I read somewhere – but can someone solve this?

I want to podcast – is there any podcast destination which can host my podcast and i get a embed code to embed in my blog?

Can somebody explain about google caffeine?

Do you know the way how to get the website quickly – crawled by google and listed in the search result??

What is the good webmaster niche to get started as webmaster.

What is the difference between adding a CSS file and adding CSS on the webpage itself?

please let me know the difference of on page seo and off page seo

can CPC help increasing the sales, if yes then how to get the keywords?

I have tried many times but did not got yet what is the correct way of marketing the cpa lead products?

I have read somewhere that one can make money with photos – is this possible?

Making a blog Multilanguage makes it easy to connect with readers who don’t have English as their primary language. If you are using wordpress platform for blogging – then with the use of plugins you can easily implement the Multilanguage option in your blog.

Plugin for WordPress
You need to download the plugin “Global Translator” and install it on your wordpress blog. Google will help you do the rest.

In the “Global Translator” plugin options – you will see the option of using “Google Translation Services” – Just choose that.

Once you are done with options. See your blog posts – You will see the flags of different countries.

Just click on one of the flag and your blog post will be automatically translated in to the desired language.

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There are various options available within the plugin that you can choose, if you want any more customization with the plugin or translation.

This is the easiest way to have translation for your blog posts.

You and your friend might be on different messengers and it seems that every friend/client you make happens to be using a new messenger platform – so how to keep a track of all in one.

You can easily keep a track of all of them using one single messenger. There are few variants in this niche too.

All in One Messengers
For Computers: You can use IM+ Web Messenger and it caters nearly all messengers – like Yahoo – AIM – Gtalk – Facebook – Skype etc.

Therefore, by using this service you connect on to various platforms.

For Mobile: You can easily use Nimbuzz – it also has almost all messengers – so you can easily connect to all of your friends from one interface.

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These are the easy and safe methods of being online to all the platforms from one interface.

If you are engaging in some business activity or partnership or just want to employ the person – it is always recommended to do the background check for the person.

So, that it gives you clear idea from where the person is coming from and what is the past of the person. It is pretty normal procedure to have background check – so that you don’t engage with someone wrong.

How to Check Background
Though people and corporate have been trying on various social networks and googling to find the background or to do the status checks. But it is often not accurate and not precise to what you are searching for. Also, these methods take hell lot of time.

Therefore, there are dedicated services to do background checks – one of the networks is eVerify. They have vast database of individuals with almost all of their precise information and you can easily perform the background checks.

You can do the background check for entire US or state specific. Just try the below option and see how quickly you get to your desired search result. Fill the form below.

Recharging your reliance mobile has been very easy now – you don’t even have to step out of your home. Recharging your reliance mobile online.

You just have to visit the reliance website at www.rcom.co.in – on the home page you can view the button of “instant recharge”. Click on it.

Enter your mobile number – and your email to receive confirmation mail.

Select the package – just keep a check and select the “Top-Up” option – enter your desired amount and submit.

Payment
You can pay via netbanking – credit card or debit card.

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You can also select special packages as per your need – but if your mobile has the validity then you just need to select the “top-up” option.

This is the easiest option and you can recharge your GSM or CDMA mobile via this option.

This is the need of time to be online on facebook – and whatever you do – you can’t skip this bitter truth that staying on facebook – keeps you more updated than visiting any resource site.

The simple reason is you are connected to the human network through facebook – which was not at all possible in any other medium.

On Facebook for FREE
Though there are many mobile apps – which can easily help you connect to facebook – while you are away from your pc or laptop.

But most of them are chargeable. You need to have GPRS access to connect through these apps.

Be Online For FREE
Now, you can connect to facebook for free – without subscribing for any plans and without GPRS access.

If you are using Airtel Mobile (Bharti Airtel) – then you just need to key in the following:

• *325# and press call

You will be connected to facebook for free – You can easily check your notifications, friend requests and messages. Though you have to pay a little while updating your status.

Once you are connected through this service to facebook, you will receive automatic notifications on your mobile for free.

Isn’t this made facebook access easy!

Website protection can be a tedious task – when it comes to hacking and other vulnerable stuff. You can’t be alert or be online all the time and keep scanning your website. Therefore, there is a simple solution which you can follow to safe guard your website.

Protecting Your Website
SiteLock is the service which you can use to safe guard your website from any hacking or attacks. It does all the work round the clock for you.

Below are some of the SiteLock Service Features:

• It scans your website.
• Brute Force Attacks Scan
• User Plug-in Application Scan
• SQL Injections Scan
• Virus Scan
• Spam Verification Level 2
• Business Verification
• Verifiable Trust Seal

And many others features too – which helps in protecting your website.

You can start for FREE at SiteLock – no charges.

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If you have content network – where you have all kinds of visitors then surely you would need SiteLock service. Also, if you have any kind of CMS – because CMS uses plugins which hackers can easily alter to get in your website.

You must have been impressed with persons who have strong and long friends list on facebook – and you always wanted to have one but still cant make up to the level.

Now, you can easily achieve this and have hundreds of friends on facebook.

Make More Friends on Facebook
Start with the friends you already know and add them on to your facebook and then add the mutual friends and then friends of mutual friends.

When you are at least 3-level deep – then you need not to do anything to grow your facebook friend list – you are on the track – and your facebook friend list will grow automatically.

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This is also true that having more friends will lead you nowhere – since you don’t have meaningful friends on your network – that’s why when you add someone – interact with the person – so the person know you and you know the person.

People always get confuse between the domain registrar and web hosting provider. Both are different and to make sub-domains almost all of the time – you need to configure this on your web-hosting server.

Make Sub-Domains
Irrespective to what hosting panel you are using – Login to your hosting control panel whether it is: cPanel – Plesk – Helm or any other.

After logging in to your hosting control panel you will see an option to create sub-domain – just click on that and create the sub-domain depending on your choice.

You can choose any name that your heart desires – you don’t have to check anything when configuring or naming your sub-domain – since you have full control over it.

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Sub-domain creation is free and you don’t have to pay any fees for it – like you do while registering your domain name.

This is the best dream of anyone to get free discount coupon – on almost anything. People do save some coupons and use it later, but in the online world every thing is moving at a pace.

Therefore, you need to find the coupon whenever you intend to buy something.

How to Find Coupons
Google is the most powerful tool and it will help you in finding the current discount coupons – just follow the following plan.

Whenever, you intend to buy something – take for example you are intended to buy a hosting plan for Hostgator – therefore, you should search the keyword: “Hostgator discount coupons”

This will give you a list of websites, which are offering the discount coupons for hostgator; likewise you can include any thing followed by the keyword “discount coupons”

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You can further use the Google to sort out the current result and the past. Just see the left column on the Google search result – you will see “More Search Tools” click on it and click on options to sort.

There might be various campaigns on national television to save petrol/gasoline, but most of us don’t give it a try to actually support and save the petrol/gasoline.

Here are some of the quick points, which can really save you petrol/gasoline.

Save Petrol or Gasoline
You might be having any vehicle – two-wheeler or four-wheeler – but key to save petrol or gasoline can be common in both.

1. You need to drive at 50km/hr.
2. Need not to shift quick gears.
3. Move at a constant speed.
4. Switching off the ignition at red-traffic light is always recommended.
5. Don’t hold clutch of your vehicle for long. Use it only while changing gears.

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These quick tips can surely help you save petrol/gasoline. Though simple tips but most of us just ignore. Try it!

It’s a feeling around you that makes you happy and you excel in your work – I hope you are not thinking that you have visited a love blog – this is still a Webmaster blog.

Nice is the stuff I am talking about today on this blog post. You might have heard about lot of updates that has happened on Google and because of it – lot many sites have lost their rankings.

This is what you can relate to the “Nice” feeling.

What is Nice – I am talking about?
Its just about the right user experience that you have to give to any of your user when they visit your website.

Google loves it – if you give the right user experience to your visitors – since Google loves the content.

Now how to provide the right user experience: You just have to work on your content and it’s not about writing – but about the placement.

You need to place your content – or rate your content over the ads – you cant just post ads over your content – its counted as bad user experience and Google has become very very strict on this.

Conclude
Therefore, create the nice user experience so when user feels that it’s nice around them they will like your website – and at the same time Google will list your website ahead of competition.

You will score at the end of the day!

Titles determine the pages name, it usually describes that what you will be getting if you are viewing any particular page heading. Also, page headings or Titles are important on Google search because it’s your site’s face on search.

Also, It helps Google to distinguish between the different pages present in your website. But there has been a recent change in the Google policy. So, make the changes accordingly on your website/blog for it.

Title Policy Now on Google.com
Google is confused about the site titles – because people normally, would type in the titles like: About us – Contact us – Services etc.

So, if you see Google, there are billions of these similar page titles in their index, which is why Google changed the title policy. It has been done to have the proper differentiation between the pages of the website.

Like for example: You are having about us and your website name is Infogle.com – so you have to write it the same way – explaining in the title itself:

> About us of Infogle.com
or > About us for Infogle.com
> Contact us Information of Infogle.com

Titles should have a proper definition that what are they meant for. It will not only help Google – but it will benefit your site too on the search index.

Conclude
People searching for content will have proper information that what link they are clicking on and you could get more precise traffic for your site – that is why it is recommended now to have a definitive title for your web pages.

Some might be thinking that this blog has not been updated since and some might be thinking that I am out of blogging – but that’s not true. I had a busy month and new projects rolling.

Therefore, had to keep blogging aside – but it looks like all are falling in stream now. It’s many to discuss about and there has been a lot of updates in the blogging world and also in the SEO world.

Google has been updating its search algorithm and other changes too. There is lot to discuss.

Few of my blog post are coming soon for sure I am still writing them.

I hope you all had a rocking start of the year. Stay tuned to get some of the most wanted seo updates.

People who think SEO is just about backlinks are absolutely wrong – SEO is not just about backlinks and SEO is not a particular method or application that you could apply and gain your search engine ranking.

SEO is a practice – a series of methods that needs to be applied for any website before it rises in the search engine ranking.

Logic to Understand
The beginners – who jump in to the Webmaster field by reading a few texts on Internet about SEO, normally do the mistakes. See; if you can build 1000-backlinks then just think about a company who has around 20-staff members in their team and money to spend – they could build at least 10x more backlinks then you.

So, search engine should raise their ranking as they have better backlinks than you. But seriously this is not the case. Backlinks are just a part of the series of methods that you need to apply in SEO.

Therefore, building backlinks for SEO is history now. Google has evolved much.

What is Needed Foremost
Like always; you need to have some unique content and meaningful content present on your website – then let Google crawl that content and the content should be so meaningful that people cant ignore it.

Since, it is always said that work for humans and not search engines. Search engines will list those contents only which are liked by humans and is of good knowledge.

Conclude
Stop building backlinks – it might degrade your search engine listing – work on your content first – your website and then build the backlinks.

People new to blogging understand that blogging is mere writing about things. Blogging cannot be termed as content collection and for people who are doing content collection, it’s just the crap they are doing; moreover, they are also crapping the Internet.

Blogging and Content Collection
I am not being rude on this one – but most of the bloggers around the blogosphere – don’t do the blogging. They just do the content collection.

The difference between blogging and content collection; with blogging you are actually sharing the knowledge – something new to the world. But with the content collection you are just collecting information and publishing it in the same way.

Search engines do the same; they collect the content and present to you – now you are the one who actually filter the content and take what you required and what not.

The point I am making here is, if you are doing content collection, which search engines do, then you are not doing any kind of blogging.

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This is the reason search engine ignores some of the blogs because they are not having any thing new. Therefore, work on your content and not your content collection – leave the job, which search engines are doing.

WordPress new version 3.3 is now available.

New WordPress 3.3 looks excellent and there are many added features to it. The new added feature will make blogging so easy.

New Features
Not only in terms of looks but in terms of features also wordpress 3.3 admin area has lot to offer.

1. Only one upload option for all media.
2. Flyout menu for easy navigation.
3. Header now has more enhanced tool bar.

Many other features too – but the one added feature this time is – wordpress will tell you every time you post or update anything that what feature they have upgraded. By sticking short snippets to the updated tools.

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Many exciting features in new WordPress 3.3 – Update Now!

Google has recently issued new guidelines for multilingual sites. Multilingual sites – which represent the same data in different languages – meaning their content is no different – but for different languages of world they represent the data in different languages.

For these kinds of websites – Google has introduced new markup – so that they can be easily sorted and ranked. If you are having such multilingual sites – the new markup – can definitely increase your website traffic.

Markup For Multilingual Site on Google
Multilingual options are included on sites – to target the local audiences so that they could feel comfortable while browsing the site in their local language.

Now, with the new markup for multilingual URLs – it should now be done as follows:

<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”es” href=”http://www.example.com/” />
contains the general homepage of a website, in Spanish

<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”es-ES” href=”http://es-es.example.com/” />
is the version for users in Spain, in Spanish

<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”es-MX” href=”http://es-mx.example.com/” />
is the version for users in Mexico, in Spanish

<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en” href=”http://en.example.com/” />
is the generic English language version

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Google has implemented this markup so that they can easily sort the results for the geographic dependent location. Google has further specified that if somebody uses the above-mentioned markup/subtags – they would assume that you want to target the region.

Therefore, it’s the correct step and it would rather simply the Webmaster’s task as they just have to specify the markup/tags and it would be included in regional search results.

Its official – SEDO changed its terms for the coming year 2012. The domain parking giant changed its terms for good as conveyed in the mailer.

About the Terms
As described by SEDO.com – they have altered parking policy for domains – as directed by their premium sponsor – Google.

They changed their terms for all the domains – that are not actually parked. SEDO.com will not provide payouts for the domains that are being parked using URL forwarding.

Reason Behind
This decision is made in conjunction with their primary online advertiser – Google. Reasons are mentioned below:

• DNS parked domains are quick to load.
• DNS parked domains have less downtime.
• As, it loads quickly – therefore better CTR.

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I do think it the right decision – this will not only give quality to the service – but also keeps the network healthy and fair.

We have seen that there is a sudden rise in the hacking attempts of blogs and websites – which are on wordpress platform.

With reports that hackers are getting in to wordpress sites/blogs through the plugins – as there are some plugins which have bugs and hackers utilize it – to get in to the site.

Therefore, it is always advised to keep your plugins up-to-date, so that hackers don’t get a chance to utilize the bug. But despite of all the efforts – hackers still get in to the wordpress sites and host their malicious and vulnerable codes.

Protect Your WordPress
I have tried every thing – updating plugins and installing new plugins – changing frequent passwords – but guess these all are of no help.

Then I tried the ultimate idea of changing the file permissions and bingo it helped – till now!

With File Permissions – you changed the permission so that no one can over-write it and this is what needed to protect your wordpress sites.

With no writing permission – no one from outside can edit those files.

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Therefore, if you are struggling with regular hacking attempts on your wordpress platform sites – then change the file permissions – but don’t forget to update your plugins – as they are equally important.

With the growing competition in the online world – it has become very important that you have the good customer care team to back you up – irrespective to the niche you are marketing.

You need to have a good customer care team – even if you are operating an affiliate website and forwarding your customers to the client side for the final purchase. Online customer care can be defined by various methods – such as “Live Help” – but I personally don’t think it’s the most suitable way to keep a track of your customers – but yes some of the customers do choose this method – as its instant and fast.

But I still believe to have a strong backup of email customer care – because writing email is not just clubbing the words and delivering it to your client – but with email customer care team – you show your business outlook and how much effort you have put-in to solve your customer’s query.

Loosing Business
If you have such a team and even then you are loosing your customers you need to check with your customer care and track the emails they are sending.

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You need to sound pleased in your emails – when you are writing to any customer. Also, the language of your email should be soft and appealing.

You need to understand that if a customer is writing you an email for more information or asking for quote – then those customers are at least 30-40% converted and with the reply from email customer care team – you need to increase the conversion percentage and see your sales pickup.

I guess government is not playing fair this time – by giving more fancier inflation data. They are simply manipulating every bit of the information that is coming out – whether it’s on lokpal – china issue or inflation.

The inflation data, which was released today, showed a steep fall in the food inflation at 4.35% – this is 4-year low.

True or False
Analyze yourself – when no food prices have fallen down then how come the food inflation came down to 4.35% – do you think it’s a fair data?

If we compare the food prices – nothing has dropped to 4-year low – then how come inflation is dipping…? Random food price comparison of sugar – wheat – oil – pulses and even salt has not dropped a single rupee – then also inflation is at 4-year low.

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If we see the rupee side – rupee is falling every day and then also inflation is low – how come it is happening? When our edible oil is all imported.

Government should stop misguiding the people – with their data manipulation. This will lead nowhere and with every such thing people will loose their trust on government.

There has been quite a bash for the FDI retail in India. Small shopkeepers and traders are opposing it. Opposition parties also supporting the anti-FDI campaign – but have any one thought about the real merits and demerits of FDI in retail.

Political parties who are opposing the FDI are not having any alternative plan to give it to the government – they simply don’t want. None of them have clarified their point of view that why FDI is not needed in retail.

If I say – FDI is needed in retail to bring down the market prices – would that be wrong? Bigger companies in retail would eventually work in bringing down the market prices and regulations – which are currently controlled by the middleman – so this would directly benefit the consumers.

Approx 7-8crore of population are earning their living through small shops and trading – so this is also true that they would be hard-hit by this. On the other hand, if we think about the rest of the population – which is actually 120crore – and struggling from ever-increasing inflation, would be relieved, if FDI comes in retail.

So, what should be the priority this is the point of discussion – and let 120-crore population be in benefit or not.

Easy Alternative for FDI in Retail
As opposition is working baselessly and opposing the FDI – they should come with any alternative plan.

The plan which I think currently could work is – You must have heard about the Canadian government giving easy visas to the foreign people – who are willing to invest in Canada but the only restriction they have is – you can’t take the profit back with you for 5-10years term and have to invest the profit in Canada.

Therefore, our government to regulate the FDI in retail can follow same plan. Make a regulation for FDI that whatever profit you make in the next 5 or 10years term – you can’t take those profits back in your country – you have to invest it in India only.

This would rather boom our economic structure – while opening a wide channel of growth and prosperity. Also, at the same this would decrease the inflation. It would be great for the common man of India.

More regulation for FDI
Government can implement some more regulation on FDI by imposing the fair pricing solution – which they would not sell products under-priced.

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Therefore, this would rather give a fair business environment for all and would act in the benefit of consumers.

RBI declared its new policy and increased interest rate (repo rate) by 25basis point – this will increase the home loan and car loan interest rates. Despite of this hike RBI has assured that inflation will fall down.

How Will Inflation Fall
RBI has hiked interest rates (repo rate) 13times in 19months and every time there was an increase it was said that inflation would fall down. I don’t understand how the inflation will fall – when people would not have the money in hand and the commodity prices are on rise.

It will rather create a horrible situation in near future – when people will start selling their home – due to increased interest rates and non-payment of monthly home loan installments. That will be the time when real-estate bubble will burst and nothing could save it.

Falling Inflation
RBI assured this time that inflation will fall down in December 2011 – how untrue! The moment they said this – Sharad Pawar also issued a statement that ban on exports of sugar and onion will be abolished after diwali.

Master Stroke! Isn’t it?

As, exports are banned but sugar still costs around Rs.32/kg – so I do think every body can understand when exports open for sugar it will literally cross over Rs.40/kg. Same will be for onion.

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Inflation is the bigger issue but I don’t seem to understand that no channel and no group are fighting against it. Rather all are up to Jan-lokpal to stop corruption and what about the inflation?

This is a fact that airline companies wants that people should stay back at home and enjoy Diwali festival. The reason I am saying so is because the airfares during the Diwali week has risen to three-folds from normal pricing.

As airline companies are already in loss and they seem to figure out that this is the best time to recover some of their costs. As per the reports available all flights are already packed.

For just a preview:
Chandigarh – Delhi = Rs.5000 (approx)
Lucknow – Delhi = Rs.8000 (approx)

Tour operators say that as the flights are already full-booked and airline companies have raised the prices for instant ticket booking.

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Therefore, if you are not in a mood to spend excessively on airfares – then spend this Diwali with your friends and relatives.

More than two months of civil war and rebels backed by the NATO forces finally achieved what they desired.

As per the reports, the rebel forces have killed Mummar Gaddafi. Many previous reports were published that Gaddafi has left the country and is been hiding some where in Zimbabwe.

Pictures of Gaddafi corpse has also been published by Al Jazeera – rebel forces have taken it to Misrata. Rebels were shown shouting and celebrating the moment – which they have been fighting it for.

TV Footage
Al Jazeera’s English broadcast clearly showed that rebels dragged the body of Gaddafi in to the streets. The footage showed half naked body of Gaddafi with blood on his face and to the worse – a bullet shot in his head.

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Gaddafi had been ruling Libya since last 42years. In the final combat with Gaddafi it is said that few of his near colleagues would also have been killed – but one of his son Mo’tassim has been captured live and taken to the prison. Another son, Saif – is still said to be hiding in the Libyan Sahara.

People do purchase more at Diwali – malls – shops and online stores have geared themselves with offers and discounts. These look very attractive with large banners and discount slogans.

But there is something more behind all this – there is some catch, which I found out when browsing some of the online shopping websites. Though these websites claim to give discount coupons and gifts on every purchase – which makes them very attractive buy option.

Reality of Offers
I was browsing some online sites to buy a new mobile handset – I kept this buy for Diwali – because I was hoping to get some extra discount and of course some freebies with my purchase.

But when I decided to purchase I browsed few websites – will obviously not name them as it may directly damage their business. I saw exciting discount banners with every purchase and gifts with purchase – I ignored the price and didn’t saw it and immediately added the product and applied the coupon – I stopped at checkout to recall the price – that I saw before Diwali.

I was shocked it was actually the same and in some case it was 2-5% more.

Moral of the Story
If you are thinking of purchasing this Diwali and expecting some discount – then do check the prices whether you are purchasing it online or at any local mall. This is also true that discounts are always not on your side.

Today it’s a big day for all Indians – it’s the cheapest tablet that was unveiled. Completely made in India.

Aakash – is the name given for the tablet pc project. It is available at an extremely subsidized rate of Rs.1100 ($25).

What it Has?
This is a basic android device with not so good configuration. Though similar Chinese Tablet devices are already on Internet with almost same configuration.

• 7inch Screen
• 256 MB RAM
• 2GB Memory card storage
• TFT Touch Screen
• Android 2.2 Version

The Use
Government of India is basically projecting this device for the basic study usage – where students can read their books in the ebooks format and surf the Internet. This device comes with a battery backup of around 8hrs – which is pretty good.

Though this does not have any camera – and we do think that is not required in the student life. As they don’t have to do conference chatting on it and it’s purely an educational device.

The Future of Aakash
It does not look very bright because it is government-aided project – and this launch was basically an election stunt nothing more than that.

As per the government sources, this tablet will be available from December 2011.

Today Pakistan took the decision of banning the most popular social network of the world Facebook.com

Facebook was banned because Pakistani government feels that facebook is spreading the religious hatred in their country. Reports say, facebook was not the only one, which was banned – there were more websites that were banned.

Names of other websites are not clear yet! But it will soon be out.

Not Just Facebook
Google could also have been among banned websites in Pakistan! Yes! Pakistani government feels that they should put a ban on Google too.

But one or two officials from Pakistani government said that banning Google is not right, as it is one of the biggest search engines in the world.

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Previously we have seen China has also banned some of the leading websites. We do feel the relationship between China and Pakistan is increasing and this decision could be a part of their strategy.

Since, both of them want to stop the increasing awareness – which they feel could be harmful for their governance.

Purely a political decision.

There are plenty of indications that the economy is shifting into higher gear. And they are not just buried in economists’ models and spreadsheets, but evident in the day-to-day decisions consumers and business folks make.

So, yes, you can look to the stock market — a classic leading economic indicator, nearing a 100% gain over two years — for reassurance about tomorrow. But you can also read the economic tea leaves on golf greens and in underwear sales.

Sales of Boxers, Briefs Leveling Off

When it’s tougher to find jobs, men wait longer to replace their underwear, and sales — usually very stable — fell nearly 2.5% in 2009. Now they’ve started to stabilize. But, much like the unemployment rate, it’s likely to take a few years to recover to pre-recession levels.

Desserts Are in Again

Apparently what’s good for the economy is bad for the waistline. When the economy is shrinking, restaurant traffic slows, and the diners who do visit full-service eateries hold down their tabs by sticking to entrees and skipping side orders, appetizers and desserts.

But the National Restaurant Association says more customers are splurging on the sweet endings again. That’s a sign that they aren’t as worried about losing their jobs. In fact, the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index is over 60 again, after plunging to a recession low of just 25.

Less Sorrowful Searching

The number of Internet searches for “unemployment benefits,” “Social Security,” “unemployment office” and the like spiked in July 2010 and has been trending down since. First-time claims for unemployment insurance have been declining for months now, signaling that mass layoffs are waning and the economy is healing.

The Venti Latte Makes a Comeback

One of the first things consumers cut out of their budgets when they’re feeling pinched is a jolt of high-priced caffeine served up by their local barista. It’s also one of the first little luxuries that consumers find worth shelling out for when they start to feel more comfortable with the direction of the economy. So it’s telling that Starbucks’ net revenues increased 9.5% in 2010, after falling 6% in 2009.

Box Rebound Reflects Rising Demand

Because almost everything consumers buy at one point or another was packed in a cardboard box for shipping, higher prices for boxes and other shipping needs point to more consumption. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of bulk shipping costs, hit a 22-year low in December 2008. Though still far from pre-recession levels, it’s on the rise again.

In fact, orders of durable goods — appliances, furniture and other products with a life span of more than three years — are improving. If you don’t count airplanes and defense goods — typically big-ticket items with tremendous month-to-month volatility — durable goods orders have climbed in four of the past five months.

Fewer Urban Dwellers Are Hoofing It

During recessions, more folks in cities resist the urge to hail a cab, opting to walk or take public transit to their destinations. But in recent months, business has started looking up for cabbies. Car sales are up, too — for those who prefer to drive themselves.

Duffers Returning to the Greens

As the economy picks up, golfers, good and bad, dust off their clubs and head back to the courses they shun during recessions. There are still fewer rounds being played than before the downturn, but the number of visits to golf courses stopped declining in 2010 and even increased in the Mid-Atlantic and New England.

Faces, Other Parts Getting a Lift

Few folks actually need a more finely sculpted nose, a tummy tuck or a more buxom figure. So when money is tight, elective cosmetic surgery takes a dive. But take heart, docs, demand is reemerging. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says the number of patients who chose to undergo the knife for a better look last year rose by more than 13 million.

More Willing to Play Their Hand

Even gamblers get more risk-averse when the economy is in a slump. By 2009, commercial casino revenues had dropped nearly 10% from their 2007 peak. The house’s take increased slightly last year and will head higher this year as consumer spending racks up about a 3% gain this year.

More Couples Are Calling It Quits

The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says its members suffered a 37% drop in divorce cases in 2008 and a 57% decline in 2009. But the trend has begun to turn around, with many divorce lawyers saying they’ve got more business than they can handle — a backlog of pent-up demand. In part, that’s because credit has started to loosen up.

During the recession, spatting spouses had a tough time arranging the financing to buy out their partner’s stake of businesses and homes, as required by property divisions, so they stuck it out. Even couples without Beverly Hills mansions or multimillion dollar companies to divvy up often delay divorce when they’re worried about maintaining two households and the possibility of an ex being unable to find a job.

by Neema Roshania and Jerry Idaszak
copyright www.kiplinger.com

Don’t you hate it when something breaks just after the warranty runs out? Or what about that new electronic gadget that fails to work with your old accessories from the same manufacturer?

Some of these infuriating problems were caused on purpose, by product designers practicing “planned obsolescence.” Planned obsolescence occurs when something is intended to wear out or stop being useful after a predetermined period of time — and that time is often as short as a few years.

Critics have long complained that planned obsolescence wastes consumers’ money, uses up valuable resources, and chokes our landfills.

The good news is that consumers are not entirely at the mercy of corporations. Armed with some information and foresight you can extend the life of some products or avoid buying them entirely. Here are strategies for dealing with some of the most irritating sources of planned obsolescence.

MP3 Players

Planned obsolescence is a fact of life when it comes to consumer electronices. MP3 players are a glaring example. These units are rarely upgradable with more memory and their lithium-ion batteries often wear out before the product does.

In the worst case, such as with Apple iPods, the battery can’t be removed easily by consumers, forcing an expensive service request when it runs out. These advanced batteries are often expensive ($75 or more in the case of laptops, but still pricey for smaller devices), so extending the life is no trifling matter.

Luckily, there are a number of good quality “generic” batteries on the market for many devices. You can easily find them on eBay and elsewhere. These typically are not recommended by manufacturers, but problems are rare. It also isn’t that difficult to replace the battery in your iPod, and directions and how-to videos are online.

Finally, you can often prolong the life of your device by taking good care of it. Keep it out of temperature extremes, keep it clean and follow the charging/use patterns recommended by your manufacturer. In many cases, lithium-ion batteries do better if they are not run all the way down.

Ink Cartridges

A set of new inkjet cartridges can cost more than the printer itself…yet you may be prevented from using every expensive drop of pigment. Many ink cartridges come with proprietary smart chips on them that disable printing when one of the colors falls to a certain level, even if there’s really enough ink to do the job. Plus, the smart chips can discourage refilling or use of third-party ink.
Buy cartridges that let you refill the ink. This cuts down on plastic use, and saves you serious money. You can also probably get away with printing less. Use draft and grayscale settings to save ink, and optimize content from the web or email before you send to the printer, so you don’t waste ink on headers, footers and ads you don’t want. You can also skip printing by using online backup services, Google docs and emailing things to yourself.

Software

In software, as with some video game hardware, many titles are incompatible with previous files or programs. This definitely gives consumers incentive to upgrade across the board. Many users are also forced to upgrade to new editions after publishers stop providing support to older versions.

Instead of proprietary software, use open source titles, which are usually free for typical users, including upgrades. You also may be able to save money by using general titles instead of specialized ones that only do one thing, since you are less likely to get trapped into expensive service or upgrades later. For example, use Microsoft Excel or Google Spreadsheets instead of custom accounting software. Some users may also find that they don’t really need to get the latest and greatest upgrades, unless there are security reasons to do so.

Textbooks

Planned obsolescence isn’t limited to newer kinds of technology. Even though not much changes from year to year for most core subjects, textbook publishers issue frequent updates. Trouble is, each new edition is usually printed with the information shifted to different page numbers, making it difficult to follow along in class with a previous volume.

Given that textbooks are quite expensive, some students are fighting back by buying recently used texts at a fraction of the cost from places like Craigslist. Or perhaps even cheaper and more convenient, you may be able to rent the textbooks you need. Chegg.com, for example, is a mail service not unlike Netflix, in which shipping on return books is free. Chegg plants a tree for every book users rent, sell or buy, and rental costs range from about 10% of list price to about 30%.

Finally, some savvy students have discovered that they need not even buy every text on the class list; rarely used ones can be referenced at the library or shared among friends.

Fast Fashion

One year fishnets are out, the next year they’re in. Unless you have your own warehouse like Demi Moore, chances are good that you don’t hang on to every piece of clothing you own to wait until acid wash comes back into vogue. Whether it’s because of cuts, hemlines or colors, a lot of what is advertised and sold is designed to go out of style in a short time.

Instead of buying the latest and greatest apparel, consider timeless classics. Vintage clothes are a great green choice, and offer nearly endless style possibilities. Avoid so-called “fast fashion,” which is churned out quickly based on ephemeral trends and isn’t designed to last. Rent the items you’ll only wear once or twice, like tuxedos, prom dresses or possibly even hand bags. Finally, learn to mend the clothes you already have — that’s the greenest option yet!

By becoming more educated consumers, we can enjoy higher value and have less environmental impact.

By Brian Clark Howard