Category Archives: Websites & Domains

topics on website/domain name issues.

New Lenzr Contests – And Four Great Reasons To Unlease The Photographer In You!

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If you’ve read my blog over the past while, you know I’m a fan of Lenz, run by my friend Rob Cambell. The site offers budding photographers a chance to put their name out there, get people viewing their photos, and possibly even winning a prize – not a bad reward for doing something you already love!

For August and September, the next round of contests fall into four categories, each sponsored by a specific company. And for bonus points, can you guess a common theme to them all?

  • Morning SunshineMorning Sunshine contest involves pictures of the world at dawn. As a perennial late-niter, my dawn views often appear at the end of the day, not the start – but the impact is still never lost. Your goal is a photo that captures this unique time of day and transmits that impact to the world. Not coincidentally, the sponsors of this content are Solarline, a company that offers portable solar power in a generator you can take anywhere. And this is no small battery pack: They offer trailer-sized solutions suitable for construction sites and disaster relief, all powered by the shining sun.
  • People Building ThingsPeople Building Things contest is a contest for photos of, obviously, construction. The sponsors are EcoDeckBuilder, who themselves are building constantly (deck building, that is). Your photos don’t have to be about decks of course, but any construction project; after all, the title is ‘people building things’, so watchmaking, sand castles, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are all fair game!
  • View From The Roof.view from the roof contest In any city (frankly, anywhere), there is a whole new vista just one floor up ready to be seen. The view from the roofs anywhere that we are show us a different side to the world, and capturing that new view is the goal of this contest. It’s sponsored by All Weather Roofing, a company that gets to see that view daily, as they go about their industrial roof business fixing and creating those guards against the elements. A great contest to draw awareness to those protective barriers we’ve really needed across Canada this summer!
  • Conflict'conflict' contest means pictures that show turmoil. The fact is, without some conflict in our lives little or nothing would get done, and we’d sleep all day. Conflict drives us; whether it’s what’s behind any good story, or giving us a reason to do something, conflict spurs us on. But that’s not all to conflict, and your photos can touch on any aspect of it. And of course, the sponsor, Smojoe, a social media marketing firm, is highlighting this topic for a reason: No good story works without conflict, a ‘twist’, and so too your story online needs a hook, something to make it stand out and grab.

Four companies, four contests, and a great way to get exposure for your pics – so enter now! The prizes for these contests include BlackBerries and iPads, and of course, you should check their site full contest rules and details. But more important than a prize is the exposure (no pun intended): After all, where else can you find thousands of people really reviewing and judging your photos?

If you enjoy using your camera, and want to take it to the next level, getting exposure and possible rewards, then drop onto the Lenzr blog today to read up on how to enter. And even if you don’t plan to take any pictures yourself, drop by and check the entries out – they can be well worth the trip.

…And by the way, the common tie-in to all four of these companies? Environmental awareness:

  • Solarline is the obvious one. Their product allows you to replace fossil fuel for clean, pollution free solar energy. With their trailer built for travel, energy can be brought to you, reducing greenhouse gases on even remote sites. And by making power available everywhere, they reduce the need for smaller (fueled) power tools. And for small devices, the savings is high: Two stroke engines, like chain saws and lawnmowers, are big polluters, pound for pound far worse than cars and trucks!
  • EcoDeckBuilder builds upon the work of Solarline (OK, that pun was deliberate), by using their trailer when they do their jobs. So if you had a choice between paying for a deck built the green way, or one with polluting (and noisy) equipment, which would you go for? As well, the company focuses on green solutions everywhere in the project – important if you don’t know the more environmentally safe (and family safe) options for your next construction project.
  • How are the roofs that All Weather Roofing provide environmentally sound? When they give you a 100% watertight flat roof warranties that are renewable forever – because that kind of confidence means they are doing a first rate job up front, and that means fewer replacements (and fewer trips to the landfill with all that replaced roofing). As well, they offer a membrane system that can cover an existing roof, resulting in no trip needed to the garbage dump – and so a safe roof with little waste.
  • And to finish off, here’s a toughy – how does Smojoe qualify as environmentally conscious? People forget that the Internet has helped the environment in ways never before possible. Imagine researching and reading up about these four great companies a decade ago, and then imagine how much gasoline you’d burn up to do the research. Smojoe leverages the Internet to bring people together and enact change – change that can be for social good, or just plain fun (like a photo contest). And while I have no problems with printed media, remember this: Supporting an online ad means you are supporting an environmentally ‘free’ ad, not printed on paper, or clogging up your mailbox. No emissions, no garbage – yet the same impact as a printed ad.

So, what are you waiting for – get out there and snap away!

How To Earn Money On Your Unused Domains: Adsense For Domains

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Everyone in the world knows about Adsense – but have you heard of Adsense for Domains (AFD)?

With that, unused domains can be managed by Google, and Adsense pages appear on them (much like the pages for Sedo.com or Godaddy). Just as with regular Adsense, traffic turns into clicks, and clicks turn into money.

Is it for you? There are some advantages for certain types of domains:

  • If your domain is lying fallow. An empty domain earns nothing. AFD is free, so why not move it there?
  • Your sites are under performing. I’ve been testing some domains via Sedo.com, and so far find the conversions are quite poor. In that case, Google is basically a step up. If you have a poor-performing static site, it’s worth a test.
  • Your name is keyword-rich. Google promises to do semantic analysis of your domain name. For keyword-rich domains, this might give you more targeted (and therefore valuable) ads.
  • If you HAD traffic. I’m guessing Google can monitor what specific pages are asked for, and make that count as well. While I have no proof of this, it’s easy to implement, and could mean VERY targeted ads.

The bottom line: it’s free, so why not check it out? After all, you’re paying for the domain name – shouldn’t it earn its keep?

Ultimate Troubleshooting Via Proxy Networking

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I’m in contact with a client, and expect to walk him through an install job shortly from an online ‘proxy’ connection. And in preparing for the ‘event’, I thought how different things have become from a decade ago.

Last century, I’d have to talk my Dad through tech support with the phone cradled against my ear, madly typing on my computer to ‘try’ and reproduce the problems he had. Then, if I had a solution, I had to describe to him how to implement it, and then hope he understood what to do.

Now, you just log into their computer remotely and take control. For example, while browsing a program called PROXY Pro 6, which is remote access software, I noted how you could just sign in and take control of the other computer, and solve the problem asap. It does this by opening up a communication channel at one end, and then providing you the ‘inside view’ of the other person’s computer. From there, you control the mouse, keyboard, and what have you.

Sounds scary – but it’s not. Obviously, a program like this is powerful, and so needs safeguards (and in PP6′s case, it use encryption to avoid sharing any data over the Internet). But in the hands of tech support, for instance, it’s a time saver for business. In the case of my Dad’s tech support, I could have solved the problem usually in the time it would take to get past the ‘”Hiyas” at the beginning of the phone call. That’s money saved – and over many tech calls, A LOT of money.

Another aspect however is not support, but monitoring. For example, the system can also record what’s going on for multiple screens. this is ideal in a place like a call center. By recording the data screen, you can improve quality assurance. Additionally, I see a program like this useful in debugging and usability testing – imagine setting a user down in front of a new program, and monitoring how easy it is to use, without interrupting the user?

Remote programs like this have come a long way, and become more multifaceted and powerful. And if PROXY Pro is any example, the business uses for tools like this are getting brighter and brighter.

Dedicated Server or Managed Hosting for Websites?

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Not too long ago, my ActiveBlogging site had a ‘downer’ in service – enough of a problem that I seriously considered moving it elsewhere.

The problem in making a move like this? The wide variety of hosting options out there. Servers, virtual servers, hosting, managed and unmanaged hosting and servers… you get the idea. The end result is a big headache trying to understand which is best – and which is affordable!

And as an article on this web hosting review site points out, the managed part has its pros and cons – managing costs more, but you DO get piece of mind.

In fact, you can even save in the long run – if you’re paying for someone to handle your technical work now, you won’t need them as often, which saves you money. And with labor costs the way they are, the small extra cost for ‘managed’ probably equals only a few hours of tech support.

The site also has a comparison chart for web hosting prices, so you can browse the different offers out there, both managed and ‘un’managed.

In my case, the decision was made (sort of), and I decided to ride the wave and stay with my provider. But I also know that in the future, I will be moving on and up – and a site like this will make short work of the side by side comparisons for dedicated server hosting, and I expect, save me money.

What’s In A (Domain) Name? Ask BigAssFans.com

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For the award of ‘Most Memorable Domain Name since FatBrain’, I have to vote for BigAssFans.com

No, it’s not an adult website – it’s about about the Fan – the kind the turn really slow – but still suck up a lot of air.

I first heard about them when I was reading a report on Google Adwords, and liked how they promoted their brand. Even large (6-24 foot) fans need a little help getting sold – hence the domain name.

And like FatBrain.com, the name sticks in, well, the brain. Once you ‘get’ it, it’s hard to forget it.

The morale: when you consider a new domain name, come at it from a different direction and try picking one that just sounds a little different – the buzz that BigAssFans.com generated proves it’s time well spent.