Computers Users Tips

A Guide to RSS Aggregators

By: Terry Leslie

One of the most popular features of Internet portals, websites, pages and even emails is a frame that features an organized list of news headlines and periodic updates from other web sources. Really Simple Syndication, formerly ?Rich Site Summary? or simply, RSS makes this possible.

Most users visit a lot of websites whose content continually change, such as news sites, community organization or professional association information pages, medical websites, product support pages, and blogs. As Internet surfing became an intrinsic part of business and leisure, it became important to get rid of the very tedious task of repeatedly returning to each website to see updated content.

RSS easily distributes information from different websites to a wider number of Internet users. RSS aggregators are programs that use RSS to source these updates, and then organize those lists of headlines, content and notices for easy reading. It allows computers to automatically retrieve and read the content that users want, then track changes and personalize lists of headlines that interests them.

The specially made computer programs called ?RSS aggregators? were created to automatically find and retrieve the RSS feeds of pre-selected internet sites on behalf of the user and organize the results accordingly. (RSS feeds and aggregators are also sometimes referred to as “RSS Channels” and “RSS Readers”.)

The RSS aggregator is like a web browser for RSS content. HTML presents information directly to users, and RSS automatically lets computers communicate with one another. While users use browsers to surf the web then load and view each page of interest, RSS aggregators keeps track of changes to many websites. The titles or descriptions are links themselves and can be used to load the web page the user wants.

RSS starts with an original Web site that has content made available by the administrator. The website creates an RSS document and registers this content with an RSS publisher that will allow other websites to syndicate the documents. The Web site also produces an RSS feed, or channel, which is available together with all other resources or documents on the particular Web server. The website will register the feed as an RSS document, with a listed directory of appropriate RSS publishers.

An RSS feed is composed of website content listed from newest to oldest. Each item usually consists of a simple title describing the item along with a more complete description and a link to a web page with the actual content being described. In some instances, the short description or title line is the all the updated information that a user wants to read (for example, final games scores in sports, weblogs post, or stock updates). Therefore, it is not even necessary to have a web page associated with the content or update items listed — sometimes all the needed information that users need would be in the titles and short summaries themselves.

The RSS content is located in a single file on a webpage in a manner not very different from typical web pages. The difference is that the information is written in the XML computer code for use by an RSS aggregator and not by a web user like a normal HTML page.

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The client end of RSS publishing makes up part of the system that gathers and uses the RSS feed. For example, Mozilla FireFox browser is typically at the client end of the RSS transaction. A user?s desktop RSS aggregator program also belongs to the client end.

Once the URL of an RSS feed is known, a user can give that address to an RSS aggregator program and have the aggregator monitor the RSS feed for changes. Numerous RSS aggregators are already preconfigured with a ready list of RSS feed URLs for popular news or information websites that a user can simply choose from.

There are many RSS aggregators that can be used by all Internet users. Some can be accessed through the Internet, some are already incorporated into email applications, and others run as a standalone program inside the personal computer.

RSS feeds have evolved into many uses. Some uses gaining popularity are:

?For online store or retail establishments: Notification of new product arrivals

?For organization or association newsletters: title listings and notification of new issues, including email newsletters

?Weather Updates and other alerts of changing geographic conditions

?Database management: Notification of new items added, or new registered members to a club or interest group.

The uses of feeds will continue to grow, because RSS aggregators make access to any information that individual users like more convenient and fun.

In the mean time, Good Luck on your journey to success?

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Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4130.shtml
.

Top 10 Tips for Internationalization

By: Adam Asnes

There are two kinds of software internationalization you can refer to - built in to the product from the start, and performed on existing code. The kind of internationalization (i18n) this article invokes isn?t the sort that?s designed into a product right from conception. That is less common, though the pull of global markets is changing that tide. Few application development teams have historically had the opportunity to incorporate world market foresight. They had to produce a product to market for the most immediate business requirements. So then most internationalization happens on existing code because someone sells something, a global company buys another company, or a strategic initiative has taken form. Suddenly there is a new requirement for software to work in any number of new languages and locales. Business requirements drive technical schedules first, rather than involving a creative path of inventing new cool functionality or products from the ground up.

I?m tempted to just write Don?t Panic, carry a towel and avoid Vogon poetry - and while you?re at it, Unicode?s pretty good stuff. I?m being flippant because internationalization efforts tend to each have their own unique challenges when you get into the details. I?ll instead provide this article as a series of i18n process tips that apply across the board. In general Internationalization (i18n) is messy, full of exceptions, and generally not considered optimally from a development perspective. Maybe that should be tip one.

Tip One: Internationalization is ugly. Expect that from the start. You are reverse engineering basic logic of how your software inputs, stores, retrieves, transforms and displays data. You are adding user interaction functionality that your product wasn?t originally designed to do. It?s rarely just about embedded strings. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. It?s a lot of work. In some cases you can run into weird stuff from areas such as compilers, middleware, database connectivity, and even low level operating system issues.

Tip Two: Get the big picture questions handled quickly. That is, what are the high level requirements, how much time do you have, how much time do you need and how much budget can you get? Be prepared to ask for what you need in the CFO?s or CEO?s language.

Tip Three: Remember what?s driving this - Revenue. Internationalizing a complex application is a big new requirement. Don?t underestimate. Being late will cause delays in revenue, stall marketing and sales investments and make you very unpopular. Do it poorly and rushed, and your product will be shabby for the very new customers you seek.

Tip Four: Do some good research or get help identifying requirements. For instance, consider language only as one aspect of a locale. English is a language. Yet England is a different locale, with different expected behavior than the States. Consider numerical formats, dates, times, postal addresses, phone numbers, paper size, currencies and more. Then add the specifics that your application may need, like any possible customizations of workflow, locale selection and more. Consider what the optimal character encoding implementation strategy is for your computer platforms, application tiers, programming languages, database requirements, etc.

Tip Five: Get some good code intelligence. Tools like our Globalyzer software let you comb through your source and identify all kinds of internationalization issues right up front. It?s way better to get a good inventory of what you need to inspect and change, rather than hunting through your myriad lines of code trying to anticipate all kinds of variable conditions using grep, and then trial and error your way through the boatloads of issues you?ll miss.

We are just adding a new capability to Globalyzer called Diagnostics. It will give you summary information internationalization readiness and issues found in your code. It?s fully functional even with just a trial Globalyzer license. No excuses, it?s free to use all you want.

Tip Six: Prepare for nests of difficulties depending upon your programming language(s), database and third party products. Programming languages rate differently in terms of difficulty to internationalize. For instance C and C++ are harder, with many hundreds of potential issues, compared to Java and C#, which have quite a bit of internationalization baked in. But Java and C# don?t internationalize themselves.

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The good thing is that when a programming language has well designed internationalization capability, the work goes faster.

Tip Seven: Third party products can cause some challenges. They are not always built for your new internationalization needs. For instance, a couple of years ago we worked on a product that used a third party product for displaying animations in a kid?s game. At first glance, you wouldn?t think it would be an issue, as there was no text being processed or displayed. But when we looked at things more closely, user name and file path info was being passed into the animation tool, which in this case could very well involve wide characters (e.g. Chinese). But the particular version of the animation product, could not support this and so it would always crash. The fix took time and some inventiveness.

Another example involved a third party product that generated a spreadsheet view. While data within the cells was handling Kanji just fine, tabs were corrupting. The third party product provider had declared their product Unicode compliant, but in practice it wasn?t done all the way through. The choice became to find a better third party product to replace this one, or get the spreadsheet provider to fix their product -which they may or may not want to do on your schedule.

Tip Eight: Remember your i18n fundamentals. Don?t embed strings or concatenate them. Watch out for sorting. A and Z are not the beginning and end of all alphabets - some languages don?t use the concept of alphabets. Don?t hardcode fonts. Remember your interface Geometry will need to expand. Use functions, methods or classes that adapt to locale needs. Use Locale adapting sorting (i.e. java.text.Collator class in Java) or let your database perform sorting for you whenever possible.

You can automate aspects of repetitive like string externalization using Globalyzer. It makes that tedious job go much faster.

Tip Nine: Account for merging code with parallel feature developments. This can be tricky, as your new feature development cycles could be quite different from your internationalization milestones. In most cases, be prepared to branch the code for internationalization efforts.

Tip Ten: Use Pseudo Localization (PseudoJudo in Globalyzer) to perform many internationalization functional tests before your localize. That means you add pad characters from target locales to the beginning and end of strings, and stretch the whole string based on target requirements. You?ll then be able to see how those strings behave in your display and moving through application tiers, without your engineers needing to understand the target language.

Bonus Tip Eleven: Plan for QA to take longer than it did when your app was just monolingual. Remember, you have internationalization functional testing and bug fixing, with new testing cases, and then, should you be localizing, you have linguistic testing.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4047.shtml
.

Top 10 Tips for Internationalization

By: Adam Asnes

There are two kinds of software internationalization you can refer to - built in to the product from the start, and performed on existing code. The kind of internationalization (i18n) this article invokes isn?t the sort that?s designed into a product right from conception. That is less common, though the pull of global markets is changing that tide. Few application development teams have historically had the opportunity to incorporate world market foresight. They had to produce a product to market for the most immediate business requirements. So then most internationalization happens on existing code because someone sells something, a global company buys another company, or a strategic initiative has taken form. Suddenly there is a new requirement for software to work in any number of new languages and locales. Business requirements drive technical schedules first, rather than involving a creative path of inventing new cool functionality or products from the ground up.

I?m tempted to just write Don?t Panic, carry a towel and avoid Vogon poetry - and while you?re at it, Unicode?s pretty good stuff. I?m being flippant because internationalization efforts tend to each have their own unique challenges when you get into the details. I?ll instead provide this article as a series of i18n process tips that apply across the board. In general Internationalization (i18n) is messy, full of exceptions, and generally not considered optimally from a development perspective. Maybe that should be tip one.

Tip One: Internationalization is ugly. Expect that from the start. You are reverse engineering basic logic of how your software inputs, stores, retrieves, transforms and displays data. You are adding user interaction functionality that your product wasn?t originally designed to do. It?s rarely just about embedded strings. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. It?s a lot of work. In some cases you can run into weird stuff from areas such as compilers, middleware, database connectivity, and even low level operating system issues.

Tip Two: Get the big picture questions handled quickly. That is, what are the high level requirements, how much time do you have, how much time do you need and how much budget can you get? Be prepared to ask for what you need in the CFO?s or CEO?s language.

Tip Three: Remember what?s driving this - Revenue. Internationalizing a complex application is a big new requirement. Don?t underestimate. Being late will cause delays in revenue, stall marketing and sales investments and make you very unpopular. Do it poorly and rushed, and your product will be shabby for the very new customers you seek.

Tip Four: Do some good research or get help identifying requirements. For instance, consider language only as one aspect of a locale. English is a language. Yet England is a different locale, with different expected behavior than the States. Consider numerical formats, dates, times, postal addresses, phone numbers, paper size, currencies and more. Then add the specifics that your application may need, like any possible customizations of workflow, locale selection and more. Consider what the optimal character encoding implementation strategy is for your computer platforms, application tiers, programming languages, database requirements, etc.

Tip Five: Get some good code intelligence. Tools like our Globalyzer software let you comb through your source and identify all kinds of internationalization issues right up front. It?s way better to get a good inventory of what you need to inspect and change, rather than hunting through your myriad lines of code trying to anticipate all kinds of variable conditions using grep, and then trial and error your way through the boatloads of issues you?ll miss.

We are just adding a new capability to Globalyzer called Diagnostics. It will give you summary information internationalization readiness and issues found in your code. It?s fully functional even with just a trial Globalyzer license. No excuses, it?s free to use all you want.

Tip Six: Prepare for nests of difficulties depending upon your programming language(s), database and third party products. Programming languages rate differently in terms of difficulty to internationalize. For instance C and C++ are harder, with many hundreds of potential issues, compared to Java and C#, which have quite a bit of internationalization baked in. But Java and C# don?t internationalize themselves.

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The good thing is that when a programming language has well designed internationalization capability, the work goes faster.

Tip Seven: Third party products can cause some challenges. They are not always built for your new internationalization needs. For instance, a couple of years ago we worked on a product that used a third party product for displaying animations in a kid?s game. At first glance, you wouldn?t think it would be an issue, as there was no text being processed or displayed. But when we looked at things more closely, user name and file path info was being passed into the animation tool, which in this case could very well involve wide characters (e.g. Chinese). But the particular version of the animation product, could not support this and so it would always crash. The fix took time and some inventiveness.

Another example involved a third party product that generated a spreadsheet view. While data within the cells was handling Kanji just fine, tabs were corrupting. The third party product provider had declared their product Unicode compliant, but in practice it wasn?t done all the way through. The choice became to find a better third party product to replace this one, or get the spreadsheet provider to fix their product -which they may or may not want to do on your schedule.

Tip Eight: Remember your i18n fundamentals. Don?t embed strings or concatenate them. Watch out for sorting. A and Z are not the beginning and end of all alphabets - some languages don?t use the concept of alphabets. Don?t hardcode fonts. Remember your interface Geometry will need to expand. Use functions, methods or classes that adapt to locale needs. Use Locale adapting sorting (i.e. java.text.Collator class in Java) or let your database perform sorting for you whenever possible.

You can automate aspects of repetitive like string externalization using Globalyzer. It makes that tedious job go much faster.

Tip Nine: Account for merging code with parallel feature developments. This can be tricky, as your new feature development cycles could be quite different from your internationalization milestones. In most cases, be prepared to branch the code for internationalization efforts.

Tip Ten: Use Pseudo Localization (PseudoJudo in Globalyzer) to perform many internationalization functional tests before your localize. That means you add pad characters from target locales to the beginning and end of strings, and stretch the whole string based on target requirements. You?ll then be able to see how those strings behave in your display and moving through application tiers, without your engineers needing to understand the target language.

Bonus Tip Eleven: Plan for QA to take longer than it did when your app was just monolingual. Remember, you have internationalization functional testing and bug fixing, with new testing cases, and then, should you be localizing, you have linguistic testing.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4047.shtml
.

Cisco CCNA, CCENT, CCNP, And CompTIA Questions: HSRP, OSPF Cost, Route Summarization, And More!

By: Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

Let’s test your knowledge of important CCNA, CCENT, CCNP, and Network+ exam topics!

CCNA Certification:

The term used for an OSPF path metric is ____________ .

Extra credit: What formula does OSPF use to calculate that metric?

Answer: OSPF’s metric is referred to as cost, and the calculation is 100,000,000 / interface speed in bps.

Cisco CCENT / CompTIA Network+ Question:

Which of the following do TCP and UDP headers have in common?

A. sequence number

B. source port

C. source IP address

D. window

E. destination port

F. destination IP address

G. ACK bit

H. reset bit

Answer: B, E. In addition to the source port and destination port numbers, the UDP and TCP headers also have a checksum field in common.

CCNP Certification / BSCI Exam:

In ISIS, what is the most efficient point of a network at which to perform route summarization?

A. An L1 router.

B. An L2 router.

C. An L1/L2 router.

D. A DIS router.

Answer: C. L1/L2 routers are area boundary routers in ISIS, and this is the most efficient point at which to configure route summarization

CCNP Certification / BCMSN Exam:

Short answer: An HSRP router is the primary router and it has a priority of 100. Another router comes online in the same group and it has a priority of 107. Does the new router become the primary? If so, why? If not, what additional configuration is needed to make it the primary?

Answer. By default, the new router with the higher priority will not become the primary router. To allow a router with a higher priority to take over the role of HSRP primary from an existing and normally functioning primary, the preempt option must be configured on the router with the higher priority.

Let’s use a two-router HSRP deployment as an example. R2 is the standby, R3 is the primary (”active”), and both have an HSRP priority of 100. Raising R2’s priority to 150 does not automatically make it the primary, as shown below.

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896

Virtual IP address is 172.12.23.10 configured

Active router is 172.12.23.3, priority 100 expires in 8.072

Standby router is local 1 state changes, last state change 00:14:24

R2 now has a higher priority, but R3 is still the active router. R2 will not take over as the HSRP primary until R3 goes down - OR the preempt option is configured on R2.

R2(config-if)#standby 5 priority 150 preempt

1d11h: %STANDBY-6-STATECHANGE: Ethernet0 Group 5 state Standby -> Active

R2#show standby

Ethernet0 - Group 5

Local state is Active, priority 150, may preempt

Hellotime 4 sec, holdtime 12 sec Next hello sent in 1.844

Virtual IP address is 172.12.23.10 configured

Active router is local

Standby router is 172.12.23.3 expires in 10.204

Virtual mac address is 0000.0c07.ac05 2 state changes, last state change 00:00:13

That’s enough for today! Look for more free Cisco and CompTIA certification exam questions on this website soon! A+ certification and Microsoft Vista certification practice questions are on the way as well!

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4110.shtml
.

Green With Envy In The Google Game

By: Bill Platt

Beginning on April 14th, 2007, a firestorm blew through the Internet community with the search engine optimization (SEO) community burning the hottest. The embers were warm and waiting for a strong wind to blow and kick up the flames, but it took Matt Cutts, the Google engineer extraordinaire to fire the flames with an off-the-cuff comment about “paid links.”

The flames raged and in most forums, the wind quickly shifted moving the firestorm back towards Cutts and Google. Thread Watch offered the most biting rebuttal to Cutts’ comments: http://www.threadwatch.org/node/13925 and http://www.threadwatch.org/node/13941

Aaron Wall at Thread Watch is a respectable fellow, and he tore into Google with a ferociousness that I had not anticipated. Matt Cutts tried to answer some of Aaron’s questions, but it seemed that Cutts’ rebuttals only added more fuel to the fire.

I would not have wanted to be in Matt Cutts’ shoes that week. Oh my, it was brutal!

Even on Cutts’ own blog where the “paid link” comment originally surfaced (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/hidden-links/), Danny Sullivan posted a question that went unanswered, so Sullivan commented about it on his site: http://searchengineland.com/070420-111550.php

Search Engine Watch even mentioned this issue and linked to additional forums where the debate was raging: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/070416-020746

What Most Readers Took From Cutts’ Comments

There were only a few readers who took Matt Cutts’ comments to be brotherly-advice.

The vast majority of people were screaming that Google intended to exercise their “monopoly control” over the Internet to run all of their competitors out of business.

Generally, I am not a “reactionary” type person. But for about an hour, even I had a ball in the pit of my stomach.

The ball passed from the pit of my stomach when I read a post that mirrored an opinion I have openly written about numerous times before: How does Google determine the “intent” of a person making a link? They can’t!

Understanding The Nuances Of Similar Items

Some people suggest that I should be ashamed of myself for speculating about the future of Google’s algorithms. There is even one clown, who has suggested that I should fear mentioning Matt Cutts’ name in an article, because I am bound to draw Cutts’ ire against me and my businesses. But, I am not worried.

I am simply laying out my “speculative” opinion about what Cutts’ comments might mean to my business and yours. You are free to use your own brain to judge the value of my words.

Am I playing a double standard when I say that Google cannot determine the intent of the person placing a link, and then I comment on how I interpret the future of the Google search algorithms? I don’t think so, and let me tell you why.

Google uses algorithms (software programs) to make distinctions about what a web page is about, how they value that page, and to judge the nature of a link.

I use my intellect (or as some would suggest, my lack thereof) to make a judgment about what Google has told us we should expect from them in the future.

I trust software to a certain extent, but software cannot always read the nuance that separates two very similar items. So, how can the Google algorithm be expected to determine the intent of a person who placed a link?

It has always been my contention that humans are “required” in any process that must make an interpretation of nuance. In my businesses, we refuse to trust computers to make judgments of nuance, because they can’t. That is the reason we employ human beings to process orders.

What Is Google’s Intent Behind The Paid Links Issue?

The whole of Cutts’ argument seems to hinge on nixing “paid links” that are designed to manipulate or “game Google’s PageRank” and to a lesser extent, their organic search results. Google seems to be really agitated that webmasters are “selling links based on the PageRank value of a page.”

The problem is that webmasters are selling an intangible asset that is wholly owned by Google and maintained for “Google’s benefit.

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As a result, Cutts suggested that webmasters should use some method that Google’s spider can use to recognize and distinguish “paid links” from “given links.” Since Google’s algorithm is based on the theory that links are given to websites that deserve those links, the paid links on high PageRank pages can really skew Google’s PageRank values and its organic search results.

Here Is Where It Gets Ugly

Both honest and dishonest people inhabit this Internet.

Google wants webmasters who are selling links to distinguish paid links from given links, so that Google can ignore “links purchased to influence PageRank.”

If honest people distinguish paid links in a way that Google can recognize, then the market demand for those links will dry up. Once the PageRank value of a link is taken away from the buyer, the buyer will be forced to purchase links based only on the traffic that the specific web page receives. If all paid link decisions were based only on a web page’s traffic, then the market value of a link would be decimated.

Once a webmaster tells his link-buying customers that his or her links will no longer carry PageRank value to the buyer’s website, then the value of that link will drop in most cases by 80% or more. Why would a webmaster want to reduce the market value of his links by 80%?

Although Google’s links do not pass PageRank to the websites that are in their index or paid listings, we have to ask ourselves one thing. Would Google be willing to take a step that would reduce the market value of their own links by 80%? They certainly would not do anything that would cut their own bottom line that deeply, yet they are asking webmasters to do just that.

This is the reason people are teed off at Google. At least 80% of the market value of a link is driven by the PageRank value of the web page where the link will be placed.

Dishonest people don’t care to play by the rules; they will continue to sell their PageRank value, as long as they continue to have buyers. Only the honest will suffer.

Link Buyers Are Green With Envy

Link Buyers are envious of the PageRank value given to other web pages, and they want a bit of that value passed over to their own websites.

Link buyers are green with envy, because they can see that little green bar in the top of their browser that tells them how much value Google gives a web page in its algorithms.

If Google were to keep PageRank as a private value, known only to them, then “paid links” would not be an issue for them to manage.

If the public cannot see what a page’s PageRank value is, then link buyers would not be able to use PageRank to influence their link buying decisions, and webmasters would not be able to market their PageRank value to other websites.

How Simple Is That?

All Google has to do to solve this problem of theirs, is to take away the indicator people use to buy and sell PageRank.

Someone suggested to me that Google would never do away with the PageRank indicator in their toolbar, because Google feels that it is the only thing that ensures that people will keep the Google toolbar in their browser. Personally, I will continue to use the Google toolbar for my searches, even if the PageRank indicator was not there, because I like the search results Google gives to me. But that is just my opinion, and I am only one person out of millions of Google toolbar users.

What it boils down to is this. If Google is serious about nixing schemes to buy and sell PageRank, then they would simply take their PageRank indicator away from us. But will they take it away? Only time will tell.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_3942.shtml
.

How to Clean your Mouse

By: Ray Geide

If your mouse is working sluggishly or not at all, don’t go out and buy another cheap mouse. The cause is probably just a dirty mouse. A quick cleaning could fix the problem.

First, you need to identify which kind of mouse you have. If you turn your mouse over and part of a ball is showing, you have a ball mouse. If you see a lens, you have an optical or laser mouse. Each type of mouse requires a different type of cleaning.

The optical or laser mouse does not need to be cleaned near as often as the ball mouse, but it and the surface it runs on can still get dirty. If you do not clean the surface that the mouse moves on, it will soon turn black. So about once a month or so, wipe the surface off with a wet rag. The lens probably never will get dirty, but if it does, take a soft cloth, cotton swab, or q-tip wetted with window cleaner or alcohol and clean the lens.

The ball mouse may need cleaning quite often, so you should get well acquainted with the following cleaning procedure. The dirtier the ball mouse gets, the harder it is to get it to move the cursor on the screen smoothly. If you have to move the mouse across the mouse pad several times to get the cursor to move halfway across the screen, it needs to be cleaned.

The mouse does not need to be disconnected to clean it, but you should close all of the programs that are running, so that you don’t accidentally click on something and mess it up. If you do decide to disconnect the mouse, be sure to turn off the computer first. The mouse cord should never be unplugged from the computer while it is running. Doing so could ruin your motherboard.

Turn the ball mouse over and find the cover that holds the ball in. Look for arrows on the cover to show which way it needs to be turned. Place two fingers on the cover and push in the direction of the arrows. Once the cover has been turned about an inch, cover it with your hand and turn the mouse back over to the upright position. The ball and cover should fall into your hand.

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Wipe the ball off with a wet rag.

Now look in the ball well and find the three rollers. Start by cutting across the buildup on the rollers with your fingernail (a knife or steel dental pick may also be used gently), then turn the roller and remove the buildup as you go along. If you do this correctly, you will end up with one curled strip of buildup for each roller. Make sure to remove the buildup from the well. If it falls inside somewhere, blow and gently shake it until it comes out.

Take a wet rag and clean each of the rollers by wiping across it, then turning it and wiping again. Continue until the entire roller is cleaned. Put the ball back in the ball well and lock the cover back in place.

If the mouse still has problems once it is assembled, try cleaning it again. If that doesn’t work, you may need to buy a new mouse.

It is a good idea to regularly clean the surface that the mouse is on because the cleaner the surface, the less dirt will get inside the mouse and the less often you will have to clean it.

If your mouse is shared by many people (especially if one of them is sick), you may want to disinfect the top of the mouse between users.

Follow these instructions and your mouse will be up and darting again in no time.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4125.shtml
.

Security And The Auto Complete Feature

By: Scott Lindsay

The security of your computer is important on both private as well as business applications.

Many have found the use of the auto complete features associated with many browsers a popular way to avoid keystrokes. After all what could be more convenient than simply filling in a form for informational purposes and allow that saved information to be brought up with a single click?

The auto complete feature is especially popular with email programs. You simply type a few letters related to the email address and if it is in your system you may receive multiple choices that include those letters. You choose the correct email address and click send. The process is quick and has found many appreciative users.

Even word processors can use auto complete technology. For instance if you begin to type today?s date you may find a suggested date that you simply click saving some typing time. Many have come to rely on the feature to make checkout in ecommerce quick and painless.

I?d like to provide an argument for refraining from using some auto complete technology in the world of online business.

The use of this technology in a word processor is generally a great tool simply because it does not rely on any personal data and is primarily designed to assist in popular words, dates and letter writing.

However, when it comes to filling in a one-click web browser auto complete feature there are a couple of scenarios I?d like you to consider.

Barb owns a small, but growing online business. She hired Pam on a part time basis to help with product fulfillment. Pam was a good worker and was allowed to use the company computer from time to time. Without intending to do so Pam clicked a box that filled in auto complete data and she was able to view personal data that Barb might not have shared with Pam under other circumstances. Perhaps nothing ever happens with the data, but if Barb had to do it over again she may not have used auto complete.

Brian is a hacker.

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He tries to find ways into other computers to explore the holes that may exist in a system. As he is exploring one afternoon he found a vulnerability in Barb?s computer security. One of the pieces of data Brian may be looking for is to see if Barb has used an auto complete feature. He can gain plenty of information and has the potential to gain password information because Barb settled for convenience over caution.

Barb would never have given out this information to just anyone, yet more than one person has access to her computer and this information was easily obtained.

Many businesses are also disabling the ability for their computers to store and remember passwords. If a site is accessed where a password is stored it becomes very easy for a third party to investigate online accounts, buying habits and potentially make an online purchase under your name and using your credit information.

It may seem a small thing, but evaluating your use of auto complete technology may be an issue worth your attention.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4070.shtml
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Record Your Products: Reap The Rewards of Recording And Getting Your Product Done Faster And Easier.

By: Patsy Bellah

Some of you will remember when we had to type on typewriters. Some of you, present company included, may even remember when we had to type on ?standard? or manual typewriters. For those who aren?t in the know, that?s a typewriter without electricity

Then we got electric typewriters. That was something new to learn, but all our work could be done faster, easier and with less mess.

Then came computers. There was more to learn but with this technology life was made even easier for secretaries, writers, or anyone having to convey information with the written word.

With each of these advances there were those who said they couldn?t do it. They didn?t like it, they didn?t like change. They could get along just fine, thank you very much, with a manual typewriter, or an electric one. They didn?t need computers. There was too much to learn. It was too different.

Don?t let that attitude keep you from learning the latest time saver for transferring words to paper and that is the digital recorder. As the manual typewriter has given way to more sophisticated electric typewriters, which have given way to the computer, so, too, has the digital recorder made it faster and easier to transfer the spoken word to the written word.

On the average a one-hour recording will yield about 20-30 typewritten pages. That means that with a one hour ?conversation,? speaking your story or information into a recording device, then getting it transcribed, you can transfer your spoken word to a document in about 25% of the time it would take you to type it yourself.

It may take a bit of practice to learn to dictate into a recorder, but once you have, you will find that you can save yourself a ton of time. Statistics prove that the longer it takes to complete a project, the less likely it is that you will finish it. Embrace this new technology.

Here are some guidelines you should consider when purchasing a digital recorder:

1. You must be able to download your recording to your computer. Some of the less expensive recorders are not ?downloadable.? You need to be able to transfer your recording through the Internet in order to send it to a transcription service or even if you want to transcribe it yourself.

2. Although most recorders come with internal microphones, it is best to have the capability to attach an external microphone. External microphones work better to record presentations or to record from a distance. Additionally, you can elect to use a lavaliere microphone for yourself and not be hampered with holding the recorder. Or, if you are recording more than one person, such as if you are interviewing someone, you can get an attachment which allows you to hook up two microphones.

3.

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You want to make sure the recorder has enough time to record a full presentation before having to be downloaded to the computer.

The capabilities of recorders change all the time, and in my recent research I found that the prices, like anything else, are coming down drastically and we are getting more and more recording time.

I checked out the Olympus recorder on the Internet and found a very good quality recorder for around $100.00. I also found that you could buy this at Best Buy in the Los Angeles area at the same price. Other locations such as Samy?s Cameras for those in the Los Angeles area, Circuit City, Radio Shack and Frys may also have them.

For those of you who live in the Los Angeles area, I found an Olympus and a Marantz at Samy?s Cameras which uses a flash card and can get you as much as 4G-8G of storage space. Both of these sell for just under $400.00. The Sony or the Edirol are also good recorders, and have similar capabilities and prices.

Buying a recorder is much like buying a blender or a computer. Although it?s wise to buy as much as your pocketbook allows, at the same time, you don?t need to buy more than you will use. Why spend the extra money.

A digital recorder is small and easy to use. On it you can record all of your information products, plus your presentations, blogs or articles.

Embrace this new technology. Using a digital recorder to record your information product, presentations or teleseminars, will allow you to finish your product in less than 25% of the time it would take you to type it yourself. If you get your audio transcribed, once you get it back, all you have to do is edit it and you can have your product completed in less than a week.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4133.shtml
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Acquaint Yourself With Computer Printers

By: Mack John

A computer printer is a device used for printing text or images on hard copy stored in electronic form, generally on physical print media like paper. Printers are designed to support both local and network connected users simultaneously.

Nowadays, modern printers can directly interface to electronic devices like digital cameras. Some printers that come with non printing features are commonly known as Multi-Functional Printers (MFP) or Multi-Function Devices (MFD). It integrates various functions of multiple devices into one. Such types of printers are extremely useful for small businesses and home offices.

As opposed to a traditional printer, a multi-functional printer is a combination of devices like Printer, Scanner, Photocopier, and Fax Machine. Likewise, there are numerous other types of printers widely available in the market. Let?s take a look at them:

Laser Printer: A laser printer works in a similar fashion as a photocopier does. It has a roller which is charged with electricity. A laser beam is passed to remove the charge from portions of the roller. The parts hit by the laser are powdered by the toner which is then transferred from the roller to the paper. Finally, the ink is baked into the paper with the help of a heater incorporated in the printer. People generally prefer laser printer because of its ability to give high quality output and high speed.

Dot Matrix: It has a print head that moves across the page. A dot matrix printer produces characters using a cluster of pins which press an inked ribbon to the paper, thereby creating a dot. Each character is made in the same way.

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These qualities still attract businesses which use them as invoice printers.

Ink Jet and Bubble Jet: It works in a manner similar to a Dot Matrix Printer. However, its print head sprays liquid ink onto the page instead of pressing a dry ink against the page. Ink jet and bubble jet printers are better known as predecessors of laser printers. They produce better image quality and run faster.

>From inkjets to monochrome and color lasers, different printers are designed to accomplish different tasks. Companies like DELL, CANON, LEXMARK, BROTHER, EPSON, and HP HEWLETT PACKARD are most preferred when it comes to buying a printer. Nowadays, computer printer support is widely available on the Internet which saves you from taking it to any expensive technician for troubleshooting.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4017.shtml
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Cisco CCNA / CCNP Certification Practice Questions: Routers, Switches, Frame Relay, And More!

By: Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

Let?s test your knowledge of the OSI model, frame relay, and other important topics for your Cisco certification exams!

CCENT Certification:

Identify the devices that run at the bottom layer of the OSI model.

A. router

B. switch

C. hub

D. wireless access point

E. repeater

Answers: C, E. Both hubs and repeaters run at Layer 1 of the OSI model, the Physical layer.

CCNA Certification Exam:

Identify the frame relay encapsulation options.

A. Cisco (default)

B. IETF (default)

C. ANSI (default)

D. Cisco

E. IETF

F. ANSI

Answer: A, E. The encapsulation options are cisco and ietf, and cisco is the default.

CCNP Certification / BSCI Exam:

Short answer: What LSA type indicates the location of the ASBR?

Answer: Type 4 LSAs indicate the route to the ASBR.

CCNP Certification / BCMSN Exam:

Which of the following is true of the “collapsed core” design?

A.

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B. There is no dedicated distribution-layer switch.

C. There is no dedicated access-layer switch.

D. A single switch will handle the tasks of all three of these layers.

Answers: A, B. The term “collapsed core” refers to the middle two layers of the Cisco three-layer switching model - core and distribution - running on the same physical switches.

CCNP Certification / ISCW Exam:

Short answer: What term is given to the network attack that occurs when an intruder gathers information in preparation for a larger attack in the future?

Answer: That is a network reconnaissance attack.

CCNP Certification / ONT Exam:

Short answer: WRED uses one of what two values in order to make a decision on what traffic to drop in case of network congestion?

Answer: WRED can use the DSCP (Differentiated Services Code Point) or IP Precedence values to make this decision.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4058.shtml
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Get A Personal Loan To Buy Or Upgrade Your Computer

By: Melissa Kellett

Both the computer and the financial industry are very competitive, thus it is not difficult to find great deals that can save you a lot of money. Sometimes you lack the cash to purchase a new system or upgrade your current one. That?s why Personal Loans are the perfect solution to this kind of problem. Learn why personal loans are the best source of finance.

There was a time when computers where a luxurious item. Only those with a high income could afford getting one. Nowadays, the computer industry has evolved and new products arrive every day driving older ones obsolete. This has greatly reduced the prices but also created the need of upgrading or buying new equipment regularly.

Financing Your Purchase

Thus, the need for finance becomes more marked especially for those with a limited income. Using your credit card is always an option but not the cheapest one and sometimes not available for everyone. If you are buying a new computer, your credit card limit may not let you purchase it through that means. Sometimes your credit card limit would allow it but other expenses may have exhausted your credit.

Using a personal loan to finance the purchase is a much better solution for several reasons. For starters, the interest rate charged for personal loans is significantly lower than that charged by credit card companies. Credit Card holders are used to paying a two digit interest rate that can get as high as 25% while those who request a personal loan may have to pay, in the worst scenario, an interest rate of 10%.

The amount of money you can obtain through a personal loan is significantly higher than your credit card limit (Often, the difference being 5 to 1 in terms of loan amount). If your credit card limit is $1500, chances are you can easily get approved for an unsecured personal loan of $7500.

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Another important advantage is that you can repay the loan in many loan installments even lower than the minimum payments on a credit card balance. Moreover, since the loan installments usually come with fixed amounts you can be sure that when the last payment is due, you will have cancelled all your debt and you will have become debt free. Paying credit card minimums, on the other hand, often implies paying only interests while your debt?s principal stays unaffected.

What If I Have Bad Credit?

If your credit is less than perfect you needn?t worry. Most stores that offer personal loans specifically designed for buying their equipment and other non-traditional lenders feature personal loans for people with bad credit, no credit at all and sometimes you can even get approved if you have recently gone through a bankruptcy process. What you need to do is request loan quotes from different lenders and compare rates and fees. Make sure to do this, especially if you have bad credit because the interest rate charged to those with bad credit tends to be higher so it will not hurt you to get the best deal possible.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4029.shtml
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Cashing in by Blogging

By: Len Hutton

Believe it or not, but it?s actually possible to make money from blogging. One teenager has, in fact, earned $5,000 a month just from making posts on his blog! Of course, not every blogger is this lucky. It does take some skill, and some luck to make money from blogging. What it also takes is some knowledge of how exactly to generate income just by posting blogs. In this newsletter, we will go over three specific methods of making money on your blog: Adsense, Pay Per Lead, and Affiliate Links.

So how exactly do I make money on my blog?

You do it by working with another company that wants to use your blog as a form of advertising. It sounds like selling out, right? Not exactly. The advertising can be as in your face or subtle as you want. And it can still make you money, provided you have enough visitors to your blog.

What is Adsense?

Adsense is a program offered by Google. The program, if installed, will display ads provided by Google.

How do I get Adsense?

You?ll need to go to Google.com, first. At the bottom of the screen is a link for ?Advertising Programs?. Click on that. Then click on the link for ?Adsense?. Scroll down on the page that comes up and click ?Click Here To Apply!? You then fill out the form with information about yourself. After 12-48 hours, Google will notify you via email whether or not your site has been accepted. When you?ve been accepted, set up your ads by doing either of the following:

1. If your blog is hosted on Blogger.com, you can set up your AdSense ads by going to your profile, selecting settings>template>add an element. Then select AdSense and login with your account info. Next, you?ll configure your ads and save the template. That?s it.

2. If you are self-hosting your blog, you?ll have to set up AdSense in more of a manual way. You?ll create your ads(which can be as small or as tall as you want) and then copy the HTML/Javascript code Google gives you. Then you?ll paste it into your blog(on the left, right, or top of the screen).

For the first few days, the ads displayed by Google will be Public Service Announcements. After the ads have been up a few days, though, the ads will switch to ads that are relevant to your blog.

How does Adsense work?

Every time a visitor clicks an Adsense ad, you get a little bit of money(usually around 30-60 cents). The amount you get for each ad clicked depends on the number of unique visitors you receive on your blog.

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Google will then send a check or pay you through Paypal once you?ve made at least $100 from the ads.

It is important to remember that Google will penalize you if you click your own ads, or if you ask visitors specifically to click ads. So don?t do that!

Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click is basically just like AdSense, except you don?t just work with Google?you work with multiple companies. BidVertiser is one such company you can sign up with to do Pay Per Click advertising.

How do I get Pay Per Click

You sign up with a site like Bidvertiser and then follow their instructions to set up the Pay Per Click ads on your site.

How does Pay Per Click work?

It works by paying you money each time someone clicks an ad that you display. You won?t get paid for multiple clicks from the same user in the same visitor, nor will you get paid for someone simply visiting your site. You only get paid for legitimate clicks.

Affiliate Links

Affiliate links are basically links which people pay you for. Companies will actually pay owners of popular blogs to post links on their blog. You can do as much Affiliate linking as you want.

How do I get Affiliate Links?

You can get Affiliate links by searching for ?Affiliate Link Programs? on the internet. Once you find an Affiliate link program that looks good to you, sign up for it. Then you can follow their instructions for putting the link(s) on your blog.

How do Affiliate Links work?

Like the other two methods mentioned above, Affiliate links work by paying you money each time they are clicked. You get paid for each click per unique visitor.

So that?s it. There?s three legitimate ways to make money from blogging. It is important to keep in mind that the amount of money you are able to make depends on how many visitors your blog draws. If you draw a lot, you?ll make a lot. If not, the money you earn will be modest. But it?s still extra money, so why not do it?

Making money using Adsense, Pay Per Click or Affiliate Link programs is easy and effective. Start monetizing your blog today!

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4118.shtml
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CCNA, CCENT, Network+, And Security+ Practice Questions: TCP, UDP, Smurf Attacks, And More!

By: Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

Let?s test your knowledge of UDP, TCP, smurf attacks, EIGRP, and more with these questions designed to help you prepare for success on your CCENT, CCNA, CCNP, Network+, and Security+ certification exams!

CCENT Certification / Network+ Certification:

Which of the following protocols runs on both UDP and TCP?

A. DHCP

B. SNMP

C. DNS

D. ARP

E. Inverse ARP

Answer: C. DNS runs on port 53, both on TCP and UDP.

Security+ Certification:

Briefly define the term “smurf attack”. (Not too briefly, though!)

Answer: Basically, a smurf attack involves sends ICMP Echo packets (pings) with the intended victim’s IP address specified as the source of the Echo packets. This transmission takes the form of a directed broadcast, which means that quite a few hosts can receive it - and then respond with ICMP Echo Replies, which will all be sent to the intended victim.

CCNA Exam:

R1 and R3 are directly connected at their respective Serial1 interfaces via a DTE/DCE cable. What command will tell you whether the interface is connected to the DTE or DCE end of the cable?

Answer: Run show controller serial 1 on either router - the DTE / DCE information is near the top of the output.

CCNP Certification / BSCI Exam:

DUAL has discovered four possible paths to a remote network, with the following metrics: PathA, 1500. PathB, 1500. PathC, 2600.

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What command will allow EIGRP to use the first three paths without using the fourth?

Answer: variance 2 would do the job. Any path with a metric of 3000 or lower will be utilized; setting it to 3 would bring PathD into the equation.

CCNP Certification / BCMSN Exam:

What is the main purpose of IEEE 802.3ac?

Answer: The IEEE 802.3ac standard allows the maximum frame length to be extended to 1522 bytes, which means the dot1q 4-byte header doesn’t cause problems in transmission.

CCNP Certification / ONT Exam:

Which queueing strategy gives priority to interactive, low-bandwidth communications by default?

Answer: Weighted Fair Queueing (WFQ) gives priority to interactive, low-bandwidth conversations, and then splits the remaining bandwidth fairly among the remaining conversations.

Look for a new set of Cisco and CompTIA certification exam questions soon!

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4111.shtml
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E-mail ListsÂ?Keeping Your List Responsive Part 1 By Using Relevant Material

By: T. R. Thomas

The challenge many Internet marketers have is keeping people from unsubscribing from their e-mail list. You spend time to build it and your list gradually fades away if it is not constantly updated. The reason why many unsubscribe from someone?s e-mail list is because they no longer see value in the things they are receiving. That is why it is important to give your list relevant material that will keep them interested.

What is relevant material. That is very subjective. It depends on your niche and what your niche is interested in. You must determine what is important to your list and provide it for them on a consistent basis. Many list owners will sell to their list and that is the extent of the contact they have. List owners like this are constantly fighting to keep their list full. They have unsubscriber?s regularly. Think about it, none of us want to have a sales person come to our door every day with something else they are offering to sell to us. Eventually we will stop opening the door.

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People want to feel as if they are being helped and learning something rather than have their pockets fleeced every time they see your name.

By providing people with good content, informative content your list will start to look at you as someone who is a leader in your field. It gives you the opportunity to cultivate a strong relationship of trust with your readers.

So how do you create relevant content for your list? You can do one of three things, you can borrow it (from someone else who wrote it), you can create it yourself or you can buy it (making you the owner of the content). We will discuss these methods in part 2 Email list–Keeping Your List Responsive Part 2 How To Finding Relevant Material.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_3949.shtml
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Using Crm Software To Gain And Keep Clients

By: Dave Roth

Not all companies use CRM software, and companies that do use it often find that surprising. They know the benefits of the CRM software and how much it can do for their companies. They find that they can get more clients ? and keep the ones they have ? when they use it, as well. Naturally, keeping clients is vital. However, getting new ones is also something that needs to be done. By using CRM software, clients can be reassured. They are treated well, and they feel as though their opinion matters. Because of this, they often tell others of their experiences with a particular company. In doing so, word of mouth advertising spreads quickly. Those who hear about the quality of the company may then try it, and more clients will be gained.

The way that CRM keeps customers feeling secure, and the way that it brings in new ones through word of mouth work together to allow for a lot of help for companies. It is remarkable how many companies are now moving toward using this software. Generally, it is larger companies. However, this is not because CRM software is not good for smaller companies. Instead, it is because larger companies simply have more difficulty keeping track of their clients. They usually have a larger client base, and they also have more people who may need access to that information. For smaller companies, however, getting and using CRM software can be very beneficial. It enables them to be ready when they grow and their client base expands.

This is highly important for companies that feel as though they must continue to build the number of clients that they have. These companies want to be ready for whatever comes next, and this is a good idea, especially for smaller companies. Larger ones can also benefit , though, because they still want to gain new clients. Just because someone has a good client base, he or she usually still wants more.

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Even a good company will lose clients. This is often through no fault of their own. Clients may relocate. Some may pass away. Still others may find a better deal, a company closer to home, or something that they feel better about.

CRM software can be used for many different things. Most commonly it is used to store names and dates. However, there are many other things it can do. Companies use it to keep track of their client?s purchases and returns. It is also often used to remind salespeople of important appointments and to ensure that they do not forget their clients. This can mean sending out anniversary and birthday cards, returning phone calls more promptly, and handling many other areas of life that are important to business interactions. Overall, using CRM software is one of the best choices that a company can make.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4043.shtml
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How To Build A Flash Game Â? Flash Beginners Guide 101

By: Timothy Rudon

Gaming is popular world wide and most people play games without knowing how a game is actually made. It takes inspiration, verve, technology, and more to create a game that captures the mind and heart of players all over the world.

The first step to making a game is to have a story. The story or plot is thought about and developed by game designers or players. Once the game is conceptualized, writers and artists work together on the storyboard and create sketches of the sequence with instructions for the technology team. The sketches are then scanned on to a computer and the next step is to breathe life into the story and characters.

Among the many ways to create a game a popular solution is Macromedia Flash MX. This allows the creation of rich, graphic and multimedia driven gaming. Flash has a player, authoring tool, and a file format. Flash allows game developers to use:

? Rich graphics.

? Create files that are user friendly and can be downloaded over the internet.

? Allows the import of graphic formats. This means designers can use Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, or Fireworks to develop the game as long as the graphics are vector.

? Flash lends itself to the creation of quality graphics that can be broadcast over the internet.

Flash can be used to create action, adventure, educational, first-person shooter, puzzle, sports, or role playing games.

The actual process of creating a game is complex but involves:

? Creating the characters. Sketches are fine tuned until they are perfect. These are then transformed into 3D characters. The figures are scanned into a computer and a digital skeleton is created. This is what defines the size, shape, and movements of any figure in a game.

? Next the programmers use Flash to bring movement and emotions into the figures of the game.

? Movement and characterization of the figures is followed by special effects and creation of the environment. Skies, clouds, wind, reflections, shadows, and more add mystery and atmosphere to the game.

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It is the environment that gives life and motion to a game. The 3D effects are created using polygons along with texture mapping.

? This is followed by coding. Codes are instructions written by developers that lends intelligence to the game and drives a game forward. The more complex a code the more thrilling a game. Codes establish logic to a game and generate the excitement and uniqueness.

? Once the coding is done the testing begins. The testing helps the developer fine tune the game before it is marketed. This is when the game is rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. The rating indicates the appropriateness of the game for different age groups.

Flash is user friendly and therefore popular software with game developers. The World Wide Web offers Flash Tutorials for those interested in developing games. There are articles and tips and guidelines as well.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_4034.shtml
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Trend Blending: How To Predict What Buyers Will Want Next

By: Chris Malta

Keeping up with consumer trends is essential to building a profitable product line for your E-Biz. It?s a common misconception that trends are random, popping out of nowhere; but this is seldom the case. According to veteran trend spotter Lisa Suttora, founder of http://WhatDoISell.com, most major trends are the result of a process she refers to as ?trend blending?. Explains Suttora, ?Multiple trends often merge to form the next big trend. If you look closely at today?s hot items, you?ll recognize evolved versions of products that were popular yesterday.?

Buyer Psychology

The reason trend blending is so important to the online retailer is that the resulting products are readily accepted by consumers. Most buyers aren?t consciously aware of why they?re drawn to these new items. But the reason is that these items tap into what consumers already want and provide a cross section of the underlying trends with which they?re already familiar. For example, buyers want high-tech products, and they want products that relate to their favorite entertainment ? so when they see Spiderman, Transformers, or Pirates of the Caribbean backpacks with iPod docking stations, it?s a no-brainer for them.

Know Your Market

Blended trends often give rise to extremely specialized niche items that appeal to very specific, very targeted groups of consumers. It?s important to realize that not every niche market is looking for the cheapest deal. There are certainly those consumers out there, but one of the biggest trends in online shopping is actually the movement towards luxury goods.

Advises Suttora, ?Statistics show that most online shoppers have annual incomes of $75,000 or more. In fact, the newest big demographic of online shoppers is millionaires. So don?t assume you can?t sell a niche product because it?s not under $25. If it?s on-trend, you may do just as well, or better, with a niche product that costs $5,000.?

Know Your Trends

Think about some current trends ? out-door living, fitness training, incorporating technology into everyday products. Other big trends include character-related products and children?s toys that provide educational value.

Trend Blending: How To Predict What Buyers Will Want Next
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Trend Blending: How To Predict What Buyers Will Want Next
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Your monitor, in turn, displays your training zones, elevation, calories burned, cadence, etc.

? Character items combines with educational toys in Spiderman laptops designed for children under four.

? Outdoor living, fitness training, and advanced technology all contribute to the demand for watches that track the tide ? designed for the surfer, boater, fisher, or outdoor enthusiast.

Cracking the Code

To help sharpen your ability to spot blended trends, Suttora recommends a simple exercise: Flip through any industry publication, and study the various articles and advertisements. Try to determine which trends gave rise to the products and industry developments you find. You may be surprised at how easy it is to ?crack the code? and figure out the origin of any given trend.

Once you realize that trends move with rhyme and reason, you?ll be well on your way to identifying where today?s trends are going and what products you should be sourcing next. As you calculate where current trends are heading, you can talk to your suppliers and find out what products they carry, or have in development, that will appeal to those niche markets. The information is already out there ? all you have to do is put the pieces together.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_3987.shtml