Friday, October 31, 2008

Linking Building- The Important Part Of SEO on ecommerce.

The easiest way of improving your ranking in the search engines is to let them know that your site is important. How do you do that? Well, the best way is through the process of link building. Link building is the practice of encouraging other websites to link to your own website.If other websites are linking to your website, your “link popularity” will increase, search engines will deem your website important, and in turn, you should receive more traffic. Link building is a time consuming task, and it is for this reason that most all websites rank so poorly in the search engines. for more details visit to www.keyword-swipe.com. Many website owners are unaware that link popularity can have such an effect on their search engine rankings. This is good new for you. Start building your links now and establish your “web cred”.

Importance of Page Rank

Google, the Internet’s most popular search engine, measures a website’s link popularity through the use of Page Rank. To view a website’s Page Rank, just download the Google Toolbar. The toolbar will display the Page Rank of every website you visit, measured as a little green bar. A website’s Page Rank can vary from a low of zero to a high of 10. Don’t worry if your website has a low, or no Page Rank. Many websites only have a Page Rank of 1 or 2, but the Internet’s most popular websites possess a Page Rank of 8 or 9.

Quality Counts

Search engines are not just looking for the number of links that point to a website. The most important aspect of the process is obtaining quality links. Quality links are links from website that possess a high Page Rank. Obtaining a link from a website with a high Page Rank is best, although any site with 1 or above is beneficial. Search engines also consider the theme of a website which links to you. It is best to get links from websites that are associated with the industry in which you do business. For example, my trade is website design; therefore, I work to obtain the majority of my links from other web design related websites.

Getting Links

One of the best ways to advance your link popularity is to offer quality and informative content to your visitors and hope for natural links. If they find the information interesting enough, they will naturally link their website to your own.

Directory submissions are probably the fastest and easiest way to obtain some inbound links. But, because Internet directories link to thousands of other websites, the value that they can add to your Page Rank gets diluted by all the other links .For more information logon to www.greatseosecrets.com. Then, you should submit to industry related directories to indicate to the search engines your line of business. A Google search can help you find these types of directories.

If you feel that you have a knack for writing, a good way to generate inbound links to your website is to write articles. These articles can then be submitted to article syndication websites, where other webmasters are free to use your article on their website. But, there’s a catch – they must provide a link back to your website in return for using the article. If you don’t have the time or drive to write an article, but you participate in an industry related discussion forum, you’re in luck. Just remember to include a link to your website in your signature.

The last way to generate quality inbound links is through reciprocal linking. This type of strategy involves contacting other webmasters and proposing a link exchange. Find some non-competitive, but related websites and simply e-mail them to see if they are interested. It’s best to already have their link on a page in your website before the proposition.

Linking Text Is Important

When employing any of the above linking approaches, it is imperative that you try to use targeted key words as part your link. The search engines read this text to determine what your website is all about. If your website involves “Red Widgets”, try to use this as part of your link text.

Conclusion

Link popularity is very important when attempting to rank well in the search engines. Link analysis is only going to get more important to search engines, not less.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Website Designing: How To Develop A Relevant Web Design

Are you looking to build an attractive and attention grabbing eCommerce website, but have no relevant experience? In such circumstances it is always the right decision to hire eCommerce website design professionals. They will consult with you, understand what your needs are, and present you with eCommerce solutions that can increase your web traffic.

A well designed e-Commerce website addresses many online challenges and gives practical solutions for them. Effective e-Commerce web development proves to be an excellent revenue generating tool. E-Commerce models incorporate various revenue generating channels into your e-Commerce website design for maximum effectiveness. For more details go to www.automatic-content.com. The e-Commerce solutions providers go through your competitors’ websites and note down their strengthens and weaknesses. Based on their analysis, they develop a relevant web design. ECommerce sites are online shopping destinations; therefore it is critical to have reliable and proper shopping cart software in order to provide a better shopping experience for your customers.

Although an e-Commerce website design is a little more expensive in comparison to a static web design, the benefits in added profits more than cover the additional costs. Initially in the development stages, you will incur large expenses. However, once the eCommerce design and development is complete, the advantages are tremendous.

Shopping cart software makes the process of order placement safe and fast. It provides many beneficial functions including the ability to purchase several products/services at the same time and a facility for automatic totaling of tax and shipping charges. If you have an eCommerce website design, you can send a confirmation e-mail to your customers and also update your online database after an order is placed. Additionally, your customers can keep track of their order status.

An e-Commerce website design automates the sales procedure and helps to build a better rapport with customers. It can significantly boost up sales and saves you time in supply chain operational aspects like inventory tracking, order processing and follow-ups. To know more about it login to www.javascript-magic.com. The success e-Commerce website design and development and shopping cart software is evident, as we see all large and established online retailers using it. If you have an existing website, many web designing companies will update it with modern e-Commerce web designs. They are quite different from the typical websites and are an instant attention grabber. Choose a reliable and trusted e-Commerce designing company that has a skilled and experienced team of web advisors and designers to serve you. Look out for places were you can get the maximum ROI.

Today’s shoppers want a pleasant and smooth shopping experience, with clear information on your products and an easy checkout system. They expect professional treatment and a polished look and functionality for an online shopping site. Web experts also advise to have trusted and secured payment options for both you and your customers’ protection.

5 Highly Effective Website SEO Techniques

When implementing various website SEO techniques, most people focus more on the technical aspects of their sites to gain a higher search engine ranking. Getting hung up on meta tags and whether or not your site has too many or not enough keywords in it is old school.

Search engines are more concerned with how user friendly and 'content relevant' your sites are for visitors. The horns and whistles such as flashing signs and dancing figures are nice but if the site isn't easy to navigate or the content is inconsistent your rankings will suffer. Let's look at 5 easy steps to building a more 'humanized' website that will increase your search engine ranking.

1. Simplify the site structure

Insure the website format is easy to understand and use for visitors. Making the search for information on the site as simple and direct as possible will not only enhance user friendliness but also win more favorable search engine rankings as a result.

2. Maintain Quality Content

Keep your content relevant to your sites theme. Inconsistency will only confuse visitors and they will leave. If this cardinal rule is not followed you'll not only lose your visitors but you'll also fall out of favor with the search engines resulting in a poor ranking. Your content should be useful and interesting to the reader but don't overlook the value of entertaining them as well using humor or even sarcasm, when appropriate. It's important to remember we built these sites for humans and NOT search engines.

3. Rank for keyword phrases

When choosing the keywords that will help identify what your site is about try to incorporate these words into phrases. For example if your site deals with real estate instead of using the word 'houses' as a keyword, instead try using it in a phrase such as 'houses for sale' or 'houses for sale in Boston'. These are 'long tail keywords' and you'll find not only that there's less competition for them but that the traffic you receive from folks searching these keyword phrases are more highly targeted.

4. Write articles

Publishing articles you've written related to the topic of your website is not only a fabulous way of advertising but you'll also gain links from the major article directories to your site. Since many article directories have high rankings to begin with, links from their site to yours will help boost your websites rank with the search engines.

5. Blog

Start a blog that links to your website. Search engines favor blogs in their rankings due primarily to the fact that a blogs content is usually updated more frequently than a websites.

In summation website SEO techniques should focus more on simply creating a user friendly site that's easy to navigate and contains useful and maybe even entertaining content for the readers. Do this and high rankings will follow.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

How to avoid silly expenses designing your site.

The success of online ventures depends heavily on whether they have feature-rich and user-friendly websites or not. This is why online marketers and companies strive to make their website look good and, as a result, attract visitors. Attraction is only the beginning and it is more important that visitors spend some time there and do purchasing or get involved in some activities.

Website is just have to be good enough to make it work. This is when website designing services come in handy. So what do we need is designing of a new look for our website? The competition in the Internet is VERY strong these days. So the very first thing we need is a design both practical and beautiful at the same time. The factor of uniqueness is something people value too. We need features. People like features and services that make their lives easier. The site must be useful and user-friendly. Many big companies know these days that it is very difficult to make the site user-friendly one without using any help from professionals in this field.

So they come to those who knows the deal. But what to do if the price is too high for you to use such services (because it is often out of reach for most businesses who could be exposed online but they don't because of the price)? There's a thing called Website Template. It is a website created by professional designers following the rules of usability. There're usually so many of them that they can cover any field of business you might have.

So what you really do is just browse through the database of web templates and choose the one you might think is the most appropriate for your business. Its price is low, its quality is high, the time which was lost is minimal. Don't sleep on website templates, let professionals do the job and just do business and save your money from silly expenses!

4 Tips to Increase Targeted Traffic to Your Blog

Looking to increase targeted traffic to your blog while maintaining your current subscriber base? Wondering what to write as your readers drift away or how to attract new visitors? Here are 4 simple tips that should improve your blogs performance.

1. Go visiting

Visit other blogs within your niche. See what they're doing or writing about. How does their layout differ from yours and note the subjects that are being discussed to identify any growing trends you may have missed. Note what topics are the most popular and why. With a little research this could give you plenty of ideas for future blog posts.

Also take note what these sites advertise and promote. Are there color schemes or templates that seem to be working if different from yours?

Be sure to take part in any discussions and leave comments IF you have something useful to say or contribute. Remember to include your own link in your signature file so that participants can visit your site if they so choose. You don't object to additional online traffic do you?

2. Tweak your Blog

Making minor adjustments for ad placements, opt in box positioning, or perhaps posting ideas can add up to major results.

Some quick ideas:

  • Perhaps now is the time to try a new template for your site. Most blogging platforms offer numerous selections along these lines. In your 'field' observations did you notice any outstanding color schemes or templates that caught your eye?
  • Is your blog set up for the visitors to interact and leave comments? If so do you really know what they want?
  • Does your content speak TO your readers or AT THEM? Insure your blog posts clearly convey your message without having the reader trying to figure out what you're saying.
  • Don't fear outbound links! If referencing information from other sources make available the links to these sources. Your readers will trust you more and this will empower you even further as an authority on the subject with them as their 'GO TO PERSON.'
3. Reader friendly format
  • At the beginning of every post allow the reader to know what point it is your going to make.
  • Use intriguing headlines to capture their interest.
  • Keep your sentences and paragraphs as short as possible.
  • Utilizing 'bullets' and 'numbers' when reviewing specifics makes for an easier read. Use them when you can.
4. Keep Your Content on Point!

Here's a rule to govern your blogging existence with, ALWAYS be sure not to allow your content to wander from the subject, purpose, or objective of your blog for more than a 'short' period of time if at all. Both readers and search engines do not like this!

I hope these simple tips on how to increase targeted traffic to your blog while maintaining your current subscriber base will make your blogging experience all the more enjoyable!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Web traffic: Making the visitors to visit your site repeatedly

One of the important question you should ask yourself when developing any new business idea or website is this: "How to make the visitors visit my site frequently?" Determining the answer or solution for this question is essential to become successful in every level. A long term profit strategy needs a solid knowledge what drives your visitors to return to your website or blog repeatedly, as well as, what makes them want to refer your website to others.

Its nearly impossible to know what every visitors feels about your site. There will be some who find your site useful and others may find it very dull and redundant. It is difficult to write for some and please everyone. So, what do you do in this situation? If I was in this situation, I'd provide to the masses by producing products or contents which shall receive the most attention.

Below is a simple checklist because as I would like to mention that no method is bullet proof and defensible enough against thousands of new and shifting visitors. User views are constantly shifting as they find more information from your competitors or elsewhere.

(1) How does 10 random people feel who have never visited your site?

(2) Are your products or services competitive?

(3) Is your site populated enough to encourage participation?

(4) Have you made navigation and customer value a main focus for your site?

(5) What is the quality of your content and product?

(6) Are you providing information that is related with your search keywords?

(7) Are you providing information that is related with your search keywords?

(8) Are you offering online service or tool that cannot be found elsewhere?

(9) Are you updating information regularly to fulfill needs of your visitors?

(10) Does your website provide a unique theme of service or information?

(11) Do you fulfill your promise to the public?

Successfully answering these questions would provide you with a higher ability to attract repeated traffic, attention and sales from visitors to your site or blog.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

How To Make Money With A Simple Debt Help Website

Just switch on CNN and it's patently obvious that world economies are being thumped to

their knees. However, some smart niche marketers are using these uncertain market

times to set-up an online presence that actually takes advantage of the credit crunch

and debt crisis that seems to be dominating newspaper headlines every other day. Today, I want to merge the topic of identifying potent niches with something that has

sent shockwaves through global economies – I want to show you how abundant good niches

are, why they’re all around us, and how to use current events to identify them (as

opposed to the moronic ramblings of many “guru’s” out there). So, what’s so special about today? As this article was written, something almost

unprecedented has happened - The banking giant Lehmans has gone bankrupt. Yes, it’s

gone bust – kaput – bye bye. Within financial circles, this was not a complete

surprise (nor the fact that there are more banking disasters out there which may well

come out of the cupboard sooner than you think). Many of you know I used to work for a

famous U.S. investment bank. I know exactly how they work from the inside, which is

why I’ve known for a long time that something like today’s debacle was inevitable.

Trust me, asking the bank to look after your money is like asking McDonalds to look

after your cow. But that’s another story for another day – lets get back to how this

story fits in with picking a solid niche.

First, we need to understand what drives a potential niche before getting involved. Do

you know why Lehmans has gone bust? It’s almost a spitting image of the recent

Northern Rock fiasco – whereby banks have approved mortgages to people who simply

cannot afford to repay their debt. The result? So many people have been unable to

repay their debts on their housing loans that it has caused a “credit crunch” –

leading to serious problems in the financial sector, and today, the insolvency of

Lehman Brothers. And, if you think we’re over the worst, we’re not.

1. How This Event Can Help You Identify The Basics Of A Potent Niche To Set-Up

Your Websites & Blogs In..

One of the hardest things for budding internet entrepreneurs is to identify quality

niches to be involved with. Visit any forum, and you’ll see cries for help –

energetic, bright eyed folk who are ready to start something - anything - but have no

idea what. Typically, a big name guru then steps in and sells them some piffle PLR

package on “how to weave your own wicker basket” or whatever, and it all ends in

disaster (look out for forum posts like “help – wicker basket site not making

anything!).

Today’s article is really all about using your own intelligence (of which you have in

abundance given that you’re still reading this) to identify the good stuff for

yourself.

Sometimes, you only have to open your eyes and it’s right in front of you.

For example, can you imagine the scale of debt problems within the U.K. and U.S. to be

able to murder a top tier bank in the mould of Lehmans? To give you a clue, Lehman’s

third quarter loss (that’s just 3 months of trading) amounted to over three billion

dollars. You may be wondering, how anyone can actually make money from all this – I’ll

get to that in a bit, but I want to make a crucial point first:

“Potent Niches Are All Around Us – Keep Your Ears And Eyes Peeled To See What’s Making

Major Headlines In The News…And Then Find Out If There’s A Way Of Monetising It (There

Almost Always Is)”

Let’s get back to the niche we’re analysing today – the credit crunch, and debt. Pour

over some research reports (or Google it if you have the patience) and you’ll discover

some alarming facts about debt in the Western economy. For example:

- U.K. and U.S. consumers have a combined debt of over 5 trillion USD, and

that’s BEFORE taking into account mortgage debt. Sooner or later, someone is going to

want that back – and when people cannot pay, it’s going to cause further devastation

in the economy (I hate this article I’m writing, I must be coming over like a right

doomsayer).

- Over 5 million credit card owners have recently (within a six month period)

been unable to make repayments on their card.

- According to a research report by Myvesta, over half of Americans are now

struggling moderately to critically with their debt repayments. That should tell you

about the potency of the debt market.

- The amount of home repossessions has increased by 30% since the same period

last year.

I could hit you with more facts, but I think you get the general idea right? The

question you should have at this point is…”well that’s all well and good, but how can

all this carnage create a thriving business for me?”. Read on…

2. Turning Potential Into Dollars – How To See If There Really Is A Way To Make

Big Returns From A Niche.

The above is all promising – it’s by no way definitive. Once we identify a potentially

good niche we need to carry out a number of checks to make sure it’s the real deal. I

have a long spreadsheet of stuff I go through that I wont bore you with, but in

essence you need to make sure:

- There is a high level of financial activity within the niche and..

- There is a generous payout for affiliates (I don’t know about you, but when

I send people my traffic, I want to get paid very well)

- You have the technical skills to develop a good site within the niche (or

the resources to get it done for you)

- You can effectively and economically drive targeted traffic to your site.

To do this, you have to research the niche inside out. Understand who the major

players are and what they offer for commissions – that sort of thing. Let’s keep our

example of the debt niche.

What you must remember is that over the next few years, tens of millions of people

will seek debt help - the companies that are perfectly placed to do well from this

credit crunch are debt help/restructure firms, credit repair companies and similar

service companies.

Take a look at some of the returns that these companies offer:

- Some debt relief and credit repair companies offer upto sixty dollars per

lead. That means, if you send them a qualified lead who (for instance) fills out a

debt help form you get paid that amount every time.

- As debt companies are clambering over each other to get business, it’s

sparked a bidding war on Adwords – great news for publishers as top bids get to $20

per click on Adsense for some keywords. In short, this is a very potent niche to be

involved in.

This is the green signal. You’ve just identified a startling growth niche that’s got

millions of people and where there is a powerful structure in place for you, the

website owner, to get paid handsomely.

Learn How to Increase Ranking and Website Traffic (1)

If you design a website you think will attract clients, but you don’t really know who your customers are and what they want to buy, it is unlikely you make much money. Website business is an extension or replacement for a standard storefront. You can send email to your existing clients and ask them to complete a survey or even while they are browsing on your website. Ask them about their choices. Why do they like your products? Do you discount prices or offer coupons? Are your prices consistently lower than others? Is your shipping price cheaper? Do you respond faster to client questions? Are your product descriptions better? Your return policies and guarantees better than your competitor’s?

It is worth cataloguing the basic principles to be enforced to increase website traffic and search engine rankings.

**** Create a site with valuable content, products, or services.

**** Invest in good advertising with search engines

Google’s Adwords and Yahoo’s Overture provide great advertising schemes that are very truly popular and assures great traffic. Although with this surefire way to increase your traffic would cost some money. While some would shy away from spending money to increase traffic, it is imperative in this case to do so because Adwords and Overture is the top surefire way to increase your traffic.

You could see for yourself the success this search engine advertising methods have reaped rewards for so many companies. Lots of site feature these advertising system and many have signed on to reap the benefits. Do not be left behind. Every penny is worth it with using Google and Yahoo’s advertising. **** Exchange or Trade Links with other sites

With exchanging links with other sites, both of you will benefit from the efforts both of you do to enhance your sites traffic. When one site features another sites link, they could provide one another with the traffic one site generates. The efforts are doubly beneficial because it would seem like both of you are working to generate more traffic. The more links traded with more sites the more traffic could be expected.

**** Use Viral Marketing

Viral marketing allows you to spread the word about your company and product without any costs or if ever low costs only. This is a marketing method that can be quite sneaky; you can attach your company’s name, product or link to a certain media such as a funny video, entertaining game, an interesting article or a gossip or buzz. With this method, people get infected with the creativity and entertainment of the medium that they will pass it on to many people.

**** Search and use proper keywords or keyword phrases for your sites content

Search engines look for certain keywords that they would show in their results page. In doing so, having the right keyword and keyword phrase is a high requirement in ranking in high in search engine results. You could write your own content or you could hire someone to do it for you.

**** Write Articles that can lead traffic to your site

Submit articles to sites that would contain the same subject that your site deals in. If you sell car parts write press releases and articles about cars and car parts. Attach your sites description and services at the end of the article as well as the link.

**** Join forums and form online communities

Capture a market and show your expertise and credibility. When you found a good foundation for your site, people will trust you and your site and will pass on to many people their trust. Traffic will certainly increase because they know that you can provide what they need.

**** Place primary and secondary keywords within the first 25 words in your page content and spread them evenly throughout the document.

**** Research and use the right keywords/phrases to attract your target customers.

**** Use your keywords in the right fields and references within your web page. Like Title, META tags, Headers, etc.

**** Keep your site design simple so that your customers can navigate easily between web pages, find what they want and buy products and services.

**** Submit your web pages i.e. every web page and not just the home page, to the most popular search engines and directory services. Hire someone to do so, if required. Be sure this is a manual submission. Do not engage an automated submission service.

**** Keep track of changes in search engine algorithms and processes and accordingly modify your web pages so your search engine ranking remains high. Use online tools and utilities to keep track of how your website is doing.

**** Monitor your competitors and the top ranked websites to see what they are doing right in the way of design, navigation, content, keywords, etc.

**** Use reports and logs from your web hosting company to see where your traffic is coming from. Analyze your visitor location and their incoming sources whether search engines or links from other sites and the keywords they used to find you.

**** Make your customer visit easy and give them plenty of ways to remember you in the form of newsletters, free reports, reduction coupons etc.

**** Demonstrate your industry and product or service expertise by writing and submitting articles for your website or for article banks so you are perceived as an expert in your field.

**** When selling products online, use simple payment and shipment methods to make your customer’s experience fast and easy.

**** When not sure, hire professionals. Though it may seem costly, but it is a lot less expensive than spending your money on a website which no one visits.

**** Don’t look at your website as a static brochure. Treat it as a dynamic, ever-changing sales tool and location, just like your real store to which your customers with the same seriousness.

****Lastly, Offer newsletters.

If many people know what you are about and your existence is shared with many others, you will find a loyal traffic that can provide you with more traffic by recommendation. If you arouse the curiosity of your customers they would be pushed to help you with your traffic.

So, if you already have a site and you want think that you're not getting the traffic that you're supposed to be getting, then its time to reconsider. If you are contending in these very competitive business, you should always be a step ahead of your competition, increasing your traffic flow should have been done starting yesterday.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Succeed Online and Run a Lucrative Online Business

If you want to succeed online and run a money-making home business you will have to learn a few skills. You will have to constantly work on these skills each day and not look to quit in your first 6 months online.

Which ever business opportunity you decide to start you will have to learn something pretty quick; you will have to make the business opportunity work and not anyone else. Too often people fail to make money online because they aren’t willing to work at there online business each day. The ones who succeed online are those who are willing to constantly.

Having your own website is no guarantee that you will become successful but it will give you more options to succeed online. Having a website allows you to customize the look and feel of your home business. It will also allow you to build backlinks which is good for being found in search engines.

One thing in familiar with those that have succeeded online is they all have a great list. There is a saying in internet marketing that “the money is in the list” Set up an auto responder and then create capture pages which you will use to build your own list with. One email to this list can have you brining in thousands.

You have to make yourself stand out from the crowd, become different. There are thousands of business opportunity websites online and they can all look the same. It’s your job to make your home business website the only one of it’s kind. This is the same for your promotional strategies and advertising copy. Does a purple cow stand out from the pack?

When you look to begin an online business opportunity you will find you are not alone. There are a lot of great forums around with a vast amount of people who are willing to help and teach you everything there is to know about internet marketing.

To succeed online you will have to use this information and then put it into practice. It will then be up to you to keep working at your online business and before you know it you can stand up and say “I have succeeded online”

Jason Fulton is a successful internet marketer and home business mentor. He will teach you how to succeed online. Just visit his genuine home based business website for more information.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Search Engine Marketing Tips - To Make Apt Online Presence

The main approach to seek out for any website is Search engines. The website with the highest rank on search engines receives a remarkable increment in traffic. The online marketing is expanding as more and more people are acquainted with its enormous benefits. For online business, search engines are the prime strategy. Aim of each business is to draw traffic to his company’s website as this is primarily responsible in deciding the growth and for tightening its hold on the potential consumers. To create a niche in the online market world several measures are taken but still the desired output is not received. There are many factors which lead to the disappointment, but with appropriate guidance will be extremely effective in removing these flaws. Very less number of people is actually aware of ways to popularize their sites, but it is quintessential for each company to acquaint himself thoroughly with the marketing strategy. In such a case search engine marketing tips will be of great assistance to you.

To attain high search engine rankings and to develop an enhanced marketing standpoint search engine marketing tips from a professional will be immensely useful. Each and every facet which is connected with the strategy of marketing is important and so takes each step with utmost care. The advice of the expert will enable you to fathom correctly the precise requirements of your company. With this you can devise your plans accordingly to avoid any kind of problems in between. These tips will enhance you online existence.

An effective search engine marketing tip comprises in META tags as well as the title. The content as well as the title should be formed in a manner that they are search engine responsive and user responsive too. The user responsive content draws traffic to large extent. The content should be rich in keywords as it attracts audience. Making links is another important tip that will maximize your search engine rankings as the website makes its presence on the topmost results. Article marketing as well as forum posting is also of great benefit for increasing the integer of internal links and that also in less time. Using advertising tools also enables you to make a headway entrance in the field of internet marketing is another search engine marketing tip. With autoresponder software you can take the career graph of your company soaring high.

The Search Engine Marketing Tips are useful for making an appropriate online presence. These tips well verse you in advance with all the aspects dealing with the website optimization. With this you can easily capitalize on your promotional hard work. So, all those companies who are not able to reap in desired profits, subsequent to spending huge some of money as well as, can route towards search engine marketing tips for any kind of assistance. These tips ensure what all has to be done exactly for making the masses realize of your enigmatic existence on Internet. With these tips unravel the reason of launching your company online.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

How to login Windows Xp without password

How many times have we happen to forget the F%cking Login Password for our windows ?
Ok worry no more coz if you next time forget your password.. we have a solution to actually allows you to login without any password.

This is the only soft that allow you to log on into any local account without reset existing passwords.
DreamPackPL will just turn off the password validation process. If you dont want to log on into any existing account, then you can execute any application (e.g. Regedit or window with accounts management) at the logon desktop. You may also load the Explorer shell at new desktop and work with admin privileges.
Features :
*Configurable command interpreter in logon window (DreamOn, PassOn, PassOff, *LogonLoggerOn, LogonLoggerOff, DreamDesktop, God-Password)
*Three logon modes:
- standard with password
- with wrong password and wrong hash (LM+NT)
- with given hash (LM+NT
*Hash Audit (show hashes of all users) and Hash Calculator
*Logon Logger (date and time, user name, password, character codes in password)
*Executing programs at the logon desktop with system privileges
*Access to EFS encrypted files after log on
*Loading Explorer shell at new desktop and work with system privileges
*Displaying local accounts list (user names) at the logon desktop
*Disabling Windows File Protection
Instructions :
1.)Download the ISO file (4Mb) and DreamPackPL (74KB)
2.)Burnt it on a CD with Nero Buning Software or anyother Burning Software
3.)Restart Your system and login into BIOS and Set booting From CD/DVD Drive
4.)Save and exit
5.)Now while restarting The CD gets booted and you will find
6.)User must load system in Recovery Console, so press R to continue and install DreamPackPL.

7.)Press C to install DreamPackPL by using Recovery Console.
8.)Then select which Windows (XP/2000) installation that want to log onto by keying in appropriate number (normally 1 for system with only 1 Windows installation).
9.)Key in any password when prompt for Administrator password.
10.)Make a backup of the original sfcfiles.dll by using the following command:
ren C:\Windows\System32\sfcfiles.dll sfcfiles.lld (for Windows XP)
or
run C:\Winnt\System32\sfcfiles.dll sfcfiles.lld (for Windows 2000)
11.)Copy the patched sfcfiles.dll file from the CD to \Windows\System32 (or \WinNT\System32 depending on your Windows installation) folder by using following command (CD drive in this example is D, change according to your CD drive letter. You can use “map” command to display all drive letters):
copy D:\i386\pinball.ex_ C:\Windows\System32\sfcfiles.dll (for Windows XP)
copy D:\i386\pinball.ex_ C:\Winnt\System32\sfcfiles.dll (for Windows 2000)
12.)Type “Exit” and press Enter to exit from Recovery Console, and restart the PC, and let the Windows boot normally.
13.)Once Windows display Windows Logon prompt, key in “dreamon” DreamPackPL command (without quotes) in the user name or password field to display the DreamPackPL menu.
14.)Click on the top graphic on the DreamPackPL menu to display the commands options and configuration menu.
15.)Navigate to Command and click on Command Setting options.
16.)Enable the God-Password setting by selecting (check) the tick box at the end.
17.)Exit from all DreamPackPL and type “god” in the user name or password field on Windows Logon screen to log on into Windows, bypassing all users or administrator account password.
18.)Another option is to navigate to Password at DreamPackPL commands settings menu and select (check) the “Logon with wrong password and hash” option, which allows user to log-in into Windows using any administrator or user account with any correct or wrong password.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Optimize your website :5 Tricks In Choosing The Right Keyword

In internet marketing, traffic is the most important thing webmasters must remember in order for them to be successful with the websites they build. Without traffic, you cannot generate any clicks on your ads, acquire sales for your products, attain e-mail subscribers or any other thing that you would like to accomplish with your websites help. It shall always be the amount of traffic and a continuance of a stable flow of traffic that decides the success of your website. Driving traffic to your website does not necessarily mean you have to spend a dime. There are a lot of free methods you can use to drive traffic to your website.
The Five Free Methods
The five methods listed here are really excellent and proven to achieve the closest results you wish and can always be applied directly. Unlike purchasing your own advertising, these methods are free but of course, they require the most of your attention and hard work.
1. Make sure your website is optimized for search engines as far as possible. Any traffic you achieve from search engines is always free. To have your website optimized, ensure that the website contains articles with a lot of keywords. When you write articles for your website, about 400-900 words, you can generate a lot of visits more often. Be sure to include catchy titles to entice visitors to read them. However, this may not likely generate the traffic you have always wanted, this could be your first step in making your website successful. In addition, you could always submit all your articles to article directories and contact publishers if they wish to use your articles on either their mailing list or website. Have your articles contain heavy keywords so that they may also appear on top of most search engine results.
2. Join link exchange programs. Nowadays, there are a lot of webmasters who invite other webmasters to take part in link exchange programs. When someone's website is linked to yours, you'll have the chance of being visited by people who visit those websites. To do this, you can look out for websites that are similarly related to yours and allow the owners of these websites to exchange links. Make use of an anchor text for the link as it will aid your search engine rankings.
3. Allow joint ventures. Joint ventures could be very powerful if done in the right way. Give your partners some really good reasons why they should promote your site. By providing them with the right promotional tools such as e-mails, signatures, articles, etc., he/she would no doubt accept your request. To ensure that your website gets better results, look for website owners that have the capability of sending a lot of traffic to you.
4. Join online groups, forums, etc. that could help you with promoting your website. For example, you may post your sites URL in your signature file for the users to see. So you can be a known member by the discussion groups you join, simply participate in discussions that interest you and contribute your knowledge and expertise to the rest of the members.
5. Get a free blog. Blogging is another free method that generates traffic to your website. Post some high-quality information regularly and don't forget to ping all your posts as it can help in driving traffic to your website.

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Making Money With Social Networking

Social networking sites on the internet have really changed  the ways that many people go about their ventures to make money online. If you haven't considered making money with social network websites, such as Yuwie, Facebook or Myspace, maybe it's time that you invest some of your time figuring out how you might be able to increase sales, get more customers, and jumpstart your affiliate marketing adventures.

Many internet marketers are already earning more than enough money through the use of social networking sites' systems in order to get their hands on more cash. Here are some interesting ways that you, can make some money with social networking websites that shouldn't and won't take you very much time at all.

The first step in marketing with social network sites involves actually setting up your account. If you don't already have an account with Facebook, Yuwie, Myspace, or any of the other well-known websites out there, it's time you did. When creating your account, one can either use their real name or a "pen name" of sorts. In fact, many internet marketers actually use a pen name in order to disguise who they really are as well as creating a social networking profile to go along with their real name.

What to sell: The number of products and things that you can sell on Facebook or Myspace is ultimately limitless. Whether you want to promote your own website to gain members and traffic to, or post your affiliate links to other products, anything is generally accepted in these communities.

There are several ways in which the actual selling process can be done. First, social networking websites usually allow members to post bulletins or notes that all the rest of their contacts that are members of the site will be able to see.

These bulletins are where the real money can be made, because pretty much anything can be included in them. For example, you could do a product review of a weight loss product and post it in a bulletin along with your affiliate link in order for your friends to buy. In doing so, your friends will give you commission sales on the products they buy.

The profile page is another way someone could make money using social networking sites. Whether you'd like to promote someone else's products as an affiliate or your own products, this can be done right on your profile by posting affiliate links, product reviews, information, or anything else that will attract a potential sale. Even videos that are essentially product reviews and an attempt to try to sell your own product or your affiliate product can be posted on your social networking member profile.

As you can see, the sales and amount of money that can come from using and exploiting social networking sites can really compound. Basically, the more friends that a person has in their community profile means that the more chances they have and the more members they have available to them in order to market and try to sell their products. All in all, using Yuwie, Facebook, Myspace, or any another social networking community website can definitely pay off in the long run!

Windows 7 equals some strange math

It was the product’s code name, something relatively simple, and it is generally seen as a lucky number (at least here in the United States).But to arrive at the number 7, Microsoft does some strange math, as general manager Mike Nash outlined in a blog posting Tuesday. Nash writes:

The very first release of Windows was Windows 1.0, the second was Windows 2.0, the third Windows 3.0.

Here’s where things get a little more complicated. Following Windows 3.0 was Windows NT, which was code-versioned as Windows 3.1. Then came Windows 95, which was code-versioned as Windows 4.0. Then, Windows 98, 98 SE and Windows Millennium each shipped as 4.0.1998, 4.10.2222, and 4.90.3000, respectively. So we’re counting all 9x versions as being 4.0.

Windows 2000 code was 5.0, and then we shipped Windows XP as 5.1. Even though it was a major release, we didn’t want to change code version numbers to maximize application compatibility. That brings us to Windows Vista, which is 6.0. So we see Windows 7 as our next logical significant release and seventh in the family of Windows releases.

Well, there you have it.

Perhaps more noteworthy is the fact that, although Vista got the version number 6.0, Windows 7 won’t actually be version 7.0. Rather, it will be Windows 6.1.

That goes to the very fine line Microsoft is trying to walk with Windows 7. The company is at once trying to reassure IT folks that it is not a radical departure from Windows Vista and at the same time tell consumers it is a significant upgrade from Vista.

In his blog post, Nash tries to thread that very fine needle as well.

“We learned a lot about using 5.1 for XP and how that helped developers with version checking for API compatibility,” Nash wrote. “We also had the lesson reinforced when we applied the version number in the Windows Vista code as Windows 6.0–that changing basic version numbers can cause application compatibility issues. So we decided to ship the Windows 7 code as Windows 6.1, which is what you will see in the actual version of the product, in cmd.exe or computer properties.”

But he tries to convince consumers that they shouldn’t read too much into that decision. “There’s been some fodder about whether using 6.1 in the code is an indicator of the relevance of Windows 7,” Nash wrote. “It is not.”

Of course, the real proof will come in two weeks, when Microsoft hands out the first Windows 7 code to developers and outlines what the operating system update is all about. Then we will all be able to better judge for ourselves just how big a deal Windows 7 is (or isn’t).


Source: v

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Microsoft keeps ‘Windows 7′ name for next client OS

Microsoft is sticking with the name Windows 7 when it releases the next version of its client operating system, according to Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows product management.The Windows client operating system will eventually lose its beta tag, but not its code-name as Microsoft opts for “simplicity” with its naming conventions, Nash said on the Vista team blog.

The release is the seventh version of Windows since its inception.

The company may be hoping it can tap into the mythical qualities of the number, which has held significance for Pythagoreans, Babylonians, Egyptians, Jews, Muslims and Christians throughout history. In mediaeval times, there were the Seven Champions. There are the famed Seven Kings of Rome and the Seven Last Words along with the Seven Sages, Seven Wise Masters, Seven Seas and Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

But, of course, there also are the seven deadly sins. Some critics may want to add an eighth after the beating Vista has taken since its release.

Microsoft plans to distribute the first pre-beta of Windows 7 later this month to attendees at its Professional Developers Conference, which begins Oct. 27 in Los Angeles.

There is still no official word when Windows 7 Beta 1 will ship, but Microsoft has said it plans general availability of the operating system around January 2010.

At the PDC, Windows 7 will be featured in 22 sessions. Those sessions will show attendees improvements in the operating system including the kernel, networking, hardware and devices, and user-interface, according to the official conference Web site.

The Windows 7 sessions will cover topics such as energy efficiency; graphics systems; building communication applications; documents and printing convergence; new APIs to find, visualize and organize; new text and graphics APIs; the operating system’s design principals; and APIs for building context-aware applications.

To date, IT has heard little about the new networking features in Windows 7.

Microsoft did say it plans to tweak in Windows 7 the User Account Control features that have been criticized in Vista.

Nash said “aspirational” monikers such as Windows XP or Windows Vista did not seem to do justice to “what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.”


Source: networkworld

Microsoft keeps ‘Windows 7′ name for next client OS

Microsoft is sticking with the name Windows 7 when it releases the next version of its client operating system, according to Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows product management.The Windows client operating system will eventually lose its beta tag, but not its code-name as Microsoft opts for “simplicity” with its naming conventions, Nash said on the Vista team blog.

The release is the seventh version of Windows since its inception.

The company may be hoping it can tap into the mythical qualities of the number, which has held significance for Pythagoreans, Babylonians, Egyptians, Jews, Muslims and Christians throughout history. In mediaeval times, there were the Seven Champions. There are the famed Seven Kings of Rome and the Seven Last Words along with the Seven Sages, Seven Wise Masters, Seven Seas and Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

But, of course, there also are the seven deadly sins. Some critics may want to add an eighth after the beating Vista has taken since its release.

Microsoft plans to distribute the first pre-beta of Windows 7 later this month to attendees at its Professional Developers Conference, which begins Oct. 27 in Los Angeles.

There is still no official word when Windows 7 Beta 1 will ship, but Microsoft has said it plans general availability of the operating system around January 2010.

At the PDC, Windows 7 will be featured in 22 sessions. Those sessions will show attendees improvements in the operating system including the kernel, networking, hardware and devices, and user-interface, according to the official conference Web site.

The Windows 7 sessions will cover topics such as energy efficiency; graphics systems; building communication applications; documents and printing convergence; new APIs to find, visualize and organize; new text and graphics APIs; the operating system’s design principals; and APIs for building context-aware applications.

To date, IT has heard little about the new networking features in Windows 7.

Microsoft did say it plans to tweak in Windows 7 the User Account Control features that have been criticized in Vista.

Nash said “aspirational” monikers such as Windows XP or Windows Vista did not seem to do justice to “what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows.”


Source: networkworld

Friday, October 17, 2008

Vista chief declares war on Apple

Brad Brooks, vice president of Windows Consumer Product Marketing at Microsoft, has gone on the offensive against Vista bashers, Apple and Linux as he personally “draws a line in the sand” and starts fighting for Windows Vista. During Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in July Brooks told the attendees: “Today we’re making a statement. We’re going to do things differently. We’re going to tell our story - the real Windows Vista story.”

Now Brooks has attacked Apple, talking about an “Apple tax” 20 times in an interview on CNET.

He states that Mac buyers face hidden costs if they try to add Windows to their Mac.

“There’s a technology tax - Apple still doesn’t have HDMI, doesn’t have Blu-ray offerings, doesn’t have e-SATA external disk drives that work at twice the speed of FireWire. And so you’ve got all of these things that are truly taxes.

“You know, that’s the crazy part about it. If people want a Windows experience, then start with a machine that was built for the Windows experience. There’s no question, if you look at it, and go to Apple’s Web site today, their No. 1 selling feature that they’re telling students as to why buy a Mac is because it does run Windows, and that you can get Office when you’re running it in Boot Camp or Parallels. But, then you’re just paying that tax again.

“I don’t personally believe that customers really know that a copy of Parallels is going to cost them $80, or that when they really look at what they’re going to have to pay in terms of another $200 for a (full boxed copy of Windows), that they’re going to pay for another $149 for MobileMe to put on there, Internet services, which they can basically get all the same functionality when they have Windows and Windows Live working together.

“People really don’t understand the Apple tax because it’s never been explained to them. We have not done it, and certainly Apple is not going to explain their own tax to their customers.”

Brooks agreed that this latest attack on Apple is similar to a 2004 campaign Microsoft waged on “Different audience, but very much the same approach. … You know what, we’re not afraid of the truth; we just don’t feel like the truth has been told. And this is another case around getting the facts where we don’t feel like the truth has necessarily been exposed.”

Brooks also backed up Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who recently described Microsoft Office for Mac as not a full version of Office.

“If you define different as meaning lacking several of the features and choices that come in the latest version of Office, yes, it is different. … In the latest version of Office 2007 there’s a number of features, usability improvements, enhancements that are universally liked by our users, and really differentiate the product as being the next generation of productivity suites. Those are things that just don’t come with the Mac versions.”

In a recent interview with PC Mag Español Ballmer lashed out at Apple: “You know, they like to act like Macs are lightweight, there are much lighter weight PC notebooks. Macs - do they have the best battery power? Of course they don’t have the best battery power. Macs tend to have nice screens, but can you get nicer screens for a PC? Of course. Do Macs work in business? No, they do not.”

“PCs are better than Macs, continued Ballmer. “That is not something that can be debated. 32 out of every 33 times, somebody buys a PC instead of a Mac. I’m not saying that there are not some things that people like about Macs, apparently there are. But have you ever seen a cheap Mac? No.”


Source: pcadvisor

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The week in your words: Microsoft can’t close Windows

In a week that saw XP dodge yet another death sentence, the Kindle become even uglier, and Ask remind everybody it still exists, we take a look back to see what our readers made of it all.

In a darkened room somewhere in Redmond, the words “XP must die” are daubed all over padded walls and Vista is rocking in the corner with a deranged smile. That’s right, Microsoft has given Windows XP its seven thousandth reprieve, which officially means it’ll still be the operating system of choice when the cockroaches are taking their turn to put the economy back together.

mprltd isn’t a bit surprised: “Windows 7 is looking like Windows Vista SP3 or SP4,” he notes. “Coupled with [the idea that] if it’s not broke don’t fix it, and it looks like hell will freeze over before certain companies will buy any other operating system apart from XP. I see windows XP staying for eternity.”

Eternity, eh? That might just be long enough to convince the sceptics that Vista isn’t the software equivalent of scurvy. Not forsquare1, though.

“To me, it doesn’t sound as if Microsoft is confident about its operating systems. Why provide XP when Vista is more secure, stable, faster, etc…? I have no experience with Vista, but with MS doing things like this, it’s not tempting me to move over.”

Anybody want to field that one? Big_D’s on the case.

“If you have 20,000 PCs running XP and you need 10 new PCs, which is more cost effective? Another 10 PCs with XP installed or spend millions upgrading all the existing machines to Vista? It has nothing to do with Microsoft’s confidence in the OS, more to do with the real-world situation of large companies, who cannot afford to upgrade.”

Second generation Kindle leaks online

We really hope the pictures that have surfaced on the internet of the new Kindle are Lucifer’s very own lies. Because if they’re real, it’s uglier than a bat crashed into a windscreen. On the bright side we’ll probably never get

to see it anyway, because Amazon still hasn’t realised UK isn’t actually a misspelling of US. cheysuli’s sarcasm would have blistered paint:”Hooray! They’re releasing a sequel to the Amazon eBook reader unavailable in the UK, which will also be unavailable in the UK. I can hardly contain my indifference.”

Even more spectacularly, ProfessorF’s sarcasm would have blistered cheysuli: “I was really hoping that it would have come up with a system where you purchase the document holding device, into which you simply insert the text file ready to read at your leisure. Also, it’d have little or no impact on battery life, and be 100% recyclable. You could take it with you anywhere. Share with friends. Swap literature and ideas. And it’d support user-generated content. Oh no, wait, that’s called an A5 ring binder.”

And after five years it’d need a spare room for storage, a truck to be moved between meetings and be as comfortable in the hand as a sack of razorblades. Apart from that, we agree. The future’s overrated.

“I searched ‘why are you so bad at this?’ on Ask and was immediately directed to a site offering suicide tips,” notes stephenreilly, who’s clearly not got to grips with the forum’s sense of humour yet.

Greemble was equally unimpressed: “Trying to find results using Ask will give a page of ’sponsored links’, very few (if any) of which have much to do with what I’m looking for. Finding the actual results requires scrolling down the page and if you scroll too far, you get another load of advert links. Far too many ads to be of any use.”

Shush, don’t tell Google. It provides at least half of those pity links.

paulzolo wasn’t entirely sure a facelift was necessarily the way to go. He still remembered Ask’s last revamp. “In unrelated news, a Mr A Jeeves was admitted to hospital suffering from suspected pneumonia and severe exposure caused by almost two-and-a-half years of living rough since being sacked by has previous employers.”


Source: pcpro

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Look who’s buying Vista Home Basic (hint: it’s not home users)

Who’s buying new PCs with Windows Vista Home Basic? Judging by the name, you’d assume those OS editions would be loaded on underpowered machines headed for tract homes in the burbs and studio apartments in the city. But you’d be wrong.

Based on my observations of the PC market over the past year or two, I think consumers have rejected Home Basic in favor of Home Premium. But small, budget-conscious businesses have embraced the low-end OS.

In one large sample I looked at, nearly three out of every five machines destined for small business included Windows Vista Home Basic. Small-business buyers are apparently able to look past that name, and PC makers are happy to accommodate them. The primary appeal of Home Basic isn’t technology, it’s cold hard cash. Vista Home Basic runs Windows apps just fine, and it’s dirt cheap. Dell, one of the world’s two largest PC suppliers, in fact, is pushing Home Basic as the preferred option for many computers aimed at the small business market.

Take Dell’s Vostro 200, which is aimed squarely at the small-business market and starts at $269 with a Celeron 430 processor, 512MB of RAM, and no monitor. A much more capable machine with a Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 19-inch monitor sells for $449. All three machines in this line come with Windows Vista Home Basic. To upgrade to Vista Business or downgrade to XP Pro is another $99, which represents a huge percentage of the system cost.

The phenomenon is equally pronounced if you look at the Vostro notebook line, where more than half of all available configurations, 13 out of 24, include Vista Home Basic. By contrast, Dell’s consumer notebook line offers 34 separate configuration, of which only three start with Vista Home Basic. The remaining 90% come with Vista Home Premium (only one model includes Vista Ultimate by default).

You can see the same mix of Windows versions if you go to a business-focused reseller like CDW and look at a list of the cheapest available desktop computers, sorted by price in ascending order. Five of the 10 PCs on the list, including models from HP Compaq and Lenovo, come with Vista Home Basic. (Once you get past those low-end PCs, however, almost all computers sold at CDW include Vista Business.)


Source: zdnet

Symantec developing Vista User Account Control

User Account Control (UAC) is a new security feature in Microsoft Windows Vista that changes the architecture of the access token creation process and prevents users from logging on with full administrative rights. While the intent of this feature may have been enhanced security, all too often users need administrative rights for tasks like installing/updating programs, and many software applications need access to run properly.The User Account Control tool has been designed to replace the Vista UAC, to simultaneously make your system more secure while significantly improving user-friendliness.

By default, any application launched by an administrator is running with a filtered, standard user access token. When the administrator attempts to perform a task, the UAC prompts the user to approve the action. This can lead to poor user experiences because the prompts can be slow to display, and appear frequently and without warning. What’s more, because the UAC may give a false sense of security since other processes can still access the desktop, it actually raises security concerns.

The net effect is that many users find the UAC security clearance and prompting process annoying, especially those who are a computer’s only user and have all the latest Norton Internet Security software installed and updated.

The User Account Control tool will collect user input as well as information on applications causing prompts. The data will be processed to improve the comprehensiveness and robustness of the white list, which will be updatable while running the tool online.

[source nortonlabs]

Friday, October 10, 2008

Apple set to release 800$ notebook

The Inquisitr is reporting that Apple is getting ready to release its first sub-$1,000 computer - an $800 notebook.

According to the source, Apple retail stores have been given price sheets that list 12 price points for the new range, with prices between $800-$3100. Current lines only have 8 price points, 3 Macbooks starting at $1099, 3 Macbook Pros and 2 Macbook Airs. According to the source, retail outlets usually get the price lists 10 days before products hit the market. Technical specs for the new laptops were not included on the price sheet.

If this turns out to be true, then this is a clear sign that Apple is looking to broaden its customer base in an attempt to try to make itself more resistant to the effects of consumers tightening their belts.

Quick word of caution though - the idea that an Apple store would get pricing information for a new product so far in advance seems fishy to me. This information, if real, is coming to Duncan Riley from a much higher level than a store drone. (full story Link

Microsoft to improve Vista’s problematic UAC in Windows 7

Microsoft plans to improve the much-maligned user account control (UAC) feature in the next version of its Windows client OS, acknowledging that the new security feature it built into Windows Vista has caused unnecessary problems for users.

On the company’s Engineering Windows 7 blog, Microsoft called UAC one of the “most controversial” features of Vista, and said it will tweak UAC in Windows 7 so it works more closely with Microsoft’s intended goal for the feature.

Microsoft added UAC to Vista in an effort to improve the security of the system and give people who are the primary users of a PC more control of its applications and settings. However, UAC turned out to be more of a headache for many users than a benefit.

“UAC was created with the intention of putting you in control of your system, reducing cost of ownership over time and improving the software ecosystem,” according to the post, which is attributed to Ben Fathi, corporate vice president of development for Microsoft’s Windows Core Operating System Division. “What we’ve learned is that we only got part of the way there in Vista and some folks think we accomplished the opposite.”

UAC prevents users without administrative privileges from making unauthorized changes to a PC. But because of how it was set up in Vista, it can prevent even authorized users on the network from being able to access applications and features they should normally have access to.

UAC does this through a series of screen prompts that ask the user to verify privileges, and it may require a user to type in a password to perform a task. Vista users reported that these prompts would interrupt a user’s normal workflow, even during some mundane tasks, unless a user is set as Local Administrator. UAC prompts became so problematic that competitor Apple even spoofed them in a television commercial.

Microsoft said that in Windows 7, it will work to reduce UAC’s “unnecessary or duplicated prompts in Windows and the ecosystem, such that critical prompts can be more easily identified,” according to Fathi’s blog post. It also plans to make the prompts “more informative” so that users can make better choices about how to proceed once prompted, and will provide “better and more obvious control” over UAC in Windows 7.


Source: networkworld

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Need for Speed : Undercover

We got behind the wheel of Need for Speed's latest instalment. Find out if Undercover is looking  ready to race in our hands-on look.

EA has been pretty clear that Need for Speed Undercover is more of a spiritual successor to Most Wanted than a follow-up to last year's iteration, ProStreet. It has brought back police pursuits, but it's also bringing the series up to date with what it claims will be an expansive open world and a deeper story mode, complete with a lead character who gains experience along the way.
Undercover takes place in three distinct cities in the fictional Tri-City Bay. Gold Coast Mountain, Sunset Hills, and Palm Harbor will offer three different regions to explore, and all of them are accessible from a main interstate highway. To give you an idea of the size of the world, the game's developers at EA Black Box said it would take eight minutes to navigate across at top speed, and 160km of drivable roads are available. Black Box is working on a streaming world that loads as needed, and with the main menu also loaded into the world (appearing as a pop-up) there will be no breaks from the action, unless you're jumping online for a race against friends. Xbox Live and PlayStation Network will be supported, but there is no local split-screen multiplayer. In addition to embarking on missions, you'll be able to free-roam around Tri-City Bay as much as you like, and at any time you can bring up your GPS device to jump directly into races, sprints, highway battles, and pursuits.

While we still haven't seen much of the storyline, EA revealed that a character played by Hollywood actress Maggie Q (Mission Impossible III, Die Hard 4.0) will recruit you as a federal officer at the beginning of the game to help bust an underground car-smuggling operation. You'll gradually infiltrate the crime syndicate, building on your reputation as you climb the ranks by taking jobs. This is where Undercover gets its name: You'll have to complete your jobs while facing off against cops, using them as your foil in the process. Some of the cutscene cinematics look top-notch, and hopefully the story will be just as solid--it's unusual to see developers go to this length to include a storyline in a racing game. EA has used a photographic technique known as magic hour (used in movies such as Transformers and 300) to film some of Undercover's cutscenes, giving it a warm, soft "late in the afternoon" visual tone. The in-game world will also cut straight to full-motion video, with the world being rendered behind the FMV, which is designed to increase the seamless feel.

We tried out a new game mode called Highway Battle on a stretch of the Southeast I-20. Essentially a point-to-point race against other street racers with the goal to win by 1,000ft (305m), this particular challenge is one of the easier tasks early on in the game, with only some light traffic to navigate around. A nifty onscreen meter will show you how far behind or ahead of the pack you are, and once your car reaches the top of the meter, you'll have completed the challenge. Variable traffic in Undercover means you shouldn't experience the same race twice. Vehicles will indicate when they're changing lanes and will vary their speed, so you'll need to keep an eye on the surrounding traffic. You'll also be able to draft behind other vehicles, but getting too close may result in a high-speed collision, bringing your race to a quick halt. You can use vehicles to create havoc for opponents and police, by creating pileups and accidents. Damage modelling will also be part of the game, and the team is working on improvements over ProStreet.

Pursuit mode looks like it will be just as thrilling as the highway battles. The object of the challenge we played, dubbed Grand Theft 5-0, was to steal a cop car from a police station carpark and evade the pursuing officers in the process of taking it to a garage. The chase takes place in Sunset Hills, which has a more industrial feel than the other areas, complete with warehouses and derelict land. While this race wasn't too difficult, we were told that police AI will increase as the story continues, forcing you to become more adventurous as you progress. Like in the highway battles, you'll have an onscreen meter showing your distance from your competition, and you'll need to gain a sizable lead before you can escape. Not content to merely chase you, cop cars will also ram your vehicle and set up barricades, although we didn't see any spike strips deployed as they were in the Need for Speed games of yesteryear.

Because you're stealing a vehicle for commercial interest, you'll need to make sure you don't damage it too much during the sprint. While you need to keep your vehicle looking tip-top, you can earn extra points for causing damage to public property--the greater the damage to police cars and council property, the better. If you get busted, an amusing cutscene will be triggered, showing you trying to escape the clutches of the fuzz, with a look almost straight out of Cops, complete with a blurred face. (full story Link)

Windows Vista is alive and kicking

Microsoft has kindly extended its XP “downgrade” program for OEMs by another six months. Rather than appreciating the extension, some people have chosen to mock Microsoft and call for the curtain to close on Windows Vista once and for all.

Even my esteemed colleague Randall C. Kennedy wrote in his column entitled “Die, Vista, die!” (tell us how you really feel, Randall) that for him, “Vista’s demise was a foregone conclusion”. Personally, I get so much hate mail whenever I write something positive about Vista that I shy away from the subject. Well, in the words of Michael Corleone from The Godfather: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Allow me to share with you some numbers that come from a Vista Tracking Poll conducted by CDW through Walker Information. They used an online survey, and participants included 772 IT decision makers who identified themselves as being familiar with Windows Vista. Here were some of their key findings:

  • 48 percent of respondents indicate that their organization is evaluating, testing, or implementing Vista. That doesn’t sound dead to me.
  • 30 percent of respondents have organizations that are currently implementing or have already implemented Vista.
  • 50 percent of the respondents said Vista is performing “above expectation” on key features.

Given that most of what we read is how worthless Vista is, one must wonder: What could they possibly about this wretched OS that is doomed to retirement at such an early age? Most of the respondents pointed to security enhancements as the No. 1 feature that attracts them to Vista. Performance improvements, search enhancements, improved networking, and patch management — these were all high in people’s list of features they liked about Vista.

It still boggles my mind that people berate Vista, even after SP1. Mr. Kennedy called it a “pretender to the desktop throne.” I’ll agree that it may not be all that it was initially hyped up to be, and hopefully Windows 7 can meet the expectations we’ve been watching and waiting for nearly a decade to see. But how can some of its finest features simply be ignored by critics?

Among them, there are enhancements to Group Policy settings (more than 800 new settings in Vista) that allow for a greater level of administrative control over such items as power use. These days, we are all about going green, and here Vista is an OS that can help us thanks to the added ability to adjust the amount of power your system uses. Other enhancements allow for greater security control within the enterprise, preventing users from plugging in USB devices and other removable media, User Account Control, and more.

Vista also introduces BitLocker protection, which is great for encrypting your entire system. Hundreds of thousands of laptops with confidential company data on them are lost or stolen each year. Without encryption of the drive, it is just a matter of time before a thief can access the contents. With BitLocker, that worry is removed. As a business person — perhaps one who has had their laptop stolen — would you mock that level of protection? Most likely not. Can you get it with XP? No. So, even if you didn’t receive a feature you wanted in Vista like WinFS (which nobody really understood anyway; it just sounded cool) but did receive peace of mind in the event your laptop was stolen, wouldn’t you say that it’s worth having?

I can go on and on with features that are a tremendous improvement over XP, features Microsoft developers can be proud of because they enhance our user experience, as well as make us more secure and more productive.

So is this really just about XP versus Vista, both of which are Microsoft OSes? Vista is clearly the superior OS to anyone who takes the time to really use it with an open mind. Just look at the aforementioned survey results where users point out the advantages over XP. It seems to me that this ongoing criticism of Vista by IT journalists has more to do with a desire to rage against the Microsoft machine than it does to speak about features we can use in the enterprise.

I say that Vista is alive and kicking. Enough blabber about the past. It’s time for — dare I say it? — change. And I don’t simply mean a change to XP or the wait for a change to Windows 7 (which will no doubt underperform when compared to users’ expectations, as seems to be the trend these days). If you truly want a Mac, go get one. Stop complaining about Vista and change. Or take your PC and install Linux. Or downgrade to XP. But stop the Vista bashing. You 20 people who yell like you are 20 million are really starting to get on the nerves of the 200 million Vista-loving PC users out here who would spend more time debating with you, but we are too busy enjoying our Vista OS and don’t have time.

I’m a PC. Better yet: I’m a Windows Vista PC. What are you?


Source: infoworld

Windows Vista is alive and kicking

Microsoft has kindly extended its XP “downgrade” program for OEMs by another six months. Rather than appreciating the extension, some people have chosen to mock Microsoft and call for the curtain to close on Windows Vista once and for all.

Even my esteemed colleague Randall C. Kennedy wrote in his column entitled “Die, Vista, die!” (tell us how you really feel, Randall) that for him, “Vista’s demise was a foregone conclusion”. Personally, I get so much hate mail whenever I write something positive about Vista that I shy away from the subject. Well, in the words of Michael Corleone from The Godfather: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

Allow me to share with you some numbers that come from a Vista Tracking Poll conducted by CDW through Walker Information. They used an online survey, and participants included 772 IT decision makers who identified themselves as being familiar with Windows Vista. Here were some of their key findings:

  • 48 percent of respondents indicate that their organization is evaluating, testing, or implementing Vista. That doesn’t sound dead to me.
  • 30 percent of respondents have organizations that are currently implementing or have already implemented Vista.
  • 50 percent of the respondents said Vista is performing “above expectation” on key features.

Given that most of what we read is how worthless Vista is, one must wonder: What could they possibly about this wretched OS that is doomed to retirement at such an early age? Most of the respondents pointed to security enhancements as the No. 1 feature that attracts them to Vista. Performance improvements, search enhancements, improved networking, and patch management — these were all high in people’s list of features they liked about Vista.

It still boggles my mind that people berate Vista, even after SP1. Mr. Kennedy called it a “pretender to the desktop throne.” I’ll agree that it may not be all that it was initially hyped up to be, and hopefully Windows 7 can meet the expectations we’ve been watching and waiting for nearly a decade to see. But how can some of its finest features simply be ignored by critics?

Among them, there are enhancements to Group Policy settings (more than 800 new settings in Vista) that allow for a greater level of administrative control over such items as power use. These days, we are all about going green, and here Vista is an OS that can help us thanks to the added ability to adjust the amount of power your system uses. Other enhancements allow for greater security control within the enterprise, preventing users from plugging in USB devices and other removable media, User Account Control, and more.

Vista also introduces BitLocker protection, which is great for encrypting your entire system. Hundreds of thousands of laptops with confidential company data on them are lost or stolen each year. Without encryption of the drive, it is just a matter of time before a thief can access the contents. With BitLocker, that worry is removed. As a business person — perhaps one who has had their laptop stolen — would you mock that level of protection? Most likely not. Can you get it with XP? No. So, even if you didn’t receive a feature you wanted in Vista like WinFS (which nobody really understood anyway; it just sounded cool) but did receive peace of mind in the event your laptop was stolen, wouldn’t you say that it’s worth having?

I can go on and on with features that are a tremendous improvement over XP, features Microsoft developers can be proud of because they enhance our user experience, as well as make us more secure and more productive.

So is this really just about XP versus Vista, both of which are Microsoft OSes? Vista is clearly the superior OS to anyone who takes the time to really use it with an open mind. Just look at the aforementioned survey results where users point out the advantages over XP. It seems to me that this ongoing criticism of Vista by IT journalists has more to do with a desire to rage against the Microsoft machine than it does to speak about features we can use in the enterprise.

I say that Vista is alive and kicking. Enough blabber about the past. It’s time for — dare I say it? — change. And I don’t simply mean a change to XP or the wait for a change to Windows 7 (which will no doubt underperform when compared to users’ expectations, as seems to be the trend these days). If you truly want a Mac, go get one. Stop complaining about Vista and change. Or take your PC and install Linux. Or downgrade to XP. But stop the Vista bashing. You 20 people who yell like you are 20 million are really starting to get on the nerves of the 200 million Vista-loving PC users out here who would spend more time debating with you, but we are too busy enjoying our Vista OS and don’t have time.

I’m a PC. Better yet: I’m a Windows Vista PC. What are you?


Source: infoworld

Has Microsoft given up on Vista?

There’s growing evidence that Microsoft may have, in essence, given up on Windows Vista, and plans to extend the life of Windows XP so people can continue to buy XP until Windows 7 is ready, or very close to that date.

The newest piece of evidence arrived only a few days ago, when Microsoft extended the availability of XP on PCs for another six months. A Microsoft spokesperson said that Microsoft will allow computer makers to “downgrade” machines they sell from Windows Vista Business or Vista Ultimate to Windows XP Professional until the end of July, 2009. Previously, Microsoft said the date would be January 31, 2009.

Microsoft has set no absolutely firm date for the release of Windows 7, but in a recent publicly released email, Bill Veghte, Microsoft Senior Vice President for the Windows Business wrote:

our plan is to deliver Windows 7 approximately 3 years after the January 2007 general availability launch date of Windows Vista.

That would mean there would be only six months between the end of XP’s life, and the beginning of Windows 7’s life. That’s not a ringing endorsement of Vista. And there have been some rumors floating around the Web that Windows 7 might be available as early as July, 2009 — just at the point when XP’s life ends.

If that’s the case, why would Microsoft be spending so much money on a recent ad campaign to push Windows? Because the campaign doesn’t bother to mention Vista — it’s only about Windows in general. That in itself is evidence that Microsoft isn’t pushing Vista hard.


Source: computerworld

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Leo DiCaprio's Domestic Desires: Marriage & Babies!

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Having watched some of his romances sink like a certain well-known ship, it's understandable that Leonardo DiCaprio has, in the past, expressed his reluctance to drop anchor and settle down.

But now it seems the actor's views are changing course.

"What I definitely feel a need for is to make my life about more than just my career," says the Body of Lies star in the new issue of Parade.

"Just last night I was thinking to myself how little of my life has been lived normally and not spent on some far-off movie location. I want to get married and have children. In saying that, I realize I am contradicting everything I've said before. I absolutely believe in marriage."

It's uncertain whether this new outlook stems from his seemingly on-again relationship with on-again, off-again girlfriend Bar Refaeli, or is simply a part of getting older. But whatever the case may be, the 33-year-old Leo clearly doesn't want to divulge too much, either.

"It's hard to talk about this stuff," he says. "I want to keep some of this for myself."

In fact, when asked by the AP if he planned to settled down, Leo was even more cagey. "Ah, how do you answer something like that? So, um, I am being asked to look in the future I suppose quickly. No, I don't have any plan."

But we're suckers for romance, so lets continue with Parade's vision of DiCaprio's domestic bliss: "I hope I never get cynical," says Leo. "I think you need youthful energy, excitement, and optimism in life."

Of course, dating young, superhot models no doubt makes that vigor easier to obtain.

Nicole Kidman to Be Honored by Hollywood Legend

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Nicole Kidman's night at Elle magazine's Women in Hollywood Tribute will be legendary—literally.

None other than silver-screen legend Shirley MacLaine will be presenting Kidman with her award at the upcoming VIP gala.

The 15th annual festivities taking place Oct. 6 in Beverly Hills will honor eight of the movie business' most powerful and celebrated women.

Along with MacLaine, I've also learned that Courteney Cox will present to Isla Fisher, while Mía Maestro will do the same for her best friend, Salma Hayek. Jane Fonda's tribute will come from Kerry Washington, her costar from the New York City reading of Eve Ensler's play Necessary Targets.

The event's host will be E!'s very own funnylady, Chelsea Handler.

Also being honored are Halle Berry, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Hathaway and Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke. Their presenters have not been announced.

The night will also mark the release of The Allure of Beauty: Women in Hollywood, a photography book collaboration between Elle and famed Italian jeweler Roberto Coin featuring iconic images of Hollywood's leadings ladies, including Charlize Theron, Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz and Demi Moore, among many others.

Anne Hathaway's Pain, New Movie's Gain

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Anne Hathaway didn't hide from personal troubles. Her new film didn't hide from audiences.

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Hathaway's Rachel Getting Married stood out in a limited-release debut, grossing $275,000 at only nine theaters, Exhibitor Relations estimates said today. No weekend film made more money per screen—a whopping $30,556—than the indie-minded family drama.

Overall, Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($29 million) topped the box office, while Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist ($12 million) scored with young women.

Rachel Getting Married seemed to benefit from strong reviews and Oscar buzz for Hathaway, who stars as a choppy-haired, chain-smoking rehab graduate (and, note, not the titular bride).

The movie also likely got a boost from an all-out promotional tour that saw Hathaway not only make stops on David Letterman, Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live, but talk openly about how she spent her summer. Her tabloid-tainted summer.

"I broke up with my Italian boyfriend [Raffaello Follieri] and two weeks later he was sent to prison for fraud. I mean, we've all been there, am I right, ladies?" Hathaway joked on last night's SNL.

Well, at least the experience was worth a good gag, if not a killer opening weekend.

Other box-office highlights:

  • Michael Cera is a chick magnet. Sony said 62 percent of Nick and Nora's audience was female. Predictably, the iPod-powered movie also played well with the iPod generation, pulling 55 percent of its ticket buyers from the under-21 set.   • Nick and Nora's specific appeal paled in comparison to Beverly Hills Chihuahua's broad family appeal. The talking-dog comedy accounted for about a third of all tickets sold among the weekend's top movies.

  • Even with tie-in weather in Los Angeles on Saturday, the intermittent windshield-wiper drama (and Greg Kinnear Oscar vehicle) Flash of Genius died in a wide-release launch, grossing only $2.3 million from nearly 1,100 theaters, and finishing outside the Top 10.   • The thriller Blindness opened at even more theaters than Flash of Genius (1,690)—and made even less money ($2 million). The movie was beset by bad reviews, and a protest by the National Federation of the Blind.   • In the battle of the bombs, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People blew up the biggest. The magazine-world comedy, featuring Kirsten Dunst, opened at more theaters than both Flash of Genius and Blindness (1,750), and made only $1.4 million.

  • Though it slipped to No. 2, Shia LaBeouf's Eagle Eye ($17.7 million) had a good second weekend, with business down only 39 percent from its debut.   • Bill Maher's religion-debunking Religulous ($3.5 million off 502 theaters) made more money, per theater, than any film in the Top 10, outside of Beverly Hills Chihuahua. That means the movie won the ideological box office war with the Michael Moore-tweaking comedy An American Carol ($3.8 million off 1,639 theaters) and the faith-driven Fireproof ($4.07 million off 852 theaters).

  • Fireproof did enjoy another week of solid advance ticket sales. Overall, the $500,000 movie has made a miraculous $12.5 million.   • Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna ($1.7 million; $6.3 million overall) was smited—and bounced from the Top 10 after just one weekend.

  • After two strong weekends in limited release, Ed Harris' Appaloosa broke wide with okay results ($5 million; $5.6 million overall).   • The Dark Knight ($830,000; $525.8 million overall) downsized to about 660 theaters. Warner Bros' distibution executive Jeff Goldstein said today the movie will probably remain in theaters right up until its DVD release, sometime in December, before returning (around Oscar nomination time) in January. Here's a recap of the top-grossing weekend films based on Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

  • Beverly Hills Chihuahua, $29 million   • Eagle Eye, $17.7 million   • Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, $12 million   • Nights in Rodanthe, $7.4 million   • Appaloosa, $5 million   • Lakeview Terrace, $4.5 million   • Burn After Reading, $4.1 million   • Fireproof, $4.07 million   • An American Carol, $3.8 million   • Religulous, $3.5 million

Source:  Yahoo Movies