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WiMAX for Portland
pWiMAX service will soon be available in Portland, Oregon. What is WiMAX? It is a wireless alternative to cable or DSL./p
pFor a number of years this technology has promised to revolutionize the delivery of last mile service connecting homes and offices to internet access points. But these days the focus is more on mobile applications that make it a viable alternative to standard cell phone services. /p
pThe provider of this service in Portland will be Clearwire, a company formed through joint cooperation of Sprint, Clearwire, Google, Intel, Comcast, and Time Warner. /p
pWiMAX will not be significantly cheaper than the alternatives, but it does promise to offer greater potential for merging disparate services such as internet, cell phone, Voip and cable tv./pdiv class=item_footerpsmalla href=http://biz-blogs.com/b2e/index.php/2008/12/31/wimax-for-portlandOriginal post/a blogged on a href=http://b2evolution.net/b2evolution/a./small/p/div Upgrading to Wordpress 2.7
pJust finished upgrading one of my many Wordpress blogs to v 2.7 - the newest upgrade which was released on Dec. 10 makes several attractive improvements to the interface. This upgrade is not so concerned with functionality as it is with improving the user interface./p
pI was able to upgrade my a href=http://www.sbo-linknet.comArticle Marketing blog/a in about 15 minutes when all was said and done. There were no suprises and no hitches along the way. I'm sure subsequent upgrades on other sites will go faster./pdiv class=item_footerpsmalla href=http://biz-blogs.com/b2e/index.php/2009/01/02/upgrading-to-wordpress-2-7Original post/a blogged on a href=http://b2evolution.net/b2evolution/a./small/p/div Free Blog or Your Own Domain?
pOnce you've decided to create your own blog, the first question you have to address is whether you want your blog to be hosted on your own web hosting account or be part of an already established site like wordpress.com, blogger.com, or one of the many other free blogging sites./p
pIf you use one of the free hosted blogging sites (Wordpress.com, Blogger.com, LiveJournal.com, Blog.com, and many more) you can create a brand new blog in about 15 minutes. When you choose this option you become part of a larger site such as wordpress.com and your address will be something like/p
pa href=http://yourtownrealestate.wordpress.comhttp://yourtownrealestate.wordpress.com/a/p
por a href=http://yourtownmoneymanager.blogspot.comhttp://yourtownmoneymanager.blogspot.com/a/p
pThe advantage of this approach is that it is fast and cheap. Plus you will get some traction and search engine exposure for your blog because it will be part of a much larger network that gets crawled by the search engines on a regular basis./p
pBut in my estimation, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages./p
a href=http://biz-blogs.com/b2e/index.php/2008/12/31/free-blog-or-your-own-domain#more1850Read more raquo;/adiv class=item_footerpsmalla href=http://biz-blogs.com/b2e/index.php/2008/12/31/free-blog-or-your-own-domainOriginal post/a blogged on a href=http://b2evolution.net/b2evolution/a./small/p/div Communicating With Your Real Estate Agent
pIn an article called a href=http://blog.homegain.com/guest-bloggers/the-future-of-real-estate-communication/The Future of Real Estate Communication/a Phoenix area real estate specialist and blogger a href=http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/Jay Thompson/a suggests that agents who want to be in the loop with the next generation of home buyers had better understand the communication media they use./p
pstrongText messaging/strong is something that has become second nature to young people as young as 9 or 10 years old, and it has basically made email obsolete as a way for teenagers to communicate with one another. Thompson reports that in December his two teenagers sent and received about 10,000 text messages - that's about 83 messages each per day - while his 17 year old son claims to have sent maybe 10 emails in the whole month./p
pOn the other hand Thompson himself - a technology savvy parent and real estate agent - has more than 5,000 email messages in his inbox, and most of his own text messages have been back and forth with his children. So there is clearly a generation gap when it comes to the use of electronic messaging./p
pAs he says, The point is, the way we communicate is changing. According to a href=http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/12/report_people_w.htmlsome researchers/a there will be 2.3 trillion text messages sent this year. a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_messagingWikipedia/a says that 80% of 13 #8211; 24 year olds use text messaging (compared to 18% of 40 #8211; 49 year olds). That#8217;s a whole lot of texting by a whole lot of soon to be first-time home buyers./p
pThe other change that has already taken place over the last couple of years is the way an increasing number of people use social networking sites like a href=http://www.facebook.comFacebook/a and a href=http://www.twitter.comTwitter/a. People who would not think of using a stuffy email message to talk to each other find themselves commenting to each other back and forth through Facebook and Twitter. Not only are these becoming mature communication channels between people, but companies and entrepreneurs are finding innovative ways to interact with customers and prospects through these massively popular media./p
pThe bottom line is that real estate agents will have to accommodate themselves to the communication media used by their clients. That means if they want to reach young people who are plugged into these non-traditional modes of communication, they themselves will have to become plugged in./pdiv class=item_footerpsmalla href=http://biz-blogs.com/b2e/index.php/2009/01/03/communicating-with-your-real-estate-agenOriginal post/a blogged on a href=http://b2evolution.net/b2evolution/a./small/p/div What Makes A Good Blog?
pSince I'm writing a series on Creating A Successful Blog I've been looking (not very diligently) for other opinions on what makes for a successful blog./p
pOne thing I've discovered is that there is no magic answer to this question. First of all, every blog speaks to a different audience in a different tone of voice. So what one group likes another group will find boring or maybe even overtly aggravating./p
pI stumbled on an instance of this today when I followed a link from Lisa Barone's post called a href=http://www.webuildpages.com/blog/blogging/writing-resources-for-bloggersSix Kickass Writing Resources for Bloggers/a. /p
pFirst on her list was a href=http://www.43folders.com/2008/08/19/good-blogsWhat Makes a Good Blog?/a by Merlin Mann. /p
pNow I must admit there are several things in Merlin's list which I agree with, but I find the overall tone fairly aggravating. For instance, he says, People start real blogs because they think about something a lot...They make and consume smart forebrain porn. So: where do this person's obsessions take them./p
pFrankly I don't see why obsession is a necessary part of blogging. Is it because in order to do emreal/em blogging we must express our personality; and expressing our personality necessarily involves creativity; and because creativity is so relatively scarce and difficult that it will not happen without an obsessive focus on something? /p
pOr is this just the way an obsessive person looks at it? /p
pOf course it takes all types. But there is a certain arrogance and air of superiority about talk of obsession and creativity that I can do without./pdiv class=item_footerpsmalla href=http://biz-blogs.com/b2e/index.php/2008/12/22/what-makes-a-good-blogOriginal post/a blogged on a href=http://b2evolution.net/b2evolution/a./small/p/div 2009 Will Be Pivotal for Microsoft
p2008 has not been the greatest year for Microsoft, but they have still done surprisingly well in spite of the economic slowdown around the world./p
pIn an article from PCWorld called a href=http://www.pcworld.com/article/155836/microsoft_mistakes.html?tk=rss_newsMicrosoft's Top Three 2008 Mistakes/a, Shane O'Neill of CIO.com discusses some of the things that went well for MS, and some that clearly did not./p
pIn spite of aggressive marketing by Apple, Mac sales fell 1 percent over the year and Windows PC sales were up 7 percent. Microsoft's grip on the PC market remained firm - with 90% of users running Windows, and 70% of internet browsers using Internet Explorer./p
pOne has to think that the bad press MS keeps getting will have to impact these market shares eventually. Although it sure seems like both Apple and Firefox do not understand that their elitist attitude (we're so much better and smarter than the other 90% of you) is an implicit criticism of the very customer they are trying to reach./p
p2009 will be a pivotal year for MS as they continue to try to beat off Apple, Google and Mozilla (Firefox)./p
pAccording to the PC Word article Microsoft's biggest mistakes for 2008 were: /p
p1. Poor marketing of Windows Vista - They've been letting Apple get away with bashing Vista for years now. It's just not as bas as the critics say it is, and MS's own lack of promotion reinforces the idea that the critics are right./p
p2. Letting Apple Build Anti-Vista Momentum - Even though the sales figures may not yet show it in a convincing way, Apple has taken the marketing game away from MS with their constant Vista-bashing. MS has not shown that it can adequately respond. Expensive ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld missed the mark. Just recently I saw an ad touting the unique features of Vista in a straight-ahead way. It's about time./p
p3. The Failed Yahoo Bid - Early in 08 the bid for Yahoo looked like it might be a case of two search losers getting together. The failure of the bid did nothing for MS's image as a winner or a company forging into the future. /p
pAs it turned out it was probably good for MS that Yahoo rejected their offer. Now Yahoo is worth a fraction of what MS offered, Jerry Yang, the big Yahoo opponent of the bid is gone, and new Yahoo investors are now courting MS./p
pMS is still interested in Yahoo's search business, and may very well end up with it in 2009./pdiv class=item_footerpsmalla href=http://biz-blogs.com/b2e/index.php/2008/12/27/2009-will-be-pivotal-for-microsoftOriginal post/a blogged on a href=http://b2evolution.net/b2evolution/a./small/p/div Squidoo New Look
pSquidoo seems to have a new edit and publish interface. I've always found it a bit clunky in the past, but now it seems quite a bit easier to add modules. The process makes more sense to me./p
pI just created a lense about a href=http://www.squidoo.com/autorepairinfoCar Repair/a for a client./pdiv class=item_footerpsmalla href=http://biz-blogs.com/b2e/index.php/2008/12/23/squidoo-new-lookOriginal post/a blogged on a href=http://b2evolution.net/b2evolution/a./small/p/div SmartyPig Social Saving
pHere's an interesting idea. a href=http://www.smartypig.comSmartyPig.com/a is like an online piggy bank with a social twist. /p
pYou create an account where you set a specific savings goal. Say you want to save for a new computer. You need $1,000. You create an account and then let your friends and family know what you're saving for. They can make contributions (or not). /p
pYou can contribute to their accounts too./p
pSmartyPig also has partnered with top retailers to offer you deals and cash incentives./p
pIt's free and you can even earn interest on your deposits./pdiv class=item_footerpsmalla href=http://biz-blogs.com/b2e/index.php/2008/12/27/smartypig-social-sasvingOriginal post/a blogged on a href=http://b2evolution.net/b2evolution/a./small/p/div
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