If you are the owner of the Apple iPhone4, you may have had problems with dropped calls. The fix is now available. Apple will be giving all owners either a bumper or a case to be bought from a third party vendor for iPhones purchased prior to July 23, 2010.  The case is only available in black, which matches the iPhone 4.

If you have already bought your bumper, Apple will be refunding your costs. There are several ways that is going to happen. If you bought your bumper from Apple online with a credit card, your refund is probably already being processed and will be applied to your credit card.  If you bought your bumper from Apple online with a gift card, a new gift card will be sent to you.

Bumpers that were bought from retail stores are a bit more problematic. You will need to take your receipt to the store for a full refund. Do not delay, as this offer expires September 30, 2010. If you bought a bumper from AT&T there is a form to fill out. Here is the link to find forms and a more in-depth explanation of the process. http://www.apple.com/iphone/case-program/

The launch of the iPhone 4 in white has been delayed to let the company get this fix completed, I suspect. My guess is that when the iPhone 4 in white is released, the bumper will be part of the package or some other fix will already be in place. So have a bit of patience, it will be coming. Hopefully, it will operate better than the original.

If you just want your money back for the iPhone 4, Apple will refund your money. Just take your undamaged iPhone 4 to your Apple retail or ship it to the Apple online store within 30 days of purchase and they will take care of the refund.

The first product of any new technology usually has a bug or two to work out. Some bugs are bigger than others. That is just part of the game if you are going to have the newest technology. That is not to say that Apple doesn’t have a responsibility to fix the problem. Hopefully, the bumper takes care of the problem and then we can all wait with breathless anticipation of the next new technological breakthrough.

So if you don’t yet have your free bumper or case, now is the time to make that happen. If you need to get a refund, get that done this week. If you are like me, you will put it off until the last possible day or forget about it. Click the link above and get the process started now.

I have been taking time to read about the new search engine for the iPhone. Namely, it looks as though Bing will become the new search engine. I don’t need Bing. Here’s why.

I don’t think the MSN works any better than Google, for all the hype about intelligent searches. The look is cleaner.  But it is slower in searching than the big giant.  So, why change?  Why not Yahoo, or Ask, or Digg, or any of a hundred other search engines?

In addition, the voice recognition technology I use on my current iPhone 3GS is set to do Google searches by command.  I have a paid copy of the ap, and don’t really care to buy a new one. The one I have works fine. Now granted, there may be no change in the functionality of the ap at all on the new iPhone, but I don’t know for sure.

In many respects, this whole deal sounds like a way to try to slap Google back!  With entrance into the Android market, this may be Apples way to try to fight back. Who knows?

I don’t need Bing.  If you agree, dear iPhone fans, I ask you to spread the word.

We’ll talk again soon,

Raymond C. Province

I added a new ap to my iPhone this week from Concur Travel.  This is the software that my current employer (day time job) uses for booking my travel. It allows me to book hotels, cars, plane tickets, as well as turn in expense reports.

Now all that functionality is available to me on the iPhone.  And it works. I booked a hotel for an upcoming trip on the iPhone with no issues.  That’s a time saver.

The ap is free.  You have to have an account set up with http://concur.com .  Once that is done, there is a section in your profile that is called concur mobile. It will walk you through the steps of setting up your account info. You will also have to create a “PIN” for the mobile ap. You can use alphanumeric characters. Once this is done, you will use your email address UserID for Concur, and the pin, to activate the ap on your iPhone. The website also has a link to download the ap. For you Blackberry hounds, it can also link to your Blackberry.

I have decided to start the Great Comment Experiment on my website.  I have a fairly open policy with comments on my blogs, but there are extremes. I don’t like people linking their website to mine with irrelevant links. 

If you are just spamming websites with comments, you are obviously not keeping up with the current conventionality on what really helps your website get noticed. I had a comment added today to this site, for running criminal background checks.  What’s up with that? Link it to a website that makes sense. Oh, the comment was nice enough. So, that part I don’t mind keeping.

So now, I am going into the comment via the edit comment functionality in WordPress, and changing the link to something relevant. That way, when you click on the person’s name in the comment, you get something worth looking at. If you have a site related to mine, let me know, and I’ll link some back to you!

If you want to just spam websites, be warned. My comments links will be put to good use.  Join the campaign to see what this does for your SEO ratings.

Raymond Province, M.A.

In today’s economy,  advertising can be expensive.  It can also be hard to really sell your business in a few short seconds. In order to improve your changes to sell your brand, you may want to start a blog for your business.

By pure definition, a business blog, or corporate blog, is a blog that is located on your company website.  An external blog would be one located on, let’s say, Blogger.com.  It can be a great way to draw people to your website more often. Especially if you add RSS feeds, bookmarking buttons, etc., to make it easy to keep getting new information on your company.

The biggest thing to remember is that you need to have quality content. Many times, corporate website blogs get filled with verbal garbage, just designed to hit keywords.  Well, you may draw someone to your site once by search methods and SEO, but you won’t keep them coming back. If you provide quality content, it will keep people coming back for more. That’s the kind of advertising side of why to start a blog for your business.

The other point to remember is you want to keep new information coming.  Static information can only be spun so many times, before people get tired of it, and move on.  You may fool them a couple of times, but that will be it.

Video can also be a nice addition to the blog.  A few scattered videos will really get people interested in visiting your site. I try to use articles and videos both, in a ratio of 10 to 1 (articles to videos).  The articles help with SEO, the videos help the human eye. In fact, I am about due to shoot some new video on this blog. (You see, even people in the business of SEO have to remind themselves to do the basics!)

I really think that it’s time to look at quality, ever fresh content more, and keyword saturation less.  I am now cutting back to around 1-2% keyword saturation.  I also still try to bury the title in the first and last paragraphs.  SEO gets your visitor there once.  Quality, new  content will keep people coming to your website for years to come.

We’ll talk to you soon,

Raymond C. Province, M.A.

Celtic Ozark Solutions

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

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

I have been so excited to hear about the new Apple iPad.  The iPad reviews are dismall, though.  It look like the product is not living up to the general expectations of the public.

CNET has been one of the biggest antagonists so far.  From my way of thinking, CNET still wants to put the iPad into the “mini personal computer” arena.  If this is the case, then it is a bit of a disappointment.  At 64G of memory, you can get a better deal on a small Dell style mini computer, with 1G of RAM, and a hardrive twice that big.  Granted, the touch screen won’t be there.

Here is the argument:  it’s too weak to be a good computer. It’s too big to be just a phone. It’s definitely not going to replace the iPod.  So, that leaves us just one basic thought:  is it just designed to be a fancy Kindle?

The size of the iPad may also end up causing sales to dwindle.  If it does not do much more than a good 3GS iPhone, then people may get tired of carrying the bigger version around. We have become a lazy little group.

Ray Province

Tweeting hot topics can be one way to really help draw traffic to your website.  Simple connections to current topics of interest will help many people take the extra step to go ahead and visit your website. Then, it’s up to you to WOW them.  Here are some simple rules about tweeting hot topics.

Make sure the topic is relevant to your website.  On this website about social media marketing, website development, etc., I would be much better off talking about the new iPad than I would the one year birthday of the children of the “octamom.”  Doing otherwise will not give you favorable results, and it really cheapens your website content. So, what do these results look like?  That’s simple: you want people to re-tweet your work, comment on your post, etc.

Some of the overall best subject matter for tweeting hot topics comes from new technical innovations, the lifestyles of the rich and famous, what’s happening with celebrities, and my personal favorite, politics!  If you can find good topic matter in these areas, you will draw extra hits.

Images and videos are also a great way to bring extra hits to your website from tweeting.  Most of us have now grown up with television, so we love our videos. That is why Youtube is the number two website in the world.  The biggest mistake people make in tweeting video is getting too commercial with it.  Try to give people information, share some knowledge, help people. Then, after you have shared first, you can be justified in pointing people to products and services.

Tweeting hot topics can be a great way to draw traffic to your website. It can also be a way to stimulate conversation on your Twitter page.  Good luck.

There should be some great sales on computers this holiday season. Buying a computer may just have to be something that climbs to the top of your list. When considering the task, I would like you to consider that price should not be your foremost concern. Here is what I mean.

Getting the most bang for your buck can also be accomplished by buying only the features you need in a computer. Let’s look at some scenarios. It may help to make the point.

Hard Drive Space: If you run a lot of intense software programs, then buying a computer with lots of hard drive space would be important. Programs like Adobe Pagemaker, or Dreamweaver, AutoCAD would be examples of such programs. So look for sales where the hard drive is sufficient in size. This season, you should see some nice deals in the 500-750GB range.

RAM: This is an area where I almost always recommend that people get as much as they can afford. However, random access memory may not be as big a deal to people who use their computer for internet browsing and email. That is why companies like Dell, and HP, have come out with these mini computers! Most of those will come standard with 1GB of RAM. They also run on Windows XP. If you run lots of graphics, or like memory intensive video gaming, better go higher. 6-8GB of RAM would be good.

HD Monitors: why buy a system with a high definition monitor, if you did not need one? You can get a good 19 -21” monitor today for cheap. If , however, you are a movie hound, then you might want the better monitor. This would also apply for people who are buying a computer for 3D graphic work.

DVD’s If you don’t do a lot of with DVD’s on your computer, then you don’t need Blue Ray on your computer. This year, though, you will see a lot of deals for this, because manufacturers want you to switch to this new format. Just pay attention.

These are just some examples of what to look for when buying a computer this holiday season. If you save yourself some money, you can always add that into security software, and other software you have always wanted.