The Remains of the Day

DINNER SPINNER

2011-10-25T13:20:00.001-04:00

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2011-10-25T11:44:00.001-04:00

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2011-10-23T14:09:00.000-04:00

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2011-10-22T10:11:00.000-04:00

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The Remains of the Day: We need the supreme court more than ever, NOW

2011-10-22T09:54:00.000-04:00

The Remains of the Day: We need the supreme court more than ever, NOW

2011-10-22T09:52:00.000-04:00

If you are 30, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot.... BOTH ways. yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!
And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!

And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!
And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were luckily, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!
See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before!

Regards,
The Over 30 Crowd
(Send this to someone you'd like to make smile)

2011-09-10T09:49:00.001-04:00

HAPPY MARRIAGE DAY TO MIKE AND SHEILA GALLAGHER. WE WISH THEM ALL THE HAPPINESS IN THE WORLD

We need the supreme court more than ever, NOW

2010-06-26T08:45:00.002-04:00

“We owe every other sacrifice to ourselves, to our federal brethren, and to the world at large, to pursue with temper and perseverance the great experiment which shall prove that man is capable of living in society, governing itself by laws self-imposed, and securing to its members the enjoy-ment of life, liberty, property, and peace; and further to show, that even when the government of its choice shall manifest a tendency to degeneracy, we are not at once to despair, but that the will of and the watchfulness of its sounder parts will reform its aberrations, recall it to original and legitimate principles, and restrain it within the rightful limits of self government.”-Thomas Jefferson

THIS IS A MUST SEE PRESENTATION FOR ALL

2010-04-18T14:54:00.002-04:00

Really Great Must See Really Really

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THIS GUY IS SO SPOT ON THE WHOLE PROBLEM WE ARE GOING THROUGH!!!!

2009-09-12T12:45:00.002-04:00

Ronald Reagan - Talking about TODAYS ISSUE ON HEALTH CARE

2009-08-14T20:07:00.004-04:00

ALTON BROWN PULLED PORK RECIPE

2009-08-11T16:35:00.005-04:00

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2009-08-07T05:40:00.010-04:00

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2009-07-30T17:02:00.002-04:00

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Palm Pre Update Restores iTunes Sync

2009-07-25T07:48:00.003-04:00

The following was reported and appears in urbirgizmo
As we said earlier Apple and Palm have entered in a cat-and mouse game in which the Palm Pre tries to fool iTunes into thinking that it is an Apple device, while Apple tries to block the Pre from accessing iTunes.

iTunes 8.2.1 blocked Palm Pre users for the first time last week. But it didn't take too long for Palm to circumvent the iTunes update: the Palm Web OS 1.1 "resolves an issue preventing media sync from working with latest version of iTunes (8.2.1)"

The next move from Apple will define the rhythm at which this whack-a-mole game will be played (at least from Apple's perspective). We wonder if Apple will find a permanent way of blocking Palm (like claiming that they use a patented trademark as a device ID) or if Palm users will get upset because of the intermittent iTune blockade. One thing is certain: Pre owners will be cauti

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2009-07-17T09:30:00.006-04:00

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Twitter hacked by old technique _ again

2009-07-17T08:47:00.003-04:00

By JORDAN ROBERTSON IN MY WAY

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Breaking into someone's e-mail can be child's play for a determined hacker, as Twitter Inc. employees have learned the hard way - again.

For the third time this year, the San Francisco-based company was the victim of a security breach stemming from a simple end-run around its defenses. In the latest case, a hacker got the password for an employee's personal e-mail account - possibly by guessing, or by correctly answering a security question - and worked from there to steal confidential company documents.

The techniques used by the attackers highlight the dangers of a broader trend promoted by Google Inc. and others toward storing more data online, instead of on computers under your control.

The shift toward doing more over the Web - a practice known as "cloud computing" - means that mistakes employees make in their private lives can do serious damage to their employers, because a single e-mail account can tie the two worlds together.

Stealing the password for someone's Gmail account, for example, not only gives the hacker access to that person's personal e-mail, but also to any other Google applications they might use for work, like those used to create spreadsheets or presentations.

That's apparently what happened to Twitter, which shares confidential data within the company through the Google Apps package that incorporates e-mail, word processing, spreadsheet, calendar and other Google services for $50 per user per year.

Co-founder Biz Stone wrote in a blog posting Wednesday that the personal e-mail of an unnamed Twitter administrative employee was hacked about a month ago, and through that the attacker got access to the employee's Google Apps account.

Separately, the wife of co-founder Evan Williams also had her personal e-mail hacked around the same time, Stone wrote. Through that, the attacker got access to Williams' personal Amazon and PayPal accounts.

Stone said the attacks are "about Twitter being in enough of a spotlight that folks who work here can become targets."

Some of the material the hacker posted online from the Google Apps documents was more embarrassing than damaging, like floor plans for new office space and a pitch for a TV show about the increasingly popular online messaging service.

Twitter says only one user account was potentially compromised because a screenshot of the account was included among the stolen documents. The value in hijacking a user's account is limited, as those attacks are mainly used to post fake messages and try to trick the victim's friends into clicking on links that will infect their computers.

Sensitive Twitter documents were filched, though.

The hacker claims to have employee salaries and credit card numbers, resumes from job applicants, internal meeting reports and growth projections.

TechCrunch, a widely read technology blog, says it was e-mailed the documents, and subsequently published some of them, including financial projections that Twitter drew up in February. The forecast envisioned Twitter generating its first revenue in the current quarter, with sales of about $400,000 and about 60 employees. By the end of next year, Twitter expected to employ about 345 people with annual revenue of about $140 million, according to the documents published by TechCrunch.

Stone said in an e-mail that most of the documents TechCrunch has access to are "speculative exercises."

In his blog post, Stone said the stolen documents "are not polished or ready for prime time and they're certainly not revealing some big, secret plan for taking over the world," but said they are sensitive enough that their public release could jeopardize relationships with Twitter's partners.

Stone said the company is talking to lawyers about "what this theft means for Twitter, the hacker, and anyone who accepts and subsequently shares or publishes these stolen documents."

What the attacks on Twitter show is that Web sites don't need to get compromised in the traditional sense to put its users and employees at risk.

Hackers don't need to find a vulnerability in the site itself, or plant a virus on an employee's computer, to sneak inside.

The easier approach is much more low-tech: All they need to find is an employee who uses weak passwords for his or her e-mail accounts, or has security questions that are easy to answer with a little information about the person.

It's an old strategy that's becoming more and more valuable as people's personal and work lives merge online.

It can be trivial to guess someone's passwords, as former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin found out during the election, when her personal e-mail was hacked and screenshots were posted online. The attacker sneaked in by accurately guessing the answer's to Palin's security questions, based on information about her and her family that was already online.

Password-guessing programs are also a common hacking tool. An attacker runs the program against an account, and if it's allowed to try lots of times and the password isn't very complicated, the hacker's in.

Twitter was hit twice before this year in similar incidents.

In an attack against Twitter in January, a Twitter support staffer's account was compromised using a password-guessing-program. The hacker got administrative access to the site. The Twitter feeds for Barack Obama, Britney Spears and other celebrities were used to send out bogus messages. A similar attack happened in May.

The attacks on Twitter serve as a reminder of why many corporations are reluctant to jump on the cloud computing bandwagon. Outsourcing sensitive jobs can save money but also open up companies to more risk, because their data aren't entirely under their control.

Another trend online is for Web-based services to streamline access by letting users log into each others' sites with the same usernames and passwords. Facebook and other services have begun to do this, raising possible security risks.

The lesson from Twitter's latest security troubles is an old one: Use strong passwords, which include some combination of letters and numbers, and for companies, be careful about how many accounts are linked to the same username and password combination.

Signs of Hope Emerge in the West Bank

2009-07-17T08:32:00.002-04:00

By ETHAN BRONNER
Published: July 16, 2009 NY TIMES

NABLUS, West Bank — The first movie theater to operate in this Palestinian city in two decades opened its doors in late June. Palestinian policemen standing beneath new traffic lights are checking cars for seat belt violations. One-month-old parking meters are filling with the coins of shoppers. Music stores are blasting love songs into the street, and no nationalist or Islamist scold is forcing them to stop.

“You don’t appreciate the value of law and order until you lose it,” Rashid al-Sakhel, the owner of a carpet store, said as he stood in his doorway surveying the small wonder of bustling streets on a sunny morning. “For the past eight years, a 10-year-old boy could order a strike and we would all close. Now nobody can threaten us.”

For the first time since the second Palestinian uprising broke out in late 2000, leading to terrorist bombings and fierce Israeli countermeasures, a sense of personal security and economic potential is spreading across the West Bank as the Palestinian Authority’s security forces enter their second year of consolidating order.

The International Monetary Fund is about to issue its first upbeat report in years for the West Bank, forecasting a 7 percent growth rate for 2009. Car sales in 2008 were double those of 2007. Construction on the first new Palestinian town in decades, for 40,000, will begin early next year north of Ramallah. In Jenin, a seven-story store called Herbawi Home Furnishings has opened, containing the latest espresso machines. Two weeks ago, the Israeli military shut its obtrusive nine-year-old checkpoint at the entrance to this city, part of a series of reductions in security measures.

Whether all this can last and lead to the consolidation of political power for the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah, as the Obama administration hopes, remains unclear. But a recent opinion poll in the West Bank and Gaza by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center, a Palestinian news agency, found that Fatah was seen as far more trustworthy than Hamas — 35 percent versus 19 percent — a significant shift from the organization’s poll in January, when Hamas appeared to be at least as trustworthy.

“Two years ago I couldn’t have even gone to Nablus,” said Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who serves as international envoy to the Palestinians, after a smooth visit this week. “Security is greatly improved, and the economy is doing much better. Now we need to move to the next stage: politics.”

The aim of American and European policy is to stitch Palestinian politics back together by strengthening the Palestinian Authority under the presidency of Mahmoud Abbas, which favors a two-state solution with Israel, while weakening the Islamists of Hamas, who rule in Gaza. Fatah says it will hold its first general congress in 20 years in early August to build on its successes, but it remains unclear if the meeting will take place.

The Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it shares the goal of helping Mr. Abbas, which is why it is seeking to improve West Bank economic conditions as a platform for moving to a political discussion. The Palestinians worry that the political discussion will never arrive and say the Israelis are doing far too little to ease the occupation. Still, they point with pride to the many changes in the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the Israeli-led economic siege of Gaza continues, letting in only humanitarian goods. That sets the desired contrast between the territories into sharp relief but causes enormous suffering and anger.

Asked to explain why the West Bank’s fortunes were shifting, a top Israeli general began his narrative with a chart showing 410 Israelis killed by Palestinians in 2002, and 4 in 2008.

“We destroyed the terrorist groups through three things — intelligence, the barrier and freedom of action by our men,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with military rules. “We sent our troops into every marketplace and every house, staying tightly focused on getting the bad guys.”

But he added that the 2006 legislative electoral victory by Hamas, followed by its violent takeover of Gaza in 2007, led Mr. Abbas to fight Hamas. Palestinian troops have been training in Jordan under American sponsorship.

There are now several thousand men trained in that way, and their skills, along with those of the European-trained police force here, have made a huge difference.

An important element in making the Palestinian force effective, American and Israeli officials say, was taking young Palestinian men out of the ancestral grips of their villages and tribal clans and training them abroad, turning them into soldiers loyal to units and commanders.

The Israeli general said that in the past year and a half, Israeli and Palestinian forces had shot at each other only twice, and in each case there was a meeting to restore trust.

Speaking of the seriousness of the Palestinians, he added, “Twice in recent months we have been amazed.” The first time was during Israel’s military invasion of Gaza when Palestinian police officers kept the West Bank calm during protests. The second was in June when the security forces clashed twice with Hamas men in the city of Qalqilya, fighting to the death.

The Israelis have pulled their forces to the outskirts of four cities, greatly reduced the number of permanent checkpoints and promised to help industry develop. They say the Palestinians now need courts, prisons and trained judges.

Mr. Blair agreed but said there was much more Israel should do, like ending the growth of settlements and taking away dirt mounds and other barriers. In addition, he said, Israel should allow greater Palestinian development in the 60 percent of the West Bank it fully controls.

Palestinian business leaders are incensed at the Israeli limitations. Paltel, which operates the only Palestinian cellphone company, says Israel will not permit it to place its towers on the land it controls. That forces Palestinian customers to pay roaming charges for many calls, and allows Israeli cellphone companies to offer lower rates.

For more than a year, Israel has promised to free a second frequency so that a competitor to Paltel can provide cellphone service, but it has not yet done so. This leaves the Palestinians skeptical.

“I fail to see any indications that Israel wants to help the Palestinian economy,” Abdel-Malik al-Jaber, vice chairman of Paltel, said.

Still, his company has invested millions in the past year in call centers and customer service because of the increased security and disposable income.

As Nader Elawy, manager of Cinema City, the new movie theater here, put it: “We now have law and order. You can really feel the change.”

Apple nixes sync with Palm Pre

2009-07-15T18:19:00.004-04:00

This looks like a sure reason that I take my Pal Pre back before the 30 day deadline this week

I like the Pre but there are too many things that I need now that it does not have-

Tethering-An Audio Player that remembers where it left off or at least has a fast forward-

Now no sync with songs I bought-and oh yeah more than 30 APPS

I think I will take my Pre back and get a refund and then apply the credit that Sprint would not give me $150 off the Pre from "my previous plan and upgrade a phone deal" and get me a new Blackberry.

When Pre gets the above fixed I will be back to the Pre

Early today, Apple pushed out iTunes 8.2.1. Apple says, "iTunes 8.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes and addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices." REST OF THE STORY IN INFO WEEK

COPY TO FOLDER or MOVE TO FOLDER WITH RIGHT CLICK

2009-07-15T12:22:00.006-04:00

This is a Tip that is an invaluable time saver. How many times have you download a file, fax etc or copied something to your desktop and then wanted to move it or copy it to another folder-Me ? A gazillion

A hidden functionality in Windows allows you to right click on a file, select Copy To Folder or Move To Folder, and the move to box will pop up and let you choose a location to either copy or move the file or folder to.

PLease before you attempt this easy Registry Hack or any Registry change BACK UP YOUR RTEGISTRY

Here’s the quick registry hack to get this working. As usual, back up your registry just in case. You will want to browse down to this key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

Once you are at that key, right click and choose the New Key option:

Now you will double-click on the (Default) value and enter the following:

{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Click OK and continue.

If you want to enable Move To, you will repeat the same steps, except creating a new key named Move To, and using this value:

{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}

Now when you right click on a file or folder, you should see the following options: As shown in the Picture:

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New Palm Pre Ad

2009-07-15T01:35:00.001-04:00

MotionApps Classic Palm OS Emulator Review

2009-07-15T01:13:00.002-04:00

BY: Ed Hardy, Brighthand.com Editor
PUBLISHED: 7/14/2009

MotionApps Classic is an emulator that allows webOS-based devices like the Palm Pre to run legacy Palm OS software. This brings two benefits: more software, and it lets those who aren't ready to give up on the Palm OS to hold on a bit longer.

A Palm Inside Your Pre
There will be no more Palm OS devices, but I know there are some who aren't ready to let go yet. I know that many in this group are curious if this emulator will let them have the best of both worlds -- Palm OS and webOS.

The short answer is yes... mostly.

Classic creates a virtual Palm on the webOS device. This acts like a separate PDA inside the Pre -- one that Palm OS users will immediately recognize. Truly, the emulated Palm looks and acts like a real one.

Of course, there are a few obvious differences. The Palm Pre lacks hardware buttons and a D-pad, so these have to appear on screen. Also, all the Internet-related applications have been stripped out -- there's no web browser or email software. Frankly, I don't miss them. Blazer was terrible browser, while the default email app was just tolerable.

More importantly, all the PIM (personal information management) software is still there, and MotionApps makes transferring your data to Classic a snap. It took me about 5 minutes to have all my Palm OS contacts, calendar entries, and memos running on my Pre.

If you don't want to use the webOS calendar, and keep depending on the Palm OS one, you can. You'll be notified of your events, even if Classic isn't running. When an alarm goes off, the app launches itself, and you get a notification window, just as if you were using a Tungsten E.

Unfortunately, there is a missing feature in this setup. The address book acts like it is on a PDA, not a smartphone; this means that you can't easily call a phone number from it. Instead, you have to manually enter the phone number in the webOS dialing app.

This brings up an important point: the webOS smartphone and the Palm OS PDA don't directly share calendar or contacts information, nor is there be a way to directly synchronize these databases. In addition, HotSync is also not a part of Classic, so it isn't possible for the virtual Palm to synchronize with the Palm Desktop running on a PC.

Still, Palm OS software running in Classic is able to access the Internet through the Pre's connection. This means that it is possible to indirectly sync calendar and contacts information. I have to admit, though, I haven't tried this.

Software Galore
The most significant disadvantage of introducing a new operating system is that there's very little software available at the launch, and the webOS is no exception. The catalog of apps is growing, but it will be a long time before it rivals what available for the Palm OS now.

MotionApps Classic helps close this gap, especially when it comes to gaming. At this point, the selection of webOS games is pathetic, but a wide array of emulated Palm OS games is available.

I tried out Astraware Bejeweled 2 -- one of the most popular games of all time -- and I have no complaints. This emulator offers impressive performance, at least as good as that offered by any physical device.

To test this, I tried out something a bit more demanding: Astraware's My Little Tank. This ran quite well, though it did bring to light something you should be aware of. As I said earlier, the Palm Pre lacks the physical keys many games depend on, and the on-screen ones are much harder to use in a fast-paced game. When playing MLT, I had a tendency to accidentally hit the Home button every few minutes, booting me out of the game.

There another potential problem you should be aware of, too. Palm OS software was generally written to be controlled with a stylus, while the Pre has no stylus, instead depending on fingertip control. This means that there are sometimes elements on the screen you need to select that are too small for your fingers. Fortunately, Classic lets you enlarge portions of the screen, so you can easily tap on even the tiniest checkbox.

I don't mean to give the impression that the only kind of Palm OS software that MotionApps Classic offers is games -- there's actually a wide variety. If you go to the Brighthand Software Store and look at apps for the Palm Pre, you'll see a list of titles that have either been tested or certified by MotionApps to run in Classic. This includes well-known products like Agendus, HanDBase, BugMe!, and Laridian MyBible. But don't think these are the only apps that will run in this emulator -- none of the Astraware games I tried out appear on this list, and they all ran fine.

There are a few categories that you won't find, most notably video players. Classic currently doesn't support this type of software.

Installing Palm OS apps onto the emulated Palm is relatively simple, but it does require you to use a separate Windows/Mac/Linux PC.

Conclusion
I think of MotionApps Classic as a transitional aid. It will help long-time Palm OS users switch to the webOS, and help Palm, Inc. get the webOS off the ground.

What it's not going to do is turn a Palm Pre into a Treo. At the very least, you're still going to need to use the webOS's email software and web browser, and I'd suggest everyone who gets a Pre get accustomed to their device's default user interface. I promise, before you know it, you'll wonder what you ever saw in the Palm OS.

For gamers with a Palm Pre, Classic looks like a no-brainer to me -- $30 seems like a bargain to convert your smartphone into a decent gaming platform, even if you never use any of the PIM features.

Verizon: Get Off The Home Phone Land Line

2009-07-13T10:31:00.003-04:00

As reported in the Boston Herald:

Verizon Wireless is urging customers to “cut the cord” with their old-fashioned phone service - even though its corporate owner still has a large land-line business employing thousands of workers in Massachusetts and across the nation.

In an unusual move that’s left Verizon Communications Inc.’s union members steaming, Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest cell-phone carrier, launched several weeks ago a direct-mail blitz that encouraged customers to go all wireless in their homes.

“This is a great opportunity for you to cut down on costs by making your cell phone your only phone,” reads the sales pitch. “Disconnecting your home phone leaves you with one less bill to pay.”

A spokesman for Verizon Wireless, which is jointly owned by Verizon and Vodafone Corp., said the sales pitch was made to only Verizon Wireless customers - and the intent was to not include Verizon Communications’ copper-wire customers.

But Verizon Wireless spokesman Howard Waterman conceded some Verizon Communications customers may have gotten the flier by error.

The goal of the ad campaign was to try to “peel away” customers from cable companies and other phone companies that compete with Verizon, he said.

Yet union members weren’t buying Verizon Wireless’ arguments - and they said its corporate parent clearly wants to get out of the land-line business.

They noted that Verizon Communications, which owns 55 percent of Verizon Wireless, recently sold off its phone assets in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, and that it’s trying to sell its land-line assets in 14 other states.

The work force for the older, copper-wire business is heavily unionized. Verizon Wireless is not heavily unionized, they added.

Verizon Communications now mostly touts its fast-growing FiOS fiber-optics TV, Internet and phone businesses. Its old land-line business declined by 12.2 percent last year.

Reflecting a trend throughout the telecom industry, about 20 percent of all American homes now are completely wireless for their phone service.

“The whole trend (for Verizon) is to dump anything to do with plain old phones,” said Paul Bouchard, a district representative for the Communications Workers of America.

Don Trementozzi, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1400, disputed Verizon Wireless’ assertion that intended to target only non-Verizon customers.

“Even I got one of the fliers at home,” said Trementozzi, whose union represents about 1,000 Massachusetts Verizon workers. “The ad campaign is real crazy. It’s a big mistake.”

Even if the ad was aimed at non-Verizon customers, it was still bad-mouthing a business that’s important to the general company and thousands of workers, other union members complained.

Innocell 1350 Extended Life Battery for Palm Pre

2009-07-09T02:44:00.007-04:00

A new Innocell extended battery from Seido changes the 1,150mAh standard battery to 20% more life, putting it at 1,350mAh-That equates to anywhere from 7.25 to 9.5 hours of use. The new Seido battery does not change the Pre battery's frame.

The battery runs $45 and is available now. Live it up, Pre users. Such joyous days are a rarity and should be celebrated with

Seidio invests in extensive research to find the best and most powerful battery components on the market. We carefully select top quality Japanese cells for our batteries to ensure the highest level of safety, quality, and performance. Our research, knowledge, and expertise give us the ability to create batteries that provide maximum capacity in their comparable space. This Innocell Extended Life Battery is designed for the customer who needs extra life, but doesn't want to add any thickness to their device. This model fits in your device's existing battery space and doesn't require a replacement door, which makes it a perfect replacement for your original battery.

- Made from the highest quality Japanese cells
- More capacity in the same form factor
- Fits in existing space so no replacement door is needed
- Perfect replacement for your original battery

* All battery life claims are dependent upon usage patterns, network configuration and many other factors; actual results will vary.

Facebook Users Scoop Up Free Starbucks Ice Cream

2009-07-08T08:11:00.004-04:00

July 6, 2009 - Alex Palmer

To introduce consumers to its new ice cream, Starbucks and Unilever are offering free pints to Facebook users.

From July 6 to July 19, participants can visit Apps.facebook.com/starbucksicecream. At the top of every hour, they will have a chance to give a pint of Starbucks ice cream to a friend or family member.

Each hour, 800 pints will be given away, with a total of 280,000 for the duration of the promotion. While the promotion encourages participants to send the treat to friends, less generous users also have the option of simply sending the coupon to themselves.

Users who don’t jump on the opportunity fast enough have to check back later if the supply of 800 has already been given away

The promotion touts the four flavors of Starbucks ice cream, which debuted in the spring. Based on Starbucks beverages, the flavors are: Caramel Macciato (coffee and vanilla ice creams with swirls of caramel), Mocha Frappuccino (coffee and chocolate ice creams), Java Chip Frappuccino (chocolate ice cream with chunks of dark chocolate) and Coffee (coffee and espresso ice creams).

Unilever signed a licensing agreement with Starbucks in September 2008 for the exclusive manufacturing, marketing and distribution of Starbucks ice cream.

The iPhone 3G S versus BlackBerry

2009-07-06T13:31:00.002-04:00

As Featured in News Line 365

Now tha the dust has settled over the iPhone 3G S launch, comparisons are inevitable. Is Apple getting ahead in the race for producing a gadget that can replicate all functions of your laptop? A closer examination of iPhone 3G S and its competitors is in order. The BlackBerry Bold is the nearest competitor that deserves a closer look.

The comparison needs to be identical to comparing say two tennis players. The aspects to be compared would be mail, browser, ease of typing or the touch-tap and the availability of third party apps.

In the email application the iPhone is way ahead of the BlackBerry. The Web browser and the Windows 3-like user interface two handed operation are a breeze. What makes it a clear winner in this field is the ability to use Exchange and its folders. The connection to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server is far too complicated. So the ease of operation is too good in case of iPhone.

In the App Store the iPhone appears to be far ahead. It is not only the quality of Apps but the user interface that is much better in case of iPhone. It is also much easier for developers to develop iPhone apps.

The browsing experience of the iPhone is far too superior when compared with the BlackBerry. The usage of maps and navigation aids is also much better in the iPhone. The iPhone can triangulate Wi-Fi signals to give your location where as the BlackBerry requires an application to do the same task.

Some users may find it difficult to migrate to the iPhone’s screen-based keyboard. BlackBerry keyboard may be comfortable but some key board shortcuts are clumsy.
However the strongest point in favour of the BlackBerry is security. This is the place where it scores over the iPhone. Yet in overall comparison the iPhone seems to leading by leaps and bounds.

3 Ways To Make Money Fast On The Internet

2009-07-04T22:45:00.002-04:00

by DJ Bishop

The question has come into everyone's mind at one point or another."How do I make money fast?" Luckily for everyone who has ever had that question come to mind there is an answer! There are several ways to make money quickly online.

3 Ways to make money online.

1. Articles 2. Taking Surveys 3. Posting on Forums

Let's begin with articles. Article content should be the number one stop for those people who frequently ask themselves, how I could make money fast. Articles requires you to write content, which in other words, content means articles.

People will pay you anywhere from $3 to $40 for your content. Most of the time, the bids that they place on your content are for much less than $10.

However, this is still a great way to make money online if you can type several articles per day. You may be surprised to see how easy it has become to earn a part time income through writing content.

The next way to make money fast is by completing surveys. There are sites that pays you to take surveys. They may pay anywhere from a dollar to possibly a hundred dollars, just for you to take a survey.

Doesn't sound too bad now does it? The reason they pay you to complete surveys is that companies are willing to shell out loads of cash for in-depth information from their consumers to find out exactly what the word on the street is about their product or services.

If you make .80 cents per survey, it may not seem like much but do the math, over a 30 day time period. That is almost $30 extra dollars just for taking surveys.

Are you still asking yourself that question, how do I make money fast? Well if writing tons of articles and taking surveys does not excite you, there is always posting on forums opportunities.

You can make $0.10 for each post you make on a forum. This is great for those of us that would be searching and posting on forums anyway; Why not get paid for it? If you can post sixty posts in 1 hour, you can make $6, which is not that bad for earning money online.

It may not be minimum wage, but you have the advantage of being in the comfort of your own home. You can roll out of bed, and drink your juice while working on posting. Each post is generally a minimum of 12 words, which is not difficult to do at all.

Overall there are tons of ways to make money quickly online but these are just the tried and true. Look on the internet and find the companies offering these fast money making opportunities.

Take the first step of your journey. Finally, discover an industry that allows you to earn insane profits. Learn lifelong tools. Training, coaching, and mentoring all available to support and keep you on track. Get your Free step-by-step tutorials here http://www.MaverickMoneyMakerisho

Mythbuster Tweets His Way Out of $11k Phone Bill

2009-07-01T18:49:00.003-04:00

Adam Savage Recruits Twitter Followers to Fight $11,000 AT&T Bill for Web Surfing in Canada
By KI MAE HEUSSNER
What would you do if you opened up your cell phone bill to face a dizzying five-digit charge?

You might do well to follow Mythbuster Adam Savage's lead.

When the host of the Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" learned he had rung up $11,000 in charges from AT&T while in Canada, he headed straight for Twitter. The culprit, he tweeted, was the USB modem plugged into his laptop that was running on a wireless plan suitable for the U.S., but not for Canada.

"AT&T is attempting to charge me 11k for a few hours of web surfing in Canada. Pls RT!," he posted to his Twitter feed Friday. Later, he wrote, "Almost forgot: Hey AT&T! I will fight this bull****."

Still later, he added, "They're claiming I uploaded/downloaded 9 million kilobytes (9 gigs) while in Canada. Frakking impossible."

Before too long, thanks to many of his 50,000 followers, 'AT&T' became a top Twitter trending topic, according to the tech blog TechCrunch.

By later Friday afternoon, the tweeting became too intense for even AT&T to ignore.

"Today the tweeps became twoops. Just got off the phone with AT&T and they've taken care of everything to my great satisfaction.#twitterrules," Savage wrote.

But though Savage's story may be an extreme, he's not the first nor will he likely be the last to suffer a cellular bill snafu.

Before Traveling, Make Sure You Have the Right Coverage Plan

Streaming live sporting events, excessive text messaging and exceeding monthly data allowances have left others with massive headaches and multi-thousand dollar bills.

Fletcher Cook, a spokesman for AT&T couldn't comment directly on Savage's case, but he said that, even if you don't have more than 50,000 followers on Twitter, the company encourages customers to contact them immediately when billing problems arise.

Especially as customers prepare for summer vacations and other overseas excursions, he said customers should visit the company's Web site, drop into a store or call the customer service line.

"Whenever you're taking a trip and you're unsure of your plan, take the appropriate steps to make sure you have the right coverage," he said.

Paul Eng, Web editor for the Consumers Union, said that in egregious cases, companies will often work with the customer to find a reasonable solution, but it's still best to avoid the situation altogether.

"Common sense rules here," Eng said. "Make sure you know what's included in the contract. Make sure there are no hidden fees. & You have to be really careful."

He recommends checking your bill every month and contesting a problematic charge as soon possible. If you're about to go on vacation and still want to stay connected, he said it's wise to do some research first so that you know what kind of roaming charges will apply and when.

Most of all, he said, if you're not sure how much a certain activity will cost, it's better to just say no to yourself.

"Resist temptation," he said. "If you just have no clue, better safe than sorry."

Still, even thinking that they're doing the right thing, some cellular customers have found themselves face to face with frighteningly expensive wireless bills. Here are six more of them.

1.$62,000 for Downloading "Wall-E"

Back in April, a caller named Alberto learned that his wireless carrier had hit him with a $62,000 bill for downloading the movie "Wall-E" for his nephew.

He told CNN that he used a new wireless card to download the movie to his laptop while in Mexico.

"I downloaded the movie and they billed me for $62,000," he said. After contesting the charge, the carrier reduced the fee but it was still a painful $17,000.

2. Football Fan Billed $27,000 for Streaming Game

A Chicago Bear's fan to the core, Wayne Burdick of Schaumburg, Ill., just had to cheer on his team -- even while on a Caribbean cruise.

So using his laptop, a wireless card and Slingbox device that let him watch the game via an Internet connection, he tuned into watch the Bears battle the Detroit Lions.

But after a nice relaxing vacation, he returned home to a $27,000 bill from AT&T.

"When I originally got the bill& I was counting on the fact that it was fraud," he said.

But, charging him by the kilobyte, at the international rate, the company said he was roaming for the three hours it took to watch the game.

Burdick dug up the documentation to prove that he was not at sea but actually in port at Miami when he was watching the game, but the company stood firm. Even after Burdick pled his case to 14 different employees, they would only reduce the bill to $6,000.

Finally, after the Chicago Sun-Times ran his story and brought his case up with AT&T, the company dropped the charges.

And, Burdick said, the fiasco was worth at least something -- the Bears won the game.

3. One Teenager + One Month of Text Messaging = $4,800

Gregg Christoffersen called it a "heart attack in an envelope."

When he saw the bill his 13-year-old daughter Dena had racked up by text messaging her friends, the Cheyenne, Wyoming, man was stunned.

In just one month, she sent and received enough text messages to justify (at least to the cell phone company) a nearly $4,800 bill.

"It was heart-stopping. It just so unreal," he said.

Verizon Wireless first gave his wife the news over the phone and when he first found out he said he was speechless. He and his wife suspended their daughter's cell phone privileges and grounded her for a year. But Christoffersen didn't stop there.

"I took a hammer to the phone," he said. Smashed to smithereens, he returned the phone to his daughter in a bag.

Christoffersen said he and his family had a text-less plan with Qwest Communications but when the company merged with Verizon earlier this year, unbeknownst to him, the ability to text was activated.

He and his wife had no idea their family's phones could send and receive text messages. But their daughter figured it out and quietly sent about 288 messages a day.

Verizon shut down their service for two days until they paid $300. At one point, Christoffersen wondered if he'd need to take out a bank loan to pay the bill. But after weeks of negotiating with an ally at Verizon, they were able to lower the bill to a far more manageable $120.

So, all's well that ends well. Except perhaps for Dena. Her father said that when they do get her a new phone, the text function will be the first to go.
4. Using Cell Phone As Modem? $83,700

In 2007, a 22-year-old Canadian oil-field worker reportedly faced an astronomical $83,700 cell phone bill. Piotr Staniaszek, who lived in rural Alberta, made headlines when his father brought his story to the media.

According to Staniaszek's father, who shares his name, the man thought he could use his phone as a modem for his computer. Thinking his unlimited browser plan with Bell Mobility (a division of Bell Canada) could handle it, he downloaded movies and other high-resolution files.

"He's working in the field sometimes, alone, in the shack. What to do? Drink vodka or go on the Internet?" the elder Staniaszek told Reuters. "Now it's $85,000 and nobody told him."

Even though Bell Mobility told Reuters that his plan was not intended to cover computer downloads, as a goodwill gesture, Staniaszek senior said the company pared down the charges to $2,790.

5. Class Action Suit Brought Over $5,000 Overage Bill

In March, an Oklahoma woman filed a lawsuit against AT&T and RadioShack after using her new netbook landed her with a $5,000 bill for exceeding her monthly data cap.

For $99.99, Billie Parks purchased the netbook from RadioShack in December, according to the popular technology blog Ars Technica. With her new Acer Aspire One she signed a two-year contract for AT&T's mobile broadband service. For about $60 a month, the company offers 3G Internet access on the go.

In her complaint, Parks said that though she was warned by RadioShack that her first monthly bill might be a bit higher than expected, she was unaware that Internet data usage over 5GB would result in "astronomical additional charges running into the thousands of dollars," Ars Technica said.

Parks maintained that she and other RadioShack/AT&T customers were victims of fraud due to the companies "misleading" advertising.

"We're reviewing the suit and don't have a comment on it at this time," AT&T spokesperson Seth Bloom told Ars Technica in March. "But I can tell you that we go to considerable lengths to inform customers of the limits involved in these plans. We display the plan usage limits and overage rates on our collateral, terms and conditions, and on att.com. And customers can check their usage using myWireless Account or by using the usage monitoring capability on the AT&T Communications Manager application."

6. World Record? $218 Trillion Phone Bill

Whenever you start to sweat the sight of your phone bill, think of this.

In April 2006, a Malaysian man received a $218 trillion phone bill and was ordered to fork over the money within 10 days or face prosecution.

After his father died earlier that year, Yahaya Wahad said he disconnected his late father's phone line. But Telekom Malaysia, the country's largest telecommunications provider, later sent him a 806,400,000,000,000.01-ringgit (U.S. $218 trillion) bill, The Associated Press reported.

The company said the bill was for recent phone calls and said if he didn't pay up within 10 days he'd face legal proceedings.

"If the company wants to seek legal action as mentioned in the letter, I'm ready to face it," the Malaysian paper the New Straits Times quoted Yahaya as saying. "In fact, I can't wait to face it." A company official, who declined to be identified, said at the time that Telekom Malaysia was aware of Yahaya's case and would address it. She did not provide further details. It was not clear whether the phone line had been used illegally or if the bill was a mistake, the AP reported.

NYTimes: In a Coup in Honduras, Ghosts of Past U.S. Policies

2009-06-30T00:40:00.000-04:00

From The New York Times:

In a Coup in Honduras, Ghosts of Past U.S. Policies

By HELENE COOPER and MARC LACEY

The crisis in Honduras, where the U.S. has a history of backing rival political factions, is pitting President Obama against the legacy of American foreign policy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/world/americas/30honduras.html

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Guatemalan fears a tweet will make him a jailbird

2009-06-29T09:10:00.003-04:00

By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA – as reported by Google as a re print of AP News

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Jean Anleu was so fed up with corruption in his country that he decided to vent on the Internet, sending a 96-character message on the social-networking site Twitter.

That message has now earned him a potential five-year prison sentence and the unfortunate distinction of becoming one of the first people in the world to be arrested for a tweet.

Hosted by Google Back to Google News
Guatemalan fears a tweet will make him a jailbird

By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA – 2 days ago

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Jean Anleu was so fed up with corruption in his country that he decided to vent on the Internet, sending a 96-character message on the social-networking site Twitter.

That message has now earned him a potential five-year prison sentence and the unfortunate distinction of becoming one of the first people in the world to be arrested for a tweet.

Writing under his Internet alias "jeanfer," Anleu urged depositors to pull their money from Guatemala's rural development bank, whose management has been challenged in a political scandal: "First concrete action should be take cash out of Banrural and bankrupt the bank of the corrupt."

These words illegally undermined public trust in Guatemala's banking system, according to prosecutor Genaro Pacheco. Authorities proved Anleu sent the message by searching his Guatemala City home, and then put him in prison with kidnappers, extortionists and other dangerous criminals for a day and a half before letting him out on bail.

Anleu's lawyer, Jose Toledo, believes the government wants to make an example of him.

"Clearly, the message was: Watch out, any of you guys that want to post messages, this can happen to you. ... It was a dissuasive measure," Toledo said.

Guatemala, whose democracy is still emerging from a genocidal civil war, isn't the only government concerned about the potential of lightning-fast tweets to spread stinging words.

More recently, Iran has shown its determination to clamp down on huge protests over its disputed presidential election, banning firsthand reporting by international journalists and blocking access inside the country to Web sites such as Twitter and Facebook as well as many sites linked to the political opposition. Text messaging has been blacked out and cell phone service in Tehran is frequently down.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested in Iran, many of them for Internet activity, estimates Hadi Ghaemi, director of the New York-based International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

"I can't say I know of a specific case of tweeting," said Ghaemi, noting that Iran's government has not yet filed charges. "Evidence may be a tweet or something but we're just not going to know until these trials are under way."

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone declined to comment on the Anleu case or say whether he knows of other arrests involving tweeting.

China and Vietnam are two other countries that already "worry a lot about text messaging and its potential to spread rumors and gather crowds. Now they have another venue to watch — another place where people can communicate quickly, in ways that a government might fear," said Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

For Anleu — a geeky computer enthusiast whose passions include playing chess and reading Czech author Franz Kafka — life has taken on some disturbing parallels to Kafka's "The Trial," whose protagonist struggles to defend himself against the power of the state.

"I fear I'm being watched and scrutinized in everything I say and do," said Anleu, who walks around with an iPhone to constantly tweet and a BlackBerry loaded with e-books. "The fear makes me want to avoid saying what I think, even about the most mundane topics, and saying where I am, where I'm going — like you would normally do on Twitter."

Pacheco said prosecutors plan to charge Anleu in July under a 2008 law that provides for five years in prison and a $6,200 fine for spreading false information that undermines the public's trust in a financial institution.

But if the government hoped to silence criticism, it appears to have had the opposite effect. As news of Anleu's arrest spread through the Twitter community, thousands of others started "re-tweeting" his message, bringing Guatemala's government still more unwanted publicity.

About half of his $6,200 bail was donated by Twitterers, who sent money via PayPal from 19 countries. The other 50 percent was lent to him by one of the companies he works for as a business technology consultant.

And Anleu's social network has grown to more than 1,600 followers, up from about 175 who before his arrest mostly shared tweets about "computers and other geeky stuff," he says.

Some call this phenomenon the "Streisand effect," a term coined by Techdirt Inc. chief executive Mike Masnick on his popular technology blog after the actress Barbra Streisand sued in 2003 to remove satellite photos of her estate in Malibu, Calif. The case just drove more attention to the photos and made them more widely accessible.

The Internet has become a potent organizing tool for opponents of Guatemala's president, Alvaro Colom. In a videotaped message from a lawyer, Colom was accused of helping drug cartels launder money through Banrural. The lawyer, Rodrogo Rosenberg, said in the message that if he was killed, it would be because Colom ordered it. Rosenberg was shot dead by unknown assailants days after making the video.

DVDs of the tape were distributed at his funeral, and Colom opponents quickly put the video up on YouTube. Many Guatemalans — including Anleu — responded with outrage on social networks, encouraging huge protest marches.

Colom, the first leftist president since a CIA-orchestrated coup overthrew Jacobo Arbenz in 1954, said the accusations are part of an elaborate plot to destabilize the country. His foreign minister suggested the entire scandal might be staged by organized crime groups who might have forced Rosenberg to tape the message under threats.

The upheaval since then is arguably the first truly online phenomenon in this country where Internet is still far beyond the reach of the majority of the population. And because most poorer Guatemalans who support Colom have little chance of logging on, Colom's supporters are vastly outnumbered. The Facebook group "Guatemalans united ask for the resignation of Alvaro Colom" has 41,000 members, about a third of Facebook's reported Guatemalan population, while "Solidarity with Alvaro Colom" has fewer than 150 this week.

Anleu, however, is trying to keep his tweets more restrained and less political.

His lawyer hopes this will all blow over and the trial, set for November, will never happen.

"The prosecutors will eventually see their mistake, that they got the wrong person, someone innocent," Toledo said.

Even so, Anleu's legal bills will run close to $10,000 by year's end — a tough blow for a man who volunteers in his spare time to bring open-source software and training to schools in poor neighborhoods.

"When this is over, I want to travel, I want to see the world ... sit in a cafe in Budapest or Prague," that Kafka might have frequented a century ago, Anleu said. First, he said, "comes paying all these bills."

Louder Palm Pre Ringtones

2009-06-26T19:23:00.003-04:00

Thanks to By Derek Kessler at precentral.net, he saved me from returning my new Palm Pre.

The reason I would have had to return it and opt for another phone was the very soft ringtones and alarms that come with the pre as defaults.

I had searched since I bought the Palm Pre for a solution - I saw many forum posts complaining about the same problem

Today with a ? I posted on Twitter, one of my followers gave me a tip to visit this forum. Voila I found this excellent article and here it is. The answer to LOUDER RING TONES AND ALARM--Woo Hooo

The Palm Pre does come with some fairly nice ringtones onboard, but there are two completely understandable complaints to register: they're not loud enough, and they're not yours. Well, we at PreCentral are here to fix both of those problems!

Say you actually like the percussive ringtones that came packaged on your Pre, but they're just too quiet and you keep missing calls. Using the MP3 Gain desktop application that cencom14 in our forums found, we were able to ramp up the volume on the default Pre ringtones and deliver them straight to you (download: 4 MB ZIP file). To get them (and other music files) onto your Pre, unzip the files, plug your Pre in via the Micro-USB cable, select USB Drive, and then drag and drop the files into the ringtones folder on the Pre. You can also sync via iTunes (select Media Sync instead of USB Drive) or using the Palm Music Assistant.

Those default ringtones aren't for everybody though, so Palm has smartly made it easy to add your own MP3 ringtones to the Pre. Once you've synced your music onto the Pre, launch Sounds and Ringtones, click on the Ringtone selection box, and then click the +Music button at the bottom left. This will give you and alphabetical list of all the music synced to your Pre, just tap on the one you want and after a bit of processing it will appear in your ringtones list. If you end up not liking a ringtone you've loaded, simply swipe to the left or the right to delete it.

CLICK ON TODAY FOR A BEAUTIFUL POEM

2009-06-26T16:56:00.003-04:00

TODAY

Apple's Latest iPhone Has Learned New Tricks, but So Have Competitors

2009-06-26T09:51:00.004-04:00

By Rob Pegoraro

Two years ago, the original iPhone was the phone that changed everything. The new iPhone 3GS can't make the same difference, not when it shares the market with both predecessors and competing models that have learned some of the same tricks.

In that context, the 3GS -- $199 for new or renewing AT&T Wireless customers in a version with 16 gigabytes of storage, $299 in a 32-GB version -- makes an excellent upgrade over the first iPhone. And though AT&T's voice and unlimited-data plans, starting at $69.99 a month, don't quite match other carriers' smartphone deals, the 3GS still provides a better overall value than competing devices.

But the days of the iPhone mopping the floor with rivals are over. And users of last year's iPhone 3G -- now available for $99 -- need not feel awful about sticking with their current devices.

As the "S" in its name suggests, the 3GS's major contribution is its speed. Apple won't identify the components behind this improvement (dissections reveal a faster Samsung processor), but you can't miss the results. Set an iPhone 3G and a 3GS side by side, using either AT&T's mobile broadband or a WiFi signal, type in the same Web address on each, and the 3GS can display the site about twice as fast as its predecessor.

The new iPhone's camera is also more capable, taking 3 megapixel images with an autofocus mechanism -- a flash is still absent -- and shooting standard-definition video. It even lets you trim video clips and upload them to Google's free YouTube or Apple's $99/year MobileMe services.

Like other iPhones, the 3GS lets you control its software through one- and two-finger gestures across its screen (which now resists fingerprints better). But it can also listen to you: You can speak the name of somebody in your address book to call them and control music playback with simple speech commands.

But other iPhone 3GS features, such as its digital compass or built-in support for the Nike+iPod run tracker, seem less useful.

Apple says the 3GS's rechargeable, inaccessible battery should last for "up to five hours" of talk time, a figure that seemed realistic in my tests. But the Cupertino, Calif., company's estimates don't capture how switching between iPhone functions-- calls, Web and e-mail access, Global Positioning System-guided mapping, and music or video playback-- can leave it needing a recharge by nightfall.

The 3GS also runs a new version of Apple's iPhone operating system, iPhone OS 3.0, but iPhone 3G and original iPhone users can get that for free. This release fills in longstanding gaps in the iPhone repertoire -- with two embarrassing exceptions in the U.S. market -- and adds valuable new capabilities. It, rather than the new model, constitutes the bigger upgrade in the iPhone universe.

Among the many welcome changes OS 3.0 brings: you can now copy, cut and paste text; you can search through all the device's records, from e-mail to your address book; you can sync notes written on the phone (in addition to calendars and contacts, but not to-do items) to a Mac or a Windows computer; and you can record a voice memo.

MobileMe users also get the option of a new "Find My iPhone" feature. If the phone goes missing, a page on the MobileMe site can locate it on a map, allowing you to hunt it down. You can also have a message displayed on the device's screen and, if necessary, remotely erase its contents.

Two needed 3.0 features, however, are stuck on hold here. AT&T won't support MMS picture and video messaging until "later this summer"; AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said the Dallas-based carrier, which supports MMS on other phones, needs to "do some additional fine-tuning" of its network. The company has yet to announce a timetable for supporting "tethering," the option to connect an iPhone to a computer via a USB cable or Bluetooth wireless for use as an external modem.

Apple's new iPhone hardware and software, for all its wizardry, falls short of competitors in two ways: multitasking and carrier choice.

While the 3.0 software allows a limited level of background operation for add-on applications-- its App Store stocks more than 50,000, a wealth of choices other smartphones can't match -- it doesn't let you switch among multiple programs. If you want to listen to a Web-radio program while writing an e-mail, you'll need to get a phone like a BlackBerry, T-Mobile's G1 or the Palm Pre.

Unlike those other smartphones, the iPhone remains handcuffed to AT&T for the indefinite future. If you don't like AT&T's coverage (it doesn't yet offer service in the subway parts of Metro) or its roaming rates, you can't even use an iPhone on another carrier by swapping out its Subscriber Identity Module card. Apple blocks that option, although many iPhone users hack their devices to undo this lock.

Remedying those two problems ought to be on the list for the next iPhone. For now, the 3GS should suffice to keep a shrinking lead over competitors that have begun to wise up.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro at robp@washpost.com. Read more at http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward.

Michael Jackson R I P

2009-06-26T03:02:00.005-04:00

Thriller
Billy Jean
Beat It

How to Shoot Stop Motion Animation with Palm Pre

2009-06-23T20:06:00.001-04:00

Many of the people who picked up the Palm Pre smartphone earlier this month were faced with a lot of excitement. This is quite the incredible smartphone, but it’s not without its faults. For instance, it’s not able to shoot video out of the box. That doesn’t mean that you’re completely stuck though, because there is an alternative that could be almost as awesome. Maybe.

How to Shoot Stop Motion Animation with Palm Pre
Natively, the Palm Pre can’t shoot video, but it can dish out some stop motion photography with the best of them. You won’t get any audio of this “fix,” of course, but it could make for some pretty interesting possibilities.

If you go into the camera function of the Palm Pre, you’ll find that you can use a burst-like mode with the smartphone. Hold down the spacebar and the Pre will continue to shoot about one photo per second. That’s good for a phone.

After you’ve shot a series of these photographs, you can stitch them together in your video editor of choice and you effectively have a stop motion video clip. I wonder if someone is working on an app for the Pre that would let you do this right from the phone. That’d be pretty neat.

In the meantime, check out the sample stop motion video embedded below.

Source: Pre Central

BEST TIP SHEET YET I HAVE SEEN FOR THE PALM PRE

2009-06-23T09:44:00.008-04:00

Version 1.4 - 6/19/09 PALM PRE TIPS AND TRICKS Page 1
Missing Basic Features
A number of basic features available on your old Treo, iPhone, or other smart phone are not enabled in the Palm Pre. Users often search for these familiar features but they as yet have not been enabled on the Palm Pre.

Text
►Undo - You can't undo a mistake in the Pre. On your PC Undo is [Crtl] - [Z], on a Treo press [Menu] - [Z]. When enabled, Undo should be "Press the Gesture Area �� and C at the same time." There is no work-around.
►Italics - To italicize highlighted text on a PC, press Ctrl - I , on a Treo press Menu - I . When enabled, Italics should be "Press the Gesture Area �� and I at the same time." There is no work-around.
►Bold - To make highlighted text bold on a PC, press Ctrl - B , on a Treo press Menu - B . When enabled, Bold should be "Press the Gesture Area �� and B at the same time." There is no work-around.
►Select All - To select all on a PC, press Ctrl - A , on a Treo press Menu - A . When enabled, Select All should be "Press the Gesture Area �� and A at the same time."
►Copy - You can copy text you are editing (see Text section) but not text you cannot edit like internet information.
Music
►Slider - The slider bar is enabled for playing videos but not for playing music. There is no work-around.
►Landscape - You can watch vides in landscape mode (sideways) but not music graphics.
►Lyrics - On iPhone or iPod, tap the album graphic for lyrics. Pre Lyrics aren't enabled. There is no work-around.
Internet
►PDF's - Can't open or save a pdf. One workaround is to 1) Open the website on your PC. 2) Save the pdf. 3) Email the pdf to your Pre. 4) Open the pre email. 5) Open the pdf. Don't forget to bring your PC.
►Flash - Pre can't view Abode Flash graphics. There is no work-around.
Get Help
► Online - See Sprint Support, Palm Support, Pre Getting Started, and the 344-page Pre User Guide. ► From the Pre - Tap the Launcher key in the lower-right corner of the screen then click Help. (p. 11)
► Customer Service - Dial *2 from the Pre or 888-211-4727, Business: 1-800-927-2199. (p. 12)
► Unofficial - These are unofficial Palm Pre tips and tricks are compiled from the PreCentral.net Forums.
Turn the Palm Pre On/Off (p. 24)
► On/Off - Press Power button on the top to turn display on/off.
► Quick On - To skip the Unlock step, just open the keyboard ��.
► Keyboard - If the keyboard is open, press any key to turn on. (p. 21)
► Display Off - Press Power on the top of the phone.
► All Off - Press and hold Power.
► Sound Off - Slide the Ringer Switch on top of the phone right. A red bar will now be visible. Music is still heard.
► Headset - Insert the headset plug into the Headset Jack and the Pre switches Headset On for you.
Connection Menu
In the top-right corner press the signal bar to go to the Connection Menu.
►Phone Off - now called "Turn On Airplane Mode". The symbol now appears in the top-right corner
You can turn the phone on or off any time not just on an airplane as the manual states.
►Phone On - now called "Turn Off Airplane Mode".
"Airplane Mode" also turns off WiFi and Bluetooth but they can be turned on or off individually:
►WiFi - Tap the signal bar then WiFi to turn on/off, set preferences or find a network. appears when on.
►Bluetooth - Tap the signal bar then Bluetooth to turn on/off or change preferences. appears when on.
These unofficial Tips & Tricks have no guarantee or warranty.

Version 1.4 - 6/19/09 PALM PRE TIPS AND TRICKS Page 2
Headset
► To answer a call when using a headset, just tap the headset button.
► Insert a Pause - Enter "p" for a pause in a dial string.
► Timed Pause - Enter "t" to insert a Timed Pause in a dial string.
Charger/USB
► Charger/USB cover too tight and in the way? The cover pulls out on a tether if you pull gently!
► Plug your USB cable into the Charger/USB connector �� and choose Media Sync, USB Drive or Just Charge.
► You can change from Charge to Media Sync or USB Drive without unplugging. Tap USB notification at the lower-right.
► Your Pre can be a USB Drive from your computer - Plug in the USB cable and choose USB Drive.
Notifications
New Notifications appear on the lower edge of the screen to notify you of new voicemail, email, events, messages, etc.
►Notification - Tap the notification to act on it. (p. 73)
If you do not respond in a few seconds, notification icons then appear at the lower-right of your screen. (p. 73)
►Dashboard - Tap the notification icon to see the Dashboard of all pending notifications.
►Dismiss - Throw a dashboard item left or right off of the screen to dismiss it.
Zoom In or Out
In Email, Websites, Photos, Doc View, PDF View, Google Maps, etc…(p. 48)
►Zoom In - Pinch out: Place two fingers on the screen ��, slide them apart.
►Zoom Out - Pinch in: Place two fingers on the screen & slide them together.
Gestures
►Swipe left or right in the Gesture Area �� to move back or forward. (p. 42)
►See Pre Gestures Help for instructions.
Quick Launch (p. 52)
Quick Launch is up to 5 icons at the bottom of Card view and the Launcher.
►Remove an app - Open Launcher Tap & hold an icon then drag up.
►Add an app - Tap & hold a Launcher icon then drag down.
Phone
►Make a Call - Tap Phone from the Quick Launch bar. (p. 24)
►My Number? - Tap Phone, then Sprint menu at the top-left. (p. 95)
►Call a Number - Type a number & tap Call. Tap End when done.
►Delete Digit - To delete the last digit press backspace
►Delete Number - To delete the whole number press & hold backspace.
►Call a Contact - Type a name or tap Contacts to choose a contact.
►Can't hear me - Make sure the microphone �� is not covered.
►Can't hear them - Make sure the Earpiece �� is not covered.
►Call History - Tap Phone, then Call History. (p. 95)
►Call - Just Tap the number to call a Call History Number. (p. 96)
►Save - Save the number to Contacts . (p. 96)
►View - View the Contact information . (p. 96)
►Delete - Delete a Call History - Flick the entry to the left or right. (p. 96)
►Delete All - Tap the Sprint menu at the top-left and tap Clear Call History. (p. 96)
►Silence a Call - Press Power or Volume Down ��.
►Ignore a Call - Press Power twice to ignore a call.
These unofficial Tips & Tricks have no guarantee or warranty. See your Pre User Guide.

Version 1.4 - 6/19/09 PALM PRE TIPS AND TRICKS Page 3
►Voicemail -Speed dial 1 (the E key) is the Easy way to get Voicemail - or- Tap Phone then Voicemail.
► The number of Voicemail will show up as a number in blue on the Voicemail button!
►Conference Call - While on a call, tap Add Call, then Conference Call. (p. 94)
►Speakerphone - Press Speakerphone (or to use Bluetooth).
►Answer a Call - Skip the Unlock step - open the keyboard & press .
► Music playback pauses until you hang up.
►Answer Options - When your Pre rings, these options appear:
- Answer the phone.
Contact Info - lets you add the number to Contacts or send a text (SMS) back to "Ignore With Text"
- Hang-up ignores the call sending it straight to voicemail.
Speed Dial
► Speed Dials let you call a number from the main screen or the Launcher by pressing and holding a key.
► You can assign up to 26 Speed Dials to the letters on your keypad. So work might be "W", home might be "H", etc.
► To assign a Speed Dial, open the Contact, click the Contacts menu at the top left, tap Set Speed Dial.
► In the main screen, Launcher, Card view, or Phone, press and hold the speed-dial key you assigned to the number.
► Speed dial 1 (the E key) is the Easy way to get Voicemail - or- Tap Phone then Voicemail.
► To see the contact number but not dial it, tap the �� Orange Key then the letter. Great if you are not sure which letter.
Contacts
► Open Contacts - Tap Contacts from the Quick Launcher bar at the bottom of the screen. (p. 132)
► New Entry - To start a new entry, press the new entry button
Email
► To open Email, click Email from the Quick Launcher bar at the bottom of the screen. (p. 200)
► New Entry - To start a new entry, press the new entry button
► Delete an email - In the inbox or other folder, flick the email to the right or left. (p. 46)
► Undelete an email - Go to the Trash folder, tap the email, tap the Email menu at the top left, Move to folder �� Inbox.
► Add a signature - In Email, tap the Email menu, Preferences & Accounts, choose your account, tap Signature.
Calendar
► New Entry - To start a new entry, press the new entry button
► In Calendar, Single Day view, you can go ahead or back a day by swiping your finger right or left.
Typing
►Move Section - To move the cursor, hold down the �� Orange Key to move anywhere on screen. (p. 46)
►"u" - Autocorrects to "you"
►Delete Character - Press �� Backspace
►Delete Word - Press and hold �� Shift and then �� Backspace
►Auto Caps - First letter after a period is capitalized
- If the Pre Auto Caps in error, press �� Backspace twice to go back to lower case
►"thru" - Autocorrects to "through"
►Shift (Caps) - Press �� Shift to capitalize the next letter you type
►Caps Lock - Press �� Shift twice for Caps Lock to capitalize all. Press �� again to turn Caps off.
►Symbols - Press the Symbol key and then the key to type it's symbol.
►Symbols Lock - Press the Symbol key twice for only symbols. Press �� Orange Key again to turn symbols off.
►Delete text - Press �� Backspace (also called Delete).
►Delete a word - Press �� Shift �� Backspace (or Delete).
►Select text - To highlight text, press and hold �� Shift and slide you finger to highlight the text. (p. 46) These unofficial Tips & Tricks have no guarantee or warranty. See your Pre User Guide.

Version 1.4 - 6/19/09 PALM PRE TIPS AND TRICKS Page 4
►Copy text - Press the Gesture Area �� and C at the same time to copy the highlighted text. (p. 68)
►Cut text - Press the Gesture Area �� and X at the same time to cut the highlighted text. (p. 68)
►Paste text - Press the Gesture Area �� and V at the same time to paste the text. (p. 68)
Universal Search
To find anything in contacts, email, calendar, Internet, etc...
►Contacts - While on the main screen type a name like "Mike"
►Websites - Type a website name such as "precentral.net"
►Google/Wikipedia - Type a topic like "Hydrogen"
Launcher
► Launcher is how you start programs called "Cards" on the Pre. You can have multiple programs running at once. For instance while you listen to music, you can look at email or photos.
► Quick Launch - Tap the Phone, Contacts, Email, Calendar, in the Quick Launch area on the lower screen area.
► Other Programs - Press the Launcher key in the lower-right corner of the screen or the Center Button ��.
► You can also swipe up from the gesture area onto the screen when cards are minimized.
► Multiple cards - press and hold a card, it'll zoom out -or- ► Tap anywhere in a blank area of the wallpaper
► Close an App - Press the Center Button ��, touch the card and flick (throw) it up. (p. 46)
► Get information - �� Orange Key - Sym - I Gets info about the Card (application) you are using.
► Move Apps - Press and hold the App until a large circle appears then slide it on the page or to another page
► Delete an App - While pressing and holding the �� Orange Key, tap the app icon to permanently remove it.
-or- tap the Launcher menu at the top left, select List Apps, tap the app and click delete.
► Maximize - Maximize a shrunken card by swiping down below the card towards the gesture area.
► Minimize - Hold down on a card when it is minimized and it will get smaller. Now you can rearrange them.
Camera ► Tap Launcher then Camera to take a picture. (p. 106)
► - To take a picture, press the spacebar.
►Flash - Flash is automatic but can be turned on off.
►Lens - Don't cover the �� Flash or �� Lens. Keep both clean.
►Landscape - To take a picture in landscape mode, turn the camera sideways and press the spacebar.
►Screenshot - Press at the same time �� Orange Key - �� - P . Screenshots are stored under "Screenshots". ►Sound Off - Slide the Ringer Switch on top of the phone right to turn off the Shutter sound when you take a picture.
Music Launcher then Music to play music. (p. 119) ► Tap ► Tap Play to listen to music on the Pre's speaker.
► Press and hold to Fast Forward through a song.
► Tap Fast Forward to skip to the next song.
► To listen to music using the headset, plug in the headset. The symbol appears in the top right.
► To listen to music from your Pre on your stereo, plug in a 3.5 mm phono cable to the top jack on the Pre.
► When playing a song, tap the Music menu in the top-left for options for searching content. ► While playing music, press the Center Button to also do something else like Email or surf the internet!
► If you are listening to music and a call arrives, playback automatically pauses and resumes when you hang up.
► To add music use iTunes or Windows Media Player and Sync to transfer music.
► To delete music delete the song in iTunes or Windows Media Player and Sync.
► Download the Palm Music Assistant to copy music from your phone directly to your desktop music player.
► Alarms - To answer a call when using a headset, just tap the headset button.
These unofficial Tips & Tricks have no guarantee or warranty. See your Pre User Guide.

Version 1.4 - 6/19/09 PALM PRE TIPS AND TRICKS Page 5
Turn MP3's into Ringtones
The Pre can use an MP3 as a ringtone but you may want to use a different part than the intro and the intro may be too soft to make a good ringtone. Here is how to cut and edit just the part of a song that you want.
►How to Make Pre Ringtones from Your Own Music For Free
Internet
► To find a website, just start typing a website name such as "precentral.net" from the main screen.
-or- Press the Launcher key in the lower-right corner of the screen, then Internet.
► Search - You can do a Google search from any Internet page: Flick down and the search bar is now available.
Messaging (Texting)
► Delete a message - Flick the message to the right or left. (p. 46)
Calculator
► Tap Launcher then Calculator. (p. 164)
► Press spacebar - Turns on/off more advanced numerical operations.
► Numerical operators (+, -, *, /) as well as numbers can be entered from the keyboard w/o pushing the orange button.
Special Phone Numbers
Some numbers will open a hidden card. When you are done, just "throw up" the card to close it. Be careful using these.
*2 - Customer Service (or 888-211-4727, Businesses: 1-800-927-2199)
*3 - Make a payment
*4 - Check minute usage and account balance
##GPS# - (##477#) & Tap Get Fix How high am I? Get your GPS latitude, longitude, speed, and altitude
##DATA# - (##3282#) What apps are installed? Get the version of hardware, firmware, and list of applications
##TTY# - (##889#) Enables/disables TTY for the hearing impaired ##RUN# - (##786#) How much have I used my Pre? Get the total minutes (LifeCalls), data transferred, etc.
Do not use these drop down menus unless you are very experienced - can brick the phone.
##DEBUG# - (##33284) Gives tower and signal strength (RX Power) - Zero is the best signal level.
##EVDO# - (##3836#) Do not use unless you are experienced. ##VPON# - (##8766#) Voice Privacy ON. ##VPOFF# - (##87633#) Voice Privacy OFF.
Other codes are not listed because of the dangers.
App Catalog
► Use App Catalog to browse and download applications. Read the reviews and see the screenshots. (p. 79)
Get Updates
► You can update all of your applications at one time. While it checks you can keep working! (p. 77)
► Tap the Launcher key, then Updates. Tap Download now if you like. (p. 78)
Reset
► Tap the Launcher key, then Device Info, Phone Reset Options. (p. 182)
►Soft Reset - Press and hold the power button while sliding the Mute button back and forth 3 times (p. 182) -or-
► Press �� - Symbol key - R at the same time will also do a soft reset.
These unofficial Tips & Tricks have no guarantee or warranty. See your Pre User Guide.

FULL PDF WITH PICTURES

INSTALLMENT TWO OF PALM PRE REVIEW

2009-06-22T19:17:00.006-04:00

I got my own Palm Pre- (PP as I have affectionately dubbed it :)) two days ago.

Here are my continued observations and experiences. I will have more to follow as my journey continues. See first post down the page.

I would greatly appreciate comments and questions in the comment box at the bottom of this post. Before and after each description I will place a plus + or a minus _ for my impression

Day 3 with the Palm. Today was a work day and I did not have a good time with the PP.

I had it fully charged and ready to go- I brought my blue tooth Jabra headset with me to try it out- 1st off I could not get the Palm Pre to even see the Jabra. Both were fully charged and many attempts failed to recognize it-

Next problem I had was the difficulty compared to my old BB to make calls-On the BB all you have to do is start dialing or hit the send button and scroll to a previously dialed number and push--On the Pre you first have to activate the dial screen by touching the icon - I had placed it in the quick launch area to see if that would expedite it's opening-not so--besides not opening until you squarely touch the icon and tap it-you run the risk of opening the adjacent APP which I did on several occasions so I moved the phone Icon back off the quick launch area and used it on the main screen area-It was better but still cumbersome-I do not see why Palm did not make another way of opening the dial pad-

Again on calls I had trouble at the end of the call by my screen going dark and then I could not end the call until the dial pad came back-some times up to a minute after the call ended-

I was in a bad reception area most of the day and did not use the Palm that much, but when I was finished work and on the way home I went to call my Wife. To my amazement the Battery was dead, I had only used the phone for about an hour max on calls and maybe another hour with e mail--At this point I have not purchased a car charger and now I might not because the Palm Pre's longevity with me is getting slim:)

One other point I failed to mention-I called Sprint tech support in the early AM on the way to my destination and told them of my concerns that I had mentioned in the first review post.

1.The flimsy battery charger cover-That I am now calling the hanging Chad falling off-naturally the tech could not offer a solution to that other than returning the unit

2.The misinformation that the sales clerk gave me about tethering the Palm Pre to my lap top, as I was able to do with my BB-The Sprint rep said I would have to be on a different plan other than the simply everything plan that I was on and would have to pay an additional $ 30 for a data plan---I was furious and I said to him that this was outrageous especially that I had been able to use Sprint Smart View with the same plan that I have now with my BB---

3. The misinformation again from the sales person about my being able to capture video on the Palm Pre--NOT--He said maybe later with an update

Not a good first work day with the unit--Catch you later and PLEASE COMMENT and I will be back with more later

June 19th: Poem for the Rooftops of Iran

2009-06-20T15:48:00.002-04:00

eartbreaking Images From The Iran Green Revolution 6/2009

2009-06-20T15:26:00.004-04:00

السلطة الى الشعب
pushtet për të popullit
le pouvoir au peuple
הכוח לעם
el poder al pueblo
power to the people

Reasons why you are stopped from following more people on Twitter

2009-06-20T09:16:00.004-04:00

Have you ever gone to your Twitter account under followers and tried to follow the ones that follow you but you are not following them?

There is a reason for that. The notice comes up and Say's "You are unable to follow more people at this time. Learn more here. Click Here"

You will read on the following page what Twitter tells you why your limit was reached--What they say is correct but it does not explain fully how your limit was reached and how you can avoid it.
In my Newsletter I will tell you what steps you can take to avoid the follow limit and also the key to add up to 300-500 follower's per day as I have over the last several weeks-- 8,635 Following 7,851 Followers Are my stats as of this writing and they are leaping ahead at an exponential rate daily with the right followers for me. LEARN HOW SIGN UP HERE

can't follow people: follow limits

Submitted Nov 24, 2008 by crystal
Why did I hit a limit?

Last year, Twitter imposed reasonable limits to help prevent system and user abuse. (You can read more about that here.) If you hit a Twitter limit, we will tell you by showing an error message in your browser when you try to perform an action. If you've hit a limit, it means you've exceeded one of these limits:

* 1,000 updates per day
* 1,000 direct messages per day
* 100 API requests per hour
* Follow limit

We do not limit the number of people who can follow you, but we have put limits in place to stop people from aggressively following others. Everyone is allowed to follow 2000 people. After that, follow limits are based on the number of people who are following you. Follow limits cannot be lifted by Twitter, and everyone is subject to follow limits, even high profile and API accounts

But I'm white listed!

Some API accounts have white list status so their applications can function without hitting system limits for direct messages, etc. White listing means that you can have more API resources. All white listed accounts are still subject to follow limits.

If I hit a limit, what should I do?

* If you've reached a daily limit, wait 24 hours (or one hour for API requests) and you'll be able to perform the action again.

* If your (legitimate!) app continually hits limits, apply to white list your app. If you're a company hitting limits while using Twitter for customer service, open a support ticket and let us know which limits you're hitting. We're always working on improving how these limits work, and are open to feedback.

* If you've reached a follow limit, you can help yourself by reducing your following number until it resembles your followers number. Since the follow limit is based on followers/following ratio rather than time, you'll have to un-follow people before you're able to follow again. Follow limits cannot be lifted by Support staff.

If I hit a follow limit, does it mean I'm considered a spammer?

No. Although aggressive following can be considered a spam tactic in some cases, Twitter does not use follow limiting to monitor spammers. Though follow limits do help with spam control, the limit itself improves site performance by ensuring that when we send a person's message to all of their followers, the sending of that message is meaningful. We believe that following 2000 people is a reasonable limit for the number of people an average person can follow.

Tips for avoiding follow limits

Twitter follow limits only kick in after unreciprocated follow attempts reach the thousands. Avoid hitting Twitter limits by not following aggressively-- if others see that you've tried to follow 500 people but only 12 are following you, they may not follow you back, and worse, they might block you.

Twitter is an opt-in community-- that is, you can follow who ever you want, but no one has to follow you back. If you use aggressive following tactics, no one will want to. If you feel you've hit a limit unfairly, or in error, please open a Support ticket and tell us what happened. Please note: Support cannot remove follow limits.

But isn't Twitter about social networking? Why limit who I network with?

Twitter may facilitate social networking, but we're not specifically a social networking website. In fact, the way Twitter works is quite different from social networks: when you accept friend requests on social networks, it usually means you appear in that person's network and they appear in yours.

Following on Twitter is quite different, because instead of indicating a mutual relationship, following is a one way action that means you want to receive information, in the form of Twitter updates, from a person or entity. Twitter allows people to opt in to (our out of) receiving a person's updates without requiring mutual following.

If you have a public account, I can follow you but you don't have to follow me. Unlike most social networks, you follow me on Twitter NOT for the sake of a mutual connection, but because you want to get my updates, regardless of whether or not I get yours. If I want to read your updates too, I can-- and unlike social networks, if you change your mind and un-follow me, it doesn't stop me from continuing to follow you.

If you follow too many people, there is no way you can keep up with everyone's updates in your home page. If you're following more than 2000 people, you're missing quite a few updates from many people you follow. You can view a profile page to catch up with someone's latest updates.

If you need to communicate with someone but don't need to see their updates everyday, don't follow them. Send them an @reply when you need to; it doesn't require following and your update will appear in the person's replies tab, so they can reply back. If you really need to follow someone and you've hit a limit, just go to your followers page and remove people whose updates you don't need to see everyday. (Hint: you'll only see a direct message link for people currently following you.)

How to Start Doing Online Marketing

2009-06-18T19:41:00.002-04:00

by Adrian Bold
So, you're a business that has just invested in a brand new website. You want to grow your business and make money through your site, how do you get started? The purpose of this article is to show how just having a site and getting it listed on Google is not enough to effectively use it as a business tool.

In order to make the most out of your website, people using the Internet need to be able to find it; they can't buy unless they can find you. If you want to be found on the Web, you need to start doing online marketing.

Whatever it is that you wish to market and sell, there are several steps that you can take to improve your online presence:

Natural Search

If you want your website to be easily found by people using a Search Engine, you need to prepare it for SEO or Search Engine Optimisation. This means engineering your site to respond to the way that users search for your products or services online. Search Engines such as MSN, Yahoo and Google rank your website, based on a complex set of criteria.

The criteria changes regularly and only a few people are aware of the algorithms used to create the rankings. However, experts use tried and tested techniques to improve their client's ranking position based on their experience of SEO. The problem is that many amateurs try tinkering with their website for SEO and this can often lead to some fairly costly errors.

Paid Search

One of the best ways to gain presence on the web is to advertise through Paid Search opportunities such as Google AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing. Pay per Click (PPC) offers a cost effective way of advertising online. PPC involves choosing the most effective keywords for your product or service and writing a short advert with a keyword rich headline and ad text.

When an interested user types your keywords into the Search Engine, your Ad appears. When they click on it, the user is directed to your website and you pay an agreed fixed amount to Google et al for each click. The performance of your PPC Ads can be compared, and their effectiveness tested through feedback on the all-important click to conversion data produced by the Ads.

Copywriting/Articles

The Internet is a text driven medium. The words that are placed on your website not only attract Search Engines but also human visitors. If your visitors find poor quality content, they are unlikely to stick around to find out what you have to offer them.

SEO copywriting involves using a professional copywriter, trained in SEO techniques to create the content of your website. SEO content engages potential customers/clients and leads them towards taking your desired actions, whilst keeping your site well ranked by Search Engines.

Articles can be used for two purposes. In the first instance, they can be used to demonstrate your knowledge and improve credibility in your area of business. In the second instance, articles can be submitted to optimised article directories. Someone visiting those directories and reading your articles will be impressed by your knowledge and expertise and will click through to your website via a link at the bottom of the article.

Internet Marketing is not an area for the amateur or dilettante. The success or failure of your business could rest on your ability to conduct your own online marketing. Unless you're willing to learn, or run the risk of damaging your potential income, maybe it's time to call in an expert.

Adrian Bold is Head of Search at Impact Media Ltd, a specialist SEO agency based in the UK. They work with a wide range of businesses helping them to save money and make more sales with professional SEO services.

How To Grow Your Business With Affiliate Programs

2009-06-17T19:32:00.002-04:00

by Jim Pretin http://www.forms4free.com
If you have recently started an online business, you are no doubt facing the difficult task of trying to promote your website without sufficient capital to do much advertising. It is a catch-22; you need to spend a lot of money on advertising to launch an internet business so that you can make some money, but you need to make some money so that you actually have some dollars to spend on advertising.

Continue Reading

To get money for advertising, you could take on a business partner who is willing to fund the company to get your marketing campaign going, or perhaps you could turn to venture capital to get started. However, unless you already have a lot of solid business contacts, raising money for an internet startup can be almost impossible.

So, what should you do? The solution to all your marketing problems might be an affiliate program. With an affiliate program, anyone who has a website can post an advertisement for your business on their website in the form of a banner or a text link. If someone clicks on that banner or text link and subsequently buys your product or service, you have to pay that affiliate a commission on the sale.

The reason why this is such an excellent marketing strategy is because an affiliate program costs you nothing. You do not have to pay to place your affiliate banner or text link on other websites because you are offering those other website owners a commission on every referral they make, but only if that referral produces a sale.

Not only does having an affiliate program give you an opportunity to make a tremendous amount of sales without spending money on advertising, but it also increases the number of inbound links to your website. The more links to your site, the higher your search engine ranking will be. So, a surge in your link popularity and an additional increase in sales resulting from an improved search engine ranking is a fabulous byproduct of having a popular affiliate program.

Now, you need to learn how to create an affiliate program and how to promote it. To create an affiliate program, you will either need to hire a web designer or programmer who has experience creating these sorts of programs, because they are not easy to set up. The job requires a lot of backend programming work, database creation, and payment tracking so that the referrals and sales that each affiliate produces can be tracked with a special code that is signed to each individual affiliate.

To promote your program, you will need to post ads for it on as many online affiliate directories as you can find. Some of these directories will charge you a small annual fee to be listed, others will allow you to list your program for free. There are literally hundreds or even thousands of different online directories where you can add your listing. The more listings you can create, the more affiliates you can potentially acquire.

I hope this information helps you get your online business off to a good start. The affiliates you recruit into your program are almost like your employees, they are doing your advertising work for you, and it does not cost you anything unless they make a sale. All those websites will be representing you, sort of like a commissioned salesperson. Just make sure you hire a competent web designer to do the programming work, because if there are any difficulties with tracking sales to your individual affiliates, you will have a huge mess on your hands. Jim Pretin is the owner of http://www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make an HTML form

How to Remove Pre-Installed Software from Your Computer

2009-06-16T22:35:00.004-04:00

By Guest Author Amy Nutt

You also can be a guest author for our site to get your name out there-Join our mailing list or leave a comment on this post and I will tell you how to submit an article or review of 300-500 words

When you purchase a new computer, it usually comes with an operating system already installed (Windows on a PC, for example). However, you are likely to find that your new toy also comes with a variety of pre-installed software that you may or may not want. If you aren`t interested in the programs that are already on your new computer when it comes home, then you will want to get rid of them before you get started using your computer.

Why Your Computer Has This Software One of the ways that computer companies earn more money is by selling "ad" space to software companies on new computers, installing their software trials or demos on new computers. This can be quite annoying to the user since these programs may use up to a quarter of the hard drive space before you even installed a thing!

Identify the Software You Want to Remove This software is often hidden, so finding it requires some diligent searching unless you know exactly where to look. To start, take a look at what is already on your computer. You can do this by clicking on the Start menu, then on Programs. This will show you a list of the programs that you have running on your computer. You will see many programs you do not recognize, but this does not mean you should eliminate them. Often, programs have odd names but can be very useful. If in doubt, go ahead and open the program to see if it`s something that you want to use or not, otherwise you might accidentally delete something that really was useful to you.

Find and Eliminate There are two ways to remove pre-installed software, the automatic method or the manual method. If you just can`t be bothered to search out all those pesky extras, then you can download a program that will do this for you. These programs are usually available for free and will seek out and eliminate any unwanted software.

The manual method is a little more difficult. First, go to My PC, and then click on Remove Programs. Here you can see all the programs that are "officially" installed and remove them with the click of a button. Unfortunately, they won`t all be in there, because some programs are hidden.

To find the hidden programs, take a look at what is installed again, but do so by going back to the Start menu and Programs. Then you can do a search in My PC for archives under that name and delete them by hand. This takes time, particularly if you have a lot of pre-installed software, but if you prefer to know just what you`re getting rid of, this is a good method.

Don`t just live with the demos and trials that pop up after a few days telling you to buy the full version. If you aren't using it, get rid of it. You`ll free up hard drive space and make using your computer a lot more pleasant. Supplier of the largest inventory of cheap software online and cheap office software including all the most popular programs from Microsoft, cheap Adobe software and more.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER AND RECEIVE OVER 200 TWITTER APP LINKS

2009-06-15T12:34:00.007-04:00

I have accumulated well in excess of 200 twitter applications that I will make available to my News Letter members

On the continue reading page I have listed 6 apps that are under the catogory of Find Tweeters like You for your use--To get the rest of the more than 200 apps links, all you have to do is sign up for our news letter over to the right of our web page-and I will send you the list and links free of charge.

Some of the categories are:

Find out what is the latest trends on Twitter
Track Twitter Users
Track certain keywords on Twitter
Twitter Links
Track Tweets Across the Globe
Enhance your Tweeting
Create Reviews via Twitter

And many more...Remember sign up for our News Letter to receive the complete list--

Find Tweeters like You
Directories and User Search Tools

Twits like Me
Find out people like you
Twellow
A Twitter directory sorted by occupation
Just Tweet It
A twitter directory sorted by interest
Twubble
This tool will automatically find people who are compatible with your interests. However, if you follow too many people, then Twubble may recommend some people that you already follow
Twittie Me
Search for similar users and advertise your twitter page
Twitdir
Search for words in usernames, locations or descriptions

How mad are iPhone customers at AT&T? The ways are counted!

2009-06-15T12:13:00.004-04:00

David Morgenstern ZDNET

As I mentioned in a post following the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, iPhone customers of AT&T are hopping mad. Now, the results of a poll shows exactly how mad.

To give the culprit (and Apple too) a reading on dissatisfaction levels, MacTech magazine posted a poll, Shame on you AT&T, which went live during the keynote. The results were announced on Thursday.

Here are the numbers:

Question 1: AT&T: You should be embarrassed for your support. Shame on you.
1. I agree: 97.8%
2. I disagree: 2.2%

* Question 2: AT&T is not supporting tethering of the iPhone. This feature is:
1. Not important to me: 4.4%
2. Somewhat useful to me: 25.8%
3. Very important to me: 69.9%

* Question 3: AT&T’s network is not as robust as other networks. This
feature is:
1. Not important to me: 0.7%
2. Somewhat useful to me: 5.5%
3. Very important to me: 93.7%

* Question 4: AT&T is not supporting MMS for several months. This feature is:
1. Not important to me: 9.3%
2. Somewhat useful to me: 26.6%
3. Very important to me: 64.1%

* Question 5: The following describes me best:
1. I’m happy with AT&T: 3.8%
2. I’ll go with whatever carrier supports the iPhone: 50.6%
3. I’m looking for any way to leave AT&T as soon as possible: 45.6%

The devastating responses are to Questions 3 and 5. Ouch, 93 percent of iPhone customers say the service sucks.

Okay, and Question 1, where 98 percent say that AT&T should be embarrassed. That 2 percent must be AT&T employees and contractors. Can you say “lie detector test?”

The response to Question 5 is also interesting. Half of responders are resigned to the service; they just want their iPhone to work. The other half are nursing a hot hate for AT&T.

MacTech says the poll wasn’t scientific.

Earlier this week, MacTech launched the ShameOnYouATT.com poll to assess how users in the market perceived AT&T’s lack of support for new iPhone technologies. The poll is not scientific, it had approximately 1000 respondents, and clearly points out the perception in the core of the Apple market.

While I decry the service levels and slow-footed response from AT&T, I feel a bit of sympathy in me. Did the management and internal analysts at AT&T really understand the implications of the changes in customer attitude towards mobile computing that the iPhone would bring. For example, towards Internet browsing?

According to the figures handed out at the keynote, the iPhone accounts for 65 percent of all mobile browsing. All the rest of the vendors — Android, Symbian, Java and “Other” — are at 10 percent or less.

That means that the services that they run under aren’t as swamped as AT&T is with the iPhone. Most likely any service provider, even my favorite Verizon, would be terrible with this super-strong usage.

How to Choose the Best Diet

2009-06-15T11:10:00.002-04:00

Feel like you’ve done a speed-dating experiment with every diet on the books? It might be time to think about settling down with the right one.

Which one is the right one, you ask? Doesn’t matter. High-carb, low-carb, Mediterranean . . . any will do. As long as it’s heart healthy, it cuts back on calories, and you stick to it.

A Flexible Formula
In a study of four weight loss plans, the number of pounds people were able to shed didn’t differ much -- as long as the diets were fairly low in saturated fat and cholesterol, were high in fiber, reduced people’s calorie intake, and included 90 minutes of weekly exercise. Each diet group also experienced better cholesterol, better blood pressure, and better triglyceride levels -- and metabolic syndrome dropped across the board. Jump-start your weight loss efforts now with this Lose 10 to 50 Pounds plan.

What’s Right for You?
The diets in the study had varying amounts of carbs, fat, and protein. So you don’t have to pigeonhole yourself to one style of diet. Just make sure it’s something you feel you can live with. Get yourself on course with these simple diet and exercise tools:

* Be a planner. One of these RealAge-approved weight loss plans is bound to suit you.
* Be a tracker. Stay motivated with our weight loss tracker tool and our waistline tracker tool.
* Step it up. Find out how many steps you need to take per minute to get health benefits.

RealAge Benefit: Maintaining a constant desirable weight can make your RealAge 6 years younger.

ARTICLE FROM REAL AGE

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT

2009-06-15T09:17:00.001-04:00

If you could take a minute to leave a comment at the bottom of this post, I think it would be a valuable tool for me on future posts and would be deeply appreciated. Let me know what type of content you would like to see on an ongoing basis-Thank You

Wayne

Guidebook outperforms iPhone and BlackBerry Bold

2009-06-14T19:20:00.003-04:00

The Associated Press

NEW YORK – Conde Nast Traveler magazine sent three reporters to Moscow, one armed with an iPhone, one with a BlackBerry Bold and one with an old-fashioned guidebook, to see whether the gadgets or the book were more helpful in completing a series of typical tourist challenges: finding a hotel, a restaurant, a bar, various attractions and a pharmacy.

If you could take a minute to leave a comment at the bottom of this post, I think it would be a valuable tool for me on future posts and would be deeply appreciated. Let me know what type of content you would like to see on an ongoing basis-Thank You

Wayne

Read more: http://bekme.blogspot.com/#ixzz0IVMh9ANQ&C

The results may surprise you. The writer armed with the guidebook completed most of the tasks more quickly and easily than the writers with gadgets.

Details of the challenge appear in Conde Nast Traveler's June issue and online at www.concierge.com/ cntraveler/articles/500791.

Both of the tech-assisted writers were hampered by Moscow's slow data network, which made downloading information tedious. This also caused their batteries to run low and sometimes die.

Because the assignment was in February, the iPhone-assisted writer also complained of frozen fingers, since the gadget can't read a touch through a glove. In addition, he said, he could have left his hotel an hour earlier each day had he been planning his itinerary on a laptop "instead of zooming in and out of Web pages and tediously typing on-screen." Staring at the tiny screen, he added, also cuts you off from the people around you, and makes it hard to fully appreciate your surroundings.

The writer using the BlackBerry Bold did give the thumbs-up to an app called the Beiks Talking English-Russian Phrase Book, which let an automated voice speak for him when asking directions from passers-by. "The clumsy maneuver earned plenty of laughs but nearly always got me where I needed to go and often led to interesting conversations," he wrote.

The writer using the guidebook, an Eyewitness Travel guide to Moscow, also relied extensively on the kindness of strangers and advice from her hotel concierge. She beat out the gadget guys in five of the magazine's nine challenges, including finding a hotel with no reservation for less than $300 a night (it took her 45 minutes compared with two hours for the BlackBerry user and more than three hours for the iPhone man); finding an affordable restaurant beloved by locals (it took the guidebook user five minutes compared with a complete failure by the BlackBerry user, whose battery was dead, and 45 minutes for the iPhone guy); and taking the subway to a bazaar in search of a craft (the guidebook user completed the task in 90 minutes by asking people for help, while the BlackBerry user failed and the iPhone user took three hours).

The guidebook gal also was the winner when it came to buying an aspirin at a pharmacy at midnight and finding a bar to hang out with the locals. But it did take her longer to find the home of a notable dead Russian, see a live performance and find the Diamond Vaults at the Kremlin. She came in second in finding the best pelmeni (dumpling) in town.

The Associated Press

Watch my dust-1999 followers on Twitter in less than 7 days

2009-06-14T18:48:00.003-04:00

This is a re post of an article I wrote back on 6/7/09--It stated below that "Today June 7th I have 3,459 followers AS you can see on the chart above --Today is 6/14/09 and if you check mistymaggie you will see I have 5,398 followers (at least it was when I wrote this) --1,939 followers in less than 7 days. That is 277 followers per day-But as I previously wrote-Not just any followers--

I offer again-Get my information for just signing up for my news letter-That is all, nothing to buy-It is Free and also thrown in a FREE E Book that will blow your socks off about Internet marketing SUPER TIPS-If you want just the E Book and not the information on how to get followers at about 275 per day the click on FREE E BOOK and you will get it without even giving your e mail address. I promiss-Written by the Top Guru on Internet Marketing and head of the clickbank forum

I have found out a successful strategy to add followers on Twitter-Not just any followers but the right followers for you and your business

I am not selling the information as many have done in the past-and I am not giving it away either-

You are going to have to pay the ultimate price :) SIGN UP FOR MY NEWS LETTER. Now is that bad:)

I Joined Twitter back in February 2009-I did not have a clue! I was not active until March 23rd My Birthday--I had 104 followers at that point. I ploughed along until May 7th when I discovered the secret(I had 958 at that point). I should say My Secret because I have not seen anyone that has the same strategy as I have developed. Today June 7th I have 3,459 followers. That is 2501 followers in one month and now they are growing exponentially averaging 150+ per day.

If you want me to send you my plan on increasing your followers and as I said earlier, not just any followers but targeted to your niche-Join My Mailing List over to the right and I will send you the information

And do not worry about getting flooded with sales pitches I only will send out a newsletter a week and and occasional tip that I think is of interest.

Evernote for the Palm Pre lets you quickly capture notes on the go

2009-06-14T18:30:00.000-04:00

Matthew Miller ZDNETI was all excited to discover Evernote for the Palm Pre last night and immediately downloaded it and installed it on my Pre. After spending a bit of time with it though, it needs some work to make it more functional for me. You can create text notes and have them synced to your account, but most of the other functionality is still under development and not that refined.

After launching the application and logging in, you need an Internet connection to use Evernote at this time, you will see all of your notes that you created. You can view your notes, but you cannot listen to any voice notes you may have since it doesn’t appear that WAV files are supported on the Pre. There is also an issue with zooming and panning in on image notes you capture. A tap will zoom in, but only into one corner of the image and if you try to pan then it just zooms back out. There is also no landscape support at this time.

One last limitation is that photo notes are sent to your special Evernote email address and do not sync up through the application like text notes do. If you primarily use text notes with Evernote then you may be just perfectly happy with the current version. I use it to take photos of business cards and that has limited support at the moment.

One thing you will see on the main Evernote Pre display is a search option in the lower left corner. Tapping this will let you filter notes by Most Recent and Search nearby. The Search nearby uses the geotagged notes and finds them if you are near where they were created.

To search through your notes, you simply start typing away on the keyboard (a search box will appear) and see your notes automatically filter.

One other tip, when you create a text note, make sure to tap the envelope/folder icon in the bottom left that acts to save your note. I think a new icon is needed soon to clarify this issue.

Whatch my dust-1999 followers on Twitter in less than 7 days

2009-06-14T18:29:00.009-04:00

Netanyahu endorses Palestinian independence

2009-06-14T17:40:00.003-04:00

BREAKING NEWS:************************
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
The Associated Press
Sunday, June 14, 2009; 4:58 PM

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed a Palestinian state beside Israel for the first time on Sunday, reversing himself in the face of U.S. pressure but attaching conditions like demilitarization that the Palestinians swiftly rejected. READ MORE ON THIS LINK OR

A week after President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim world, Netanyahu said the Palestinian state would have to be unarmed and recognize Israel as the Jewish state - a condition amounting to Palestinian refugees giving up the goal of returning to Israel.

With those conditions, he said, he could accept "a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state."

The West Bank-based Palestinian government dismissed the proposal as an attempt to determine the outcome of negotiations while maintaining Israeli settlements, refusing compromise over Jerusalem and ignoring the issue of borders. They also said that demilitarization would solidify Israeli control over them.

Netanyahu, in an address seen as his response to Obama, refused to heed the U.S. call for an immediate freeze of construction on lands Palestinians claim for their future state. He also said the holy city of Jerusalem must remain under Israeli sovereignty.

"Netanyahu's speech closed the door to permanent status negotiations," senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said. "We ask the world not to be fooled by his use of the term Palestinian state because he qualified it. He declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel, said refugees would not be negotiated and that settlements would remain."
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But in Washington, the White House said Obama welcomed the speech as an "important step forward."

Netanyahu's address had been eagerly anticipated in the wake of Obama's landmark speech to the Muslim world.

His speech was a dramatic transformation for a man who was raised on a fiercely nationalistic ideology and has spent a two-decade political career criticizing peace efforts.

Many Israeli commentators speculated that after the re-election of Iran's hardline president, Netanyahu would focus the address on the threat of Iran's suspect nuclear program. While reiterating his belief that a nuclear-armed Iran is a grave threat, Netanyahu spent little time on the issue.

"I call on you, our Palestinian neighbors, and to the leadership of the Palestinian Authority: Let us begin peace negotiations immediately, without preconditions," he said, calling on the wider Arab world to work with him. "Let's make peace. I am willing to meet with you any time any place - in Damascus, Riyadh, Beirut and in Jerusalem."

Since assuming office in March, Netanyahu has been caught between American demands to begin peace talks with the Palestinians and the constraints of a hardline coalition. With his speech, he appeared to favor Israel's all-important relationship with the U.S. at the risk of destabilizing his government.

Netanyahu laid out his vision in a half-hour speech broadcast nationwide during prime time. He spoke at Bar-Ilan University, known as a bastion of the Israeli right-wing establishment, and his call for establishing a Palestinian state was greeted with lukewarm applause.

As Netanyahu spoke, two small groups of protesters demonstrated at the entrance to the university.

Several dozen hard-liners held up posters showing Obama wearing an Arab headdress and shouted slogans against giving up West Bank territory. Across from them, a few dozen dovish Israelis and foreign backers chanted slogans including "two states for two peoples" and "stop the occupation."

Police kept the two groups apart.

The Palestinians demand all of the West Bank as part of a future state, with east Jerusalem as their capital. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.

Netanyahu, leader of the hardline Likud Party, has always resisted withdrawing from these lands, for both security and ideological reasons. In his speech, he repeatedly made references to Judaism's connection to the biblical Land of Israel.

"Our right to form our sovereign state here in the land of Israel stems from one simple fact. The Land of Israel is the birthplace of the Jewish people," he said.

But Netanyahu also said that Israel must recognize that millions of Palestinians live in the West Bank, and continued control over these people is undesirable. "In my vision, there are two free peoples living side by side each with each other, each with its own flag and national anthem," he said.
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Netanyahu has said he fears the West Bank could follow the path of the Gaza Strip - which the Palestinians also claim for their future state. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and Hamas militants now control the area, often firing rockets into southern Israel.

"In any peace agreement, the territory under Palestinian control must be disarmed, with solid security guarantees for Israel," he said.

"If we get this guarantee for demilitarization and necessary security arrangements for Israel, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people, we will be willing in a real peace agreement to reach a solution of a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside the Jewish state," he said.

Netanyahu became the latest in a series of Israeli hard-liners to soften their positions after assuming office. Earlier this decade, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon led Israel out of Gaza before suffering a debilitating stroke. His successor, Ehud Olmert, spoke eloquently of the need to withdraw from the West Bank, though a corruption scandal a disastrous war in Lebanon prevented him from carrying out that vision.

Netanyahu gave no indication as to how much captured land he would be willing to relinquish. However, he ruled out a division of Jerusalem, saying, "Israel's capital will remain united."

Netanyahu also made no mention of uprooting Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Nearly 300,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, in addition to 180,000 Israelis living in Jewish neighborhoods built in east Jerusalem. He also said that existing settlements should be allowed to grow - a position opposed by the U.S.

"We have no intention to build new settlements or expropriate land for expanding existing settlements. But there is a need to allow residents to lead a normal life. Settlers are not the enemy of the nation and are not the enemy of peace - they are our brothers and sisters," he said.

Netanyahu also said the Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The Palestinians have refused to do so, fearing it would amount to giving up the rights of millions of refugees and their descendants and be discriminatory to Israel's own Arab minority.

Erekat said Netanyahu's plan was unacceptable since it effectively imposes a solution on the core issues of the conflict.

"Netanyahu's speech closed the door to permanent status negotiations," he said. "We ask the world not to be fooled by his use of the term Palestinian state because he qualified it. He declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel, said refugees would not be negotiated and that settlements would remain."
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Although the Palestinians have agreed to demilitarization under past peace proposals, Erekat rejected it, saying it would cement Israeli rule over them.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, another Palestinian official, called on the U.S. to challenge Netanyahu "to prevent more deterioration in the region."

"What he has said today is not enough to start a serious peace process," he added.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called the speech "racist" and called on Arab nations "form stronger opposition" toward Israel. Hamas ideology does not recognize a Jewish state in an Islamic Middle East and has sent dozens of suicide bombers into Israel.

Netanyahu also came under criticism from within his own government - a coalition of religious and nationalistic parties that oppose Palestinian independence.

Zevulun Orlev, a member of the Jewish Home Party, which represents Jewish settlers and other hard-liners, said Netanyahu's speech violated agreements struck when the government was formed. "I think the coalition needs to hold a serious discussion to see where this is headed," he told Israel Radio.

Israeli media speculated that Netanyahu might turn to the centrist Kadima Party, which heads the parliamentary opposition, to shore up his government if the coalition falls apart.

Kadima, the largest party in parliament, denied a report that there were secret talks with Netanyahu over the matter ahead of the speech.

Israel's ceremonial president, Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres, called the speech "real and brave."

First Look: TomTom for iPhone 3GS

2009-06-14T17:15:00.001-04:00

Get iPhone 3GS with insurance from Best Buy

2009-06-14T16:53:00.003-04:00

by Budi Putra I PHONE BUZZ

Are you getting ready to grab the new iPhone next Friday? Might be you'll love this news. Since AT&T wouldn't offer insurance for any iPhone, seems Best Buy's offering is worth purchasing. For some peace of mind, of course.

Normal cell phone insurance via Best Buy will cost you anywhere from $7 to $10 a month. Not the case with iPhone 3G S, Best Buy has raised this fee to a cool $15 a month. This premium fee is most likely due to the full retail price of the 3G S being so high at $599 and $699.

Good news is that this insurance will cover all sorts of damage - liquid damage, cracked screens, cracked casing, etc… All you have to do is bring your damaged iPhone into any Best Buy, they will fix it or replace your device on the spot.

TechCrunch’s Most Frequently Used iPhone Apps

2009-06-13T14:33:00.001-04:00

by Dan Romero on June 12, 2009 TechCrunch

Most TechCrunch writers are iPhone users. And while we’re still debating whether when what time we will be upgrading to the iPhone 3G S next Friday, we are excited for the iPhone OS 3.0 next Wednesday. We’ve had a few requests to publish the apps we use on our iPhones - and we’re going to share that information with you now.

The following list is by no means all of the apps we have on our iPhones. There are plenty of apps we only use a couple times a month (e.g. Shazam), but when we need them, they’re great. We’ve also linked to any TechCrunch/CrunchGear/MobileCrunch reviews of the apps. Let us know which apps you use in the comments below.
App Users
Yammer 7
Qik 6
Skype 6
Tweetie 6
Facebook 5
foursquare 4
Flight Control 4
Pandora 4
Recorder 2
Loopt 2
Strategery 2
Twitterific 2
Fieldrunners 2
Remote 2
Deep Green 2
Instapaper 2

Get Reviews of the apps at techcrunch

IRS Proposes Taxing 25% of Business Cell Phone Use

2009-06-13T13:10:00.004-04:00

BY Phyllis Furman
DAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER

The IRS may dial up new rules that could cost you more in taxes if your employer gives you a cell phone.

The IRS may dial up new rules that could cost you more in taxes if your employer gives you a cell phone.

The feds have proposed taxing 25% of business cell phone use as income.

That means someone who's in a 28% tax bracket and whose work cell phone costs their company $1,000 a year would pay $70 more in federal income tax.

New York City residents now pay between 17% and 20% in cell phone taxes, charges and fees.

The IRS has had a law on the books regarding taxation of personal calls on business cell phones for two decades, but companies have rarely complied because of the difficulty of keeping such records.

The proposed procedures would make it easier for employers to comply with the law.

The IRS is proposing two other options to simplify the rules.

One choice would be for employees to offer proof that they have a personal cell phone that they use during working hours. That would substantiate that the business cell phone was being used solely for work purposes.

Introducing a FREE Small Business network for New York where you meet other professionals, get qualified leads, earn money and more. Get started now!

Another option being floated would allow companies to use a statistical sampling to figure out how much of their employees' phone bills are for personal calls.

John Taylor, a spokesman for Sprint Nextel, said the law is no longer relevant at a time when work and personal lives no longer have boundaries.

"Cell phones are ubiquitous," he said. "The policy rationale of the 1980s doesn't make sense anymore."

The IRS said it is awaiting responses to its proposals from the public. "This notice was issued to solicit comments on ways the IRS can simplify the procedures for employers to substantiate the business use of employer-provided cell phones," the agency said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/06/13/2009-06-13_irs_new_hangup_proposes_taxing_25_of_business_cell_phone_use.html#ixzz0IKbEwOPy&C

My top 5 wish list for the Palm Pre

2009-06-13T07:28:00.004-04:00

by Bonnie Cha In CRAVE Gadgets from CNET

For a first-generation device, the Palm Pre is quite impressive. Palm has developed a strong operating system in WebOS, beating the competition in certain areas and laying a solid foundation for future devices. However, as with any product, there's always room for improvement.

Earlier this week, I listed five of my favorite things about the Palm Pre and as promised at the end of that post, here are five things that I dislike about the smartphone or would like to see in future updates/devices. Fortunately, some of these issues, as well as others not mentioned here (voice dialing, video recording, Bluetooth tethering), can be resolved through over-the-air updates, but here's my Top 5 wish list based on the smartphone as it is now.

1. Improved battery life: While the overall reviews (from both tech journalists and Pre owners) have been positive, there's been one universal complaint about the Pre and that's battery life. Palm has already identified a bug with the AIM client that is sucking more power than it should be and has promised a fix for it. There are also ways to optimize the battery life and the smartphone has a user-replaceable battery, so you can always carry an extra with you. However, it's not a completely unlikely scenario that I might be using the device heavily and have no access to an outlet or perhaps forgot an extra battery and inevitably end up with a dead Pre on my hands. Again, an issue that can be dealt with, but it's still a drag.
2. Enhanced contact management: As I said in my post from Tuesday, overall, I really like the Synergy feature of the Pre and how it seamlessly imports all my contacts and calendar appointments from my various accounts. However, as I also pointed out, there needs to be a better way to filter or group contacts. This really became an issue when I synced my Facebook account, since I don't necessarily know every "friend" or keep in constant contact with them, so it'd be nice to assign them to have some sort of filter or easier way to manage them. Universal Search helps when you've got a specific contact, but if you're simply viewing your address book and have to sort through a long list, it can get pretty unwieldy.
3. Better Universal Search: The Pre's universal search works well, but right now, it's limited to just contacts, applications, the Web, Google Maps, and Twitter. The Palm Pre holds a lot of information, especially with the Synergy function, and its incapability to search e-mails and calendar entries is a bit of a head-scratcher for me.
4. Soft keyboard: As I've said many times before, a physical keyboard is a must for me (just a personal preference), but that doesn't mean I think a soft keyboard is completely useless. In fact, the Pre needs one. When viewing Web sites in landscape mode, there's no way to enter text into search fields without having to flip the smartphone back to portrait mode and using the physical keyboard. Does it take a huge amount of effort? No, but it's still inconvenient. We had similar issues with the T-Mobile G1, RIM BlackBerry Storm (lacked portrait keyboard), and Apple iPhone (lacked landscape), all of which eventually resolved the problem with updates, and hopefully Palm will do so sooner rather than later.
5. More memory: This can't be fixed on the current Pre, but hopefully something Palm considers for its future WebOS smartphones. It might be that 8GB of memory is enough for some people, but I would still like the option of an expansion slot. If not that, then higher-capacity devices. I happen to think that the Pre has a pretty decent-sounding media player and a beautiful screen for viewing videos, so I'd like to load up the phone with a bunch of media without having to worry about the remaining storage. Plus, I like what I've seen so far in terms of applications, and as more become available, I imagine I'll download more. Not that apps take up a lot of memory, but still.

Those are my big-ticket items. Now, once again, it's your turn. I've already received a number of e-mails with wish list items and other issues, such as limited Microsoft Exchange support (specifically PIN service and remote wipe), soft ringtones, limited copy/paste, and not being able to forward text messages, but if you've got the same concerns or new ones, share them below.
Bonnie Cha is a senior editor for CNET, covering smartphones and GPS. When she's not testing the latest gadgets, you can find her chasing after her crazy lab or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California. E-mail Bonnie.

Appiphilia: Browsing through the Palm Pre App Catalog

2009-06-13T07:08:00.003-04:00

LA TIMES ARTICLE

Being the new kid in school can be challenging -- especially if the other kids are way ahead of you in their lessons and achievements.

So is the case with Palm's new Pre smartphone. Particularly in terms of apps, it's hard to compete with the memory of Palm predecessors, who practically invented the notion of apps, let alone the valedictorian -- the iPhone, with more than 50,000 apps available to its users.

The Pre catalog is still in beta, with lots of room to grow -- especially in the gaming category. Right now, a number of categories are already listed, even if there isn't yet a critical mass of apps to fill them without multiple redundancies. And many of the offerings, like the ones reviewed below, have already debuted on other devices such as iPhone and Blackberry.

Downloading is fast and easy. You get the option of immediately launching them after download or of continuing to browse without exiting the catalog.

This to me was most notable: Being able to open and operate multiple apps at the same time is very user-friendly. Most people living a digital life have one thing in mind: multi-tasking.

All of that understood, we scanned its nascent catalog and picked out a few to try out.

Pandora (Free)

What it is: A personalized radio station streamed to your device

Bottom line: The Pre's interface allows the app to continue playing your tunes even as your attention shifts to another app or function. The tiny "P" icon sits in the bottom right corner and lets it launch an unobtrusive strip from which you can pause and play and vote up or down the songs it selects for you, without having to open the app.

Fandango (Free)

What it is: Movie listings

Bottom line: The app offers movie listings, trailers and photos, and uses the internal GPS to locate nearby theaters. The interface is nice and clean for the most part. On the same screen, you can twirl down movies opening this week and what's been popular. Buying a ticket is fairly straight forward, although I did want to be able to tap a time directly from the list of offerings under the movie and just buy the ticket. Unfortunately there weren't many theaters in my area that would let me buy tickets through Fandango.

Flixster (Free)

What it is: Movie listings

Bottom line: Like the Fandango app, Flixster includes movie listings and trailers. The app lets users list the movies by title, box-office popularity or viewer ratings -- Pre users can set in preferences to get ratings by Flixster reviewers or Rotten Tomatoes. In addition, this app offers a movie synopsis, links to related movie sites and lists DVDs that are available, with user ratings. I immediately loved the fact that you can, with a tap, set up a movie date in your calendar. It gives directions to the theater using Google Maps. A plus here is that this app doesn't open additional cards. It does the work within the app. As with Fandango, finding theaters that would be nearby to buy tickets was a challenge.

Tweed (Free)

What it is: Twitter client

Bottom line: Like many useful mobile Twitter clients, Tweed lets users log in to multiple Twitter accounts. Search is fairly simple, as is keeping up on trending topics, re-tweets, replies and direct messages. You can also change the font size, which is nice for those of us going blind from looking at these small screens all day. Users get a notification at the bottom of the screen about replies, for example, when another app is prominent. All that's great, but I'm not wild about having separate pages, or "cards" as the Palm folks call them, for the separate accounts. I want the app to multi-task for me, not me for it.

Sporting News Baseball (Free)

What it is: Sports fix in your hand.

Bottom line: As with Sporting News' apps for other devices, this one includes just about all the sporting news a baseball fan could handle. You can select your favorite teams and key players for quick access to their news and stats. The app also offers in-game updates. Tapping into the Pre's WebOS, the app lets you add your favorite team's calendar to the device's calendar app -- probably my favorite feature, since I can look one place to find out whether my movie date is going to conflict with a Dodger game.

-- Michelle Maltais

PulpTunes 1.1.0 (Windows)

2009-06-12T07:18:00.003-04:00

Overview: As appeared in ZDNET

PulpTunes is an open source web server that enables you to access and play your iTunes library remotely from any computer on the network.

There is nothing to install on the remote computers, simply use your browser to access the pulpTunes web interface. PulpTunes offers an easy to use web interface that offers media playback controls and search capabilities. There are also advanced features for the power user, like the ability to set access permissions on a playlist-basis, and a command-line interface for headless servers.

(Is this item miscategorized? Does it need more tags? DOWNLOAD

Twitter' Makes AP Stylebook

2009-06-12T07:11:00.002-04:00

From onlinemediadaily

Grammarians and journos take note: Twitter has made it as an entry in the 2009 edition of the Associated Press Stylebook, which is, of course, the gold standard for many newspapers and online publications (such as the one you are reading -- telling us to do such things as italicize words as words, such as the previous use of Twitter).

The guide notes that the microblogging service limits messages to short Tweets. The verb forms are "to Twitter" or "to Tweet."

The guide also added the verb form of text -- "to text," "texted" and "texting" -- as well. The AP seems undecided on what to call Twitter users, and has not included an entry for Twits.

This news may not be of much interest to anyone beyond those who are also really jazzed that the new edition of AP also now makes clear the differences between coma, minimally conscious state and vegetative state. --John Capone

The fastest iPhone ever

2009-06-11T18:12:00.003-04:00

From Simple Thoughts Blog - Java and Web Technologies
This is what Apple's ad on its Website reads. What that explains is iPhone 3G S has is now 2x faster in speed. Apple unveiled the iPhone 3G S at Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Digging out the rumors provide a clue that Apple is using a new chip to crank up the performance. Simple Thoughts Blog - Java and Web Technologies

But then why to rely on the rumors, when Apple has unfurled its iPhone 3G S. There are no revelations about the chip level hardware specs. It seems Apple is looking to convince the buyers that it's not an individual part of iPhone, but it's Apple as a brand. With the 3G S announced, you might have a lot of questions running in your mind, see if you can get the answers here.

What's so fast about iPhone 3G S?

* The first thing about iPhone 3G S is that the applications can be launched quickly.
* The web pages are rendered in a fraction of time.
* View the email attachments faster.
* Improved performance and updated 3D graphics offer you better gaming experience.

Overall, Apple claims everything you do on iPhone 3G S is up to two times faster and more responsive than iPhone 3G.
What's inside the iPhone 3G S?

This part is quite interesting to investigate the speed with an array of speculations surrounding the 3G S.
There has been no announcement about the seed-up formula by Apple, still some excerpts from the analysis published by Anandtech's Anand Shimpi, editor in chief reveals

iPhone 3GS uses (again) a Samsung (system-on-a-chip) but this time…it's got a Cortex A8 and PowerVR SGX; just like the (Palm) Pre,

A majority of smartphones today, including the previous versions of iPhone are based on some version of an application processor from ARM. The cortex A8 is a more recent and faster version of ARM design.

According to one of the founders iFixit's Kyle Wiens, the Cortex A8 is very possible.

From a web page in T-Mobile Netherlands' the features of the iPhone 3G S include 256 RAM" and 600 MHz-processor. It is important to notice that there are 600MHz ARM processors available based on older designs, so the new cortex A8 is not the only option.

If Anandtech reports are valid iPhone 3G S's application processor would be the same as that of Palm Pre. The Palm Pre chip integrates a Powervr SGX 2D/3D graphics accelerator based on a design from Imagination Technologies.

ARM claims that its Cortex A8 is the highest performance and most power efficient processor available from ARM. It can scale up the speed from 600 MHz to higher than 1GHz.

There's still a question how much tweaking does Apple perform on the basic arm
According to Marion Morales, vice president of IDC's semiconductors research program, Apple uses Samgsung Chips but they are designing the processor and using Samsung as Foundry(factory).
What is the difference in new 3G S?

The predictions about OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics APIs in the new iPhone seems to come true. The assumptions were driven by the fact that it has come out with iPhone OS 3.0 SDK for several betas. The graphics processor in the iPhone 3G S is expected to be PowerVR SGX that supports hardware acceleration of both OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2.0. The 3G was

What that implies for the users is that OpenGL ES is the lightweight version of OpenGL. It is a powerful library of real-time 3D rendering APIs. Most of the other smartphones and handheld devices today support the older 1.1 specification. The 2.0 not widely used but it supports complex textures and shading operations. That allows the games written on it to look more vivid.

The problem arises here, OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2.0 are completely incompatible with each other. This would mean that the apps need to be written to support both to make them most compatible for iPhone 3G S. This could be a can of worms for apps as the 2.0-only app won't run on a 1.1-only device.

This could aggravate the problems Apple. Already the App Store was splintered when users were unable to use certain apps like the dialers in iPod Touch. On the other way round, it could be Apple's strategy to create distinct categories of app for iPhone models. The apps compatible with 3G S will be written to take advantage of OpenGL ES 2.0.

This can also be interpreted as a fact that the app developers should target Open GL ES 1.1, they want to support all iPhone and iPod Touches.

The final question you might ask is what would be the game that could compel the stubborn 3G owners to spend a hundred or more bucks which they would never like to do. For all your questions to be answered you need to wait for the release of 3G.

2009-06-10T10:15:00.002-04:00

Beatles - Reissues and Rock Band
The new Beatles invasion is coming! Prepare your shoppers by promoting the September 9th release of the Fab Four's entire catalog on digitally remastered CDs -- all up to 25% off. In addition, your customers can experience a bit of Beatlemania for themselves when they order "The Beatles: Rock Band," also available September 9th.

Promotion Dates: Now through September 9

How One Small Business Use Twitter To Build Its Brand

2009-06-10T09:29:00.003-04:00

From Business Opportunities

If you hope to compete as a small “carryout and delivery only” pizza joint operating out of a 600-square-foot space against the Goliaths of pizza delivery, you had better have a good product, great service and a deeper mission that differentiates you in a meaningful and sustainable way. And we do — but that’s not enough.

Even with a loyal following of customers, you must spend marketing dollars to drive business. Even your most core customers must be continually and softly nudged. The advantage here clearly goes to the larger chains, which enjoy greater market penetration and scale.

So far, we have relied on cost-effective strategies such as e-newsletters to deliver information and coupons to a subset of our customers.

We also use a smattering of direct mail. But the open rate for our newsletter has steadily fallen over the past year. Though this is speculative, we believe consumers are simply fatigued — too busy, too many other newsletters in their inbox, and so on. Enter Twitter.

Though many are clearly high on the new smell of Twitter — us included — we are beginning to see, through the fog of idle chatter surrounding social media, new opportunities to connect with our customers in ways that makes sense to us.

The obvious and redundant criticism of social media is the ROI of such a strategy at any level. How do you measure ROI on buzz, comments, friends, followers, mentions and so forth? For us, we see the value of Twitter in a number of areas.

We Twitter to supplement, or possibly replace, our e-newsletter, with daily 140-character special offerings or other tweets that contain links to more in-depth information on our mission and our products.

Analytical tools buried in the HTML of our website suggest that this approach is working. As for the actionable tweets we call “Tweetie Pie” specials, we are optimistic about them when compared with our e-newsletter data.

For example, on a single Thursday a few weeks ago, Twitterers accounted for almost 15% of the total sales, many of which were new customers. Source coding in our POS system makes tracking this data possible.

Sprint breaks its sales record with Palm Pre

2009-06-09T09:15:00.003-04:00

by Marguerite Reardon CNET NEWS

Sprint Nextel executives said Monday that the launch of the much anticipated Palm Pre on Saturday hit a new sales record for the company.

Neither Sprint nor Palm is discussing specific sales figures, but Tim Donahue, vice president of business marketing for Sprint, said that the launch exceeded the company's expectations.

"We experienced our best one day of sales and single weekend sales for any phone we've launched in our history," he said. "We sold out of the device over the weekend in most of our store locations. And it happened at a much faster rate than we had planned on. "

While the crowds that showed up on Saturday morning to buy the Pre at Sprint stores and other retail locations where the phone was offered were small in number compared to the crowds that have gathered for the past two iPhone launches, analysts are calling the launch of the Pre a success. A J.P. Morgan report estimated that more than 50,000 phones were sold in the first two days the phone was available. The Wall Street Journal cited analysts who said that between 50,000 and 100,000 Pres had been sold.

Now Sprint and Palm must wait to see if the momentum will continue. Donahue said the company plans to replenish inventory at retail stores as quickly as Palm can get the devices shipped. Customers can sign up to be on a waiting list for devices and will be notified when a phone is available. Donahue said that these lists should help the company direct new phones to locations with the highest demand. But he admitted there could be shortages and delays in getting the Pre into customers' hands.

"I'll be honest," he said. "There will be constrained inventory for some time. And there will be spot shortages for the foreseeable future."

But Donahue said the company will do everything it can to sell as many Pres as it can. Still, it will be interesting to see how well the Pre continues to sell now that Apple has just announced the next-generation iPhone, which will be outfitted with new processing guts to give it more power and speed. The iPhone 3G S will come with 16GB of storage for $199 with a two-year contract and a 32GB version that will sell for $299 with a two-year contract. Apple is also releasing a big software upgrade. The 3.0 OS is loaded with new features for old and new iPhone users. The latest versions of the iPhone and the software upgrade will be available next week.

In addition to the new phones and new software, Apple also slashed the price of its 8GB iPhone 3G to $99, which could put pressure on the Pre. Sprint is offering the Pre, which also has 8GB of storage capacity, for $199 with a $100 mail-in rebate.

Even though the Pre has an impressive touch screen that is similar in function to the iPhone, it may actually compete more with Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices than the iPhone. The Pre's physical keyboard and the phone's ability to handle multiple functions at once, much like a computer can, make it a good device for business users, Donahue and other executives have said.

But Donahue stops short of calling the device a BlackBerry-killer. After all, Sprint also sells quite a lot of those too.

"When you look at our customer base, the lines are blurred today versus five or 10 years ago," he said. "Subscribers use their phones for business as well for personal use. It isn't an either/or situation. And here is a device that I think is the best crossover device for business and personal use in the marketplace today."

One thing is for certain, Palm and Sprint are banking on the phone's success. For Palm, the Pre offers a chance to get back into the smartphone game. And for Sprint, the Pre provides a window of opportunity to attract new customers and retain old ones with a cool device that will show off the new and improved Sprint network.
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie.

Apple introduces the iPhone 3GS, drops price on 3G to $99

2009-06-09T07:58:00.002-04:00

Posted by Ed Burnette on ZDNET

At today’s World Wide Developer’s Conference keynote, Apple announce a new, faster version of the iPhone: the iPhone 3GS. The S stands for Speed.

The new device is 2.1x faster to launch Messages, 2.9x faster to launch a big web page. It includes OpenGL|ES 2.0, and has 7.2MBps HSDPA built-in.

Besides the faster processor, the big draw for the 3GS is its new 3.0 megapixel camera. It features:

* Tap-to-focus - tap an item in the photo to focus on it. Resets the light balance too.
* Improved low-light sensitivity.
* Automatic macro photographs (10cm).
* Video capture, 30fps VGA.
* Videos show up in photo library. You can trim them, share via emal, MMS, YouTube, MobileMe.

The new 3GS also features voice control. You hold down the home button for a few seconds in any application. Commands that you can say start floating around on the screen. Say one of them and it happens. Examples: “Dial scott forestall”, “play the killers”, “play more songs like this”, “what’s playing now”.

Other features:

* Built-in digital compass.
* New accessibility settings.
* Nike+ support.
* Hardware data encryption.
* Improved battery life. 9 hours on WiFi, 10 hours watching video, 30 hours audio, 12 hours 2G talk, 5 hours 3G talk.
* Greener materials, packaging.

Price and availability:

The iPhone 3GS will be available in 7 countries on June 19th for $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB). Both come in black and white. The old 3G will continue to be available, but at a lower price-point: $99. All prices are for AT&T new and qualifying customers and may vary on other carriers.

I have mastered the following trick on Twitter

2009-06-07T21:52:00.005-04:00

I have found out a successful strategy to add followers on Twitter-Not just any followers but the right followers for you and your business

I am not selling the information as many have done in the past-and I am not giving it away either-

You are going to have to pay the ultimate price :) SIGN UP FOR MY NEWS LETTER. Now is that bad:)

I Joined Twitter back in February 2009-I did not have a clue! I was not active until March 23rd My Birthday--I had 104 followers at that point. I ploughed along until May 7th when I discovered the secret(I had 958 at that point). I should say My Secret because I have not seen anyone that has the same strategy as I have developed. Today June 7th I have 3,459 followers. That is 2501 followers in one month and now they are growing exponentially averaging 150+ per day.

If you want me to send you my plan on increasing your followers and as I said earlier, not just any followers but targeted to your niche-Join My Mailing List over to the right and I will send you the information

And do not worry about getting flooded with sales pitches I only will send out a newsletter a week and and occasional tip that I think is of interest.

The First 24 Reviews From Real People Like Us On The Pre

2009-06-07T16:27:00.004-04:00

Here are 24 reviews hot off the press from Best Buy--That is the only place presently that has the Palm Pre for sale-Yesterday I did a story on this Blog telling of my experience buying one or even trying one at Sprint or Best Buy-KEYBOARD AND BATTERY LIFE WATCH VERY DISAPPOINTING

There are a few reviews here that I would discount as "you will never please this person type" and there are a few that are really objective-One review on the next page is from a person who says he has been reviewing the Pre for two week-His review should be read..more to come in later additions--SIGN UP TO THIS BLOG AND WE WILL BE THE CONDUIT FOR APPS FOR THE PRE AS THEY ARE INTRODUCED

1.What's great about it: Size, Weight, WebOS
What's not so great: Still needs a little polish

"Just picked up today, great phone. Touchstone is so cool, wish I could have bought one for home & office (got last one).

Entering text is a bit clunky as you can't cursor left and right (or at least I haven't figured that feature out yet). If not, I'm sure they will address that in an update."

2.What's great about it: Ability to run multiple applications at once.
What's not so great: Difficult to use, keyboard is too small

"I am still waiting to see why I stood in line to get this phone. I have not yet found anything overly impressive on the phone. It's not very intuitive in it's functioning and I don't see how it's any different than anything else out for years now."

3.What's great about it: Well, nothing.....
What's not so great: Well everything...

"Wow... was I expecting a winner here, but I was handed a pile of worthless junk. Let me start by saying I WAS a Palm user since 1995 when I purchased my first Pilot, which I still own and it still works. Since then I have owned a Palm device and always expected to. That is to say until the kid working at the Sprint store handed me the Pre today. Palm used to be a device you could count on to work and work well. It was a great business tool that did the things it should and did not cater to the "bells and whistles" crowd that the iPhone does. The Treo line continued this tradition of devices that worked to perfection. The Pre abandons all of this and it does it in spectacular fashion. This thing felt like one of my kids plastic toys for starters. It has a clunky interface that requires two hands to operate. The Treo I currently own can be driven like a Porsche with the thumb of one hand. The lack of applications that actually do anything reminds me of the day my wife came home with her Instinct, the other gimick phone from Sprint that is just as worthless. I guess may days with Palm are numbered now, looks like my next phone will be a BB......"

4.What's great about it: Easy to use, perfect wieght, Great price and its awesome
What's not so great: Everything is great about it

"Love the pre it cuts cheese and Its just the perfect phone."

5.What's great about it: Metachlorians
What's not so great: No lightsaber (app) at launch

"Finally... this phone will bring balance to the force, and so will this review, against all the iPhone fannyboyz who try to bring down their one true competitor which will make their phone feel inferior.

Wait until Palm polishes up the webOS and releases a new touch device with a larger screen... only a Sith Lord could stop it."

6.What's great about it: ITUNES!!!!
What's not so great: The keypad is small.

"SO happy to have a choice on a phone, no more iphone! Yes!"

7.What's great about it: ITUNES!!!!
What's not so great: The keypad is small.

"SO happy to have a choice on a phone, no more iphone! Yes!"

8.What's great about it: There is finally a great phone out there for those of us who don't want an AT&T phone.

"The full key pad makes text messaging very simple. Also the syncing with iTunes is amazing. Love the feel and weight of the phone. Also with an invisabile shield on the phone the screen stays clean and scratch free, which is great too."

9.What's great about it: The stories about how great it is,
What's not so great: Everything !!

"I like when people talk down on apple products, the pre-mature is a knockoff of an IPHONE. Name me one idea Apple has taken from any of these so called IPHONE killers. But these touchscreen jackers like Blb, Htc, Palm, etc. have been making cellphones for more than ten years. But they're constantly stealing ideas from a 1 year, 11 month old IPHONE. You can't compare an IPHONE to a pre-mature or any other knockoffs, it's like comparing apples to oranges. The IPHONE will always be the King of Smartphones."

10.What's great about it: I like the few cool things of User Interface. For the most time its very smooth.
What's not so great: Keyboard turned out not be what I expected. Feels like cheap plastic buttons.

"I think it takes some time to get used to, but Pre in general doesn't have any cool apps like iPhone has. I like the syncing feature, yet its not perfect. There's not enough options of syncing all of your accounts to one phone.
It feels great in the hand, but I know for sure its gonna get scratched like crazy.

There's nothing revolutionary about this phone like Palm makes it to be. I was little disappointed."

11.What's great about it: Great touchscreen, CDMA network, iTunes compatible
What's not so great: Small keyboard, icky feel

"I had high expectations of the Pre. Ever since the HTC Touch was announced, I was looking for a decent touch screen with a slider, and expected the Pre to be the godsend.

Unfortunately, my hopes were too high.

What we have here is an iPhone on a CDMA network. The keyboard is frankly unusable for anyone at/above average height. While the OS is great, it doesn't really do anything the iPhone doesn't, except for the search function, which is pretty cool. The screen itself is smooth, but not a game changer.

For those on Sprint's network already, this is probably the best option out there if you're going to shell out $200 plus get a plan upgrade. For current iPhone users - might as well wait and see rather than get locked up for two years."

12.What's great about it: The calender is so great - I can keep track of my whole family's activities. The camera is amazing too!
What's not so great: I hope it will come in other colors soon.

"The Palm Pre is a great new phone. It's easy to use, great looking, and I LOVE the keyboard. Even a mirror on the back. The touchstone is sleek and innovative. Bye bye blackberry Hello Palm Pre!"

13.What's great about it: it's contact sync, static touch, processor/sprint speed, run multiple apps, WebOS, very responsive, wifi, usb 2..0...etc
What's not so great: Slight concerns about future apps (but who needs 50,000 apps that may seldomly be used as a whole ie Iphone)...

"First my disclaimer: I believe the Iphone is a great phone and will continue to be. However...I believe that this phone is easily more than even what you will get out of the new Iphone in June...."

14.What's great about it: Multi tasking, ease of use, synergy
What's not so great: not out soon enough,lol

"This is not an iphone killer. It is the next step in evolution and the iphone can not compare. Do not believe the earlier apple fan boys. If you have an iphone and touch the pre, you will not go back to the iphone. It does anything the iphone can, but can do it all at one time ie...multitasking. This is a beautiful phone with an even more beautiful software."

15.What's great about it: Easy to use, nice set-up, works on Sprint
What's not so great: Not in multiple colors

"All I can say is Synergy. The phone works marvelous. You can have multiple windows open at the same time. The phone isn't locked down by a company with a big head that feels the need to think for me. Most of all the little things like removing my battery, getting to use my internet whenever I want, and not being on a terrible network."

16.What's great about it: Quick, Multitasker, Send Picture Mail,
What's not so great: One color

"I have been previewing a Palm Pre and it blows the iPhone away on speed and solidness. Keyboard allows me to type twice as fast as iphone and far less mistakes. Palm pre allows multitasking like all Smartphones should. The battery life blows away my old junky iphone that goes barley an hour while playing ligtht saber on it. The camera shoots quickly and with quality. Overall the Pre is a much better phone."

17.What's great about it: touchstone is awesome, multi apps really work and its a way cool phone
What's not so great: didn't see a lot of 3rd party apps yet

"I have been beta testing this phone and it is really awesome !! Multiple apps just work .. exactly the way you've been seeing them in demo's .. email and calendar is great, I love the way notifications are not ever in your face. The device has a cool and stony touch to it. Sure it looks a bit like the iphone but it actually gets better ... I love the way Pandora goes into the background and the way you can browse multiple windows ... also the way the phone becomes a clock when you put it on the touchstone .. I've tested Sprint Navigation on the Pre and its awesome. I like that I'm able to see my facebook, google and exchange contacts in one place ... what I want to see is more apps being made for this phone ... did see some software snags but Palm was always quick on updates ... in the end I have to say this - Yes it works, and it works amazingly well !! Go for it !!!"

18.What's great about it: Multi-Tasking, 3.0Camera, TouchScreen
What's not so great: Not yet released, Touchstone is $70 eek

"--Multi-Tasking -5 Stars
--3.0MP camera (versus iphones 2.0 camera )
--SYNERGY - (syncing all ur data/contacts through multiple sources )
--Physical QWERTY keyboard
--WEBOS - this means better battery life & easier programming for the app store
--Backward Compatibility (this means ull have access to 30,000 apps already created for PALM products.
--The wireless touchstone charger is simply gorgeous and innovative

To put quite simply, its very responsive, clean, and innovative. It creates the perfect blend between your work,life, and fun. The only downside is the screen is 0.4" smaller than iphone, but it does not hinder the functionality one bit. The WEB-OS software adds a new dimension to functionality on phones that makes multi-tasking, contacts, scheduling effortless. If your someone who needs the power of a laptop in your hand, and all the candy that makes it fun (camera,apps,flash support [not yet, but is coming] ). Well, why are you still here reading this? Go out and get one."

19.What's great about it: web os
What's not so great: battery life could be better

"ok i am crackberry lover and at@T loyalist untill i have layed my hands on my buddys palm pre. The phone feels great in the hand aliitle bit heavy, the keyboard is amazing similar to that of a curve 8900. if you have centro or any blackberry getting used to the keyboard is easy. the whole operating system is amazing no glitches not slowdowns just works. my favorites are the web browser, the card views and synergy. the big suprise for me was sprint service. sprint compared to at&t is like night and day, sprint internet is blazing fast with the evdo. I have been a fanboy for to long and now i see the light, sprint will be gaining a customer come june 6th and i will have my first palm device. good luck to everyone on trying to get one in june."

20.What's great about it: Nothing. It's an iPhone rip off that's not as good.
What's not so great: $849.99 Is that a joke.iPhone $299 Tough decision!

"Do not buy!! Wait for the iphone. Or u will be sorry!"

21.What's great about it: It looks Kinda shiney
What's not so great: Bad Call Quality, Extremely Slow, Horrilbe Data Speeds

"I haven't even had the Phone a day. Its constantly freezing on me. Its drops my calls often. Palm Still has a ton of glitches to work out! Its email features are very frustrating to say the least. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!!!
Palm Has some serious issue's with this phone"

22.What's great about it: Size, Software Integration, Sprint Network
What's not so great: Freezes Randomly, Battery Life, Speakers Quiet, Web it VERY jumpy,

"I've been reviewing the Palm Pre now for 2 weeks. It has it's great traits but, I have been an iPhone owner for almost 2 years now and I WILL NOT make the switch. Apple's iPhone dominates in battery life while use similar features (web, calls, and e-mail.) Palm's Pre does one thing really well - bring your personal and business life together as one. If that is all you need in a phone, then the Pre is for you. However, if you are looking to actually use it for power (any gaming, movie watching, prolonged music listening, or prolonged web use), this IS NOT the phone for you. I would recommend this phone to people that need it mainly as a phone but want occasional email and web access. The keyboard is nice but, I've gotten so much faster on the iPhone's keyboard that now I type twice as fast on the iPhone! Other than those tidbits, everything seemed to be OK. Like I said, web was jumpy at times, random crashes are definitely frustrating but...hopefully Palm will come through with an update that fixes these items. Sprint service was excellent!"

23."This is without a doubt the best PDA phone ever created. Unlike the iPhone, which can only run a few native apps in the background, the Pre can multiple applications at the same time, without needing special approval from the manufacturer. It also has a plastic shell, instead of glass, meaning that if you drop it onto a hard surface, it won't shatter like an iPhone screen."

24.What's great about it: Arguably the most cutting edge, intuitive, enjoyable, easy-to-use mobile phone ever develop by mankind. Really.
What's not so great: Demand will make it harder to get than the Wii.

"Your life will be easier. You will be even cooler."

24.What's great about it: All of it's features and the fact that it isn't an Apple
What's not so great: None

"This phone rocks! It's has cat-like skills because it is swift and fast!"

Palm Pre: 3 Things We Like & 3 Things We Don’t

2009-06-07T15:48:00.003-04:00

Kevin C. Tofel gigaom
This review by Kevin C. Tofel in gigaom.com convinced me to wait out my tempation to go right out and get the Pre and wait for the new I Phone next week to see what that has in store and also to get a real shake down drawn out review from the heavy hitters in about a week or two on the Pre.

As Kevin mentioned the pre is a 1.0 version and any buyer of software knows a 1.0 is not going to be arround long before there is a 1.0-1.3 etc...

After six long months, Palm’s Pre is here. And I do mean here, as I woke early and headed to a local Sprint store this morning. Availability reports vary by location; some stores have large lines and small quantities of stock while others (like mine) have short lines and plenty of Pre to go around. Our early impressions are generally favorable: in what may be the bottom of the ninth, Palm has delivered the beginnings of a comeback with the Pre and WebOS. Here’s are three things we like and dislike about Palm Pre. 3 things to like:

* Overall experience: You can tell that Palm took a page from Apple’s playbook here. The well designed hardware meshes with the efficient software like a fine Merlot paired with a perfect filet. The packing offers an elegant and refined first impression.
* Synergy: Setting up accounts for email is a breeze and once completed, Synergy kicks in to grab contacts and calendars from the cloud. The sync is fast and flawless from my initial observation.
* WebOS multitasking & notifications: Once I started running multiple apps and switching among them, I started to wonder how I lived without this for nearly two years on my iPhone. And when emails started to arrive, my multiple app workflow wasn’t disrupted at all. Notifications are effective but don’t nag.

3 things not to like:

* App Catalog: Similar to the initial iPhone and Android launches, the software cupboard is bare, with only a dozen apps or so. Smartphones without apps are just expensive feature phones these days, so Palm needs to get the Mojo SDK out the door.
* Heat: I’ve noticed that the Pre gets hot much faster than any other phone I’ve used. Then again, this isn’t uncommon with CDMA handsets. In addition, keep an eye on the battery life.
* A 1.0 product: Like first versions of many products, the Pre needs time to mature. It’s a beauty on the surface, but doesn’t yet offer the breadth or depth of competing products. Pre is a hot rookie pitcher called up from the minors: plenty of potential if realistic expectations are kept in check.

The Pre is by no means perfect, but Palm has laid the groundwork as what would trun out to be the closest competitor to Apple’s iPhone yet. And in some ways, the Pre already exceeds it. You can read our detailed impressions on jkOnTheRun. Be sure to follow-up in order to read our rolling coverage of Palm Pre.

The Mississippi Squirel Revial

2009-06-07T10:16:00.002-04:00

The Easy Way to Promote a Product by Writing Articles

2009-06-06T19:18:00.002-04:00

by Peter Nisbet
Writing articles is a skill that everybody can learn. Article marketing is a skill that everybody can learn. Put the two together and you have a powerful tool to promote a product.

Your objectives in online marketing are promoting your website and selling your products. By ‘website’ I mean any web presence: a regular website, your Facebook page profile, your Squidoo lens, your YouTube video, your Blog, and any other way in which you use the internet to make money.

You Must Connect!

Without promotion you will be failing to connect with most of your potential customers. Even with promotion, you will fail to connect with most of them, but you will do better than if you do not.

Writing articles on a topic that interests people who might be interested in your product is sure-fire way of getting your products in front of your prospects. Who are your prospects? People who are interested in your niche or the topic of your article enough to buy your product.

Marketing is easy in theory, and involves these steps:

1. Find a product to market - yours or somebody else’s on commission.

2. Bring the product to the attention of interested people

3. Persuade them to buy.

So where does writing articles fit in to this simplified process? At stages 2 and 3!

Catch their Eye!

The title of your article must catch your prospective customer’s eye. It must interest them - perhaps offer the promise to solve a problem they have, offer to make them money or save them time, or offer some new information on the subject. Anything to start them reading!

Keep them Interested

Then you have to interest them. Don’t lose them after the first couple of sentences. Expand on the title: if your title is ‘How to Breed Championship-Winning Dogs’, don’t begin with a sentence or two on dog food. It might be relevant to the breeding process, but it will seem like an advert, and the reader will stop reading.

Expand on the title: "By using a new technique it easier now to breed championship-winning dogs than it ever has been". I know nothing about breeding dogs, but that would work better than "The food you feed your dog is important. . ."

Once you have them reading, then you can propose the main problem and present your solution, full details of which can be found by clicking on the link in your resource. You can’t say that of course, but you can infer it in the final summing up paragraph of your article, and leave the reader with nothing more to do than either leave the page or click on the link.

Persuasion is Key

The third action - persuading them to buy - is done on your website, once they have made that all-important click. So the simplified marketing process above can work if you know how to write articles properly, by baiting the hook with a good title, retaining interest with your first couple of sentences and then offering no option at the end but to click to your website to find out more information.

As I wrote in the first sentence, ‘writing articles is a skill’, but one that can be taught, so if you want to learn how to market a product the easy way, you should learn how to write articles and how to use article marketing the way the professionals do.

You will find marketing your product a lot easier by doing so.

Pete is a professional article ghost writer. For a free course on how to write articles, visit http://www.articleczar.com/gift.html where Pete will give you a free gift just for looking. Visit his website at http://www.article-service

Latest news on my quest for a palm pre

2009-06-06T12:52:00.004-04:00

I have referenced palm pre in small letters because they are most likely going to be my X carrier--:(

My local Sprint Stores --4 of them--do not have any and can not tell me when they will be getting them. They said they can not even order them. How nice--They told me that the only ones who have them are Best Buy.

So I called Best Buy (large because I like them) Hi do you have any palm pre's left--I tried to speak palm pre in small letters but I am not sure the clerk realized that--No sir the one, !!!!! 1 (one) we had was sold out the moment the store opened--
Wow that is great for palm Again kinda small reference. Do you have a demo so I can touchy feely--Oh no, they will not allow demos, as they want to flood the market with as many as they can--no one has demos--Do you know when you are going to get another shipment and will it be more than 1? No, No one knows but I can put you on a waiting list to notify you--AHH no thanks, I actually am waiting for the new I Phone - sorry, Thanks for asking

This experience was almost as bad as this one I previously reported SEE IT NOW

2009-06-05T16:38:00.002-04:00

This is something we should all read at least once a week

2009-06-05T11:03:00.004-04:00

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.. It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Gauging the Palm Pre's success: It'll take time

2009-06-05T10:12:00.003-04:00

Posted by Larry Dignan on ZDNET

Palm’s long-awaited Pre device is available this weekend and the launch will be closely watched. The lines at Sprint stores will be analyzed. Analysts will guess Pre units sold in the first weekend. And the Pre will be compared to the iPhone launch repeatedly. All of those short-term mileposts will miss the big picture: Gauging the success of the Pre will be a long-term endeavor.

Oh sure, Palm sales on the first weekend will be closely watched, but shortages are expected. In fact, Pre units are likely to be hard to get. But that generates buzz. Add it up and the Palm Pre launch is likely to be modest—and possibly deemed a failure following all the strong reviews. On Monday it’s likely that folks will note how:

* Palm failed to move millions of Pre units;
* Palm doesn’t have what it takes to compete;
* Palm doesn’t have the apps;
* Palm relies on Sprint.
* And Palm couldn’t come close to Apple’s iPhone launch.

All of those gripes will probably be accurate, but the real read on Pre’s impact will come over the period of weeks and months. Research firm Morgan Joseph expects Palm to ship 1.9 million units in calendar 2009 and 3 million in 2010.

So how do we gauge the success of the Pre? How the following questions are answered will tell the Pre tale:

Did the Pre save Palm? You could argue that the Pre has already saved the company. Let’s face it: Without the Pre’s big splash at the Consumer Electronics Show in January Palm would be toast. Since that splash Palm has become relevant again. The company is worth more than it was, it now has a stock price it can use to raise capital and as long as the Pre isn’t a total disaster Palm has a puncher’s chance in the smartphone market.

A Cute Clean Joke For Friday

2009-06-05T07:22:00.005-04:00

Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife was really angry.
She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!"

The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife woke up, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a box
gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.
Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Bob has been missing since Friday.

DONT FORGET TO JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST TO RECEIVE A FREE E BOOK AND A CHANCE TO WIN A PALM PRE OR AN I POD TOUCH CONTEST ENDS SATURDAY AT 12 MIDNIGHT

Questions From Readers About the Palm Pre

2009-06-04T19:34:00.004-04:00

By David Pogue NY Times
In today’s Times, I reviewed the Palm Pre, a very exciting new star in the smartphone sky. Already, I’m being bombarded by questions for further information from You, the Readers.

And so, just as I did when the iPhone came out, allow me to supplement that column with some answers.

* What’s the name Pre supposed to mean?
–Palm mumbles something about the phone being so smart, it seems to know what you want before you tell it. The real answer, I suspect, is something like, “There are very few words left that aren’t already trademarked”!

* How’s the speaker?
–Very weak. Music is fine if you’re sitting right next to the phone (although tinny), but speakerphone is hardly worth it; you’d have a hard time hearing if you’re ambling around the kitchen.

* How’s the screen?
–Outstanding. Very bright, very clear, gorgeous, readable fonts. I had no trouble even in direct sunlight.

* Can you be on a phone call and online simultaneously?
–No, unless you’re in a Wi-Fi hot spot.

* Can it play Flash videos?
–Not at the moment. However, Adobe has said that it’s working on Flash for the Pre, so it’s coming soon.

* How much is an extra battery?
–It’s $50.

* Can the Pre suck up my Palm OS data, like the contacts and memos I have on my elderly Palm Tungsten E2?
–Yes, the Pre comes with a program called Palm Data Transfer Assistant. It performs a one-time, one-way transfer of your data (contacts, calendar events, tasks and memos) from Microsoft Outlook, Palm Desktop, or (on the Mac) iCal and Address Book.

* I have all these great old Palm apps! Do I have to give them up?
–No. For $20, you can buy (from the app store) a Classic app that runs all the old Palm OS software! It’s pretty amazing to see that old bitmapped software running on this futuristic machine.

* Does it work overseas?
–This Pre is a CDMA phone, so it doesn’t work in any of the 200 countries that use the GSM network (like Europe). So the bottom line is: it’s pretty much the U.S. only. (There’s a small handful of other CDMA countries.)

However, if Palm’s history with its Treo phones is any indication, GSM versions of the Pre will be coming soon. Indeed, the Pre is only the first of many phones that run the new Web OS.

* Does it have speed dial?
–Yes, fantastic… you can use any letter key for any contact. For example, hold down the M key to dial Mom.

* Can you make your own ringtones?
–Yes. Any MP3 file can be a ringtone.

* How Mac-compatible is the Pre?
–Very. It syncs music, photos and videos with your existing iTunes program (Mac or Windows). It syncs e-mail, calendar, address book and to-do lists with Google, which isn’t platform-specific. It shows up on the Mac desktop as a hard drive, so you can drag-and-drop files onto it (Word, Excel, PDF, music, photos, video and so on).

* Does the Pre’s calendar sync with iCal on the Mac?
– I don’t know of a direct way, but you can sync iCal with Google Calendar, using a program called BusySync (www.busysync.com). And the Pre syncs with Google Calendar! Works great.

* Do all apps rotate on the screen when you turn the phone 90 degrees?
–No, I’m pretty sure it’s only the Web browser, photo and e-mail programs. As on the iPhone, videos always play in landscape mode.

* Is there a family plan?
–Yes. And it’s MUCH cheaper than AT&T (or Verizon, for that matter). For example, Sprint’s unlimited voice-and-data family plan is $190 a month. AT&T and Verizon charge $270 a month for the same thing. Over the two-year contract, Sprint will save you an insane $1,910!

* How’s the Internet speed?
– Sprint’s 3G Internet data network is really great. It’s snappy (several reviewers have measured it against the iPhone and found it to be faster) and has excellent coverage.

* Is there a self-portrait mirror?
–Yes. When you slide open the keyboard, you reveal a formerly hidden panel where Palm cleverly installed a mirror, just above the camera lens.

If you have more questions (that aren’t easily discovered by a quick Google search), let me know in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer them!

FREE EBOOK AND PALM PRE

2009-06-04T15:47:00.003-04:00

The 20th person that signs up for my blog newsletter will receive a new I Pod touch. The 40th person will receive a Palm Pre Cell phone

Sign Up in the box to the right

2009-06-04T14:06:00.001-04:00

Anyone that would be like a free E Book and a chance to win a new I pod touch or a palm pre sign up for my news leter

Super Affiliate – What is One?

2009-06-04T09:09:00.002-04:00

Super Affiliate – What is One?
by Warren Marion
Found in APD

Being an affiliate marketer is a common phenomenon these days. However, there is a difference between the usual an affiliate marketer and a super affiliate. Wondering what this new term might mean? Well, super affiliates are those who eat, breathe and sleep affiliate marketing. They don’t treat affiliate marketing as a side job for making extra cash for the month. Affiliate marketing generally is or acts like their full time job.

When your daily bread depends on something you tend to take more care into doing it right than simply put up a website with your affiliate link, proclaiming yourself to be a marketer and making a few dollars everyday. Super affiliates treat their product like their baby. They nurture and nourish them as much as they can in order to achieve the best result.

It doesn’t take hours of sweat and toil to become a super affiliate, either. Many super affiliates invest about a fourth of their work hours on promoting their affiliate business. This is enough to earn them a considerable amount of income. However, you need to know the tricks of trade in order to expect the money to pour in.

•Make your customers believe that your product is the best in the market and they will have a lot to gain from purchasing it.

•Create a compelling website that contains useful details about your product and the business as a whole. Don’t fill the web content with irrelevant matter.

•Market your product on the Internet by using all the advertising tools you can think of: PPC (pay per click), classified ads, ezines, autoresponder message series, websites, pop up ads, blogs, ebanners and more.

•Use keywords and other search engine optimizing tools to drive maximum traffic to your website in all your promotional activities.

•Your product should be a back end product or have backend products and other items to sell (via your series and other promotional strategies).

•Mention the fact that you have personally used the product and benefited a lot from it. Personalizing advertisements will provide credibility to your marketing strategy.

•Keep a track of the popularity of your site, the number of hits per week that it is receiving and the search engine ranking that it enjoys on the Internet. Accordingly modify your marketing from time to time.

Before jumping into action you should have an exhaustive plan of how you are going to go about marketing your product as an affiliate. You need to fix a destination for yourself that you plan to reach within a certain period of time. Don’t rely on your memory to keep a record of your plan of actions and the ongoing events in your business.

Use tools and software like Excel spreadsheets and word docs to keep a track of the web address, the user ID, the password associated with it, the various links to different articles that you have listed, columns for article directories and many other such data that is required from time to time to keep a tab on the business as whole and its progress. The number of columns and the headings will increase as your business expands over time.

Learn how to make money from affiliate marketing with the affiliate secrets from a Nasty Affiliate Marketing Tell-All who finally reveals his Knowledge. Shhh! That's Affiliate Black Book at: http://affiliateblackbook.com/back-in-

Japenese Mall Fountain

2009-06-03T10:38:00.003-04:00

If you have not seen this before it is worth a look--A Japenese Fountain located in a mall

What is Search Engine Optimization and What to Look For in a SEO Service

2009-06-03T10:03:00.003-04:00

What is Search Engine Optimization and What to Look For in a SEO Service
by Jason Creation
Search Engine Optimization or Search Engine Optimizer is also known as SEO. It's the process used regarding websites and the way the sites are ranked on the internet. To have a high ranking on the internet means the internet users will see the highest-ranking websites first. READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE

The Reality of Following Your Dream

2009-06-02T15:50:00.002-04:00

Entrepreneurialism can sound a frightening word (and that’s not just getting the spelling right!). The trouble is that many people assume that entrepreneurs are go-getters of the modern world, the high flying successes with bank balances bursting at the seams, and the Midas touch that turns ideas into gold overnight; they’re the people whose bank managers call them up asking for a loan.

The truth is very different. Ask any entrepreneur and they’ll gladly put you right, and assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the common assumptions people associate with independent business owners, or sole traders, are woefully inaccurate, often gleaned from the media’s obsession with personal individual success and the American Dream. Let’s look at what being an entrepreneur really means, and who these people really are.

Most entrepreneurs are ordinary people like you or me. They are very rarely the high flying successes, flung skywards through their success in the city; in fact, those who already have a successful city career, in what one might term a ‘traditional’ or ‘normal’ job are the least likely to step from behind the security of their desk, and brave the world alone. Generally those who do take the initiative are those who are either fed up with the monotony or sheer frustration which can come with many jobs these days, or who have a burning personal desire or passion, a dream they feel compelled to follow.

We all have dreams, hopes and ambitions; entrepreneurs are, in the main, simply those people who have got up from their comfortable office chair with lumbar support and arm rests and stepped outside to do something about those dreams, ambitions and desires. They are, largely speaking, passionate people, with self belief and determination.

But let’s consider the next assumption that tends to walk into such a discussion: risk. Most people, at least, most people who have never tried, will happily tell you that starting out on your own, becoming your own boss, and starting up your own business idea is incredibly risky, and that it is likely to cost you a fortune, and that you’ll see very little income for years, and even that is assuming you survive long enough to earn anything.

Most of this scaremongering is meant well, but generally comes from those who could never become entrepreneurs because they have no self belief, no courage, and have packaged away their dreams and ambition in a small cardboard box which has been locked away in a filing cabinet in the basement of the office block in which they have willingly becoming imprisoned until released back into society when they retire.

There is risk in anything, as we can readily see today, with the stock market looking gloomy, traders panicking, businesses crashing, and increasing number of people finding themselves out of work. There is no longer such a thing as job security, or a job for life – in any business. Entrepreneurialism is a way of protecting yourself, to a certain degree, by taking greater control over your finances, job and future.

You become the boss, aware of all aspects of your business, and able to make sensible decisions both within your business and your personal life, in full knowledge of the situation, and all relevant factors. Who can honestly say that, while working for a company or business, your boss keeps you fully informed of every possible risk and problem occurring which could potentially jeopardize the future of your job, income or even the company? Very few!

Entrepreneurialism is not risk free – that would be absurd to suggest, but the risks are known, and manageable. You’re in control, and that alone can make a world of difference to your peace of mind. Stress is largely down to a feeling that you are not in control; no matter how much needs doing, or whatever the pressure, stress only becomes an issue when we feel over burdened with worries and pressure, and unable to control where we are and what we are expected to do.

If you have a business idea, a hobby you’d like to turn into a home business, a work from home opportunity you’d like to pursue, or a ground breaking product or service you’d like to launch, then running your own business may well be for you, giving you the opportunity to follow your dreams, lower stress, feel in control, and be positive about your future. All you need is a plan, and a dream and, of course, belief in yourself.

Naz Daud - CityLocal Business Guide http://www.citylocal.co.uk/ http://www.citylocal.ie/ http://www.citylocal.co.uk/frontend/latestbusinesses.php

Turn your old junk into a $10k a month online business... Part 5.

2009-06-02T15:26:00.003-04:00

(A pauper's guide to getting started...)

Hi, Folks!

This article summarises the current series, “Turn your old junk into a $10k a month online business...” New readers may choose to review my previous articles.

So far our aim has been to demonstrate that starting up an online business is within easy reach of any individual – any motivated individual, at least – if he or she would just refine their definition of the word “asset” to include anything and everything in their possession that may have some value if not to themselves then potentially to someone else.

Selling your old unwanted items on eBay, Amazon Marketplace, or in the real world at “Carboot”or “Garage” sales can yield a respectable sum of money with which to venture into business online.

If you can raise $200, you can get started. In future articles we will examine actual business models and systems that any newbie can quickly get their teeth into and start making money online fast!

For now, let's recap: You do not need a fortune in capital to start earning money online. Sell your old stuff on eBay. Choose Paypal as your preferred method of receiving payment and in just a week to 10 days you can have a little “pot of gold” with which to set up shop.

By adding the Paypal Prepay Visa Card to your account you will have instant access to your funds. No need to transfer money from one account to another. Keep your business capital separate from your beer money!

Learn to get top dollar for your goods by following the seven step strategy outlined in part three of this series.

You are most likely to achieve your objective if you are motivated, and if you believe you can succeed. Forget the notion that you need a lot of money to start up your own online business. Thanks to the internet, we truly live in an age of miracles where you can earn a lot of money starting with very little.

Say posted for reviews of successful systems, such as Mack Michaels' Maverick Moneymakers investment “club”. Mack is mentor to several thousand new affiliate marketeers who have made an initial investment of under $100 and who are now proving that you don't need a fortune to get started earning a respectable income online.

If this seems unlikely to you, then you should examine your own mindset and be prepared to revise your current way of thinking. Don't let pessimism and/or laziness hold you back.

Raising funds the way we have suggested here, effectively means that your risk element is effectively zero. And this is the point we have been making all along:

If you will only believe it, you can be earning a healthy income online in just a few weeks starting from nothing more than the useless bric-a-brac you surround yourself with everyday.

Put your old junk to use in the way we have already outlined and you can become master of your own destiny. The next step would be to make your money work for you.

We will discuss compounding your returns in the next instalment.

Till then,

Happy hunting!

Gavin.

If you would like to learn more about earning $10k monthly starting from scratch, or to view Mack Michaels' free video tutorials visit http://www.MaverickMoneymakersRegister.com Gavin Barnes is an online systems tester and author, and a part-time affiliate marketeer.

Twitter and how one school is using it--

2009-06-02T09:33:00.004-04:00

High schoolers at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, Minn. are being engaged in the classroom in a whole new way. By using social media tools and giving them access to the Internet, students are...

Public asked to help monitor life on earth

2009-06-02T08:38:00.002-04:00

* Scientists aim to build Internet observatory
* Could aid understanding of climate change, farm pests
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO, June 1 (Reuters) - Scientists asked people around the world on Monday to help compile an Internet-based observatory of life on earth as a guide to everything from the impact of climate change on wildlife to pests that can damage crops.

"I would hope that ... we might even have millions of people providing data" in the long term, James Edwards, head of the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) based at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, told Reuters of the 10-year project.

He said scientific organisations were already working to link up thousands of computer databases of animals and plants into a one-stop "virtual observatory" that could be similar to global systems for monitoring the weather or earthquakes.

People in many countries already log observations on the Internet, ranging from sightings of rare birds in Canada to the dates on which flowers bloom in spring in Australia. The new system, when up and running, would link up the disparate sites.

About 400 biology and technology experts from 50 countries will meet in London from June 1-3 at an "e-Biosphere" conference organised by the EOL to discuss the plans. The EOL is separately trying to describe the world's species online.

"This would be a free system that everyone can access and contribute to," said Norman MacLeod, keeper of palaeontology at the Natural History Museum in London which is hosting the talks.

Edwards said a biodiversity overview could have big economic benefits, for instance an unusual insect found in a garden might be an insect pest brought unwittingly in a grain shipment that could disrupt local agriculture.

Among health benefits could be understanding any shifts in the ranges of malaria-carrying mosquitoes linked to global warming, Edwards said.

"Within 10 years, scientists say they could have an efficient and effective way of tracking changes over time in the range and abundance of plants and animals as worldwide temperature and precipitation patterns shift," a statement said.

And plane accidents might be averted by studying DNA genetic samples of birds sucked into jet engines and the timing, altitude and routes of bird migrations.

The observatory could give a benchmark for monitoring the rate of extinctions, for instance, to threats led by loss of habitats to farms, cities and roads.

It could also help people in their everyday lives -- anyone planning to visit a local forest could study trees, flowers, animals or insects that might be seen on a hike.

APNEWSBREAK: US military tweets

2009-06-02T07:48:00.004-04:00

By JASON STRAZIUSO From Google News

KABUL (AP) — The U.S. military in Afghanistan is launching a Facebook page, a YouTube site and feeds on Twitter as part of a new communications effort to reach readers who get their information on the Internet rather than in newspapers, officials said Monday.

The effort, which officials described as a way to counter Taliban propaganda, represents a sea change in how the military can communicate its message to foreign and American audiences.

"There's an entire audience segment that seeks its news from alternative means outside traditional news sources, and we want to make sure we're engaging them as well," said Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan.

U.S. officials here have long said that the military is losing the information war to the Taliban, which routinely publicizes false claims about how many U.S. soldiers its forces have killed or how many civilians might have died in an airstrike. Spokesmen send text messages to reporters and Taliban militants post claims on Web sites, many of which have chat groups dedicated to sympathizers and the merely curious.

The military on Monday announced the death of U.S. service member the previous day from non-combat-related injuries in southern Afghanistan by posting the news on Twitter hours before announcing it in a more formal press statement.

The military is also encouraging troops to post stories and photos on Web sites in an effort to portray daily life in Afghanistan, including stories about development projects that may not make the news.

Many military commands and individual troops have long used social networking sites. The Air Force and Army have Facebook pages, as does Gen. Ray Odierno, the top commander in Iraq. But the new effort in Afghanistan is the first in an active war zone to attempt to harness the power of social networking sites as a primary tool to release information.

So far the military's Facebook and Twitter sites in Afghanistan have been in a testing phase only. Officials hope to attract thousands more users after a formal launch this week.
On the Net:

* U.S. military on Facebook:
* U.S. military on Twitter:
* U.S. military on YouTube:

Hackers tweet, infect Twitter users with scareware

2009-06-02T07:38:00.002-04:00

'Security nightmare' arrives; hackers use exploit kit to spread fake security software
By Gregg Keizer reported in computerworld security
Computerworld - The latest attack to hit Twitter is a "security nightmare" and marks the first time hackers have taken to using the micro-blogging site for profit, a researcher said today. READ MORE

Verizon To Offer Palm Pre

2009-06-01T18:56:00.008-04:00

From mediapost.com

Verizon Wireless will start selling the Palm Pre and Blackberry Storm 2 in the next six months, according to a Reuters report. That move would end the exclusive deal Sprint has to sell the smartphone which launches June 6.

READ FULL ARTICLE

My Comments: As much as I think I want a PRE and I am a Sprint Customer with a Blackberry World Edition, I might just wait a bit for the Pre to get road checked and then go to Verizon--After what Sprint told me last week READ PAST POST, I have had it With Them

Get a Palm Pre Tattoo For a Free Pre: Save $199, Lose a Lifetime of Dignity

2009-06-01T18:47:00.004-04:00

By Adam Frucci GIZMODO

Lou wanted a free Palm Pre. So, naturally, he got a Palm Pre tattoo. Wait, what?

This isn't some guy who's covered in tattoos already, either. This is Lou's very first and only tattoo, a big ugly Palm Pre right on his shoulder. He will get his precious smartphone courtesy of PreCentral.net, but you've gotta wonder how long it'll be before he starts trying to get a different website to pay for the laser removal. I mean, for chrissakes, the free phone is only worth $199! Come on, Lou, you could have gotten so much more for an equally embarrassing tattoo if you only knew how to market yourself.

So what do you think: is this more or less sad than Zune tattoo guy? I think Zune guy is still the saddest, as he didn't get free anything for his permanent branding (that he's since changed into something

20,000 sites hit with drive-by attack code

2009-06-01T12:18:00.003-04:00

Posted by Ryan Naraine ZDNet

Hackers have broken into more than 20,000 legitimate Web sites to plant malicious code to be used in drive-by malware attacks.

According to a warning from Websense Security Labs, the sites have been discovered to be injected with malicious JavaScript, obfuscated code that leads to an active exploit site.

The company discovered that the active exploit site uses a name similar to the legitimate Google Analytics domain (google-analytics.com).

This is unrelated to the Gumblar attack, Websense said.

This mass injection attack does not seem related to Gumblar. The location of the injection, as well as the decoded code itself, seem to indicate a new, unrelated, mass injection campaign.

The exploit site has been seeded with several different attacks targeted unpatched software vulnerabilities. The malware that gets loaded on compromised Windows machines is linked to scareware/rogueware (fake security applications).

Malware purveyors have increasingly turned to legitimate Web sites to launch attacks, using SQL injection techniques to compromise and hijack high-traffic sites.

According to data from MessageLabs, about 85 percent of Web sites blocked for hosting malicious content were ‘well-established’ domains that have been around for a year or more.

Suspect arrested in connection with slaying of abortion provider George Tiller

2009-05-31T16:20:00.002-04:00

BY STAN FINGER AND JOE RODRIGUEZ
The Wichita Eagle

A suspect in this morning's fatal shooting of George Tiller is in custody in Johnson County.

Authorities have yet to release more information about the arrest in Gardner. Wichita police have scheduled a 4 p.m. news conference to discuss the case.

Tiller, 67, was shot just after 10 a.m. in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran Church at 7601 E. 13th, where he was a member of the congregation.

Tiller was serving as an usher at the church, one of six ushers listed in the church bulletin. He was handing out bulletins to people going into the sanctuary minutes before being shot.

A church member who did not want to be identified said the gunman threatened another person at the church after the shooting.

Tiller's family issued a statement through Wichita attorneys Dan Monnat and Lee Thompson.

"Today we mourn the loss of our husband, father and grandfather. Today's event is an unspeakable tragedy for all of us and for George's friends and patients.

"This is particularly heart wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace."

Police had said they were looking for white male who was driving a 1990s powder blue Ford Taurus with Kansas license plate 225 BAB. The vehicle is registered to an owner in Merriam, which is in the Kansas City area.

Wichita police Capt. Brent Allred said that several law enforcement agencies -- including the FBI and the KBI -- have been called in to help with the case.

Allred said that no one else was injured in the shooting. He would not say how many shots were fired. He said it's unclear whether the shooter exchanged any words with the victim.

Allred said the 10 a.m. church service had already begun at the time of the shooting.

Homicide detectives and Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston arrived at the church after the shooting.

Members of the congregation who were inside the sanctuary at the time of the shooting were kept inside by police, and those arriving were ushered into the parking lot immediately after the shooting.

Witnesses later were transported downtown for interviews and other members of the congregation were slowly released from inside the sanctuary.

By 12:30 p.m., what appeared to be a body was taken away in an SUV with a patrol car behind it.

At about 12:40, a police dog was taken to check out a black SUV. An investigator wrote down the tag number on the vehicle.

Tiller has long been a focal point of protest by abortion opponents because his clinic, Women's Health Care Services at 5107 E. Kellogg, is one of the few in the country where late-term abortions are performed.

"It's a terrible loss. I'm just really sad about the whole thing," said a former employee of the clinic who asked not to be identified. "He was a great guy. I understand people were against a lot of what he did, but for those who he helped, they'll never forget the kind of person he was."

Mark Mitchell, who lives near where the shooting occurred, said he knew Tiller attended Reformation Lutheran Church because of the periodic protests there and media coverage.

He said the protests would sometimes be as large as two dozen people. The last protest he can remember there was in the fall.

"We are shocked at this morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down," anti-abortion group Operation Rescue said in a statement on its Web site. "Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller's family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."

Protesters blockaded Tiller's clinic during Operation Rescue's "Summer of Mercy" protests during the summer of 1991, and Tiller was shot by Rachelle Shannon at his clinic in 1993. Tiller was wounded in both arms, and Shannon remains in prison for the shooting.

The clinic was bombed in June 1986, and was severely vandalized earlier this month. According to the Associated Press, his lawyer said wires to security cameras and outdoor lights were cut and that the vandals also cut through the roof and plugged the buildings' downspouts. Rain poured through the roof and caused thousands of dollars of damage in the clinic. Tiller reportedly asked the FBI to investigate the incident.

No arrests were made in the 1986 bombing.

Sgt. Bart Brunscheen of the Wichita Police Department said earlier today that there has been no activity today at Tiller's clinic, although security crews were being brought in to make sure the building was secure. Officials also were going to check the clinic's security cameras to see if there was any activity over night.

Tiller and his clinic have faced continuous threats and lawsuits. A Wichita jury ruled in March that he was not guilty of illegal abortion on 19 criminal charges he faced for allegedly violating a state law requiring an "independent" second physician's concurring opinion before performing later term abortions. Immediately following the ruling in this criminal case, the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts made public a similar complaint against Tiller that was originally filed in December 2008.

Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, who conducted an investigation into Tiller, said in a statement he was "stunned by this lawless and violent act which must be condemned and should be met with the full force of law. We join in lifting prayer that God's grace and presence rest with Dr. Tiller's family and friends.

Check Kansas.com for updates.

Contributing: Tim Potter, Marcia Werts and Conor Shine of The Eagle

Teddy's Story

2009-05-29T22:27:00.003-04:00

This is a beautiful story of Teddy Stoddard and his elementary school teacher Mrs Thompson, how their friendship made the difference in living in abundance. It is told by Wayne Dyer, self help writer and lecturer

The Web's most dangerous keywords to search for

2009-05-29T20:08:00.003-04:00

Posted by Dancho Danchev ON http://blogs.zdnet.com

Which is the most dangerous keyword to search for using public search engines these days? It’s “screensavers” with a maximum risk of 59.1 percent, according to McAfee’s recently released report “The Web’s Most Dangerous Search Terms“.Upon searching for 2,658 unique popular keywords and phrases across 413,368 unique URLs, McAfee’s research concludes that lyrics and anything that includes ‘free” has the highest risk percentage of exposing users to malware and fraudulent web sites. The research further states that the category with the safest risk profile are health-related search terms.

Here are more findings:

* The categories with the worst maximum risk profile were lyrics keywords (26.3%) and phrases that include the word “free” (21.3%). If a consumer landed at the riskiest search page for a typical lyrics search, one of four results would be risky
* The categories with the worst average risk profile were also lyrics sites (5.1%) and “free” sites (7.3%)
* The categories with the safest risk profile were health-related search terms and searches concerning the recent economic crisis. The maximum risk on a single page of queries on the economy was 3.5% and only 0.5% risky across all results. Similarly, even the worst page for health queries had just 4.0% risky sites and just 0.4% risk overall

This isn’t the first time McAfee is attempting to assess the risk percentage of particular search terms, as the company did similar studies in 2006 and 2007. And whereas the research attempts to raise awareness on malicious practices applied by cybercriminals, it also has the potential to leave a lot of people with a false feeling of security since it’s basically scratching the surface of a very dynamic problem.

With cybecriminals anticipating the dynamic nature of Web 2.0, they too, adapt dynamically to the changing environment. In the context of blackhat SEO, like true marketers they apply basic mass marketing keyword practices, which may get wrongly interpreted as the use of particular keywords only.

In reality, mass marketing from blackhat SEO perspective means a very diverse set of topics usually consisting of hundreds of thousands of syndicated news/video/blog titles aggregated over a recent period of time, all operated by the same group. Therefore, the search term “screensavers” or any related phrases is among the hundreds of thousands of others part of a single malware campaign.

In October, 2008, cybercriminals taking advantage of blackhat SEO for malicious purposes, started syndicating popular Google Trends keywords in real-time in order to occupy the top ten search results with hundreds of automatically registered Windows Live Spaces serving Zlob variants as fake codecs back then. This dynamic approach not only undermines any static lists of “most dangerous keywords to search for”, but also, tipped more cybercriminals on the basics of event-based blackhat SEO campaigns serving malware.

For instance, in an attempt to hijack the anticipated traffic of people searching for the Twitter XSS worm StalkDaily/Mikeyy, blackhat SEO campaigns using related keywords started appearing in public search engines serving scareware. At least that’s what appeared at the first place, since a much more in-depth research revealed that the Mikeyy keywords are part of a diverse blackhat SEO farm. The same Ukrainian group took advantage of the swine flu buzz and launched another blackhat SEO campaign earlier this month, again consisting of swine flu related keywords in between the diverse set of topics that they’ve generated on the hundreds of domains participating.

Furthermore, taking into consideration the fact that nowadays legitimate and compromised web sites serve more exploits and malware than the purely malicious ones (77% of Websites that carry malicious code are legitimate sites; Thousands of legitimate sites SQL injected to serve IE exploit; Over 1.5 million pages affected by the recent SQL injection attacks; Gumblar - approximately 17,000 compromised sites), a compromised web site’s index would undermine any such static lists of dangerous keywords to search for based on the diverse content that it’s providing.

So, which is the most dangerous keyword to search for on the Web? That’s a variable which cybercriminals play with at any moment.

3 GREAT WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR BLOG!

2009-05-29T09:28:00.003-04:00

I came across a great little site that you might be interested in-This site will drive traffic to your blog and also lets you see other featured and non featured blogs in a slide show type arrangement

Ir has a tool bar that you can set the speed of viewing - Give it a try

Palm Pre To Come With Twitter Search And iTunes Sync

2009-05-29T08:53:00.002-04:00

Erick Schonfeld TechCrunch.com Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Palm Pre will be Twitter friendly. In a demo of the Palm Pre at the D7 conference a few minutes ago, Twitter search was showcased as one of its universal search options (along with Google and other search engines).

Other features shown in the demo included the ability to sync the Pre to iTunes, download music over the air from the Amazon MP3 store, run multiple apps at the same time, and integrate third-party apps with other apps on the device such as the calendar. For instance, if you buy a movie ticket through a Fandango app, it can make an entry on your calendar.

In an interview on-stage, Palm's largest investor Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners noted that Palm represented 45 percent of the capital invested by Elevation so far. McNamee compared Elevation to the early days of Kleiner Perkins, where the partners are fully engaged in the businesses they invest in and they invest in very few companies (Elevation has six portfolio companies and five partners). Palm is its biggest bet by far. "This will be the thing that defines us," says McNamee. He is confident that there is room in the transition from feature phones to Web-enabled smartphones to carve out a decent business for Palm. First, he's got to make sure the Pre does not flop.

Asked whether Apple would mind that Palm built iTunes sync into the Pre, McNamee shot back: "They are practically a monopolist. Consumers want their content." The Pre can only sync non-DRMed content from iTunes. And there are other ways to get that content, but this is the first non-Apple device that syncs directly with iTunes without the use of third-party software. " They can't tell people what to do with music that they own," says McNamee. "We are confirming their dominant market share. They are not stupid."

How To Drive Free High Quality Traffic To Your Website

2009-05-28T19:22:00.002-04:00

by Ben Cole

Having a website is one thing, but having no visitors is another. Many Newbies create a good looking site,but have no idea how to get traffic. There are many methods of driving quality traffic to your site, and if you have very little to no money to spend on paid advertising, then your only option is to find free methods of advertising. Here are the best ways to drive quality traffic to your website:

* Blogging

Starting a blog is a very good way to drive free traffic to your website. Blogs are very easy to setup, and as long as they are informative, you will see people making posts. Remember, the more visitors you can get to read your blog and comment on, The higher it will rank in the search engines which is exactly what you want. It is important for a blog to be keyword rich, Which also contributes to SEO greatly.

* Submitting Articles

Articles are an excellent free method of driving traffic to your website, The great thing about writing articles is that it is a "Set and forget" type of marketing. The more people that read your article, the higher it will rank in the search engines, and the more articles you submit to article directories, the more exposure your website is going to receive. Your articles must be helpful to readers, and in turn are more than likely going to visit your website for further information.

* Email marketing

Once you have a list of targeted leads, you can then start sending each one helpful tips and info and a provided link they can click on to your website. Do not send emails that are spammy in any way, They're just going to delete it, just keep your emails to the point and informative and you can't go wrong.

* Video marketing

This has become increasingly popular over time, and one of the best ways to promote your website. A Video Site such as YouTube for example is an excellent place to start. If your video is unique, you will get lots of views, and in turn, lots of clicks.

* Social Networking

Social Networking sites require a certain method to be effective. Remember this is your website you are going to be promoting so be professional about it. Don't start sending out spam otherwise your going to get a bad name for yourself and possibly have your account suspended or terminated.

* Offline Marketing

This is probably the most under rated methods of free traffic generation. Even if you have no money to spend on business cards or professionally designed advertising, just talk to people. The word will soon spread. Word of mouth is very effective. Another way is to print out or write up a heap of flyers and deliver them to letter boxes.

Even if you have money to spend on paid advertising, Always utilise the free methods first. There is really no limit to the amount of traffic you can get. All you need to do is think outside the box and you will see results before you know it....

Ben Cole is a successful entrepreneur and network marketer. For more information and an insider secret to unlimited free traffic , Go here: http://www.Free-Vira

Website Design Guidelines for ROI - Use of Color

2009-05-28T12:13:00.003-04:00

by Gregory Smyth www.inetasia.com

Color is one of the most primal elements of a website's look - but unfortunately, also one of the elements that is chosen most on an ad-hoc basis. The colors you choose should speak to your niche, your company's personality and to your target customer. Some of the worst mistakes in website design are in the realms of color choice. We look at how to use this powerful weapon for good, instead of evil!

To start with, it is important that your online marketing agency, as well as your website design team, have an understanding of the limitations of color in an internet environment. Colors will look slightly different on every display - Mac almost always display colors lighter, and older monitors won't render all the intricacies of your company colors.

Also, the Pantone colors that you use in your logo and corporate materials almost certainly have values best for printing (they are in CMYK), rather than RGB values, which approximate color better on a screen. You won't be able to have your exact logo colors, so look at the colors broadly instead of in detail.

The Web-safe palette of 216 colors has long been used in website design (although all rules are made to be broken!). Your internet marketing team can get inspiration, using web-safe colors, from a variety of color palette sites or by Googling '216 web safe colors'.

Other basic guidelines include using a substantially lighter background than the text for the majority of your copy (it is difficult to read otherwise), and using bright colors sparingly. Bright colors create a fabulous visual effect, but are only useful where you need to draw attention, such as at your offer or to lead customers to a specific action.

There is no right or wrong color scheme, or even one that spells out conversions or web marketing strategy success. However, there will be colors that better reflect your brand, and colors that will better speak to your customers.

Black, and dark colors, make your website design feel powerful and sophisticated. This is also true of dark blue, which makes businesses seem dependable. Blue is actually said to be the favorite color of 80% of men and 50% of women in the US, and where it ranges more to the middle hue value, it helps promote customer loyalty and has a serene feel. Many online marketing agencies favor blue.

Reds and oranges are energizing and exciting -0 both of these colors increase the heart rate and stimulate the appetite. They are great colors for drawing attention to specific places, so using them as highlights rather than as part of your main color scheme is advisable. If red or orange is a part of your company logo, try to use it as an accent throughout your website design, not a main element.

Green is the second favorite color of the majority of people worldwide; however North Americans tend to associate it with paying money. Green as a base color can work for environmental sites or not-for-profits, but e-commerce consulting firms note that they may scare away consumers. Purple is a changeable color that is frequently favored by creative people as well as adolescent girls - whether it is based on blue or red will define whether the site seems calming and trustworthy, or energetic and excitable. InetAsia Solutions is a new breed of internet marketing consultancy.Check out our website to find out more about search engine optimization and much more.

Sprints policy with existing customers regarding the Palm Pre Just goes to show you wher you are in the food chain!!!

2009-05-27T17:50:00.005-04:00

Today after waiting to be notified by Sprint of the Palm Pres release--I had signed up quite a while ago for a email notification--Never receiving one I finally had to call and check my upgrade options

According to my site on Sprint PCS I am entitled to a $ 150 rebate against a new phone upgrade--I have a Blackberry World Edition presently--

Here is how my chat went

5:26:35 PM System System
Connected to sprint-ap1.cnxchat.com
5:26:35 PM System System
Session ID: 6206447
5:26:41 PM System System
Please hold and the next available agent will be with you shortly.
5:26:46 PM System System
Hi! Thanks for waiting. Because we take your security and privacy very serious, please be prepared to provide your account PIN or password or security answer.
5:27:01 PM System System
Thanks for your patience. We look forward to chatting with you.
5:27:01 PM System System
While you wait, did you know you can check usage information or review your account balance at your convenience at sprint.com? It's fast, easy and available 24 hours 7 days a week.
5:27:06 PM System System
Log in at Sprint.com and look for the “My Phone and Plan” section, then click “Usage Details”. Please continue to wait…the next available specialist will be with you shortly.
5:27:11 PM System System
Cynthia G has joined this session!
5:27:11 PM System System
Connected with Cynthia G
5:27:11 PM System System
Thank you for contacting Sprint. My name is XXXXX X. How may I assist you today?
5:28:15 PM Customer XXXXX XXXXXX
I would like to know how much it would cost me to upgrade to the Palm Pre next week when it is released?
5:28:39 PM Agent Cynthia G
I would be more than happy to assist you with that issue. May I please have your 6-10 digit PIN in order to access your account?
5:28:54 PM Customer XXXXX XXXXXXXX
my account is XXX XXX XXXX and PW is XXXXXXXX
5:29:15 PM Agent XXXXX
Thank you. One moment while I access the account.
5:35:42 PM Agent
thank you for your patience while I check your upgrade eligibility.
5:36:54 PM Agent
Wayne I show that you are eligible for the 199.00 price advertised for the Palm Pre when it is released.
5:38:17 PM Customer
You have to kidding me? I am entitled to a 150 upgrade according to "You are eligible to save $150" on my home page
5:39:14 PM Agent
You are eligible for up to 150.00 upgrade and according to the policy for release of the Palm Pre, you are eligible for the instant savings and the mail in rebates, bringing the price to 199.00.
5:39:38 PM Agent
This is if you renew to a new 2 year agreement.
5:39:57 PM Customer
Everyone gets that according to your ads-what about the upgrade notice?
5:40:25 PM Agent
Customers who do not have the 150.00 upgrade eligibility do not receive the instant savings.
5:41:03 PM Agent
Customers who have no upgrade eligibility will have to pay the retail price for the device.
5:41:27 PM Agent
Customers who only have the 75.00 upgrade receive 75.00 off of the retail price and the mail in rebate.
5:41:39 PM Customer
It is advertised on your site for a 100 instant rebate bringing the price to 199 ? with a 2 year contract
5:42:10 PM Agent
Yes that is new customer pricing or customers with the 150.00 upgrade eligibility.
5:43:51 PM Customer
That is an awful representation to an existing customer that has been waiting for the Pre-Patiently You mean I do not get treated any differentially than a brand new customer?
5:44:06 PM Agent
The site advertises the device with a 100.00 instant savings and the 100.00 mail in rebate.
5:44:31 PM Agent
I apologize for any inconvenience caused by this issue.
5:45:32 PM Customer
It looks as if you might have lost a customer on this issue--I will have to mull over my options--Have a nice day
5:45:53 PM Agent
It has been a pleasure to assist you today. Have a nice day.
5:45:58 PM Agent
We value your business and would appreciate you taking time to respond to a brief survey about your chat experience. To ensure you are able to participate, please disable all popup blockers before pressing the exit button to end the chat session. Additional feedback or comments regarding Sprint, your chat or chat agent can be sent to: sprint.customerappreciation@connextions.com.
Type your comments in the box below and click send.
Send
You are on a secure connection with a Sprint Chat Agent

Needless to say I did not fill out a Happy Survey Form

I PHONE 3G WHERE ARE YOU

2009-05-27T11:06:00.002-04:00

"Click Here To See How I Get 25-50 Free Visitors To My
Website Every Single Day"

Getting Traffic With Fun Stuff

2009-05-27T09:28:00.005-04:00

You have to relax once in a while and take your mind off the heavy duty stuff or you go wacky! All work and no play kinda thing :)

One day I introduced a picture of the New Palm Pre sold by Sprint cell phone on this blog, It was done in a new photographic form called a Mosaic. My site traffic on that one day increased by 300 % of normal. Even though it was fun stuff it helped out traffic.

With this tool you can upload any picture from your hard drive and create a Mosaic - The Mosaic contains over 300,000 small images and then forms your photo into a Mosaic Composite Photo similar to the one you see of Paris Hilton

"If an image is worth a thousand words, an image mosaic is worth a million"

I found this tool and have had some fun with it.

The key is click on the picture above of Paris Hilton and then it will open up the large Mosaic for view, The instruction says says: Cool hint: For full effect stand about 5 meters away from your computer and look at the resulting image mosaic.

I am giving out two free gifts today.

One Is the instructions for this tool and the other is a Free E Book on Internet Marketing. All you have to do is sign up at my sign in spot over to the right of Magic Button. After you look at the Mosaic hit your back button to return here and then Sign Up For My Newsletter:

I treat e mail address with the utmost privacy and only will use it for my newsletter that you will find very helpful