Folks, get ready for the eMagazine boom.  As products like Kindle and the iPad start to generate more interest in the portable PC/Reading device, there will be more interest than ever in having eMagazines available for all those wonderful devices. Not only will the eMagazine boom effect the way we read, and what we read, it is going to effect our search engine results.

The publishers of magazines online will be working harder than ever to have their content indexed by the search engines. We will be seeing bits of the text, often called “snippets” in the industry, that will be designed to tempt us to get the article. The little morsels will be designed to help you quicklly figure out if the information is useful. Content will be kind in the first 100 words.

Once you get hooked on the summary you are given, the publishers will attempt to get you to buy the article content.  There should be a modest price for the articles. Better yet, they will want to sell you a subscription to the magaine. That will be where the big money will be.  Once you have a subscription, you’ll be subject to the advertising that will be presented. Right now, all the new ebook and eMagazine readers to set to handle advertising, and video, with the exception of the Kindle. The technology of the Kindle is still very simple, and does not lend itself well to advertising and moving graphics.

The search engine crawls will be limited to the summary material. We’ll have to see if any0ne wants to break that rule.  Google can already run with such a senario. Just take a look at Google Books.  Google Books has a large database of print publications, which also includes eMagazines. Once they have the propriatary rights to index content from the major publishers, they will be off and running. Although Bing/Yahoo! have no similar publication search database, they will probably also be able to find ways of indexing “hidden content”, in an effort to keep up with the Giant Google.

Flash based ads will only be the beginning. New technologies will be developed to exploit this new media market. Publishers will be glad to hop on board, as this new media will offer new sources of income from advertising, interactive programs, and the like. They will also have faster access to data about how the campaign is going. Real time results will be possible, versus surveys, focus groups, and the like. So, get ready for the eMagazine boom. Coming in  an eReader near you.

Ray Province, M.A., ACMPE

Celtic Ozark Solutions

I  wanted to talk a little today about SEO Design: humans versus spiders.  To put it another way, I want to address some tactics you can use to help both of these site visitors get what they want. Here is what I mean.

Let’s talk about website page crawlers or spiders for a moment. The nice thing about them is that they could care less about fancy graphics, stunning pictures, and viral video. They would also have no plugins, no banners, no ads, etc.   The easiest page in the world to crawl is one that has no graphics, no javascript, and no tables. It would be pure text. This is what search engine crawlers and spiders dream of (if they could dream that is.)

From a human perspective, such a website would be guaranteed a place in antiquity forever.  Our graphics and video heavy society would find the page extremely boring, and move on at lightening speed. We want fancy logos, streaming video, and pictures. In fact, those type of attractions will often get an article read.  Don’t even get me started on video. The number 2 website in the world is Youtube. We love our video.

 So, can we meet in the middle, somehow, over the SEO design issue. The answer is yes. Here are some things that you can do to keep both parties happy.

1. Put your keywords in normal type at the very top of your website page, then start your picture of videos. Make the type small, but clearly visible. Say, a 9 or 10 pt type.
2. You can put keywords in the ALT-tags of your pictures. You don’t always have to have the URL there. Both can have a benefit of making it easier for the search engines to find your site.
3. Have around 750- 1000 words on your front page, that can be well crafted. The page should also have your keywords used at a 1-3% keyword density rate.  More importantly, don’t hire some GURU expert for $10 to write the content, and just stuff it full of keywords. Don’t insult the intelligence of your audience.
4. Reduce the number of images and elements before the main body text. I typically try to keep that to just one.
5. Try to get your video in the middle of the road section on your page, but visible on the landing page. My rule of thumb is: if I can’t see the video on my monitor, then it may be too far down. I’ll be depending upon the good will of folks to scroll downward.
6. One simple way to test the design is to look at how long people are staying on your landing pages, and how low you can get your bounce back rate (the measure of how many people leave your website from the very first page they hit, without looking at anything else). Google Analytics can help you measure this type of data, and the account is free.

 You can win the battle of SEO design, and make the humans versus spiders issue work.  It just takes a little planning. It is well worth, though, to have a landing page that really lets the public know what your website is all about.

Staying connected for important meetings, no matter where you may be, is a huge benefit in today’s business world. I know Cisco Webex has been an old friend of mine for a long time in the healthcare industry. Now, we are able to redefine what we can do with remote meetings through the new Cisco Webex for the iPhone app. We are able to collaborate in real time with the people we need. You can even leave the computer in it’s case.

Here is a kind of down and dirty plan for what to do to make use of this iPhone application today:

• Join WebEx

• View presentations, applications, and even a full desktop—with live annotations—shared from another computer.

• See a list of attendees and participate in the meeting in real time, just as you would from your computer and phone.

• Make the most of the iPhone support of 3G networks and available Wi-Fi connection and collaborate in a fast, secure environment.

• Zoom and rotate the image to ensure that you get the best seat in the house wherever you are.

• Shake the iPhone to reload the meeting list. (You’ll need a WebEx account to see the meeting list within the app.)

• Stay connected to your meeting, even if you lose your cellular connection. Let the WebEx audio system call you back and reconnect you—automatically.

• See who’s in your meeting and chat privately with individuals or with the whole group.

• Transfer your WebEx meeting from your iPhone to your computer seamlessly, with a flick of the wrist, using the Meeting Handoff feature.

It is important to note that you do not need  a WebEx account to attend a meeting on your iPhone. The invitation can come to you from someone with a Webex account, in the form of an email or iPhone calendar entry. The app will also let you enter the number directly, and attend that way. So, even if you don’t want your own Webex account with Cisco, you can make use of this handy little app.

Obviously, you can do more if you have a Cisco account. You can view and participate in WebEx meetings with the free WebEx Meeting iPhone application.  You  can slso schedule meetings and invite participants to your meeting  from your iPhone. Full capabilities will still need to be handled from your account on your computer.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Here is the scoop from Cisco: all WebEx services are delivered on demand over the global Cisco WebEx Collaboration Cloud. No new software or hardware is required, making these services easy to implement and scale. The WebEx Collaboration Cloud offers better than 99.99% reliability, as well as robust security, to meet your strict requirements. Your session content is never stored on our servers and 128-bit SSL and 256-bit AES encryption ensures privacy during transmission. WebEx services are stringently audited against standards with compliance details provided in SAS 70 Type report and other third-party security reports.

The new Cisco Webex for the iPhone app can be a handy way to help you stay connected in your business life. I would love to hear from you about how it works, if you decide to grab this free iPhone app.

We’ll talk again soon,

Raymond C. Province, M.Div.

So, you are thinking about buying a bare bones computer, from one of many good vendors on the Internet. But, you are not sure that it will be a good deal for you. Your suspicions might be correct.  I have purchased bare bones systems for a long time, but I know what I am wanting, and where the “cuts’ have been made to be able to offer great deals. Not everybody, though, will feel that comfortable making that decision.

I found a good article on the subject written by Peter Stewart, and I wanted to share that with my followers in its entirety.  I have also sent a blast out to my followers. The 7 tips were good.

Getting a new computer should be a cool thing, especially a cheap computer. After all that time struggling with you old machine, probably fighting with it to get the latest software to run, your new computer should be a ray of light for your computing future.

Oh, if it were that simple. If things were really that easy or simple when buying a cheap computer, life would be much easier, but just like every other thing, its not that simple.

Barebones computers have become extremely popular, and for good reason. Getting a barebones computer which does not include a monitor and comes with the bear minimum of parts makes them an upgradable, practical and cheap computer.

But not all things are rosy in barebones computer land…

1. Missing parts

Although barebones computers do come with the essential pieces, most people need at least one or two extras for their day to day barebones system. This is simply due to different applications people use them for. Don’t get caught missing that extra part from your barebones system that you then need to get later. You still need to do some homework and research to find out what you really need from your barebones system.

2. Super cheap computer deals

Beware, many corners can be cut to get those sub $200 dollar barebones systems. They can be great, but not always, carefully analyse the components of the package. Also remember that a barebones system couldn’t possibly include a monitor for that price, which adds a lot to the price.

3. Mismatched parts

This could become a problem if building your own computer, but it even happens in pre-assembled barebones computer deals. There is a chance that you get something that doesn’t fit with the barebones system. There are lots of different connections and speed ratings between parts. Make sure the ones you get match up to the other parts and your needs. Although not common, incompatibilities between parts are not unheard of.

4. Outdated components

To get super-cheap deals older parts are sometimes used in cheap computers. Although this can be a great cost-saver and some old parts are fantastic, there is nearly no chance of an upgrade without putting a major amount of money into your barebones computer again, perhaps as much if not probably more than you paid for your great deal.

5. Defective parts

Although this is another one that has gotten better as the competition has gotten stronger, there is a chance of defects in cheaper products. Your motherboard could be faulty, your power supply might give up after a month or two. These may not be intentional problems, but come hand in hand with “cheap computer stuff”.

6.Refurbished computer parts

Refurbished computer parts are a great way to save some money. Not always the biggest saver, but there can be problems with the updates to these computers in much the way as mismatches happen in barebones systems. Often the computer is slightly updated to meet needs, but is really quite an old model, just with upgrades. Can be fine, but the parts they replace might be replaced with something newer but inferior.

7. Claims of great warranty

To try and entice you into feeling safe, offers of long warranties are made. Most of the parts in the computer could have past their warranty dates, so the warranties are purely from the company that put the computer together. They can be hard to contact and take their time to get replacements to you as well as expect you to mail the computer to them so that they can do the repairs.

Barebones computers can be a great way to put together a second computer, build a computer for simple purposes, like writing documents and casual web surfing. Barebones fit perfectly as a second computer. Just keep these things in mind and you won’t get bitten by the bargain bin monster.

About the author:

Get the most honest and useful reviews to make the right choice at our Desktop Computer Hardware Reviews site or get practical computer buying tips at our Computer Buying Guide site

Written by: Peter Stewart  I have left you his links to his website.

We’ll talk again soon,

Raymond C Province

Ray Province

Keyword fit is a very important issue in article writing. Does every word need to be followed exactly though? Can there be some wiggle room? That is our question for today.

From my personal experience, you can add some extra words to a long tail phrase or keyword phrase, in order to make for a better English sentence. Here is an example: eye doctor Los Angeles. You wouldn’t believe how many times I have seen this used verbatim in articles. Take the time to make a proper English sentence out of the phrase.

My logic for this is based upon the intelligent design of new search engine algorithims. Quality English syntax can be handled. Your human readers will also appreciate your attempt to write well.

Leave the keyword fit garbage to the $1 an hour people on Guru.com. Well crafted articles will not hurt your SEO. Get your words in the title, in the first 50 words, and in the last paragraph. You will then be well on your way.

We’ll talk again soon,

Raymond C. Province, M.A.
Celtic Ozark Solutions