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The year 2006 was one of big changes and reversals. Oil and gasoline prices surged to record highs, then pulled back sharply. The Federal Reserve, under new Chairman Ben Bernanke, ended a two-year tightening cycle midyear. Economic growth cooled as the housing boom turned bust. Democrats retook Congress after 12 years of GOP rule. But through it all, corporations continued to deliver … (read post…)

CHICAGO Walls of an auditorium were covered with thousands of sheets of paper - printouts from MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and other online sites that were filled with back-stabbing gossip, unflatter… (read post…)

Dear Abby: I am writing in response to the Nov. 20 letter from the computer-illiterate parents whose sons, 12 and 13, are spending hours “locked in their room” with their computer. (read post…)

WASHINGTON — When Robert Steinbuch discovered his girlfriend had discussed intimate details about their sex life in her online diary, the Capitol Hill staffer didn’t just get mad. He got a lawyer. (read post…)

Selling and Promoting Your Products on Myspace
By Stian Cantona Farovig

Myspace.

Many people have the impression that such sites are for teenagers and fun only. And yes, there are millions of teens on myspace. But there are also all other kinds of humans and interests represented. It is a «mini» world and whatever you are selling, there will be thousands of potential customers on myspace. It can serve to aid the knowledge of your business website and/or product(s).

The first thing you should do is to register on myspace and put an effort in making a really good profile. The registration is free and simple. All you need is a valid e-mail address and some spare time. You need to fill out all details and make your site look attractive. You should also consider changing your profiles design to give it a more personal look. Include photos and business logos. It will not hurt the case if the photos are a little attractive and nice. Face it. A bald 50-year-old salesman is not attracting customers to your page. Sorry! On the other hand, a young, half-naked woman in your profile photo will not attract the right people if you are selling stamps. So think it through and try out a few alternatives on your friends for different opinions. Do NOT overdo it with colours and flashing banners as it will make your site look messy and it will distract viewers from your content.

Make your profile exciting, interesting and easy on the eye. That will increase your chances on making a successful and large «friends-list»

If you do not know anything about designing sites and coding then there are loads of free sites on the net that will guide you through the process. A quick google search will help you find those sites.

You should also keep in mind that myspace have strict commercial rules. They will not tolerate active use of advertising and they will ban you for life if you get caught. Therefore, although very effective, you should be very careful with fancy links and advertising.

There are however ways to avoid the strict non-commercials rules if you want to promote a product.

As mentioned earlier, it is very important to make an exciting profile-site.

When your site is ready, you should start looking for «friends» to add. You should search by very strict definitions and only add persons inside your business «niche» That way all your «friends» will be potential customers and the risk of being reported will be much smaller. Spamming is illegal at myspace, and adding and sending out mails to all kinds of people will get you banned.

Once you have gathered a few «friends» you can start taking advantage of the free commercial opportunity you now have. Bulletins (will be seen by all friends in your list) is a great way to spread the word easily.

Blogging is another important way to advertise. You should write in your blog at least twice a week and you should write about topics where you can use links to your sites and products. However, try to make the blog interesting and funny as well. That will attract more readers.

It is very important to maintain your profile, site and blog at all times. Never let it get outdated or old. «Dead» links are also a big no-no. That would be crucial for your business.

I would also strongly recommend browsing through all the groups on myspace that could be within your «niche». Here there can be thousands of potential buyers. Add yourself to the most interesting groups. However, remember to be careful with mass posting of mails and ads as it is illegal. Try adding them as friends instead.

You should also take the time to answer all questions that you may get and on a regular basis make comments to your «friends». That will maintain the conversation between you and you avoid being seen as a «professional advertiser». That would certainly give you a bad reputation.

If you follow these simple rules, you will soon see that a tidy site, a good reputation and some hard work will start to pay off. The word of mouth will help you further if you have happy «friends». You now have a group of people, small or large (depending on your product and the effort you have put in), that are interested in your products and you have easy access to free advertising towards them.

This article is written by Stian Cantona Farovig, a 30-year-old commercial adviser. He can be found on http://www.psreturn.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stian_Cantona_Farovig

Make Money Using MySpace
By Paul Giordano

In today’s increasingly expensive society, a need for a second income arises more and more each day. The problem with this is that no one has the time to get a second job, so we often Google various methods of making money online. Unfortunately, with all of the money making schemes online today, it’s hard to really trust that one method really works. I, myself, went through this same problem. Spending money on e-books that tell you all these “easy” ways to make money can empty your pockets rather than fill them. Especially because most of these schemes require you to have some sort of expertise of the internet. Now because of this, these schemes may seem like scams, but you have to look at them from a different way. I was fortunate enough to realize that is a plethora of resources available and it’s very possible to make money using MySpace as your gateway.

Since MySpace is the internet’s largest online community, this is the easiest way to advertise or reach millions of people with just a push of a button. This is the bread and butter to making money online. All you need is traffic to wherever you want people to go. Whether it’s selling something, or just PPC (pay per click) advertising, traffic will generate turnover and put money in your pocket. I know from experience that the way to make money on MySpace is easier than you think.

First, you need a way to generate revenue. You can start by joining an affiliate program network. Affiliates programs are when you will advertise a product for a specific seller. Every person that is forwarded to the seller’s website through YOUR advertising, you will make a percentage of the profit, it’s that simple. They seller will provide you specifically coded links that you can post anywhere on the internet, and these links will refer back to your program every time someone uses them. You can also start a blog. On your blog you can have PPC ads which generate revenue for you. After a while, it’s money straight into your pocket. But first you need to get people to click your links and visit your site. This is where MySpace comes in.

With MySpace, you can use bulletins, messages, or comments to post these links, but you have to do so carefully and discretely. You don’t want it to look like spam. You also have to build a large friend list with MySpace. With a large friend list, you can reach all of your friends with the push of a button. The method that I use is with a friend adding program like The Official MySpace Friend Adder. With a program like this, you can add 500 friends per day, and reach out to millions automatically. This program alone has generated hundreds of thousands of referrals to my affiliate programs. All I do now is create a cool looking bulletin with my affiliate link embedded within it, and send it out automatically. Just today I reached over 14,000 people without having to do anything. The great part of this is that I’ve had a great amount of turnover from these people. But you have to make the bulletin’s look interesting. You can do the same thing through commenting. Wirh a good friend adding program like The Official Friend Adder, you can send comments to everyone at the same time. With this you can even post your links on someone’s page and allow people that aren’t on your friend list to click on them.

Making money with MySpace is such an easy way to generate a second income. Just follow the steps I provided, get yourself a friend adding program, and you will be making money in no time.

PaulG is an expert on internet social groups, especially MySpace. Add up to 500 MySpace friends per day, leave tons of comments and messages, and gain traffic to your MySpace profile by checking out The Official MySpace Friend Adder. Try it out for free!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Giordano

Monitoring Myspace
By Richard French

Monitoring MySpace

If you have kids, then, you probably have kids on MySpace. In this article, I am not going to cover all the dangers of MySpace, we are simply going to jump right in and talk about ways to monitor your kids MySpace usage.

The best and easiest way to monitor your kids online usage, is to sit down with them and look over their site. You need to get an idea of where your child is, socially, online. How are they behaving and how are they talking to others? Check out their online “friends”. Go to their sites and see how they are behaving. Prepare to be shocked when you start reading some of the language these kids use online.

Now, that that’s over with, you go to the next step. While reviewing your child’s site, you must cover what is and is not acceptable to you (for example, my wife and I do not allow our children to accept “friends” that they do not, personally, know). The next thing you need to do is install monitoring/blocking software. Even if your child’s site is completely acceptable, it doesn’t mean it will always be that way. At any time, they may be approached by inappropriate adults or sent pornographic material. Also, good kids can be too trusting and that can get them into trouble online.

Monitoring, seems to have a negative sound to it for some parents. Many parents feel that reading chat logs or their kids’ messages is too invasive, that it is invading their kids’ privacy. Think about that for a minute. Their kids are posting their likes, dislikes, feelings and much more on a site that has over 100 million users, and parents are worried about their kids’ privacy? Why should 100 million other people, potentially, have access to information about your child and only you, the parents, be kept in the dark? MySpace is not private. Your kids’ messages and comments on MySpace are not private. If a complete stranger can read the most personal information about your child, then why shouldn’t you? The answer is obvious, you should.

Monitoring software is used to log messages sent and received, so that you can see who is talking to your child and what both sides are saying to one another. Blocking software can be used to block the sites that you choose, but, the biggest benefit with blocking software, is that it stops almost all inappropriate material from getting into your home. The two combined tools are your lifeline to your kids’ safety online.

Be a proactive parent, and download one of the many software programs available, and keep your kids safe online, just as you would off line.

Richard French has been happily married for over 22 years and is a father of 5. His site TheParentsEdge is dedicated to helping parents keep their kids safe while online. With how-to’s, step-by-step guides, news, safe surfing rules and more, TheParentsEdge is designed to give parents the “edge” in todays tech savvy teen world. Free step-by-step guide How to block websites with IE

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_French

MySpace Spam - MySpace Has Created The Perfect Environment For Spammers
By Tino Buntic

There’s one thing that allows MySpace spam to thrive - nothing is being done to stop spammers.

Regular email has filters to send spam into a junk mailbox. MySpace has nothing of the sort, creating the perfect conditions for spammers to thrive. If you’re a spammer, MySpace is a great environment for you to do your work.

I would expect an internet company to delete the profiles of the people that use their service in an abusive way. But I doubt MySpace could do anything to stop it. With over 100 million accounts, who would be able to track this bad behaviour? I would think that would be virtually impossible.

I know for a fact that MySpace hardly ever replies to messages from its users. I know this because I, myself, had some technical issues with my account which I emailed their help center to help me resolve. I sent 5 messages. I never got a reply. So, if users email MySpace to complain about spammers, I doubt MySpace does anything about it either. And, I’m sure people annoyed with junk email do just that.

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy MySpace. The spam I could live with. I guess it’s a measure of success when spammers target your site. They wouldn’t do so if it wasn’t worth it to them.

Nevertheless, I find some of the junk mail that I receive in my MySpace inbox quite comical. Take my most recent MySpace spam email:

“Hello Sir, Can you go to this web site http://forexers.biz/?ref=xxxxx and register but you need to have an e-gold account so that you can start making money.”

I think this is hilarious, only because some people still think that these types of messages work. This poor guy must have spent hours emailing this message individually to dozens of people, and he will get nothing from it. Nothing! Now that’s funny.

Tino Buntic created TradePals to provide free sales leads to business professionals across North America. One of Tino’s favorite blogs is Internet Innovations by Ken Yarmosh. The Internet Innovations blog provides insight into today’s technology.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tino_Buntic

MySpace Predators - How to Help Kids Avoid Them
By Scott Hendison

When it comes to the latest and greatest on the internet, the new rage is MySpace. This is a site where people from all over the world can connect with each other via the web. As opposed to an instant messaging program, MySpace allows the user to post pictures as well as detailed information.

But just like anything else on the internet, MySpace comes along with safety problems as well. No matter how many people try to stop internet predators they keep showing up time and time again. And this is especially true when it comes to MySpace.

The best way to avoid MySpace predators is by never getting too involved with anybody until you know exactly what they are about. In other words, don’t give anybody your contact information unless you know for 100% positive that they are trustworthy. Remember, if nobody has your contact information they can never get a hold of you. And to take this a step further, if somebody is harassing you through the MySpace site, contact the administrators right away and turn them onto the problem. If this gets you nowhere and you feel in danger, there is nothing wrong with contacting your local police department.

Overall, avoid MySpace predators is not something that should be hard to do. Even though MySpace is different than other forms of internet communication, you should still be able to use the same basic knowledge to avoid any problems. Keep your contact information confidential, and you should be able to have a great time on MySpace.

WebSafeKid.Com has the latest articles and information to help keep kids and teens safe, A Parent’s Guide to MySpace and the internet. Visit for the latest information about My Space safety.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Hendison

Myspace And Parental Responsibility
By CD Mohatta

Myspace is a success story on the Internet. At the same time it is being seen with fear by many parents. They feel that their children may get involved with shady people on myspace. What is the truth?

Internet has search engines. Every body that has a connection can bypass all firewalls and barriers and search for any kind of material on the net. The teenagers can always reach adult websites and nothing can prevent them. This is true with every website. On myspace teenagers go to make friends. In the beginning they share very few or no personal details. As the friendship grows the shady characters persuade the teens to share more personal details and arrange to meet them offline. Who is responsible for this- Myspace or the parents? It is the parents who tell and inform their children about behavior in the real world but forget to do so for the virtual world.

Simple instructions can protect the children.

Never show your real photograph. Never believe what any body says on the Internet. You do not know that person at all. Under no circumstances give any personal detail neither in your profile or while messaging or in the chat. Keep your identity anonymous.

Parents need to tell this to their children repeatedly. This applies not only to myspace but any website that has chat room, forum or any method of coming in contact with other unknown people.

Funquizcards has many quizzes on different topics such as personality, love, dating, career etc. Are you a myspace lover? For a large collection of myspace graphics click here- Myspace Graphics If you are looking for Myspace quizzes, click here- Myspace quizzes

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=CD_Mohatta

Promote on MySpace
By Paul Giordano

The nightclub and bar business is an ever expanding industry where so much money is exchanged every night. Every bar or nightclub owner knows how important good promoting is for their business. That’s why club and event promotion has become huge in itself. Being someone that attends bars and clubs myself, I’ve seen all kinds of different promotion methods. Some work better than others, but I know for a fact that promoting to the right crowd is key. That is why so many people now promote on MySpace. But since so many people promote on MySpace to gain attendance at local bars and clubs, there are tips and tricks to getting ahead of the game.

Club promotion has become an industry in itself. I know that in college, at least half of my friends had a job handing out flyers, or setting up a guest list for several nightclubs and bars. It’s such an easy and fun job for college students to do, and a lot of money can be made in this. For some of my friends, even a career. Now with MySpace being so popular, this can make promoting easier, more fun, and best of all more profitable. Some of the friends I had who promoted in college are still promoting but all now promote on MySpace, and are making more money than ever. Several actually own their own bars now. Nightclub and bar promotion through MySpace has been proven to be profitable, but you have to know the right methods to be successful

The first important factor when choosing to promote on MySpace is having an attractive profile. When you have an attractive profile, you will have a good following of people regardless of what you are promoting. MySpacers will always remember you by your profile; I know this for a fact. A great profile will always stick in the head of the casual MySpacer. This sometimes can give you more MySpace friends, which is the next factor.

To effectively promote on MySpace, having an extensive MySpace friend list is the heart and soul of your trade. With a friend list, you can send bulletins, event invites, comments, and messages to everyone. It is also much easier for a friend to ask you questions or even comment on the club or bar you are promoting. The only thing that can get difficult in this area is adding friends. This is a very tedious process, and without the right means, can be very difficult to get people to accept you. That is why almost every successful MySpace club or bar promoter is using a MySpace automatic friend adder to do the work for them. There are some great friend adding programs out there such as The Official Friend Adder that can take your promoting to the next level. Imagine being able to add 500 friends a day to your MySpace promotion profile. Even better, being able to send comments, messages, bulletins, and event invitations to all of your friends with just the push of one button. Programs like these can make your guest list overflow, and put money in your pocket by making MySpace work for you. This allows anyone to promote on MySpace effectively and successfully.

I know that personally, I get the best drink discounts and club news from some of my MySpace friends that all promote on MySpace using MySpace friend adders like The Official Friend Adder. So if you are a college student looking to make more money, or even a club or bar owner looking for a packed house on Friday or Saturday, do yourself a favor and promote on MySpace to crank up the attendance at your next party.

PaulG is an expert on internet social groups, especially MySpace. Check out MySpace Trends for more great tips and ideas about MySpace.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Giordano

Parenting Kids on Myspace
By Richard French

So, you have a responsible teen and you/they would like for them to be able to keep their MySpace account. Alright, we have put together a guide on how to let your kids enjoy MySpace safely and responsibly. I believe it can be done, but, it will require parental supervision and for both parties to come to an agreement.

Let’s get started.

#1 Establish clear cut rules. Sign a Parent child internet contract like the one found at www.theparentsedge.com/Contract.html. This will establish a set of rules to follow and consequences if those rules are broken.

#2 Install a filtering and logging software package. The filtering is to stop the basic inappropriate images and sites, set time limits, and to verify, if necessary, where someone has been online, etc. The logging software or “key logger” will be used to track conversations online at whatever intervals the parent decides. With the key logger, nothing gets typed without your knowledge. With the filtering, most porn is kept away and you have control of the computer.

#3 The single most important factor for your children to have a safe internet environment is parental involvement. I cannot say enough about how important this is. Even with all the tools listed here, if parents do not get involved then it’s completely pointless. Parents, you will have to spend a little of your time each day to check out the site and review the logs. The intervals at which your check their internet usage are up to you. But, logging onto their MySpace account and reviewing it will give you a good idea about how things are going.

*note: I am assuming you already have virus protection installed. If not, you need to add that to the list, even if you don’t allow MySpace usage.

Richard French is a father of 5 and his site TheParentsEdge is dedicated to help parents keeps their kids safe while online. With how to’s, step by step guides,news,safe surfing rules and more TheParentsEdge is designed to give parents the “edge” in todays tech savvy teen world. Free step by step guide How to block websites with IE

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_French

How Did Myspace Start?
By Glomy Mart

Myspace is actually fairly young as it was started back in 2003 as a place to network socially. The website made having a web presence something everyone could do and everyone began doing it. In fact, the popularity of the site took off rapidly. People were able to upload photos, text, and even music clips to share with other members. Then, musicians found an outlet in Myspace and began using those uploadable music clips to advertise their music, new songs, and the like.

Besides this, kids of the Internet generation were finding out how cool it was to have their own “space” on the web that they could update, change, and design as they so chose. In addition, it was so easy to keep up with friends at other schools as well as their own not to mention meet new people and just have a lot of fun.

During this early phase when Myspace was becoming so popular many new accounts were created. With the amazing success of the website and the large number of users there were definitely times that users offered their suggestions to Myspace about what they liked, what features would be cool, and simply ways to make the site better. Myspace listened and is always adding new features and coming up with creative ways to make the website better.

Today, it seems everyone has a Myspace account from young to old and student to businessperson. All kinds of things occur at Myspace from meeting new friends to job offers as well as keeping up with favorite bands and even your group of friends from college. With Myspace the options are endless and if you head to the website and do a little searching then you will find out how cool the site is and all the opportunities it offers its members. No matter what your age or your reason for using the website Myspace will be beneficial for you in many ways.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Glomy_Mart