Saturday, July 30, 2011

Blogging for Business

A blog is really nothing more than a diary uploaded to the Internet and until about the last 12 months was the realm of the individual who saw it as a way to publish there random (and sometimes disturbed) thoughts.

The great thing about weblogs, and the growing set of software that is being created to publish them, is that they are a tremendous business tool. Weblogs allow you to create content and contact…and that is what your clients crave more than anything.

But when it comes to generating traffic it is the most important job. Blogs, by their very nature, are all about content. In a commercial environment every blog entry is fresh content. Get in the habit of making two, three, even four entries a week and you’ve got a content building bonanza on your hands. Everyone knows you need new content to give visitors a reason to come back; blogs just make the task so much easier. Another advantage that blogs seem to currently possess over traditional web pages and sites is lack of competition. While the number of bloggers grows daily, there are still relatively few commercial blog sites.

There are a couple of other things you should do to make your weblog a traffic magnet. They aren’t really that different than tradition SEO tactics but the names and faces are unique to the blogging world. Use targeted keywords in your entry titles No rocket science here but this tip can’t be stated enough. Forget cute…go for titles that fit your targeted keywords and phrases…even if they seem a bit awkward. (You do have targeted keywords and phrases don’t you?)

Source : http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=7352940483427851201

What are Blogs?

Having heard the term previously but not having paid much attention most are just to afraid to show their ignorance and ask the question, what is a blog? Lets face it; the term blog does not conjure pleasant images.
Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly, usually on a daily basis. They contain information related to a specific topic. In some cases blogs are used as daily diaries about people's personal lives, political views, or even as social commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be shaped into whatever you, the author, want them to be.

Where Did Blogs Come From?
The roots of blogging can be traced back to the mid 1990's. Who the very first blogger actually was is unclear, as the art of blogging did not really take hold until 1999. The original "weblogs" were link-driven sites with personal commentaries. The very first blogs were human guided Internet web tours. While initially thought of as diaries or online journals, blogs have evolved into the latest fresh web content.
The Future of Blogs
A buzz word in techie circles, "blogging" is the wave of the future. Whether its a fad, or proves to be a new way to communicate with existing and potential customers it deserves at the very least a cursory look.

Why is Blogging Helpful to Businesses or Individuals?
Just as animated .gifs were once cool, blogging is the trendy thing to do. That does not mean that it is not beneficial to businesses. Webmasters struggling to keep fresh, attractive content on their websites to lure visitors back, have found blogs the answer. Content is a necessity for online businesses, both for purposes of being found by search engines but also because it gives visitors a reason to come back.

Now that we have established that blogs are not only trendy but also beneficial to businesses, its important to understand how they can be used to your advantage. We currently manage and update two blogs on a daily basis. The first is our new business blog at:

http://www.notepage.net/blog.htm

This professional business blog allows us the opportunity to tell potential, or existing customers industry news, updates, or generally how mobile or paging software can be used in specific situations to alleviate problems. The bottom line is we control the content. Its updated daily, which increases the chances that search engines will spider on a regular basis and it helps with page rank because it's been submitted to all the blogging directories. Initially started on a whim we've found it beneficial to report tips, tricks or make visitors aware of new regulations related to the mobile or paging industry.

The second blog we manage is at:

http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog.html

This blog is less formal and contains marketing tips, or promotional advice for software developers or online marketers. We found that we had overflow from our monthly newsletter. Generating a daily blog would require very little effort and would assist us in creating fresh content which our readers told us was of significant interest.

Blogs & Your Business
The bottom line is you need to determine how a blog will benefit your business, determine a schedule and adhere to it. Let your readers know what to expect and when to expect it. Blogs provide great supplemental content and direct attention to areas of your business that you want to showcase; you direct the content but let your readers guide you.

Creating a Blog
There are numerous online tools that can be used to create a blog. We found that because of security concerns, it would just be best to use a standard html program. In our case we used Dreamweaver and create daily posts. Its really not much more complicated than typing an email. The content is then sent via FTP to a web server. If you want to test the waters there are online web-based tool that helps you publish to the web instantly. The most popular web based tool is likely Blogger http://www.blogger.com.

Other Advantages to Blogs
While you may initially create a blog for your existing customers, you may find that you can attract new customers by illustrating your expertise in a specific field. There are numerous websites that act as "blog search engines", be sure to submit your sites to these websites to increase your exposure. This will also help with your page rank and possibly increase the likelihood you will receive decent ranking with Google. You can also create an RSS feed in order to syndicate blog content and gain additional exposure.

Source : http://www.blog-connection.com/understanding-blogs.htm

Blogging for Dollars

Blogging for Dollars

Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game show or some new drinking game, but it's the latest craze to hit the Internet. Bloggers began blogging for a number of reasons, but as the blog movement has increased in popularity, they have found ways to monetize their blogs and are seeing their commitment pay off.

Whether a blogger's focus is to communicate with customers or just to have fun, they have begun looking at ways to earn revenue from their blogs. The most popular ways for bloggers to earn some added cash for their pet projects are:

1. ) Google Adsense in Blogs
Google AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically serve content-relevant advertisements in blogs. If the visitor clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the blog, the website owner is credited for the referral. Webmasters need only to insert a Google-generated java script into the blog or blog template. Google's spider parses the AdServing blog and serves ads that relate to the blog's content. Google uses a combination of keyword matching and context analysis to determine what ads should be served.

2. ) Affiliate Programs (Product Endorsements)
Affiliate Programs work when an affiliate web site receives income for generating sales, leads, or traffic to a merchant website. Generally, bloggers will mention or endorse specific products and if site visitors purchase the product, bloggers will receive a portion of the sale.

3. ) Product Promotion
Businesses use blogs to detail how specific features or product add-ons can increase functionality and save time. Content-rich product promotion will help with search engine placement.

4.) Banner Ads
While less popular than in the past, websites with high traffic levels can still earn decent revenue by selling banner space.

As the Internet evolves bloggers will continue to seek out ways to monetize their opinions and thoughts. Daily journals and online blogs have become more than just a communication means to many.

Source - http://www.blog-connection.com/blogging-for-dollars.htm

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Cellphone can warn of earthquake

The 7.4 magnitude devastating earthquake in Pakistan on October 8 has raised several questions and posed new problems for scientists and engineers. It is for the first time in seismic history that military personnel inside bunkers have been killed. There have been cases before of soldiers killed in earthquake while overground. But the present case is unique and military engineers will now have to revise their design to make bunkers safe against seismic forces. But the most frequently asked question is whether it is possible to predict the occurrence of an earthquake. The answer to this question is, 'yes, to a sufficient degree of accuracy, about a few hours before the occurrence of an earthquake.' Complete coverage: Tremors across borders The earthquake precursors discussed here are exclusively for moderate to large earthquakes, meaning earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or more on the Richter Scale. Earthquakes of lesser magnitude may or may not necessarily exhibit all the precursors. Earthquake precursors have been divided into three broad categories. a. long term precursors. This means more than five years in advance; b. medium term precursors. This means within about four to six months in advance; and c. short term precursors. This refers to signs within 20 to 30 hours. Long term seismic precursors: The location and magnitude of the likely epicentre is calculated based primarily on statistical studies, and the prediction is probabilistic. It is reliable when the probability of occurrence in the next five years or less is more than 0.6. However, such predictions are more useful to academic professionals and researchers. Medium term precursors : Such predictions are able to give the location of the quake to a sufficient degree of accuracy, and the likely time of occurrence and magnitude are somewhat grotesque. The period of six months or so could be used for creating seismic awareness, taking suitable mitigatory measures, imparting seismic training to various forces etc. These are indicative of changes in the geomagnetic field, changes in the gravity field, rise in sub-surface temperature, rise in ground radioactivity etc. All these measurements indicate that something is wrong inside the earth. But it is not possible to arrive at any definite inference. Inputs from such parameters are useful to administrators and academicians. Short term precursors: These could be seen by the common man and are highly reliable. People in seismically active areas may keep a copy of this article for further use. There are several types of short term precursors which could be seen and observed by different strata of society. Thermal precursor: A few months before the occurrence of an earthquake the average temperature of the area keeps increasing. Weather report bulletins refer to temperatures above or below average by so many degrees. It is seen that in case the area is heading for an earthquake, the average temperature goes on increasing. On the day of the earthquake it is about 5 to 9.

degrees Celsius above the average normal temperature for that day. This could be monitored by the meteorology department and also by thermometers inside homes. Water precursor: There is a sudden rise or fall in water level in the wells. It could be as high as one metre. Sometimes the well water may turn muddy. At times a fountain appears inside the well. All these changes happen about one or three days before the earthquake. Sometimes a fountain appears in the ground. This normally happens a few hours before the quake. The Gujarat earthquake of 2001 Another form of water precursor is seen in the flow of riverwater. There is a sudden and rapid increase or decrease of water flow in the river or nallah . This happens about one to two days before the quake. Seismo-electromagnetic precursor: This is a very reliable precursor. It occurs and is exhibited about 10 to 20 hours before the quake. Before the occurrence of an earthquake the subsurface temperature rises. As a result of this the geomagnetic field is reduced. The reduction in geomagnetic field adversely affects the propagation of electromagnetic waves. This is experienced abundantly on the radio, television and telephone. If one is tuning the radio at 1000 kHz, then the same station will be received in the potential epicentral area, about 10 to 30 hours before the quake, at higher frequencies. Maybe 1100, 1200, 1300, 1800, 1900, 2000 kHz or so. Similarly, reception on television is affected by audio, visual and spectral disturbances. The telephone's reception is also adversely affected and there is a continuous disturbance that you can hear. Apart from this, a recent reliable precursor is the mobile telephone. It has been found that about 100 to 150 minutes before the occurrence of an earthquake, mobile telephones start non- functioning or malfunctioning. The timespan indicated is sufficient to take all necessary mitigatory measures. A word of caution: all the above precursors are valid only when seen and manifested extensively. Failure of one or two instruments should not be taken as a seismic precursor. Special: 'Musharraf, please leave' Animal precursor: It is seen that 10 to 20 hours before the occurrence of an earthquake, the entire animal kingdom becomes highly disturbed and restless. They move in a directionless manner and in fear. Birds do not sit on trees but move about at a low height, emitting a shrill noise. Rodents like rats, mongooses etc are in a panic. Domestic animals like cows, dogs, cats etc struggle against being tied up, and even turn on the owner. Human precursor: Doctors and nurses observe that some sensitive patients in hospitals become highly disturbed. They exhibit a sudden rise in blood pressure, heart trouble, headache, migraine, respiratory disorders etc. Further, these psychosomatic signs are manifested without any provocation. It is also seen that the number of patients in the out-patient department increases by five to seven times, some 10 to 20 hours before the quake. The best indicator is the number of child deliveries in any hospital. On the penultimate day of the earthquake the number of deliveries goes up about three to five times , while on the day of the earthquake it is as high as seven to eight times the normal.

Hackers and Ethical hackers

Hackers are actually good, pleasant and extremely intelligent people who could keep computer criminals on the run

Employing ethical hackers to protect against malicious ones has become common practice in the US, but has only recently caught on in India.

It only really got going when the Reserve Bank of India directed its banks to use "ethical hackers" last year

"It was done after several Pakistan-based hackers launched some sort of cyber war against India and the sites belonging to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Atomic Energy Research Board were hacked,"

However, there is still no organised body to guard against such practice.

Ethical Hacking course mission is to educate, introduce and demonstrate hacking tools for penetration testing purposes only.

An ethical hacker is a computer and network expert who attacks a security system on behalf of its owners, seeking vulnerabilities that a malicious hacker could exploit. To test a security system, ethical hackers use the same methods as their less principled counterparts, but report problems instead of taking advantage of them. Ethical hacking is also known as penetration testing, intrusion testing, and red teaming. An ethical hacker is sometimes called a white hat, a term that comes from old Western movies, where the "good guy" wore a white hat and the "bad guy" wore a black hat.

But there's another breed of hacker out there, one who works at foiling the efforts of the troublemakers. Unlike the hackers who attempt to break into corporate networks for sport and spying purposes, so-called ethical hackers typically hire themselves out to perform "vulnerability assessments" for clients — meaning they essentially break into the client's computer network with the client's consent in the interest of patching up security holes. . . .

Companies ranging in size from startups to International Business Machines Corp. have ethical-hacking teams. Computer-security services, including vulnerability assessments by ethical hackers.

All about Outsourcing

What is Outsourcing?

A great way to make use of external resources and add value to your business.

Outsourcing refers to a company that contracts with another company to provide services that might otherwise be performed by in-house employees. Many large companies now outsource jobs such as call center services, e-mail services, and payroll. These jobs are handled by separate companies that specialize in each service, and are often located overseas.

There are many reasons that companies outsource various jobs, but the most prominent advantage seems to be the fact that it often saves money. Many of the companies that provide outsourcing services are able to do the work for considerably less money, as they don't have to provide benefits to their workers and have fewer overhead expenses to worry about.

Outsourcing also allows companies to focus on other business issues while having the details taken care of by outside experts. This means that a large amount of resources and attention, which might fall on the shoulders of management professionals, can be used for more important, broader issues within the company. The specialized company that handles the outsourced work is often streamlined, and often has world-class capabilities and access to new technology that a company couldn't afford to buy on their own. Plus, if a company is looking to expand, outsourcing is a cost-effective way to start building foundations in other countries.

Monday, July 25, 2011

How to Start an Online Retail Business

Starting an online retail business selling products is simple with the right tools and knowledge. Begin with a product line that interests you, obtain and design a website, then advertise and market your new online presence. Advertising and marketing to potential customers is essential to making an online business successful.

Preparation

1. Choose which products you going to sell. Buy products from online discount sources such as liquidation.com or govsales.gov. Buy merchandise at flea markets, or a local discount store such as BigLots, and resell the products online. Alternatively, develop a product such as jewelry, ceramics or a woodworking product; sell them online.

2. Get a website. Start your online retail business by selling the product through your website. Buy a domain name at a hosting service such as godaddy.com. You can purchase a domain name as low as $1.99 though godaddy.com; it also offers a free five-page website. Choose a domain name that fits your business.

3. Design your website by choosing a template. Most hosting companies provide free templates when you buy a domain name from them. When designing your website pages, type descriptions related to the products you are selling. Use keywords in your descriptions; keywords are words or phrases used in the content of your website for potential customers to find your business.

4. Accept payments. Sell products through your new website using a payment processor. PayPal and Google Checkout are two online payment processors that are easy to use. Simply use one of their checkout systems and allow potential customers to use their credit card to pay for products or services. Visit paypal.com, click on "Products & Services"; or google.com, scroll down and click on "Business Solutions" then click on "Checkout."

Marketing and Advertising

1. Submit to search engines. Start submitting your website domain name to any and all search engines on the Internet. Do a search on google.com or yahoo.com of "search engines," visit the search engines and submit your website. Yahoo, Google and Bing are a few of the main search engines. Search engines scan your website and look for relevant keywords related to your website, allowing potential customers to find your site.

2. Market your site. List your website in all directories that you can find on the Internet relevant to your products. Join related forums and blogs, post regularly and mention your website whenever you can. Add your website name to your signature line in your email account, so it's included in all the emails you send.

3. Advertise. List your website name on business cards, fliers and brochures. Post fliers, listing briefly what you sell, on local free bulletin boards at supermarkets and libraries. Make brochures offering a discount on a product, and hand deliver them to homes in your neighborhood. This allows customers outside of the Internet to visit your website to purchase your product.

Source - http://www.ehow.com/how_5526742_start-online-retail-business.html

What is Google Adsense?

Google Adsense

Google AdSenseis a Google service for which the webmaster inserts a website text-based, images or video ads, called AdWords into their website, and get money for each 'click' that visitors click on the ad. This is a Adsense and if you want to put your adds in others websites through google, it will be called Google Adwords.

How to work with Adsense?

Operation is very simple. The webmaster inserts a JavaScript code that calls a Google server. This server analyzes the page where you insert the code and, depending on the contents therein, generates a code that displays a series of ads for companies that are related to the theme of the page.

In this way, you get the 'clickthrough rate' (the percentage of visitors who click the link) is higher, since readers are more interested in the topic. Thus, the benefits are greater for the webmaster.

Moreover, the formats of the ads are highly customizable, both in color and size. Even you can prevent ads from your competitors web sites appearing in this advertisement posted.

What I need to participate in the service Adsense?: Only need to be the administrator of a website and make a request to the Google team. That yes, Google has some very clear rules with the quality of the websites, not to insert AdSense on pages that have pop-ups or dialers, for example.

Once your site has been accepted, you can start inserting advertising in minutes. However, it may be that the ads are not visible for a few hours since the Google ad server have to crawl your site.

How much money will I make?

Google does not provide any amount of money for each 'click', varies with each advertiser, and it is Google that decides this amount. However, in every moment you can see how much money you're winning.

Google sends a check to your home at the end of each month provided you earn more than $ 100. Anyway, the end of each year sends you a check for whatever amount of money you'd be.

Can you insert AdSense on pages in another language?:

Of course. Check out this article in which Google announced the start of the AdSense program in Spanish, Arabic or another language.
How do I know which type of ads to insert on my website?:

Insert the URL of your website and see the result

Search engine optimization (SEO)

"Doing a good seo is crucial ... but the key is to offer quality content."


In general, users do not make much use of the lists of favorites or bookmarks browsers provide systems and rarely directly typed the URL of the page you wish to go, because he might not know it.

Given this dynamic, web positioning strategies are critical . Since on the other hand, after a search of less than 40% of Internet users reached the second page of results that provides a search engine, and only 10% check to the third. This is where it is clear the need to achieve visibility and to achieve this we need to think like search engines to better communicate with them.

Google, Yahoo, MSN and company order their results through mathematical algorithms that undergo analysis hundreds of factors. Each company uses a different formula and the idea is not decipher.

The answer lies in the SEO . SEO is the acronym for "search engine optimization (Search Engine Optimization) or" search engine optimizer "(Search Engine Optimizer), which gives us a series of clues and techniques to interpret the mode of operation search engines.

1. Content

What users see vs. what are the search engines. Users can watch and / or read the website but search engines can only read the programming code with which they are developed and, even today, still can not read them all equally, for example, Flash has recently joined Google results but can not be optimized as HTML.

Graphics, sounds and videos are part of a page that search engines can not decipher it is for this reason that the positioning work is based on HTML tags and text.

2. Indexability

This concept refers to the ownership of the page to be properly indexed by search engine robots, allowing access to all corners, facilitating navigation and showing all its contents clearly.

"The meta tags
The Meta Tags are code in the header is not visible on screen when displaying the page. There are several types of Meta-Tags and they do a description of the content and features we want that search engines take into account.

* Meta Robots : This tag is only necessary if you want that page is not indexed in search engines.
* Meta Description : This tag is important because it allows us to make a more profound than in the title, which we refer to the page content.
* Meta Keywords : Perhaps the most important, she put the key words through the schools want this page to be found on search engines. Any other Meta tag is not considered by most search engines, only for some very specialized. It is noteworthy that Meta tags are not a magic solution to position a site in search engines, you must use all the techniques to be successful.

In conclusion, the main goal HTML tags to keep in mind for a good positioning are:

- Title.
Before entering into any other theme or gimmick positioning is important to define the titles of our pages, which should make a brief reference to the content of the page to which you are assigning, taking care to include the most important word describe the page or section to which we refer.

- Description.
Individual short description or abstract of the document as a meta tag that summarizes in a brief and concise content of the document and that may appear below the title in the "SERP's (search results pages of search engines.)

- H1, H2, H3, ... Hn
Correspond to the holders of any websites, so that the text you include in this tag will be taken into account for the contents of the page. Its importance depends on the number that accompanies them, H1 being the most important and so on until H6. You should only use a single level page and not found much use beyond the H4.

"The relevance
Relevance is an important point, this means that any word used in the title and meta tags of the page in question should be included within the text content of the page. It is noteworthy that some practices are penalized by search engines such as using hidden text and word lists.

"The URL
You try to be as descriptive as possible and semantically also facilitate proper indexing of the document. As an example: www.nombreempresa.com / activity-main.html
To strengthen the content of the page and improve your position in search engines is important that labels view the URL above and have the same content.

»Photos
Are not read by search engines, but you can rename them or give them descriptive attributes to facilitate indexing. A picture of a cat whose name is "12345.jpg" is not very descriptive, but if you change it to "gato.jpg" and you're telling the search engines what is that picture. And you can add the ALT attribute, very important for accessibility of documents and for proper indexing, with a description of the photo, in this case ALT = "a gray cat," and that will also serve people with disabilities be aware of their visual content.

"The outgoing links
They are also an important factor in the confidence that generates a site. Always try to add value to the user through the content with outbound links. Since your users can not navigate all the available web pages: Convert your reference page with unique content and a number of resources that extend and complement the information.

"The map
Finally, your site should include a file sitemap.xml , a map of your site to facilitate proper indexing by search engines.

3. Keywords
One of the most crucial factors in the management of the natural results are the key words, as in any book we are informed of the contents of the page and to be text, are perfectly understood by search engines, you should avoid using text as: "Home Page", "Home," Name of the Institution. "Search engines are the main gateway to cyberspace. A person who wants to find a page on the Internet, usually done through a search engine.

All positioning campaign must begin with the analysis of the keywords or keywords for which you want to optimize the website. Keywords means those words such as "hotel" or strings of words such as "hotels in Barcelona, and your choice will depend on the content of your campaign goals, and finally, the target or target to which you want to address .

The SEO is roughly 4 points:
* Content. Basis of SEO, without content you have nothing to position . The aim is that the content created, has quality and is accessible and readable by search engines. You can use SEO-Browser to view your site as you would a search engine.
* S.E.O. (search engine optimization)Keywords (keywords) . The basis for the classification of any form are the key words, for according to the words that we include on our site, we store the search engines. So choose the best keywords for your site is one of the great challenges of SEO . The typical procedure for choosing and finding keywords is that once chosen the theme on which we write, we make an investigation of possible keywords, through research on the topic to see what kind of concepts and words are which are more related to it and then brainstorm ideas related words (can be via a tool like Google for keywords ). Once you've identified several key words then check the frequency with which they are searched and choose according to your target market and existing competition for that keyword. It should be noted that the term " keyword "does not necessarily refer to a word and in most cases refers to phrases .

* Optimization. Once you have the list of keywords you're using should try to take the best advantage of optimizing your content using tags , as the title (title), headers (h1, h2, h3, ...) and description (mini-summary of your page.)

* Authority. The way you show the search engines that our site is relevant, is through the sites we link. Making other sites link to us is what is known as link building . In addition, since the content is not sold by itself is important to promote related sites, portals and social networks and eventually cultivate relationships with other bloggers and with your own readers, it is these that can help you promote you by word of mouth.

4 . Professional Services

Hiring an SEO is a very important decision that can improve your site and save time, but also risk damage to your reputation. Make sure to research the potential benefits and the damage that a solvent can cause little SEO on your site. Many SEOs and other agencies and consultants provide useful services for website owners, including:
* Review the content and site structure.
* Technical assistance in the development of web sites, for example, hosting, redirects, error pages, using JavaScript, etc.
* Content Development.
* Management online business development campaigns.
* Keyword research.
* SEO training.
* Experience in specific sectors and geographic regions.

Advertise on Google does not influence the position in which your site appears in search results. Google never accepts money to include or rank sites in our search results, appear in organic search results is free.

There are free resources such as Google Webmaster Tools, the Webmaster Central blog and the official forum, which can provide a wealth of information about optimizing your site for organic search. You can find many of these free resources and information on paid search in Google Webmaster Central .

Pay Per Click concept

If your page does not appear in the top 20 results of a search engine (which is pretty optimistic) likely will not get visitors through search engines, unless you pay for it. Many browsers, however, have a column on the right side of search results where you can purchase a "sponsored link", ie you can list their payment of a fee. This is what is known as Pay Per Click (PPC) or Google Adword

Systems, pay-per-click or pay-per-views "are based advertising model where the advertiser pays for every royal visit to receive through the system. In a search engine PPC, advertisers bid to get the top positions in the keywords of interest. The highest bid, along with other criteria, does the ad to appear at the top of the list of results, which (supposedly) that the web will have a greater number of visitors, while increasing the cost per visit.

The major PPC systems currently operating in Spain are: Google Adwords, Espotting and Overture. All feed on "sponsored results" or "ad links" to the major search engines and web portals. Google, Overture and Espotting have programs to pay for visits that allow advertisers to select a set of keywords associated with a URL to direct visitors, custom titles and descriptions for each keyword, elements that appear in the results provided Google, Overture and Espotting as well as their respective networks of partners. No clutch, the order of advertisers in Google's case no longer depends only on the commitment of our advertisers, but other factors such as click-through rate ("Click-Through Rate" - CTR) of the ad.
The fundamental advantage of the system of "Pay per click" is its ability to provide almost immediate visibility to advertisers on major search engines and portals. Its disadvantage lies in its, in many cases, high cost and should be complemented by campaigns positioning results, "free" and profitability measurement systems.
How does Pay Per Click?

First you pick the keywords that are important to your customers, those terms that people search in the search. Next, research how other advertisers are paying to appear on such lists of sponsored links. The higher you want to appear on the list of sponsors, the more you pay. The list begins with the best postor.Evidentemente, you want to find out how much you pay, for many customers and how much business will provide these visitors. You should be able to identify more than 100 search terms related by those who might want to bid on a single product or service.
Advantages

- PPC is the most effective method to get potential customers
- You have the ability to continuously monitor the cost per visitor
- It's simple: the more you pay, the best positions will have on the list of "sponsored links"
- You only pay for visitors who click on your ad
- With PPC you can choose the terms to advertise your products and services
-Generate quality traffic to your website and visitors can read a description of your activity before you click on your ad.

SEO for Beginners Session

Step By Step SEO Tutorial

Welcome to the SEO for Beginners Session. Its great you have decided to learn this online technique to earn money through simple seo process. Well I hope I can explain everything very clearly. It is complicated at first, if you have not ever used, but after some time you will feel everything very easy. Please keep it mind, seo is a simple, easy but time consuming process.

Let's start with this. I assure you that you will love and you can do it easily.

Here i'll write everything about seo, better to read and apply one step daily.

The simple steps will be included the following

1. You need a website or Blog
2. You need a Google Adsense Account
3. Understanding of SEO process
4. Add Google Adsence code in your website
5. Promote your website
6. Get paid if someone clicks on your adds.

1st Step

Before you begin, You need some understand about seo. Spend this day to study the different seo topics that are given in this website like what is seo, on-page seo, off-page seo, seo tools and other seo topics. Go to the home page of this site and start learnign different topics. I know, if you are beginners, you will not understand clearly what I am saying, but when you will start your seo process, it will be helpful for you. So read these all topics and try to understand the theme.

2nd Step

Now you have learned that what is seo and have gained some basic seo training, we will proceed further. For this new seo process, you need your own website. This is not a costly, you can purchase your domain and hosting package from anywhere. It costs round about 15 to 20 US Dollars per year or Rs. 2000 per year. If you do not know what is domain and hosting, you should study this topic

What is Domain and Hosting?
Although you can purchase your domain and hosting from anywhere, but I suggest the Blue Host. This is the best hosting providing company with best services.

Italy, Spain under fire as debt crisis spreads

Key Italian and Spanish government bond yields hit their highest levels in 14 years on Tuesday on worries euro zone policymakers were stalling over efforts to resolve the debt crisis and avert a disorderly Greek default.

Euro zone finance ministers late on Monday promised cheaper loans, longer maturities and a more flexible rescue fund to help Greece and other EU debtors but failed to set a deadline to act, drawing Italy and Spain deeper into the crisis.

Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager stoked market ire by saying a selective default for Greece was no longer being excluded.

Italian 10-year yields jumped more than 30 basis points on the day to break above 6 percent for the first time since 1997, approaching the 7 percent level analysts see as an unsustainable cost for Italy's borrowing needs.

They later slipped back below 6 percent on market talk the European Central Bank was buying Italian and Spanish bonds even though bond traders who normally see the trades said there was no sign of such purchases.

There was some relief that Italy managed to sell 6.75 billion euros of one-year paper though gross yields of 3.67 percent were the highest paid by Italy since September 2008, pointing to a costlier bond auction due on Thursday.

Traders and strategists said the respite could be short-lived in a volatile market with investors having little faith policymakers would deliver a quick solution.

"Without getting bogged down in a long list of policy errors during the crisis, current levels of Bund yields and periphery spreads probably best express just how much the market has lost faith in policymakers," Michael Leister, a strategist at WestLB said.

The 10-year BTP yield premium over benchmark Bunds was up 9 bps on the day at 315 bps, its highest since September 1996, though it was off an earlier high of 357 bps -- an expansion of 157 bps over the past three sessions. The equivalent Spanish spread was 15 bps wider on the day at 345 bps, with its 10-year yield remaining above 6 percent.

The scale and speed of the market moves have raised concerns over the cost of financing Italy's 1.6 trillion euro debt burden. This has prompted selling by international investors on the grounds that Italy was too large to be bailed out in the way Portugal, Greece and Ireland have been.

Benchmark German Bund futures were last up 59 ticks on the day at 129.73, off a session high of 130.91 as investors booked profits after the contract saw its biggest daily rally since March 2009.

Cash 10-year Bund yields were down six bps at 2.615 percent, their lowest since November, while the two-year Schatz yielded 1.22 percent, almost 30 bps less than the ECB's key refinancing rate as the market priced out expectations of further interest rates hikes this year.

"The crisis right now is possible illiquidity for Italy," said Peter Chatwell, a strategist at Credit Agricole.

"You've got BTP auctions on Thursday and from now until those auctions there's nothing that can be said to allay those fears of illiquidity."


Source - http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/12/us-eu-crisis-idUSTRE76B2J720110712

Sunday, July 24, 2011

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Thursday, July 21, 2011

10 reasons not to buy an iPad for your college student

Dear parents: With summer slowly coming to a close, back-to-school shopping is in full swing. Your college-bound child is probably in the midst of asking for more and more money to buy the “essentials” for class and dorm life. And it’s likely that your kid has also mentioned needing an iPad. Perhaps you’re wondering whether to consider an iPad instead of a laptop for kids heading off to school.

These crafty kids think they found a perfect time to strike! They’ll come at you with all sorts of “reasons” why the iPad is a “valuable tool for learning.” Are you prepared to fight back? Are you armed with the knowledge you need to protect your dollars? You better be, because — as we’ll show you — the iPad just isn’t worth the money for a student.

1: It’s expensive

At its most basic configuration of 16GB of storage with Wi-Fi connectivity, the iPad starts at $499. The higher-end models that include 64GB of storage and 3G connectivity will run you $829, with additional per-month rates for wireless plans. Even at the cheaper end of the spectrum, you can probably find a full-fledged laptop at around that price. It just doesn’t make monetary sense to buy an iPad.
2: It’s not the best solution for note-taking or editing documents

A virtual keyboard, like the one that pops up on the iPad, doesn’t have any tactile feedback. That’s fine for a quick text on a smartphone, but the iPad’s keyboard is a bit awkward. Further, if your kid does manage to struggle through writing an entire term paper on the tablet, editing is another headache completely. Using a fingertip for fine placement of the cursor is next to impossible, and it’ll take a few tries to land it in the right place. After several failed attempts, your kid will be wishing for a laptop with a real keyboard and mouse.
3: It’s too distracting (games, apps, 4Gs, Web browsing, Twitter, IMs…)

The iTunes App Store boasts that it contains more than 500,000 apps — which is tantamount to more than 500,000 distractions for your child, who’s supposed to be paying attention to the teacher.
4: It’s ultra-portable and ultra-droppable

Light and portable means your child will want to take it everywhere. But taking it everywhere means there’s a greater chance of dropping and breaking it. In fact some kids will forget, completely, that it’s in their bag and, as kids will, fling their satchel across the room — only to be rewarded with a gut-wrenching crack, followed by a cold-sweat-inducing tinkle of broken screen glass.
5: What makes it desirable to your kid makes it desirable to criminals

Your child’s desire to get an iPad is second only to the desire of a criminal to steal one. Sure, there are security locks available, just like the kind you can get for a laptop. But who — especially among the devil-may-care college-age set — really takes the time to a) lug that cable around and b) actually use it?
6: It’s meant for the enjoyment of one person, which means social seclusion

You want your children to grow up to be personable, extroverted, well-functioning members of polite society, right? So why would you give them a personal entertainment device that all but guarantees they can spend every moment of their free time with their nose pointed at a tiny screen, drowning out the revelry, camaraderie, and general good-times that are taking place around them?
Got an hour between classes? iPad. Waiting for the shuttle to campus? iPad. Yes, kids could seclude themselves with a laptop — but not in as many places. Let’s see them try walking down the street watching the latest True Blood on a laptop! It’s too cumbersome and awkward. (Just like True Blood.)

7: Digital text books are a marvel, but there’s no secondary market

Your child will make the argument that an iPad can display digital textbooks and, since the device is lighter than a stack of dead-tree tomes, you’ll be preventing years of backache and possibly a future addiction to painkillers / chiropractors.
After a cursory examination of eBook prices, you’ll notice that they’re generally cheaper than their printed counterparts. Don’t be fooled! There’s no secondary market for digital textbooks. That price you see for the digital version is the only price you’ll get. You can’t buy them used or at a discount, and you can’t sell them back once the semester is over.

8: It’s a status symbol, plain and simple

Like any gadget, the iPad is a status symbol. Like any Apple gadget, it’s an expensive status symbol. It’s something we’ve been trained by society and lifestyle magazines to want, simply because it’s a luxury — and if we can be the first to have it, somehow, we “win.” To combat this, you can earnestly tell your kids that they don’t need things to make them popular with their classmates. Then explain to them that laughing at you, when you’re trying to be serious, isn’t helping their cause.
Be warned, though, that this is a slightly dangerous reason to give your kids for not getting the iPad, as it all but ensures that you can’t buy one for yourself. (Children are really good at pointing out hypocrisy in their elders.)

9: It’ll already be old technology by the time you buy it

Apple is consistent with the release schedule of its devices. Updates come along like clockwork, and our guess is that the iPad is not going to stray from this tried-and-true model. Specifically, the new version of the tablet is surely going to come out sometime in March or April.
10: Your kid will want a laptop, too

Yes. You heard that right. If you buy an iPad thinking, “Well, that’s that,” think again. Since there are situations in which a tablet just doesn’t cut it (see above), your kid will come to realize that a full-fledged desktop or laptop is also essential for school. (He or she will probably spring this on you the first week or two into the first semester — you know, right when you’ll be thinking the expenditures for the year are over.) Whether it’s for paper-writing, Internetting, game-playing, or entertainment-centering, you’re looking at a double-dose of device deployment.
If you cave…

By this point, you should have the tools to demolish your child’s hopes and dreams of being the cool kid on campus. That’s fine, because as we think we’ve made clear: The iPad is an accessory — and an expensive one at that. It’s not a productivity tool and it’s certainly not a laptop replacement.
But if, after reading this list, you’re still going to get your son / daughter an iPad, try to keep quiet about it. Other parents do not want to battle a kid yelling, “But [INSERT FRIEND'S NAME]’s folks got him one!”


Source - http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-reasons-not-to-buy-an-ipad-for-your-college-student/2599

Google Now Detecting Viruses, For At Least One Form Of Malware

Google has just announced something pretty interesting, that it is using its own data to detect viruses and will as of today be using Google Search results pages to warn users if their computers are infected with a specific form of malware. Users infected with the virus, which is apparently rerouting traffic to Google and other sites through a proxy, will see the below warning.

From the Google blog post mysteriously titled “Using data to protect people from malware”:

“Recently, we found some unusual search traffic while performing routine maintenance on one of our data centers. After collaborating with security engineers at several companies that were sending this modified traffic, we determined that the computers exhibiting this behavior were infected with a particular strain of malicious software, or “malware.” As a result of this discovery, today some people will see a prominent notification at the top of their Google web search results.”

Google’s Matt Cutts offers more details about the virus on his Twitter account, apparently it only affects Windows computers and hijacks Google results. “That’s how we learned about it,” Cutts says about the “results hacking” thing, without offering many more details. Google is recommending you follow the advice in its Help Center if you do receive the notification.

This is the first time major search engine turns its results pages into what is ostensibly a malware alarm. Of course this is in the company’s best interests; if proxies are intercepting communications they could also potentially access Google accounts, thus creating more headaches for Google.




Source - http://www.techgig.com/readnews.php?category=Startups&tgnews_link=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F~r%2FTechcrunch%2F~3%2F-a346BOz56U%2F&tg_type=rss

My firm - Skynet Technologies

I am entrepreneur owner of Skynet Technologies working in the field of IT/BPO since 2002.

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Skynet Technologies is a IT/BPO firm based in India/Pune.

At Skynet Technologies we offer a variety of Data Capture and Document Conversion services that are aimed at extracting the intelligence from your electronic documents.

The Data input can come from paper documents, image files, old databases, microfilms and output could be in ASCII format, COBOL, PDF, MS Word, MS Excel, SGML, HTML, XML or any proprietary software format.

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Apple guns for Exxon as king of stocks

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc is within sight of catching up with Exxon Mobil as the most valuable company in the world.

Based on Apple's growth trajectory, and a number of catalysts in the pipeline -- from a possible new iPhone this fall to expansions in China -- investors and analysts say Apple could unseat Exxon in the next six months, or latest by the middle of next year.

The market value of the top U.S. technology company was only $52 billion short of Exxon's $410 billion on Wednesday, even though the largest of the oil majors rakes in more than four times Apple's annual revenue.

In the past month alone, Apple's market capitalization has risen by $66 billion to $357.8 billion, fuelled by optimism of a monstrous second half that could include the iPhone 5 and the new online music and data storage service called iCloud.

"Apple has the business momentum and the growth to become the largest capitalized company in the U.S." said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management in Bedford Hills, New York. "It's certainly headed in that direction. It almost seems inevitable."

The only hitch to the ascent of Apple shares would be Exxon increasing its growth on the back on higher crude oil prices, which is unlikely, Ghriskey said.

Assuming that Exxon shares stay flat, Apple will become the most valuable U.S. company when the stock hits about $444, which is only about 15 percent away from current levels.

Exxon shares have risen 14 percent so far this year, outperforming its peers. Gains have largely been fuelled by high crude prices and improving demand for gasoline and diesel in developing countries.

Analysts on average expect shares of Exxon, which last paid a quarterly dividend of 47 cents in June, to climb about 12 percent in the next year to $93. This could increase its market value to $458 billion.

The estimates for Apple, on the other hand, are much higher.

Strong iPhone sales and robust growth in Asia, which helped Apple's quarterly results beat Wall Street's expectations, prompted a number of analysts to increase their price targets on Wednesday.

Wall Street now expects Apple stock to jump 25 percent on average to about $485, with Ticoderoga Securities analyst Brian White forecasting that it could reach $666, the highest target price for the stock currently.

"Looking into the second-half of 2011, we believe Apple enjoys the hottest tech portfolio for the back to school season and holidays," White said. "As such, we expect this rally to have legs."

Being the No.1 on the stock market would be a dramatic reversal for a company that some analysts in 2002, when Apple was in a turnaround mode, valued it based on real estate holdings and cash in hand.

CAUTION AHEAD?

In the next few months, Apple is expected to roll out the iPhone 5, which is likely to give its earnings another shot in the arm and offer a challenge to rivals such as Google Inc and Research in Motion.

Apple sold a record 20.34 million iPhones during the last quarter, even though its newest model is over a year old.

The company is also expected sign a deal with one of the largest mobile carriers in China that will likely bring millions of new consumers. Furthermore, Apple enjoys an early lead in the red-hot tablet market and sold more than 9 million iPads in the June quarter, above expectations.

While iPhones remain its flagship device, the company touted its new line of Intel-powered Mac computers on Wednesday and the latest version of its operating software, the multi-touch enabled Mac OS X Lion.


All this, along with rapid growth in emerging markets, is expected to increase Apple's revenue by 65 percent to about $107 billion this fiscal year. Exxon's revenue in 2011, on the other hand, is expected to rise 24 percent to $477 billion.

But Apple's seemingly-unstoppable momentum is not without risks.

Apart from the health of Chief Executive Steve Jobs -- a survivor of a rare form of pancreatic cancer and the inspiration behind many of Apple's most iconic products -- Wall Street is worried about the rising popularity of Google-powered smartphones.

"We view Google's Android mobile operating system as a significant threat to Apple's iOS," Robert Baird analyst William Power said in a note. "Android's $0 licensing fee, robust quality, and consumer-friendly interface make it an easy choice for smartphone and tablet (makers) looking to compete against the iPhone and iPad."

Also, Apple's iPod sales appear to have peaked as the market for stand-alone music players has shrunk with smartphones now rapidly eating into it. Apple expects iPod sales to fall significantly in the current quarter.

The other major risks are intensifying competition in digital content against both Google and Amazon.com, and numerous patent lawsuits, the financial implications of which are unclear.

Apple settled a case with Nokia last month and is suing Samsung Electronics, Motorola and HTC.

But for now, investors are happy with the Silicon Valley icon's market rally and expect further gains over the next few months

"Historically the second half has been good for the stock," said Mike Binger, an Apple investor at Thrivent Asset Management that has about $70 billion under management. “You are coming into a strong part of the selling season with back-to-school and holiday sales."

"I don't think there is any hangover over the stock. Everyone wants to find a reason not to own it, but I am in the other camp," he said.

(Additional reporting by Anna Driver in Houston; Editing by Anshuman Daga)


Source - http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/Apple-guns-Exxon-king-stocks-reuters-2368130592.html

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Best of the Freelancers..

Comparing Freelance Sites: Craigslist.com, oDesk.com, Freelancer.com, and Mechanical Turk

Many companies that are just starting out on the web may not always have the budget to pay a full-time staff. This is where freelancers, independent contributors, and outsourcing come into the picture. There are thousands of job seekers who are looking for project-based work online. You can leverage on these talents by finding out where they look for work, how much they charge, and generally get a feel of the outsourcing climate today.

Craigslist – while posting job advertisement is free (except in San Francisco and other selected areas), the complete anonymity of the employer discourages some good freelancers from seeking work here. Screening candidates may also be challenging. All applications will be forwarded to the employer’s email and it is up to them to screen each candidate. Despite its drawbacks, Craigslist is a good choice if you’re looking for someone who can work onsite.

oDesk – outsourcing via the web usually uses a fixed-priced pricing model. For example, if a freelancer completes a 5-page website according to specifications, he can expect to receive the agreed-upon amount at the start. oDesk puts a twists into this model. Instead of paying by the project, you pay by the hour. The key benefit is that this encourages long-term relationships. Also, the buyer is given the chance to monitor the freelancer’s working habits through screenshots.

Mechanical Turk – if your project is mostly composed of menial tasks that can be done online, this option provides a very cheap solution. The site mostly focuses on Human Intelligence Tasks (HIT), repetitive, machine-like processes that software programs cannot adequately perform. If you monitor the tasks effectively, the output of providers from Mechanical Turk can be accurate.

Freelancer – one of the propagators of online bidding to get projects. It has since been eclipsed by sites like Rentacoder.com, eLance.com, and oDesk.com. But it remains popular to many businessmen, startups, and website owners. The process in using Freelancer.com is very simple and the transaction fees are relatively low compared to other sites.





Source - http://www.pickaweb.co.uk/blog/uk-web-hosting/comparing-freelance-sites-craigslist-com-odesk-com-freelancer-com-and-mechanical-turk/

Odesk - Good opportunity for freelancers

Odesk

oDesk is the marketplace for online workteams, with the best business model for both employers and contractors. Our unique approach guarantees to employers that an hour billed is an hour worked, while guaranteeing to contractors that an hour worked is an hour paid.

This win-win approach attracts more work to oDesk than to any other online work marketplace. Each month, thousands of companies of all sizes post jobs on oDesk, representing more than $65,000,000. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of top-notch professionals, including web developers, software programmers, graphic designers, writers, customer service representatives and virtual assistants, offer their services through oDesk.

With an average job size of $5,000, oDesk is the best place to find meaningful work and top-flight talent. More than doubling in size each year since 2004, oDesk is where companies are building their entire organizations online and is the primary source of income for thousands of contractors. oDesk is truly changing how the world works.

Finding the best freelancer

Properly finding a freelancer needs a significant time investment. Beyond finding your ideal candidate based on qualifications, tests, references and rates, you need to check references. You should also gauge responsiveness and communication. We recommend starting with a small project and growing from there.

Source - odesk and survey

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Five phrases to avoid in resume : Making a good CV

Resume is not just a document of statements; but facts that are to be proved. Yes, the basic of job hunting is the self marketing campaign, so the resume is your marketing document; however, you need to prove your worth through the resume. Vague statements would kill the chances of getting a job. You will have to establish the fact that you have added value in the past which can be attained only with emphasizing on results. Resume is the best sales tool you have and so, you need to make it error free and interesting. There are a lot of phrases and words that are overused and cliche which you need to be avoided.


1. Team player
Any HR manager who searches candidates with this key word, would receive thousands of resumes that would be considered 'relevant' to their search parameters, which are cliche and vague. Instead, you can fill in your resume with solid facts on how you worked on some project in a team or how you teamed up with someone or with a department to meet an objective? Give details about your achievements as a team player rather than just stating that you are a team player.

2. Strong work ethics
A strong work ethics is a cliche often seen in most of the resume and so realize the fact that there is nothing great about adding this phrase in your resume. You can freshen up your resume by elaborating how you reach that extra mile. Instead of using this overused phrase, you need to list facts on what makes you a person with a strong work ethic.

3. Great communication skills
Be descriptive about what communication skills did you use in the past to add value to your job or explain how your communication skills contributed to your employer than just vaguely stating that you possess great communication skills. You can name one or more of your published articles to prove that you have good written communication skills or name a business deal that you have struck with your client.

4. A proven track record
This is said to be one of the worst canned phrases in resume development and you don't have a proven tr
ack record unless you prove it on your resume with results. Not just list your best results, but present them from a customer's perspective. If you don't prove your track record by solid facts, the recruiter can ask you many questions on your record - as proven by whose standards? And if there is a record, why don't you give its contents?

5. Overused keywords
Resume is the place where you advertise yourself with the best of your career accomplishments and skills to stand out from fellow job applicants; therefore, it should be error free. The keywords you use in your resume can make or break your chances of getting your dream job. Recruiters and headhunters tend to ignore the resume that highlights the overused keywords such as hard-working, dynamic, problem solver, entrepreneurial etc. Some of the often used, vague and cliche keywords are highly-qualified, confident, responsible for, over X years of experienced, effectual leader, self-motivated, professional, result-oriented.

As an example, try to incorporate the following

OBJECTIVE :

To work in an environment where I can enhance my skills and strengthen my knowledge besides giving a positive contribution to the organization through my work.
You could change the whole flow to, How I can be of use to your organization
With the kind of growth at .............across several ...... I am sure I will be a good asset for you to have. (It may sound arrogant, but it will speak your confidence)

Each Job you apply to, must be a UNIQUE application. Sending one CV to all, never works wonders. See what other course can add value to you personally - Part time Executive Course ..... IGNOU course ..... Keep studying.

What other skills can you talk of - That will show social side.

What is your GOAL in life.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Outsourcing Is Healthy & Good: Study

Those who felt that there was a chance the outsourcing industry would die out, may not be too happy with this recent survey by KPMG. According to the study Strategic Evolution, outsourcing is increasing and almost all the organizations that are involved in this practice want to maintain their sourcing level. And quite a few of them even want to increase the sourcing levels. This survey which collated responses from nearly 700 organizations from 32 countries proves that the only path open to this industry goes forward.

Contrary to the belief in certain quarters that outsourcing is creating new problems, most respondents believed that service providers made positive contributions to the success of their organizations. Oh, and it was not only services that had improved. The financial baseline of most firms was also showing an improvement and as they became more lean and mean, their competitiveness increased. Too much good news for a day. What do you say?

Source - http://www.blogsource.org/

Outsourcing Your Healthcare

Medical tourism, or travel tourism as it is sometimes called, has been picking up momentum in the United States, where the costs of health care are often times quite excessive. Medical tourism is the practice of traveling outside of one's home country to simultaneously receive medical care (at a significantly lower cost) and take advantage of the opportunity to see a new travel destination, like Panama, Mexico, or India. The cost saving benefits are clear: for example, the average cost of a U.S.-performed breast augmentation is $8,000. The same procedure performed in Costa Rica costs a mere $2,900. The savings of over $5,000 easily covers your travel expenses and accommodations. Of course, there are some risks to consider as well. But overall, look for this trend to become more popular.

Source - blogsource

Seven BlackBerry 7 smartphones incoming as RIM struggles to compete

RIM is not doing well on the smartphone market today as users leave in droves for the iPhone and Android devices. RIM’s Blackberry line of smartphones was once the most popular on the market and that popularity has waned as RIM struggled to keep up with the rapidly changing smartphone market. RIM also has difficulty in the tablet market with sales of its Playbook tablet a disappointment to the company.

RIM had its shareholder general meeting recently and during the meeting co-CEO Jim Balsillie told investors that the company plans to launch seven new smartphones with the next generation Blackberry 7 OS running the show. However, the executive did point out that the company would be challenged to hit the target of seven launches. Balsillie also said that their had been delays in launching a new version of the OS. The new phones are expected to allow RIM to meet its financial goals for the year.

The other half of the co-CEO team at RIM is Mike Lazaridis. Lazaridis noted that the delays with the new versions of the OS were due to the efforts put into getting the smartphones to meet market expectations. “[Adopting competitive hardware] may have delayed us, but we are going to come out ahead,” Lazaridis said. We already have a idea of a few of the smartphones running the new OS like the Bold 9900 and 9930 as well as the leaked Touch 9860 Monza/Monaca phones that have been spied in the wild already.

Zuckerberg now richer than Google founders

Boston: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's personal fortunes have soared, thanks to investment fund GSV Capital's recent stake in the social networking site which has put the Harvard dropout at a worth higher than Google founder Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Earlier this week, GSV Capital Corp bought 225,000 shares in Facebook at an average price of USD 29.28 each.

This stake values the popular social networking site at about USD 70 billion.

Based on the new investment, Zuckerberg in turn is worth approximately USD 18 billion, a report in Time magazine said.

"With the new valuation, Zuckerberg has one-upped Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, whose fortunes are estimated to have dropped," the Time report said.

This estimate makes Zuckerberg the third-richest man in the technology sector in the world, only behind Microsoft's Bill Gates and Oracle's Larry Ellison.

While Gates is estimated to be currently worth USD 56 billion, Ellison is the world's fifth-richest billionaire at USD 39.5 billion.

Earlier this year, Zuckerberg's net worth stood at USD 13.5 billion.

He had already shot past Apple's Steve Jobs last year and has now passed Google's Brin and Page, whose fortunes are now estimated to have dropped to USD 17 billion from USD 19.8 billion in March.


Source - Zee News