Microsoft adCenter Labs - Advertising and Web Mining

The big and lazy software company (not to mention stingy, unlike err, Google) have launched Ad Center Labs with tons of resorces for for web marketers and advertisers. I like it.

Reinvigorate released new feature that lets you views website's activities live on your desktop.

Reinvigorate, the awesome tool to track your web statistic is releasing another great feature that lets you streams website and blog activities live on your desktop. I love Reinvigorate for their no nonsense, nice and easy to understand interface. Worth the try.

We'd like to invite you to beta test our latest tracking feature, Snoop. Snoop is a Desktop application that streams website and blog events to you live, in real-time. Snoop can let you know the instant someone makes a comment on your blog or a purchase/donation from your site. Visit http://www.reinvigorate.net/ for additional details and client downloads (available for Mac and PC).

Netscape 9 is here. 'Social' web browser set to change the internet.

Before Internet Explorer, there was Netscape Navigator, a browser that was the reason millions of internet users stay-up all night surfing the internet. It was named as the number one technology-related product of all time by PC World. Indeed, knowing for sure the internet is the next big thing after personal computer, Bill Gate, being a savy entrepreneur (during those days), built his own browser and the rest, as they say, is history. Well, can history be re-written? Netscape is trying to do just that.

Netscape Navigator 9 was released yesterday with heavy emphasis on social integration. Check out their website for more screenshoots .

Movable Type is going Open Source.

Six Apart is a company dedicated to make good blogging software and services. They have Vox, Live Journal , Moveable Type and Type Pad. All of these services are decent enough with brilliant functions, but unlike Blogger and Wordpress, it allow limited customization by user. With the released of Movable Type 4, Six Apart have decided to go open source. It is the right thing to do because of 'limited sociability' of their current version is a turn off to majority of personal bloggers. but they will not abandon the commercial version.

Apa itu Office 2.0

Pada masa akan datang, ofis maya akan mengambil alih ofis biasa. Aplikasi berasakan internet akan digunakan secara meluas. Kerjasama antara individu tidak lagi dihalang faktor geografi. Apakah sebenarnya Office 2.0?

Baca seterusnya

Google Analytics New Version

Google Analytics have come up with a new Version. More user-friendly and easier to understand. I still prefer Reinvigorate and Performancing Metrics. While Reinvigorate is easy to understand & live tracking is available, Performancing Metrics no nonsense layout left so little to choose between them.

PosPay, Paypal versi Malaysia?

Bidang e-commerce di Malaysia semakin berkembang dan jumlah rakyat yang membuat pembelian melalui internet semakin meningkat. Cara pembayaran pula pelbagai. Bagi laman web luar negara, selain dari kad kredit, mereka mempunyai PayPal sebagai pilihan. Malangnya rakyat Malaysia yang ingin mengeluarkan duit dari akaun PayPal, mereka harus mempunyai akaun bank di Amerika atau paling dekat, Singapura.

PosPay boleh dikatakan PayPal versi Malaysia. Ia membenarkan pengguna membuat penbayaran dengan mudah. PosPay diuruskan oleh Pospay Exchange Sdn Bhd dan merupakan produk bersama antara POS Malaysia Berhad dan The Royal Mint Exchange Sendirian Berhad. Antara kelebihan Pospay,

1. Pengguna & penjual Tidak perlu takut dengan penipuan kad kredit.
2. Pengguna & Penjual boleh menggunakan semua bank utama.
3. Pengguna boleh kawal jumlah yang dibelanja.
4. Membayar bill utility.
5. Menambah-balik (reload) prabayar dari syarikat telekomunikasi.
6. Muat turun servis-servis telefon mudah alih.
7. Menaghantar wang ke pihak ketiga.

Untuk mendaftarkan akaun, sila ke laman web mereka. Untuk menambah wang ke akaun, pengguna perlu ke pejabat pos terpilih di Lembah Kelang & seluruh negara. Wang juga boleh didepositkan di pusat servis Pospay di Petaling Jaya & bank-bank terpilih. Kini PosPay mempunyai lebih 53 syarikat yang mendaftar sebagai ‘merchant’ dan 23 syarikat lagi di dalam proses menjadi ‘merchant’. Satu bonus sekiranya PosPay dapat berkerjasama dengan laman web e-commerce utama seperti Ebay dan Amazon.

Want a Joost Invitation?

Update: All will get one but becauseI will be away from my PC this weekend, I will send ya'll an invitation this Monday ASAP!

Joost is a new service that lets you watch TV on your PC, without the hassle of installing any hardware. Joost was the brainchild of Skype's founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström. It is an exiting service but still in beta stage. Everyone that want to download it need an invitation, either from fellow beta-tester or from Joost developer. I was awarded an invitation recently and anyone want one can contact me or leave their email add at comment section.

How to be Anonymous on the Internet

The guys at Electronic Frontier Foundation have endorsed a simple tittle privacy software called Tor. It can help surfer to maintain anonymity on the web.

Tor aims to defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal anonymity and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security. Communications are bounced around a distributed network of servers called onion routers, protecting you from websites that build profiles of your interests, local eavesdroppers that read your data or learn what sites you visit, and even the onion routers themselves.

Click the picture to understand how Tor works.

Internet advertising programs for web publisher & advertiser - from Malaysia.

After the success of Adsense by Google, there have been no shortage of Internet advertising programs offered on the Internet. Advertising and Internet marketing are still growing and have huge potential as Internet users are increasing by the minutes. All these advertising programs offers different packages to their user but still, only a handful of these program really work.

So it is just a matter of time before we can see our own, homegrown internet advertising program for web-publisher. Meet advertlets.com and Nuffnang . I have not tested any of these programs though. Anyone?

Essential websites for everyday web surfers

How many of us have the time to surf all of our favourite websites every time we go online? Here are some of the essential website that can maximise your limited time each time your are on cyberspace.




Popurls

If you are like me, like to browse the web and wish I had more time to visit each of my favorites website, you probably would instantly love this Popurls. It is a simple, one page website that compile all the popular websites, from bookmarks (del.icio.us, Reddit) photo (flickr) to news (Google News) and video (YouTube). There are also feeds from popular website on technology and the list are endless.

The layout is easy to understand and can be adjusted to reader’s preference. It is a must for surfers with limited time in hand.



G2P

How many of us download music from the web? There are lots of websites offering latest music downloads but chances are, majority of the musics are either too bubble pop or annoying for me. Want to search for your own music? Bit torrent website is cool but can be a hassle and p2p software (such as Limewire) requires installation. Maybe the answer is G2P. It is simple and hassle free.

Just type the band you searching for and click to any of the link provided. It is free and easy. Apart from music, you can also search for software.



Schoolr

Schoolr is a search engine with a bit of twist. It is not as powerful as Google but it does help a lot with different choices it offers. For someone that is searching for information, Schoolr does fetch and crawl the web efficiently for answers. Kids, and moms, make this your default homepage now.



Gizmosms

Sms or short text messaging have been such an important part of our daily life. We talk and send short messages all the time. There are websites offering sms services from the internet but not without their shortcoming. Either it cost you to register for the service or it is limited to certain selected provider.

GizmoSms is an internet sms service that is free and let you send text message to 65 countries. That is, my friend, a lot. It is simple to use and the message didn’t take too arrive either. Try it.




Go2Web20

If you are a Web 2.0 junkie and always on the lookout of new Web 2.0 related websites and services, you may want to check out this website. Go2web20 is a complete directory of all Web 2.0 websites out there. Tons of websites to check out and browse through, the interface are very cool but can take a while to fully display all the websites. User can use the search box to find their preferred website and they can also suggest new website.

Permainan Low budget. Untuk orang yang ramai anak

Projek menarik untuk mengeratkan hubungan kekeluargaan. Barang yang diperlukan: Pencetak warna, pelekat double-sided, kertas & gunting. Seterusnya: Cetak salah satu karektor dari Readymech dan ikut arahan. Tenguk, kan mudah. Dan tak menyakitkan poket. Via Netdiver

Minimalist computer . For education & everyday use.

Although computer are getting cheaper and widely use around the world, not everyone are privilage enough to own one, or at lease experience it. Here some great alternative for our education ministry or any NGO to consider, 2 cute and cheap alternative

Linutop is a very basic and minimalist approach to computer design ( you even have to buy your own screen and keyboard. No hard disc either) . It runs on AMD Geode and smacked with 512 Mb ROM, 256 Mb RAM and 4x USB 2.0 ports. It weight just 280 g (according to the website). Linutop is a Linux-based diskless computer and it main purpose is to surf the net. It a good effort. Not so original because Apple come with Mac Mini much earlier then this. But price-wise, Linutop will surely won, hands down.

One Laptop Per Children is the brainchild of Nicholas Negroponte and aims to give less fortunate childrens to experience computer as a tool for education.

The laptop was designed collaboratively by experts from both academia and industry, bringing to bear both extraordinary talent and many decades of collective field experience in every aspect of this non-profit humanitarian project. The result is a unique harmony of form and function; a flexible, ultra low-cost, power-efficient, responsive, and durable machine with which nations of the emerging world can leapfrog decades of development - immediately transforming the content and quality of their children's learning. - laptop.org

It already been shipped to several country and hopefully we will see one or two sets on Ebay soon. Got to get on of those!

Tags: cheap, computer, laptop

Test drive; Crazyegg, visualize your visitors

There are lots of free website and tools that help blogger and webmaster to track down & compile information about visitors that come to their website. From the ever popular Statcounter to the detail and complicated Google Analytic. Now, we have another option that lets user visualized their visitor’s activities rather then looking at mere numbers and statistics.

Crazyegg is a fun little tool that lets you do just all that in a very simple setup. It is useful especially to test a new design & to test various layouts or placement of key elements such as ads or action buttons. Like other website statistic tracking tool, user have to first paste the code into the page they want to track the information. Information’s can be viewed in 3 different style, overlay, list and heatmap. Overlay and heatmap are quite similar, where they will show the actual page you are tracking and highlight the parts that were clicked by visitors with markers, different color representing numbers on clicks.

They have 4 packages for user to choose from. There is the free package that, unfortunately allows 2 pages to be tracked in one time. The other 3 packages allow users to track more pages. Overall, it is a fun tool to use with a very clear and easy to understand interface. The functions are rather limited and the color scheme and all reminds me to another great website tracking tool, Have a mint.


Tags: crazyegg, visualize, visitor

Useful blogging tool part 3

So, now you have your own blog. You have uploaded all your contents and customized everything to suit your taste. And you tell your friends about it. Then you got curious and want to know more, like, the total number of visitors and what are they reading.


There are alot of website that can track down web statistic for free. Some of them are very basic, only offer limited services (e.g. daily traffic, where they come from, keywords) while other are more detail and offer options that can actually help you to build traffic, even increase your adsense revenue. Here are some of the free website (except Google Analytics, well, sort of)

6. Google Analyctics
In their own words,

Google Analytics tells you everything you want to know about how your visitors found you and how they interact with your site. You'll be able to focus your arketing resources on campaigns and initiatives that deliver ROI, and improve your site to convert more visitors.

The data is smartly divided into several categories that might seem quite confusing and overwhelming to basic computer user or someone with moderate IT understanding (that include me). But upon close observation, you might slowly learn what is all itall about. Everything is well laid out and put in a graph form.

Conversion University

The setup is quite easy but you do have to add a script into your website before the it can start monitoring your website. Apart from monitoring blg statistic, user should also check out Google Conversion University. There you can find alot of useful tips and pointer to generate more income through your blog.

The advantages & disadvantages

Google Analyctics is full with features. It is Integrated with AdWords so it will cost and keyword tracking data that is useful to further improve your earning. The downside is although it is free, you have to request for an invitation code which will take some time before Goggle send it to you. The layout and features might be too much for majority, everyday blogger. But overall, it is well worth it.

7. Performancing Metrics

This website aims to help blogger to succeed. There are alot of article but unlike Google's Conversion University, the terms and language used are simple and easier to understand. You can also join in theirforum and be a member of the largest profesional blogger comunity on the web.

Performancing Metrics

Okay, about their blog statistic tracking system. Compared to Google, it is easier to understand. A lot more. Everything are conviniently categorized, from basic information like number of visitors, where they come from to more detail information like Adsense Clicks and Referrers information. Everything are put in a graph for easier comparison.

The advantages & disadvantages

Performacing Matrics is very easy to understand and can track mutiple blogs with one user account. User can also use the RSS feed and get your stats in your news reader. Between Google Analyctics and Performancing Matrics, I give my vote to Performancing because of it user friendly interface and easy to use. It is not to say Google Analyctics is not good, it is the best but Performancing Matrics is simpler to understand and will appeal to all range of users.


8. Basic, no-nonsense, hassle free.
Webstats4u, Sitemeter, Statcounter, Web-stat, Shinystat & Bravenet.

Now, if you don't care about the nitty-gritty details about marketing or such and only interested in number of visitor coming to your site, please check out one of the above. I personally live Webstat4u as it is simple to understand and the information is quite detail. You do need to add a script into your website, same as Google Analyctics and Performancing Matrics. Another popular choice is Sitemeter.

You can check out Bravenet as well because they offer various type of web tool and goodies beside the usual web traffic counter.


Tags: web, traffic , tool

Useful blogging tool part 2

In the first part, I have highlighted some programs or tools that can be very useful for bloggers. There are still many tools that can help blogger to improve their blog's performance. Here are some other tools that I think very useful and assential to any bloggers.

4. Feedblitz.
With the emergence of RSS and feeds, users today can subscribe to their favorite feed and later, can browse through it without even going to the respective website. This will cut short on surfing time when you can just browse through your RSS reader such as Google Reader and Bloglines for updates then going one by one to your favorite website. There are also program, as I have mention earlier such as Feeddigest that compile your favorite feed and then provide a Java script so user can put it onto their blog to make it more interesting.

Majority of computer users still prefer to check their email for news and updated whenever they turn on their computer. In a survey done, people are likely to check their email first before doing other thing once they are online. For this, there is a website that provide feed subscriber service that automatically email new update to the subscriber. The service is free, and it also provides a chicklet that shows how many people are subscribing to your feed, just like Feedburner.

5. Rollyo
One function that is very important for user to track back quickly through an archive is using the search function. Some blogging software does provide a search box but some did not, such as Blogger. Google have provided search box service for free and user with Adsense can also make money with it. For those that are looking for alternative search box that is quick and fully customizable, look no further, try Rollyo.

The major different between Rollyo and Google search box is that Rollyo is powered by Yahoo. But unlike Google that allow user to search using its search engine, which is good, Rollyo give the option to user to choose where their want to search in. User can type in any URL where they want to search in.

Useful Blogging Tool Part 1

Blogging have been an integrated part of Internet culture, majority of people must have come across it at least once in their life. Not only individual but Blue Chip Company and prominent people also join in the fray. It is the most fast and effective way to connect and share though with other people. From a personal journal, it since been used a powerful tool, both in conveying news and moneymaker.

Although there are many free and ready to use blog service out there, not many is providing that many features to make you blog stand. But there are many add-on tools that can make your blog unique and reach a wider audience. Here are some of tools that I find both easy, FREE, useful and can monazite you blog.

1-Feeddigest
Many people ask me how to share or integrate someone else / friends entry in their blog. There is one easy step, sign up with Feedigest. It allow you to group you favorite feed by category and generate a java script that you can put on you blog. No ads and there are plenty of style to choose from or you can make you own custom style.

2-Feedburner
RSS, ATOM and XML are the most underrated words you will ever come about in almost weblog today. It translated as a simple format of syndication there is, which allow people to grad a code which let they subscribe to you weblog. The important of this feature is a wider audience and an auto-updating process that is both easy and convenience both to you and your subscriber.

Feedburner functions are extensive. It helps to bundle all you feeds into one, such as atom (blogger), rss (del.icio.us) and you Flickr feed into one so people don’t have to subscribe to you different feed if you have all the web as mention. It also monitor your feed circulation, help you monetize you web and supply simple code for people to subscribe to you weblog’s feed

3-Technorati
You can share you blog with a wider audience by signing up with Technorati. Apart from pinging you post to other members, It also ranked you bloq via the number of their users links to you blog. You can set you favorite tags that describe you blog, setup you profile and search through it extensive user list

Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents

My advise to those interested in starting a blog is; don’t listen to anyone except yourself. Don’t read anyone else’s blog and try to emulate it. Don’t sits down with a list of ‘must’ and try to achieve it. I broke so many rules because I don’t know there were any and I did just fine. ~ Yam Sam Shackleton

As an introduction and also a hand book for bloggers and DIY cyber journalists, this book start of with an introduction on the weblog history and in-depth look at the advances and development it have gone through for the last couple of years. It lists out free and paid weblog service provider and tool for the benefit of the readers. Surf to Reporters Without Borders website to purchase it or you can also download a pdf version for free.

"Reporters Without Borders has produced this handbook to help them, with handy tips and technical advice on how to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation. It also explains how to set up and make the most of a blog, to publicise it (getting it picked up efficiently by search-engines) and to establish its credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles. "