10 of the Best Link-Building Tips for an E-Commerce Websites

High-quality and abundant backlinks are by far the sure-fire way to drive your website to the top of search engine organic listing. No matter how Google updates its algorithms further, backlicks will always be the main ranking factor (unless social media push them back).

However, quality backlinks are not that easy to get if your website is a 100% e-commerce store. But the more challenging the task is, the more attractive it is.

Here are 10 of the Best Link-Building Tips for an E-Commerce Websites.

1 - Start blogging

Corporate blogging is an awesome opportunity to be more human and personal to your customers and create quality content people will be willing to link to. Once you start blogging, other people in your industry will comment on your posts, share them in social media, thus adding you backlinks and spreading the buzz about your e-commerce store’s blog around.

2 - Post on niche forums

We’re not talking about spam here. As an owner of an e-commerce store, you’re an expert at what you sell, so you can provide value to people by answering their questions. A link to your website in the forum signature section will be a bonus for your efforts.

3 - Get involved in niche organizations and local business associations

Thus you’ll be able to establish good business contacts offline, sharing experience and getting new ideas, partners, customers and friends.

4 - Donate to local charities and nonprofit organizations

Find charities and nonprofit organizations which link to their donor’s websites.

5 - Sponsor/organize contests and giveaways

Organizing contests or just sponsoring them is another great way to attract some links. Search for bloggers who actively organize contests for their readers.

6 - Create a coupon code

Coupons are very popular, and almost every buyer tries to find a coupon code of a store before doing a purchase from it.

7 - Offer products for review

Search for influential websites owners in your niche who write about different product and service providers, and submit your product for review.

8 - Issue news releases

Submit news/press releases to online press release distribution services. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your news item with a link to your website will spread around the web!

9 - Submit your online store to directories

Spread the word about your website in search engine directories (e.g. Yahoo! Directory), social shopping websites and other directories that provide thematic grouping of e-commerce websites.

10 - Plan and track your link-building efforts

At the end of the day, your link-building campaign will be successful only if you plan it carefully and further track the results. There’s special SEO software that can assist you in your link-building efforts.

• Reference/Source: 10 Link-Building Tips for an E-Commerce Store

SEM Blog - Search Engine Marketing (SEM) blog.

10 Out-of-the-box Reasons Why These Link Bait Ideas Worked

What on earth is Link Bait? Well, according to Wikipedia, Link bait is any content or feature, within a website, designed specifically to gain attention or encourage others to link to the website. Matt Cutts defines link bait as anything "interesting enough to catch people's attention."

Some of these link bait pieces started as TV marketing campaigns and then grew into effective link bait, which is not really important. What they all have in common is a fresh, original, outstanding idea ingrained into each of these pieces that we would like to share with you. May they be your inspiration and help you create something stunning on your website as well!

1 - Compare the Meerkat (comparethemarket.com), Humor

Why it worked: The association between "market" and "meerkat" is so obvious, that you can't but remember the site's name automatically. Plus, the idea itself is fresh and unusual - by the time you figure out what this meerkat is talking about, you are hooked. Oh, BTW, did I tell you he speaks with a foreign accent?

2 - Zombie Harmony (mingle2.com), Humor

Why it worked: Lots of people are horror movie fans, like to play zombies or just don't want to be like everybody else. So, people get naturally inspired to share something like Zombie Harmony site with others for kicks.

3 - ElfYourself (OfficeMax), Humor

Why it worked: First of all, the whole thing is extremely hilarious. Second of all, it's not just SOME funny little elves dancing to Christmas music - it's you and your best friends in elf costumes doing the moves you never knew you were capable of!

4 - Old Spice Man (Old Spice), Humor and Sex Appeal

Why it worked: The commercial is basically shot in one uninterrupted take, including some special effects. Plus, the idea of a commercial replying to your post or twit is just so wild - no wonder the Internet community jumped at it.

5 - One Red Paperclip (Kyle MacDonald), Free stuff and a know-how

Why it worked: Were Kyle trading equally valuable things, the story wouldn't get even a tiny share of the attention it got. It was all about pursuing your dream, going up the ladder of success, and everybody was really curious how this would end.

6 - Will it Blend? (Blendtec), discovery/experiments

Why it worked: How often do you see a laptop blended into a pile of dust? Besides, it's a new object every time. And the guy is so funny, asking his usual "but will it blend?" question in a serious tone.

7 - How sexy is your town? (LoveHoney), top-things list and curious facts

Why it worked: The UK Sex Map is a good opportunity to get some unique statistics. Just think about it, what other ways are there to find out how many people buy sex toys in your town?

8 - My Starbucks Idea (Starbucks Cafe), education/ego play

Why it worked: "My Starbucks Idea" creates a perfect opportunity for people to express themselves. Each idea is given a status, like "launched" or "under review", which shows that it's not merely sitting on the site.

9 - Entrepreneurs Can Change the World (Grasshopper), inspirational

Why it worked: People share inspirational videos a lot. Besides, even though the video is supposedly on entrepreneurs, it's pretty much of a universal nature.

10 - Man in Jeggings (Asylum.com), humor and experiment

Why it worked: Funny piece of writing, funny pictures, besides, these are not just mere speculations, it's a real life story.

Now, folks, I'm sure you've come across even more jaw-dropping, astounding links bait pieces online and must be wondering why they're not our list. If that's the case, hit me with rotten tomatoes, if you wish, but then take a minute to post a link to your favorite one on this blog. It well deserves a link, I think, - it's link bait after all!

• Reference/Source: Alesya - Link-Assistant.Com, SEM blog, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) blog

10 Tips on How to Manage Your Time As A Blogger

I've been a blogger since eight months ago. I had experience a lot from doing some blog posts, like typos, beating the deadline for an online contest, having negative comment from a stalker, glitches from my net connection and staying up late...being nocturnal just to blog for hours and learning something new from my articles.

1 - Multitasking

One of the skills you must attain as a blogger is being a multitasker. All you have to do is to be active. Like what I do almost everyday, while blogging I do some research for my next topic and replying to messages on Facebook.

2 - Make some drafts

In able to finish your blog posts every time you blog, create your drafts on a word processor like Microsoft Word so that you can edit out your entry anytime. I used to do some drafts on my phone, either jotting down notes in my Memo or in my Evernote for Android. Very useful whenever I have some deadlines for a PR firm.

3 - Queued and publish

After you create your drafts, queue it in your Wordpress or Blogger dashboard and schedule it for posting.

4 - Do some research

Browse for your future blog entries, so you can decide if you want to have it as an article or not. If you have a niche, then go for your specific topic for your blog.

5 - Motivation is the key

Focus on your job as a blogger. Place a "do not disturb" infront of your door. I'll always see to it that I have a quiet time blogging...putting an earplugs listening to my favorite songs while composing an article for my blog.

6 - Write your own 'to do list' for the week

Before, I seldom jotting some notes on my desk, like important projects, reminders and to do list for the day. When I got into blogging, I always see to it that I achieved at least 6 goals for the week. Stressful but it helps me a lot to organize my daily routines.

7 - Make some deadline for yourself

A month ago, I have six drafts in my blog and I have to finish it by 3rd week of November. Giving yourself a deadline is effective, because if you have some drafts on our blog, you can achieve your goals. I'd gave myself two blog entries a week before beating the deadline. Time consuming yet it's easier for me to do some other tasks.

8 - Interact with your followers.

Recently, I joined in an activity from one of the group page dedicated to Filipino bloggers. It's important to interact with your followers, whether they liked your articles or not. Accept their suggestions and adapt it on your blog.

9 - Schedule your invites

Barely a month ago, I was invited to an event from the leading pizza in the country. Unfortunately, I didn't attend that exclusive invite and at that time Mom was in the hospital. Remember, if you can't attend to an invitation from a company, inform them by sending an email and state the reason why you can't come. Or ask your friends or colleagues...be your proxy. I did that recently. I was having my birthday celebration that day. I was inform that I got a ticket from a gig. I informed my friend to be my proxy for that event. She took the ticket, attended that night, she took some pictures and I'll be posting it soon here in my blog the details of that said event. You need to have some options from grabbing an invitation. Mark down in your calendar the event that you will attending so that you can organize it smoothly without hassle.

10 - Take a rest for a day

Few days ago, I got sick because I overworked and exhausted from staying up late at night. You need to have quality time for yourself. Take some vitamins to regain your energy blogging all night. That's a moral lesson to me. I blogged almost everyday and I stayed late as 2 am.

About Christian Melanie Lee

Known as eccentricyethappy in the world of blogosphere, Melanie dabbles her time between her lifestyle blog, Blogged: Eccentric Yet Happy and other three blogs she's an contributing blogger, The Web Magazine, Pinoy Popcast and MTRCB She spend her spare time blogging and composing poems and essays.

10 of the Best Ways to Be a Good Wife

I know, you want to be the best wife for your husband, but what does that mean? Well, eventually, it's up to you and your husband to establish the needs of your relationship and how each partner can do their part to accomplish those needs--and here are 10 advices or guiding principle to start off. However, keep in mind that a marriage is a partnership, so your husband wishes to make an effort too!

1 - Pamper Yourself

The very first thing you must do to be a good wife is to take care of yourself so that you feel good! Eat healthy, exercise regularly and maintain the way you look so that you remain the most attractive woman in his life! Irrespective of your age, if you look good, you will definitely feel better.

2 - Appreciate Him

According to a survey men like to be appreciated. So say a sweet ‘thank you’ when you see that he has made any effort, whether it is for you, your kids or for your house. Your compliments and appreciation will put a smile on his face and joy in his heart.

3 - Make your Husband a Priority

It often happens that wives are so occupied in their every day household chores and kids that they start taking their husbands for granted. Don’t do that. Instead try to spend quality time with your husband.

4 - Tell Him that He is Important

Let him know that he is important for you. Try to take interest in his hobbies and work. But make sure that you don’t overdo it. Be there for his support and not as an obstacle to his freedom.

5 - Give him Space

Every one needs some time to relax, socialise with friends or simply to be alone. To be a good wife, encourage your husband to socialise with family, friends and do the things he enjoys the most.

6 - Don’t Force Him to Change

Never force your husband to behave or act in a particular manner. Most behavioural experts suggest you cannot change others' behaviour. For instance, if you are outgoing and like to socialise and your husband is shy then you can either cut short the duration of social activity or go by yourself. But make sure to thank him when he attends a party for you. If you find something really annoying, then simply let him know or use positive reinforcement for changing that habit.

7 - Have Friends

Most women shrink their social network after marriage and become totally dependent on their husband. Don’t expect your husband to be your partner, lover and best friend. Instead make good friends and have fun. This will help you to bring new energy to your married life.

8 - Believe in your Husband

Even though most men show their brave side to world but at times, they do lack confidence and fear failure. Let him know that the love of his life believes in him even when he does not believe himself.

9 - Pay Compliments

Complimenting to your husband can actually help your relationship. Men like compliments as much as the women do. So keep complimenting!!

10 - Keep the Romance Alive

Marriage does not mean the end of romance. Be affectionate to your partner and let him know that you still find him interesting. You can plan a romantic date, initiate sexual foreplay or simply write a love note and see the smile on his face widening!

About Líäfstylé

(Lifestyle) is a composite of Motivations, Needs, Wants and is influenced by factors such as Culture, Family, Reference groups and Social class. Líäfstylé (Lifestyle) is a unique destination offering inspiration for home, family and life. Blogging Líäfstylé (Lifestyle) the latest Topics like - Health & Fitness and Beauty & Fashion Tips and Trends along with Diet & Nutrition, Love & Relationships, Life & Work, People and Self-Improvement Ideas & More.

10 of the Best Twitter Tips To Promote Your Website

Twitter is one of the best promotional tools online to attract people to your website. You can use it to raise your profile within your niche, find targeted followers, advertise your products/events, alert people to new posts on your blog, etc.

The following is a list of 10 Twitter tips that you can use to help promote and drive targeted traffic to your website.[A guest post by Matt Smith of OnlineIncomeTeacher]

1 - Drive Traffic To Your Website

Millions of people across the world use Twitter everyday. That's a lot of people, but obviously most won't be interested in what you have to say. The key is to find the people that ARE interested!

Search for people who tweet about the same things as you, post links to similar content to your site, talk about subjects that you talk about. These are the people who you want to be targeting. When you find people like this, make sure to follow them and try engaging with them. Once they realise that you are of interest, they will follow you back.

Your aim is to grow your followers with people who are specifically interested in your website niche. Then, when you Tweet about your new content, you are more likely to get a response/get people to click through to your website.

2 - Blogging & Twitter Go Hand-In-Hand

If you run your own blog or website, then Twitter is the perfect marketing tool to promote your site on. Now, there are a few ways to do this;

One of the best and easiest ways is to place a visible link to Twitter on your homepage or sidebar, perhaps via a Twitter button or “Follow Me” icon. This will direct targeted traffic to your Twitter account page, allowing people to follow you and keep up to date with your latest tweets.

You can display a 'Recent Tweets' box on your website as well. This is a great way to display your most recent tweets to visitors of your site. As well as being able to see any useful tweets/links, they can also see that your site is active.

Another excellent way to utilise Twitter on your site is to display sharing links on your posts. As you can see, at the top of this page and to the left of the post, there are links to Twitter (and other social media sites) allowing people to share the post with their online community.

Don't forget to Tweet this very post!!!

3 - Self Promotion On Twitter

There are a lot of people on Twitter, so it's important that you try to make yourself stand out from everyone else. This is where creating your own brand identity is needed, which in the long-run will benefit your site.

To start with, you need to write a short 'bio' about yourself, which will appear on your Twitter profile. This 'bio' helps people understand who you are, or in the case of a website, what the website is about. This may sound really simple, but you need to spend time thinking this through carefully. You have a limited amount of space to write your description in, so it's vital that you get all the information that you need in.

The key to self promotion is to (surprisingly) self promote! Tweet regularly about your site, new posts, news, related products, promotions, etc. and keep your followers up-to date with what is happening.

A good tip would be to Tweet about other people's content within your niche, as well as your own. This way, your followers see you as a source for valuable information instead of only being interested in yourself.

4 - Get To The Point!

You only have 140 characters to Tweet with. This means that you need to get to the point of what you are saying.

This is easier said than done, but the more Tweets you send, the better at it you get. Try to always provide the most vital bits of information and keep everything simple and short, whilst being easy to read.

Remember that you need to allow room for links and hash tag categories (i.e. #blogging) within your 140 character limit. Shorten your links with URL shorteners such as bitly.com and don't use too many hash tags.

5 - Be Social

Twitter has a huge active community of people on it, so interact with people and get your name out there. Whatever your niche, get involved with the people interested with it. Make friends, ask questions, chat, share ideas, re-tweet others, etc. You can't expect to grow your number of followers without being social.

It always amazes me when I get followed by someone that has never tweeting anything! They may be following several thousand people, but have never bothered to interact with any of them. Now this is fine if you only have a small interest in Twitter, but for someone who is promoting there own website/business, this is like shooting yourself in the foot.

You can not expect to grow followers and build a brand without interacting!

6 - Listen To What Your Followers Are Saying

I love Twitter for all the reasons on this list, but by far my favourite and probably most useful is how it can be used to improve your existing business. Think of it as an amazing tool for conducting market research with millions of users, and its all completely FREE!!!

You can get instant reaction from your followers, so you can see what is working and what isn't. Ask them what they like about your website, what they don't like, what they would like to see in the future, etc. What ever aspect you want to learn about, you can ask your followers.
Just make sure you listen to what they say! After all, it's pointless getting all this valuable information if you don't intend on acting upon it.

7 - Talk To People

Sounds simple... and it is, but you would be surprised how many don't do this. Twitter is full of people having conversations, with plenty of useful information. The key is to get chatting to people, ask questions, respond to other peoples questions, and generally interact with others.

8 - Be Open & Honest

Whether talking about your business or life in general, honesty is always the best policy. People are smart, it's easy to tell when someone is talking a load of nonsense, or trying to sell you something “vital” that clearly you don't need. This only results in loosing business.
Be open and honest about your business. Be honest about who you are and what you are talking about. Trust is a vital part of life, if people have trust in you they are much more likely to listen to what you have to say and do business with you.

Always be honest whilst on Twitter. If you happen to find something that you found interesting, or which you think your Twitter followers would like, then Tweet it and tell them about it. Similarly if you find something that you dislike, then again tell people about it. Your followers may not agree with everything that you say, but in the end they will value your open and honest opinions, which is much better in the long run!

9 - Customise Your Twitter Background

You can upload a customised Twitter background for your profile. This lets anyone that visits your Twitter profile to see your customised background.

This can help you stand out from the crowd. Include your website logo, URL address, product promotions, event dates, etc. Check out my custom Twitter background @matt_oit

10 - Useful Twitter Tools

As I have said, Twitter is a great tool for promoting your website, but you need to remember to spend time working on your site and not spend all day Tweeting. Thankfully there are plenty of tools that you can use to make life a little easier.

You can use online tools to automate things like following & un-following people, scheduling Tweets, thank people for following you, etc. Some of the best that I use are 'Tweet Adder', 'HootSuite' & 'MarketMeTweet'

I find that scheduling a few tweets at night helps to promote my site to people on the other side of the world. Just think of all the people online who could be reading your valuable content whilst you are asleep!

This is a guest post by

Matt Smith

Matt runs his own blog 'OnlineIncomeTeacher' which teaches people how they can earn money online and set up their own website/blog. You can follow him on Twitter @matt_oit

10 of the Best Viral Content Guide Articles

Every blogger wants to produce the best, quality and a viral content. Now that quite a lot of things have changed since then – Google algorithm changes, evolution of social media, changes in the content access devices, and with other ranking and viral factors. You have to believe that making content viral is the only upholding thing in the blogging realm where competition is inflated and that unanticipated events could happen anytime.

So I’d like to share with you my ultimate guides in my blog content creation, blog content management, and blog content promotion.

Here are my 10 Best Viral Content Guide Articles.

1 - Best Possible Experience for Users

“Search is a complicated and evolving art and science, so rather than focusing on specific algorithmic tweaks, we encourage you to focus on delivering the best possible experience for users. “ - Amit Singhal. This is the complete text to abide to if you really wish to make sense in the web. Thus, I always recommend this article of Google Webmaster Central blog to anyone who needs some guidance on how to create high quality content.

2 - Most Valuable Content Types Checklist

“The best ways to have your content spread is to have your readers share it because people trust their peers more than brands.” - Ahava Leibtag. You aim to get a debut through a very fantastic blog post, I am certain you have to put up with this checklist. As this article says, the silver bullet that will make our content sparkle has been found. This is the guide you are looking for.

3 - What Great Content is or Actually Could Be

“It seems that many content creators rely on size to measure greatness, while on the Web it’s often the other way around. The faster someone can convey a message, the greater the content.” – Tad Chef. I remember one of my clients who argued with me about content size and of how it matters to search engine rankings. That time I only send him the link of this article and he all got it. So, if you have a problem with this matter, better be informed.

4 - You Need Idea Generators

“Use experiences from your lifetime to make analogies about what you’re discussing. Or give the article a theme – sports, movies, comparisons, top 10 lists and fun facts – whatever you can think of.” - Webmaster Format. Do you have some rules regarding the source of your blog posts? Say enough to that rules. When I’ve read this article I begun to explore outside the box and say anything that I want about my niche. As it says, you don’t need any more rules. You need idea generators.

5 - Quality is the Only Sustainable SEO Strategy

“If quality, credibility, and authority can all be algorithmically identified, then certainly they are based on distinct sets of factors that in sum create signals.” Adam Audette. I always ensure that I’m taking up the excellent level with my SEO Strategy when working to my client sites. Honestly, I’m not doing much on this with my blog until I’ve found out this article that tackles on the factors of a sustainable SEO strategy. Just don’t build your SEO strategy around the algorithms. Build your SEO strategy around your users.

6 - Take Your Link Building Assessment

“The more quality backlinks you have the higher your PR will be. The mechanism is as that simple yet complicated.” – Kira Permunian. I have this blog post right after the Google Panda pagerank update last June 2011 where I took assessment with my link building methods. By having such, I found out that all just boils down to following usability standards and submission to Google’s mission in providing quality, useful and relevant content in the web when aiming a better Google Page Rank.

7 - Guaranteed Backlinks on Your Next Blog Post

“Since I have your attention, let me tell you one more thing: You have to keep people hooked on your content if you want to get links. People don’t share things they don’t read.” – ViperChill. I’ve learned a lot on this post. The ideas presented are realistic and highly applicable. If you wanted to get viral I believe you should read as what I have done with my shares and with my blog posts. Be innovative and attractive.

8 - Linkbait Headlines Every Blogger Can Use

“No matter how great your content is, if the headline sucks, it stands little chance of getting the attention it deserves.” – Eric Brantner. This is the idea of Always10 Blog of JrPlaza. When I first saw this blog, I was so sure that this will be the hit to search engines as many people love to know the “top”, the “most” and the “10s” about anything under the sun. Congratulations JrPlaza! This is really a great source of linkbait headlines. See more headlines at this blog.

9 - Know the Elements of Social Content Success

“While linkbait does bring tremendous SEO benefits from links and traffic, visitors also benefit from the quality content.” - Jordan Kasteler. Knowing this is crucial and very important in SEO and in Social Media success. If you do not know, contextual link bait is what Google looking for to get a good rank in SERPs. I find this very hard to achieve at first right after reading this post, but later on I’ve managed to get triumph on linkbaiting.

10 - How Quality over Quantity Wins

“The best way to ensure that your website ranks highly for your desired keywords is to specifically target your inbound linking strategy by entering into linking collaborations with a smaller number of websites that are specifically optimized for your keyword through content and quality.” – David from twago. This is the guest post that really makes sense a lot to me about hats in SEO. The equation to follow is Quality content + Quality site +Quality link building = Winning Site.

Now that you know my guide articles in creating a blog post, for better SEO projection and for Social Media presence, I think it’s good to hear from you. With your feedback, share the link of the most popular post of your blog. Let’s make it more popular and viral.

About Kira Permunian, the author
He is the author of SEO Geekster Online Blog. He aims to provide best SEO blogging tips, Social Media Optimization guides and technology updates to his readers. Visit his blog and don’t miss to follow him on various social media channels.

10 of the Best Ways to Protect Your External Devices from Viruses

In this modern era where everyone uses computers, you cannot assure that you are always safe. If you're still not familiar with the term Virus then this is your time to know them.

VIRUS or Vital Information Resources Under Siege is a harmful computer program that replicates itself to spread to other computers. One of the most common ways of diffusing them is through removable storage devices such as USB keys, External Hard Disks, CDs, VCDs, DVDs and similar things. VIRUS creates a copy of them in storage devices and is launched, usually at auto-play, to infect the next computer.

In this case, there are lots of ways to protect yourself from this harm:

1 - Install an Anti Virus

Making sure that you have an UPDATED Anti Virus installed in your computer is one way to make sure that your computer is safe. Just make sure than other than being updated, your AV must scan removable devices automatically on the time it is inserted.

2 - Online Back-up

Always make sure that you have back-ups of files that you have saved in your USB drives or external HDDs. This is would be very useful in times of "worst case scenario", wherein you would need to re-format your disks. Online Back-ups are advisable during this cases.

3 - Turn-off your Auto Play

Virus usually hacks the auto-play to run a certain program. This is activated when you open a folder or a drive. Most viruses use this method to infiltrate and re-copy themselves on the victim system. To disable it on windows:

XP users:

a) Click Start], click [Run], type [gpedit.msc], and then click OK.
b) Under [Computer Configuration], expand [Administrative Templates], and then click [System].
c) In the [Settings pane, right-click [Turn off Autoplay], and then click [Properties].
d) Click [Enabled], and then select All drives in the [Turn off Autoplay] box to disable Autorun on all drives.
e) Click OK to close the [Turn off Autoplay Properties] dialog box.
f) Restart the computer.

For Vista and Win7 users:

a) Click [Start], type [gpedit.msc] in the Start Search box, and then press enter.
b) If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
c) Under [Computer Configuration], expand [Administrative Templates], expand [Windows Components], and then click [Autoplay Policies].
d) In the [Details pane], double-click [Turn off Autoplay].
e) Click Enabled, and then select All drives in the [Turn off Autoplay] box to disable Autorun on all drives.
f) Restart the computer.

4 - Know your files well

Make sure that you know all the files installed on your external devices. When I said all, I mean ALL files including archived, hidden and system files. This is pretty handy on inspecting your devices on searching for potential viruses.

Usually, a USB key would only have all your normal files saved (not unless you saved a hidden file in your key). On the other hand, External Hard Disks (HDD), have system files installed in them like RECYCLER which is a directory used for Recycle Bin.

5 - Always use Right Click when Clicking

Avoid using double left click when opening external devices. Using the double-click to open a file, directory or drive, is like activating the auto-play. Usually when you hit the right click the options might be different when the file or folder is infected.

By default, folders and drives should have "Open" and "Explore" as options respectively, files on the other hand should have "Open" as the very first option. Also don' be fulled by the ICON, usually viruses show themselves as folders.

6 - Know the function and how to remove autorun.inf

Virus most of the time creates autorun.inf file in your USB key that usually have [system file] and [hidden file attributes]. This way you may not notice them initially.

Autorun.inf is an instruction file associated with the Autorun function. It is a simple text-based configuration file that tells the operating system which executable to start, which icon to use, and which additional menu commands to make available. In other words, it is tells Windows what to do when opening a drive. Take note that not all autorun.inf are dangerous. But most of the time they are especially if they are hidden.

To detect this without opening the drive, you can try this:

a) Run the command prompt or cmd. (All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt)
b) Type [dir [DRIVE-PATH] /a:h] Example: dir f:/
- This should list all hidden files inside your drive.
c) Type [dir [DRIVE-PATH] /a:s] Example: dir f:/
- This should list all system file inside your drive.
d) If in both steps b and c, an autorun.inf file appears then it's time to worry especially when it comes also with a suspicious exe or folder.

To delete it: NOTE: Make sure that the autorun.inf and the exe file is virus before deleting it, usually an external hard disk may have such files too that is required for it to run.

a) Run the command prompt or cmd. (All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt)
b) Type [attrib -r -a -s -h [AUTORUN-INF PATH]] Example: attrib -r -a -s -h f:/autorun.inf
c) Delete it by [del [AUTORUN-INF PATH]] Example: del f:/autorun.inf
d) It is advisable too to remove the suspected exe file using the same commands, just replace the [AUTORUN-INF PATH] with the path of the exe file.

7 - Insert On Trusted System only

Very self explanatory, never insert your external device to systems you don't trust

8 - Enable Write Protection to your External Devices

There are different ways to do this, one is to buy a USB key storage that has an external toggle switch that can do it. Another is to use a software that can temporarily lock your storage devices.

When you disable writing in your external devices, virus cannot copy themselves onto your device. The cons for this one is that you too cannot copy nor write to your storage key too.

9 - Learn How to Search! Know the Virus Trend!

My first attempt on virus removal was when I was blamed after a virus spread during my college years. Being curious on the virus' name, i did some searching and find out how to remove it. This curiosity turns into knowledge and a hobby for me to know or dissect a virus. Basically, having a knowledge on how a virus act is one way to avoid being affected. :)

10 - Think Before You Click Policy

This is a new policy that is being noted worldwide. It's as simple as think before clicking. This is not just applicable to social networking sites but also in virus protection. Even if you already pass the items above, it is still important to think before opening or running applications coming from external drives (or even in a system).

The list above are all based on my experience. Proof to say that experience is the best teacher! Cheers!

About Beneath The Tree A collection of algorithm, code and other programming methods. Includes programmers' point of view, interests and game reviews.
About Aj Banda, the author
a software developer and a blogger. I used my blogs to share my knowledge to the world but most of the time it serves as a reference of my previous algorithms and source codes.

10 of the Must-Read Articles to Find Design Resources

Staying up-to-date on the current web design news is very important for every different kind of designers as it will play a vital role in developing their own skills. If you are not up-to-date on the latest and most probably the important news and resources, then you are not going to be able to provide professional people with what they are looking for. Of course they will go somewhere where they will find what they are looking for in case you can’t provide what people are looking for.

Finding inspiration is not always as simple as it sounds, whether you’ve been designing for years or only weeks but because of different motivated people who are not stopping to compile different websites that will serves as a guide for every one of us, looking for resources become handy. Being a motivated one, I always find a way to collect all the best resources to help every individual to easily get started on their journey. In today's post, we have composed the most comprehensive list of places where you can find design resources with different categories such as PSD, Business Cards, Logo, Brushes, Patterns, Textures, Infographics and more. These lists are part of the session "Web Resources Compilations" made by me on my blog. It is an excellent list of categorized places or websites where you can find different great sources of Design Inspirations and Resources.

The primary focus of this list is resources to help different designers whether they are PRO or Beginner in their workflow. This will cover most of the aspects in designing that will allow you to manipulate your own design journey. Good Luck!

1 - 25 Sources to Download High Quality Free PSD Files

Working with the Photoshop PSD files as source for design elements like Photoshop text effects can help you get a quicker and more effective start. It also reveals the techniques used on a specific design and most of the time there is something new we can learn from it. This entry will show you the 25 Sources to download high quality and professionally designed Photoshop .PSD files.

2 - 20 Sources to Download Free Photoshop Brushes

Brushes enhance your art for making it possible for you to add awesome graphic elements to your image and of course, save you a lot of time. But finding great brush sources is not as easy as it seems. You have many websites, but only a few are well organized and have easy to find brushes. That is what we will try to bring you with this post that will show you the list of websites where you can find free download of Photoshop Brushes.

3 - 20 Sources to Download Free Photoshop Patterns

Photoshop Patterns can help to create attractive and beautiful website backgrounds with very little effort. That's why we listed a bunch of sites where you can download Free Photoshop patterns. This list of sites can be very good sources of Free Photoshop Patterns that you can incorporate to your designing process and hopefully will speed up your workflow.

4 - 20 Sources to Download Free High Quality Textures

Texture plays a vital role in giving a little bit of depth that every designer is looking for to make the image pop. With just a little tweak of imagination and creativity, they can already create good design artworks with it. That is why we compiled the top places or websites to download free high quality textures.

5 - 15 Massive Collection of Logo Design Resources Site

Logo is one of the very important elements of one’s company as it symbolizes the image of the team as a whole. Every company wants their logo to look unique so that it makes the company stand out from their competitors. This entry won't show you any compilations of logo designs that are visually extraordinary to make you inspire but we are compiling the list some of the top websites where you can find the best sources to get Logo Design Inspirations and Resources.

6 - 10 Ultimate Lists of Top Infographics Resources Site

Instead of poring over figures and long reports to decipher data, an infographic can immediately explain what the data actually means. This could help to quickly and clearly provide us with information that might be complex or hard to understand. In this entry, we compiled the list some of the top websites where you can find almost all of the top infographics around the web.

7 - 20 Collection of Business Card Resources Site

Here we provide a list of useful websites where you can find inspirations and resources related to business cards. This will help you to find the best website suited for you to have your own business card. It is important because this will leave a good impression about your company and yourself in the minds of those whom you hand over the card.

8 - 20 Excellent List of Free Fonts Resources Site

Good typography is not just about the size and style of a font, but also it's about helping to establish a high level of visual hierarchy. It is very important element of a designing whereas it adds finishing touch to a design to give it the best look. In this entry, we compiled different websites where you can download free Fonts to get you started in your designing career.

9 - 20 Helpful Websites to Submit Your Design News

Traffic is one of the main goal and may be one of the reason why people blog. Every individual have their own reason why they are blogging but the common denominator is "Traffic". That is why we compiled the 20 websites where you can submit your post for free to generate traffic. But sad to say, they only allow design related news. But for designers, this is a good start to have some exposure in design world.

10 - 30 Marketplaces To Buy and Sell Stock Images

Photographers, this is your turn. This entry is a roundup of different marketplaces for stock photos that offers buy and sell of different arts. These virtual places are created to help buyers and sellers to save time and money.

About Designers Hub (formerly Photoshop PH) is a huge directory of the best free Photoshop Resources from all over the web. The ultimate list with different kinds of Photoshop Resources such as PSD, Brushes, Styles, Patterns, Gradients, PNG, Tutorials, Inspirations and many more. We also provide design compilations, web development and art-oriented articles and we promote the works of talented artists from all over the world. Founded in July 2011 by Manuel Garcia from Philippines.

About Manuel Garcia, the author

He is currently a 3rd year student taking up Education Course and the founder of Designers Hub. He launched Designers Hub to help the Design Community in providing high quality design resources and inspirations.

10 Real and Effective Tips to increase your Blog Traffic

It may sounds annoying since you’ve heard this one a lot (I don’t know how many times though) across the web. Experts talking about how to increase website traffic presenting it in different styles like a robot, a bee or even a dog with a flower and a cloud message above saying blah-blah-blah increase your website visitor tips (No harm intended, I’m just stating facts here) which seems reiterate info’s and definitely annoying to someone who really need the right info when he found out that it’s no more than a fraud in marketing offering tools for them to buy. That sucks.

Through blogging, the fact to express ones perspective is the main reason behind doing this stuff. To earn money is preferred when a blogger succeeding to monetize his/her works and gain avid readers (in huge volume) which we called “Generated Traffic”. The difficulty in this scenario is how to generate huge traffic to your blog or website?

Here are 10 “Real” effective ways to increase traffic or visitors to your blog based on my experience as a blogger.

1 – Create More Quality Content

For me this is a huge factor to gain traffic. What I mean in Quality is not just unique content but also enticing and interesting to readers. Search engines too loves unique content specially Google. It is important to write quality content but quantity also matters.

For beginners (blogging), post quality contents approximately 2-3 post per week. Avoid posting frequently like 2-3 Post per day…

Why? You’re not that huge like Mashable.

Solution: If you have lots of thing to say… Go on twitter!

2 – Don’t forget to submit your blogs to search engines

As I mention earlier, search engines loves contents – so submit your links to search engines like Google or Yahoo (both have an option to submit links). It’s not that when you submit your blog to these search engines, it will appear in the first page of Google or Yahoo search. The main purpose is to be listed so that you might get a chance to be search.

You may also ping your blog every time there's an update to Pingomatic or Pingoat.

Google Webmaster tool has a feature to crawl your updates automatically – so signup for it. You may consider Bing and Yahoo too.

3 – Blog Commenting

Did you know that commenting on other blogs is such powerful technique? Yes, I say it is. When you are reading post on other blogs with related niche as yours, try to leave a valuable comment so that when the blog owner or other readers may read it and proceed to your blog. It’s also another way of making friends – in doing so; you are gaining friends as well as trust and reputation.

Some blogs do accept links when you comment so make the most out of it. Links is a very important factor in ranking your blogs.

Note: If your motive is to do spamming... FORGET it!

4 – Always put RSS feed button to your blogs

Of course, you really need it because when your readers like your post, they might as well subscribe to your blog. Lots of subscription means great increase in traffic too.

5 – The power of backlinks

One way of receiving more traffic is that leaving a related backlinks in your every post. You have to make sure that your readers will probably click those links to read more of your articles and avoiding the instance of leaving your blog. Another thing about backlinking is it can help your post ranks better in search engines since it helps a lot for search engine to find your post easily.

6 – Make sure to Tag your post

Always tag your post. Try to spare your time in tagging keywords of your post. You may used Google Adwords Keyword tool or WordTracker to ensure that your keywords (labels) do have a valuable traffic either globally or locally.

7 – Bookmark your post to Social Bookmarking sites

Yes, I do agree that this step helps Always10’s traffic increase and inclined results of readers. Submitting or bookmarking your post links to authoritative social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit, Delicious, Folkd, Wirefan and etc will help your blog gets real views and undeniably boost traffic to your blogs like mine.

8 – The importance of SEO

Search engine optimization is quite popular especially to us bloggers. Through SEO, your blog will greatly increase visitor traffic from search engine. Adding relevant keywords and links in your posts will generate huge amount of views from search engines.

You may ask my SEO blogger/friends like Kira of LSGEEKSTER or Gian Faye of The.Loading-info.net about anything specific in that stuff.

9 – Using captivating Images

A picture paints a thousand words – that’s the easiest way to explain it. Using images in your blog post will make it looks attractive and you know, we do love reading books with pictures. You might have a chance to appear in Google Image Search (Which means possible traffic source again) if it is well optimized like adding ALT tags to it.

Why put ALT tags? Google bots or crawlers can't read images like humans do. By adding ALT tags to your images, you are simply telling the crawlers what that image is all about.

*Rant Caution: Avoid putting too many images in your post (that depends if your target audience are kids). It may hurt your website loading speed which is also important.

10 – Your blog is your trademark and signature

This is also quite important. Your blog personality reflects you. Which translate as readers knows you through your blogs. It is good to always put your blog URL in all your signatures like in email signature and Social networking profiles. Show that you own that blog and you are proud about it because that blog resembles you. Adding blog links in your business card and images will also help.

That’s all folks! Let create a better blogging future. This is ME… signing off. Ciao!

10 Tips on Developing and Designing your Website

For three years, I have done a lot of web site application and most of them are corporate sites. So I thought of sharing some of the things I have learned from my work. Let's start by differentiating the term web designer and web developer. It should be clear that this two jobs are related to each other but not similar.

Web Designer vs. Web Developers

Web designer usually handles the front-end of the site. They are the ones who are concerned with the user interface (UI) of the website, basically they are the artistic people who knows the tricks and techniques of CSS and scripting that they can use on the browser wars.

On the other hand, web developers are the ones assigned to the back end of the site and doing the logic behind. They are the ones who used their brain cells on making the site work and as well as protect the it from invaders (technically called spams and other bots that tries to harm the site).

1 - First screen without scrolling is important (aka 'Above the Fold' )

Basically this defines the first impression a visitor sees everytime they see your site. It is a rule of thumb that they should know all the information about your site without scrolling down. The upper part should always explain or at least give a brief description on what to expect on your site. Avoid too large banners that almost occupy half of the screen. Put all menu and navigation on the upper part of the site and make sure it is visible enough for the users to see. Place all non-important things below or on other pages. Do not place them on the top unless you want it to be seen intentionally.

Thanks Harrison for the term 'Above the Fold'. :)

2 - External Files

This applies to all your scripts and styles. It is advisable to use external files instead of placing them inside your HTML (or whatever you are using) to customize your site. Why? Usually this is used to boost the speed of the sites. External scripts are saved on cache and so the next time you visit the said site it would be faster than the first time.

Now what if you're using blogger for your site host, well you can use other third party services to generate external scripts that you can call anytime. You can try Pastie by Josh Goebel for example, this generates text files that you can access from your site so that you can use it for your scripts and styles.

3 - Know your image well

Portable Network Graphics or PNG are the most common image type being used on web sites. It is because the said type supports transparency and is more convenient to use because it is smaller than using Graphic Interchange Format or GIF.

But upon using this, make sure that you know the consequence of this. There is actually an issue about PNG's transparency on Internet Explorer. Reports said that the previous version of IE doesn't support the filter that fixes this issue. There are lot of tutorials on the net that solve this issue, some of them uses CSS while others use javascript. As a developer, I don't recommend javascript solutions since these can be disabled on browsers. For CSS here is the porperty to add to resolve the issue:

...
view plainprint?

filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(...);
...

See this report on how to properly use it.

4 - Flash are good but is not advisable at all times

So you want to add flash on your site? Think twice. It is now very common that you'll receive visitors who are using mobile browsers to surf the net. Most of this mobile browsers doesn't suppport such file types and thus will just ruin your site on the said browsers

Another problem is that flash, which is commonly on SWF format, have issues on web designing. These files always comes to the top part of your site (foreground). So even if you use your z-index property knowledge, it won't go on the background of your other items. To resolve this you can always use the wmode property of flash files when you are trying to embed them.

5 - Make sure that your site is readable

Most of the time, this is the issue I'm getting. People are always telling me that the fonts are too small or too big. Actually there are no rules on using font-size. The issue arises depending on the audience you are trying to target. Usually you can use larger fonts for older people, on the other hand, I usually use 12 to 14 px for corporate sites.

Font-styles are also important to consider. Make sure that they are READABLE. Don't use Monotype Corsiva or Wingdings. Most of the time Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri are used for sites, others are just too much for sites and are not advisable. Courier are used for source codes and typewritten type of letters, leave it to those kind of blocks and never use them on your site.

Know how to use bold and italic letters, avoid using them regularly and never (as in never) use them as a default font for your site.

6 - Be careful with client-side scripts

Javascripts and JQuery are common on web developing and web designing. But before adding this, make sure that you know the consequence of using this. There are actually some browsers and users that are blocking this scripts for their protection. Make sure you know how to handle this cases especially if these scripts does a lot of important actions on your site.

During this case, noscript tags can be helpful.

7 - Anything you post on the web can be stolen

It is a stupid fact that everyone should know. I actually have a client before that wants her files to be protected in a way that no one can download it.. well for me it is stupidity!

As I have said, almost everything you see on your browser are being stored on cache, and how do they do it? the browser downloads it and saves it as temporary files for future use. So that's it! It needs to be downloaded so that it can be shown on the screen. So if there is something you don't want others to see.. Store it on your hard disk, unplugged your computer, place it inside a drum, cover it with cement and bury it. That way no one can steal your files! >:-)

8 - Place all scripts below the page

Make sure that the content is always above the unnecessary scripts. The reason why the visitors visit is because they want to see the content of your site. By placing the scripts below, users will be able to see your contents even if the page is still loading.

9 - Dress properly

Sites are like a product selling himself or a person attending a party. They need to look good depending on the occassion. Make sure that the colors blend together, unless you're selling "colors" on your site. Usually, 1-3 colors are enough for corporate sites. For kiddy sites, pastel colors work well.

Again, choose your colors right!

10 - Make it interactive

It's now the era of Web 2.0, interaction is a must! Visitors needs to interact to your site. Leave reading to books and encyclopedia. Viewers need to be somehow entertained while they are viewing your site. Add things that they can click like social sharing or social bookmarking buttons. If you can't add something like that, at least add some moving objects like animations. Anything that would catch attention so that users can continue reading.

Last and most important of all, though speed is our top priority we always need to make sure that everything works fine, errors are handled well and all unexpected cases are catch nicely (expect the unexpected as they always say). Now, when you are sure that everything works as you want it to be, then it's time to worry for speed. Happy developing! :)

~ Aji Banda

• Reference/Source: Ajibanda.blogspot.com by Aji Banda [8/03/2011]



About Beneath the Tree A collection of algorithm, code and other programming methods. Includes programmers' point of view, interests and game reviews.

About Aj Banda, the author
I'm Aj but some calls me aji. I'm a web programmer and a blogger. I used my blogs to share my knowledge to the world but most of the time it serves as a reference of my previous algorithms and source codes.

10 Best Ways to Save Bucks when you are travelling

Found this post from Yahoo, and I think this is a great post for all since global economic crisis is at brink.

So you've done the math twenty times but you're still a few hundred dollars short in the budget department. Here's ten ways to save money -- US$1,400 to be exact -- while travelling. Just think how much more you could do, see and experience with that extra $1,400!

1 - Don't spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of hiking boots.


You won't need them. Trekking in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam isn't like trekking in Nepal or Peru. Most get by just fine with a good pair of sturdy sandals. Hiking boots are hot, they'll start to smell really bad, you'll be needing to take them off over and over again to visit temples and enter guesthouses, and they're heavy.



Estimated saving over a month: US$285 (based on an average pair of quality boots going for US$300, with a sturdy set of leather sandles for around $15)

2 - Don't spend hundreds of dollars on malarials.


Unless you're planning on sleeping naked in a swamp in remote areas along the Thai/Burma border, chances are you'll not need to take malarials during your trip. If your family doctor starts writing out a script for months of malarials as soon as you say "Asia", go and see a travel doctor for a second opinion. If the travel doctor says you still need them, then buy generic equivalents upon arrival in Asia -- at a fraction of the cost of what you'll pay at home. But remember, if you are visiting destinations on the main tourist trail in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, and are not planning on spending time in remote rural areas, you do not need to take malarials. Instead use repellent, dress sensibly at mosquito feasting times (light coloured clothing, with long sleeves and pants), and use a mosquito net.

Estimated saving over a month: US$135 (Based of $3 a Doxyxyline pill for fourty five days -- a month and a week before and after.)

3 - Don't spend hundreds of dollars on brand new guidebooks.
As you're reading this on Travelfish, you've already got the right idea. Regarding guidebooks, buy the book for the first country you're heading to and buy/swap as you travel for the others. Not that we support piracy, but ... pirated (photocopied or bound) versions of Lonely Planet guides are available throughout Vietnam and Cambodia -- Yup that's right, that US$20 guidebook to Laos you bought at Borders yesterday can be purchased on the street in Phnom Penh for $2. The regional guides (Southeast Asia on a Shoestring etc) are hardly worth using in our opinion and you'll be FAR better served by the country-specific guidebook for each destination. Buy/Swap/Sell.



Estimated saving over a month: US$80 (based on purchase cost of four guidebooks at a cost of $100 Vs one real guidebook for $20, then swap or buy a fake one)

4 - Invest in a digital camera.


Asia is a beautiful region and you'll take photos -- lots of them. If you're shooting film or slide you'll be looking at hundreds of dollars to process all your happy shots. A mid-range digital camera (say around US$300) will pay for itself in no time at all and if you buy the right one, you'll get a video camera as a part of the package.



Estimated saving over a month: break even, but you've save money on your next trip.

5 - Don't buy a sleeping bag.


You won't need it. If anything, get a sleep sheet or a couple of sarongs, but nearly all lodgings will have sheets and treks will have bedding organised. Plus sleeping bags are hot (you're in the tropics remember) and they take up space that could be filled with trinkets.



Estimated saving over a month: $190 (based on a $200 sleeping bag Vs a $10 sleep sheet)

6 - Travel second class


The train system in Morocco has "C class" -- locals joke the C stands for Corpses, Crates and Cattle. Thankfully 2nd and 3rd class in Asia is nowhere near as bad. In virtually all cases, 2nd class is more than enough -- and it's generally about half the price.



Estimated saving over a month: US$50-100

7 - Drink water not beer


Both beer and water are cheap in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The former makes you fat and drunk, the latter slim and hydrated. While beer is often super cheap -- say US$1 for a big bottle, water is often cheaper. Drink alcohol in moderation and you'll be surprised just how quickly the savings pile up -- and that's without even counting the greasy $5 American Breakfast you'll find yourself craving the morning after the night before. If you don't want to listen to us, listen to your Mum. Drink less booze and you'll save more baht.



Estimated saving over a month: US$90 (Based on four beers a night vs one, at $1 a beer -- doesn't include the greasy breakfast.)

8 - Fan good air-con bad

You're in the tropics so you know it is going to be hot, but the evenings are often surprisingly cool. If you're on the beach, look for rooms with good window space to let in that fine sea breeze. In cities you want a room on a higher floor and preferably with a window. Oddly, often rooms on the upper floors are cheaper.



Estimated saving over a month: US$300 (based on an average for of $10 for a fan room Vs $20 for an air-con one)

9 - Money management
Check with your bank before leaving to find out just what charges they have for overseas withdraws from ATMs and for cash advances. The fees may curl your hair and make travellers cheques look a lot more sensible as bank fees on a month-long trip in Asia can easily mount into the hundreds of dollars. When your bank tells you they have a US$5 charge per foreign bank withdrawal, plus an extra 5% spread on the exchange rate, you know which way to run -- either straight to a bank that doesn't, or to the closest American Express office for some travellers cheques.



Estimated saving over a month: US$100 (based on personal experience of one month in Vietnam foolishly using a Commonwealth Bank of Australia credit card)

10 - Food and Mouth Stuff
Most guesthouses will offer what they call an "American Breakfast". This is normally two greasy eggs, a couple of plastic sausages, manufactured ham and a decorative tomato or cucumber. Don't be surprised when it costs US$5. Skip the overpriced fatfest, walk out the door and plonk yourself down for some fried rice or noodle soup for a dollar.



Estimated saving over a month: US$120 (Based on $5 fatfest Vs $1 noodle soup)

• Reference/Source: Travel.Yahoo.com [08/08/11]

10 Google Tricks which Usually Neglected

Google being the biggest and the most reliable search engine in the world. Google helps you search the most specific results you want to find.

Here's the list of our top ten Google tricks many people who use Google don't know about.(See more Google Services: 10 of Google's Most Useful Internet Tools)

1 - They have "Definitions"

Pull up the definition of the word by typing define followed by the word you want the definition for.
For example, typing: define bravura would display the definition of that word.

2 - You may try "Local Search"

Visit Google Local and enter the area you want to search and the keyword of the place you want to find.
For example, typing: restaurant at the link above would display local restaurants.

3 - Try "Phone number look up"

Enter a full phone number with area code may display the name and address associated with that phone number.

4 - Find "Weather and Movies"

Type "weather" or "movies" followed by a zip code or city and state to display current weather conditions or movie theaters in your area.

For example, typing weather 84101 gives you the current weather conditions for Salt Lake City, UT and the next four days.
Typing movies 84101 would give you a link for showtimes for movies in that area.

5 - You may "Track airline flight"

Enter the airline and flight number to display the status of an airline flight and it's arrival time.

For example, type: delta 123 may display this flight information if available.

6 - You can also "Track packages"

Enter a UPS, FedEx or USPS tracking number to get a direct link to track your packages.

7 - Most Common "Pages linked to you" or Link:URL

For webmasters/Bloggers, See what other web pages are linking to your website or blog by typing link: followed by your URL.

For example, typing link:http://always10.blogspot.com displays all pages linking to Always10 - Top 10 List Collection.

8 - Finding PDF results only

Add filetype: to your search to display results that only match a certain file type.

For example, if you wanted to display PDF results only type: "dell xps" filetype:pdf -- this is a great way to find online manuals.

9 - They have "Calculators"

Use the Google Search engine as a calculator by typing a math problem in the search.

For example, typing: 100 + 200 would display results as 300.

10 - Monitor "Stocks"

Quickly get to a stock quote price, chart, and related links by typing the stock symbol in Google.

For example, typing: msft will display the stock information for Microsoft.

• Reference/Source: Computerhope.com
About

Google



When you visit www.google.com or one of more than 180 other Google domains, you can find information in many different languages, check stock quotes and sports scores, find news headlines and look up the address of your local post office or grocery store. You can also find images, videos, maps, patents and much more. With universal search technology, you may see all of these items combined in one result page for your query, and services such as personalized search help you find even more information tailored to your interests. We’re also working to digitize some of the world’s information that until recently hasn’t been online, like books. Search is how Google began, and it’s still at the heart of what we do today. We devote more engineering time to search than to any other product, because search can always get better and faster at helping you find what you want, when you want it, where you want it.

"Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful."

10 Important Tips to Avoid Withdrawing from Your College Course

Are you considering changing your course? Are you bored, fed-up, lost, or otherwise unhappy in your current course? Are you facing a crossroads at which you need to decide between staying in your current field and moving to a new one? Did you always failed your subjects? Have you been to a point where you are no longer doing what you love because you think you can't handle it?

Changing careers is one of the biggest decision students commonly faced, and with many possible outcomes and consequences. Before you make that jump to a new career field, consider these common career change mistakes so that you can avoid them as you make the transition from one career to your next.

Here's our 10 Important Tips to Avoid Withdrawing from Your College Course.

1 - Take Advantage of the Drop/Add Period

If you start a course and just know that there's no way you can handle it, drop that class during the drop/add period. That way, you'll get a refund on your tuition, you'll be able to return your books to the bookstore, and your financial aid will not suffer. It's important to know that too many withdrawals can hurt your financial aid.

2 - Study

If you take the time to study at least 2 hours a week, for each course, you will help to ensure that the course will be easier for you. Studying at least a few minutes each night will help you to memorize important information for upcoming tests and quizzes. If you have trouble studying on your own, get a tutor.

3 - Get a Tutor

If you must stay in the course, get a tutor. A tutor will be able to help you with tough assignments and help to ensure that you pass the course. Most tutors are students who have taken the course before and gotten an "A" or the tutor may also be an instructor. A student who has taken the course can help you learn what to expect from the course and this will also help to keep you from withdrawing.

4 - Don't Skip Class

I know you maybe tempted to skip class, especially if the course is boring, but this will only lead to you getting behind in the assignments, making the course even harder. If the course is unbearably boring, reward yourself for actually going to class in the first place. For example, if you make it through a week, reward yourself with a meal from your favorite restaurant. These rewards will help to keep you from withdrawing.

5 - Don't Get Behind

Even if you do go to class everyday, you might be tempted to procrastinate. Procrastinating will only make assignments harder. If you wait until the last minute to do an assignment that should have taken three weeks, you will be very tempted to withdraw from the course.

6 - Break down Large Assignments

If assignments are overwhelming, break them down into smaller chunks. This will ensure that the assignment is easier and that you get the assignment done on time. You may even get the assignment done early, allowing you time to work ahead.

7 - Work Ahead

Working ahead will ensure that you don't get overwhelmed by the course. Most of the time, an instructor will stick to a certain plan for each chapter of a textbook. If this is the case, work ahead and stay at least a chapter ahead of the class. If you want to make sure you do the right chapters, talk to your instructor.

8 - Talk to Your Instructor

Talking to your instructor will not only ensure that you do the right assignments, but it will also give you a chance to ask your instruct how you could improve your grades. Your instructor may be willing to give you a few pointers on studying for the course and completing the assignments. While you are speaking with your instructor you could find out if your grades are good enough to pass.

9 - Keep an Eye on Your Grades

You maybe considering withdrawing from a course, but have you looked at your grades? Your grades maybe good enough to pass the course and the fact is, if you had trouble with the course this time (even after following the above tips) you will probably have problems the next time you take it as well. So if you can pass, it's best just to get it over with.

10 - Will You Pass

When you talk to your instructor, flat out ask them if you have a chance to pass the course. Sometimes looking at your grades isn't enough. Your instructor maybe able to tell you about upcoming assignments that will raise your grade or maybe able to offer extra credit assignments. Either way, it's best to find out before making the decision to withdraw.

• Reference/Source: AssociatedContent.com by Amy Brantley, Yahoo! Contributor Network [Dec 13, 2006]