Ask the Readers : What’s your family fun night?

As you know I have a family and we before we got Roku and Netflix, we would just play Scrabble or some other game but now since we can Watch virtually any movie.  We’ve changed tactics to include a movie night in our family fun night.    We can sit and watch all those old family classics or New Family friendly movies, but yet it is family time.  In the summer we go out and have a time to run and play with the kids but in the winter you have to be a conservative.   It was that thought that came to me today and I wanted thought this would be a good little discussion for those of use who have families.

What do you do for family fun??

This is a really easy but I suspect that some people will have a hard time explaining their family fun routine.   I just thought it would be a good to find other ideas for me and my family and other readers to find ideas on other activities.

A Sneak Peak at my Reviews this month

I wanted to update all you on what to expect in the coming weeks.   I don’t think this will be a big blog post because of all the stuff that I will be reviewing.   For Starters I found this great laptop over at Newegg that I will be talking about once I get a chance to sit down and test them out myself:

• Acer Aspire AS5739G-6959 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T6600(2.20GHz) 15.6″ 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 320GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M – Retail

5 things I learned while moving to a new Hosting Provider!

If you haven’t noticed, I have switched from Godaddy Hosting to Justhost And I do think the load up time on this blog has double or tripled. We all fall in to that little trap where we want to keep our hosting and domains together and then I started hating the slow speed of the page loading. So that is why I decided to switch. Now this is so much faster on my end, and I am sure it is on your end too. While moving this blog, I did learn some things:

1. No matter how prepared you think you are, it is never enough –  I don’t say this lightly.   When I started doing the move, I thought I understood how to do it.    I now know, I should of been more prepared by testing it on a local drive by using Xamp.  If I would of done that, I would of figured out that the backup file was incomplete and would of fixed that but I didn’t.   That is why the Site was down for more than 12 hours.

Making a Niche out of your Blog!

We all have our special area in life whether it be Life support, computer support, and many other specialties in life. I thought we talk about how do you decide what your will talk about on your blog or website. We all have our own experiences and our own education. No single person can know everything and we all have our flaws and we call all learn from that in one way or another.

How Can I figure out what my blog/website niche is?

You could use keywords to see what the search engines suggest. I say that because if the blog or Website talk about “Making money” or “Computer Repair” or even “Cellular Modems” then you know what you could become even better at your niche. You can find that out by what using Google Analytics to find out what people are searching for to find your blog. This is how your audience finds you by putting in the search in keywords.

Now if you haven’t started a blog or website and you would like to come up with your niche before hand. This is even easier to do. You would need to figure out what you want your blog or website to talk about and then you will want to add them in your posts.

Ask the Readers : If you could change Something on my site what would it be?

It can be hard to see the site from the outsider perspective because I have an invested interest and can’t be partial. Trying to make a site pleasing to people can sometimes be a big experiment and I would like to get more people to come to my site. I ask this because I want this site to used more and more. Starting next week I will be publishing Three Articles a week which will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and on  other occasions when I am feeling like writing more than that. I however started thinking to myself how I can make this better site! So I wanted to ask my readers this.

I ask you to go to my site and turn off your ad blocking software and leave a comment either in comments or you can contact me directly if you feel uncomfortable leaving a message that might be embarrassing. I will say don’t send me emails that are just mean or insensitive, I get those and I will automatically just delete without reading them or even giving them a second thought. I am however wanting to make this site even better for new guests and returning visitors, so that is why I am ask.

How to Setup your own Blog, The Easy way

Over the weekend I had a chance to talk to my sister who was interested in having setting up her own blog. She didn’t know a thing about setting up her own blog and asked me to walk her step by step. So I thought I would also walk my readers through this whole process and help you set up your own blog to.

This process will take approximately an hour to two hours, each step will be talked about in detail through a series of blog post. This shouldn’t not take long for anyone to do, depending on the speed of your internet. In fact if you follow my directions, it should be really quick and easy. No mess or fuss.

• How to Setup your Own Blog, The Easy Way
• Picking the Hosting Provider & Setting up your Domain
• Setting up Wordpress
• Securing Wordpess
• Picking your Blog Theme

Why website should Hide their Affiliate links

Yes you heard me right, lately I’ve been trying to figure out why some of my click were not used in my links. So I went to Google to find the answer. I found the answer to some of this. According to some other websites 40% of affiliate links are stolen or switched with spammers and scammer who are trying to make money. You see the virus writers have been trying to make money with there Fake Antivirus software and they will do anything to earn money. I have also though about how people would boost they have made Millions from Affiliate links and that is where this stilling would happen.

How to make your Affiliate links look like they come from your site:

I decided the easiest way to prevent link theft is create a directory called “go” and then used the program Profit Protector to encrypt and hide my affiliate links.  Then all you have to do is upload the created html file to the “go” directory. for Example:

http://www.affiliatesite.com/product.html?affid=1234

changes to

http://www.mysite.com/go/affiliatesite.html

Now all you have to do is change all your links like the example above and you would use the “http://www.mysite.com/go/affiliatesite.html” for your active link.  This would help reduce programs from stealing your affiliate links with there own.

MyGodaddy Review : Thumbs UP!

I have been using as my Hosting Company for quite some time and really love the service. As you know they clam to have 99% uptime and I haven’t seen them go down for anything since I started. So Let’s Talk about this even more:

• Hosting plans starting as low as $4.99 a Month. (GoDaddy.com Hosting Plans )
• Domains starting as low as $1.99.  (Domain Sale! $7.49 .com at GoDaddy )
• Technical Support has been excellent.  Every time I call there hasn’t been nothing they would not do to help out.
• Wordpress, Simple Machine Forum, and even Wiki programs. You have a wide variety of programs to use to such as blog and have it up and running in no time.
• You can become a Reseller for Godaddy if you want, and have a store if you want.   This is also makes it even easier for you to make and sell domains for cheap.
• SSL Certificates — Keep your website secure and prevent people from getting information they shouldn’t.   This is good for businesses who have to sell using a credit card or registration for people information.

This is a good service for bloggers and podcasters who want to blog.   I have been using this service from www.GoDaddy.com and have been really impressed.  If you looking for a hosting this is the right place to go.   Although the support for www.GoDaddy.com is not the best, when I went through them for tech support.   They would tell me how to fix it and leave me do it myself but that is a good way to learn how to keep a website going.   I still recommend www.GoDaddy.com for people who want a dependable service.   Do you like or not like Godaddy?  I want to hear from you!  Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

It is looking like a Phish to me Niggabook

This site looks to be another phishing attempt, a poor one at best. I go there and it seems that you get the Facebook Login screen. According to:

If it isn’t showing Http://www.Facebook.com or Https://www.facebook.com then it probably is a a phish site.   If you’ve did use your password with this site, I’d strongly suggest changing it.   If I find out more I’ll let you know.   I know that the site is from Godaddy but if this was done by accident or not I do not know.   I don’t make the Name up Niggabook.com is the site and until more things become clear, steer clear of the site for the time being.   When I find out more, you’ll be the first to know!!

Securing your Windows Machines

After a Long day at work, you sometimes feel like there isn’t much you want to talk about. Then this idea comes to me? Why do people blog and why do people talk about security?

I’ve come to realize something, I’m not one who was grew up understanding bits from bytes. I grew up as any family does fighting with my siblings.

Having been blogging the past few years, it seems like only yesterday that I started blogging. Cliche I know but still very much true. Most blogs do what they know, I aim to learn and teach each day I blog. Like days like this when the world is pretty much quite and the remnants of the conficker worm dies to a rumble.

So how do you secure your Windows Machine?

After a day long battle with  my wife’s system, I grow to wonder if there is something I should do differently with how to prevent Viruses and Worms on her system.  So I’ve groomed my Knowledge base and come up with 5 good points when it comes to locking down your Windows Machines:

Is Google the ultimate news source?

As you know We had a big problem Monday Night and All day Tuesday. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you would of noticed either a 503 or lag. It was due to an article that I released late Monday night about the PIFTS.EXE and the so call conspiracy.

At the time, I was wondering and quite disturbed about what Norton Symantec was doing to the forums. So I blogged about this and wouldn’t you know my site was Held Hostage by Google. I kid you not, I had so many people come to my site in under an hour it wasn’t even funny.

So I sit here, asking a really good question is Google the News? I don’t know exactly when but according to Wikipedia Google was formed in 1998. The Google Motto is Don’t Be Evil, and I guess it makes them look like a news source. When did they get past the news site? I would hazard a guess that it was in late 2004 they started when they when Google gave people the first chance to own the stock on August 19, 2004, when Google became a publicly held company.

I got hit hard by Slashdot, Reddit.com, and Google.  In truthfulness, It was more of searches and people coming from Google than anywhere else. I would say Google was the 90% and and Slashdot and Redidit was 8% and the rest was from other websites for this one article. Now don’t get me wrong the 2% of people was my normal amount of people for the day. So you can imagine how many people actually came to my site over this fiasco.

Scoble is Right and Arrington, and Loic are wrong about “authority”?

This weekend the blogosphere flared up over twitter having “authority” search functions.  I say this is totally not going to work because some factors.  I am not saying they have the right idea but I do see a really major downfall.   Loic wants to be able to search for content that has more “authority” and because he is looking for good content.   I understand where he is coming from because he wants to look for content for his Seesmic Company.   I can see he wants to find the best videos to offer to his users for his company.  I totally understand and really appreciate that he wants to work for his company.

Now being that Arrington talked about this on Techcrunch, and agreeing with Loic over this.  I have to wonder why he wants to agree.  You see he is also into content and understand that if the “authority” for searches in twitter from his blog post means people will flock to his site and he gets more pageviews.  I say this is the wrong for him to agree because there is nothing going to stop people finding his content.   Also that would mean his blog post would have more “authority” then the common person who might not like this blog post and you wouldn’t see that until you get to the next page or even a few pages back.   So we have these two wanting more “authority” and more content.

A Blogger Has Dreams

Those who knows someone who has a blog, also knows what the dream of a blogger is. On this case I will go into 5 areas where most bloggers should improve on. Although these aren’t going to be major, you to can create a good blog and encourage users to come back to you all the time. Having dreams isn’t a bad thought or a bad wish. Sometimes having been blogging the way I have been. I see the challenges of coming up with content for the blog. I’ve figured out some important points in making content and full filling the dreams that you have.

Sometimes, I think, bloggers get the bad wrap. They are considered undesirables to the big magazines and the popular medias. You see, in the mind of the big companies, they don’t understand the small guy and how they impact the big companies. A bloggers dream is to impact there inspiration to write something with content.

How to Get advertisers to come to you!!

Lately in the past few weeks, I’ve had several Advertisers come to me wanting to advertise for there clients.  I’d thought I share you some of my experiences, in the hopes, that you too can get advertisers to come to you so I’d come up with some steps to better help you;

1. Don’t use Blogger.com — Yep that’s right, after recently moving from blogger to WordPress.  I’ve found that after the move, I’d start getting more people coming to my site.  I don’t know if it was something I did or if it was the platform that got me more business.  I think most advertisers think blogger is for amatuers or people who aren’t interested in revenues.
2. Content is the Key — Having spent the last few months thinking how I can get people to come to my blog.  I’ve found this out.  If you make content that is specific to your area and not try to repeat what everyone else is saying you can get a high volume of people to come to you site.  I’ve also learned that Google is your friend and you need to use it to you fullest abilities.

Understanding a Bloggers Heart

I’ve had so many people talk about why blog? I’ve seen articles about blogging being dead. I say that’s not going to happen, it is the heart of a blogger to talk about what they want to talk about. It comes from the idea that they have the understanding of the what a blogger is!

What’s a blogger?

It’s in the wikapedia as this : “A blog (a contraction of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”  So what does that say about me? Well let us talk about this in terms we can understand. Having been blogging for the last few months or I should say year(s). I’ve got some things to say about this. Not all bloggers are bad and not all bloggers are professional. I hate to say this but it is the truth some bloggers have never went to school for writing class or other such education. We saw this as a way to talk about what we are passionate about and want to educate others. It comes from a desire to socialize with people who have the same interest and to be part of a greater plan.

Geek News Central – Todd talks about the back Channel!!

GNC-2008-01-05 #332 CES Back Channel #1

GNC-2008-01-05_2 #333 CES Back Channel #2

HD DVD Promo Group Cancels CES Press Conference

It was among the most highly anticipated press events of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, but following today’s announcement from Warner Home Video, this Sunday’s press conference from the HD DVD Promotions Group has been cancelled.

Organizers sent out a note to members of the media and invited guests late Friday, attributing the cancellation to the timing of Warner’s announcement. A rep for the group told us this evening that the press conference will not be rescheduled, but that the group will still have a presence at the show from its booth on the convention floor.

The full text of the HD DVD Promo Group’s email follows below:

Based on the timing of the Warner Home Video announcement today, we have decided to postpone our CES 2008 press conference scheduled for Sunday, January 6th at 8:30 p.m. in the Wynn Hotel. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

We are currently discussing the potential impact of this announcement with the other HD DVD partner companies and evaluating next steps. We believe the consumer continues to benefit from HD DVD’s commitment to quality and affordability – a bar that is critical for the mainstream success of any format.

You can do more with Steam and Half-Life 2 now!!

So I’ve been Playing Half-Life 2 and Enjoying it so much. I’ve had a problem with Vista popping up and saying “The igfx video driver has stopped responding and has recovered!”. Which means this, that the game goes black and stops being played. It’s an annoying Vista flaw, I am thinking that if it wasn’t Vista it wouldn’t of happened. I’ve got the Minimum system specs for the game. DirectX 7.0 Compatible, 512 Megabytes of Ram, 128 megabytes Video Ram Card(some supported cards here but I don’t have one of those cards!), and Windows NT/XP/2000/98.

I did a little research and found out that the game was only using 256 megabytes of ram. How do I know? I went into the Taskmanager Manager and looked at hl2.exe (it was around 254 megs of memory!). So that got me thinking, I have 1024 megabytes(1 gigabyte memory) and I was using 256 megabytes of that for video. Well I still had over 700 megabytes of memory to use.