Syndication

2% Will try something completely different

The results of the survey regarding lead generation tactics for new business acquisition are hardly surprising. Very little has changed in the planning and tactics as conveyed by the survey response, and yet, the contrast in comparison to the most effective and valued leads is staggering. Even though 54% of respondents acknowledged that the most valued leads are based on customer Referrals, the first mention of leveraging this goldmine occurs in the 4% of respondents that plan to engage customers in user group gatherings.

Fortunately, it would appear relatively that fourteen percent of respondents believe the most valuable lead generation comes from Direct Marketing or E-mail, and fourteen percent plan to use this tactic for lead generation in the coming year. However, even though only seven percent believe that the best leads come from trade shows, there are ten percent planning to take this tactic, and another eight percent who will augment this activity with seminars.

Although only eight percent believe that the highest chance for success comes from leads acquired by the internet, there is a staggering number of diverse plans to leverage this channel of communication. The tactics include seven percent internet and Online Advertising, six percent investing in search engine marketing, four percent using Blogs and social networking, three percent using Online Directories, and another three percent experimenting with webcasts. The internet provides an exciting vehicle to be creative, showcase the brand, and communicate to a very large audience. However, is it targeting the most valuable audience by engaging the most valuable leads that come from customer Referrals?


As you can see, the tactics are not groundbreaking or unusual. On the contrary, the approach to market is contrived on establishing a brand, shouting a message to the masses, and hoping that the merit is recognized by the appropriate lead. The internet, Trade Shows, Brochures, and Advertising, provide effective, if not innovative vehicles for spreading the slogan. While it may be necessary to invest in these channels of communication to maintain competitive placement, there remains untapped opportunity for higher rates of success when tactics engage customer Referrals.

Stop what you are doing right now and imagine how Referrals from satisfied customers could generate valuable leads and grow your business. It does not matter what kind of business you are in, or what responsibilities you have in the organization. Every member of an organization contributes directly, or indirectly, to customer satisfaction. Your actions may results in testimonials, endorsements, or positive word of mouth. If you could harness the power of customer Referrals, your sales force would blossom with representation from independent trusted advocates.

So, how do you encourage and empower customers to grow this incredible pipeline of valued Referrals? You ask them, of course. However, before you make such a bold request, your customers must know that you are fully engaged and obligated to their aspirations. When customers are assured that you are a trusted advocate, committed to customer satisfaction, they have the confidence to share Referrals and recommendations.

Once customer confidence is established and the relationship is mutually rewarding, then it is just a matter of creating the appropriate opportunity for Referrals to occur. This can be as simple as asking for Referrals, or as formal as creating gatherings for existing clients and potential prospects to meet and exchange experiences. Introducing existing clients to potential prospects demonstrates immense confidence in your own relationship with your customers, because you are not fearful of losing the mutually rewarding relationship. Group gatherings and communications creates a unique opportunity to endorse your customers, grow their circle of influence, and for them to provide a third party endorsement of your efforts.

There are many ways to empower customer Referrals by engaging individuals in group gathering or discussions, leveraging the internet or Advertising, or by collecting a powerful collage of testimonials. The tactics for getting the most out of this goldmine pipeline are as diverse as the markets and customers in them. It all begins with recognizing the most valuable source for leads, acknowledging the value of these resources, and creating specific action items in a plan to unleash these untapped opportunities. Actively and effectively mining the most valuable source for leads will give you an advantage over 95% of your competition.

About the Author: John Mehrmann is author of The Trusted Advocate: Accelerate Success with Authenticity and Integrity. The book that is changing everything by reawakening personal values in business as a competitive edge.

Maximizing Your Affiliate Marketing Revenue

I got surf internet last night, and you'll know that i got a blog with some interest articles. Like one article with the title Maximizing Your Affiliate Marketing Revenue, here the pick up small bits...

Blog watcher Technorati reports that there is 2 new blogs being created every second. That's 175,000 new blogs per day. Clearly, there are a lot of people who are finding their voice. Some of them might want to make a little side income from their writing.

If you're one of those people, take a look at these articles from Lynn Truong. Use the tips within to maximize your blogging revenue:

• Top 10 Commandments of Affiliate Marketing
• 6 Easy Ways to Monetize Your Blog or Website
• 13 Ways to Make Money Using Amazon Associates

Keep monetize your blog !!

10 Reasons A Website or Blog Fails To Perform

You've taken the time to finally build a website, and now it is online. Months go by. Maybe you get a few visitors now and again. Maybe you land on the search engines. Mostly though, it just sits there. Is the website you paid for pulling its weight?

A website is a tool and can be of significant help to your business. It can cut a lot of time you put into giving information to customers. It can answer questions and perform tasks for you. Find out where websites fail to perform and how you can figure out where to make it better.

1. Undefined Website Objectives

Some sites try to do way too much at once, or worse, they have no definable purpose. Many provide no clear objective. A site can do more than look good and flashy and have your contact information.

Websites can be informational, storing content and articles based on a topic. Sites can run eCommerce solutions that help you with your sales process. It can also generate leads, asking customers to fill out forms with their information and interests. It can also be a hybrid site, with mixed purposes, like offering a free ebook or free access to information (informational) in return for contact information (lead generation).

Defining the purpose of your website gives a clear direction to your customers. Where should customers arrive when they find your website? Where do you want them to end up? Using a clear path and clear objectives, you can lead them through your site, your products, and your information, depending on how you need to sell your products. Not all products or services can be sold directly in an eCommerce situation. Maybe you prefer just getting to know your customer a bit more, and being able to forward marketing materials, so a lead generation type of site might be more suitable.

Assign a secondary objective. Maybe after visitors sign up for free access, or an ebook, they are encourage to ask more by contacting your sales reps, or perhaps they can make a direct purchase online. Use a clearly definable call to action. "Email for more information." "Clíck here to sign up." Tell visitors where to go.

2. Unidentified Target Audience

Demographics have been used in marketing for generations. Marketers use the information because it works. Knowing who your audience is defines the purpose to your website and calls out those who qualify and would be interested in your products. Marketing is the one area where discrimination is actually a good thing! You don't want to waste the marketing dollars that draw people to your site who won't need your products in the first place.

Get to know who your clients are. Are they male or female? How old? Where are they located? What do they do for a living? Habits, income levels, preferences, they can all be discovered with a quick email, phone call or have your current customers take surveys and help you figure out what your clients want.

3. Building for the Wrong Audience

Your site can have a purpose and a select audience, but if it doesn't appeal to audiences, they tend to go elsewhere. Finding preferences is only the first step. Once you figure out what your demographic is, it is time to find out what appeals to them, and use that to your advantage. It could be something as simple as site colors and images, to where and how they prefer to use navigation systems and the type of content presented.

Maybe you need simple content, easy to read and understand for younger audiences. Perhaps you need something a bit more technical for professionals. You can even see if you need to add features for those who are visually impaired. Paying attention to your demographic and their preferences can mean building your website around their likes and getting more responses.

4. Oblivious to Web Traffic Sources

A link on a Harry Potter fan club forum to your website can bring in traffic, but does it really bring in the right customers? If you're not directing traffic from sites relevant to yours or where a matching market exists, you might end up with empty hits to your website. It looks pretty on stat pages but it doesn't really do anything.
Refocus your efforts on search engine optimization and focus on keywords that do fit, not just what might be popular. You can plan the sort of traffic you want and focus your outreach efforts on that. Planning your search engine campaigns can make them more effective, bringing the right customers to you. You don't need 1,000 random visitors a day, when 100 qualified visitors will do.

5. Underestimating the Competition

Who says you can't grab ideas from your competition? Find out what they are lacking and draw customers to your site by adding more features and information. Your target audience is searching the web for your product. Don't let your competition become more appealing.

Understand your competition by observing their sites. Where are your competitors linking? Where aren't they? What designs do they use on their site? Does your target audience like that type of design or do they want something better? Figure out how to improve your site and make it better than your competition.

6. Poor Site Communication and Inconsistency

If you're building a website, is one page orange and another blue? Does one page have your logo and another doesn't? People love consistency.

Does your content and images display the right message? Your website might have pretty pictures of your children, or a fun story about what happened to you last Christmas, but is it really what your customers want to know?

Skip the personal info, unless it's relevant and your audience wants to hear about it. You also need to make sure you present your brand in its best light, and consistently give visitors the same presentation every time and on every page. Let your brand stand out.

7. Outdated and Antiquated Site Features

Out with the old. Check your site for old content and images and delete them. Remove old links that go nowhere too. Forget pop ups and old methods of keeping visitors around. Content is great, but if it's so old that it's irrelevant, you'll lose respectability and your expert status.

Stick to new information. Don't be afraid to get rid of old articles and delete old images. Do an update on your site features, like navigation systems and contact forms.

8. Poor Overall Site Performance

You've plastered all there is to know about you on a few pages. Is this the right way to do it? Maybe not. Yes, you've given them something to look at, but you have to remember, your time to impress people on the Internet is limited to just a few seconds. Long passages of text, lengthy forms, even poorly constructed or confusing navigation can slow people down, which leads to people leaving.

Making your website flow is all about making your site easy to read, easy to browse and easy to find what you're looking for. Include a search function, highlight popular pages, and make it simple for people to give you their information. Start with short forms, only the essentials, and a few simple questions. You can get more info later.

9. Lack of Commitment

When was the last time you updated additional information to your website?

Remember those "Website Under Construction" images from the early years of the Internet? Over time, people have learned those images are pointless. Your website is ever evolving, ever needing updating. Your website is isn't ever finished.

You must make a commitment to update information and to improve interest in your site from visitors. It could be as simple as updating a blog once or twice a week, or updating about sales and special events. Give visitors something to come back to, and let them turn into regular guests.

10. Not using an Experienced Web Firm

You do a good job with what you do, and a good business and website owner knows when to call for help. Maybe you're okay with writing content, but you need help with creating navigation and setting up forms. It's okay to ask someone else for help, either with a few pages, or for the entire site design, and leave it to a professional.

It also saves money and time getting someone else to do the complicated things for you. Are you spending weeks on figuring out a web page design set up when it takes a professional a few hours to produce? When you're in business, you consult with professionals who will help you build a better website, develop methods of search engine marketing strategies, and find out how to appeal to your target audience. You save tíme, money, and plenty of headaches.

Linking With Integrity Getting One Way Links The Right Way

It's just as important to know what not to do when executing a website linking strategy as it is to know what to do. With inexpensive linking software and services so readily available, there's a strong temptation to take shortcuts when it comes to getting quality links.

Avoiding these traps will help your search engine placements rise naturally and stay that way for a long time. In this article, I describe two ways that you can help yourself avoid being labeled a link sp@mmer.

Link Farms
What is a link farm? A link farm is any website designed and set up for the sole purpose of getting search engine spiders to crawl and index web pages. These websites provide absolutely no end user utility or benefit.

So how do you recognize a link farm? First, you need to ask yourself, is this site heavy laden with links? Most link farms will have a "farm" of links with little to no content. As for an explanation of the site's existence, it's usually missing too.

The next question you need to ask is, what does the URL of the site itself look like? Most of the time, link farms will have long, hyphenated URLs (i.e. our-great-linking- directory dot com). This is a generalization so not all link farms will have these types of URLs. Many of these link farms are generated using software. The software will go out and find a domain name that contains specific keywords even if it settles on something with several hyphens and numbers. You may still consider a long, hyphenated site for linking purposes but make certain you conduct more research before you submit a link.

Next, look at the domain name extension and note if it's .ínfo or .bíz. In order to sell these extensions, many domain name registrars provide a one-time, deep discount. I know of several registrars that sell .ínfo domains for 89 cents per year. These cheap domain names allow sp@mmers to generate thousands of sites at a huge discount.

The next criteria I use to help identify a link farm is what I call the "cheese factor". Although some link farms will look professionally designed, most are either 1) generated with software or 2) are designed with the same cookie-cutter, non-altered templates that fill search engine results. This is especially true with blogs. Sp@mmers and Internet newbies will not take the time to brand their websites or blogs. These are commonly referred to as "pump and dump" websites.

Another question you should ask is, does it look human? That is, does it look like someone hangs around and takes care of things? You should also be able to contact the webmaster either via web form or e-mail. If there's no contact information available anywhere on the website, be very afraid.
If it's a directory site, check out the links in a few of the main directory headings. Are the URLs hyphenated just like the main URL? If you visit one of these sites, does it look the same as the site you just came from? Are there more URLs crammed onto one page than anyone could possibly visit in a lifetime?

Last but not least, if you have your suspicions that a site might be a link farm, for any reason, stay away. It's better to miss a great linking opportuníty than to post your link and get downgraded in your search engine placements.

Non-relevant Links
When you're placing your links, you want to make sure that the site you're linking to has something to do with your site and, vice versa.

A non-relevant link is defined as a hypertext link placed on a website, or in a directory, that has little to no relevance to the linking site or directory. These links are placed for the sole purpose of 1) increasing page rank or 2) getting a website crawled and indexed or a combination of the two.

The most obvious way to combat not-relevant links, over which you have complete control, is the placement of links on your site. Avoid placing links on your site to another that has no relevance to your content; even if it's legitimate. Why? The link doesn't do anything for you or the person whose link you placed. On the other hand, don't ask someone to place a link on their site which doesn't relate to yours.

Google, Yahoo, and MSN all look closely at whom you're linking to and who's linking to you. In fact, Google's PageRank definition specifically states that link relevance (quality) is looked at more than just the link itself.

So what's the solution? As in researching a potential link farm, you need to check out the sites that you're linking to. If you're submitting your site to directoríes or article directories, make sure that you're submitting your content and links to the most relevant topics and sections.

Don't worry about getting an exact match in terms of relevance between your site and the linking site; just make sure that each site complements the other.

Know the Linking Pitfalls
In summary, you can be accused of being a link sp@mmer even if you think you haven't done anything wrong. To keep your linking strategy clean, I've outlined two specific techniques that will keep your site safe with the search engines.

First, watch out for unscrupulous link directories and sites (i.e. link farms). Use the techniques and ask yourself the questions I've outlined to recognize and avoid these harmful sites.

Second, make sure you're posting to relevant sites/directories/ articles/ blogs or wherever you choose to submit your content and links.

Most importantly, if you think you might get accused of being a sp@mmer, by attempting to use a linking technique you just read about or software you just bought, trust your gut and don't do it. Linking software creators claim that you can get thousands of back links with the press of a button or for only "$49". The only way to get good quality back links is to do the research yourself and hand-submit every single link.

If you avoid these two traps, you'll be well on your way to getting the links you need to get your website placed higher in search results and, as a result, generate more sales.

5 Keuntungan Melakukan Mobile Working

detikNet
Senin, 12/05/2008 08:30 WIB

Jakarta - Pada saat harga BBM melangit, ditambah dengan kemacetan yang mengular setiap hari di jalan raya, borosnya konsumsi bahan bakar dan dampak polusi yang berakibat pada pemanasan global, maka melakukan mobile working (atau dikenal juga dengan istilah remote working) adalah salah satu solusi yang layak dikaji. Apalagi, kini konotasi bekerja adalah pada apa yang kita kerjakan (dan hasilkan), bukan lagi sekedar mengacu pada tempat yang kita tuju (kantor). Berikut ini adalah keuntungan yang dapat diperoleh:
selengkapnya disini ...

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Keep Blogging yah.

Microsoft lost Yahoo, Google won

From : www.news.com.au

MICROSOFT'S failed attempt to buy Yahoo will send it searching for new allies and likely see Yahoo's share price plummet, leaving internet giant Google the big winner, analysts said.

Microsoft announced on Saturday that it had given up its quest for the struggling internet pioneer Yahoo, which rejected Microsoft's offer even after it raised the original bid by $US5 billion (($5.35 billion) to more than $US46 billion ($49.23 billion).

The announcement ended three months of overtures by the software giant, which wanted to merge its internet resources with Yahoo's worldwide offerings to gain ground on undisputed online advertising juggernaut Google.

Google meanwhile has increased its share of the internet search engine market and multiplied its innovations. The firm recently also announced a way to refine its image searches, based on technology that recognizes images, not text.

Analysts believe moreover that the Microsoft-Yahoo talks have benefited Google, and suggest Microsoft did well to cut them short.

"Microsoft did the smart thing – they walked," said Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle.

"Yahoo's stock price is going to come down like a rock on Monday."

Experts were surprised that Yahoo did not accept what was considered a generous offer and predict that its stock price, bereft of the prop of Microsoft's bid, will plunge even further.

Before Microsoft's offer on February 1 to buy Yahoo for $US31 ($33.18) per share, Yahoo was trading at just $US19 ($20.34) and was on the decline, having lost 33 per cent of its value since October 2007.

"Yahoo is going to have to convince the market they are worth more than they were before the Microsoft offer," Gartner analyst Van Baker told AFP.

Analysts are also questioning whether Microsoft is not banking on Yahoo's share price dropping so it can make another, possibly lower, offer.

"They could be betting Yahoo's stock price is going to collapse and they will be able to get it for even less," Mr Baker said.

Others believe Microsoft will give up on Yahoo as it continues to lose ground to Google, and move its attention elsewhere. It could buy AOL, part of Time Warner, online marketing firm ValueClick or even social networking site MySpace.

"There are other acquisitions Microsoft can make which, when multiplied, could put them in a better position than buying Yahoo," Mr Baker said.

In its statement on Saturday, Microsoft raised the possibility of deals with "other business partners."

Despite its near-monopoly in the global computer market thanks to its Windows and Office software, Microsoft remains a dwarf on the internet, with less than three per cent of the search market.

Its core business is also facing competition from software available online and often for free, financed by advertising, such as that provided by Google.

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are fighting over the emerging online ad market, which is worth more than 40 billion dollars and is expected to double by 2010.

Google has a 30 per cent share, Yahoo 14 per cent and Microsoft six per cent.

Microsoft is losing money on its online services, and has increased its purchases in this area. Its chief executive Steve Ballmer said last year that 25 per cent of its revenue would eventually come from online advertising.

In the last few months, the group has acquired Norwegian search engine Fast, marketing firm aQuantive, it has taken 1.6 per cent of Facebook, and acquired ScreenTonic, which deals with mobile phone ads, and TellMe voice query services.

Yahoo is also on the search for a new strategy, and recently announced a limited test of Google's AdSense for Search service, which would deliver Google ads alongside Yahoo's own search results — strengthening Google's hand further.