Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt did an interview with the "Wall Street Journal" and suggested that in the future folks will need to change their names to protect their reputation. What??? Sounds a litle crazy to me, how about you? I mean if it's that bad why are you posting it online? Watch the video then let me know what you think.
Image via Wikipedia
I love my Droid!! That is until recently. About a week ago Verizon updated everyone to the highly anticipated Froyo 2.2 software update. Having read much about the new enhancements that were included I eagerly powered off and on my phone to accept the upgrade. What a mistake that was.
Ever since this update my phone has taken on the personality of a possessed person. It randomly locksup, loses calls, my battery life has become so dismal I'm afraid to actually use it, apps no longer would close with the use of the "Task Kiler and running really slow, like a dog.
At first I thought it was me, but after talking to a few Droid friends who were having similar problems, I did a little research. What I found was highly discouraging. Apparently, there's a lot of people in the world having similar problems, who also want to rip their hair out over this latest and greatest update. Be afraid my friends, be very afraid <grin>
For Example: One of the first headlines I ran across.
"Motorola Droid owners reporting issues with Android 2.2 update"
http://www.examiner.com/gadgets-in-san-francisco/motorola-droid-owners-reporting-issues-with-android-2-2-update
As I browsed and read more the problem with task killer not working became readily apparent. I wasn't insane after all. Well, maybe I am....but that's talk for another day.
"Problems with Task Killer and Froyo 2.2 Update on Droid"
http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-20013247-85.html
"Froyo update kills Android task killer apps"
http://www.worldtech24.com/phones/froyo-update-kills-android-task-killer-apps
When I first bought my Droid the Verizon rep put Task Killer on it for me stating you had to have it in order to kill all the running apps to save your battery life. Now, the killer has apparently been killed. Aggghhhhh!!
Moving onto the battery drainage problem it appears they're trying to blame this one on Facebook's app but I'm not sure I'm buying that this is the whole cause. I found information that said to make sure you update to the latest version in order to solve this problem.
"Android 2.2 Froyo Battery Drainage Apparently Caused By Facebook App"
http://erictric.com/2010/08/05/android-2-2-froyo-battery-drainage-apparently-caused-by-facebook-app/
So after spending a few hours growing increasingly disappointed over what I was reading. I did pick up a few tips and pointers that you might want to try if you're falling out of love with your Droid with the inclusion of Froyo in your relationship.
1) Delete Task Killer- According to the "experts" Froyo knows when to launch and kill apps on its own and will run much better with this app gone. Again, true or not just what I've been reading. I myself, uninstalled it.
2) Add the Android power management widget to your phone to help shut things down when not needed and preserve battery life. Just long press on your screen and pick add widget the look for "Power Management". Just make sure you have enough open space on your home screen before trying to place it there as it needs 3 rows across to fit.
3) Uninstall Facebook app....then redownload it. You can't really take it out completely but you can go to apps management and remove what you can then go and re-download the latest version.
4) Take out your battery, then put it back in. (not sure what this does)
5) Factory Reset: Last but not least if Froyo still isn't playing nice on your phone do a factory reset. I haven't been brave enough to do this one and am saving it as a last resort but the research I've read seems to suggest this will fix all of your problems and things will go back to normal. Of course, you'll wipe out everything on your phone and will need to start over, but that's the cost of a buggy update. It's similar to formating your hard drive and gives you a clean slate. If anyone has done this, and life is better now, please let me know. I refuse to go there unless I absolutely
have to.
After reading through hundreds of comments on forums and discussion boards I picked up a few other random tips that may help.
Download Juice Defender- Helps preserve battery life
http://latedroid.com/juicedefender/
And to really see what's going on with your phone's battery type this into your handset.
*#*#4636#*#*
You'll be amazed at the phone info, battery info, and usage stats it reveals.
So there you have it. My own little private hell in a nutshell. No, I'm not taking back my phone, and I do still think that the Droid is the slickest phone ever. I'll just sit back in my corner and wait for Verizon to come up with an update to this update to kill all of these crazy bugs. I'm sure it's just a matter of time. Right?? Any suggestions?
I’ve always been impressed with those who seem to always be ahead of the pack when it comes to new ideas. When I first started publishing
information products online, I thought that certain people had a crystal ball they gazed into. Or some top-secret contact who was providing them with inside information. Over time, I realized that it wasn’t magic that allowed these people to come up with red-hot ideas on demand. It was simply that they knew where to look.
I soon discovered many places where ideas seemed to always be found. I call these places “idea hangouts”. Here are three of my favorites where you can find ideas for your next ebook anytime you want. Almost like a genie granting you three wishes...
1. GOOGLE.COM. Google is the ultimate “idea hangout”. There are so many ways to mine the gold in Google’s amazing search database that it would take another article to graze the surface of this enormous iceberg.
What I want to mention are just two quick ways to find ideas by searching Google.
- Identify Listings. Search for a broad topic related to your area of interest or expertise. (I.E. “Tennis”, “Weight loss”, “Homeschooling”.) Look at all of the web sites listed in the index of returned results. You’ll likely find some ideas for information products right there in the first couple of pages.
- Identify Advertisers. You’ll probably notice small ads either at the top of the page or to the right of the page (or both!). These advertisers represent your competition. They also represent your thermometer for taking the temperature of your market and gauging interest in specific topics. Chances are, what they’re selling you should be selling. In both of these examples, you can click through to the web pages of the sites listed and study their respective sales pages. Look specifically at the “bullet points”. Each of these represents a potential idea for your next ebook.
2. AMAZON.COM. From the world’s largest search engine we move to the world’s largest bookstore. At Amazon.com you’ll really get your creative juices fired up. Again, you’ll want to search the listings by entering a keyword or keyphrase into the search box on the main page at Amazon.com. You’ll get a returned listing of numerous books, courses and other periodicals. Search these listed items for ideas for your own ebook
. --- Example --- If you were to search for “Homeschooling”, you’d find a variety of ideas just waiting in the listing of books available, including: homeschooling for special needs children, getting starting in homeschooling, choosing curriculum, homeschooling field trips, homeschooling support groups, homeschooling for various ages (I.E. Pre-K, Elementary, Junior High, High School, etc.), homeschooling for Christians, etc.) Any of these listings (and the dozens of others listed) would be great ideas for the topic of your next ebook.
--- Example --- Pay particular attention to the first page of the listing. Amazon ranks their listings based on popularity of actual sales volume. In other words, #1 is a better seller than #50. This is a ready-made indicator of demand!
3. MAGAZINES.COM. After visiting the world’s largest search engine and the world’s largest bookstore, it’s time to take a quick stop at the world’s largest periodical store, Magazines.com. You’ll find every imaginable magazine listed at this site. The interesting part (and useful to you as a research tool) is this: you’ll also find the COVER of usually a recent copy of each magazine. That is, you can search for “Parenting” and the engine will return a listing of magazines related to that topic. You can then click on the image of the magazine cover and you’ll be shown a larger copy of that cover where you can read the contents.
(I.E. “How To Raise A Stubborn Child”, “27 Ways Discipline In Public” and “The Real Key To Your Child Getting Better Grades”.) Each of these “cover stories” represents an idea for your next ebook. The best part about it is this: the publishers of these magazines have done the research for you! They’ve measured the level of interest for these ideas and found it high enough to warrant not only writing content about them, but referencing that content on the cover of the magazine! That’s your hint. People want this information.
So, there you have it, 3 “idea hangouts” where you can find ready-made, in-demand, red-hot topics for your next ebook. Happy hunting!
There must be some reason why certain ebook writers are successful and others are not. In other words, why do some authors make high six-figure incomes (even seven-figures!) and others barely make enough to cover their hosting fees? There must be some reason for the difference in level of success, right? There is. In fact, there are three “reasons” why that I want to share with you now. 
I’ve used the word “K.E.Y.” as an acronym to reveal these three elements of successful ebook publishing. 1. K = KEEP it concise. One of the biggest mistakes ebook writers make is starting their project with the idea in mind that their ebook must be a certain number of pages in length. That is, they assume the ebook should be 50 pages or 100 pages or even 200 pages in order to be desirable to consumers. Wrong. Ding. Thanks for playing. Much more important than QUANTITY is QUALITY.
Almost every potential customer in your target market is considerably more interested in learning something useful than they are reading a bunch of commentary that has little or no real value to them. The ability to concisely (yet comprehensively) share content that is practical is a must if you want to be successful in the information business. No fluff. No filler. No fat. Just the meat. That’s what consumers want. Especially today in our fast- paced, instant, I-want-it-now society. And chances are you are much more likely to write a 30 page manual and get it done than you are to slave over trying to measure up to a 200 page masterpiece.
Your first key to success is “keep it concise”. Share what you need to share in the least amount of pages as possible. It doesn’t have to be the great American novel. This isn’t Hemingway. 2. E = ENJOY yourself. I simply must mention that if you enjoy your “work” then you are exponentially more likely to complete your ebooks than those who reluctantly or grudgingly write. Seriously, don’t underestimate what I’m saying here. You’ll get much more done as a writer by having fun with your subject matter.
That’s the beauty of information publishing. YOU get to pick the topic. A topic of interest – of passion – to you as the author. Something you find enjoyable, even exhilarating. To be sure, you want to choose topics that are in demand and have a ready-made audience awaiting who are willing to purchase them. But, at the same time, you can look for those marketable topics that appeal to your interests and expertise. I don’t care
how “profitable” a subject may be, I’d never take it on as a project of mine unless I got some sense of satisfaction or enjoyment in writing about it. Instead, look for those things that you are already talking about anyway. And then write what you’ve been talking about. 3. Y = YIELD results.
Finally, I must exhort you to “yield results”. That is, you simply must stick to it and finish the job. I cannot tell you how many people that I’ve met online who struggle with the affliction “short-of-the-finish-line-it is”. They begin running the race with gusto. They pick their topic like it was a Nike outfit. They outline their ebook like they just heard the starting gun fire. They come up with ideas to include in their work like they were sprinting down the track. And when they round the first corner, they start slowing down. Before they know it, they’re up in the stands watching others cross the finish line. That’s why I am adamant about telling you the golden rule of ebook content:
Never start something you can’t finish in 30 days. With any new ebook you are planning on writing, choose the topic and outline it in such a way that you can complete the content within one calendar month. Anything that goes beyond that period of time is likely going to be discarded somewhere past the starting gate and before the finish line.
It’s important that you set for your goal a reasonable, reachable amount of pages for your ebook ... such as 30 pages. Then, divide that goal number of pages into your 30 days. In this example, it would mean writing just ONE page per day (very realistic!) for 30 days and your ebook will be completed. Victory! The finish line!
Certainly there are a wide variety of other “keys” to being successful as an ebook writer (choosing the right topics, learning to outline well, brainstorming ideas, marketing, etc.) but these three form a solid foundation for you to build upon as you continue to learn more about information publishing. K = KEEP it concise. E = ENJOY yourself. Y = YIELD results. See you on your victory lap!
"Some people are under the impression that blogs are good for SEO only if they're updated frequently. How much does frequency play into PageRank for blogs and other dynamic sites? "
Image via Wikipedia
There are limitless topics that you could write about. But to make the biggest positive impact on your business, the articles that work the best are those that match the interests of your niche market.
If your business is selling information products to stay-at-home moms who want to start their own at-home business, then you want to write articles that demonstrate your expertise in that area. When those readers get to your resource box at the end of your article, they’ll click on the link expecting more of the same great content. Writing articles for dog lovers, for instance, when your target market is aspiring work-at-home moms just doesn’t make sense.
The best explanation I've ever heard of this was by Jimmy D. Brown who coined the term “useful but incomplete”. What he meant was that your articles should be “useful” to your target audience, but “incomplete” in that they should lead the reader hungrily to seek more information from you. They'll turn to your resource box in search of more.
Quality is also a key ingredient to successful articles. While anyone can throw together a few sentences, combine a few paragraphs, paste on a resource box and call it an article, this slap-dash method is not likely to produce the results you desire. Quite simply, quality content is the key for any kind of success in article marketing.
Online article directories are filled with articles written by non-native language writers who don’t understand grammar or sentence structure, or by those who have simply copied what someone else wrote and plugged it into an article spinner without thought for the value of the finished article. Using such shoddy marketing methods will never help your article marketing efforts, and will likely brand you as unprofessional and harm your reputation as a business owner.
Most editors in search of content would rather find an expert on EzineArticles.com or LadyPens.com with 10 high-quality articles, than one with 500 junk articles. When editors and readers see junk articles, they assume that everything that person does is junk. Not a great way to build a business!
When you offer well-written, relevant content that helps your reader answer a question or gain new knowledge and understanding of a subject matter they're interested in, you'll establish yourself as an expert and advance your article marketing efforts and, ultimately, your business.
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Article marketing is one of the most popular methods of promoting a business online. Not only is it easy and low-cost, it works and anyone can do it! I’ve been doing it for years, and it’s my number one way of increasing page rank to my websites, and increasing traffic. 
By writing articles on your areas of expertise and offering this content free of charge to online and offline publishers, you can:
spread the word to your target market
demonstrate your professional know-how, and
create a body of work that continues to "sell" you and your website long after the initial article creation
Other website owners, bloggers, and newsletter publishers are constantly looking for quality content to provide to their readers. You help them out by providing your well-written, targeted articles. In return they include a plug about you and your business, called the "author resource box," at the bottom of the piece. The resource box includes a link to your site. So, they get free content, and you get free publicity. It's a win-win!
When writing your resource box try to entice people to click by offering something of value if they stop by for a visit. Use good copy writing skills to get the reader to take action.
You may be wondering if article marketing will work for your niche or industry. The short answer is yes! There are blogs and newsletters and ezines and websites on just about every topic under the sun, from accounting to Zoroastrianism.
Here's a short list of businesses that can benefit from article marketing:
Service providers.
Bloggers.
Affiliate marketers.
Ebook Authors.
Infoproduct sellers.
Online Store owners.
Coaches and consultants.
Realtors.
Podcasters.
Membership site owners.
Authors.
Speakers.
Network marketers.
In short, if you're selling something or trying to drive traffic to your website or blog, article marketing is for you. It's one of the most efficient ways to attract targeted visitors, to build trust among your readers, and to gain new customers or clients.
Here are some broad examples:
Bloggers can use article marketing to attract readers to their blogs and increase their subscriber base.
Webmasters can use article marketing to create valuable backlinks, and increase website traffic.
Writers can use article marketing to exhibit their writing skills, educate readers, and attract clients.
Hairstylists can use article marketing to share hair care tips, showcase their expertise, and attract business to their salons.
Dog trainers can use article marketing to share dog training lessons, and inform the public about the needs at a local shelter.
Whatever your passion, article marketing can benefit you and your business. When used correctly, it can successfully attract targeted traffic to your website or blog, grow your mailing list, help you become an expert in your field, build trust with your readers, make your website more popular, spread your name and website across the Web, add backlinks to your site, allow you to "advertise" free, brand yourself and your business, and generate sales.
As you can see, the benefits of article marketing are numerous.
Who can benefit from article marketing? You! And, it starts with just one article. So what are you waiting for, get busy!
Additional Resources to help:
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