Gadget Tip: Block the bad sites and whitelist the good.

A normal user doesn’t know how to protect their workstation while surfing the Internet. This article will help you to close some of the security hole that you don’t know about.

Objective: To provide a basic security while surfing the Internet.

A normal user doesn’t know how to protect their workstation while surfing the Internet. This article will help you to close some of the security hole that you don’t know about.

What to expect when you buy your new workstation or laptop?
They only sell you the computer (e.g. desktop or laptop) with operating systems, a 30-60 days demo software’s of Anti-Virus and Microsoft Office package. Meaning after the demo period, you need to purchase a license for your computer.

What is needed?
You need to have updated Anti-Virus software e.g. Symantec, McAfee, etc. to protect your computer against new viruses.
You need to purchase a Microsoft Office with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. The MS Access database is optional

What basic security you need for your computer?
Check your anti-virus software for latest update, daily update is recommended.
Run Windows Update once a month for security update.
Enable the Firewall security, search our website for a separate document for how to.
Use OpenDNS for Internet content filtering, phishing, adult site blocking, etc.

In this article, I am going to share some information on how to protect your computer while surfing the Internet.

• First visit, http://www.opendns.com/ website and create your own account.
• Click on Dashboard to configure your setup.
• Click on Setting to update your Content Filtering
• In Content Filtering, you can choose your CUSTOM filtering level. For starter here’s how to filter and recommended configuration. Put check to the following categories:

1. Adult Themes
2. Auction
3. Adware
4. Gambling
5. Hate/Discrimination
6. Lingerie/Bikini
7. Music
8. Nudity
9. P2P/File Sharing
10. Parked Domains
11. Phishing
12. Pornography
13. Proxy
14. Radio
15. Sexuality
    You can add more filter if you want.

• From here you should be ok.

Or continue updating your blocklist or whitelist

• In Manage individual domains
• Select “Always block” type the domain for example, websearch.com
• Click on ADD DOMAIN to block the domain.
• Select “Always block” type another domain to block here and click on add domain.

How to apply the content filtering policy to your workstation? Instead of updating your router DNS forwarders, I recommend that you make the changes to your test computer.

If you are using Windows XP, please follow these steps to update your DNS information.

• Click Start, then Control Panel
• Click Network Connections
• Double click on “Local Area Connection”Click on Properties
• Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), then click on Properties
• In General tab, select “Use the following DNS server addresses:

Preferred DNS Server: 208.67.220.220
Alternate DNS Server: 208.67.222.222

• Click OK to complete.

Testing:

Open Internet Browser and type http://www.victoriasecret.com/ in the URL address. You should get a notice that “Site blocked. http://www.victoriasecret.com/ is not allowed in this network. This site was categorized as Lingerie/Bikini.

Of course, you can update your Content Filtering anytime you want. Just login using your account and make the necessary adjustment.

If you have question, please post your comments here, send me e-mail or visit the official how to http://www.opendns.com/ website.

Thank you.

EM @ KING.NET, http://www.king.net/

Checklist - Where's Your Online Business Headed?

I would like to share this article that I got from SCORE.org website looking for business documents as I need one for my online business. I hope this help you build your business.

Setting realistic short-term marketing goals with help you clarify your long-range objectives. The list of questions will help you define the future of your online business.

I. What are your Internet marketing goals for the next year and the next three to five years in these areas?

- Dollar Sales
- Unit Sales
- Profits
- Market share
- Markets to enter
- Customer-base expansion

II. What are your six biggest marketing challenges, in order of urgency? (e.g., consumer trends, technology challenges, customer to mix, competition, staffing, margins, media, etc.)

1. ______________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________

6. ______________________________________________________________


III. What major threats and opportunities will your company face in the next three to five years, in these areas?

- Products and services
- Staffing
- Customer attitudes and trends
- General business conditions
- Competition
- Changes in technology

IV. What new competition do you expect within the next three to five years?
(Consider technological developments and product/service innovations, as well as alliances, mergers and acquisitions.)
______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

V. Which competitors do you expect will decline or disappear within the next year? Three to five years? Why?

1. ______________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________


VI. What proportion of your online sales a year from now will come from new products or services? _________________ %

From new market? ____________________ %

Sales from new products? ____________________ %

What about three years from now? ____________________ %

From new market? ____________________ %

Gadget Tips: How to setup Blackberry Internet Service (BIS)

This is a simple task for you to accomplish.

Now you have a blackberry mobile phone what's next? You need to have a Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) or Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES). The Blackberry Enterprise Service (BES) is for organization that needs a extra control of their e-mail system using blackberry service. I will not provide details of BES for this article.

I will only discuss the Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) for individual use. This HOW TO guide is applicable to Verizon, Cingular/AT&T or T-Mobile as your phone service provider.

Before you begin to setup your blackberry phone, you need to have a Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) added to your phone service. Yes, this is additional fee to your existing bill. As of this date, the BIS fee approximately from $39.95 to $49.95 or less per month depending which phone company you are in.

Example:
I'm using Cingular as the blackberry internet service provider, it will be the same for Verizon or T-Mobile.

This information is coming from your BIS phone service provider, where you can add one or more email addresses.
https://mycingular.blackberry.com
username:
password:

Once you login, you need to input your email information. The BIS technical support, will be able to assist you.

Information you need to provide:
Email OWA website: https://webmail.king.net/
Email account: test01 ; this is your username
Email password: your password, they need it.
Email address: test @ king.net

Your mobile service provider customer service will be able to assist you setup your blackberry phone. You have control and access to your phone, you need to call them and provide the information above to add to your blackberry internet service (BIS).

Verizon Blackberry Internet Service web page:
http://blackberry.com/go/vzw

T-Mobile BIS:
http://www.t-mobile.com/bis/

Let me know if you have other question.

Best regards.
Emil @ KING.NET

Knowing your visitors

I've been using Google web analytic for years but not paying attention to it. Well, after reading this article Web Analytics Demystified by Avinash Kaushik (thanks to Steve M of SimplyGeo.com for the link) it gave me ways to understand my visitors and concentrate on their specific needs. I suggest that you read the article too if you want to improve your website contents and increase revenue.

The Google Web Analytics is free to use, so go there and register for your website. You can assign analytic code to each of your websites so you can track each visits, page views, bounce rate, etc.

Enough said, I already provided some reading links for you. Check them and don't be lazy (^_^).

Instant Messaging using your iPhone

I'm so excited to find out that I can use my iPhone for Instant Messaging through the use of Meebo.com website. No additional software to install, just use the built-in Safari browser on your iPhone and use your favorite Instant Messaging e.g. AIM, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Jabber and Google Talk.

Read more about meebo for iPhone:

http://www.meebo.com/iphone/

And if you want multi-video conference, check out http://www.mebeam.com/ easy to use.

How to do PayPal "Mass Pay" payments and avoid fees. Read and learn!

This how to guide is prepared by pcproffenno, a DNF member.

I would like to share this information to all entrepreneurs.

HOWTO Start ---
I stumble upon a lot of people all the time who does not know how to pay with PayPal's "mass pay" feature, which only costs $1 in fees, instead of the usual 4%. I will therefore try to write a quick guide on how to do this. It is quick, easy and as long as you're paying with PayPal balance, anyone can do it. Some people believe that PayPal is only charging fees if the buyer is paying from credit card, but this is not right. PayPal charges roughly 4% of the amount from the payee, even though it is a PayPal balance payment.

Mass pay can be made only from a Premier/Business account, not from Personal accounts. Paypal does not charge incoming payments from balance to private accounts, so if you pay someone with a private account, just send normal payment, its free.

I know most of the experienced domainers on this forum knows how to do a Mass Payment, but I thought this might be useful for all the new domainers out there. Here we go...

Mass Payment
According to PayPal's mass pay instructions, you are supposed to create an Excel file with the payment information and save the file as a text file with tab separated values. I believe there is a much easier way to do it:

I. Open up notepad (or any text/ascii editor)
II. Type the following information, separated by tabs (use tab key, not spaces).

An example of a payment text file:
payment@king.net 999 USD

This textfile will, when uploaded to PayPal, process a payment of $999 US Dollars to the PayPal address payment@king.net

Save the textfile as anything you'd like, just try to remember where you saved it for later.

III. Log in to your PayPal account the usual way, but instead of sending a payment the regular way, look for the small link on the bottom of your screen that says "Mass Pay". Found it? Good, now click it.

IV. You are now one step away from doing a mass payment. Browse to find the text file you just created in notepad and upload it to PayPal as directed. Type in the e-mail address you want the receipt to be sent to and perform the payment by clicking the button.

Voila! The PayPal recipient has now received his/hers payment and it only cost you $1 in fees, instead of 4% !

Good luck with mass pay payments, it has saved me a couple of bucks as some deals involve adding the 4% fee to the final sales price.

HOWTO End ---

Where to register a domain name?

When you google "how to register a domain name", it will provide you millions of results. So, this article is just a summary of what you should look for a domain name registration services.

Here's the list of low cost domain ownership:

• http://www.needname.com/ straight forward domain registration and powered by Enom. My first choice as we partnered with NeedName.com for years already.
• http://www.namecheap.com/ also powered by Enom.
• http://www.godaddy.com/ this is my second choice for low cost registration.
• http://www.netsol.com/ holder of .com and .net registration but so expensive
• http://www.register.com/ is also ok but not cheap compare to the first 3 registrar.

All other domain name registration services trying to get your business, so check out the following information when you register a domain name.

• easy to manage your domain(s) using a single management console
• security available to you, best through your management console where you can lock/unlock your domains and manage your "Authentication Code or EPP"
• low price, everybody like it and some they consider this as their first option when looking for a domain registration company.
• bundle service should be free e.g. DNS management where you can manage forwarding of email and URL/FRAME.
• 24/7 support by email or phone

If your customers or company with internation presence, you might need to consider a Domain Name Registration Company that offer other ccTLD (country code extension). For example, dot US for United States, dot CN for China and other country extension. You should be able to see it right at the registration page. A good example domain name registration website is http://www.needname.com/ where you can see ccTLD on their "check a name" drop down menu.

If you have additional question or input, please post your comment here or send us email to SUPPORT @ HARDWORKING.COM e-mail address. I will response to you as soon as possible.

Thank you,
Emil, IT Manager.