JXTA – Is it Important or Just Cool?
Software can be a bit boring. So where do we get our jollies? What is exciting in the software world? Well, we can all take up skydiving while doing code reviews** or we can use a new technology. Its hard to say why ‘new’ holds such a fascination for most of us. When a new technology saves us time or money it has a lot of pull. But something that can save time and/or money “and” be cool, well it just warms our hearts.
The Problem with Site MatchTM : Creeping Commercialism Infiltrates Pure Search Listings
For over a year now, Yahoo has spent a lot of money acquiring assets that will allow them to grab market share from Google. They bought Inktomi, which is feeding search results to the Microsoft network, and they bought Alltheweb, and AltaVista, and Overture. Last month they unveiled plans that will integrate these assets. The most controversial of these is Site Match, which involves embedding paid links into the main index. There has been very little comment about Site Match from the noncommercial sector. Almost all of the grassroots discussion revolves around whether the typical ecommerce webmaster can benefit from the Site Match model, or whether he would be better advised to rely on free crawling and indexing. The commentary from the pundits is even more shallow, and discusses whether Yahoo has the right stuff to crush Google. This article, on the other hand, looks at Site Match from the perspective of a nonprofit webmaster.
Tax Mistakes 90% of Self-Employed People Make
Let me share a short story with you… A self-employed friend of mine came into may office the other day to have me do his taxes. He has been doing his taxes using a software program for years. In the past, he did his own return for 2 reasons: one it is cheaper and 2) he likes to spend a weekend going through his information.
Does Your Web Site Tell a Story?
What is a website? It can be a one-page advertisement, a flash animation, a simple HTML page or an integrated matrix of information. But it is always – one of your strongest marketing tools. The effectiveness of this tool does NOT reside in the tool itself
Don’t Make These Mistakes When Buying Content Management Software
Most organizations don’t need content management software. Unless you have a very busy website with lots and lots of content being published, the return on investment is not there. The majority of those who do require such software need a very simple, streamlined solution.
Join the Continuous Backup Revolution
Is Regular Backup Enough?
Most businesses secure their information infrastructure by regularly backing it up onto tape. Some have gone further, enhancing their backup strategy with expensive disk arrays and mirroring. Whether an earthquake, a flood, a blackout or a hard disk failure should catch them by surprise, these backups would ensure the survival of their information. Should human or software error (which account for approximately 40% of all application-related disasters) corrupt their data, they would simply reach for a recent backup, which would help them back on their feet. But would simply having these regular backups stashed away someplace safe be enough?
Have You Checked Your Permanent Record Lately?
As a young student I feared getting bad grades because I didn’t want any bad marks on my “permanent record.” Get an “F” in fifth-grade science and it goes in your record. Act up in Mrs. Brown’s class? Yep, it’s in your record too. Get caught using a swear word and it’s not only in your permanent record but it goes right at the top! When you go to a parochial school like I did, you come to believe that there really is some mysterious file that follows you for the rest of your life.
Don’t Bite the Hands That Used to Feed You
When we begin working online we have no idea how to get visitors to our website, let alone actually make a sale. We start to read everything we can get our hands on to learn as much as we can.
Getting Involved In The Community…Online
The one big advantage that small businesses (and especially home-based or sole-proprietorships) have over larger enterprises is the ability to show personality and friendliness to their customers and potential customers. Someone who is really involved and has a direct interest in the happiness of the customer brings something more to the bargain than does the employee of the faceless corporation.
Google Personalizes Search
As search engines fight for dominance, search result relevance has become a crucial battleground. Users want search engine returns that relate to the topic being searched.