Linux Freely Available? Linux Free? Confused Enough?

Many new Linux users are confused by the terms bantered around Free, Freely Available, Commercial Distributions and Shareware.

The confusion comes primarily from the description and terms Freely Available and Free and their distinctions.

Linux is open source software which means any software developer can add on to change the products basic source code. This is diametrically opposed to a strict proprietary concept such as Microsofts approach which is to own and have control the software and its code lock stock and barrel. There are some advantages to the proprietary approach particularly if you are dealing with a major mainstream product with millions and millions of users many of who are foolish novices; Life has enough problems without throwing in a monkey wrench to complicate efforts. Remember that if only 1/10 of 1 % of users think that if the computer throws out an error message commonly You have committed an illegal actions and run to lock their doors as the police are coming then that small percentage is a lot of people.

The confusion arises in that the source code and any changes made to it must be made freely available ... Whiskey may be freely available at your local saloon but that does not make it free of cost to you as a customer. However in actuality much of the software available in the Linux world is given away at no charge or cost except with the proviso that changes and work done to source code must be made available to others without restriction.

Linux applications differ widely in cost and appearance. Many new Linux users are confused by the apparently contradictory terms used in Linux software product descriptions. These are Freely Available Software , Shareware and Commercial Linux Applications.

Freely available software is available for free use by the end user. Although software may be freely available, it is often not the same thing as Public Domain software. Public Domain Software is software that is freely given on the open market either by the permission of the software developer or by being older than copyright constraints , that you as a user can do anything you wish to in terms of use , redistribution or changes. However Freely Available Software is different in that it is often owned and copywriter by the owner, author (or authors) who then allow people to use and / or make modifications to it. The term Freely Available Software can be further divided into software that you can either Freely Copy or Freely Distribute. Some people make their software Freely Available only if you copy or download it from a particular site or from a non commercial distribution. Other people will let you copy their software from anywhere. Copying restrictions usually apply to people making a commercial distribution, not to the end user of the distribution. The distribution maker has the responsibility to be in compliance with the packages copying restrictions which are usually outlined in the programs source code or about or Help sections.

A lot of freely available software can be obtained by downloads on the internet. Some can be bought in physical form from commercial retail outlets either online or at a physical location.

Many freely available applications have been converted from UNIX to OS/2, Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP. And other operating systems... If you use an application that has been ported to many operating systems you will be able to carry your skills and data to alternate platforms if you wish to or have to change for one reason or another.

NonFree Applications consist of commercial applications and shareware applications. Commercial applications are sold outright. Shareware programs may be tried out and evaluated then either not used, uninstalled or a license key purchased. Sometimes shareware programs may be used for free in a home environment but purchased if used within a business setting.

Hopefully now the distinctions between these terms bantered around in the Linux software distribution distro and downloads sites will be clearer to you now.

Max Rubin Ag Chemist Linux as well as vintage computing Afroze Blog51737
Adelino Blog30151

Web Host for Beginners

Finding the right web host for beginners can be a challenge with all the web hosts claiming to be the best. Lets discuss web hosting options for a person who is inexperienced about how to select the best web host for beginners.

You are just beginning to explore the Internet and you have decided that you need a website on the Internet to be successful. You researched the many web hosts that all claim to have the best features and you are over whelmed by all the possibilities.

Lets discuss what a book for beginners should tell you.

Most of the time, people looking for a web host asks all the wrong questions about the web host. Since the Internet is considered "technical", it seems that people automatically start looking at how many gigs of memory and how much bandwidth each web host provides for the price. They read that they can get 10,000 email addresses, 1,000 FTP accounts, and 1,000 mailing lists (Isnt that a joke? Walmart might need that kind of support, but a starting website? I dont think so!) They consider what software is provided? .ASP, Perl, PHP, .NET, Cold Fusion, etc. (Yes, "etc." is not software).

My observation is that people tend to get so bogged down in the technical aspects (hardware and software) of what a web host offers that they lose site of the basic fact that the hardware side of the web host is only the medium that carries their message to the world via the Internet. It is the means to the end.

Web hosts are a dime a dozen and the competition for customers is fierce.

On the hardware technical side, a web host should provide:

* A secure data center that stays up running 100% of the time.
* Bandwidth wide enough to handle the all the traffic quickly.
* Storage to handle all the data.
* Processor speed fast enough to process the traffic without delay.
* A secure, reliable connection to the Internet

Any of the major web hosts provides these so why research it to the Nth degree? It is a waste of time.

What people starting to build a new website should really ask is "what is the mission of my website? Then they should look for the best web host that helps them build a website that satisfies that mission.

All web hosts are not all things to all people. Spend the time finding the best web host that satisfies the needs of your new website.http://www.the-best-web-host.com

I wish you the best in building that new site.

Copyright 2007 John Howe, Inc.

John V. W. Howe is an entrepreneur, author, inventor, patent holder, husband, father, and grandfather. He has worked with computers for over 44 years. He is an expert in website creation and web hosting. He has published over 60 articles on the Internet covering diverse topics. His website http://www.the-best-web-host.com helps people analyze their needs and match those needs to the best web host. He also publishes http://www.boomer-ezine.com an ezine for Internet entrepreneurs.Alyce Blog70211
Alwyn Blog70798

What You Need to Know about iPod Movies

iPod devices that are equipped with video players must have the movies from their original format converted to one that can be read and played by the iPod movie player system. This means that the movie can either be downloaded from an iPod-friendly site such as the Apple iPod Store or another website dedicated to iPod music and movies, or the user must purchase the appropriate conversion software. Most of the iPod movie conversion systems can convert most types of movie files such as AVI, MPEG, WMV, MOV, MP4, RM, RMVB, H.264, VOB or DivX formats into the MPEG-4 video format that the iPod uses.

In addition to just converting the format, the system must also match the resolution of the iPod movie player. The typical resolution for the iPod display screen is 640 by 480 for optimum viewing and clarity of picture. Without the appropriate software conversion, the picture would be highly distorted. Other resolutions are possible and the software application will usually optimize the file for viewing, selecting the appropriate resolution.

There is also a great program offered by Apple, called QuickTime 7 Pro, that allows you to use home videos and videos that are not professionally made and convert them to play on your iPod, just like an iPod movie that you can download. This is a great way to personalize your iPod video, or send a home movie to a friend or family member.

The process is simple: start by downloading the QuickTime 7 Pro from the Apple website. If you have a Mac computer, simply upload your movie to your computer and click on the title of the movie in the drop down box found on the QuickTime program menu. If you have a PC, upload the movie from the device as per the manuals and then save it in the QuickTime file. Once the movie is selected you will again need to use the drop down box and select the export feature, then click on Movie to iPod and let the computer do the rest.

A scrolling bar will keep you informed of the transfer process and will allow you to see how much more time is required for the transfer to occur. You will then need to synch the iPod with the computer to play the movie the first time, then it will be stored on both your computer and the iPod for future use.

The vast number of iPod movies and the ease of using the conversion software means that more people, even those that are not experts on the computer, can easily keep their favorite movies as well as their favorite songs close at hand on their iPod.

Terry Roberts is a professional translator and linguist, with a wide range of interests. To read more about ipods and ipod accessories, please visit his website: http://www.ipodsforyou.com.Alexia Blog47523
Alylia Blog50705

Four Steps to Better Business Leads from Search

So you got a click on your PPC ad. Now what do you do? The job of the B2B search marketer is only beginning when a prospect clicks. As MarketingSherpa points out, the decision to click is microscopically unimportant compared to all the things you are asking from a prospect after they've clicked: Stick around and read your copy, fill out a form, risk getting their privacy invaded, take a meeting, recommend your product, make a purchase, and so on.

Without each of these following steps in place, a click is just a click, and a click by itself is a waste of time and money.

Optimized landing pages

A good landing page provides two main benefits to a PPC campaign. First, search engines like Google care about the relevancy of the landing page when ranking ads, meaning a high-quality landing page gets better ranking (and more clicks) for less money. Second, a relevant and optimized landing page can have dramatically higher conversion rates, meaning you get more leads for your money. These two factors combine to drive dramatic ROI for landing page improvements.

Despite this, few B2B marketers use landing pages to their fullest advantage. According to Forrester Research, only about a quarter of B2B search ads take the prospective customer to keyword specific landing pages. The challenge is that landing page optimization requires building and maintaining dozens of landing pages, one for each ad group and testing multiplies the complexity of the problem.

Lead analytics and scoring

Even if you do get a conversion, it turns out that only 25% of conversions are sales-ready. You need the ability to find these hot leads and pass them to your sales team as soon as possible, before they get cold or a competitor contacts them first.

You can do this with lead scoring, which requires two kinds of information: (1) demographic/behavioral and (2) lead source. Examples of demographic/behavioral information include title, company, and BANT criteria (budget, authority, need, and timing); examples of lead source information include where the lead came from, what kind of offer created the lead, and lead age.

Demographic and behavioral information represent the biggest challenge for online marketers. The most obvious way to get it is when the prospect fills out the registration formbut research shows that every additional field on the form reduces conversion rates. A more subtle problem is that the searcher is likely to be an influencer, not a decision maker, and asking certain BANT questions can be off-putting.

There are two main solutions. The first is called progressive profiling, in which you get to know a lead over time by asking additional questions each time you interact (kind of like dating). One quick way to do this is to ask the prospect for additional information on the thank you page after submitting the form. Prospects who make it this far have expressed quite a bit of interest so they may be willing to give you more data now that you've built trust by sharing useful content.

A second solution is to use directed behavioral segmentation. Rather than sending clicks to a single landing page, this approach uses a "landing path" a series of pages that collect information based on how the prospect navigates.

Lead nurturing

If only 25% of leads are sales-ready, what do you do with the other 75%? Some of those prospects may be truly unqualified, but as many of 70% of them will eventually buy a product from youor your competitors. Prematurely passing this type of lead to sales is a recipe for disaster. Since sales reps are compensated for driving short-term revenue, a long-term lead like this creates the impression that search-generated leads are no good. As a result, the sales rep is more likely to ignore the next lead he receiveswhich is why reps end up ignoring 80% of all search-generated leads.

The solution is to use lead nurturing, a disciplined marketing-driven process of helping qualified prospects who are not yet sales-ready move through their buying process. Lead nurturing is not just sending a monthly email newsletter to your entire database, or calling prospects every few weeks to see if they are ready to buy yet. It is about progressively understanding more about the prospect's needs, and using targeted one-to-one communications to build your company's position as a trusted advisor.

The benefits of lead nurturing go beyond better sales-marketing alignment and higher win rates. Research shows that prospects that are nurtured buy more, require less discounting, and have shorter sales cycles than prospects who bought but were not nurtured.

Closed-loop measurement

Once the lead is passed to sales, the B2B search marketer's job is still not finished. Unlike B2C marketing, the time between the first click and a closed sale can be weeks or months or even years. Also, most analytic and search marketing solutions don't have automated access to the CRM system (such as salesforce.com) to know which leads become opportunities and ultimately generate revenue. This can make the process of measuring success and fine-tuning the search marketing campaign much more difficult.

There are two ways most companies try to solve this problem, both unsatisfactory. The first is to ignore it and measure PPC success solely on conversions. This is certainly easy to do because it is what the search engines support, but it creates a significant disconnect between marketing and the realities of what drives revenue for the businessalways an uncomfortable situation. The second approach is to tie search marketing results to opportunities and revenue using manual analytics. In other words, generate a report in Google, another in salesforce.com, and spend a lot of time in Excel trying to tie everything together. I'm sure this scenario is familiar to many B2B search marketers. A better approach is to use analytics that automates this process by unifying your search marketing data with your CRM data.

Crossing The Click Chasm

For too many B2B companies, there is a chasm between the campaigns that generate clicks to a website and the activities that turn clicks into customers. This chasm creates lower response rates, inadequate lead follow-up, and poorly optimized campaigns. To succeed in B2B, search marketing needs to become an integrated part of a complete demand generation process that includes landing pages, lead analytics, lead nurturing, and closed-loop measurement. Only by focusing on what happens after the click will B2B marketers be able to ensure optimal results for their PPC campaigns.

Jon Miller is VP of Marketing for Marketo, a provider of marketing automation software that helps B2B marketing professionals drive revenue and improve accountability. Jon's blog, Modern B2B Marketing, explores best practices in business marketing, ranging from pay-per-click management to lead nurturing to marketing accountability. The Strictly Business column appears Wednesdays at Search Engine Land.Adria Blog20338
Andre Robert Blog77937

Reviews of the Latest PC Games

Finding some good information on the latest PC games can be quite a difficult task. I've tried to do a Google search with the key words 'latest PC games' or 'current PC games'. I got thousands of replies but most of them were not what I was looking for. I've been keen on playing PC games for a long time and I've always found it hard to come across any decent sites giving updated information about the latest PC games. Nowadays all the attention goes to gaming consoles and thus, finding news on computer games is getting harder and harder.

Probably the most popular gaming platform are computers. So you can look for the latest PC games on websites devoted to them. It is not really difficult to find lists of new games and their prices but it is a couple of times harder to find any good sites which offer reviews about the newest PC games. If I have to recommend you some sites I'd suggest you had a look on my personal favourite ones - Gamespot, Gamespy, IGN, and Gamezone.

You can always find recent reviews of the lastest PC games on them, as well as some information on the most popular and newest console videogames. Even though I sometimes fully disagree with the reviews published, I still believe they are useful, at least you can get some basic info about the game, for example what it's genre is. In my case, if it's not one of the types I like, I don't purchase it and save some money. If I have genuine interest in a particular game I usually read at least a couple of reviews on different sites about it. That way I get all the information I need before going to the store and buying it.

One of the reasons why you should try to get as many reviews as possible about a PC game before purchasing it is because the price of the latest games varies about $50 per title. I cannot imagine anything worse than spending your hard-earned money on a new PC game which might turn out to be a beta program filled with bugs, a game with a poorly conceived plot. However, it is true that most of the latest PC games are no good, as the standard is getting lower and lower.

Being completely honest, I have to admit that from time to time even nowadays a real treasure comes out of the blue. This gem gets much more appreciation and popularity now because the rest of the new PC games are not worth it. I try to regularly check for news on the latest PC games on varies sites with the only hope to find and buy one of these gems.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning games. Get the information you are seeking now by visiting http://www.xtraordinarysite.com/games/games/reviews-of-the-latest-pc-games.htmlAllegra Blog88115
Ambuj Blog75453

What You Need To Know About Computer Viruses

What, another computer security article? Who needs it? Aren't we tired of all that techie stuff that only geeks can comprehend? Virus my foot! But seriously. Computer security is an important topic and those who neglect it will surely get themselves in trouble sooner or later.

There is much confusion about what exactly a computer virus is. To many people a virus is simply any kind of bad thing that happens to their computer. This would be more or less correct around 1995, but since then several other threats have appeared and using a blanket term like 'virus' for all of them is misleading. Having said that, I don't mean any disrespect to the word 'virus'. After all, it is the granddaddy of all malicious software (or malware for short).

Old School Viruses

At first viruses were rather simple-minded, although dangerous at times. All they wanted was to enter your computer and destroy some data. Their favorite way of transmission was to attach themselves to otherwise harmless programs.

Worms

As "state of the art" viruses developed, a new breed came to the scene: worms. This charming name is used to describe a type of virus that not only infects the host machine, but also replicates itself over the network. In practice that means that a well-written worm can create real mayhem around the world in a matter of days. It is estimated that damage from some famous worms reaches billions of dollars.

Trojan Horses

Many programs, multimedia or other goodies can be found on the Internet. Often they are free and, let's face it, there are very few things that people like more than free stuff. The trouble with some free software is that it also comes with one or more viruses already included free of charge. Hence the name "Trojan Horse".

Are viruses good for my computer?

Absolutely! If you want to get rid of all that data clogging up your hard drive, a virus is a wonderful solution. If you want your spanking new computer to slow down to a crawl, then a virus is the way to go. If you're lucky, you may even get a worm which will not only help you clean up your computer from all those annoying files, but will also send a copy of itself to all your friends that it finds in your Outlook address book. In short, if you think that your computer is too fast and gives you too little trouble, a virus or two can really help!

Thankfully, you don't have to try too hard to get a virus. Simply connect an unprotected computer to the Internet for a few hours and let them come. That's all it takes.

Tips on How to Protect Yourself

Truth be told, viruses are not as hot as they used to be. It turns out that there's not much money in writing them. This of course doesn't mean that you should neglect the virus threat. There are quite a few dangerous viruses roaming the Internet. So keep your hard drive happy and don't let the viruses ruin your day. Here is what you can do:

1) Use a good antivirus program and update it regularly. Unfortunately, some antivirus products inflict more damage than actual viruses do. So, before getting an antivirus program, be sure to read some professional reviews and user feedback.

2) If you download software from the Internet, use only reputable sources. Scan the installation file with an antivirus program before running it.

3) Be very careful about opening email attachments. Be particularly vigilant if you use Microsoft Outlook.

Since you are reading this page, you are already in better shape than most computer users. So keep it this way and visit

http://www.secure-computing.info for more useful information.

Rick Glover is a computer consultant to Fortune 500 companies. He also occasionally writes for http://www.secure-computing.info.Alylia Blog60559
Alun Blog72920

Article Marketing - Write your way into search results, traffic and $$$

In my regular scouring of the internet marketing do's and don'ts, I come across an endless sea of opinions, many of them contradictory of other opinions by internet marketers and gurus. You may have seen something like what I'm referring to. Some internet marketers will tell you "Adsense is dead", while others assure you that "There's still life in Adsense and other Pay Per Click programs!" One of the topics that has come to my attention recently is regarding the use of articles to raise the search ranking of your website and do some honest to goodness SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

There are several aspects to SEO, of course. This article takes a look at articles and how their content can be used to your advantage to build your website popularity.

One opinion I've seen time and time again that has been trumpeted by scores of marketers, and that has never been contested, is "search engines love content." I'll go a step further and say, "Search engines love original content."

If you want to see what I'm referring to, do a search under "article sites" and see how many directories you pull up. Article directories are out there in droves, keeping a large supply of articles that can be (and usually are) used by people publishing ezines or adding content to their sites. I've submitted articles to several of these sites for free. Here's why submitting articles is a win-win situation:

Win for you: You get to include a "resource box" with your article, which can be a link back to your website (or the affiliate site you are promoting)

Win for them: ezine publishers need to come up with articles every day/week/month. Webmasters want their proverbial "regularly updated content." Article directories give them the ammo they need to keep their updates regular and their content fresh.

Of course, this does mean you will need to write. If you like to write already, great - get started! If writing is about as fun for you as pulling your teeth with rusty jumper cables, all is not lost. My suggestion is to look at sites like Elance (www.elance.com) and look for writers on the topic you want to cover. Elance has a bidding system, which allows you to post a project for bids and let prospective writers bid on it.

Once you have your article written, you will need to submit it. There is an endless array of article sites on the web. You can also take a shortcut by trying an article submission tool. Here's one I use that works very well (In fact, this article you're reading now was submitted using this very software): http://tinyurl.com/2nhqft

Something else to remember - SEO will take awhile. Even if you have submitted articles, you must give them time to make their way into the hands of those people who will publish them on sites and on the web.

So there you have it - articles help you promote your web site the write way!

Paul Heingarten is an entrepreneur, author and consultant. He owns several websites and has assisted business owners with website design and marketing. Find ebooks on how you can market your business on his website at http://www.theebookstar.comAmada Blog38352
Amato Blog92759

Choose The Right Format For Your E-zine

When you plan to publish your e-zine, one of the first things you need to decide on is the format in which you want to publish it to your readers.

Currently, email can be delivered in two different formats: Plain text and HTML. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each format:

--------------Plain Text--------------

Advantages:

* Easy to create

* Can be read with all email programs

* Small size equals fast delivery and short download times

* Some people consider it to be more personal than HTML newsletters

Disadvantages:

* Poor formatting options

* Newsletters may appear different to different users, depending on the email client, font choices, and margin settings

--------------HTML Text--------------

Advantages:

* Complete formatting options; your newsletter may look like web pages or a printed magazine, with colorful pictures and rich formatting.

* Provide better tracking options; you can see how many people have opened your message.

Disadvantages:

* Some people use email clients that do not support HTML properly, or deliberately turn off HTMLor filter HTML mails from unfamiliar senders into the trash.

* HTML messages are significantly larger than plain text messages, and take more time to deliver.

* When you include pictures, you either have to embed them into your email, which adds to the size, or link them to files on the Internet, which requires the recipient to stay connected to the Internet while reading your message.

Which format you finally use really depends on the contents of your newsletter and also on your target group. I have decided on using HTML format, since it provides me the most freedom and also give a more professional impression.

When sending automatic follow-up emails, however, in same cases it can be better to send a plain text email that looks like somebody has manually written it.

Special Tip: Using a professional email program like EmailUnlimited you can easily send emails that contains both, an HTML and a plain text your of your newsletter. This way, the recipient's email program will automatically determine which format it can display best and you can be sure that your message gets displayed on any email client.

Alway my best,

John Vorwerk

Article Written By John Vorwerk, 4OfficeAutomation, Inc. Alylia Blog92873
Amy Blog54148

Encryption: Security Tool For Internet

Web site security is a complex and perhaps even controversial subject. On one side there are individuals whom regard themselves as the freedom fighters of the technology and information era; on the other side there are those who view this as a form of modern terrorism. Whatever the case, breaking into a computer system without consent is, without question, a crime.

It is convention to use a protected connection when gathering sensitive data such as the personal information of a visitor of a Web site. The security levels of those protected connections currently in popular use are "none", 40-bit, 56-bit, and 128-bit listed from lowest to highest level of page security.

Encryption is a very effective tool in protecting information from unauthorized access. Data is scrambled before transmission, making it illegible until the recipient for whom the information is intended unscrambles the contents, restoring them to their original condition. While this tool is useful for safeguarding the information during transmission, it cannot guarantee privacy after the data has been deciphered on the other end.

Encryption is an algorithmic process that converts plain text into scrambled and illegible appearance known as "cyphertext" as a means to provide privacy. The recipient of the encoded or encrypted message decodes it with the use of a "key", much like the simpler substitution codes played with by children.

Modern Web browsers can automatically encrypt text once connected or linked to a secure server, identifiable by a Web address starting with "https". The Web server then decrypts or decodes the data when it arrives. Thus, as the data passes between computers anybody attempting to spy on the information will gather only encrypted data, useless without the key.

Encryption systems are defined as either asymmetric or symmetric. Examples of symmetric key algorithms would be AES, Blowfish and DES. They work with a single key that is distributed ahead of time and is shared by both the sender and the receiver. This "key" is used both to encrypt and decrypt the data.

Asymmetric encryption systems, such Diffie-Hellman and RSA, make use of a pair of keys. The public key is widely distributed and used by many users to encrypt information. The private key is different for each online user and is used for decrypting information.

When a browser is connected to a protected domain or Web site a secure layer of sockets holds and validates the server and confirms a method of encryption and a unique session key. This creates a session that is secured and which helps to guarantee privacy and integrity of information exchange.

It is important to remember that strong encryption only makes the data exchange private and cannot actually secure it over the long term. In order to ensure that it will remain secure, steps must be taken to make certain the receiver of the information is a legitimate and responsible entity, which is generally achieved online through the use of digital certificates or signatures. After all, the best way to keep something secret is not to share it at all.

As more become aware of the generally unsecured nature of the Internet, encryption will undoubtedly become increasingly popular. Without encryption browsing, email and also instant messaging is available for potentially everyone to read, perhaps even end up stored for many years.

The best security functions invisibly, since a professional site strives to be open and inviting in appearance. Nevertheless a nice-looking site can boast the best security. It should be a primary concern of all online users. The savvy Internet user is demanding no less than the best protection from Web site owners.

Elizabeth Thomas writes articles for several online magazines, including http://rukop.com and http://exoza.com.Alicja Blog6545
Afroze Blog51737

How The Internet Changes The Competitive Battleground

HUB AND SPOKES AS A NEW BUSINESS STRUCTURE

Natural market forces that lead to consolidation and the law of twos happen even faster on the Internet. The "best" products are anointed, information is rapidly distributed, and customers (who face no geographic limits) seek out these "hot" places. Moreover, as brands become familiar, consumers increasingly seek them out because they have credibility.

Unique to the Web is something which may be called a "hub-and-spoke strategy" . This also facilitates the law of twos: A hub-and-spoke strategy is the increasingly common arrangement where a major retailer establishes relationships with other Web sites, promising them a percentage of any sales (generally 5 to 15 percent) that result from any traffic sent to the retailer by these "affiliates." It's not uncommon for a major affiliate program to have over 10,000 participating members, all of whom refer traffic to the central site. What's even more interesting is the extent to which this type of business model is proliferating:

The Internet is already taking its place as a central tool in everyday business life. Each aspect of commerce is changing in light of the new capabilities available. The coming changes are so powerful that it is both terrifying and exciting. The first phase of Internet business has principally focused on the creation of new types of businesses: The next phase will involve the impact of these developments on brick-and-mortar businesses and on the economy as a whole.

The new capabilities that the Internet makes available for business-to-business commerce and for business-to-consumer sales will transform many industries from top to bottom. Winning companies will understand that in the emerging era success now requires new rules for action and the mastery by the organization of different types of skills.

Questions may arise on what the future will look like: "Will my business be helped or hurt?" "What should I do to survive?" Until recently, the pace of change has been so great that attempts at answering these questions were often unsatisfying.

Elements that will play a central role in how the Internet economy evolves. These elements have the potential to greatly harm our economy or to power us into prosperity for the twenty-first century. The best way to discuss these ideas is to provide two contrasting visions of the future: The Potential Downside of Internet Growth More than any other aspect of the Internet, shopping "bots," software that searches the entire Internet for products and services based on predefined criteria (price being the most popular), have the capacity to offer great benefit to consumers while potentially bringing great harm to businesses. Today the major Internet portals, include Google , Yahoo and MSN , all have shopping initiatives with participating retailers that are, at least in part, powered by bots (also called "intelligent software shopping agents"). A visit to http://www.botspot.com/ will reveal that there are already over many easy-to-use bots that are available for businesses and consumers. Each bot typically has a specialized function, ranging from financial bots that perform stock-related functions to news-gathering bots to auction-related bots.

The more businesses and consumers rely on price as the sole criterion for purchase, the more price pressure every manufacturer and retailer will feel. Bots that search for the best price have the potential to trigger ruinous price wars. At some point, price wars can ruin industries or set back their development by several years through lack of funds for investment in new and better services. To me, this is the frightening downside of a world where customers can buy from anywhere and essentially name their price.

The Internet is already demonstrating some of this behavior. At this time, we are witnessing deep discounting on the part of large Internet retailers to attract customers. For ongoing businesses, this type of discounting is unlikely to be sustainable.

The pace of change in the past year has been so incredible that a growing populationfrom executives to retireesfeel they have more than passing familiarity with the Internet. However, this newly claimed "knowledge" of Web sites and portals and e-mail techniques belies the fact that the Internet is still so new that there are no rules for "play."

Internet services, including comparison services, software agents such as bots, and new digital middlemen, enable easier access to information and, as a result, fundamentally change the competitive battleground.

Stores that pitted themselves against each other generally rose to the occasion and even employed "comparison shoppers," who cruised the aisles of competitors, reporting on pricing so that the store owner could price competitively. And signs touting "We'll Beat Anyone's Prices" covered any store that wanted to preserve business no matter what.

The Internet radically changes this dynamic. Not only can consumers move easily from one Web site to another, checking out the products and services at each, but many Internet services are specifically designed to promote comparisons among products or services within a category, and another growing class of businessesdigital age middlemenare actively working to create bidding situations among several suppliers that lead to lower prices for consumers and businesses. These new classes of Web sites raise the stakes throughout an industry. Competition takes two forms: between manufacturers or service providers for the product or service to be purchasedand between "stores" as the place to purchase.

Companies now operate in a world where comparison shopping is almost effortless, geographic boundaries are eliminated, and the pace of activity is far faster.

WHAT happens in the marketplace ? In the online environment, anyone offering a particular product competes with everyone else offering that product or something similar. On any given day, a customer may be able to locate several or several hundredonline stores selling what he or she wants, and the customer can then determine from which vendor to purchase the item. A recent search using a comparison service such as Froogle identified that a specific HP All-In-One Multifunction printer was available from 57 different stores from $57 to $170.

Bots, the comparison services, and the new digital age middlemen can all work in a variety of ways. Some comparison services are operated by retailers; the site generally posts information on how specific products sold by the store compare in price and quality with the competition. Other services are stand-alone Web-based businesses offering comparisons among a variety of manufacturers.

Bots (Intelligent Software Shopping Agents) are now today 's product finder, along with hundreds of other "bot" services that are now on the Web, is still in its infancy. However, it has already stimulated the creation of sites that feature comparison shopping facts, and I guarantee that these bots will play a role in changing the future of commerce.

Sites offering price comparison are now web wide. On the Web, competition for customers is fierce. Because bots can shop the Web for a customer, companies have been forced to design their Web sites with comparison shopping in mind. The Net has facilitated explosive growth of comparison services that stretch across the full spectrum of products and services. It's impossible to even estimate how many exist today and new servicesfor unserved categories or with better features in categories that already have such servicesare constantly popping up: New digital age middlemen only intensify the competition . Digital Age Middlemen

An additional factor in the spread of Hyper Wars is the emergence of a new kind of business, "digital age middlemen This broad range of entities may share one or more of the following characteristics: First, they create a "more perfect market" for buyers and sellers by improving the information available to both sides regarding the demand and supply of products.

Second, they generally serve as electronic gathering places where buyers meet potential sellers for specific industries or types of products. In this sense, successful digital age middlemen are typically vertically focused and aim to serve a very specific market, such as buyers of specific financial products, or specific kinds of engineers or electronics firms. Occasionally this leads to selling the same products at different prices . Third, the digital age middlemen defy traditional boundaries. Location, company size, the time required to get competing bids from many potential suppliers, and the time involved in searching for potential new suppliers are all factors that have traditionally created "competitive advantages" for specific companies in specific situations; these services work to eliminate these constraints.

Fourth, they all provide a buying mechanism of some type. Often, digital age middlemen pit potential sellers against each other, and generally the one with the lowest price earns the business. For buyers, the effect of digital age middlemen is to make goods and services available at lower prices.

Direct sales are rapidly expanding this controlling the marketplace . Experience to date strongly suggests that the Internet will accelerate the shift to direct sales by manufacturers, thereby creating a major change in the way both businesses and consumers shop. and services available at lower prices.

For buyers, of course, the downward pressure on prices is a welcome benefit of the Web. For sellers, however, digital age middlemen are a central factor in the emergence of Hyper Wars. By creating a "more perfect market" with full information, fewer geographic boundaries, and more potential suppliers, the level of price competition reaches a new degree of intensity, making it harder to generate profitable revenues. As these online middlemen proliferate, each transaction will feel to the seller even more like a battle in a war that is waged in hyperspace. DIRECT SALES ARE EXPANDING, TRANSFORMING THE MARKETPLACE Experience to date strongly suggests that the Internet will accelerate the shift to direct sales by manufacturers, thereby creating a major change in the way both businesses and consumers shop.

Over time, the percentage of all products sold directly from manufacturers or service providers to end users has been increasing, and the cost of having a middleman is being eliminated. This phenomenon has accelerated whenever the development of new technologies or new media has provided ways to overcome what are generally perceived as the four barriers to direct sales.

Mr. Shaun Z. StevensAkira Blog41018
Andrea Blog83424

Watch Movies, Music, Sports All4Free On Your PC

With your computer you can watch movies, music, sports all4free on your PC, which is what I do. I don't have to pay any monthly satellite subscription payments or any other recurring payments ever.

There are over 3000 stations I can choose from to watch (Movies, Sports, Music, Clips, News, Radio, etc.) from all over the world including local, regional and international broadcasts.

I can watch over 40 music channels with this software plus includes masses of radio stations as well.

Do you like baseball which has it's own baseball channel TV, basketball NBA TV, hockey NHL, football offcourse live games, soccer which has most English Premier League games live if two or more are on the same time you choose which one you want to see, tennis or even athletics, what about boxing, whatever the sport you can watch until your hearts content.

All you need to be able to connect to a world of television is a computer with Internet access. Meaning that you do not need to buy extra hardware equipment or a PC TV card because the TV channels are streamed through your Internet connection. It even works with a 56k connection. Personally though I only recommend this if you have broadband connection not just 56k connection.(A broadband connection will deliver superior audio and video quality).

The lifetime fee for all the entertainment you need costs $49.95 and as that would suggest, it is the only payment you will ever have to make then you can watch movies, music, sports all4free on your PC.

These are some of the channels for TVU CHANNEL GUIDE, CBN, Fashion, ESPN (ASIA), Star Sports, CCT-5 (Sports), Fox, NBC, NBC15, CBS, ESPN, ESPN 2, Hunan TV, CSTV, NHL2, Telecapri (Italy Sports), NHL, ONTOP TV (Music), USA Network, CW, E-Music (Harik), EA Music, Xin Chi, Class News (Italy), DW TV (German), Bloomberg, NASA TV, CNBC (India), WSCN, Fox News (M), MSNBC, Phoenix Info, StarTV, Phoenix CN, CTITV, Channel 52, AXN, Hollywood Movie, East TV, CCTV 8, HuaYu, Channel V, Comedy Central, Voice TV, TeleMundo, My Life, EasyFM, CRI Language Studio, HITZ Radio, Nickelodeon, CHANNEL D1, RTM2 etc.

The above channels are just a taste of what there is plus movies you can watch blockbuster titles from all around the world for free from the comfort of your own home.

Over 100 USA TV stations, 60 plus UK TV stations, also ALBANIA, ALGERIA, ANDORRA, ARGENTINA, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, BELARUS, BELGIUM, BOLIVIA, BOSNIA, BRAZIL, CANADA, CHILE, CHINA, COLOMBIA, COSTA RICA, CUBA, CZECH REP, DENMARK, DOMINIC. REP, EGYPT, ESTONIA, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, HUNGARY, ICELAND, INDIA, INDONESIA, IRAN, IRAQ, ISRAEL, ITALY, JAMAICA, JAPAN, JORDAN, KURDISTAN, KUWAIT, LATVIA, LEBANON, LUXEMBURG, MACEDONIA, MALAYSIA, MALTA, MEXICO, MONGOLIA, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, NICARAGUA, NIGERIA, OMAN, PANAMA, PERU, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, PORTUGAL, PUERTO RICO, QATAR, ROMANIA, RUSSIAN FED, SAUDI ARABIA, SERBIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SOUTH KOREA, SPAIN, SRI LANKA, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, TAIWAN, THAILAND, TURKEY, UKRAINE, VATICAN CITY, VENEZUELA, VIETNAM +PLUS MUCH MORE!!!

Plus Foreign (136) Domestic (89) Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan (64) General (62) TV broadcast channels (59) Entertainment (46) Television (44) sports (41) Issued (36) radio (31) Recommendation (28) Republic of Korea (26) CCTV (22) science (18) TVANTS Television (11) digital television channels (8) 3TV test channel (7) VIP tests (5) FINANCIAL (5), religion (4) Film (3) games (2) CNC (2) NBA (1) Shanghai (1) Opera (1)

If you have kids at home and you want to keep them quiet there is a whole variety of children shows. There is also news, weather, politics, and much, much more are also covered. Whatever you want to watch it's all there for you with an Internet satellite television connection. The best part about this its completely, 100% free so you can watch movies, music, sports all4free on your PC.

They only hire the best developers who have previously been employed by the world's leading technology companies such as Microsoft, IBM and Google. This has ensured a high level of compatibility and that the software is robust, powerful, and entirely unique.

This is what I call entertainment on my computer. Don't forget it includes free lifetime updates plus new stations. They are on the cutting edge of satellite TV for PC technology and constantly update other software to keep up with new developments. As TV technology changes so will satellite TV for PC. They will be adding many more quality stations in the near future such as MTV USA, HBO, Playboy TV, Pay Per View, plus many many more. Once you have this software you are entitle to receive these new stations plus all future software upgrades for FREE enjoy.

Watch Movies, Music, Sports All4Free On Your PC

Tony Pescatore finds and writes helpful information on topics he believes in. To check out how you can watch hundreds of LIVE worldwide channels on your PC, with no subscription payments or any other recurring payments. EVER!go to http://www.tpescatoreproducts.com/Recommends/SatelliteTVForPC/Alylia Blog60559
Andras Blog40246

Two Reasons to Use Timesheet Software

This short paper will expand on two key reasons to move to a computerized timesheet system at your company. There are more than two reasons of course, but these will be expanded on at a later date. The two key reasons to be discussed here are Timesheet Efficiency, and Timesheet Automation.

Timesheet Efficiency is the concept of a single data entry exercise done accurately and quickly. Timesheet Automation is the simple concept of managing timesheet information electronically rather than on paper. When taken individually both these concepts make a compelling argument to move to electronic timesheets, taken together you should be asking yourself why you aren't kicking off the process today.

Timesheet Efficiency

When I started out my working career in consulting we had paper timesheets. These were (supposedly) to be filled in daily, submitted weekly, and data from them entered into the accounting system monthly. However, people being people, the accountant only checked them once a month, so they were generally only submitted once a month, and thus usually only filled in once a month when prompted by project managers. This resulted in inaccurate and late timesheet information.

This affected billing, time and materials projects would take up to four weeks to be invoiced, and thus it could be up to 60 days before payment was received. Why then are some companies constantly challenged with getting employees to accurately complete their timesheets while other firms have no problems? The difference is usually leadership and data ease of data entry. Most consulting companies employ skilled intelligent people, and a manager who fills in his timesheet information promptly and accurately can legitimately expect his staff to do so. However if the system is cumbersome and difficult to use then there will be constant conflict.

Easy to use computerized timesheet systems mean more employees are successfully filling out timesheets as they work rather than writing the time into a diary or calendar and then transferring the information at the end of the week (or month). It has been well proven that debtors are easier to manager and projects more easily monitored the closer that timesheet information is processed and invoiced to the time the work is carried out. It is just much more simple to collect all your billable hours (more chargeable time!) if employees record their work as they do it.

Of course data entry is just one side of things. Processing the information is just as important. Internal discipline and company policies must be set to ensure that all information is collected by the time you have decided is the deadline. Whether this is Friday 5:00pm, or Monday 9:00am, deadlines must be followed and enforced. Timesheet software with built in workgroup functionality like messaging, timesheet approval, live monitoring, and so on can greatly enhance this process.

There is no point pretending that timesheet information and collection is glamorous. It isn't. It should just be part of the normal mundane fabric of business. It should be routine and boring. But most importantly it should be quick, easy, and provide no disincentive to doing it. Good computerized systems should offer all of this.

Timesheet Automation

The most basic benefit that a computerized timesheet system gives is one of automation, timesheet information is entered into a computer rather than onto paper. This eliminated the need for people to transcribe their timesheet information from a diary onto a paper form, and then for administration staff to re-enter this information into a job costing system. The computerization allows you to completely eliminate the middle steps. Staff enter information directly into the job costing system.

The next logical step of computerization is to leverage off of the computer to provide a host of other benefits. This includes interlocks like preventing people from booking time to projects that dont exist, or projects that are closed, or projects they should not be booking time to. It allows project managers to access live data showing actual time spent on their projects, this data can be manipulated and visualized in different ways using other computer software. It can even interface directly with dedicated project management software.

Other benefits can include automatic timing of work, popup information showing specific project information helping timesheet accuracy, daily timesheets, reminders telling people to fill in their timesheets, integration with messaging, email, and the web, and live integration with accounting packages.

Conclusions

By themselves each of these points makes a good argument for moving to a computerized timesheet system. Taken together they are truly compelling. Increased accuracy and reduction of the billing cycle means that a computerized system can usually measure its payoff in just a few months. For any company that does bill its time, it is should not be an option any longer, it is a simple next step. Interested in looking at some low cost alternatives? Why not take a look at Timesheets Lite or Timesheets MTS. These are low cost systems ideally suited to the small company.

Tom Jacobs writes for http://www.superbtimesheets.info where you can find out more about timesheets and other topics.Amarnath Blog65939
Alun Blog72920

Learn to Type with Typing Games

For children, the ability of using the computer is becoming fundamental in nowadays, so learning to type is must for them. But most children get bored with any repetitious task and give up or whine and even want to stop, parents or teachers always feel nothing else bother them more than when children face the keyboard and have absolutely no idea where the keys are or how they go about typing. They just "play" with the keyboard. This is a waste of time for them and, worse, children get into the bad habit of typing with two fingers. So parents or teachers have to face how to solve this problem.

As parents and teachers know, whether children want to learn a thing or not largely depends on whether they are attracted by it. Based on this, the typing tutor must be easy-to-use, fun colorful and appealing to children. Once children love and develop interest in it, they will learn to type on their own initiative. Generally, children naturally like to play games, because when playing games, they are always attracted by the colorful interface and pretty music in the games, and above all, they're able to learn something quickly under no pressure. Apparently, the problem for children having no interest in learning to type is solved, they can learn to type when playing games.

There are many advantages of using typing games for typing: First, Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the typing practice, thus help children learn typing more easily. Second, Typing requires a great deal of effort. Games help children to make and sustain the effort of learning. Third, Games are highly motivating since they are amusing and at the same time challenging.

There are lots of interesting typing games which also help to make typing fun. GS Typing Tutor is just one. The aim of this program is to make typing fun whilst increasing accuracy and speed. The feature-rich typing software supports 5 typing games: Rats in the garden, attacks of the alien, help, balloon, and card. The typing games each include 23 basic typing lessons. Taking the basic lessons, children can learn to type from the home row keys to other basic keys. The basic exercises also help them to be familiar with the keyboard layout step-by-step.

Each game is easy-to-use, fun colorful and appealing to children:

1: Rats in the garden Children mission is to eliminate the rats in the garden. Then they should type the letter before the rats escape. If children type the wrong letter or type slowly, the rats will escape under their nose. So they have to type correctly and fast in case the rats escape. The game is fun!

2: Attacks of the alien Children mission is to stop the alien fleets to attack the earth. So they must type letters before the alien fleets through the galaxy into the earth. By playing the game, children type the letters, and can be familiar with the keys. With children accelerating the typing speed, the alien fleets fly rapidly, so they have to type quickly in case the earth is attacked by the alien fleets.

3: Help! A bad man has held a boy under duress. So children must help the soldier to rescue the boy by typing the letter. If their typing speed is slow, the boy's life is under danger. Once children succeed to rescue the boy, the boy will laugh loudly for thanking.

4: Balloon Falling Letters are ruining the balloons. Save the balloons by typing the letters before the balloons land on the ground. Lots of fun! The more children type the more score they get.

5: Card The letters are arranged random based on the keys children choose. Type the letters on the card. This will help them to know well the basic keys.

With playing typing games, the typing program helps children easy master a skill needed in today's computer oriented world. Download it at http://www.typingstar.com/

June Shu http://www.typingstar.com/Alon Blog80352
Alla Blog11087

Clean The Computer Of Spyware Entries With Reliable Software

Spyware is malicious software that downloads onto a computer clandestinely. It makes entries in the registry and must be removed with Anti Spyware utilities.

'Spyware' is a term that refers to a very wide category of malicious software that has been intentionally designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the consent of that computer's owner or lawful user. When the term 'Spyware' is taken in a literal sense, it suggests that the software clandestinely monitors the activities of the user operating the computer, however, it has over the years, come to be known as software that hampers the operating systems efficient functioning for the benefit of a third party, usually the person who created the Spyware. By downloading onto a system the Spyware will also make entries in the system registry. While it is imperative to remove the Spyware from the computer it is as imperative to remove all traces from the registry as well. This can be achieved with the help of Adware Spyware removal tool.

How Does It Affect The Computer?

'Spyware' is candid software that downloads itself onto a person's computer and constantly operates in the background and collects personal information of the user. For instance, it will record the entry from the keyboard every time the user enters a username and password or credit card details. The Spyware will monitor and record the information as well as which site the username and password was entered into. It will then mail this information to the host computer that the Spyware came from. In order to do this the Spyware must take over some processor time. It does this by delaying the operation of other programs or applications running on the system. This slows the system down drastically. The system can be revamped with free Adware Spyware removal utilities such as Quake removal Spyware tool.

Are Spyware Removal Utilities Not Enough?

Many Spyware removal utilities do remove the Spyware from the system but many of them cannot delve into the registry and remove all the entries therein. The registry will have to be scrubbed clean with special Spyware removal utility such as Quake removal Spyware utility software. Many of the Spyware entries will be associated with critical system files and so the anti-Spyware program will not delete them from the registry. Only a good Spyware removal utility such as Yahoo Spyware removal tool will scan the registry and detect the broken links and determine it they will hamper the efficient operating of the system if they are removed. If the Yahoo Spyware removal decides that they can be safely removed the entries will be deleted. If the entries are left in the registry they may link up to the site where they came from initially and download the Spyware again. This is why it is imperative to clean the registry with a reliable registry cleaner such as the free Microsoft Spyware Adware removal tool.

Arvind Singh is admin and technical expert associated with development of computer security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Window Cleaner, Anti Spam Filter etc. More information can be found at http://www.pcmantra.comAmartya Blog58272
Ana Maria Blog7330

Are Cookies Evil? What Service Do Cookies Perform In A Web Browser?

Are cookies are bad and do they invade your privacy? We're not talking about the kind of cookie you eat, we're talking about computer cookies! It's not really true that cookies are evil.

So, what is a cookie, what's it made of and what does it do? A cookie is a tiny text file that a web site can put on your computer as you browse the pages on that web site. One thing people don't understand is that a web site can only read and write its own cookies, it cannot access another web site's cookies. Cookies are used for storing various items of information, such as a name, or a selection choice you made. This information will be read back from the when you load other pages on the site, or, on return visits to the site.

What reason does a web site need to use cookies? Web browsers are stateless, stateless means that as you through various pages on a web site, each of those pages is a separate and distinct action. For example, the web server does not know it's the same person that was on the home page that made the request for the order page. This is very different from desktop applications like Microsoft Excel that you run on your computer. The web server sees all page requests as individual requests for pages, not as a continuous visit from you. As you move through a web site and select things and make choices, what keeps you from having to reenter or reselect that information as you load each page? Usually the answer is a cookie. A cookie can be used by the web server to keep track of you as a user so that as you navigate from page A to page B, the web server knows it's you and the developer of the web site can reference those items stored in your cookie to maintain a stateful experience for your session or visit to the web site.

Occasionally, you may want or need to delete your cookies.

You can delete your cookies a few ways. Most web browsers (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, FireFox, Opera, etc.) have different ways to do this, so consult the help for your browser on how to delete the cache files and cookies. There are also several software packages to clean your PC and these packages also delete cookies.

Using cookies improves your user experience when browsing the Internet. Is there a security risk or danger to cookies? A web site can use cookies for saving information that you enter into forms on web pages and that's where security concerns arise. Usually this never causes any problem, however, before letting someone use your computer, or taking your computer somewhere to be repaired or serviced, always delete your browser's cache AND cookies!

Each browser is different, so consult your help files for the browser you use (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, FireFox, Opera, etc.) for how to delete the cache files and cookies.

Fred Black created http://www.WebSiteTrainingOnline.com, An Introduction to Creating Web Sites, to help guide others seeking to learn about HTML, CSS, and more.Aiilyan Blog39936
Achille Blog29750

Internet Marketing As a Home-Based Business, Advantages And Possible Obstacles

Nowadays more and more people are thinking about taking a step towards additional income and financial freedom. Business opportunities are countless for those who would like to start their own home-based business. That is why it makes it so difficult to decide what exactly you would like to do and how and where you would start.

Lets talk about internet marketing as one of the great opportunities to work from home and make a part time or even a full time income for yourself and your family. As any other business, internet marketing has its advantages and possible problems you might face as a beginner.

If you dont have your own product or service, you can sell other peoples products or services. There is plenty of companies on the internet that you can become an affiliate for. In affiliate marketing, you simply send traffic to an end merchant, and that merchant handles all the details of the sale and pays you a commission. The benefit of this is that it is comparatively easy for you. Affiliate marketers do not have to take credit cards, select product lines or handle customer service, they receive their commission just for building a site that generates traffic to the merchant. However, you should not think that none of your efforts will be involved in this process. You will need to create and be responsible for your own advertising campaign for each and every affiliate program you are a part of. This of course includes driving lots of traffic to your web site and using various media, not only internet alone, to advertise your product or service.

If you have your own product or service, it is even better -- when you sell your own things you get 100% profits. The disadvantage is that you will have to handle the entire process of selling on your own, including inventory, payment, shipment, return policy etc. If your profit margin is high enough than it will be well worth all the hassle.

If you are not sure that you know enough about internet marketing you can educate yourself for free -- read articles from free articles web sites, there is always plenty of advice there. Another good source of free advice is forums. Participate in popular marketing forums, and you can get lots of tips, ideas, advice -- all for free. The disadvantage of self-education in marketing is that you have to spend a lot of time for that and always test, test and test new ideas and techniques. It may become a very time-consuming process.

If you do not want to spend so much time for self-education you can always find a marketing course, buy it and study. It is also possible to have a personal mentor or coach who would help you through the process. It will depend on your budget though, most of the personal coaches charge a very high fee for their consultations.

If you dont like to work for someone else, you can be self-employed when you do internet marketing. You can set your own hours, be your own boss, make your own decisions. With all of that comes lots of responsibility as in any privately owned business. Decisions are yours and responsibility is all yours also. You should not be afraid of that and treat internet marketing just like any private business.

First of all, you need to decide for yourself if internet marketing is right for you. Think about it and make a list of benefits and problems you might face when you start doing it. If you like it, have passion for it and can be persistent enough you will have all chances for success.

Elena Joggerst is a stay at home mom and a self-employed internet marketer. She offers free advice and ideas for beginners in marketing whenever possible.Ambuj Blog37175
Aldo Blog64634

Franchising Pros And Cons

Last week's question from Anthony R. on how to choose the franchise that would best fulfill his life-long dream of owning his own business sparked a number of emails from other readers wanting to offer their two cents on the subject.

Some folks offered helpful insights and suggestions on how to pick a franchise and a few things to watch out for, while other emails came from current franchise owners asking me to help them sell their operations to Anthony R.

Hmm, sounds like it's time to update the old business card once again. Tim Knox: Franchise Broker At Large... Who knows, maybe I can franchise the concept.

Last week I promised we'd take a closer look at a few of the things you should look for when considering a franchise opportunity. Keep in mind that there are thousands of franchise opportunities that range from the low end opportunities available for a few thousand dollars to the high end franchises that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The difference in price is reflected in many ways: the viability of the opportunity, the level of training and support offered to the franchisee, the track record and financial stability of the franchisor, the success rate of the franchisees, and a dozen other factors.

All a lower end franchisor might offer is a training manual and the right to use their company name. Many also have very little interest in weeding out potential franchisees. The truth is many are in business just to collect franchise fees. They have little interest in whether or not a franchisee actually succeeds. If you have a pulse and a checkbook, you can become their franchisee. And your pulse does not have to be that strong.

The higher end franchisors have very strict franchisee requirements and will not allow just anyone to become a part of their franchise system. They also go to much greater lengths to ensure the success of their franchisees. They offer complete hand holding from start to finish and remain heavily involved in the business even after the doors open. Yes, you do pay dearly for their assistance, but as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Here are a few things to look for in a franchise opportunity:

Turnkey operation This is the most appealing feature of many franchise systems. Many of the top franchisors will scout the best location for the business, build and equip the facility, hire and train employees, put you through an extensive management training system, then toss you the keys. Furthermore, they will work closely with you for the first few months to help make certain that you know what to do with the keys once they've been tossed to you.

The majority of franchises don't offer such complete turnkey packages, so be prepared to do much of the upfront work yourself. Often it is up to you to find a location, negotiate the lease, build out the space or erect a building, install the equipment, hire and train a staff etc.

Proven track record and management system As mentioned earlier, many of the lesser-known franchise systems offer you a training manual, maybe a training video, and a few hours of telephone support. Not the best way to learn how to run a business. A good franchisor will provide you with thorough management training, either at their facility or onsite at yours. Since one of the reasons for buying into a franchise system is to tap into their expertise and know-how, thorough training should be a foremost consideration.

Customers waiting for the door to open I don't have the statistics in my pocket to back this up, of course, but I'd bet the farm that every time a new McDonald's opens its door, it's a mere matter of minutes before the first Happy Meal is sold. Many franchisors spend hundreds of millions of dollars on national ad campaigns to promote brand awareness. This works great for the franchisee who can literally have customers waiting for the doors to open on the first day of business.

Always consider the downsides There are downsides to franchising. Foremost is the high cost of entry. The top franchise opportunities require considerable investment on the front end, usually more of an investment than if the entrepreneur started a similar venture on his own. You could open an independent hamburger fast food restaurant for a fraction of the McDonald's franchise fee, but you probably won't sell as many hamburgers. What you're buying from McDonald's is not just a fast food restaurant that sells hamburgers. What you're buying is a brand, a reputation, and a proven business system with ready to eat customers. Be prepared to pay a premium for it.

Another downside is that when you buy into a franchise system you often have to pay a percentage of your revenues back to the franchisor. You might also be required to buy supplies from the franchisor, including inventory, paperwork, software, computer systems, and anything else the franchisor decides that they should supply to you.

And there in lies the biggest downside of all. When you buy into a franchise system you don't control your business, the franchisor does. You have very little say-so in running the business. You must follow their processes and procedures without variation. And should you decide to get out of the business you may not even be allowed to sell the franchise to just anyone. The new owner would have to be approved by the franchisor before a deal could be made final.

The bottomline, Anthony, is to do your homework and make sure the franchise you choose fits your personality, your lifestyle, and your pocket book.

Andrew Adams writes for http://www.magfranchise.org where you can find out more about franchising and other topics.Adria Blog20338
Adelaide Blog50959

Professional Web Development

As every Internet user knows, web site traffic is a primary concern. Anyone with their own web site would like to increase traffic, get more visitors, and increase their ad revenue. But, as the field of web design grows more and more complex, web development only gets more complicated. Web design is now so complicated that simply building a web page can take hours of study and work.

Because good web design is so important to page views, and yet so hard to achieve, some may consider using professional web development to design their web pages. Getting outside help may sound difficult and even expensive, but professional web development doesnt have to cost you a thing.

Anyone can still have great web design on their site, using professional web development. The basic elements of a good web page are text, graphics, and links all things that search engines and your human visitors are going to be looking for and at. If you know where to look, its easy to find professional web development for your site.

There are many different sites out there that offer free web content or very cheap web content. Content is a very important aspect of professional web development, as content is what search engines look at first. Without enough content, your site will not get a high ranking with the search engine which translates directly into fewer visitors. Finding great content is key to professional web development.

By using the search engines yourself, you can find all sorts of graphics for your web site. You can always find free professional photos, backgrounds, font styles, buttons, guestbook, and any other element of your site that you need for free on the Internet. It may take some searching to find exactly what you want, but you can find all that you need with free sites. Professional web development is fabulous, but more so when its free.

Many professional web development software and web sites are out there nowadays, because the Internet is so hugely popular and web sites so extremely important. By making use of these sites, you can get the professional, high-quality sort of web design that you want and need. Professional web development will bring you increased traffic, repeat visitors, and a high ranking with the search engine which is exactly what you need to increase revenue and business for yourself. The best part is, professional web development isnt expensive though you may have to devote some of your valuable time. In the end, its worth it. Professional web development makes you and your site look better, which is a good reflection on your business. In todays one-click world, you have to do something to stay ahead of the competition.

John Argy has been involved with web site development, promotion, maintenance and hosting for more than 12 years http://www.cyberdias.com/.Alicja Blog6545
Alistair Blog40993

Getting Free Photoshop Tutorials

The Photoshop software is truly a big deal for most people. It pays to have this program in your computer in order to manipulate your pictures as your desire. With this at hand, you can be sure that you get to improve those digital images you have taken even before they get printed. This is more reason for you to give away beautiful pictures to friends and relatives.

However, it is not enough that you have the Photoshop program installed in your computer. It is a must that you have a basic knowledge in Photoshop so you can do the things that you want. As such it is very important to get a Photoshop tutorial.

There are options such as to hire a tutor or enrol in program where you can learn Photoshop skills. You can also choose to buy books that will teach you the aspects of the program. These are options that are open to you. However, it may even be a better choice for you to get a free Photoshop tutorial. Here, you get to learn a new skill without having to spend the extra money in your pocket.

The Free Photoshop Tutorial

There are many ways for you to get a free Photoshop tutorial. Be sure that you get to use these options because it sure is a good thing to save your extra money instead. If you can have something for free, then just grab it and make the most out of it.

Ask a Friend for Help in the Photoshop

Some people are fortunate enough to have friends and relatives who are skilled in the Photoshop application. If you happen to have a friend of your own, then ask him or her to teach you basic Photoshop. This is a good way to get the free Photoshop tutorial. You can even use that extra time of learning as a bonding activity.

Explore the Photoshop Program

If it happens that you cannot access any friend to give the tutorials, you can explore the Photoshop program. The manufacturers do provide basic tutorials with the installation. You can easily check the options for the basic tutorials. This can explain to you how certain commands work and when to use them. You can read on the instructions and the step-by-step processes. There are also editions in the Photoshop software that can actually give tutorial using visuals. You will definitely enjoy viewing how a project is developed.

Download Files Online

You can also get free Photoshop tutorials online. There are numerous web sites that will give help for free. You can access the tutorial in PDF format and see the instructions. You can also browse through the sites to find the discussion on a particular topic. You may even love the options of seeing the tutorial in video format.

Ask for Assistance Online

The manufacturer can provide an option for you to get help online. However, you may find it even amazing to explore the different discussion boards and forums where other Photoshop users converge. This can be an opportunity to get free Photoshop tutorials from them. You can post your question and you can expect the other users to give you the advice you need.

Conclusion

Get your free Photoshop tutorials and learn the basic skills needed to operate the program. This way, you can turn out your nice images into fabulous pictures.

Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For more information about an excellent small business marketing checkout http://www.prophotosecrets.comAllison Blog87575
Abby Blog24022

Managing It Projects: Theory Or Practice?

Information Technology, and the development of business computer systems, is relatively new, by which I mean less than 50 years old. I started in this business in the early 1960s and was involved in the replacement of punched card tabulator systems with punched card computer systems (such as IBM 1400s).

As the technologies grew more sophisticated (eg disks, bigger memories and compilers) so the systems we developed became much more complex. As the IT industry grew, so did the numbers of programmers, analysts and operators working within it.

These were mostly very bright people, skilled and inventive but with often little appreciation of the needs of business. The wheel would be reinvented countless times in many different ways and there were as many different ways of structuring computer programmes as there were programmers doing it!

It was out of this that system development methodologies arose. These early methodologies were often developed by the major hardware manufacturers and management consultancies and were intended to be templates for development. Some were good, some were truly awful. Some were concise and some, like SSADM, were massively overblown and became the tail wagging the dog. Inevitably, the overblown ones became adopted by governments all over the world, adding massively to the cost and timescales of IT development in the 1980s without significantly improving overall quality.

The advent of databases (relational, hierarchical, etc) added to the complexity and made ever larger development projects the order of the day. This was partly the trigger for the emergence of project management methodologies because IT project management was frequently assigned to systems analysts and programmers with massive technological skills but little in the way of organisational skills.

The management consultancies quickly saw commercial opportunities and we saw a plethora of proprietary project management methodologies but it was the UK governments CCTA which broke the mould and launched PROMPT an almost workable methodology for IT project management. This was developed, firstly, into PRINCE and then into PRINCE2, which is good and has become widely adopted.

It is not unreasonable to regard PRINCE2 as the benchmark for project management methodologies and it does, indeed, provide a route map. I use it routinely in most of my projects, but it begs the question:

Does using a good methodology make me a good project manager?

It certainly helps but project management is more than just the mechanics of the process. It is about interpersonal skills, stakeholder awareness, presentation to management and understanding your rules for winning. In other words, it is a blend of theory and skills.

My eBook Project Skills looks at many of the issues involved and tries to meld theory with practical advice. You dont have to work in the industry for 30 years, but it sometimes helps if you listen to someone who has. Experience, awareness and common sense will always help, regardless of the methodology you choose for your project.

Barry De Boer is a leading project management consultant with extensive experience of successfully managing large scale complex projects for industry and government in the UK, Europe and worldwide. Barry is the author of the Project Skills eBook available from http://www.my-skills.co.uk.Andrea Blog68336
Alana Blog27908

Virtual Assistants - Create A New Income Stream In 15 Minutes

Are you using multiple streams of income business model for your virtual assistance business? Instead of only selling your time for money, you should also sell products on your web site. These products could be e-books, audio recordings, special reports and others. The money you can earn by selling these products will allow you work fewer hours while still making money.

Many virtual assistants tell me that they do not want to create their own e-books and audio recordings, but they still want to create multiple streams of income. They still want to work fewer hours while still making enough money and having multiple streams of income.

If you are virtual assistant, who wants to create multiple streams of income, but doesn't want to create your own e-books, special reports and audio recordings is to become an affiliate and sell other people's products. It takes five minutes to sign up for an affiliate program and start using it to make money.

So, what is an affiliate? An affiliate is someone who sells other people's products and receives commissions for every sale. Affiliate marketing involves selling others' products and receiving commissions for every sale.

It is easy to become an affiliate to sell products; all you need to do is join someone's affiliate program. Joining an affiliate program does not cost anything. There are no minimums to sell, so you can sell at your own pace. When you join an affiliate program, you will receive your own unique id you use to link to products you are promoting. You make money by selling products.

There are many products you can sell online through affiliate programs. How can you pick affiliate programs that are right for you? Since you are already working with a target market for your virtual assistant business, I recommend that you pick products that appeal to your target market. It is much easier to sell products to an already existing target market than to start working with a completely new target market. Selling products to your current target market will help you create revenues in the shortest amount of time.

Virtual assistants, remember, even if you do not want to write your own e-book or teach your own teleseminar, you can still create another stream of income in just 15 minutes. To do that, find products that your target market needs and wants, sign up to become an affiliate for those products and start selling those products and earning commissions.

Biana Babinsky is the online business coach and expert, who teaches virtual assistants how to get more clients online. Create a new income stream in 15 minutes - join her affiliate program at http://www.avocadoconsulting.com/rlinks/zaff and earn very generous 40% commissions on every sale.Alyce Blog70211
Amarnath Blog13812

Can Adware Be Badware ?

Adware can so badly infect your system that that you have to end up reformatting the infected computer by literally wiping everything out and doing a fresh install. Use antispyware software or adware removal tool to remove the threatening adware.

Adware is major commercial business with lots of money in it. Sometimes you become so badly infected with malware adware that you have to end up reformatting the infected computer by literally wiping everything out and doing a fresh install.

Advertising is nothing new, and used responsibly and in the appropriate context, is useful and beneficial to the user. But in Internet advertising Adware is something we all have to be very careful about because of its dangerous activities once installed in our system, especially if we didn't consent to it. Any unauthorized program carries the risk of making our computers unstable. And if infected with adware, the system performs really slowly and crashes constantly.

Sometimes the system does not even boot up. On top of all this, when you try to clean up your badly adware infected system, you encounter serious problems. If there are too many adware items to remove your antispyware software or adware removal tool, your computer may not be able to handle the load. Moreover, after you remove the adware, it may have taken away the computer's ability to connect to the Internet.

Privacy And Security Risk

Adware acts like spyware, while threatening your privacy and security. It reports details about your browsing habits, every time you connect to the Internet, tracking what you type, what you search for and which advertisements interest you. When you surf the Web, a malware installation may very well alter your Internet Explorer security settings in such a way that it might show you treacherous sites as Trusted sites. You have the Trusted sites section so that you can be sure that these websites won't destroy your data or system. The problem about adware is that it adds deceitful sites to the trusted zone without our approval and knowledge.

If you use Windows XP and have Service Pack 2, you are supposed to be safe, but adware can be clever enough to exclude itself from list of popups to be blocked. It can even unblock itself from the Windows Firewall! Some adware use Trojan horses to conceal them so that antispyware software can't find them.

The concern with adware is even more severe when teenage kids are involved. They go to various sites to download lyrics and end up with a computer that becomes so infected with adware that it becomes a real challenge for an adware removal tool to tackle. Not only that, the adware keeps generating popups that are most unsuitable for the viewing of kids.

It is therefore, highly recommended that every computer must be installed with antispyware to ensure safety.

Arvind Singh is admin and technical expert associated with development of computer security and performance enhancing software like Registry Cleaner, Window Cleaner, Anti Spam Filter etc. More information can be found at http://www.pcmantra.comAkira Blog41018
Alicea Blog65755

Preflight for Graphic Design and Prepress, an Application or Process?

Many designers and prepress operators may think of Preflight as an application. An application that runs on files to verify files and identify potential problems. I have trained hundreds of operators in how to prepare First Time Right Postscript and PDF files. That's the first thing that I set folks straight on.

Preflight is a process. It's a process of going through every predictable problem that can happen with your printing job. If you think it's a software that you run and that's it, you are not going to be able to produce First Time Right PDF files. There are many, many things that software cannot even check for, and things unique to YOUR jobs, customers, company that are important. Things that MUST be checked to ensure success and accuracy.

50% of commercial printing is destined for a delay or additional costs:

Publishers and printers regularly report more than 50 percent of the digital files they receive are improperly prepared to spec. Thus, these files will need preflight & then repair to go forward. This may be done by a publisher, printer, or kicked back to the graphic designer. At stake is the budget and schedule of the print project. Now, think about that... 50% of commercial printing projects are destined for a delay in schedule or additional costs when submitted!

A graphic design project may be made for print, web, and or video. Depending on the type of media, documents must be prepared exactly to specifications based on final output media. Common file flaws include fonts not embedded or supplied, color space(CMYK vs. RGB, or inappropriate use of Pantone or specialty colors), and resolution conflicts. These are some of the many things that can be identified quickly by Preflight tools. A Preflight tool is utility software that is specially suited to help identify these file issues.

Preflight Software, helpful, required, but not a Whole Solution:

So there are tools that help. But what about things you have to identify by visual inspection? What about bleed and trim margins, placement and position, checking dates on event ads and coupon ads. What about checking every full page ad that is a repeat to be sure that the folio (page number) is deleted or updated. What about copy flow from 2 successive documents in a publication. These are all things that must be checked visually by a human. So, if you want to be a top notch designer or prepress operator, there is a list of important Preflight items that you, the human, must check. I always advise people to develop and update THEIR LIST every time a mistake is found or caught. Use the list as a checklist often enough that it becomes completely automatic to you as you prepare and process graphics files. If you get burned on a project, think of making that a part of your preflight checklist. An example or beginning preflight checklist can be found at this URL, review it and use it as a starting point.
http://prepressforum.com/preflight/job_planning.html

Preflighting Applications, Help, and History of Preflight:

I once read an article that stated Preflight Applications were invented in the 1990's. Actually, preflight applications are nothing new at all. The early layout applications like Quark Xpress, Aldus PageMaker, Adobe Photoshop, Ready Set Go, were the first preflight applications. Preflight applications were invented in the 80's, and have been improved upon and developed since. Today there is a Free Preflight Tool available called FreeFlight at the URL below, you can download the software free and get free help and support.
http://FREE-PREFLIGHT.com

There is also an online community at PREPRESSFORUM.COM that has extensive and free, user to user support. I help folks there most every day and the site is chock full of great insider tips, tricks, problems and solutions. I would encourage any designer, publisher, or printer to join and participate, teach or learn. All experience levels are welcome to post and answer questions at this site.

Examples of First Preflight Software Tools:

Example (A) PageMaker has a links palette that scanned through the document providing a report about images linked/missing, RGB/CMYK, Tiff/EPS, etc. This was a preflight results report covering the main document AND many support document files combined. Thus Pagemaker was a preflight tool that could report on files originating from other applications, like scans. It would give the user a list of confirmations and or problems identified that was to be used to repair and prepare files prior to output.

Example (B) Quark Xpress has had a usage palette, when called, it scans through the open document providing detailed reports about fonts used/missing, images used/missing/modified, image types, image colors, image paths. This was a preflight results report covering the open document AND many support document files combined. Thus Quark Xpress was a preflight tool that could report on files originating in other applications, like scans. It would give the user a list of confirmations and or problems identified that was to be used to repair and prepare files prior to output. Additionally Quark Xpress may have started collect for output, a feature mentioned in other patents from the 1990's regarding preflight software invention.

Example (C) Adobe Photoshop was used to inspect and verify images. Back in the day, a user would grab all the Tiffs and Eps placed into a job. The selected files drag & dropped onto Adobe Photoshop would automatically open and display the color space in the title bar of each file, CMYK/RGB/Grayscale etc. Thus Adobe PhotoShop was a preflight tool that could report on files originating from other applications. An operator could open the Image size palette and verify resolution before closing each document. Thus a semi-automatic preflight of graphic images was performed. So, yes, Adobe Photoshop was and still is a preflight application and a file repair application that could inspect and identify problems in files which it did not originate.

Preflighting, Today's Hottest Current Applications:

QuarkXpress 6.5, QuarkXpress 7, Adobe InDesign CS2, these applications have built in preflight function these days. Unlike all other preflight software, these are native function that is fast and effective. Best of all, they come at no additional cost to the designer, publisher, or printer. These are built into both of today's most common preflight applications.

However, there's a few very critical holes in the built in preflight of these applications. No need to worry, there's a FREE preflight application caller FreeFlight that has been recently released to address this. The application is a free download from a Quark Xtension and Adobe Plug-In developer site . FreeFlight is a must have tool that supplements the use of QuarkXpress and Adobe InDesign CS2 built in preflight. You can download and read about FreeFlight at this URL.
http://FREE-PREFLIGHT.com

"Preflighting" as a printing term came to popularity in the 1990s as printers and service bureaus ensured that problematic files would be caught and fixed before they found their way into CTF (Computer to Film) workflow. In this century the term has evolved into other variations, like post-flight, indicating when in the workflow the file is actually verified. To Preflight is proactive quality control, Postflight is reactive quality control. Preflight is good manufacturing process, Postflight is not. This may be a nice topic for later. Take my word on it and avoid Postflight workflow schemes. Real craftsmen and professionals find and fix all problems at the earliest possible point. Many of these tools below are actually post-flight oriented tools.

Preflighting, The Older Expensive Applications for the job at hand:

Markzware FlightCheck Classic: This preflight software is developed by Markzware Software. Markzware's FlightCheck Classic is a standalone application that scans, verifies and collects each job for output. Currently available as version 5.8 (6.0 was due out this fall), Although it was the gold standard for years and is still a great tool, the software is not staying current with releases of software. Example Quark Xpress 7. Markzware's FlightCheck Classic will preflight a wide range of digital file formats, including PDF documents and those created in most popular native application programs (QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, PageMaker, etc.). Ground Controls enable users to highlight potential problems, out of more than 150 choices, for which to search. Single-user licenses for Windows and Mac users are available for about $400. This software is no longer recommended because development does not stay current with the support of new application versions that it's users face every day like Quark Xpress 7.
http://www.markzware.com

Markzware FlightCheck Collect!: This preflight software deemed the "lite" version of Markzware's FlightCheck Classic, FlightCheck Collect! inspects for common file problems, like improperly assigned color space, missing fonts and image or resolution conflicts. Once preflighted, the application can then collect the document, including images, extensions and screen and printer fonts, for output. Markzware offers Windows and Mac versions for around $180. This software is no longer recommended because development does not stay current with the support of new application versions that it's users face every day like Quark Xpress 7.
http://www.markzware.com

Markzware HawkEye: This preflight software from Markzware is HawkEye, a preflighting tool designed specifically for designers and content creators. It runs as a plug-in to most popular desktop publishing applications like QuarkXPress, Illustrator, Acrobat, FreeHand and more. Before content is created, designers can create specifications (known as TrueFileSpecifications) for each job they plan to create. For example, an art director can choose the color schema or font set to use. If the designer mistakenly places an element into the document that doesn't meet the TrueFileSpecifications, he or she is immediately alerted to the discrepancy. Users can also choose to forbid saving or printing a file that is in a "failed" or "unfixed" state, helping to better manage revisions, versions and cut down on consumable waste. This product from Markzware was advertised and was on a seybold Hot Picks 2002 but may have been pulled or may have never made it to market, unable to confirm at Markzware's site?
http://www.markzware.com

PDF/X-1 Verifier 2.0: This preflight software developed for the DDAP (Digital Distribution of Advertising for Publication association, www.ddap.org), this application verifies the integrity of PDF/X-1a files, the professional format of choice for print advertising. This application is suited for both digital ad designers as well as file recipients like publishers, prepress suppliers and printers. It offers pass-fail results or more comprehensive preflight reports. DDAP members can purchase single-seat licenses for about $95; non-members pay about $125.
http://www.ddap.org

Apago PDF/X-1 CheckUp: This preflight software developed by Apago offers PDF/X-1 CheckUp 2.5, a plug-in to Adobe Acrobat that preflights and produces PDF/X files. It supports both ISO (International Standards Organization) PDF/X-1:2001 and PDF/X-1a:2001 standards. Mac and Windows versions are available for Acrobat 4.0.5 and 5.0, for about $250ea.
http://www.apagoinc.com

Enfocus PitStop Professional: This preflight software developed by Enfocus Software, PitStop Pro preflights and edits PDF documents. It checks for 140 potential problems and offers 70 automated correction features. After running the document through preflight, users can edit existing objects and text, or add new elements. It's also equipped to re-map color space or tag/detag images with ICC (International Color Consortium) profiles. The software comes with several common PDF profiles to select according to a file's final destination. Windows and Mac versions of PitStop Professional are available for about $550. Enfocus Pitstop is a great tool for repairing bad PDF files. However, it is not recommended as a Preflight solution. Since the PDF is the end result, to check a PDF files is really Postflight, a good preflight workflow is about making good PDF in the first place.
http://www.enfocus.com

Extensis Preflight Pro: This preflight software is developed by Extensis, Preflight Pro inspects entire folders of native application documents created in popular desktop publishing applications like QuarkXPress, Acrobat, Illustrator, PageMaker, Photoshop and FreeHand. Following preflight inspection, the software then collects the job for output. Mac version is available for about $400.
http://www.extensis.com

TIFF/IT-P1 Checker: This preflight software developed for DDAP by Congruent Development, TIFF/IT-P1 Checker is a bundle of software tools, that includes TIFF/IT-P1 Preflight. Suited for both digital ad and packaging designers, it also represents a low-cost tool for any manufacturing partner that receives a large number of TIFF/IT-P1 files. It's available in both Mac and Windows versions and costs about $100 for DDAP members, $180 for non-members.
http://www.ddap.org

Asura & Solvero: This preflight software created by OneVision Software AG, Asura eliminates frequently occurring production problems in PDF, EPS and PostScript files, with the help of hot-folder specifications. Asura preflights incoming files, while Solvero automatically repairs common problems. The system keeps a log of all changes made to a file. According to the developer, this coupled solution is most popular among newspaper publishers, which receive a wide range of digital file formats.
http://www.onevision.com

AdCheck: This preflight software developed by Total Integration, AdCheck 2.1 allows users to open and view production-image format files, including TIFF/IT, CT, HC and LW, using a standard Mac workstation. Its Show Info prompt provides detailed information about the file, including size and colors used.
http://www.totalint.com

Markzware MarkzNet: This preflight software developed by Markzware, MarkzNet is not an out-of-the-box preflighting solution. Rather, it's a blend of the company's popular FlightCheck technology with systems integration. For high-volume production environments, MarkzNet provides a Web-based portal into a company's production workflow. Customers submit files with drag-and-drop simplicity. Files are automatically inspected for flaws or conflicts with the recipient's specifications and either pass or fail. Failed files are rejected and both recipient and sender are immediately alerted to the problem. If the file passes, it's automatically forwarded to the next stage of production for a truly seamless digital workflow. This software is not recommended because it is a web based tool and has proved to be really slow and not productive to many users.
http://www.markzware.com

Preflight Online: This preflight software developed from a partnership between Extensis and WAM!NET, Preflight Online is a Web-based solution for printers and publishers that need a custom-branded solution for receiving digital files from customers and advertisers. It accepts a wide range of file formats, including EPS, native Quark and Adobe PDF, preflights them and forwards files that pass directly to the recipient's FTP server. There's a one-time admin charge, as well as a monthly subscription fee that's based on the customer's actual inspection traffic. This software is not recommended because it is a web based tool and has proved to be really slow and not productive to many users.
http://www.extensis.com http://workspace.wamnet.com

TIFF/ITeyes: This preflight software developed by Rorke Data, enables users to view the complete data in TIFF/IT-P1 files, the widely adopted accredited standard for digital ad exchange. Users can measure X-Y coordinates, as well as CMYK values. http://www.rorke.com

SpeedFlow Check: This preflight software developed by OneVision, SpeedFlow Check is one component of a suite of tools that preflights, edits and imposes PDF, EPS and PostScript files. Files that pass SpeedFlow Check inspection are saved in PostScript or PDF form (depending on the manufacturer's or publisher's workflow) and sent to a hot-folder on the server. Problems may be fixed manually in SpeedFlow Edit and electronically routed to SpeedFlow Impose for impositioning.
http://www.onevision.com

© Samuel Hargis 2006Alnoor Blog66054
Alon Blog80352