Thumbthug Mobile Games – Top 10 Iphone Games of 2008

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Thumbthug Mobile Games – Top 10 Iphone Games of 2008

This year has without a doubt been the year of the iPhone and more to the point, the year of the iPhone mobile game. The launch of the Apple (AAPL) iTunes App. Store earlier in the year unleashed a torrent of new games and iPhone applications onto the world. Although most of the early releases tended to be rehashed versions of existing game concepts, adapted for the iPhone experience, as 2008 progressed, our friends the game developers, have started to get to grips with the uniquely new technologies. Which have helped define the iPhone as THE mobile gaming experience to be reckoned with and hopefully with the game developers just getting warming up, who Knows what 2009 will bring!

Oh yeh! and you can make a phone call if you really want.

As the year draws to a close we asked our thumbthug.com mobile gamers to weigh in on what they felt were the best iPhone games of 2008.

10. Tap Tap Dance/Tap Tap Revenge Opinion was pretty much split were tapping was concerned. Both Tap Tap Dance which is a Dance Dance Revolution style game and Tap Tap Revenge which is basically Guitar Hero for the iPhone scored high this year both for playability and just shear down and dirty fun. But if we had to give it either way it would probably go to Tap Tap Revenge because, lets face it, more people want to be lead guitarist in a rock band than a backup dancer for Britney! The online element also helps to add depth to the gaming experience.

9. SimCity EA has done a great job in porting this game over to the iPhone maintaining all of it’s engaging and addictive gameplay qualities. The downside is that there are still a few bugs in the system that need to be sorted but EA are working on them and have promised to have them resolved shortly. That said, SimCity may have scored higher this year if it were not for this.

8. Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D Really not much to say about this game apart from it’s just a fun driving game that uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to steer. If you are a fan of games like Mario Karts on the Wii, you will be a fan of Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D on the iPhone. Just don’t try and walk down the street whilst playing it, lampposts are harder than they look.

7. Super Monkey Ball Another just down right fun game that makes great use of the iPhone’s accelerometer technology and i would not have expected anything less from SEGA. Just watch-out for the motion sickness!

6. Bejeweled 2 This game seems to become everybody’s favorite regardless of what platform it is thrown onto. It just goes to show that great gameplay out weighs great graphics every time.

5. Tetrus Classic, classic and again a CLASSIC!

4. Enigmo Voted “Best iPhone Game” at Apple’s WWDC ‘08 this fun puzzle game also seems to be a favorite of the thumbthug.com crowd. If you are the shoot ‘em up type cell phone gamer then this game is probably not for you but if you like a game that is fun, challenging and makes you think then you are an Enigmo!

3. Trism Another game to take full advantage of the iPhone’s tilt and touch gameplay, Trism sits somewhere between Tetris and Bejeweled in the game style highraki. Yes Fun, Yes Addictive!

2. Topple If you love to stack you will love Topple, this very addictive “How high can you go?” game is both funny and fun at the same time. Drag, rotate and stack your blocks and when they fall, drag, rotate and stack some more. Oh, and it’s FREE which might account for some of it’s ranking.

1. Rolando Without a shadow of a double, Rolando is the Thumbthug.com Gamers iPhone game of 2008 and I mean overwhelmingly, we are talking “Obama-esc” landslide. And i have to say that we here in the thumbthug.com office tend to agree. This puzzle game utilizes all aspects of the iPhone’s gaming technologies to great effect. Hats off to ngmoco, Inc for creating the iPhone game of 2008.

15.2% Increase in Online Advertising Revenue in First Quarter of 2008

admin    Web Marketing     15.2%, 2008, Advertising, First, Increase, Online, quarter, Revenue

15.2% Increase in Online Advertising Revenue in First Quarter of 2008

Online usage is increasing for both personal and professional activities as the technology is providing new dimensions towards passing the information and increase in revenues. According to IAB Report, in 2008 Internet advertising revenue increased by 15.2% when compared to first half of 2007. Online advertising revenue for the year 2007 was .2 billion.

Online advertising revenue increased by 15.2%
Online ad revenue grew steadily for the first half of 2008. In the first half of 2007 and 2008, the online ad revenue was .9 billions and .8 billions respectively. The revenue increased by 15.2% in 2008 from 2007. In 2006 the growth rate was 37% when compared to 2005. Increase in online advertising campaigns lead to the increase in revenue.

Ad revenue decreased in second quarter by 0.3%
Growth rate changes from period to period or from time to time. In 2008, first quarter online ad revenue was .76 billions and in second quarter it is .745 billions. There was a small decrease by 0.3% between first and second quarters. The growth rate between first and second quarters was 5.2% in 2007. Online ad revenues raised 13% for second quarter of 2007 but decreased by 0.3% from first quarter in 2008.

Search related ad revenues increased by 24%
Search related ad revenues are constantly increasing the share in online advertising revenue. Search ad revenues for first six months of 2008 was .1 billions and was .1 billions for the same period in 2007, with an increase by 24%. Search ad revenue accounted for 44 percent in second quarter revenues of 2008 and it was 40 percent for the same period in 2007.

Display related ad revenues increased by 19%
Display related online advertising revenue for first six months of 2008 was .8 billion and for the same period in 2007 the revenue was .2 billion. Overall display related ad revenues increased by 19% from first half of 2007 to 2008. Display related revenues include banner ads, rich media, digital video and sponsorship. Except sponsorship, there is increase in revenues for all types of online advertising.

Top 50 companies have 90% market share in online advertising revenue
Online advertising revenue for top 10 companies hold 70% of market share and top 25 company’s hold 81% of market share while top 50 companies holds 90% in the first quarter of 2008. The market is concentrated among top 50 companies because about 90% of market share in online advertising revenue is with them.

52% of online advertising revenue for performance deals
There are different pricing models and each model has different online advertising revenue. Online advertising revenue for performance deals increased by 2%, from 50% in first quarter of 2007 to 52% in first quarter of 2008. For CPM pricing model, there is a decrease in 1% of online revenues from 45% in first quarter of 2008 to 44% in second quarter and same case with Hybrid pricing model, which decreased to 1% from 5% to 4% for the same period.

In the first half of 2008, online ad revenue growth is positive but there is some decline in growth rates in the period. With increase in use of internet, the marketers and consumers the interactive advertising can increase to new heights. Online advertising can achieve strong growth with unique efficiency and effectiveness of ad campaigns. Despite of environmental pressures, there is a good significant growth in overall online advertising industry.

When I started working on this guide to the top 10 Apple stories of 2008

admin    8615     2008, Apple, Guide, Started, Stories, This, Working

When I started working on this guide to the top 10 Apple stories of 2008

When I started working on this guide to the top 10 Apple stories of 2008, I thought that this was a relatively quiet year for Apple. After all, this wasn’t a year for blockbuster product introductions like the iPod or iPhone. It was, I thought, a year of incremental changes.

By the time I was done with my research, I’d changed my mind. This was a huge year for Apple. While there was no single triumphant product introduction, the company moved forward briskly on all fronts. It accelerated the iPhone’s revolution of the smartphone industry by upgrading hardware and software and introducing the App Store. It reversed its previously poor record on environmentalism. It continued to be financially successful in an economy where blue-chip companies are failing. And it bolstered its notebook and desktop computer line, struggled with false rumors about Steve Jobs’s health, fought a company looking to make Mac clones, and struggled with its MobileMe service.

Called Sonata, the lithium-ion IBM X61 Tablet Battery can withstand up to three years of recharging before losing its maximum capacity, according to Boston Power. Most batteries used today have a lifespan of about half that much. In addition, the battery recharges in only 30 minutes, which is much faster than traditional laptop batteries, and is less likely to overheat.

But you don’t have to be a Scrooge just because tough times require you to be a tightwad. Spread good cheer by taking advantage of the fact that consumer electronics firms are slashing prices to the bone. Although you’ll find deepest discounts for higher-ticket items such as MP3 players, laptops, and flat-screen televisions, you’ll find bargains all over the spectrum. To help you stay within budget during what is likely to be a cash-strapped holiday season, we’ve put together a list of 35 high-tech gadgets under 0 to bring joy into any household.

Clearly, this wasn’t one of Apple’s bigger announcements of the decade; Apple didn’t introduce any breathtaking new products, like it did with the iPhone in 2007, or the iPod in 2001, that won instant converts to the Apple brand. No, this one was for the folks who are already fans.

The S121 gets up to eight hours of IBM T60 Battery life with its 512-GB SSD and Asustek’s Super Hybrid Engine, a technology created through redesigning hardware, software, and BIOS to boost performance and power efficiency. Asustek claims the technology extends battery life 35% to 53%.

The speed was noticeably improved. I’ve tested a number of OQO devices over the years and always found them on the slow side. Not the model 2+. By upping the RAM to 2 GB and using the Intel Atom processor, OQO has really boosted the performance of the model 2+.

In addition, the Vaio P Series Lifestyle PC, unveiled Wednesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is about the size of a business envelope and as thin as a cell phone. As a result, the device is small enough to slip into a jacket pocket or handbag, while still delivering full PC functionality.

The emergence of new leadership is a significant change for Apple. But it’s a positive one. It would be necessary even if Jobs was as healthy as an ox. Companies, no matter how big or small they are, and no matter how healthy or sick their leaders are, need a plan of succession, what to do in case something happens to the leadership. Investors, employees, and partners should know what the plan is, so they can have confidence on the company’s long-term future.

In theory, you should already be aware that SSDs are not the next best thing to sliced bread. (Peanut butter is, except if you’re allergic.) However, they do provide interesting — and worthwhile — transitional points for our current crop of netbooks and notebooks. Let’s dive in and examine the genre, and bust a couple of myths while we’re at it.

The new Latitude XT 2 can run up to 11 hours and 28 minutes without a recharge with the use of two six-cell batteries, according to Dell. The second Dell Latitude E5500 Battery is sold as an option.

There’s also the novelty factor. We in computing just love new and different things. That may explain why new editions of netbooks seem to show up faster than baby bunnies at a rabbit farm.

The chipmaker in January entered the mini-laptop market with the introduction of the i.MX515 processor, which the company claims is less expensive and delivers longer battery life than Intel’s Atom processor, which dominates the fast-growing netbook market today.

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Nokia 6600 Slide the Most Awaited Phone of the Year 2008

admin    8615     2008, 6600, awaited, Most, Nokia, Phone, Slide, Year.

Nokia 6600 Slide the Most Awaited Phone of the Year 2008

The world’s renowned mobile manufacturing company has launched their new mobile handset this week to their ‘beautiful to use’ range, the all new Nokia 6600 is not just a phone but much more than that. Nokia 6600 has all the multimedia features which can not be found in only single handsets. Nokia has proved itself several times on the name of its quality and in terms of features and prices and now days it is called as the best mobile producer in many of the countries.

Nokia 6600 is a slide phone which could be said as the come back of sliding phones. This model is the other variant of the Nokia 6600 Fold. The same thing Nokia did with their other model the Nokia 6500 slide and the one in classic series. Nokia 6600 is quite similar to the 6500 but the main difference comes from its look which is quite sleek and classy and made for those of the class conscious people.

Now let us take a look on the features of the new Nokia 6600. This phone has a 3.2 mega pixels camera which has a Carl Zeiss optical lens through which one can click an awesome quality pictures which would be sharp and bright for sure. Also the videos can be recorded with a speed of around 30 frames per second which is just unbelievable and provide flattening quality videos without blurring just because of its speed.

Nokia 6600 has an accelerometer just like the fold version which is very attractive as it just flip up the screen from the portrait to the landscape mode and makes a very big and exciting difference in the camera and also provides a new gaming experience. The Nokia 6600 has also few in built maps and through the GPS navigation one can reach their desired place3 without any hassle. The Nokia 6600 could be said as the most awaited phone of the year 2008 as it will be in the market in the autumn this year.

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Apple Macbook 2008 Release

admin    8615     2008, Apple, Macbook, Release

Apple Macbook 2008 Release

Overview
It’s big news whenever Apple announces new products and now Apple’s bestselling consumer notebook receives the long rumored major redesign that is no doubt, another stunner. Just when you thought Apple couldn’t make the previous generation MacBook any better, they come around and offer this aluminum and glass beauty that is even thinner, lighter, and more powerful than before.  Now that Apple has brought its renewed MacBooks (99 starting) and MacBook Pros (99 starting) even closer together by offering the same design, engineering, and -for the first time on the MacBook – aluminum body to both notebook lines, the once straightforward consumer and pro-line product differentiation is slowly fading away.  Is this the best MacBook to date?  Is it safe to call the MacBook, the MacBook Pro “mini”?  Read on.

Design
The new MacBook and MacBook Pro make some significant strides in the design department.  First, the MacBook for the first time, joins the MacBook Pro in offering an all-aluminum body, ditching the white polycarbonate plastic that once defined the consumer line.  In fact, both machines look pretty much identical to each other – offering a black glass bezel screen and black “chiclet-style” keyboards to reflect the new Apple design direction first introduced with the current iMac and iPhone.  It’s a stunner for sure.  The exterior borrows cues from the MacBook Air using tapered edges that trick you into thinking it’s even thinner than it already is.  The magnetic latch opens and closes the display with buttery smoothness and without mechanical parts.  Aa satisfyingly solid “thunk” can be heard when closed.   Available in the more expensive 99 model are LED backlit keys – a first for the MacBook.  

Aside from the switch to a fully aluminum casing that replaces the now-defunct white plastic and/or black matte finish of the previous generation, Apple is touting its new manufacturing process as a technological and engineering breakthrough.  Using a full slab of aluminum to construct the MacBook and MacBook Pro, not only does this revolutionary process create a body and chassis that is much stiffer with no flexing, these new notebooks use less mechanical screws, parts and pieces to construct together, and thus allow Apple is able to achieve a lighter and thinner product.  The result is a notebook that is so clean and so sleek looking in design, it’s devoid of any evidence of screws to piece it together and without any vents, confirms that this new design doubles as an effective heatsink.

While it’s nice to see the MacBook now offer the same look and materials as the MacBook Pro, Apple may now run the risk of cannibalizing sales of its own pricier MacBook Pros, as they both look almost identical to each other and features-wise, the line between the two is blurring.  Call it the MacBook Pro mini if you will in appearance, Apple has revolutionized a new way to build quality notebooks that are also environmental friendly.

Size and Weight
Impressively, the new MacBook vgp-bps8b is even thinner and lighter than before, achieving a thickness of only .95 ” – the same as the new MacBook Pro.  At 4.5 pounds, the new MacBook is 1.5 pounds lighter than the outgoing model with weight evenly distributed across thanks to its unibody construction (read: less parts).  At 12.78″ x 8.94″, the new machines are pretty much identical in dimensions to the last generation models.

Keyboard
Love it or hate it, Apple has now transitioned its entire Mac lineup to the retro-looking “chiclet-style” keyboard with the new MacBooks.  Rather than color match the keys with the aluminum body, Apple’s new design direction employs the use of black keys to give the notebook an interesting design contrast.  The downside of having black keys is noticeable fingerprint smudging from oily fingers; At least it won’t look and get dirty like the older white MacBooks. Aesthetics aside, the full-size keyboard is a real pleasure to type on with very solid and satisfying clicks.  The keys may be flat and spaced out, but it’s oh-so-comfortable to type on with just the right amount of key travel sony vgp-bps8 and spring action.  The higher end model also offers LED backlit keys for the first time on a MacBook – once again, blurring the lines between the MacBook and MacBook Pro in features.

Display
With a gorgeous 13.3″ LED-backlit LCD screen fully encased beneath a black bezeled glass, the MacBook’s display is stunning to look at even when powered off.  The glossy finish makes colors really pop and adds to its enhanced vibrance, but at the cost of massive glare, making outdoor viewing difficult.  Indoor viewing is not as bad, but reflections abound so be mindful of viewing angles and tilt adjustments.  At first glance, the display seems identical to the previous MacBook screen with the same 1280×800 native resolution, but thanks to the new LED-backlighting, the display is evenly lit across the screen and noticeably brighter than the previous generation models.   Watching movies was a real treat even though you’ll find yourself seeing your own reflection in lighted areas.  But when compared to the MacBook Pro’s larger screen, the MacBook’s picture quality is still inferior and you’ll notice the contrast and blacks drop out when viewed from an angle – The MacBook Pro’s, on the otherhand, looks great at any angle.  This is a big reason why Apple would like for you to pay the extra money to go Pro for the better screen.  A built-in iSight camera is included as well like before on the top of the display.

Buttonless Glass Trackpad
Apple once again leads the competition by offering zero buttons…no really!  Apple has created the first “buttonless” trackpad built entirely of glass that also includes multi-touch technology.  The entire trackpad is essential a button in itself where pushing down creates a solid click to confirm depresses.  While it takes getting used to at first, the trackpad actually turns out to be very intuitive with a smooth glossy feel.  The MacBook Air introduced 3-finger scrolling and the MacBook and MacBook Pro now offer 4-finger multi-touch scrolling for calling upon Expose and Spaces functionality.  While quirky, you’ll soon appreciate the wonders the new glassy trackpad’s buttonless design provides.

Connectivity
Apple has shrewdly and neatly moved all ports to the left side of the notebook (the right side now occupies the lone optical drive), giving it a very clean and organized look so there’s no cluttered wires coming out of either side.  With the MacBook, you get 2 USB 2.0 ports, gigabit ethernet port, audio in/out jacks, MagSafe charge port, and the new mini DisplayPort that replaces the old mini-DVI out in an effort to save precious component space.  Also of convenience is the battery meter on the same side.  In a surprising move, Apple has curiously decided to omit FireWire in the new MacBook that was previous made standard across the entire Mac lineup.  Now, the only way for media heads to take advantage of FireWire connectivity is to shell up the 0 for the MacBook Pro or buy a pricey adapter.  While most people can argue that FireWire’s adoption is dwindling in favor of USB, one of the unique things that made FireWire so special for Macs is the target disk feature, allowing the computer to boot OS X off any FireWire external drive.  Call it cost-cutting or the death of FireWire adoption, we call it a disappointment.

The DisplayPort is another interesting move on Apple’s part to capitalize on a new standard that not only saves component space from the larger DVI and mini-DVI ports, but transitions across all future Macs.  Unfortunately, Apple is skimping on the accessories as you’ll have to shell the hefty for the mini DisplayPort adapter kit to connect an external monitor. Harsh.

For the common consumer, the MacBook provides just enough of what you need and nothing you don’t  in terms of available ports.  Trimming the fat, Apple still doesn’t offer any built-in digital card reader into the unit when compared to the competition and ExpressCard is a feature you’ll only find on the MacBook Pro.  Limited but more than sufficient.

Upgrading
One of the pains of owning an Apple notebook before was the difficulty in upgrading the basic hardware components.  It took a few dozen tiny screws just to get to the harddrive!  Not so with these new notebooks.  Apple clearly did it’s homework when redesigning the MacBook and MacBook Pro, making it very easy to open and upgrade.  Only 2 aluminum plates pieces hold the base together, providing easy access into the harddrive compartment and RAM slots through a simple flip of a latche.  The big news is the removable battery, now tucked neatly beneath one panel next to the hard drive.  Upgrading is limited to your standard harddrive upgrade (SATA or SSD) and adding more RAM (up to 4GB max).

Features:

The MacBook laptop battery is a real engineering marvel. It’s stunning good looks compliment the bevy of new advanced technology and engineering features. The Intel Core2Duo 2.0Ghz model (99) we received proved plenty capable of handling most common computing tasks and comes with a 160gb harddrive and 2gb of RAM (with the 1066Mhz FSB). A 2.4Ghz model is available as well for an additional 0 sticker price and includes a 250Gb SATA drive. Both models offer the option of the pricey but fast SSD drive.

Ditching the weak integrated graphics chipset from Intel, the MacBook finally offers a dedicated true graphics engine in the form of the nVidia GeForce 9400M making for better handling of 3D graphics and video. The results, are quite noticeable in speed and video performance throughout the system. Another great feature with this card is that it results in lower heat generation as the CPU no longer has to work so hard in processing these tasks. However, don’t expect the GPU to bowl you over in graphics-heavy applications though (read gaming). But, the 9400M certainly does pack a good amount of 3D punch to your videos, media, and gaming sessions, especially with the likes of the new Adobe Photoshop utilizing thus features.

Wireless-N, Bluetooth, SuperDrive and iSight are all standard features as usual.

Heat and noise wasn’t much of an issue with the new MacBooks thanks to the entire aluminum unibody acting as a giant heatsink.  The notebook runs warm but not quite as hot as older models and a soft hum can be heard only when the fan kicks in intermittently.  No issues here.  In our battery tests, watching a DVD yielded about 2:40 of juice, and in basic tasks such as web browsing and word processing, a respectable 4:30 of life.

Conclusion
Overall, we found the new MacBook a real pleasure to use as with all Mac products we’ve tested.  It’s a gorgeous, sexy piece of machinery and certainly the best MacBook yet.  But we do question Apple’s decision to make the MacBook so closely identical in looks and features to the MacBook Pro… Anyway, at 99 starting, it’s a tad more expensive than we had hoped it would be, but you do get a lot for your money namely the aluminum casing, glassy multi-touch buttonless trackpad and of course, the revolutionary unibody “brick” construction and for a whole 0 cheaper than the cheapest MacBook Pro model.  Nonetheless it’s a excellent buy for one of the best notebooks around on the market.  Some may not like Apple’s new design direction (myself included) utilizing black keys to contrast the aluminum, but there’s no denying this is one of the best looking laptops available.  

Bottom Line:
With a dedicated GPU and aluminum body, it might be “safe” to call the MacBook the “true” successor to the highly heralded Powerbook 12″.  Well…almost – the lack of FireWire is a serious hit and it’s still a tad too big.  What about calling it a MacBook Pro mini?  Not quite but its darn close. A better display and graphics card, Firewire, ExpressCard slot, and LED keys are all that gets in the way of the 0 difference, features wise.  Yet, the lines between the consumer and pro models are fading away ever so slightly…Suddenly 99 feels like a great bargain.

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Netaudioads Pay Per Play (PPP Advertising) Bids Begin February, 2008

admin    Web Marketing     2008, Advertising, Begin, Bids, February, Netaudioads, Play

Netaudioads Pay Per Play (PPP Advertising) Bids Begin February, 2008

While spring begins to unfold, so will the new and updated technology being released by NetAudioAds called Pay Per Play (PPP advertising). That’s right. The successful product they released just over 2 years ago is expanding and moving forward. The new bidding process will begin in February of 2008. Meanwhile, NetAudioAds needs to expand it’s user base and get ready for the hopeful explosion in clients.

So What is Pay Per Play?

Pay Per Play is the way of the future in advertisement and marketing. Just as television was rocked when cable became a commodity, both television and cable are being rocked by the internet which has affected marketing. As consumers spend more time on the internet and less time watching television and cable for entertainment, commercials and cable ads lose their efficacy. Pay Per Play (PPP advertising) offers marketers and advertisers a way to take their business to the internet–where people are, boosting ad generation, sales and consumer satisfaction.

Pay Per Play are quality, 5 second audio ads that are embedded into website owner’s pages whose content is related to the ad. For example, a popular Harley Davidson blogger would have a 5 second audio ad about Harley Davidsons on his site. The website owner then gets paid for every visitor who hears that ad and the visitor, rather than being forced to sit through 2 minutes of storytelling about a product they most likely would never use, hears a 5 second ad or slogan about a product they were probably already looking for!

How Does Pay Per Play Benefit me as a Website Owner?

Pay Per Play is like Google Adsense but better. See, Google pays their website owners for every CLICK a visitor makes on their ads. You know what it’s like when you’re surfing–if you’re looking at a site about good looking women, are you going to click on a business card ad? No. You ignore the dancing card and get back to the website.
NetAudioAds pays their website owners every time someone loads a page with the audio ad embedded into it. In other words, when a visitor goes to visit a popular, sponsored site, they automatically hear a 5 second ad related to the content they are looking for and the owner of the site with the audio ad gets paid. No clicking, just a quick listen.

How Does Pay Per Play Benefit Me as a Small Business Owner Who Needs To Market?

Currently Pay Per Play ads are only created and reserved for big business with a budget for marketing but NetAudioAds is expanding and will soon make room for Small Business as well. In fact, it’s all underway and should be monitored closely for.

Are Ads the Only Way I Earn With NetAudioAds?

There are several ways you can earn with NetAudioAds. Not only are website owners paid for every visitor who hears an ad, but also for referrals and the referrals of your referrals. In essence, as the program grows and expands, your income with NetAudioAds improves.

You can also opt for the quality 30 second audio ads for more specific marketing. The 30 second ads pay much more than the 5 second ads and are great strategies for exit pages and marketing sections set aside for them.

How Did The Changes In Television and Cable Affect Advertising?

Not only did marketers hang themselves by continually releasing ridiculous ads and commercials that were too long and badly written, but television networks grew too quickly, requiring heavy income to support themselves. This directly affected commercials, making them expensive and a necessity to run their studios. Eventually the ads were too long and there were just too many. The dent in advertisement’s reputation seems permanent as the success of ads on television dwindles. Altogether, the change in the way people spend their time has affected thousands of jobs and will affect many more unless marketers change their tactics. Pay Per Play will help advertisement make the change by taking advertisement and marketing to the internet under the right premises.

With the addition of DVRs to millions of homes, another obstacle was created for advertisers. Apparently over 90% of the millions of people who have DVRs in their homes say that they fast forward through the commercials unless they’ve heard that it’s ‘a good one’. This is horrible news for the thousands of people who work hard to put those ads together, bad as they may be, and hope to do it again. But with Pay Per Play bringing advertisement to the internet, there are new opportunities in the field of marketing. It’s up to you to be a part of it.

How Has Pay Per Play Become So Successful Already?

Like any other social network, Pay Per Play (PPP advertising) grows as it gains new clients and more website operators and owners. Essentially, as the number of people who make the switch from television to internet grows, so do the number of advertisers on the web and the number of website owners who boast the ads.

In other words, if Maria likes to blog about her amazing adventures as a freelance photographer, which essentially helps bring in new clients from magazine companies looking for stock photos, soon Maria’s friends will want to blog about their talents as well. Imagine that Maria also placed 5 second Pay Per Play ads on her site that marketed related material to her viewers. Now Maria is also making money on her blog that brags her talent and it continues to grow. Not to mention the advertisers are happy that people who have interests in photography are hearing their ads!

Tell Me More About Pay Per Play

NetAudioAds and Pay Per Play have been running for over 2 years and have over 66,000 advertisers and marketers. Pay Per Play is used on over 550,000 websites and up to 43 million impressions of the ads each month.

Pay Per Play ads only play once for the visitor. This eliminates visitor agitation and keeps the intrusion at a minimum. It also boosts the effectiveness of the ad. Since the visitor is being informed by the ad of a product they are already familiar with, they are more likely to respond in a positive way to the quality ad.

NetAudioAds has grown so much that they recently had to bring on one of the 5 largest search engines to keep things running smoothly. Now they have the ability to serve billions and with 907 million people online every day, 97% of which have speakers on their computers, this is the world’s largest advertising forum ever.

If you don’t own a website but would like to, whether it’s a blog about a specific interest you have or a website you want to create a business with, NetAudioAds will help. They also train those who want to build a website but don’t have the computer skills for it. And the program is completely free!

On February 1st, 2008, the bidding wars will begin. The more website owners who are members of the program, the more money involved for all parties. And the happier the consumers are with simple 5 second ads that are related to where they visit. It’s a win/win situation with Pay Per Play.

The State of Social Media 2008

admin    Social Media Marketing     2008, Media, Social, State

I’ve been on a recent whirlwind speaking tour recently, sharing and learning all things related to the socialization of marketing and service as well as how to measure these new strategies and tactics. From San Diego to New York to SF back to New York and then Vegas and SF again, I was reminded that no matter how grand an expert one purports to be, the truth is that we’re all still trying to figure this out as it continually changes – together. I’m not talking about what to do or how, but what must be done in order to ensure that this global renaissance paves the way for permanent residence in every media property and business through value, education, and reform.

 The world of Socialized Media is maturing and along with it, our knowledge, expertise, reach, and personal and represented brands are only flourishing. It will continue as long as we realize that these new social tools and networks require an entirely new commitment and embodiment of what we personify and how we can be a genuine resource to the people who define the communities that are important to us.

In Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere report, the company observed that blogging is becoming mainstream, leading the way for an Active Blogosphere – defined as the ecosystem of interconnected communities of bloggers and readers at the convergence of journalism and conversation. I’d also add that as the Active Blogosphere further permeates our daily information consumption and distribution processes, that the Social Web equally becomes pervasive. But, it’s so much more than an Active SocialMediaSphere. As networks become densely populated and new communities arise and thrive, we’re experiencing a fundamental shift in content creation, distribution, and consumption, thus creating an Active and Participatory Media society that is inspiring and seeding a more literate and enlightened generation.

 Blogs and social networks are now part of our daily lives.

* comScore MediaMetrix (August 2008)

- Blogs: 77.7 million unique visitors in the US

- Facebook: 41.0 million | MySpace 75.1 million

- Total internet audience 188.9 million

 

* eMarketer (May 2008)

- 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users)

- 22.6 million US bloggers in 2007 (12%)

 

* Universal McCann (March 2008)

- 184 million WW have started a blog | 26.4 US

- 346 million WW read blogs | 60.3 US

- 77% of active Internet users read blogs

 

YouTube = 10 percent of all internet traffic (source: Ellacoya Networks) 

YouTube & Wikipedia among top brands (source: brandchannel.com) 

Five of the top 10 websites are social (source: Alexa)

Over 100 million blogs exist (source: Technorati)

120,000 new blogs launched every day (source: Technorati)

1.5 million posts per day (17 per second) (source: Technorati)Everyone is a Social Media Expert

  You’re a purveyor of new media, but then again, so is everyone else it seems. So what are you going to do to rise above the fray while also delivering true, incontestable value to those you’re helping?  

Are you an evangelist or a consultant?  

Are you an extension of your company brand or are you an employee?  

Are you a leader, follower, or are you meandering through your profession?  

Are you confined to the role of a social marketer or do you represent something with longer-term value?  

At the end of the day, everything that’s transpiring around us is actually improving the existing foundation for our business, from service to marketing to product development to sales to executive management, and everything in between.  

Social marketing revitalizes and empowers every facet of our workflow and its supporting ecosystem. Seeing the bigger picture and tying our knowledge to the valuable feedback from our communities will help us guide businesses towards visibility, profitability, relevance and ultimately customer loyalty.  

In every single case, it doesn’t just take an expert; it requires a champion to make an impact.   You are that champion.

Top 3 Google Linking Strategies of 2008

admin    Google Optimization     2008, google, Linking, Strategies

To get the best ranking results on Google you need to use the best linking strategies. With so many methods to choose from, this is easier said than done. Fortunately, the information in this article can take you through everything you need to know to have hundreds of top quality inbound links in no time flat!

First let’s start with getting inbound links from directories. A link from a directory gets a lot of weight from Google because they value it as a form of endorsement. You’ve probably used some directories yourself, like Yahoo. Or maybe you’ve used some without even knowing it, like The Open Directory Project (DMOZ.org) that powers many of the most popular search engines, including Google!

Each directory is different and offers different options for obtaining links to your site. Here’s a rundown of how different directories will link to your site…

1.) Free Submission: Just like it sounds. No charges for inclusion. DMOZ.org is the best one and powers Google, AOL and even Yahoo Search (not Yahoo directory.) Just be sure to follow their submission guidelines and pick the most appropriate sub category possible for inclusion. This is extremely important.

2.) Paid Submissions: They charge a fee to review the submitted link and possibly list the page. You might pay a few dollars one time, a recurring annual fee or as much as the $300 that Yahoo charges for commercial site review.

3.) Reciprocal Link: These usually require you to link to the directory before they will even consider linking back.

4.) Featured Link: Your link gets a premium spot that you pay for.

5.) Featured Homepage Link: This is a featured link on the homepage. As you’ve probably guessed, this can get real expensive.

Yahoo is easily the most popular (and most expensive) but it’s not the best. It’s been my experience that a free listing with DMOZ.org is worth more than a paid listing with Yahoo. Even though Yahoo is more popular as a directory that people actually visit, DMOZ is much more popular with search engines and carries a lot of weight. A “vote” from DMOZ is a big deal indeed.

Here are the five top directories offering free listings. Some even offer inexpensive expedited listing services or featured listings:

1.) dmoz.com

2.) directoryvault.com

3.) domaining.in

4.) getlistedrightnow.com

5.) visitalink.com

There’s a site that keeps an updated list of directories, but not all are free. You have to visit each to see if there is any cost. Go to http://www.topwebsitetips.com/FreeLinks-Directories.aspx and scroll down to the drop down box at the bottom of the page. Select your desired Google PR and search. If you want to avoid getting niche directories in the results, check the “General Directories Only” box after your first return set and rerun the search.

As a second option, you can also consider paying a submission service to get your site listed in the major directories. There are plenty that will do it for a reasonable fee. Just be sure they do the following three things:

1.) Manual submission only

2.) Verify that your site is not already listed

3.) Provide proof of submission (usually screen captures)

Just search Google for “directory submission service” and you’ll get plenty of options. I’ve used http://www.seonext.com/directory-submission.html in the past with good success. They offer a “slow submission” service that makes your link building appear more natural to Google and other top search engines.

And finally, there is no better way to get quality links than from a traditional reciprocal link campaign. This can be a time consuming step without automated software, but is very important.

Here are ten steps to a successful reciprocal linking campaign:

1.) List the keywords you want to be found for.

2.) Write a standardized form letter you can easily customize for each site (customization tips at the end.)

3.) Run a search on Google for each keyword and jot down the URL for each match returned (not just the homepage but the URL for the actual page you want the link from, which is the one that came up in the search.)

4.) Remove all direct competitors from the list.

5.) Go back through your list and find the contact info for each site. Record this information.

6.) Create a link to each page you want to get a link from. This should be from the most appropriate page on your site, not the homepage. Do not exceed 10 outbound links per page at most. The fewer, the better.

7.) Send the customized email with the considerations outlined below.

8.) Verify their backlinks.

9.) Remove any outbound links that do not reciprocate within a month or so.

10.) Check your inbound links every couple of weeks. Make sure you are still getting the links you earned and that the people linking to you have not moved you to a less desirable page.

Reciprocal Link Email Tips:

A.) Address the email to a person by name if possible.

B.) Start with a complimentary statement about what you like on their site.

C.) Introduce yourself and your site.

D.) Lead into why you feel your site is a good, non competing match (list benefits for them and their visitors.)

E.) Mention that you have already linked to their site and hope they feel a reciprocal link will be beneficial. Provide the URL to the page you linked from.

F.) Explain why you linked from the page you did and the anchor text you used to show you understand link strategy.

G.) Request that if they link back they use one of your anchor text suggestions along with the exact URL you want them to link to.

H.) Offer to change the link anchor text of their URL if they wish.

I.) Thank them genuinely for the time and sign with your first name to make it more personal and natural.

You can do all of this manually or invest in a good piece of software to do the difficult and time consuming work for you. Many SEO professionals (myself included) use SEO Elite (http://www.SEOeliteWeb.com) because it finds the best link partners, automatically gets their contact info and even manages entire campaigns. It’s also a link verification system and search engine rank checker so it covers all of my SEO needs nicely ($167.)

So whether you do the work by hand or invest in a time saving “instant gratification” SEO tool, the information in this article can help you to the top of Google in record time. Good luck!

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Top 5 Fashion Tips For Apple Figures For Fall 2008 Through Winter 2009

admin    Misc     2008, 2009, Apple, Fall, Fashion, Figures, Through, Tips, Winter

If you have a thick waist and small hips, then you have an apple shaped body. Don’t envy the pear shaped girls and hourglass figures. You too can look shapely and womanly if you dress to flatter your figure and Fall 2008 through Winter 2009 fashion has plenty of outfits made just for you.
First of all, unlike a pear shaped girl or hourglass figure, an apple girl’s waist isn’t the narrowest part of her torso. That award goes to her ribcage. So treat the narrowest part of your ribcase as your waist, and suddenly, you’ve got curves too.
By bringing the waistline of your dresses and tops to your rib cage, the effect seen in empire waist clothes, you get a shapely figure. So focus on empire waist dresses and blouses. They flatter you.
Now for Fall and Winter 2008, dresses are hot and they skim the natural waist. Many of them have empire waists. The lace black dress with long sleeves is in. As is the pretty flowy top with big sleeves. So girl, this is your season.
1. Start with a new dress. Prints or plain. Colored or neutral. It doesn’t matter, other than the fact that it has a high waistline and is in a color or colors that flatter you. Animal print dresses are glamorous and sexy. I saw a stunning dress in a hot animal print, like a leopard print but with huge spots instead of tiny ones. It had an empire waist.
2. Detract from you thick waist by drawing the eye to your arms and legs. You blouse should have full sleeves. The hems of the sleeves should be full and flowy. A longish blouse or top that has an empire waist, but flares below to a full hemline is another plus for you. Pick one such blouse, sheer, or lacy or made of a velvet or silk. Either way, if it is flowy and full in the right places, you’ll look more feminine in it.
3. Get one of the black lace dresses that are so hot this season. The black widow look is big this season, thanks in part to Prada. Pick a black lace dress with full sleeves, with wide hemlines at the end of each sleeve. Get it in floaty lace, with an empire waist of course. A full hemline for the skirt wouldn’t hurt either. Make that your de facto little black dress.
4. Load up on the accessories. Wear earrings to draw attention to your pretty face. Wear bangles to bring the eye to your arms instead of your waist. Wear stunning shoes. A pretty pair of high heel shoes, or gorgeous boots that would draw attention to your legs. Carry a beautiful handbag by day and a jewelled clutch for the evening. Dress your hair with gorgeous accessories to draw attention to your luscious locks instead.
5. Get on of this season’s pretty belts and use that to cinch your dresses and jackets at the narrowest part of your ribcage. Thick or thin, it doesn’t matter. Use the belt to turn any dress into an empire waist dress that makes you look feminine and shapely.

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Learn How Microsoft is Balancing Information Communication Technology at the 2008 Government Technologies Conference and Expo

admin    Misc     2008, Balancing, Communication, Conference, Expo, Government, Information, Learn, Microsoft, Technologies, Technology

Learn How Microsoft Is Balancing Information Communication Technology at the 2008 Government Technologies Conference and Expo
March 25, 2008 – Toronto, Canada – John Weigelt, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada, will be keynoting at the 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference and Expo, taking place April 15 -16, 2008 at the Design Exchange in Toronto Ontario.
John Weigelt will discuss the fundamental issues facing government and healthcare today – achieving the right balance between ICT and the growing demands of the technically savvy citizen and business and the critical needs of patients and healthcare workers.
Microsoft believes that the time has come for a serious re-examination of the ICT options facing government and healthcare organizations, with a tide of increasing expectation and massively more technical capability, the trick is to ensure that our governments and hospitals are waving and not drowning in the turbulent mix.
So, register now to learn more about the Microsoft Solutions and Strategies for government and healthcare to embrace technology to meet the needs of patients and citizens alike while improving internal efficiencies and the jobs of your employees. This strategies and solutions are built with research driven data, market-proven Microsoft infrastructure components, uses open standards, and includes a set of common transactions that enable critical functions to be rapidly provided to citizens, patients, businesses and your employees.
This session is designed specifically for Microsoft Canada to gain insight from our strategic Municipal Government Chief Information Officers and Senior IT decision makers around its CGF and its key building blocks impacting Municipalities: Solution Oriented Architecture and Enterprise Application Integration, Communication and Collaboration, Security, Compliance and Privacy, as well as overall management.
The Microsoft Connected Government Framework is designed to assist municipalities to develop corporate infrastructure environments that will support the transformational technology projects across the breadth of their organization. The CGF helps ensure that value invested in current legacy applications continues to be realized while municipalities improve and update their solutions to deliver superior value to the constituents.
To register for Early-Bird Passes please visit http://gov.wowgao.com/registration OR call (416) 292-0038 Ext. 812.
About Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.
Microsoft Canada Co. was founded in 1985. As the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington, the company provides sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in French and English. Microsoft Canada has grown from five people in 1985 to more than 900 employees. It also has strong relationships with more than 24,000 partners across Canada. More than 1,100 of these are Microsoft Certified Partners, and over 200 are Gold Certified Partners. Headquartered in Mississauga, Microsoft Canada has regional offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax.
About the 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference & Expo:
The 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference and Expo will focus on the latest IT products and solutions being developed and sought after in the healthcare and public service sector, including Web 2.0, Patient Monitoring Systems, Document Management, Business Intelligence, Mobile Data Systems, RFID Solutions, Biometrics and much more.
As one of Canada’s leading annual IT conference and exposition, the event features ground breaking IT applications that aim to educate key IT professionals, Government officials, developers, architects, engineers and medical professionals with the necessary tools and techniques for the reliable, effective management of all public information services across Canada. For more information about the event, please visit http://gov.wowgao.com
About WowGao Inc.
WowGao Inc. is an award winning leading event management company that produces, since 2003, internationally renowned conferences and expositions that address the latest innovations and developments in the information technology industry. Our featured events include:
Government & Health Technologies Conference and Expo, April 15 & 16, 2008
Wireless & Mobile Expo and Conference, July 15 & 16, 2008
RFID Forum, July 15 & 16, 2008
Financial Services Technology Forum, October 2008
For more information about the events, please visit http://www.wowgao.com/
For conference inquiries:
Conference Producer
(416) 292 – 0038 ext. 840 | conference@wowgao.com
WowGao Inc. | www.wowgao.com
Learn How Microsoft Is Balancing Information Communication Technology at the 2008 Government Technologies Conference and Expo
March 25, 2008 – Toronto, Canada – John Weigelt, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada, will be keynoting at the 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference and Expo, taking place April 15 -16, 2008 at the Design Exchange in Toronto Ontario.
John Weigelt will discuss the fundamental issues facing government and healthcare today – achieving the right balance between ICT and the growing demands of the technically savvy citizen and business and the critical needs of patients and healthcare workers.
Microsoft believes that the time has come for a serious re-examination of the ICT options facing government and healthcare organizations, with a tide of increasing expectation and massively more technical capability, the trick is to ensure that our governments and hospitals are waving and not drowning in the turbulent mix.
So, register now to learn more about the Microsoft Solutions and Strategies for government and healthcare to embrace technology to meet the needs of patients and citizens alike while improving internal efficiencies and the jobs of your employees. This strategies and solutions are built with research driven data, market-proven Microsoft infrastructure components, uses open standards, and includes a set of common transactions that enable critical functions to be rapidly provided to citizens, patients, businesses and your employees.
This session is designed specifically for Microsoft Canada to gain insight from our strategic Municipal Government Chief Information Officers and Senior IT decision makers around its CGF and its key building blocks impacting Municipalities: Solution Oriented Architecture and Enterprise Application Integration, Communication and Collaboration, Security, Compliance and Privacy, as well as overall management.
The Microsoft Connected Government Framework is designed to assist municipalities to develop corporate infrastructure environments that will support the transformational technology projects across the breadth of their organization. The CGF helps ensure that value invested in current legacy applications continues to be realized while municipalities improve and update their solutions to deliver superior value to the constituents.
To register for Early-Bird Passes please visit http://gov.wowgao.com/registration OR call (416) 292-0038 Ext. 812.
About Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.
Microsoft Canada Co. was founded in 1985. As the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington, the company provides sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in French and English. Microsoft Canada has grown from five people in 1985 to more than 900 employees. It also has strong relationships with more than 24,000 partners across Canada. More than 1,100 of these are Microsoft Certified Partners, and over 200 are Gold Certified Partners. Headquartered in Mississauga, Microsoft Canada has regional offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax.
About the 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference & Expo:
The 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference and Expo will focus on the latest IT products and solutions being developed and sought after in the healthcare and public service sector, including Web 2.0, Patient Monitoring Systems, Document Management, Business Intelligence, Mobile Data Systems, RFID Solutions, Biometrics and much more.
As one of Canada’s leading annual IT conference and exposition, the event features ground breaking IT applications that aim to educate key IT professionals, Government officials, developers, architects, engineers and medical professionals with the necessary tools and techniques for the reliable, effective management of all public information services across Canada. For more information about the event, please visit http://gov.wowgao.com
About WowGao Inc.
WowGao Inc. is an award winning leading event management company that produces, since 2003, internationally renowned conferences and expositions that address the latest innovations and developments in the information technology industry. Our featured events include:
Government & Health Technologies Conference and Expo, April 15 & 16, 2008
Wireless & Mobile Expo and Conference, July 15 & 16, 2008
RFID Forum, July 15 & 16, 2008
Financial Services Technology Forum, October 2008
For more information about the events, please visit http://www.wowgao.com/
For conference inquiries:
Conference Producer
(416) 292 – 0038 ext. 840 | conference@wowgao.com
WowGao Inc. | www.wowgao.com

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