If you use firefox, you probably already know that firefox is much safer than other browsers, it's also highly customizable with themes and addons. Have you used the "Live Bookmarks" feature of firefox? It's a great time saver. firefox let's you bookmark the feed of the site/blog you are visiting as a "Live Bookmark"(Provided it publishes one). Everytime you explore your bookmarks, the feed is updated and headlines are shown in a submenu.

Here's how this feature is used:
After the page is loaded, look for the "dish" icon on the statusbar.

Hovering your mouse over the icon will show you if the site/blog publishes it's feed and clicking it will prompt you to save the site as "Live Bookmark". Once you are done saving, take your mouse to the "Bookmark" menu and explore the bookmark you just added. Firefox will fetch the feed for you and you will never have to fire up your standalone/web based feed readers anymore.

Never used FireFox? There is always a first time sometime.

Here we discuss some general Internet Safety Issues and steps to take to improve security on the internet.

One of the most common ways by which Internet Security is compromised is by using a bug-ridden internet browser. It raises serious security concerns when a malicious hacker targets a known vulnerability in the browser. It is therefore recommended that you use a safer browser that is less prone to attacks. I have used FireFox+Google Toolbar for quite a while, I strongly recommend that you download and try it. You will see that with the help of the google toolbar, it is able to block annoying popups too. FireFox, is and always was free to use and can be uninstalled easily if you arent impressed with it.

Once the browser is secured, you should get the official updates for your operating system. Most users nowdays use Windows XP, So all XP users should get Windows XP Service Pack 2 to better defend you operating system. Get the Windows XPSP2 from any of the following locations:

• http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx



• http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/xpsp2.html

The download can take a while as the files could be above 250 mb and make sure you have a genuine copy of Windows XP installed.

Install a good anti-virus package for protection against viruses. There are a few free Anti-Virus packages that offer decent security, such as

• http://www.grisoft.com/


• http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html


• http://www.free-av.com/


• http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en--BitDefender-8-Free-Edition.html

If you are serious about internet security then you should consider using a commercial anti-virus package. Norton Anti-Virus and McAfee Anti-Virus are well known packages of which the latter is highly recommended if you can afford it.

Finally, As a layer of protection against SpyWares, download and install the following Anti-SpyWare utilities:

• Microsoft Windows Defender - [ Download ]
• Ad-Aware - [ Download ]
• Spybot - Search & Destroy - [ Download ]

Run these utilities on a regular basis to clean out the spyware junk from your system.

The tips above will improve your overall internet security, So how about a nice, friendly kiss for sharing these tips with you, Girls? ;-)

Update: Norton Security Scan is now included with the google pack, See what more is included in the google pack.

Link Building refers to a complete process of creation of inbound links to self-owned website, with a predefined aim to maximise sales and eventually profits. It is a common way to enhance the popularity level of a website besides bringing more business for it.

There are many organizations and individuals in the present day Iinternet world who with an aim to increase sales, start the process of link building. The result-oriented process then helps them to bring more and more traffic from relevant websites. It also helps in creation of website's credibility, awareness as well as visibility on the World Wide Web.

Link Building also helps the linked websites to get indexed by search engines such as Google and YAHOO to name a few. And, if the website has effective content with smart keywords, further refined by SEO techniques, the website is bound to appear in the top pages of these search engines, meaning more business for the organization.

As soon as two or more webmasters agree to share their links with each other on their respective websites, the attention of the prospective customers can be felt. This adds to more business sales and popularity of link(s) that eventually enhances the page rankings to considerable levels.

For example - A website owner dealing in cars can be approached by another website owner dealing in car accessories. Both these owners consent to place each other's links in their respective websites.

What will be the result? A prospective car buyer will have access to the car accessories' website when he pays a visit to the car dealer's website and vice-versa. This brings more business for both of these owners and as long as they bring business for each other, they will continue this process of link building. Thus, both are equal beneficiaries in their individual race for higher page rankings without hurting each other’s individual business as the businesses of these webmasters is complementary and not competitive.

So it can be rightly concluded that Link building can benefit all kinds of business if an effective link building strategy is planned and followed in an effective manner.

Search engine experts sometimes go blindly after projects and get derailed before reaching their final destination. There is little for a website owner given the tragic end that even experts face. But there are some areas on which you can work upon and hence lay a solid foundation for your online project. The five commandments, which every expert and publisher must keep in mind while making or promoting website, are:

Content is the King: Whatever appears on your website has a definite value. If your content is an average type, meaning that there are language and communication errors, few resources, unorganised presentation, there is little an optimising expert can do. On the contrary he may suggest you for a total reformation in the content. Spend some time as it is the business you are in.

Allocating the time: Everything happens in particular time frame. To tell you the truth there is no escaping, at least not in this case. Therefore, you must be able to devote your time everything right from the beginning of the project. You have to fragment the time frame to meet the requirements like stuffing of keywords, meta tags, submission of website, building links, doing promotion on social platforms, optimising the content, regular reviewing of performance, and more.

Tools and Techniques: You must be aware of all the tools and techniques that can help you in your promotion campaign. Just two or three search engine optimisation techniques won’t work. Also, the web is ever evolving and you have to keep an open eye as how to incorporate new techniques in your campaign. The list will include your organic optimisation, paid optimisation, advertising and exchange of links and banners, participating in forum discussions, article submissions, etc.

Monitoring: What happened on your website yesterday must be recorded, not remembered. It helps in an overall analysis of the website and in what way your techniques are helping.

Planning: Things work better when you have a plan. But make a plan based on the above descriptions. You sure will succeed.

Page Rank or PR is vital for everyone in the online business. It is one of the most essential aspects that are given high priority while designing the web sites. Google is known worldwide for its page rank algorithm. It uses a complex algorithm to scrutinize web pages. Based on the outcome, it decides the page ranks. The rule or formula of this algorithm is a well-kept secret.

However, what is known to everyone is that it takes into consideration the number of backlinks. Some websites get their backlinks by buying them for others and some through a link broker. Google does not appreciate this type of practice as it wants to give more importance to naturally stimulated page ranking and a fair one at that.

Views are divided on this issue as some agree wholeheartedly with it whereas there are others who think of this as an arrogant and manipulative move on Google’s part. Page Rank score is crucial, since it can designate one page as being more prestigious than others (and hence generate more traffic by figuring higher on Google's search results). You can say that Page Rank score and traffic are directly proportional to each other.

Reciprocal link does not impress Google's algorithm inasmuch as award of Page Rank is concerned, so it is (now) considered a big waste of time. Google appreciates one-way links when it comes to Search Engine Optimization.

The main problem faced by most of the online marketers is how to find valuable and suitable links for their websites. There are 2 ways to go about it. They are

· Do it yourself

· Outsourcing

The do-it-yourself method is challenging and time consuming. It means taking the time to build and maintain good relationships with other websites (or webmasters). It will assist in increasing the organic page rank.

Outsourcing involves using an assortment of agencies that specialize in this technique. This allows you to get backlinks from a range of other web sites. However, when it comes to outsourcing your link building, it is best to be cautious.

Social networking, on the other hand is taking over the traditional techniques for acquiring one-way links to your website. It is however, in an experimental stage but showing considerable success and quickly improving the page rank.

The main factor that Google considers while ranking a page is the quality and number of backlinks. Online marketers should pay special attention to this fact especially in web design. If you play by the Google rules, there is every chance of your hitting high page ranking!

To make a website popular in the internet and to enhance its web presence it is essential to promote it in the right method. As part of the online marketing and promotions technique, link exchange plays an essential role in promoting a website. It is easy to link with a number of websites that are easily available, but acquiring a quality link is a tough game which every webmaster wishes to crack.

Inbound links are essential in bringing any website to a higher rank in the search engines. To rank well in the search engines the website does not only require links from any website, but from sites that have an equivalent high page rank. These high ranking links are called quality links that carry a higher weightage than the numerous low graded pages that they are linked with.

The first criteria of any web page linking should be the relevancy factor. Acquiring links for un-related websites does not help the site in anyway apart from gather n-number of links. They do not add any value to the sites. Therefore, it is important to acquire links from related websites. Promotion campaigns carried out on authority sites carry a lot of value and add quality to your website.

Directory submissions and article postings too is a very effective and essential way of earning in-bound links to your website. The advantage of article posting and web directory submissions is that they are always one-way traffic that increases your web visibility to a much greater extent than any other technique.

Getting listed with other related business partners is also an effective method of acquiring quality in-bound links. Other places where you can post your website URL and address in order to achieve one-way inbound links are the Yellow pages and other such online directories and by posting promotional content in other sites that generally carry classified advertisements.

Though there are several methods in which we can promote our websites by acquiring quality links, the most important factor that needs to be kept in mind always is that the content or postings that are being added anywhere in the internet carry an essence of the website in concern. Meaning, they should be related and relevant.

In case you happen to have interest in Search Engine Optimization or Search Engine Marketing, I have a got a few things to share with you. So, I will try to be as forthcoming as these few words would allow me.

Search engine optimizing means customizing the contents of your website in order to be visible in the search engine. There are various techniques that are employed and also several components that come under Search engine optimization and marketing. Website links that exist in the form of back links are one among the primary components that determine how good a site is. A very good website which has a good page rank in several search engines will have good number of back links.

Website links constituted one of the many external parameters on which the importance of the website was determined by the search engines. This very fact was exploited by the webmasters and they actually started buying links from other websites. A website having a better page rank normally does not give a back link to the one with lower rank. But when money comes in the picture it is all possible. So that is how we got the concept of paid links.

However the people responsible for giving us such prototypes as Google search engine itself must never be undermined. Over the years the search engines have modified their ranking parameter and paid links are losing again. So, the fair practice and the importance of good links is still maintained.

Other than paid links, there is one more thing called sponsored links. One must not confuse the paid links with that of sponsored links. The sponsored links are those who are bought from the search engines to display the advertisement or promotional message. The two are quite different. Now that you have an idea of links, paid links and website links, you can go ahead and search for more details.

I have always stressed on the importance of link building. Paid links are an easier option if you are new to the internet business. Free links are hard to come by and if they are with popular services and web sites, they may be even harder to get.

But that should not be the cause of worry for you since there are a number of ways in which to get free links. I am going to share 5 great tips with all the webmasters who appreciate the value of links. I will be focusing on building links with popular services and web sites.

* Ask and answer questions on Yahoo! Answers and put links in related articles on your site. It is one of the easier ways of building links pointed to your site.

* You can submit your offers on Craiglist depending on the kind of website you have. It's a free place to promote your offers on internet!

* If you believe your website or blog is fairly reputable, you can easily mention it on Wikipedia.

* For a short time you can create a website which deals with topics that are dealt by Squidoo. You can create some link backs to your web site.

* You can also create Digg submission that links to your site article. Creating digg batches on your website is an effective way to link building.

What is Favicon?

Favicon is an acronym for "Favorite Icon". Nearly all professional sites use it nowdays. As it shows up right next to the address line of the adressbar and favorites list in Internet Explorer and probably on other browsers too. If you have your pages hosted either on paid hosting or free hosting, hosting the favicon is not a problem, however if you are using a blog service, you are out of luck as all blog providers would reject the *.ico extension. This is where you need a free service provider such as http://www.myfavatar.com/

Use this smart tool to get a favicon from an image stored on your disk. you can get an animated favicon using this free favicon tool. Just follow this link and get your favicon in seconds http://zerodollarchallenge.blogspot.com/2006/05/favicon-generator-form.html

Whenever you need to post an image on your blog, you will need to upload a photo to blogger directly. That however does not give you much freedom to work with the image and even renaming the image is not quite possible. It is therefore recommended to have a Image Hosting account for use with your blog. The good news is that there are many free image hosting providers that give you good features at absolutely no cost. My personal favourite is Photobucket, but below is a list of other free image hosting providers that you can use to post images on your blog. Many of them are now allowing free video hosting as well. Some of them will not require you to register with them too.

http://photobucket.com ( Images + Videos )


http://www.imagecabin.com/ ( Images + Videos +MP3 & more.. )



http://tinypic.com/ ( Images + Videos )


http://imageshack.us/ ( Images + Videos )



http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/ ( Images )



http://www.freeimagehosting.net/ ( Images )



http://www.theimagehosting.com/ ( Images )



http://www.imagevenue.com/ ( Images )



http://www.piclynk.com/ ( Images )



http://www.filehigh.com/ ( Images + Videos + Cursors )



http://www.theimageplace.net/ ( Images )



http://www.imgplace.com/ ( Images )



http://xs.to/ ( Images )



http://www.myonlineimages.com/ ( Images + Videos + ZIP & more.. )