Glasses That Can Help Your Posture While Texting - i90 Glasses

Is this the end if Tech-Neck?

If you are like most of us, you pretty much have your head down as though you might be praying or sleeping. But the reality is that you are probably looking at your smartphone, reading something on it or typing into. It is not something that we probably should be doing, but that is the reality of how things are. But, what if there was a way to look straight ahead and still see the face of your smartphone that is in your lap? Would you be interested in hear more about that. The i90 Glasses may be exactly what you are looking for to help your posture and reduce that sore neck that you get.

This week's KickStarter project is the i90 Glasses which are going to help with your posture. The idea is to have you looking straight ahead and the refracted lenses having you looking down while it looks like you are looking straight ahead. This is based on the idea of a periscope with a glass frame. The head leaning forward ("tech-neck") is eliminated with this and removes your neck problems and upper back problems. This sounds like a great idea to be watching the game on your mobile device when you are with others.

We all have fallen victim to that slouch look where we are looking at a mobile device. Whether it be looking at a text, email or video, it is an uncomfortable position. While there are some other companies which have offered a similar item, none have offered one that is light and looks like a pair of glasses. The i90 Glasses have hinges on the arms of the frame and are made of aluminum which lets you make slight bends in the frame so they fit you better. When wearing glasses, it is all about comfort.

The company web site, i90 Glasses is up and running, but refers you back to the KickStarter site where you can contribute to the i90 glasses fundraising campaign. For a contribution of $75 or above you will receive your very own pair of i90 Glasses in December, though some contribution levels are delayed until March next year. The lower levels have limits on them so if you want one at the lowest contribution, you need to get over there now and contribute. Some levels do not give you a color option.

Now, if they could figure out a way for those of us who wear glasses to be able to take advantage of this, that would be fantastic. They have designed it to fit over readers, but those of us who prefer to wear glasses instead of contacts are left out. We can only wait.

Quick and Easy WordPress Security

It's a sad fact that most people only take the time to protect their WordPress sites after they have been hacked. In all my years supporting CMS's like WordPress, I've had dozens of terrified site owners come to me for help in a panic after their site was attacked. Conversely, I've had exactly zero people ask me how to protect their site before an attack ever occurs.

The following are a few, easy to apply, best practices you can take care of right now to reduce the risk of your site being hacked. You cannot have complete security from attacks; you can only minimize your chances. Anyone who comes to you and says they can prevent your site from being hacked is lying!

My hope is that you'll apply the following suggestions (if you're not using them already) and look into further security measures you can take.

Anyone can do the following suggestions to immediately improve your site's security. But there's much more you can do to better protect your site than what's mentioned in this article. Many advanced security measures require editing server settings and file permissions, which require someone with knowledge of server configuration. If you want to improve your site's security beyond the recommendations in this article, you can learn more or hire a professional systems administrator to review and adjust your configuration.

According to WordPress, the two most common attacks target outdated plugins, or attempting to gain access by using "brute-force" password guessing using automated scripts. The following recommendations will help minimize your risk to these types of attacks.

Using Strong and Long Passwords

You've probably heard this recommendation before if not several times. You're going to hear it again. One of the best things you can do right now to improve your security right now is updating your password so it's longer. (Yes, I said "right now" twice on purpose!)

How long should your password be? According to an online password crack estimate, a password with 16 random numbers and letters will take a computer 2,780,885 centuries to guess. I think that's an unrealistic estimate given that processing power can be increased making cracking programs run exponential faster. This is why I make my passwords at least 20 characters and include special symbols.

You're probably wondering how you're going to remember long passwords of mixed numbers and characters. There are many methods to train yourself to remember passwords from mnemonic memorization to phrases, but I gave up trying to remember passwords a long time ago. I just use RoboForm and let it manage my passwords for me.

I wish we had something better than usernames and passwords for authentication technology, but that's what we're stuck with at the moment. Again, that's why I've relied on RoboForm for the past 10 years.

Don't stop with WordPress

Make sure your hosting account password is long and as well as your SFTP account. (If you're still using FTP, please switch to SFTP, it's much more secure, encrypting your data as it is transmitted between your computer and your website. This means your password is never sent in the clear and cannot be intercepted by an attacker.) And if you don't use FTP at all, delete any unused FTP accounts from your hosting.

What about two-factor authentication?

I use two-factor authentication (password plus a pin number sent to my phone) on sites that support it. For WordPress, I haven't found a two-factor authentication plugin that didn't lock me out of my site, so I can't recommend it right now.

If you're web host supports two-factor authentication, consider enabling it on your account.

Delete logins not being used, especially Administrator accounts

Delete all users from your WordPress site that are not being used. For added security, don't use your administration account for adding articles to your site. Use an account with an Author role instead to add content to your site.

Protect your login page

By default, WordPress doesn't do much to protect your login page. A brute-force attack can hit your login and try thousands of password combinations until it finds one, or until your web host shuts you down because your account is exceeding memory and CPU.

One measure you can take right now is to use a plugin that will limit the number of login attempts before blocking the source of the attack. There are several of these types of plugins available in the plugin repository; one I use is Limit Log Attempts.

You should understand that this type of protection can be undermined. An attacker can spoof where the attack is coming from after each failed attempt, making the plugin "think" each new attempt is legitimate. But a plugin like this can help in attacks looking for low hanging fruit, and since it's easy to add you may as well do it.

There are a number of other advanced measures you can take to protect your login page that include server access settings and configurations. You can start learning about these options by visiting WordPress Brute Force Attacks.

What about changing the "admin" username?

Popular security advice for WordPress is not using "admin" as a username. This may cause a few automated attacks to move on, but only because an attacker chooses not to find your username. It's quite easy to get the usernames of a WordPress site. It's much more important to have a long password.

Don't Login To Your Site on Public Wifi

Unless you're using SSL on your WordPress site or a protected connection, avoid logging into your site on public networks such as free airport or coffee shop Wifi. These networks, or the people on them, can log the communication between your computer and site and retrieve your username and password.

Apply WordPress Updates

I usually pick up a few new clients each month and I'm always amazed when I log in to their sites and find they are a behind in WordPress updates. When confronting one site owner about not applying updates, she told me about a blog post from an "expert" who said it's better to wait a week or two to apply an update because it may not be stable and might cause problems. This is not the best advice.

It's important to stay on top of WordPress updates as most are security fixes that address the latest exploits. Most of the time the hackers know the WordPress team will fix the vulnerability quickly so they count on the thousands of people who are slow to update their sites. It's a race against time and each day you go without updating increases the chance your site may get hit.

It's easy to apply an update and only takes a few seconds. When you see the update notification, just click the update button and the package will download and be installed.

When you see the notification of a new update you can run a backup first and then apply the update. If the update causes a problem with your site, just restore it with the backup you just made.

Minor versions of WordPress, like 3.6.1 or 3.6.2 for example, are commonly security and bug fixes. These versions usually don't introduce new features or deprecate old features that might "break" anything on your site. Major versions, like 3.6, are more likely to cause a problem (if any) because of themes or plugin compatibility.

In a perfect world, you'd have a staging (or test) copy of your site running on the same server that you can test updates to make sure there won't be problems with your site. I know most of you reading this don't have a staging copy of your site so you're best strategy is to always backup before applying an update.

To make the backup strategy work, you need to be confident in restoring your site. Use a tool like BackupBuddy and practice backing up and restoring sites. This exercise will also reveal if your web host has any issues with BackupBuddy.

Remove Plugins

Plugins are one of the most common ways sites are hacked. Delete all unused plugins from your site. Reevaluate the plugins you are using, do you really need them? Can they be replaced by something outside of WordPress?

For example, many people use the popular Contact Form 7 plugin to place an email form on their contact page. Why have a plugin that's used on only one page and probably used a couple times a week? Especially considering that it loads scripts on all your other web pages where it's not used and it might be vulnerable to new exploits and has to be updated periodically. Is it worth the overhead when there are alternatives? If you need a contact form you can use something like Google Docs to embed a form on your site without using a plugin.

Instead of using plugins that post your articles to Facebook and Twitter, you can have the same functionality without plugins by using your RSS feeds with services like Dlvr.it and Twitterfeed.

Take a look at your plugins and only keep ones that are critical to your business. Removing plugins will not only make your site more secure, but it will probably run faster.

Just like WordPress updates, make sure you stay on top of plugin updates.

Avoid plugins that bad ratings or have not been updated in months. This shows a lack of support. If there ever is a vulnerability discovered in the plugin, it may not be addressed right away by the developer.

Learn How to Backup and Restore Your Site

This recommendation doesn't help prevent an attack, but is essential for recovering from one. And since we know that 100% protection cannot be achieved, it's crucial that you to follow this suggestion.

Note I didn't say regularly backup your site. You should regularly backup your site, but backups are worthless unless you know how to restore your site.

Practice backup and restoring your site until you feel comfortable with the process. Then begin backing up your site regularly depending on how much content you publish.

If you don't know where to start when it comes to WordPress backups, a tool I recommend that's both reliable and easy to use is the BackupBuddy plugin.

Resources

As I said at the beginning, there are many more security measures you can take but these can be done right now. For more information about WordPress security, please see these resources:

• Think Your Password Is Secure, It's Probably Not


• Securi blog: http://blog.sucuri.net/


• WordPress's own security recommendations: http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress


• Security alerts: http://safewp.com/category/wordpress-security-alerts/

Smart Lock System Includes A Camera - Goji

We have seen a growing number of home automation products focusing around door locks this year. And they continue to get smarter in what the technology is able to do. They are able to performing much with leveraging your WiFi connections so they can communicate over the web with your smartphone. And that is the great beauty of all these products. The latest one we have discovered is the Goji Lock System, which is an automated front door lock and then some.

What sets the Goji Smart Lock from the others is that the system has a component that goes inside the front door and another component that goes on the outside of the front door. While the inside lock is similar to others that we have seen, the outside component has a built in camera on it to show who is at the front door along with a display which can show information to the person outside. This eliminates the need for something like the iDoorCam which is a door bell with a camera and motion sensor. The Goji combines that together with a home automation front door lock.

So, the Goji gives you visibility of who is at your front door and can send that information to your smart phone. It can display information on the external component so that someone knows that the front door is unlocked. The interior device is similar to others we have talked about and communicates with your WiFi and then to your iOS or Android smart phone. There is also support for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), but few Android devices have that and requires Jelly Bean 4.3.

You can unlock the deadbolt remotely via your smart phone when people need to get in and you are not there. You can grant temporary electronic keys so that people can gain access with their smart phone as well. And all the opening of the door is recorded and logged for you to review. And you can even integrate with small key fobs to open the Goji lock as well.


There are some drawbacks for the Goji locking system. The big one is that it must replace your existing deadbolt lock. So, if your deadbolt is a single unit that includes the door handle, you are not going to be able to use the Goji for your home. Another drawback is the round device you attach to the outside. It snaps on and looks to be fairly easy for someone to steal, so we would hope they would make it harder to open.

The Goji is to be released in December at a price of $278, which you can order now on the Goji site for delivery in December. While the price may seem a little high, you have to remember that it is more than just a home automation device to unlock and lock the front door. It includes an external camera which shows you who is at the front. When you factor in the cost of buying that separately, this looks like a pretty good deal.

7 Ways to Optimize Your Home Office for Maximum Success

I know from interacting with readers via email and social media that many of you work from a home office. Perhaps many more of you plan to begin working from home or are starting a home business in the near future. It's a dream for many.

The benefits of working at home are obvious. You may want to eliminate commuting and spend more time with your family, or start your own business, be your own boss, and make more money than a 9 to 5 job can offer.

I've been working from a home for over a decade, and though I wouldn't trade it for anything, it hasn't always been the office paradise I expected. When you work from home or work for yourself, you have complete control, which is great. But for those accustomed to being accountable to managers have to adapt to self-motivation. You need to be prudent with work habits. Over time, without accountability weak work habits will worsen and limit your business.

I had to learn how to make working from home effective and efficient, below are 7 tips from the lessons I learned.

Properly Plan Your Home Office

If you haven't set up your home office yet, think about the business activities your office needs to support. Will you have meetings, visitors, or is it just you? How much space do you need for office furniture and equipment? How much desk space will you need?

Once you have a list of what kind of space and equipment you need it will be much easier to begin arranging the area where you will work. Since you know the type of furniture and equipment you will have, you can determine how much minimum space you need to allocate. From there you can begin acquiring the right sized office furniture and equipment you don't have on hand already.

Equipment & supplies

Make a checklist of all the items your office will need to support your work. This article will have additional items you may want to consider for you home office.

If you have a desktop computer, consider adding a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) battery backup to your checklist. In case of a power outage, a UPS will keep your computer from shutting down at the worst time, and prevent you from losing any valuable work.

Prioritize your list and only get the essentials. There are many items in my home office I rarely use and probably didn't need to buy.

A room with a door

You'll likely need a workspace dedicated to your business activities. This means an area where you can work uninterrupted. It should be a quiet place where you have conversations and concentrate when you need to.

Bad examples for your workspace are areas that can't be closed off or multipurpose areas. It's best if you can have a room that no one else needs to use while you work and has a door you can close.

Bedrooms are a bad idea for a workspace. Your bedroom is a sanctuary; the place you go to rest and escape from your work.

If you set up a desk and plan to work in your bedroom you do two counterproductive things: you destroy your sanctuary and you create a work area in a place where your mind and body have been trained to relax.

A small designated and dedicated space is much more important than having a large multipurpose area to work in. Keep that in mind if you live in a place without much space to spare.

Good ergonomics

If you're just starting to work from home, consider that you're going to spend much more time in the space you currently have for your computer. You may already have a desk and chair for using your computer, but are these suitable for a full 6 to 8 hour workday?

Read up on recommended office ergonomics and make adjustments to your desk, chairs and computer monitor position.

Don't be upset if everything you want in your office doesn't fit at first. There are always different ways to arrange an office to make the space work. You can move items you won't use often, like a fax machine or filing cabinet, to another room. There is also a number of space-saving office furniture and storage units you can buy that will make your limited space look a lot more spacious.

Create a Positive Area for Your Workspace

Your office should be a pleasant place to spend time, conducive to your best work. The last thing you want is a space that makes you feel uninspired or weighed down while you work. Remember, it's now up to you to keep yourself motivated. These tips will help you maintain a positive work area that you enjoy spending time in.

• Keep clutter to a minimum. Don't have any lose items on your desk. Have an inbox for incoming items and an outbox for outgoing items.


• Make sure you have proper lighting. Natural light and simulated natural light is said to improve your mood. Position light sources to keep glare to a minimum.


• Have motivational music or speeches playing in the background while you work. Upbeat music can energize while you work, and an inspirational speech can rejuvenate your spirit on a slow afternoon. Only use audio stimulation when performing tasks you're not easily distracted from.


• Decorate your office with inspirational elements. Choose items that remind you of what you want to achieve in life, places you want to visit, your dream home, your children's future. These can make a big difference in your self-motivation.

Outfitted for Communications

In this day and age, you're likely to need a high-speed Internet connection to support your business and work. Be smart but don't skimp on your Internet service plan. You'll probably need enough bandwidth to support collaboration tools and materials such as:

• VoIP (Phone Power, GoToMeeting, Skype, Oovoo)


• Cloud services (Dropbox, Google Drive)


• Office, project management and CRM apps


• Downloading and uploading large graphics and media files

Consider upgrading your mobile phone plan. You may receive more calls on your phone if you have a new office number that's yet to be distributed. More importantly, if you have a good data plan, your phone can serve as a backup in case your home Internet goes down or if there is a power outage.

You may not need an expensive business landline. Your business voice needs may be covered by VoIP and your mobile phone.

Use Dual Monitors

Studies show that using more than one monitor increases productivity. Other studies show that having dual monitors does nothing to increase productivity.

I believe having two monitors will increase your productivity. I think the later studies that indicate otherwise show that some people don't know how to effectively use dual monitors.

The goal of having a second monitor is to avoid toggling between windows, resizing and scrolling. These micro-adjustments add up and waste time. It's far better to have what you need in front of you at all times without having to scroll or adjust.

For instance, say you're writing a report in a word processor. With dual monitors, you can type in MS Word in one monitor, while reading source materials in another monitor. Your hands stay on the keyboard typing away without having to reach for the mouse, or stop and minimize windows. This is the right way to use dual monitors.

The wrong way: working on a document or spreadsheet in one monitor, while having your inbox open in the other. This does nothing to help productivity, in fact, I think it hurts productivity. Each time a new message pops in your inbox, you'll automatically be drawn away from what you're working on to see what it is. And 9 times out of 10, it's probably not important.

If one of your monitors is dedicated to email or worse, your Facebook newsfeed, you're probably better off going back to a single monitor.

At one time I had two full sized 26 inch monitors on my desk. I loved this set up, but in recent years I've switched to having one 30 inch monitor and using my 17 inch laptop screen and a second monitor.

The move away from having two desktop monitors was because of travel. I stopped buying desktop computers because I need a good laptop for travel. Laptop's can be elevated on a stand so the bottom aligns with a larger desktop monitor.

I admit, my set up now is not as nice as having monitors of the same size, but the 30 inch is great and I do have a second monitor when needed.

Today's business laptops are just as powerful as desktops. The great thing about using a laptop instead of a desktop is that it gives you a second monitor and UPS with the built in battery for no additional cost. And you can take it with you on trips or meetings away from the office.

Stick to a Schedule

This is perhaps the most important tip in making your home office arrangement work. You need to decide on a schedule when you will work, and adhere to that schedule. It can be 8 hours each day or only 3, whatever it is you must stick to it!

Without a schedule you take seriously, you work will suffer and you'll develop a poor work ethic. The bottom line is that you'll make less money –a lot less!

You can think of it this way. If you held a traditional job, you would only spend lunch time taking care of personal business. If there are errands to run you would either do them before or after work. You would not drop your work and start doing a load of laundry in the break room. You don't sit on the phone talking to friends and family. You don't run to the hairdresser in mid-morning leaving work undone.

Your home business is your job whether you are doing it full or part time. You have to set a schedule which insures you spend the right amount of time on your business without being distracted by the personal surroundings you have at home.

You may think, "Hey! Where does the freedom of being an entrepreneur begin if I have to follow a schedule?"

The freedom is in the options you have and control of your income. For example, when you are working in an office for a corporation, your supervisor determines your hours. You are told when to be at work and when you can leave. Even if you are an executive, there are expectations as to when you are supposed to be in the office.

When you own a home based business, you can set a schedule, but you can determine your hours. For example, you may like to start work at 9 AM instead of 8 AM. You may prefer to work evenings instead of mornings.

One of the reasons home businesses fail is because there is no time schedule set. If you say you are going to work your business from 9AM until 5PM every day, then you need to be at your home office desk working by 9AM.

Managing time efficiently involves a lot more than just setting aside chunks of time. You also need to determine how much time you need to do particular tasks.

For example, you may need to allocate the start of your workday by respond to new customer inquiries so not to keep anyone waiting too long. Bookkeeping and other administration tasks not critical to revenue can be scheduled on days you're less likely to be busy.

For brainstorming sessions, find out which part of the day you're most creative. I've read books by CEO's and successful entrepreneurs who say they're most creative in the mornings before noon. Others say in the late afternoons when they begin to feel a little tired they've come up with great ideas. From what I gather everyone is different and it will be up to you to find your creative "zone" and schedule accordingly.

Use a calendar and populate it with your work schedule for the entire month. Towards the end of the month populate your work schedule for the next month. Be sure to include your personal activities so you're not blindsided by non-work appointments you forgot about.

If you follow this advice and use it to your advantage, you'll be able to reward yourself with one of the best benefits of being an entrepreneur: giving yourself a raise!

Take Advantage of Online Services

When you operate a home office you're responsible for your own equipment, which includes software. It's nice to have a work computer loaded with the latest Office suite supplied by your company, or rely on the legal department to take care of any paperwork that needs to be filed. If you're running your own home business you won't have that luxury anymore.

The good news is that the Internet is a DIYers paradise. This might be a techie insider's secret, but if you spent a little time looking you might shocked to learn how cheap professional services are online. Here are some examples:

• With WordPress, you can have a professional website complete with all functionality to supports your business online for few hundred dollars or less.


• You can hire people to do almost any design task, such as create a logo or advertising banner for as little as $5.


• Stockphoto sites can provide professional business graphics and imagery for as little as $1 each.


• Bookkeeping and accounting software that allow you to do your own business taxes for less than $100.


• There' s letter writing software, templates for professional documents, inventory management programs, or publishing software which can create newsletters or marketing material all at very reasonable prices.

These days, you can literally have all your administration and professional services taken care of for your business without any employees or consultants, and at a fraction of the cost.

Avoid Distractions

This is one of the biggest pitfalls of working at home. At home, the distractions are all around to trip you up: family, TV, even knowing you can crawl back into bed on a cold morning can be a distraction.

These are different distractions than the ones you faced at the company office. You need to prepare yourself for them or the distractions will turn into bad habits which will undermine your home operation.

Some of the tips I've already mentioned will help, especially having a designated work area and following a set work schedule.

The next step is to think about the possible situations that come up and prepare yourself to handle them. What will you do if you four year old walks in your office and wants you to find her shoes?

Your business is not a hobby. Have a talk with your spouse about your commitment to your work schedule, and explain that, unless it's an emergency those are not appropriate times to ask you to do something else.

There are also online distractions. Without anyone holding you accountable, you might waste time watching videos on YouTube or responding to messages on Facebook when you could be working.

Reward yourself with the distractions you avoided during your workday. After you've crossed every item off your daily work to-do list then allow yourself to indulge in some TV or that new viral kitten YouTube video.

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Keeping Your Smartphone Charged With CulCharge

Carry a smartphone is the norm these days and if you are without one, you are in trouble because of a lack of connection. They are far more than making phone calls, but rather a connection to the world with email and social media. But, they continue to lack the kind of battery life which is necessary to sustain them for days. As a result, you must be prepared and carry around a USB charging cable as one of those requirements for continued use. But, carrying around those long USB cables or a charger is not want any of us really want to do. But, the CulCarge USB connector breaks that mold and provides you with an ulta-small USB charger for your smartphone. And the picture here shows you just how portable it really is.

The CulCharge is on the verge of being shipped in November for all the current orders they have in place. Shortly after that, we expect to see it appearing in the usual places where you can get your own CulCharge USB charging cable for your smartphone. This one looks like it is going to be well received and be the one to have. They are going to be providing various models to support the Apple 30 pin connection, Apple Lightning connection. MicroUSB and MiniUSB connections to charge up your smartphone. I have too often forgotten to take my long USB charging cable with me and with this, it gets added to my key ring and I will no longer have to remember.

Coming in at just 2,3 inches long, this is a great size for a keyring or pocket. And being this small, the CulCharge is bound to generate conversation when people see one. It is strong enough that you can plug it into a USB port and let your phone hang down from it. And, if your current USB cable supports charging and data exchange, the CulCharge will provide you with a charge, data exchange and sync capabilities.

The current estimates show the CulCharge retailing for under $10 when it comes to market making this very affordable. It is expected that the Apple Lightning connector will be more expense, but until they come to market, it is not known how much more. This company has really thought things out as they have been working to get distributorships from the start so that their product is represented everywhere. And they already have CulCharge boxes ready for distributors to place in stores for sale.

Waiting For Instacube

Waiting for an announced product can somethings seem like it takes too long. Those waiting in long lines to get the latest iPhone have great anticipation for getting their hands on the latest magic from Apple. But those products coming from KickStarter sometimes seem to have a wait that is too long. And that is just with the original estimated date for shipping a great new product which has been funded. The one that we are waiting to see is the Instacube and it seems that the delay for delivery seems to continue. There are so many who contributed to get the Instacube delivered and are still waiting. There are over 3300 who backed the KickStarter project and on top of that there are all those who have reserved one since that funding campaign ended. So, how much longer are people going to have to wait?

The latest comments from the D2M folks do not indicate any guesses at a delivery date which is not a good sign. With the original estimated delivery date in October 2012, this does not provide optimism and one that needs to be corrected. Firm dates need to start being put out there. Or even their best guesses as to when they think that the Instacube might be shipped. It seems that this continues to drag out for all those who helped fund a very successful campaign for the Instacube.

There is some hope that things are starting to move forward for a delivery this year. I came across the instacube.ru site while looking into this, but did not find a rash of other ones as I would have expected. The domain name is "goinstacube.ru" and this site is definitely not in the US. And if you go to their Facebook page, it is showing that the Instacube will be released in Russia on January 15, 2014 and was posted on September 20, 2013. That is one of the very few dates that we have seen, but this is not in the US.

Is there hope that it will be released in the US this year?

The product page on Facebook for Instacube has not been updated with a post since May 16, 2013. This looks to be the official Facebook page for the coming Instacube product and that is not a good sign. This should be seeing posts weekly letting everyone know the progress of delivering the Instacube. Why are they not actively posting on Facebook?

There are still a number of pretty good Instacube domain names still available and I would have thought they would have locked those up by now. Something for them to address in moving forward before those reading this get the idea to grab them all up. There are many goinstacube domain names still available as well. As of today, you can still get the domain name "getinstacube.com" which should have been grabbed a long time ago. Why has not the company grabbed up a number of these to lock them in?

Any product that is coming to market requires a great marketing campaign and at the moment, we are not seeing much of anything. And those people who have contributed to the KickStarter campaign are not get much information either. Some people are asking for refunds now that the product ship dates are close to a year late. Those refunds will only come after Instacube ships. What happens if that takes another year?

Design To Matter is not new to the game of developing products and it is time for them to step up and tell everyone when the Instacube is going to be delivered to all those who funded the product. Their continuing lack of a delivery date has many starting to believe that the product will not come to market.

Futuristic 3D Motion Controller For Games - iMotion

New Game Controller moves into the 3D realm.

The Kinect device has been immensely popular for playing games as it responds to your body movements. But, it does not work quite as finely as some would like. Anything that would be able to reflect you as 3D motion for a game would be great. So, a device that you can wear sounds like the best idea for doing interactive games where you are physically involved in it. An even better item would be if that device could give you feedback as well during the game. There is such a device which is moving forward with fund raising and lining up the manufacturers. It is called iMotion and could alter how interactive games get played in the future.

This week's KickStarter project is the iMotion 3D Controller and they are over half way towards their goal of raising $100,000. This is a hand held device you can hold with Velcro straps holding it on your hands and fits in the palm of your hand. You can use multiple iMotion 3D controllers to play games with and they are accurate down to 0.08 of an inch. That accuracy is going to give you a better gaming experience. With some games you use a mouse click to activate or do something. With the iMotion, you accomplish that by covering one of the 3 LED lights on it.

One of the great items for the iMotion 3D controller is feedback. When you strap it to your hand, you will feel vibrations that interact with the game. So, when you bump into an object in the game, you will see and feel that object. With this feedback, it will open up a whole new world to how games can be played. And one that you should pay attention to and watch for it in the near future. Some are saying that the primary reason that this is being developed is for the Oculus Rift virtual reality game. That may well be, but there is so many other 3D games that this can be applied to in the future.

The company has set up the Get iMotion web site to promote the iMotion controller and looks great. The iMotion controller has another 23 days to go before the funding campaign ends. And you still have time to be part of the group that receives the iMotion before it gets released to the public. For a contribution of $59 or more you will get your own iMotion device. The $59 level looks to be just about gone, so $69 looks more realistic. You are going to really need 2 iMotion devices and those will have you contributing $137 for the pair. March 2014 is when you would receive your very own iMotion controller. So, head on over and grab one for yourself.

Facebook Open Graph Explained

You may heard the buzz around Open Graph and wonder what it's all about. You may have even read the Wikipedia entry for Open Graph but still don't know what it is. I'll do my best to explain it in a moment, but don't worry if you don't understand what it is. The more important questions are why you need it and how to use it, which we will also get into.

The Jargon

Open Graph is a type of Microdata (RDFa to be exact), which most notably has been implemented by Facebook. Microdata are basically special tags in web page code that can contribute to a "sematic web." Open Graph was designed to "socially graph" web pages, but it also can do things like provide Facebook-like functionality on sites and apps outside of Facebook.com.

Why It's Important

Since the dawn of the Internet, websites have primarily used HTML to display web pages in browsers like Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome. But HTML is formatting language, it tells the browser you have titles, paragraphs, images, but the browser and your computer have no idea what those titles, paragraphs and images are talking about.

You could be viewing a web page about a new Lexus but your computer doesn't know it's a page about a car. Open Graph and other Microdata technologies give meaning to webpages that other computers can understand.

Now with Open Graph, Facebook can put a web page into context, understand how to categorize it and how does the information relate to other entities: what kind of information is it, what is it talking about, who authored it, who else would Like it?

Now think about Facebook, the biggest social network in the world. If they know what a web page is about, they can show it to people who are interested in the same topics. If you have a website about football, wouldn't you rather Facebook show your articles to people who are sports fanatics instead of people who are knitting fanatics? Ah-ha!

Because of the famous "Like," Facebook knows what people are interested in, and with Open Graph, they can match web content to people's interests. Now you're beginning to see the power of Open Graph.

Open Graph goes beyond matching content to interests. It can identify how people relate to content. A video may have dozens of contributors, producers, actors, directors and more. Facebook can connect a video with everyone involved.

Think about someone who writes Kindle books, creates videos, and produces articles all over the web on several different sites. Open Graph can attach authors to their content no matter where it's hosted or shared, and connect that content to the author's fans.

Open Graph has detailed tags to help describe and catalog different types of content, video, audio and text, down to the individual roles of people collaborating on the piece of content. Where the content was produced and where people reside geographically. Most large and popular sites have been using Open Graphic for years now.

Why you need to use Open Graph:

Here's a summary of why you should integrate your site with Open Graph:

• Ensures your content shows up correctly in Facebook.


• It can help your content reach more people.


• Provides a personalized experience for visitors by recommending articles based on interest and showing which articles have been Like'd by friends.


• Can help you reach your target audience and demographic much more effectively.

Ever post an article from your website on Facebook, and the wrong image was posted?

This is an incredibly frustrating problem, especially when you use a posting service (like me) and you find the last dozen articles were posted with the wrong image or wrong description. This usually happens when the wrong tags are used, but sometimes it can be something else. I'll explain later how to avoid these problems.

The problem is without the right Open Graph tags, Facebook is left to guess what the information on the page is about, and they usually get it wrong.

With the proper tags, Facebook will understand what your content is, how it's organized and how it should be displayed within Facebook.

There are endless possibilities if search engines and computers can truly understand your site's content. There are rumors that Facebook will begin allowing people to add widgets from their favorite sites on their Timelines, and that this will only be possible with sites having Open Graph tags.

Google, Bing and Yahoo have teamed up to support a different set of Microdata published at schema.org. I have a hunch that very soon if Google is unsure what your site is about because you're not using rich snippets, they'll push it down in the search results in favor of sites that they understand and trust. Quote from Google:

Because we're always working to expand our functionality and improve the relevance and presentation of our search results, schema.org contains many new snippet types that Google may use in future applications.

You may not care about search results and get your traffic from other sources, but it doesn't end here. In the quote above "future applications" could mean a lot. Google and Facebook are continually working on ways to expand their reach and profits: new marketplaces, payment processing, messaging, advertising and more. In the future, without Microdata, your overall Internet presence could suffer.

And it even gets more intriguing: Google clearly states in Webmaster Central that it already recognizes Facebook Share coding for videos.

How to Implement Open Graph on Your Site

If you use WordPress it's easy. There are plugins in the WordPress repository that will insert the Open Graph tags automatically into your site's HTML markup. Here's an example of what some of these tags look like:



The official Facebook WordPress plugin is one place to start. WordPress SEO by Yoast is good. Jetpack from WordPress has gotten better this past year at implementing Open Graph tags. All these are free to use.

The three plugins I mentioned auto-populate the tags. But there are other plugins that let you manually add tags beyond the basics like title, description, image, author, etc. This type of implementation would be handy for video or music producers.

If you don't use WordPress then you'll have to manually add the HTML tags to your header either by using a web page editor or having your developer insert them for you. If you don't understand what I just said, consult with any web developer. A number of you reading this might be using Joomla or Drupal, which may have Open Graph plugins available like WordPress does.

Dealing with Open Graph Problems

If you use a plugin to add Open Graph tags to your site, it doesn't guarantee you won't have display problems when your articles are posted on Facebook. Here are a couple common Facebook posting problems and how to fix them.

Too small of an image

Your article needs to have an image at least 200 x 200 pixels or Facebook won't use it. Instead, they'll find a different image on your site big enough and use that, which can result in some lame looking Facebook posts that result in low click-throughs.

I've had problems with images that were either 200 pixels wide or tall. I assume whatever tool I used to measure my image wasn't accurate or my image was really 199.5 pixels on one side and I didn't know it. To be safe, make sure your images are much more than 200 pixels on any side.

Wrong description

Earlier I said if you don't have Open Graph tags to tell Facebook what your web page is about, it will guess and usually it's wrong. But sometimes a WordPress plugin will tag the wrong description, which will foul up your post when you share it on Facebook.

In my experience, this usually happens because of a plugin conflict or there are WordPress short codes in the content. If you can't fix the plugin conflict or depend on short codes, use the Excerpt field in the post editor in WordPress. Either copy the first few lines of your article into the Excerpt box, or write a custom description. Most Facebook Open Graph plugins will use the Excerpt for the description.

If you don't see the Excerpt field below the post editor, click Screen Options at the top left of the admin panel and check Excerpt. It should appear below the main post edit box.

Get to know the Facebook Debugger

If you're having problems with the way your posts are displayed in Facebook, and you have no idea what the problem is, try using the Facebook Open Graph Debugger:

https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/

Enter the URL of the page you're having problems with and the debugger will identify any issues.

In the example above, the debugger tells me I have one image too small and it will chose the second image in my post instead.

If there is nothing wrong with your page the Response Code will show 200.

This tool can help identify problems in your Open Graph tags, which you may be able to fix yourself. If you have consistent problems with your tags you may need to try a different plugin or ask a developer to look at your site.

The Future of Open Graph and Microdata

We may be at the very earliest stages of an exciting new frontier with the semantic web. At some point it will become mainstream to have Open Graph and Microdata tags on web sites.

Those who embrace these technologies will have a head start on where the web is going. The rest will be scratching their heads wondering what just happened.

This was just an overview of Open Graph, if you have any questions about your website, please get in touch with me here or on Twitter.

Gecko Device Makes Life Easier To Deal With

If you are like most people, you have a lot of things going on and anything that might make it a little simpler is a very welcome idea. What if a small squares about 1.18 inches square and less then 1/4 inch thick could be used in a wide range of ways to accomplish that? Much more than simple task of finding your phone as others have put out or working on. A device that can help you remember to do selected tasks or keep track of whether a door has been opened. Or one that can help you find your pet which you are looking for. It seems that we are all very busy, so something that can make life easier is a welcome idea. And that is what you get with Gecko.

The Gecko Device is on Indiegogo as a funding campaign where they hope to raise $50,000. And with $35,000, it looks like that will happen with 25 days left. The basis for everything that the Gecko device can do is your smart phone. It relies on Bluetooth 4.0, so any device which supports that can work with it. For Android, that is very few devices and requires Android 4.3. But all Apple iOS device for the past 2 years should support the Bluetooth needs for the Gecko.

The number of things that you can do with this is rather amazing and there are probably far more that will come about as all it requires is an app to be written to take advantage of it. The beauty of the Gecko is you can use a multitude of them to make your life easier. You can attach one to your keys to help you find your smartphone. Or use your smartphone to find your keys. Two of the most nagging problems that I seem to have in the morning.

While the name of Gecko may seem rather strange, what it can do more than makes up for that. It is powered by a small battery about the size of a quarter and is easily replaced. You can use the Gecko to remind you to take your medications as it can be placed on your pills and if they do not move, the app knows that you have not take them. Of you can put it on just about anything to be alerted when it moves, such as a door or a bag. In the video below, they show it being shaken to change the music you are listening to on your smartphone. Or put it on a pet and it can alert you if they leave your home. It also can respond to hand gestures as well. All of these are great examples of what it can do.

And like the Tile device, the community of users can help you find something that is farther away than your Bluetooth signal can reach, such as your dog. All pretty interesting as to what this can do. Hopefully your interest has increased with this. The estimated delivery for those who fund the campaign is either December 2013 or January 2014 depending on what you contribute. You can Contribute Now with various amounts and depending on how much you contribute from $25 and up, you could get 1 or more Gecko devices when they ship.

7 Productivity Tech Tips

Not enough time in the day to finish what you need to get done? Wish the day was longer? I do too; not for work though. So I have more time to do things I enjoy.

Like all productivity articles, these 7 tips will help you save time and get more done in your workday. However, I also believe these tips will improve the quality of your work, helping you to think clearly and creatively.

Eliminate Online Temptations

You probably thought I was going to tell you how to use technology to improve your productivity, but in this first tip I'm telling you to avoid it. There are so many distractions online, from news to gossip to videos and social media. For me the worst is news.

Not only are these online distractions productivity killers, but they can sap your energy and motivation. How often does reading the news in the morning make you happy and keep you energized throughout the day?

I make an effort not to read or watch any news during my workday. And I don't start my day with news; it's usually too negative and leads to a slow start. If I get any news at all it's at the end of the day, while I'm working out or during downtime.

You may have your own online vices: YouTube, Facebook, Reddit. I treat these sites like dessert: I can indulge in them AFTER I've eaten all my vegetables. (By the way, contrary to popular belief, social media is NOT work unless you're executing a plan.)

This is a productivity tip that requires your own self-control. I gave you couple examples of how I manage my distractions, which you can emulate, but it's up to you to come up with a plan for yourself.

By eliminating the online distractions, I believe you'll find that you get more done. Perhaps more importantly, you'll feel better doing it by eliminating the negativity.

Take Your Breaks Seriously

You've probably heard the advice to take periodic breaks while you work. Breaks can refresh the mind and getting up out of your chair helps get the blood flowing to the lower part of your body.

To get the most from breaks there's a technique you can called the Pomodoro Technique. Basically it works like this: you work for a set period of time, like 25 minutes, then take a 3 to 5 minute break. After the break start another 25 minute work session and repeat the pattern. After four sessions take a longer break, 15 minutes or more.

There are variations to this technique. I first heard about it from a legendary copywriter who recommended 33 minute sessions. Twenty-five is recommended but you may find an interval that works better for you.

I find the technique helps with writing. Usually after the break I get one or two new ideas to write about or think of better ways to make my points. It also helps me feel refreshed when taking care of mundane tasks.

If I'm feeling a little fatigued, I'll use my break to have a glass of cold water and take a short walk outside to get the mail or see what my cats are up to. You'd be surprised how a little water and physical activity can boost your energy. It's almost as good as coffee. If you can, try to get outside the office during your breaks.

To use the Pomodoro Technique you'll need a timer. There are numerous timer apps you can download for free and use. I like using a real cooking timer on my desk, which some experts recommend, but anything to let you know when to stop and start working is fine.

Salvage Dead Time with Your Smartphone or Tablet

This is my favorite tech tip. "Dead time" is any small pocket of time throughout the day spent while waiting in offices, airports, before a meeting, riding the subway, etc. Instead of these being timewasters, you can use them to knockout tasks.

Today's phones have more computer processing power that the average desktop computer did a few years ago. These days, you can be just as productive in the doctor's waiting room as you are in the office. Even an econo-smartphone can provide a huge productivity boost.

Thanks to all the apps available for your mobile device, you can stay on top of customer service, participate in meetings, manage your website and even respond to blog commenters. You can service your customers faster, respond immediately to new leads and capture fresh thought and ideas.

I primarily use dead time to catch up on emails. But there are times I'll start to work on a paper I need to write or crunch some numbers in a spreadsheet. Research and note taking are other tasks that are great for dead time.

Commuting for most is a large chunk of dead time and a great opportunity to cross several tasks off your to-do list. Even if you drive yourself to work each day you can still be productive. For instance, there are apps that can read your emails out loud, and if you're feeling brave, you can learn how to respond to message with your voice. You can listen in on live or recorded meetings.

Once I had a meeting with at an office over an hour from my house. As I drove home from the meeting, I used a dictation app to write a report based on information shared in the meeting. Since it was fresh in my mind it turned out to be the best time to start capturing thoughts. When I arrived home, I opened the document I dictated, did a few minutes of editing and sent it off to everyone who attended the meeting. Done!

Use Folders

This tip really deserves its own article or ebook. The age of massive hard drives and unlimited free email storage has created a new problem: finding stuff. How much time are you wasting each day searching for files on your computer or for important emails in your inbox?

I call this the silent productivity killer because most people don't realize how much time they waste looking for things. As we collect more and more information every day, the problem gets worse to the point where the search features on our desktops and in our emails become less effective.

Your incoming information needs to be organized and managed. Start by having a plan for received info: act, file or delete.

Act and delete are self-evident. Before you can file something you'll need a place to put it where it can be easily retrieved when needed. Begin creating folders on your computer and in your email to organize saved information.

Spend a little time planning your folders ahead of time. Having too many folders is not going to help much. Get out a sheet of paper and start mapping out a logical hierarchy for your information.

On your computer, stick to no more than 5 to 7 folders at each level. Less is more; a screen with 20 folders makes it hard to quickly identify which one you need. You can probably organize all your information in two or three levels, meaning it will only take 3 clicks to get what you need.

Also, learn how to favorite or bookmark folders you use often. Keep your desktop clean of icons and place a few shortcuts to these folders. Again, keep the number of icons to 6 or 7.

For email, organize your folders into broader topics compared to your computer and try to keep subfolders at one level. Avoid using email as an information archive. If someone sends an important PDF, save it to your computer and access it from there.

I realize emails are also a record of when something was sent, along with notes attached, but try your best to offload as much as you can. Stick to using email for messaging, it wasn't really designed to be a library.

When using email, discipline yourself not to read something unless you're willing to act on it, file it or delete it. Don't read an email and leave it in your inbox for later! You just read it, why read the same message two or three times?

Again, there are books written on this topic. These were just a few quick tips, but if you're overwhelmed by PDFs, spreadsheets and emails, here are a couple resources:

Getting Things Done

Total Workday Control Using Microsoft Outlook

Bookmark Online Information

This tip goes hand-in-hand with the last one. Someone sends you a link to an important website, or you come across a valuable article you want to use in the future.

A week later and you want to revisit that site, but you can't find it! You run through the site name in your head to try and remember, or search for that email perhaps giving up and asking the friend to resend it. Either way, you've lost time you didn't need to.

Trying to remember sites and links is futile. Start saving important sites and online resources by bookmarking the links.

There are many tools that can be used to bookmark sites and links. One of the most well-known is Evernote, which as also has apps for Android, iPhone and WindowsPhone so you can save and access your information across all devices.

I've used a bookmarking service for years called Diigo. I like the features more than Evernote, though the Evernote app is much better than Diigo's. Since I do most of my research on my desktop computer Diigo works out well for me.

Diigo and Evernote offer free toolbars you can install in your browser. When you visit a link that's worth saving, just click a button on the toolbar and the site is captured forever. You can also make notes on what you save, list, categorize and tag for easy retrieval. If you need to download a list of items you've saved, you can do that too.

Turn Off Email and Chat Programs

Chat programs like Skype and Google Talk/Hangouts can break your concentration and interrupt your thought at the worse times. People on the other end don't know what you're in the middle of and seem to assume whatever you're doing is not important.

Keep these turned off while you work. Better yet, configure the settings so they don't start up automatically when you turn your computer on in the morning. Don't rely on "invisible" modes, your friends may think you're really online and try messaging you even though your status says offline.

Email is a bottomless pit. As soon as you finish one email three more pop in your inbox. This goes on all day and there's nothing you can do except pull yourself away.

I set times during the day I check mail. I'm between those times I don't have any email programs open to prevent being distracted by the new message notifications (I've found turning those off to be ineffective).

I have a hard deadline in the morning to stop reading emails and get to work. If I'm not done with emails when the deadline is reached it doesn't matter. I shut down my email program and switch gears.

Some productivity experts recommend not checking email at all in the morning. It's too easy to lose track of time and space. For me, I have customers and I can't take the chance of missing a question came in during the night. I need to look through my inbox each morning for at least a few minutes.

The next time I check mail is during "dead time," mentioned in tip #3. It's inevitable I have one or two dead time situations each day.

Towards the end of my day, after I've knocked out my most important tasks, is when I spend time cleaning out my inbox. I'll try to respond, save or delete everything I can in about 30 minutes.

That's an example of how I handle email. Like I said earlier, the reason you stop working on email each day is because you decide it's time to work on something else. It only makes sense to put time limits on your email checking.

If you're running a business where you handle customer service or you need to respond to escalations and decisions, you'll have to come up with a reasonable email schedule that maintains your service levels.

Use To-do and Calendar Apps

You may use a paper notepad for to manage your daily to-do list, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. I still use a whiteboard in my office to remind myself of important dates.

However, there are some advantages to using online task managers and calendars. Here are a few:

• Sharing - With online calendars, such as Google Calendar, you can share types of events with certain people. It could save you from having to explain to someone what you have planned in the coming week if they can see for themselves.


• Collaboration - If you're part of a project team, you may have tasks that are dependent on others. An online task manager can notify you when something you're waiting on is done or automatically assign new tasks.


• Reporting - When you have to submit expense or progress reports, it's nice not to have to put together a real paper trail. Online calendars will allow you to export dates you traveled or worked, and task management apps can list everything you completed during a certain period.


• Reminders – You can set due dates on tasks and schedule reminders. And of course, people have been using reminders for events and meetings for as long as the personal computer has been around.

Whether you use paper or apps, or a combination of both (like me), the main point of this tip is to have something you can refer to that tells you what you need to do and when to do it.

I like to spend the last few minutes of my workday jotting down what I need to do the following day. I glance at what I already have scheduled and factor that into my list. Then I prioritize the list. That's the to-do list I'll refer to in the morning.

Have a tech tip that boosts productivity? Let us know about it in the comments below.

Transformable Power Strip Twists To Hold More - TwistVolt

Power strips have always been pretty bland over the years generally coming in black or white with the outlets being in a straight line. That is what has been the case for well over 20 years and not a lot has changed. We have seen some in the past few years which allow them to come in different shapes to accommodate that ever growing need to provide power to computers and devices. And with all the USB charge cables we have been collecting, the ordinary power strip does not handle those though some of the recent ones provide for that. Given the straight line power strips, wouldn't you like to see a power strip which can do more. The TwistVolt gives you a power strip along with providing a unique form which looks very interesting.

The TwistVolt is currently looking for funding over at Dragon Innovations where TwistVolt is an active project. This has been out there for only a few days with a goal of raising $95,000. While the goal may seem high, this one is really worth taking a look at. With all the connections to power strips that I have, it seems there are always wasted plugs because some power blocks are just two big and cover over 3 outlet plugs instead of one. There is almost always one plug that seems to go in sideways and takes up 2 power outlets. These reduces the usability of a power strip to plug in devices. The TwistVolt is going to change this problem.

While there are alternatives to this problem, TwistVolt looks to be a very unique solution to the problem allowing one to use each and everyone of the 6 power outlets without having to worry about that power block that is large. There are many different ways that you can twist the TwistVolt with its 7 joints so this is very flexible for you to use and there will always be a way to twist it to take advantage of the 6 outloets. But, that is not all there is to the TwistVolt. It comes with USB conectitions as well and depending on your contribution level, you can get 1 or up to 8 USB charging ports to handle the growing number of devices we all seem to collect.

One might think that this is all there is to the TwistVolt, but you would be wrong. They have added circuits into the product to clean the power flowing through it and while you may not think that is something to be concerned about, it is. This will regulate the power. With that, they will also be providing power to make sure that your devices are getting the amount of power they require to be charged up. We have talked about how different USB ports deliver different watts. Well here is one that will handle that for you.

And there is more. We all know that when you are charging up a USB device that once that device gets charged up, anything after that charging may just be wasted energy. The TwistVolt is going to have technology that senses when your device is charged. And when it senses that, it will reduce to the power to that USB port to be a fraction of what it was. All of these items make this a unique product.

The TwistVolt is scheduled to be shipped to those who contribute to the campaign for delivery in May 2014 if they meet their funding goal. This excellent looking product needs backers and you can contribute at various levels starting at $49 and up from there providing you at least 1 USB port. Higher amounts give you more USB ports. If you have a lot of devices which charge via USB, this looks like a great product for you to have.

Making the Most of the Goodreads App

When it comes to connecting with fellow readers and getting recommendations for your next reading adventure, the Goodreads app is one of the best options available. You can chart all the books that you have read as well as get ideas for your next books. Because it allows you to connect with other readers, you can participate in an online community that can be quite fun. Here are some of the things you should do to make the most of your Goodreads app on your tablet or smart phone.

Update All the Books You Have Read and Post Brief Reviews

A lot of people try to start using the Goodreads app right away without updating it with the books they have read or supplying reviews. However, to get the most out of the Goodreads community, you need to make sure that you do this. The recommendations that the Goodreads app algorithms provide require your input. The reviews also make it more likely that you will receive more tailored recommendations. The added benefit to supplying the reviews is the fact that it gives other readers the opportunity to connect with you. These individuals can then give you their own recommendations for other books that you might enjoy.

Use the Goodreads Hash Tags for Further Recommendations and Interactions

The Goodreads app is not always the best option for more in-depth conversations. However, you can still get that analysis and conversation going by using other social media apps and platforms to engage in conversation. This is partially how the Fifty Shades of Grey eBook made it so big. It generated significant discussions and conversations not only on Goodreads but also on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Goodreads provides some of its own recommended hash tags for continuing conversations on other platforms. Some of the members also post their own recommendations for bringing in others. Use these if you want to get into dialogues that receive more publicity.

Fill Out Your Wish List

To get even more precise recommendations, make sure that you fill out your reading wish list. The reading wish list or the "to read" list are great ways to let other readers know what's on your mind and what you're looking for. The Good Read algorithms will also provide more tailored recommendations. Try to choose books in diverse genres if you want more variety in the recommendations. However, if you want books from only a specific genre, then focus your efforts there.

Making the most out of your Goodreads app can help you to find a number of great books to read and help out your fellow readers at the same time. When you get started, you will need to make sure that you update all the books you have read. Take the time to post brief reviews on these books. You should also use the hash tags and other social media platforms to stimulate even greater discussion. From there, make sure that you also fill out your wish list so that Goodreads and the other readers know what kind of books you're looking for.

Portable Battery With Different Charge Output - Zendure

Ultra High Capacity Batteries in 3 different sizes.

In the world of portable battery chargers, there is a lot of competition right now to convince you to buy their products. That is because of the very poor battery life of our smartphones which quite often does not last a full day. So, we have to carry around chargers or a portable battery charger in order to make sure that our smartphones are always usable when we need them. With that, there is a continuing flow of new portable battery chargers coming to market. The latest one has a number of different features which we like and is called the Zendure. One of the big features they are pushing is that of the cases containing the battery are crush proof and that is a great feature to have when carry one in your back pocket. But, that is not the feature that we are seeing on the Zendure which really makes this one unique. Read on.

This week's KickStarter projects is the Zendure Crush Proof External Batteries. This is an active KickStarter funding campaign with 12 days to go with a goal of $30,000. They have already seen pledges of over $79,000 showing that there is immense interest in this coming product which is estimated to ship in November. But the real value for this is beyond the crush proof cases they are talking about.

The big value that we see in the Zendure is the two (2) different USB ports at different wattage output. This is unique and I have not seen one like this before. We have seen the Pratical Meter which helps you find the highest output port on your computer for watts. And that is a great tool to have for charging up a portable battery. But, having one on your portable battery charger is something new and worth taking a look at. There is a blue and a black USB port put on the Zendure. The black one outputs at 1 amp and the blue one outputs at 2.1 amps. You may not consider that to be a big deal, but for some it is. With that, you can charge two different devices and the blue USB port gets the priority in charging. So, you can be charging up your smartphone on the blue side and another device on the black USB port.

The output from the Zendure is what makes this different. They are claiming a circuit efficiency of of 95% as compared to that of others at 90%. That means that you will get more of a charge out of the battery. And they have included the ability to charge your battery and at the same time charge your smartphone. Not all portable batteries can do that. You can check out the number of times you can charge a device from the ultra high capacity Zendure on the KickStarter page.

With three different models of the Zendure, you can get the one that meets your needs. The A3 is a 9,000 mAh battery, the A4 is a 12,000 mAh battery and the A5 is a 15,000 battery. The sizes are great for these at 3.8 by 2.5 by 1 inch (A3), 4.5 by 2.8 by 1 inch (A4) or 5 by 2.9 by 1 inch (A5). They are pushing the crush proof case where they ran over it multiple times and it withstood that beating. That is a good thing, but not the only reason that we buy a portable battery charger.

With the various charging options, ultra high capacity and crush proof case, this is a very different product and one that is worth a look. If you want to be among the first to receive one, you should go and make a pledge of at least $45 to be able to get yours. As the amounts you pledge go up, the better the size or even multiple Zendure portable batteries. The choice is yours.

Essential Elements in Web Design for Increasing Traffic

It's important to keep web designs cutting edge to increase traffic. For eCommerce stores, the need becomes even more important. Business2Community describes the levels of innovation as increasing at a rate that might scare some businesses, but that, instead of being frightened, they should focus on the most essential elements. Here are some of the top ones you should consider including.

Mobile Website Compatibility

One of the most important elements that you must have in a website design is mobile website compatibility. Margin Media conducted a study and found that 48 percent of users will decide against using a business's service if they get to the mobile website and find it doesn't work well.

Blog

Blogs have been around since the early days of the Internet. According to "The History of Bloggin," the first blog post was published in 1997, and it soon became one of the most popular sources of web content. The Search Engine Journal states that blog posts still provide some of the best options when it comes to building up indexed web pages, as long as the content is valuable. You can get a blog started on a number of free services as well as most places where you can build a website for free.

Responsive Design

Responsive design is considered one of the must have components of an effective website, according to eMarketer. It basically means that your website will adjust to fit any screen. It's not all that is involved in making a website compatible with all mobile devices, but it's often an important part. The main benefit that it offers is the fact that the viewing experience will be the same across multiple platforms.

Fast Loading Times

A number of studies have been set up to see how long people will wait for a web page to load. Surprisingly, it doesn't seem to matter whether it's on a traditional computer or on a mobile device. eConsultancy's study found that 40 percent of people leave a website if the page takes more than three seconds in loading time. Mobile Joomla found that the number of pages that potential customers leave increase over 100 percent when it takes more than four seconds, and it goes up 150 percent if the page takes over eight seconds. Sometimes making sure that your web pages load faster will require that the design be streamlined. This is part of the reason that the modern web design has started leaning so heavily toward the minimalist influence.

Single Landing Pages for Each Product

Landing pages have not yet become dinosaurs in the Internet marketing world. While hard sell techniques still provide far lower results than other forms of advertising, certain elements of the classic hard sell campaign can still be beneficial. The landing page is one of these. According to the Marketing Sherpa, the secret is to make sure that each landing page focuses on a single goal. HubSpot's research discovered that many businesses wind up with 30+ landing pages, but that these businesses developed 7-12 times more leads than businesses with a single landing page for all their products, or even less than five such pages.

Is Skype Premium Worth It?

You may be a long time Skype user and wondering if you should upgrade to Premium. If you’d like to upgrade to use group video and make unlimited calls to phones, those are good reasons to consider paying for Skype.

If you’re upgrading just to get premium call quality, then you may want to reassess your needs. Since they rely on the Internet, Skype and other VoIP services are susceptible to call quality issues. However, there might be other compelling reasons to start paying for Skype. In this article I take a close look at Skype Premium and some of the alternatives.

Skype Premium subscriptions feature group video calling for up to 10 people and includes group screen sharing. Currently with free Skype you can have only two on a video call, but you can have up to 25 on a voice conference.

You can make unlimited calls to landlines and mobile phones to a country of your choice. You also get live tech support via IM and no ads in the software.

Skype Premium is reasonably priced at $9.99 USD per month. If you pay annually you can get it for as low as $59.88, which comes out to only $4.99 a month. That’s not bad at all.

Now you may be thinking of upgrading to Premium to use Skype in your business, and wonder how dependable voice and video conferencing is and if it can be relied on for professional meetings.

Skype for Business

One of the complaints I often hear with Skype is that it can be unreliable, especially in multiparty calls. This is a concern if you hope to use Skype for your business.

The problems may not be Skype’s fault. It could be your Internet connection, router settings or something with your ISP, which would affect any VoIP service. Using another service may not improve your call reliability.

Perhaps the best strategy is using several communications services. When your primary service has problems, you switch to a backup. This is a strategy I use, often rotating services to make sure we get through meetings.

Switching services in the middle of a call is certainly not convenient, especially when there are more than two people on the call. The interruption breaks the current stream of thought and you may lose momentum. For one-on-one calls this is less of an issue in my experience.

The key is to always be prepared. For example, for important meetings I may record the session. If anyone has connectivity issues I will continue the meeting and send a copy of the recording to all attendees.

Skype does not have a recording feature built into its software, but it is possible with the use of add-on tools. The tool I use, which is the one Skype recommends, is Evaer Skype video recorder. You can find out more about here:

http://www.evaer.com/

Most people are forgiving when you have technical issues, especially if you have a good relationship with the involved parties. People understand having been there before and realize it’s not your fault. However, when you have a meeting with someone or a group you don’t know very well, it can be another story. A bad connection or dropped call may annoy some in group. It might be better to rely on your mobile or landlines for initial meetings with a new client or partner as you build rapport, then move collaboration to VoIP later.

If you do use Skype Premium for your business, you should have at least one conferencing backup. Here are a few free and low cost VoIP services that can serve as backups or alternatives to Skype:

Google Hangouts

There’s been a lot of hype since the launch of Google Hangouts. Unlike Skype, Hangouts allows video conferencing with 10 people for free.

Hangouts has some nice features such as integration with Google apps, like Google Docs, and live video streaming. The live streaming feature, “On Air,” allows viewers to watch a Hangout live on YouTube. Great for your own “TV” show or other live broadcast.

Hangouts does have some very cool features, and even more impressive is that these features are free. However, for basic chat and one-on-one video calls, I don’t think Hangouts has any advantage over Skype.

When it comes to calling phones Hangouts is limited. Google Voice, which is integrated with Hangouts, only works in the U.S. If you’re outside the U.S. or need to call people outside the U.S. you’re out of luck. But if all your business dealings are within the U.S. or you only need a backup for video meetings, then Hangouts should work out well.

Oovoo

Oovoo was designed for video calling, and it does it well. You can have 12 people on a video call for free. It even has screen sharing and can record calls under the free plan. The Premium plan just removes ads from the software, provides priority support and gives you some online storage for your recordings.

The only problem is getting people to use Oovoo when there’s Skype and Hangouts, which is why I use it mainly for backup purposes. It’s much easier to coordinate and get a group of people connected on a Skype call. It does have a feature that allows people to receive calls without an Oovoo account, but the participation is limited.

Phone Power

If most of your business or personal communication is over the phone, and video conferencing is less of a priority, then Phone Power unlimited business phone servicemight be a better option than Skype Premium.

Phone Power is a top rated VoIP service that provides unlimited calls for as little $8.33 USD a month. You get a phone number for others to call you (additional cost with Skype) and a second phone line for free. It’s packed with features, such as 3-Way calling, call forwarding, 911 and ClickToCall. See all of the 45 features visit here: Phone Power plans

Phone Power is a replacement for residential or small business landline, but it does not offer video calls. If video is not important to you, then Phone Power is the way to go. If you ever need video conferencing, just use Google Hangouts or Oovoo for free.

Other Communications Backups

IM Apps

Look around, these days there are chat programs embedded into many apps and desktop programs. Many offer voice and video, and can be pretty reliable. For instance, sometimes if my gamer buddies and I are using Hangouts or Skype and experience poor quality or drops, we’ll switch to Steam chat and not miss a beat.

Smartphone/Tablet

Once I had a Skype meeting planned and joined the meeting from my desktop computer. Because of poor call quality, I couldn't understand when people spoke and they had trouble hearing me.

I opened the Skype app on my smartphone, dropped off my desktop and rejoined the meeting on my phone. The call was clear. I suppose the improvement was because I was on a different Internet connection, one through my phone provider.

The great thing was that I missed only a second or two of the meeting while I was reconnecting. Since my phone was on my desk I was able to fire up Skype and sign in while I was still in the meeting on my desktop. The switch was almost seamless. This is a case where I used Skype as a backup for Skype thanks for my phone!

This is another example of planning ahead, having not only available backup services, but backup devices too. You may not realize it, but if you have a data plan with your phone or tablet, that’s a backup Internet and communications line you can use when you have issues with your primary line.

So it is possible to effectively use Skype in your business with some planning and preparedness.

Skype’s Biggest Advantage

Possibly the biggest advantage of using Skype is that it’s user friendly and ubiquitous; most people already know how to use it. Everyone in my family uses it to stay in touch more than they use their phones. My relatives in their 70s and 80s are probably the ones who use it the most!

With millions of subscribers, Skype is almost as universal as having a phone number. It’s now integrated with Facebook, and Microsoft has been forcing people to use Skype as they phase out MSN Messenger, bringing even more subscribers. If you want to have a call or meeting it might be a challenge to get other parties to use something else.

This is sometimes an overlooked benefit of using Skype. Sure, you can get cheaper VoIP services, but few can offer hassle-free video calling with almost anyone in the world. I can’t tell you how many friends and relatives I have who depend on Skype to video chat with isolated and elderly family members, and how much they value those calls. You can’t put a price on that.

Is Skype Premium worth it? In my opinion, yes, as long as you have realistic expectations.

Your Bicycle Navigator With Hammerhead

If you enjoy riding your bike, you will want to take a look at this one. There are a growing number of products which are tailored specifically for the biking crowd which is outstanding. We have talked about some of them where they can charge up your smartphone while your ride. And there are more all the time being developed which can make a difference for your daily ride. One that we have seen is in the developmental stages and trying to gather funding to move towards production. This is the Hammerhead Navigation which has some unique features along with interacting with your smartphone to provide you with a better ride.

The Hammerhead Bike Navigator looks to be another of the crowd funding campaign from Dragon Innovation and is one that holds a lot of promise. They have have raise just under $48,000 of their goal of $145,000 with 17 days left. The great value in this over other types of navigation systems is that it is so simple to see at glance. With those on a smartphone screen, you have to look and figure out what it is you need from the screen. The Hammerhead is nothing more than a series of LED lights to help guide you on your ride and communicates with your smartphone.

Designed to work with both iOS and Android devices, it can provide you with directions at a quick glance. The T-shape of the device makes it work and as you can see from the video, it is attached to your handle bars in the center and out front of that making it easy to view. You will have to set up your planned path ahead of time on your smartphone. Since it is getting information from your smartphone, it does not have to duplicate those functions in the Hammerhead navigator. And if you alter your path because of construction or closures, it can help get you back on track just like any other GPS device for navigation.

With the Hammerhead Navigator, you will have what you need on your daily ride. There are a few drawbacks for this. One is that it will be using Bluetooth 4.0, which has few Android devices currently on the market. Another is that the LED lights are going to be difficult to read in bright sunlight. But, there are a lot of positives for the Hammerhead Navigator. It can give you an idea as to the distance to your next turn and the distance to your destination. And it includes a headlight as well for riding at night along with side lights so that other vehicles know you are going to turn.

And with a community of riders, you can share your ride with others.