TekTidbits

An Easy Way to Add a Shopping Cart to Your Site

I have recently been looking for a shopping cart solution for this site as a China-based manufacturer has just offered me a great deal on some wonderful little wireless gadgets - and as all my readers know, I just LOVE wireless gadgets! 

I came across a wonderful solution from Ashop Commerce that is fully turnkey, and doesn't force me to do a lot of coding.  Ashop takes most major credit cards as well as Paypal, and offers four levels of service; Starter,Advanced, Professional, and Enterprise. 

The starter package features a 10 day free trial, and all packages come with SMS alerts - a useful feature for me as I have a "day job" and am pretty constantly on the go. Security is no issue either, as they offer 128 bit SSL security encoding.

The starter package at $69/month is pretty impressive, and offers more than many pricier options.  This package includes 5GB/month bandwidth, 50MB web space, a fully customizable store front, SEO optimization, and support for up to 500 products.  I am probably going to only start with 10 products, so this is ideal for me and offers room for expansion.

The Professional and Enterprise classifications offer B2b support, support for affliate programs, and the highest classification has support for up to 5,000 products.  Wow!

Ashop commerce also offers ala carte services, such as logo design, web design, flash animation, and optional live customer support for your store. 

As soon as I get the details ironed out with my supplier, you can check here for some really cool wireless gadgets, AND the Ashop shopping cart. 

(Paid post for Ashop Commerce) 

   

 

Smorty: Another Way to Get Paid for Blogging

I have also just signed up for Smorty - which is another site that encourages advertisers to pay bloggers for writing posts about their products or services. Smorty is different from other "blog for money" sites in that they appear to emphasize the blogger's opinion of the product or service being offered.  They also have a very well designed site which is easy to navigate and follow.

I also have a marketing blog (see Suite 101 Marketing and PR) and I feel, as a marketer, that advertising on blogs makes a great deal of sense. If the blogger makes it know that this is a paid blog post and refrains from accepting "insincere" assignments, I don't see how this is a breach of blog integrity in any way. And this is a great way for advertisers to reach an audience that tradtional print and media spots would pass by!

I for one am very happy to get paid to blog! This helps to sponsor what I find an enjoyable pastime, while educating me about new products and services that I wouldn't otherwise have discovered.

Paid blogging, in my opinion, is here to stay - no matter what the purists say.  A blogger who really takes the time to investigate a product or service is just more credible than an ad - and is a "real person" speaking. 

And yes, this is a paid blog for Smorty!

 

My Thoughts on PayPerPost

I am a nerd, for sure, but I am also a professional sales and marketing type.  I have been reading all these blog posts about how it degrades a bloggers "integrity" to do paid postings.  I say Poppycock!  Companies have been paying celebrities to endorse their products for many years - if you want to keep your integrity, just don't endorse any product you don't really believe in. 

That is exactly how I plan to manage my membership to PayperPost, and I also plan to inform my readers of every post I place that is from this site.  I actually look forward to it, as I learn about new products too from sites such as these.

I joined some time ago, and this is my first post for Payperpost, which is an endorsement of what they are trying to do. Many blogs need the funds in order to keep their content live and fresh!

Will Web 2.0 Office Suites Make MS Office Obsolete?

The process of creating, PDF'ing, and emailing a spreadsheet or Word document is as ingrained in business culture as is the speaker phone - however, you have to admit it is a cumbersome process.

Web 2.0 based applications promise to free us from this multistep process by allowing web-based applications to create documents that live on the web, not email.

These applications are in their infancy right now so I don't think this will happen soon.

But when it does, the Mighty Microsoft will have to adapt or go the way of the horse and buggy manufacturers of yesteryear.

For example, Intel has just announced a new Web 2.0 Office based suite, called SuiteTwo, that will feature blogging, RSS feeds from Newsgator, a Wiki, and search tools.  The Early Stage VC blog announces that Ajax based office products are everywhere, and that web based applications make more sense as we are not desktop bound workers anymore.  Aptly named Thinkfree has a full suite of online Microsoft compatible office products available now as well. They offer a free teaser of 1Gb storage. 

Zimbra has been profiled in many blogs, and is also gaining ground with their office suite that includes VoIP, email, and web-based document creation and sharing.

Microsoft, the writing is on the wall....er, should I say Window?

technorati tags: zimbra, thinkfree, intel, microsoft, Microsoft Office, Web 2.0, online office suites, online office suite, free office suite, alternatives to MS Office
del.icio.us tags: zimbra, thinkfree, intel, microsoft, Microsoft Office, Web 2.0, online office suites, online office suite, free office suite, alternatives to MS Office
icerocket tags: zimbra, thinkfree, intel, microsoft, Microsoft Office, Web 2.0, online office suites, online office suite, free office suite, alternatives to MS Office

 

Porn on Popular Kids Sites - A Company that is Attacking this Problem

Technology has interwoven its way into the heart and soul of our culture - and nowhere can its effects be seen more than in the behavior of our youth and teens. 

Social networking sites such as MySpace , Friendster and Facebook have become the new "hangouts" - with many new and unanticipated social consequences. 

The issues of children being "picked-up" by pedophiles is well documented - and organized groups such as www.wiredsafety.org are fighting the good fight by educating our children as to the risks and working to put the creeps behind bars where they belong.

But what about the content our children are subjected to when surfing these sites? At present, most social networking sites have only an "honor" based system of identifying and removing such content.

This problem is being noticed by parents, and is effecting the subscribership of such sites - here is a sampling of some of the negative buzz around the web:

·       "Thinking these sites were kid-safe websites, I clicked on a picture that leads to a blog. I never expected to see hardcore porn images. There was no censorship what-so-ever," – A concerned parent, from ChristiaNet.org

·      “MySpace, Bebo and other social networking sites monitor photographs only after they have been posted and rely on members to report rule-breaking. Jessica Ross, the editor of Computing Which?, said: "Children are spending hours every week on networking sites, building up their profiles and chatting with friends. However, what might seem like innocent fun has a darker, more sinister side.” – The Scotsman

A new UK-based start-up, Image Analyzer LTD has innovated a new product that is sure to be very popular amongst these sites.  The Image Analyzer engine can function in the back-end of such social networking sites, and quickly scans and detects (to an 80 % accuracy level) pornographic content.  This engine can easily be integrated into any system such that this type content can be flagged and eliminated BEFORE children are exposed to it.

This same system can be easily implemented as an add-on to your virus checker, or email filtering system.  Rumor has it that the company is very close to signing a large deal as an add-on to one of the popular virus scanners.................stay tuned for more.

technorati tags: image analyzer, social networking, myspace, friendster, facebook, pornography, inappropriate pornography, wiredsafety
del.ico.us tags: image analyzer, social networking, myspace, friendster, facebook, pornography, inappropriate pornography, wiredsafety

eHOW - A Great Source of Useful AND Useless Information

Wow!  Ehow.com has really expanded since I last visited several months ago. After reviewing the site, however, I was pondering the wisdom of letting John Q Public contribute to the "how-tos".  There are some incredibly useful ideas on this site, but it is also a great source of comedic material - I expect Leno will use some of these things next in lieu of his ad segment.

For example, you can learn how to:

Understand an Apple Cleansing Fast - Sorry folks, I will never understand this one!

How to Take An Internal Bath - Run that by me again??

How to Milk Your Goat - This one is on the top of MY list...........

and How to Decorate a Bathroom for a Party - Sounds like a great party - where?

In support of this site, I must say there are many useful items to be found as well, such as:

How to Get the Men in Your House to Put the Toilet Seat Down

How to Build a Doghouse

and How to Diagnose Paint Problems

I don't see an RSS feed available yet for this site, but this would be a good one to add to a home page. Perhaps I am missing something............

technorati tags: ehow, how to, DIY, websites, web resource, humor, comedy

del.ico.us tags: ehow, how to, DIY, websites, web resource, humor, comedy 

Will They Multiply Like (Gulp) Rabbits?

Just when you thought you'd heard it all, in comes Nabaztag - which is Armenian for bunny. What is Nabaztag?  Why, a WiFi enabled bunny, of course! 

Nabaztag is the 2006 answer to the Pet Rock of the 70s - only much more intelligent.  You can name your bunny on registration, and the colors of its belly will tell you whether you have mail, what the weather is like outside, or even if there are new posts to your favorite blog.

Created by Violet, the same company that brought us a USB fragrance diffuser, Nabaztag can move his ears, play music, read you the latest ESPN column from your computer, tell you when you have an SMS message on your phone, wake you up to your favorite MP3s, and download RSS feeds. And yes, he can communicate with other bunnies - he can even send them music clips.

Podcasts are now passe - as now we have Nabcasts through your bunny. 

But beware, these bunnies are programmed to have a personality.  They will tell you at the end of the week how much they have enjoyed (or not enjoyed) their week with you.  Chill out from the stress by taking a Tai Chi lesson with your bunny.

Nabaztag is a bargain at $149 from ThinkGeek. 

Oh, and watch the fashion scene. Nabaztag has just made a debut at this years London Design Festival. After all, they ARE French!

technorati tags: Nabaztag, WiFi bunny, WiFi, WiFi gadgets, robots, robot, WiFi rabbit

del.ico.us tags: Nabaztag, WiFi bunny, WiFi, WiFi gadgets, robots, robot, WiFi rabbit