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Just Tag It

2009-10-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

Tags - Revolutionary or Just Folly?
Just another trend or something else?
Trends happen overnight! Some catch on fast and explode very quickly into our every day use.
Most of these trends you can ignore as silly folly or at the most fine amusement. Anyone remember pet rocks, Farrah Fawcett hairdos, or last year's killer fashions?
Others, you have to pay more attention to: cell phones, digital cameras, mini-sites, optin lists, or email.
Right now, there's another trend you should keep your eye on: 'tags'.
What are tags? And why should you care about them?
Tags are a way of sorting and linking all that information in blogs and RSS Feeds. It groups together all the information on one particular subject.
It's a democratic 'search engine' for blogs.
Think of a 'tag' as a 'keyword' to be used in blogging and RSS Feeds (Feed tags are still in the works).
Tags have hit the radar lately because Technorati, which indexes 4.5 million blogs, started sorting blog posts by using tags.
They have created a folksonomy, drawing tags from different sources, mainly Flickr.com which sorts or groups pictures and from del.icio.us -- where you create a tag when you bookmark a page.
Or if your blogging software has categories -- this will be recognized by Technorati as a tag.
If you want to create a 'tag' it's very simple; just place this code in your blog:
<*a href="http://technorati.com/tag/Computers" rel="tag">Computers<*/a> (remove asterisks in actual code)
and you will have created a tag for computers.
A tag makes it easier and faster to find information on your favorite subject. It gives you a cross section of real views and opinions floating in the ether.
There are some inherent problems in this system; will the posts grow so quickly and so large -- it's like 'finding a needle in a haystack' or will you have to dig thru a lot of muck to find the scattered diamonds. Or maybe a ranking system will be put in place but this goes against the 'democratic code' of blogging.
Regardless, the traffic and marketing potential of 'tags' could be very beneficial to those who use it to their advantage.
A marketer with a product to introduce or promote could aggressively target tags as part of their advertising budget. As blogging increases in popularity -- it's something to watch!
As a website owner -- tags could be a great source of targeted traffic. And the keyword here is 'targeted'.
It's the kind of visitor you want coming to your site or blog. It can only lead to a better quality visitor. Similar to a visitor coming from the major search engines. One that is really searching for your information.
The next big question, how will marketers exploit these tags to make a few bucks? Everyone knows that's coming!
Will we have a 'tag search engine' that can rival the quality of a Google or Yahoo? Or do we need one?
As with any new trend -- you never know how it will play out.
Some interesting questions have yet to be answered:
Tags are basically keywords for blogs -- but as everyone knows the quality of links to these tags are not all equal. Will someone step in and rank these or will they remain democratic?
Just how will tags work for building content or links to your site? How will the search engines use these tags? How will marketers and advertisers exploit the potential of all this content and the content's viewers?
Will we have tag-spamming? (Just what we need another form of spamming!) Someone flooding these tags with thousands of links to get traffic or sell a product.
Not to hype it too much but there's a real 'we're entering unknown territory' feeling with blogging and RSS lately. Heady days for those keeping a close watch on the events unfolding. There are countless applications probably already in the works for tags!
It could be the start of something big or it could just fizzle.
In any case -- keep your eyes peeled to that cursor! There's probably a tag on the end of it!
This trend may just offer more than fine amusement.
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How to Backup Your Computer Files

2009-10-19T03:08:00.000-07:00

As I write this, it’s early December, and try as I might, I can’t remember what my new year’s resolution was last time around. One thing I can say with near hundred percent certainty is that whatever it was, I failed to keep it. Maybe you’re the same. Maybe you resolved to quit smoking, lose weight, or read more. We all make promises with ourselves, then fail to keep those promises. Worst of all, those promises might be exactly what we need most. Consider this: When was the last time you backed up your computer files? Last month? Last year? Never?

Let’s make a new year’s resolution together, you and I. Let’s promise to back up our computers. It’s important, I promise. Just yesterday the automatic backup feature in MS Word saved me about an hour’s work when my computer froze up. Given that I haven’t backed up my computer in almost a year, I can’t even imagine how much data I’d lose if I suffered a power surge or hard drive failure. It can happen to the best of us, and often does. Even high end hard drive manufacturers report an average failure rate of between five and eight per thousand every year.

That may not sound like much, but let’s face it, somebody has to be those five to eight people. Feeling lucky? There are about 185 million household PCs in the U.S., according to Computer Industry Almanac, so that means about 150,000 hard drives fail each year. But even if your drive stays intact, about a tenth of all computers suffer minor data loss in any given year. A power surge, the magnets in your home stereo speakers, or even an accidental nudge can affect data storage. According to a report from the ONTRACK data recovery service, data loss can be caused by natural disasters (3% of cases), computer viruses (7%), software problems (14%), and plain old user error (a whopping 32%). Now, I’m sure you never hit a wrong keyboard button, but do you have a button on your computer that prevents a bolt of lightning? I didn’t think so.
WHEREAS our data is important, and disaster can befall even the most noble and undeserving of us, BE IT RESOLVED that you and I shall back up our computer files forthwith.

Amen, brothers and sisters. Now, where and how do we start?

STEP ONE: Choosing Favorites

Not all files are important enough to preserve for posterity. The most critical files on a computer are its operating system files. If you’re a good little consumer, you bought the operating system and kept those CDs handy and secure from data loss. If you’re not, then remind yourself to go stand in the corner later. The drones at Microsoft did not work for years just to watch you steal their work. It’s people like you that keep Bill Gates from buying his second planet. Now that you’ve been suitably chastised, either go buy a legal copy of the operating system, or include the necessary files in your “must back up” list.

The same principle goes for software applications. Maybe you bought an ad and spyware blocker you really like, but the company that coded it has since gone out of business (perhaps because other consumers weren’t as scrupulous as you). If so, include the files you need to run the app in your must list. Now it’s time to look at the remaining files on your computer and prioritize. If you’re not a digital packrat like me, it may be possible to save everything. If so, congratulations.

I don’t have ten gigabytes of portable media at my disposal, so when I back up my computer, I’ll be leaving a few gigs of MP3s and questionable Windows Media files at risk. One of the first things I will save is the folder I use to save my writing assignments, because that data represents money in my pocket. I’ll back up my email address book, plus my digital photography and fiction writing efforts. I can live without “Milkshake” (what was I thinking?), but the guitar piece my friend recorded and sent to me is going on the list. Your results may vary.

STEP TWO: In Which I Tell You Where You Can Put It

That’s right, this is the section in which I’ll tell you where to store your data. It’s not a good idea to put backup files on another drive on the same computer. That defeats the whole purpose. Duplicating your files on another computer in the same LAN is almost as risky, because computer viruses can spread as fast as an imaginary Anna Kournikova JPEG. You need to find a portable storage medium that can hold all the files on your must list. Your options include floppy diskettes, portable hard drives, optical drives, tape drives, and remote servers. We’ll look at each in turn.

Hard diskettes, the old familiar 3.5” squares, hold up to 1.44 megabytes of data. They’re cheap, but 1.44 MB is less than two percent of the ten gigs of data on my hard drive. Even if each of those files were smaller than 1.44 MB (and each weren’t), I’m not keen on the idea of buying, labeling, and storing fifty diskettes. Next idea, please.

Most computer experts rely on removable hard drives for memory backups. The most popular of these drives are the Zip drive from Iomega and the ORB drive from Castlewood. They’re relatively inexpensive and hold up to two gigs of data. Basically, you’ll save your data on a Zip disk, then transfer it from the disk to the portable drive. The catch is that removable drives fail about as often as regular hard drives. They may even be more susceptible to damage from dust and rough handling. A sub-option here is to use a permanent hard drive as a removable drive. At up to two hundred gigs, conventional hard drives are bigger than removable drives, and prices have dropped enough in recent years to make this idea practical. Whatever kind of hard drive you decide to use, make sure to keep it isolated from dust, magnetic charges, and static electricity.

Optical drives use a laser to store information, rather than a magnet. Even if you’re not a tech junkie, that’s probably enough information to give you a clearer idea what we’re talking about: namely, CDs and DVDs. Less common are EO (erasable optical) and WORM (write once, read many) media; they’re less common because they cost over $1000 per drive. CDs, on the other hand, cost less than a buck and can hold up to 650 megabytes. DVDs hold up to five gigs and cost about fifteen dollars apiece. Most computers nowadays have either a CD or DVD writer (or both), but write times can be slow. My CD writer, for example, works best on the 300 kilobyte per second setting—if then. I’ll be using the remote server option. At $250 and up, tape drives are more expensive and slower than hard drives or optical media, hence less common, but also extremely reliable.

Remote servers are third party companies that store data online for a fee. This is a great option for broadband Internet users, especially people like me who don’t own a reliable data writer. SkyDesk runs http://www.Backup.com , Back-Up Solutions maintains http://www.BackUpHelp.com , and Iomega hosts iServer ( http://www.Iomega.com ). XDrive ( http://www.xdrive.com ), once a free service, now charges ten bucks a month for up to five gigs of storage. Promotions and other rates change, so it’s a good idea to shop around before selecting a remote storage service.
STEP THREE: Git ’er Done

Now it’s time to put the files you want to save on the storage medium you’ve chosen. There are several ways to do this. Your CD writer, for example, may come with proprietary disk writing software. That application may even include a backup option. If it does, and you’re more familiar with that software than Windows features, then that’s the way to go. Otherwise, backup is still relatively easy on all MS operating systems since Windows 98. Windows 98, Windows ME, and Windows XP Professional include a built-in Backup utility. To run it, just click on Start, then Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, then Backup. How easy was that? If you’re using the XP Home edition, you may need to add the utility manually. If so, insert the Windows XP CD into your disk drive and wait for the “Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP” screen. (You may need to double-click the CD icon in My Computer.) Then click on Perform Additional Tasks and Browse This CD. In Windows Explorer, double-click the ValueAdd folder, then Msft, then Ntbackup. Double-clicking on Ntbackup.msi will install the utility. Once it’s installed, you can also run the program by clicking Start and Run, then typing msbackup.exe (Windows 98 and Windows ME) or ntbackup.exe (Windows XP) in the Open field. Click OK, and you’ll be off to the races.

Incidentally, the Windows XP Backup utility also includes a bonus application called the Automated Recovery Wizard. This creates a bootable floppy that initiates backup if the hard drive must be replaced. Other options for “disaster recovery” include BackUp MyPC from Stomp ( http://www.StompInc.com , $79) and Norton Ghost 9.0 from Symantec ( http://www.Norton.com , $69.95). Ghost actually allows users to duplicate the contents of their computer over the Internet. Both have earned stellar reviews from top PC magazines.
Don’t let another month go by without protecting the files you value most. My girlfriend justifies her messy car by saying she “lives out of it.” Well, I live out of my computer. It’s not just my office; it’s the home of cherished memories in the form of pictures, MP3, and other data files. I’m resolved to keep it safe.

Teleseminar Setup - Formula Set to Strike it Rich

2009-04-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

What if you learned how to make massive income on the internet using the selling power of teleseminars?
Do you want to know how to use one of the most powerful sales tool on the internet that most marketers completely neglect?
The purpose of this article is to get you started on the right path towards internet business success using teleseminars.
Here are 5 simple steps to get you started instantly...
Step 1 - See where your attendees stand. Step 2 - Prepare content based on their expertise. Step 3 - It is best to ask them what they want. Step 4 - Focus on selling high ticket products. Step 5 - Provide time limited offers right on the call.
The purpose of this article is to show you how teleseminars can make you rich and famous starting today.
Checkout the step by step details right here...
Step 1 - See where your attendees stand.
You have to first evaluate where your teleseminar attendees stand. Are they newbies or experts in your niche and accordingly you have to create your content. If you provide highly advanced content to newbies they will not be interested in your teleseminar and if you provide newbie content to advanced people they will too quit. You have to make sure that you create content based on the demand of your attendees...
Step 2 - Prepare content based on their expertise.
Once you have evaluated their expertise all you have to do is prepare content focused on giving them exactly what they want. You have to continue their journey and provide them more advanced stuff from where they stand. You have to make sure to give them exactly what your subscribers want, for this make sure you do a basic survey...
Step 3 - It is best to ask them what they want.
The best thing you can do is build your list and then ask them exactly what problems they have. This will give you a fair idea as to what type of content you have to create to get them interested in your teleseminar. It is important that you sell high ticket products to make massive cash out of your teleseminar.
Step 4 - Focus on selling high ticket products.
Teleseminars have been tested as one of the most effective tools to sell high ticket products for a simple reason... they build strong long lasting relationship with your list and also helps in boosting up your credibility and trust factor among your list members. Giving your clients one time offers and time limited offers will boost your product sales...
Step 5 - Provide time limited offers right on the call.
If you provide limited time offers to your attendees for your product that you are promoting, they will instantly grab them and you will make tons of sales instantly after your teleseminar.You can create a special offer page for your attendees and tell them that this page will be active for next 24 hours and the page is only created for people who have attended the teleseminar. This will boost up your sales.

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How to Make $1,000 Fast Online

2009-03-28T01:02:00.000-07:00

I know the title of this article probably has you a little skeptical, but the fact of the matter is that it really isn't very hard to generate $1,000 online quickly. It's all about finding a proven method and sticking to it. There are surely hundreds of ways to generate $1,000 quickly online but with this article I would like to show you how to do that by using PLR products.
You first want to find a PLR product that has a salespage and graphics included with it. Go to any search engine right now and type in "PLR products". You will find many free PLR products that you can start using right away. Once you find a PLR product you want to use, simply go in and make a few changes so that it will be an original product. If you want, you can even create a new ebook cover. That, however, is not essential.
After you have made a few changes to the product, you can now upload the salespage to the internet. If you do not know how to make your product instantly downloadable, you can use a service like e-junkie. You upload your product to their site and every time someone makes a purchase they make sure it downloads instantly. They charge you only $5 a month to do that for you.
Once you get that all set up you need to start promoting your product. If you sell the product for $5 then you only need to sell around 220 to reach your goal of $1000. The reason I say 220 is because you have to add in any fees your merchant will charge you for each transaction you make.Try to find a PLR product in the health or wealth field. These products sell relatively easy if you promote them right.

Computer Education - The Most Common Mistakes People Make in Computer Education

2009-03-25T06:42:00.001-07:00

Computers have become an essential part of everyday lives. With the ever growing number of computer applications to learn, people easily can get frustrated. So lets look at some common mistakes people make when trying to learn how to use the computer or software such as Office, Word, Excel, Ebay etc...
Mistake 1 People tend to beat themselves up unnecessarily. In the computer world, mistakes are quite common. Just entering one incorrect letter, number, or symbol and your whole operation can grind to a halt. Even the very best of us has accidentally deleted the wrong file. When it comes to operating complex software applications you should not feel bad when problems occur.
Mistake 2 Cutting corners is one of the easiest ways to get in trouble when it comes to learning computer software. It is quite common to skip important or critical steps. Trying to use hardware or software without reading the manuals or doing the basic tutorials is usually a formula for frustration or failure.
Attempting to use powerful software programs such as word processors, spread sheets, web page designers, graphic illustrators, and many others right out of the box is an easily preventable cause of computer related stress. While many of these program are relatively easy to learn and operate at a very basic level, most users could benefit from additional training and tutoring.
Mistake 3 Not asking for help. Many novice computer users as well as experienced users, are reluctant to ask others for help. When you are just starting out learning to use your computer, nothing can beat having one or two experienced computer users available whom you can call whenever you run into a problem. Unfortunately this is not always available. But if you know you need help then there is a solution.
So now we understand some common mistakes and fears when trying to learn how to use the computer or computer software. What is the answer? Video Professor. The Video Professor system is one of the easiest ways to give yourself the skills you need. You just put the cd in your computer and follow along. It is just like having a skilled, experienced computer user sitting by your side taking you step by step.

Is Capitalism Dead?

2009-03-17T03:28:00.000-07:00

If things go the way have been capitalism will kill itself off at the same time it kills everything else. The way capitalism is currently practiced, with its view that there is an endless source of resources and its excessive wastefulness, I see it as a lame sick horse that needs to be put out of its misery. Will someone please shoot this sick horse already? Where's the guy with the gun? A quick bullet to the head and it's all over. Done. Then we can begin anew.
Our current unsustainable form of capitalistic ideas are out-moded, not in line with reality. Capitalists see everything as infinite: resources, money, the environment - everything. That just can't be true considering we live on a finite planet, where everything has a limit. There is only so much oxygen in the air we breath. Only so much fresh drinkable water. There is only so much of anything and when it's used up, that's it, no more, it's gone-forever!
Why haven't these capitalist figured it out yet, or don't they care?
If someone smart reads this and has the money to implement it, they would be richer than any current capitalist. Instead of burying things, why not rework them into something new. Mine landfills for all the resources other capitalist throw out. Landfills are a gold mines, of a different kind. Organic waste could be mixed with sewage to produce methane gas for homes to use. What comes out could be composted to create a very rich fertilizer. The metals buried in a landfill are in huge demand, especially copper right now.
Biomimicry is the newest hot word and businesses should take note. Nature, although it creates waste, it does not pollute, as all the waste is immediately used by something else. Zero sum.

Technical Writing - What's the Difference Between a "Font" and "Font Family" Or "Typeface"?

2009-03-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

A sound knowledge of fonts is a must for any technical writer. In about fifteen or twenty years that may not be as crucial as it is today if and when the technical communication field makes a wholesale shift to "structured authoring" in which the writers may lose control over how their "content" will be formatted and "presented."
But as these lines are written, we're still living in the "unstructured authoring" era when technical writers not only gather the content but also decide how that content will appear in print, in a PDF file, on screen, etc. So that's why they also need to have a good understanding of the fonts and how to use them properly.
First, you should be aware that when we commonly refer to a "font" in daily language we're usually referring to a "font family." It is also known as a "font face" or "typeface."
A "font family" or "typeface" includes all letters of a given alphabet in one or more font sizes, all the punctuation marks, all numbers and a selected set of symbols.
For example, "Helvetica," "Arial," "Times Roman" are all font families. And within that "family" there are individual fonts, differing from each other by individual attributes such as "weight," "style," "size" etc.
That's why, technically speaking, "Arial, 12 pt, Italic" is a different font than "Arial, 14 pt, Italic" because they do not have identical attributes (size, in this case). However, they still belong to the same "font family," regardless of their attributes. This is especially true in print documentation.
However, the introduction of computers did change some of these basic definitions. Since size, weight and style of a font can be changed easily on a computer, the fonts that have different attributes (like weight and size) are referred to these days simply as a "typeface". For example, "Arial 12 Bold" and "Arial 14 Italic" become "typefaces" in this new on-line design environment.

MySpace Custom Design - Why a MySpace Custom Design Should Be Included in Your Marketing Budget

2009-03-12T03:43:00.000-07:00

MySpace is by far, the most effective marketing tool and the largest social networking site today. MySpace receives surmountable user traffic everyday and its population is diverse making it the object of affection for most smart marketing professionals in town.
Your marketing effort is all about branding and establishing your name or brand. With MySpace, your efforts are maximized since you are reaching out to wider audience and you attract people from all walks of life.
Your MySpace layout should define who you are and what your brand should be. Almost 80% of your audience over the internet perceive with their eyes so your layout should send a clear and concise message of what your profile is all about. Your name, description and services rendered should be conveyed by your layout alone. Successful product branding starts from good showmanship. This is your overall personality speaking to your crowd.
Basically, it is quite simple to get started, you just register with MySpace and you are ready to go but it should not end there. While it seems you grasp a good deal of audience now, you should also remember that most likely your competitors are also doing the same things as you are thus making it doubly hard to get notice especially if you are working on generic layouts.
That is why you need MySpace custom designs. Your layouts should be unique and they should stand out. It should leave a lasting impression to your potential clients. Custom designed MySpace layouts are like jingles in commercials, they should catch the attention of their target household and most of all, they should be memorable and engaging.
By hiring a professional MySpace designer to work with you, you are given an edge over your competitors by quality and overall impact. It should be simple, quick and easy for your visitors to load and navigate. Advanced web design can only be done by professionals hence the need to hire one if you want to stay on top of your game.
In marketing, every saleable venue should be explored and MySpace presents an excellent way to build your brand from. Your MySpace custom designed profile is very flexible and cost-effective; it can only benefit any marketing plan.

Promote Your New Web Site - 5 Ways to Get Traffic and Rankings

2009-03-11T02:29:00.001-07:00

Are you looking for ways to promote your Web site? The more targeted traffic you get, the more sales you will make. Let's look at five quick and easy ways to get traffic and rankings.
1. Pay Attention to Basics: Your Pages' Titles and Descriptions -- They're Free Advertising
Google and the other search engines will advertise your site for free for you, using precisely the keywords and descriptions you want. Take advantage of that free largesse.
Here's how. Look at your site's home page in any browser. What do you see at the very top of the browser window? If you see "Home" you need to act.
Fix the "keyword" and "description" meta tags on every page of your site. Remember, when people are searching online, your site gets advertised for free by appearing in the search engine results pages.
2. Get Links, but Ensure They're Relevant
Without links, the Web wouldn't exist. All other things being equal, a site with many links will be ranked more highly than sites with few links. Get relevant links to your site. There are many ways to do this.
3. Get Into Google News
Want your site to appear in Google News? Here's how: write a press release, and post it on one of the commercial press release sites. In long term traffic boosts, and ranking boosts, this will be the best money you'll ever spend.
4. Create and Promote Your Blog to Drag Your Site Into the Rankings
Do you have a blog? Create a blog for your site. The search engines love blogs, and your blog can drag the rest of your site into the search engine rankings. Pay attention to the keywords you use in your blog; use the keywords for which you want to be ranked, and link to the rest of your site with those keywords.
5. Advertise Frugally: Use Pay Per Click (PPC) to Get an Instant Flow of Traffic
The fastest way to get good traffic is to advertise. However, be frugal when you do this. Bid only on the keywords which are directly relevant to your site's offerings. Ensure that your keywords are "long tail" -- avoid competitive keywords.

Writing a Church Web Article

2009-03-07T00:28:00.001-08:00

Writing for a web based paper is sometimes a difficult task but it doesn't have to be. There are ways to entice your readers to enter your church website without preaching to them. We will examine some of these and give you tips on making your articles work for your church web design.
The first important thing to remember is to make sure your content is easy to read. Write your articles as though everyone who reads it is in a hurry and doesn't have time to sit through nonsense. Most online readers are impatient and want to get to the point quickly. If you write as though everyone is impatient, your readers will be much more likely to stop and take a look at your church web design.
Following in line with the impatient reader, we must think about how long each article is. Here are some tips on writing a good and effective web article:
1) Headings should be 8-10 words or less. Long drawn out headings give too much information away to the reader and then they feel as though they already know what the article is about.
2) Sentences should be 15-20 words per sentence. Again, long drawn out sentences give away too much information. By the time the reader is finished with the first sentence, they already know how the article will end.
3) Paragraphs should only be 40-70 words per paragraph with at least three sentences per paragraph. Writing a paragraph with less than three sentences usually leaves the reader questioning if there was more they missed. Creating a paragraph with more than 70-80 words is not a paragraph. Paragraphs should be descriptive but not eventless.
4) Your page word count should be no less than 250 words. A page that is less than that releases the reader too quickly, before they become interested in your church web design.
When writing for your church website design, you may want to think about the keywords you want to use. Maybe before beginning an article, sit down and write down keywords that the general public may use to find your article. Once you have a keyword list, incorporate 3-4 keywords into the beginning of the article title. Each article should be keyword rich therefore it is a good idea to use your keywords as much as possible when writing your article.
Provide as many links and connections as possible in your article. The Internet is about linking information. Never create a church website design that becomes a dead end. If your church website design has 20 pages, make sure each page links to the others. You can also create links to other websites and allow those websites to link to yours

How Can I Remove MS Antivirus From My Computer? - MS Antivirus Removal Guide

2009-03-06T03:29:00.000-08:00

MS antivirus is a new rouge anti-spyware program released by the same makers of the Vitae Antivirus 2008 and Vista Antivirus 2008. If this deadly Vundo Trojan virus has been installed on your computer then you are in some serious strife and I strongly recommend you remove it as soon as possible if you are concerned about your PC's Safety. In this article I am going to quickly cover How To remove MS Antivirus and I will also outline the procedure of how to remove the virus manually with a "MS Antivirus Removal" Guide.
This rouge spyware program has the same characteristics as it predecessors; it advertises itself through misleading sites, lists endless amounts of false infections on your computer, and wants you to purchase the program to remove these phony infections. You probably got infected by this Virtumonde Trojan without you even knowing, most probably through downloading a song, movie, codec or some other free anti-spyware software. Nonetheless if you are infected MS Antivirus will be set to run automatically when your computer starts. Once the program has started, it will automatically scan your computer and list a variety of infections that cannot be removed unless you first purchase the program.
The program can seriously slow down the performance of a computer as it will continually display pop-ups about fake infections and intrusions. These alerts pretend to be a detection of an attack on your computer and the alert prompts you to activate, or purchase, the software in order to stop the attack. Whenever you receive these alerts just simply ignore them and don't panic as they are fake and only being shown to scare you into purchasing the software.
Now the best way to fully remove MS Antivirus from your computer would be to run your existing anti-spyware (make sure it is fully updated) and have it remove the Trojan automatically. The best tool on the market for Vundo Trojan removal is Spyware Doctor 6 by PC Tools, it is one the more sophisticated spyware removal tools and it is PC Magazine's editors choice as best spyware removal tool. If you don't have an anti-spyware program installed on your computer then I recommend you download one asap, especially if you download a lot of stuff from the net.
You see Virtumonde viruses are fast becoming one the most deadly and popular viruses around these days and it is all because they are secretly hidden in files that appear to be beneficial to the user. So if you download any movies, songs, games or software off the net then chances are that your computer is at serious risk and you will need the adequate protection to keep your PC Safe.
On the other hand If you want a quick remedy and temporary solution to the problem then I can show a manual way of removing the virus yourself. Follow this MS Antivirus Removal Guide:
Step 1: Kill The processes MSAntivirus2008.exe MSASetup.exe
Step 2: Delete all the registry values: There are too many to list here...
Step 3: Delete The files C:\\Program Files\\MSAntivirus2008 C:\\Program Files\\MSAntivirus C:\\Program Files\\MS Antivirus C:\\Program Files\\MS Antivirus 2008
Step 4: Delete The directories:
This is the process you will have to follow in order to remove the virus manually and if you require detailed instructions on how to carry out each step then search Google for "Remove MS Antivirus" Manually and you should be good to go.
I will like to conclude by saying that manually removing the virus, although it is a quick fix, isnt the permanent solution to this problem. Virtumonde viruses have a tendency to replicate themselves and re-install themselves after re-boot, so even if you think you fully deleted the virus by manual methods it is probably still there. Also manually deleting the virus isn't going to protect you from future threats and if YOU do a lot of downloading off the net, then I seriously recommend you grab the proper protection and keep your PC Secure.
So if you wanted to know How to remove MS Antivirus then run your existing anti-spyware program and it should fully remove the virus for you in matter of minutes. If you don't have an antispyware program then you can try manual deletion methods by following the MS Antivirus removal guide above, however nothing is guaranteed and you should only try the procedure if you are an experienced computer users who knows how to mess with the windows registry. Also proper anti-spyware software's are a lot more efficient at completely removing the virus, so you should probably download a good program before you do any further damage to your PC.

Sales Copy - 4 Proven Ways to Write Successful Sales Copy

2009-03-05T00:38:00.000-08:00

Sales copy is one of the most important elements when you attempt to sell your product or services online. The purpose of sales copy is give your reader information about the product your are selling and turn the reader into a customer.
The sale of your product is very dependent on the quality of your sales copy. A good sales copy needs to be persuasive enough to make the client want to purchase your product.
There are many ways of improving your sales copy writing skills. Although other factors are also important, some of the most important ways of writing a good sales copy are:
1. Use catchy headlines. It is very important that your sales copy has very attractive and catchy headlines. The headlines should be interesting enough to create a lot of interest in the mind of the reader. As a rule, most readers do not read the whole copy, so it is important that the headings are interesting enough to catch and hold their attention. Make sure to use language that will entice the reader and make them want to read the rest of the sales copy.
2. Use keywords properly. The use of your major keywords is a must while writing sales copy. Keywords will ensure that whenever some related search is conducted, your sales page will be found by the crawlers of search engines as a representative of the product or service you are trying to sell.
3. Be persuasive. Use everyday language -- it is important that the language you use is intriguing enough that the readers decide that they want to buy your product.
4. Benefits. Be sure that you stress the benefits of your product or service and what it can do for them. Remember, readers have a problem that they want solved so show them how your product will accomplish just that. People generally don't buy a shovel because it looks good or is made of a certain alloy which is features, they really want it because they want a hole dug (benefit).
If you'd like more information about creating an online business website as well as internet marketing and other related fields, I've just completed a new ebook entitled "Learn How to Easily Create Your Own Website and Actually Understand the Full Process".

Technology News and Gadgets - Evolving Science

2009-03-03T03:56:00.000-08:00

As a great majority of the world's young population would agree, ever since the advent of the internet new technologies, news and devices have become available, things that were even unimaginable such as an infra-red and virtual laser projection keyboard, phones with cameras, mp3s, video and internet browsing capabilities are now out there and ready to be tested.

Most of this technology is actually still unknown to some people. For instance, TiVos became popular because they can record TV programs with high quality and have a great storage capacity, which completely turns video cassette players obsolete, but there are alternative gadgets and technologies such as video capture cards or USB peripherals that can do the very same thing but without costing us a monthly rental fee.

Bluetooth and WiFi are relatively new concepts which most computer users don't fully understand but it is used often through Laptops, PDAs and Cell phones. The fact is that users sometimes are unaware of what the technology implies and how it works, they just want to use it and know that it works. While that may be the case with most of us it is always nice to have someone to ask these type of questions when such information is needed.

Fortunately, all that is required to access a vast amount of information regarding gadgets and tech news is a computer with web access. There are several tech portals which deliver several headlines a day so the best way to keep up with them is to subscribe freely to their news and updates feed so that they can be read from one RSS Feed reader, this is the case of blogs, article sites, etc.

Tech forums are also useful when trying to get reviews or opinions about a certain gadget. For example, many people don't know what the iphone can be "hacked", this particular term doesn't mean that someone will access our phone and steal our ring tones and phone numbers, what it means is that extra functionality and applications can be added to unlock or add more features. The same thing can be said of the new gaming consoles from Nintendo "Wii", most users do not know that Wii's controllers can be used to play games on laptops or PCs using the motion sensors they have built in and a small application.

The bottom line is, ever since the invention of the web, new technologies and gadget have emerged and they keep emerging, so it is important to keep up through constantly updated social sites, news sites, forums and blogs.

Vodafone releasing iPhone in Australia, Italy, India, and seven other countries

2008-05-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

Vodafone today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe. Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network.

Oracle Warns of Critical db Server Vulnerabilities

2008-04-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

atabase server giant Oracle plans to ship a major security update on Tuesday, April 15 to cover more than 40 vulnerabilities in a wide range of products.
The fixes are part of the company's quarterly CPU (critical patch update) and will cover severe vulnerabilities across hundreds of Oracle products.

According to Oracle's advance notice, 17 of the 41 flaws were discovered in its flagship Oracle Database, including two for Oracle Application Express.

"Two of these vulnerabilities may be remotely exploited without authentication, i.e., may be exploited over a network without the need for a username and password," the company warned.

Colombian Man Sentenced for Computer Fraud

2008-04-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

Colombian man who used keylogging software in a lucrative identity theft scheme has been sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of US$347,000.

Mario Simbaqueba Bonilla, 40, pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court in January to conspiracy, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. His scheme, which he carried out alone and with a co-conspirator between 2004 and 2007, had more than 600 victims worldwide, including employees of the U.S. Department of Defense, according to the Department of Justice.

Bonilla installed keylogging software on hotel business-center computers and Internet lounges in order to steal passwords and other personal data. Then he and his partner used complex computer intrusion methods to steal money from accounts. After transferring the money to credit and debit cards or cash, Bonilla used it to buy electronics and pay for luxury travel to Hong Kong, France, Jamaica, the U.S. and other places, according to the Justice Department. The court pegged the actual and attempted losses from the scheme at $1.4 million.

Bonilla was arrested by federal agents last August when he flew into the U.S. with a laptop, purchased with stolen funds, that contained personal and financial information on more than 600 people.

Bush's Cyber Secrets Dilemma

2008-04-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

There's a problem facing the Bush administration: It has $30 billion to spend over the next five to seven years to keep the U.S. safe from hackers and cyberspies. But to extend that protection to the nation's critical infrastructure--including banks, telecommunications and transportation--it needs the cooperation of the private sector.

And among corporate executives, even those who want to help are wary: How can the business world participate in the government's cyber initiative, they ask, if the government remains intensely secretive?

"There's very little transparency as to the government's plans," says Bruce McConnell, a former information technology policy director for the White House's Office of Management and Budget who now works as a private consultant. "To protect critical infrastructure, we need to create trustworthy mechanisms for sharing information. That can't happen when one side's position is secret."

Computers Catching up

2008-04-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

They can feel pain, breastfeed, share a laugh with the kids, even determine your mood. Now, it seems, robots can also tell if you’re hot, or not.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University say they have taught a computer to interpret attractiveness in women. The computer learned to judge attractiveness by mapping the geometric shape of facial features from 100 different images previously been rated from 1 to 7 in terms of attractiveness, by a group of 30 men and women.

By noting what features humans found attractive, the computer was then able to successfully identify good looking individuals in additional images. The ratings were also based partly on geometric symmetry in faces which have long been linked to attractiveness, as defined by humans.

The researchers say it could be used in reconstructive surgery, presumably to guide plastic surgeons in making patients as attractive as possible.

I wonder, however, if it could also be used to generate ratings on some yet to be developed website that provides an alternative to Hot or Not. Human generated ratings from the latter seem to be based more on how much skin one reveals.

Then again, robots might learn to like a little extra flesh as well.

BBC is under fire

2008-04-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

The BBC is under fire from one of the biggest ISPs in the UK - Tiscali - which is demanding money from the broadcaster to recoup the costs of serving users of the BBC's popular TV streaming service, iPlayer.

I find it hard to understand why Tiscali thinks it should receive money - other than the possibility that it perceives the BBC as an easy target.

The BBC estimate that the service has increased the UK's use of bandwidth by between 3 and 5%. That is puny compared to the effect of peer-to-peer file sharing - much of which is illegal. A report last year found that between 50 and 80% of all traffic in the countries studied comes from peer-to-peer.

Tiscali is among the many ISPs that use a technique called traffic shaping to reduce the bandwidth available for peer-to-peer programs. Doing the same to iPlayer traffic would be simple. But not very popular.

As yet Tiscali is the only one to grumble about the iPlayer. Other ISPs have said they are so far coping with the extra demand from the it and other video services. But as streaming video gets more popular and of higher quality - in part thanks to the success of the iPlayer - ISPs will likely feel the effects.

It is plausible that one result will be changes to the way "unlimited" bandwidth packages are sold. They will have to either get more expensive, or start to disappear, with customers paying for what they use.

Installation of optical fibre systems - which will be faster than delivering broadband over phone lines as most UK ISPs do - may also become more urgent.

But our increasing appetite for bandwidth may in future become a problem for cellphone networks too. The latest generation of devices like the iPhone will make using the mobile web much easier - and online video is already part of it.

So far, advances in the capacity of the infrastructure used by phones has kept well ahead of demand. But perhaps, not long from now, wireless network operators will also start to feel their bandwidth squeezed, as people stream TV during their commutes instead of listening to music.

Microsoft caught spying

2008-04-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

If you used the instant-messaging system MSN messenger in June 2006, all your chats were being collected and being passed (anonymised, of course) to researchers at Microsoft Research, a paper in the physics pre-print server arXiv reveals.

But their results aren't headline grabbing - they show people are more likely to chat with others in the same geographical location, age group and of the same sex. As the arXiv blogger points out, more interesting is the fact the researchers struggled with the size of their dataset:

"The sheer size of the data limits the kinds of analyses one can perform," they write. The 4.5 terabytes of chat logs took 12 hours to copy onto an eight-processor server for processing.

The US security services have made moves to assemble databases of online communication that will surely dwarf that - watching over phone calls, social networking sites and emails.

Extracting useful information - not just generalities like the study mentioned above - is going to require massive amounts of storage and processing power. The spying game just isn't the same any more. How long before James Bond is seen acting on a tip-off from network theorists with ranked armies of servers at their backs?

Tom Simonite, online technology reporter

Soccer robots compete for the title

2008-04-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

Robot soccer is an ambitious high-tech competition for universities, research institutes and industry. Several major tournaments are planned for 2008, the biggest of which is the 'RoboCup German Open'. From April 21-25, over 80 teams of scientists from more than 15 countries are expected to face off in Hall 25 at the Hannover Messe. In a series of soccer matches in several leagues, they will be putting the latest technologies on display. The tournament is being organized and carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS in Sankt Augustin.

For a machine, a soccer match is a highly complex endeavor. Robots must be able to reliably recognize the ball, the sidelines and the goalposts in addition to distinguishing between their teammates and opponents. To this end, they are outfitted with all sorts of high-tech equipment: cameras and sensors scan the robots' surroundings, internal processors convert data to define game tactics and defense strategies, and innovative engines allow the automated players to sprint across the field and unexpectedly fake out their opponents.

There are now nine leagues, each of which has its own technological focus. In the middle-size league, robots get around on wheels. Four players and a goalkeeper compete for each team on a 20 x 14-meter pitch with standard soccer goals. They must be able to function completely independently and are equipped with internal camera systems that process information in real time. What's more, the robots can move up to two meters per second.

Other automated soccer players, such as Sony's robotic dog Aibo, run on four mechanical paws. And two-legged robots have been competing against each other at the RoboCup since 2005. "These humanoid robots have come a long way in recent years," says.

Dr. Ansgar Bredenfeld, who is in charge of the RoboCup at IAIS. "Just like real players, they fall down and get up again, go after the ball autonomously and score goals".

The RoboCup is more than just a soccer tournament. Since 2006, there has been a 'RoboCup(at)Home' category, a competition for service robots. In a replicated room, the robots must access refrigerators, collect garbage and recognize people. And in the 'RoboCup-Rescue' category, rescue robots must complete an obstacle course.

"RoboCup stimulates technological development in a way that wouldn't otherwise be possible," says Professor Stefan Wrobel, Executive Director of IAIS. "A number of components that were originally designed for robot soccer have since made their way into other applications, for instance in localization technology for inspection robots." Robots that can mow the lawn on their own or collect samples from the ocean floor for marine scientists are also equipped with RoboCup technology. For more Tech News, Reviews, Gadgets, Gizmos do visit http://www.212articles.com.

Source : http://www.fraunhofer.de/EN/index.jsp

Yet another Tech Blog

2008-04-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

Well yet another Tech blog as through my experience I have concluded its an undying need cause the speed of changing technology and the range of products , hardware and software that is taking our life but surprise every single day.

Thus, this blog will provide a platform News and Reviews on Latest Gizmo, Gadgets, Software , Hardware, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), tech tools and all the latest and most interesting Technology related news which you will find very significant.

Thus stay put as this is the beginning of Tech Storm thats hiding your way.

Can you save yourself from it .....