Doom and Gloom

Written by Bob Osgoodby


Many ofrepparttar "sure thing" programs that were hot last year, aren't to be found today; you knowrepparttar 119114 ones I'm talking about. Did anyone takerepparttar 119115 time to sift throughrepparttar 119116 misinformation, analyses, and charts showing how with no work you could berepparttar 119117 next jillionaire. Naw - with misplaced faith, and believingrepparttar 119118 soothsayers, they just plunked down their $49.50. Guess who wererepparttar 119119 only ones to make money here.

Inrepparttar 119120 meantime, internet stocks, which had ridden a wave of investor enthusiasm got slammed. Many ofrepparttar 119121 dot.com industry giants have fallen fromrepparttar 119122 proverbial "Beanstalk", and today are amongrepparttar 119123 missing.

Predictions of a declining economy have some in a panic. Becauserepparttar 119124 holiday season retail sales virtually "flat lined" many are calling itrepparttar 119125 start of a recession. Is thisrepparttar 119126 case, or is it that we are just getting smarter? I wonder how many gave that great old gift called "Cash", instead of an overpriced present that could be gotten at half price afterrepparttar 119127 holiday "feeding frenzy" ended.

Are we facing an era of "doom and gloom"? I don't think so. Haverepparttar 119128 stock markets taken a hit - Yes, but is this a portent of bad times? I doubt it. The stock market goes up andrepparttar 119129 stock market goes down. The guy who does two eTrades a week will probably lose his shirt. Those who buy now, and hang in forrepparttar 119130 long pull might just make a killing.

We are warned byrepparttar 119131 old proverb that, "A fool and his money are soon parted", and "There is no such thing as a free lunch", seems to berepparttar 119132 current buzz. But did you heed this sage advice? It sure seems that some didn't.

But what does all this mean to us? Is it time to pull in our horns and lay low onrepparttar 119133 Internet? Not me - I view this as a great opportunity. More and more,repparttar 119134 opportunities abound. Now isrepparttar 119135 time to get involved with a straight-forward, no hype type of a business.

Don't expect to join a minimal investment affiliate program that will peak out in 90 days to be your salvation. And most people should simply "walk on by" that hot new MLM program ofrepparttar 119136 week. So where do you turn?

Ten O'Clock Charley and Other Irritants

Written by June Campbell


I'm tired of Ten O'Clock Charley. (MASH fans will getrepparttar connection.) Charley isrepparttar 119113 twit that inevitably sends me 4-6 viruses by email a day or two after my newsletter is published. My anti-virus software picks them off like mosquitoes attacking a bug zapper. He or she) must have subscribed using an autoresponder that is programmed to send outrepparttar 119114 viruses according to a set schedule.

Maybe I'm just ready for a vacation, but I'm weary ofrepparttar 119115 bad behavior that is so commonplace onrepparttar 119116 Net.

I'm tired of deleting 150-200 spam emails daily.

I'm tired of students contacting me to ask how much I would charge to write their term paper. Here's a tip, kids. If you want a helping hand, you'll find one atrepparttar 119117 end of your wrist.

I'm tired of people sending me scathing emails because they're confused by somebody else's pop-under ads that they think originated at my site. Come to think of it, I'm even more tired of all those pop-under windows inrepparttar 119118 first place.

I'm tired of web sites that hold me captive and won't allow me to userepparttar 119119 Back Button on my browser to return to where I started. Why do designers do this? Do they believe that taking hostages will improve their chances of making sales?

Those are my minor complaints. These are my major ones.

I'm irritated that I had to spend most of a morning adding coding on my web pages to protect myself against Microsoft's Smart Tags. For those who don't know, Smart Tag technology causes little icons to appear beside certain key words on your web site. When visitors click onrepparttar 119120 icons, they will be taken to another site -- possibly your competitors. Microsoft has already includedrepparttar 119121 technology in Office XP, but has bowed to pressure and promised (?) not to addrepparttar 119122 technology to Internet Explorer 6. To protect your pages from MS Smart Tags, add this line to your Meta Tags:

I'm even more irritated by Ezula's TopText, which comes bundled with KaZaA, a third party plugin for IE. KaZaA is a freely distributed file- sharing program has been downloaded over 7 million times in a month and a half. The bundled TopText uses Smart Tag technology to hijack visitors from your site and send them elsewhere. Advertisers purchase keywords. Whenrepparttar 119123 browser encounters that keyword on your site, it underlinesrepparttar 119124 word in yellow, then adds a yellow highlight whenrepparttar 119125 mouse hovers over it. Clicking onrepparttar 119126 keyword takes your hard won visitors away and deposits them atrepparttar 119127 web site ofrepparttar 119128 advertisers who purchasedrepparttar 119129 keyword.

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