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Learn to design your own web page!

May 15, 2011 by

 

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The internet has now become the doorway that almost everyone uses to communicate with people the world over. Whether friends or family or even complete strangers, a presence on the web is sure to get noticed. This is the reason why websites are such a popular medium of promoting products and services. A lot of people also have personal websites that sell nothing but just people know more about them! However, websites need to have registered domains as well as content that need to be uploaded and updated on the net.

 

There was a time when web designing was a task performed by highly trained professionals who charged mammoth amounts of money to design basic websites. However, all that has changed as websites became more commonly used and training in web designing became freely available. Today, it is possible for people to register their own domains, host as well as design their own websites with very little training. First, a person needs to be clear about what is the objective behind developing the website.

 

You then need to come up with a relevant website name. Availability of a name can be easily checked at most of the popular domain registration sites. Draw up a plan on what kind of content you want on your site. Brainstorm with friends and family on what kind of a look or image you want your website to portray. Do you want your site to look funky or classy and elegant? Then search the internet for online training guides on web designing. There are also several free web designing software available on the internet for download and use.

 

Filed Under: Software, Technology · Tagged With: , ,

Why Pay for Games You Can Download

May 13, 2011 by

Games, we all love them. Facebook members spend hours at a time playing them. Programmers spend lots of time writing new ones. Download sites are loaded with them. Still there are sites that want consumers to pay to play. Why do consumers prefer not to pay?

Out in the big bad world of cyberspace you can find any game you actually have the desire to play, and you can find it for free. Sure it may hide under a different name, but it will be that same old game you grew up with. One example from Facebook is the game they call Wordscraper, which is actually Scrabble. Such games are interactive, challenging, and totally free. If WalMart gave out free games most folks would stick out a hand to receive, and online folks are much the same way.

Many of the free games out there, like poker, offer services just like the pay games do. They offer online play, chatting, tracking of player history, and even more. So here is a question. Why do companies actually do this, offer something for free that could generate income?

Advertising holds the answer. These interactive games require a registration.  Ads may be shown throughout the gaming process. The registration asks for a valid email address, thus allowing email to come to the user’s inbox promoting yet more and more stuff. Games bring in consumers. Advertisers use the games to reach consumers. Once they see the ads they spend dollars. This is how a totally free site can stay thriving. It is all a part of our informational marketplace. Information is money. The registration process gathers the needed customer facts so as to target the advertisements. It makes gaming affordable for everyone and yet it allows the site to make money as well.

However, it is not a good idea to download or use pirated games. While modern technology like Modchips and PS Jailbreak technology can let you play homebrew games, it is not ethical. Worse, if you get caught, it can cause you a world of legal trouble.

Filed Under: Downloads, Technology · Tagged With: , , ,

Basic Poker Strategy

May 5, 2011 by

Is money won better than money earned? It might spend the same, but taking an online poker pot sure seems like more fun than working a traditional nine to five job. Even though only a small percentage of poker players play as full-time professionals, it can still be a fun and profitable hobby for players that take the time to learn basic strategy.

Earn a Reputation

It’s called gambling, but needlessly calling time after time will cause a player to go bust rather than take pots. Aggressive playing works, but usually only after a player develops a reputation. Rather than trying to take every pot, players need to build up their profile and be established as smart players. When the time comes to take a major pot, the reputation as a smart player will give players a chance to win when the stakes are highest. Poker is not about winning the most hands; it’s about winning the most money.

Patience is a Virtue

Even though taking the first pot seems like the best way to start at a table, aggression is usually not a poker player’s best strategy, unless the hand calls for it. Players need to realize that poker is not about playing the cards; it is about playing your opponents. Even though it can be difficult to know a player’s tendencies during a quick game, learning these skills is the key to success in poker. Knowing which players to raise and which players to fold is the most basic poker strategy. When playing against unsophisticated or novice players, exploiting their weaknesses can be the path to easy victory.

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What Is an Affiliate Review Site and How Does it Work?

March 9, 2011 by

If you have ever gone online to compare prices and features on cars, appliances, furniture, or other “big ticket” items, or even some smaller ones for that matter, chances are you have visited as least one affiliate review site. You may not have even been aware of this, as you’re not quite sure exactly what this site is, or how it differs from other sites.

Generally speaking, an affiliate review site provides product or services reviews as well as links to sites providing more information and usually buying or procurement opportunities for the products or services being reviewed. For this reason, whenever you visit an affiliate review site, you’re basically getting two services for the price of one access to reviews as well as the ability to go to another website so that you can check prices and make purchases, if you wish.

Affiliate review sites have other advantages besides providing “two-in-one” services. They can actually help you find the site that will best suit your specific needs. For example, one of the links on an appliance affiliate review site may be to the manufacturer itself, and you may actually be able to order the appliance of your choice “direct from the factory.”

In addition, they usually provide you with up-to-date reviews. You’re not reading something that was written a year ago, and hasn’t been changed since.

When you visit the links provided on these affiliate marketing program websites, you are usually routed to legitimate sites. This ensures that you will visit fewer, if any, scam sites or that your information will be made available to a scam site.

With the almost daily introduction of new technological devices, many people use these sites to obtain reviews on the latest products. This way, they can determine if it’s really worth upgrading or if the model they currently have is still sufficient.

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DANGERS AND DELIGHTS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING TECHNOLOGY

February 23, 2011 by

Everybody loves the new social networking sites. Facebook, MySpace, Linked-In and others have become a part of the day-to-day lives of millions. Simply sign up, create a nice profile, and enjoy the open communication. It gives a whole new meaning to the song, “It’s a small world after all.”

It all has to do with the profile. These sites disply a user’s birthday. A person can upload an actual picture of his or herself. The profile builder also asks about education, employment, favorite books and movies, and much more. This process condenses friend finding into a science of matching one’s profile with other similar profiles. It all sounds so simple.

Family can make awesome use of these sites to stay in touch and share events and photos. Friends often locate each other after several years of separation. Oh how sweet it is to find someone after several years. Old school mates track down pals from the past because of the education features. Even prospective employers can have a look in order to see what kind of person they might be hiring. All of this is awesome, this uniting of family and friends, and this extra boost for the employment issue.

But there is more. What if the one doing the looking is not the good guy? Within these systems there is nothing to prevent a sex offender from joining and finding new friends. An abusive spouse can locate and continue to torment with the help of cyberspace. A foreign spy could learn lots just by being friends with an American soldier. One needs to use caution in choosing who to friends request out there.

Social networking site technology has brought with it both open communication and danger. Consumers need to be aware as they create profiles all over the net. Never allow teenagers or kids to post private and contact information online.

Filed Under: Software, Technology · Tagged With: , ,

There are Tutorials to Help You Code Your Site

February 22, 2011 by

If you don’t want to pay someone else to code your site for you, you may be able to do it for yourself. However, a lot of that depends on how much coding you’ll have to do and how complex it will get. If it’s something simple, you can probably find a tutorial for it. If you want to build a complicated site from scratch, it’s better for you to have someone create it, so you can be sure that it gets done right. For simple things, though, you can find information that you need in order to handle it and make little changes.

Some people are really determined to code their own site. If you’re in that category, there are tutorials that can help you. Search around, talk to people who do some coding, and network with other site owners to find out if they’ve done it for themselves or had others do it for them. There are plenty of online groups and forums where people express their wishes and wants and goals and dreams. You can find coders, and those who just want to be coders, on those kinds of places. Ask them to point you in the right direction, so that they will give you good advice and suggestions about what to do next.

You can also search for a specific type of code or how to do a specific thing in a certain type of code. If you can find that type of information, you can go a long way toward getting things done where building your site is concerned. Don’t be afraid to get in there and try. Just make sure you back your site up after each thing you do, so that a mistake further down the line doesn’t send you all the way back to the starting gate.

Filed Under: Programming, Technology · Tagged With: , ,

CUSTOM DESIGN YOUR HOME ON THE WEB

February 10, 2011 by

Many major web sites offer a free spot on the web that the consumer can call home. Google calls theirs IGoogle. Yahoo calls theirs My Yahoo. Such places allow you to custom design how your home experience will be. This is all fine and well so long as the person is good at making up his mind and planning out his place. Here’s a little help.

One strategy is to view this page as your own personal newspaper. It has no subscription fee, no paperboy, and no real limits. What would it contain if it were a newspaper? One obvious starting point would be the weather. It can be the weather where you live or where friends live. Remember there are no limits here. Simply search the site for related feeds and add them to your page. It is as simple as that. And now the weather stands out on your page.

Most people would then want some type of news. These sites offer local, national, and world news. Also they offer applications that will search out news by keyword so that you can keep up with your favorite topics. Remember, this is your newspaper and you can have it anyway you like. Perhaps you might want more than one news item. That is fine as well. Lets not forget about the sports, perhaps some funnies, and perhaps a few daily quotes to get the day off right. This can really be so much fun.

This custom designed location can also be interactive. Bet your local paper can’t do that. Chat applications, Twitter updates, or even text messaging applications can also be added to this special online experience. All of this is fast to create and easy to use. Go ahead. Try it for yourself. Web designing, once you learn the basics, is simply easy to pick up and make useful. There are only a handful of major software you have to learn – Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Flash, and maybe a bit of php, but once you learn these, you can go on to become a great web designer.

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-EFILE, EVEN TAX TIME IS MADE EASIER WITH TECHNOLOGY

February 8, 2011 by

This time of year many folks are thinking about their income taxes. Will they owe? Will they get a refund? Where will they get their taxes filed from and who will help them get the job done? This at one time was the big moneymaker time for the tax accountant, but not so much anymore. The Internal Revenue Service efile service has become the way to get things done for the average American. What about you? Will this technology help?

Step one in the process is to select a site where you can prepare your forms. The irs.gov site contains a list of approved providers to aid in your selection. Some even offer free preparation. Most do allow the taxpayer to deduct any fee from their refund if one is due. Some go so far as to offer the well-loved rapid refund, where a loan is issued equal to the expected refund in order to allow the recipient to have their money in a day or two. All of this without even leaving the comfort of the office chair.

After a site is selected comes the process of getting started with that site. Most offer two or three plan options. Just pick the one that best suits your particular needs and move on. Then the client will gather information about you in order to set up your forms. Personal information will be needed here, so be sure to have access to important information. You wouldn’t want an error to cause any delays.

These programs simply ask simple questions to guide you through the process. Most of the time even a child could answer or fill out the form this way. It makes it easy to get the job done. Then the site obtains and confirms bank account information for direct transfer of the refund check. That’s it. You’re done, well at least as long as there were no errors. Once your return is okayed by the IRS all is done. You do not have to go anywhere, or pay a lot of money to H&R Block.

Filed Under: Advancements, Technology · Tagged With: , , ,

WHAT TECHNOLOGY HASN’T DONE YET

February 3, 2011 by

Technology has made it possible for those who can’t read or even make change to work in the fast food industry. Alarm clocks go off at the same time daily, thus a person does not need to set the alarm each night when going to bed. The home library has been replaced by computer files stored on a drive somewhere or even kept safe in the owner’s purse. Technology has also allowed the blind to have independent access to information more than ever before. This is done via the use of screen readers, of which some cost and some are free. These only hit on a few of the many ways in which technology has made life much more manageable for all of mankind. Still there are a few things technology has not done. Lets take a look, and perhaps these will inspire new technology to be created.

What if there were a way to tell a drunk that enough was enough? It could be an implant under the skin with a signal device that would transmit to a required speaker and identification number. A judge could even order someone to use such a thing. At the bar, after the person had so man, the alarm would go off and this loud audible voice would call out, “You have gone over your limit!” At this point the bartender could then leagally retrieve the person’s keys so that he or she could not drive, call a cab, and send them on their way. Now wouldn’t that be simple.

Yes this was only one big idea, and yet it could spark so many others. Smokers could be reminded that each puff brings further lung damage. Vitamin takers could receive encouragement, reminding them that they are doing something valuable and should be well pleased with themselves. Yes technology has done many good things. Perhaps though there are a few more to be done. However, involving technology in tackling such problems can be a very useful and welcome use of technology, a technology that has been infamously used for much destruction to the world.

Filed Under: Programming, Technology · Tagged With: , ,

Do You Still Need to Learn Programming Languages?

January 29, 2011 by

If you don’t know any programming languages, you may be wondering if you still need to learn some of them. The answer is, maybe. It really depends on what you plan to do with the knowledge. If you’re going to make a career out of it, it’s best to find one particular language and get really good at it. If you just want it for your own knowledge and/or your own websites, you may be better off just picking up the basics of several different languages. Of course, you can also just pay someone else to do whatever programming you want done. The choice is completely up to you.

For anyone who is concerned about not knowing a programming language, you can get along just fine without it in the majority of cases. People who don’t know a programming language and want to start up a website can just choose to have someone do it for them, or they can pick a template from the company that is offering their hosting. There are many companies that will provide templates that you can choose from. Sure, your website will have the same background as other sites, but that’s usually not a problem unless you’re copycatting a direct competitor.

Of course, you can’t make changes to the templates beyond what they are already programmed for unless you know the programming language used to create them, so that is something you’ll have to make peace with. As long as that doesn’t bother you, there shouldn’t be any worries about not knowing how to program in a particular language. A lot of people don’t, and they’ve managed to set up nice websites that provide plenty of information for their customers. You can be part of that group without knowing a lot about programming, so don’t let that stop you.

Filed Under: Programming, Technology · Tagged With: , ,
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