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Network Solutions

2009-08-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

Network Solutions' domain and site offerings aren't the cheapest, but they are unparalleled in terms of flexibility. If you plan to manage a large number of domains and Web pages, this provider is a great choice. Most other domain registrars offer canned packages for the domain name and Web sites of various sizes. Network Solutions reaches for a more à la carte approach.

To register a domain alone for one year costs $34.99, and to register a domain for a year with a starter Web page is $49.99. You get 24/7 toll-free support with every package. A five-page site is $109 per year, and a five-page site with two e-mail boxes is $149. No storage limit is imposed on your Web site. Network Solutions will let you register a domain for 100 years (for $999)—a helpful feature if you want to make your site permanent, because you'll never have to worry about renewals.

If you're going to be running a growing Web site and want top-notch flexibility,

Click here:

PCTools Registry Mechanic

2009-05-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

The Windows registry: we do not know what it does, how it is and sometimes it can cause many problems. With the exception of PC Tools, though, and probably most of you, our loyal readers!

PC Tools Registry Mechanic software solves all the problems with the registry of your Windows installation, which is said to have your system run a little faster and eliminate any error dialogues you receive as a result of wrong Registry configurations.

Since the windows registry is often full of damaging items left by certain application owing to wrong installation otherwise for other reasons, it is suggested using a registry cleaner to sift through the registry, for finding and destroying all those messes to have your PC run faster. It is a matter that we find difficult to justify, with a duration of six years old PC with more than 30 programs currently installed (and probably more than a hundred other installed at various stages of its existence).

Features Set

When we have downloaded Registry Mechanic, we click "Scan your registry" in the main interface, and has conducted over 170 problems with our PC. Most errors are from uninstalled applications that have left debris in the registry, errors were also in connection with shortcuts and file extensions.

It was not entirely unexpected because of the age of the PC - and the fact that there has never been formatted and reinstalled Windows - but the PC had not experienced any problems with these errors are present.

However, PC Tools Registry Mechanic cleans up the mess that years of installing and uninstalling left in the registry, and then asked us if we want to compact the system registry. PC Tools claims that the performance boost could be significant if the compaction reduces the registry size by at least 5%.

When we restarted the PC and used it as usual, the applications seemed to run faster, and windows were more sensitive, but it was a placebo effect. The PC was not really faster.

Bottom Line

We save space by using PC Tools Registry Mechanic to compact the registry system, but in it. We can confirm that Registry Mechanic found and destroyed all registry keys for applications that were not properly uninstalled, and if the system is currently showing pop-ups that are complaining about the lack of links or other problems to solve. But it should not make your PC faster.

But one thing is clear: we feel better knowing that PC Tools Registry Mechanic cleaned more than 170 registry errors, and subsequent scanning processes has given our overall system a new Bill of Health.

Get Free $50 Google Adwords Coupon

2008-03-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

It is not a Friday night and neither am I in a very happy mood right now, but because of my infinite kindness I have decided to give $50 Google Adwords coupon link to everyone to increase your blog traffic. Here are the pointers to remember:

You will only receive credit after your submit your billing information.

The total credit is $55 not $50. $5 goes towards the activation of your Adwords account.

That means, you do not have to pay a penny until you run out of $50.

If you do not have a credit card, you will need to find a virtual credit card (VCC). Just Google it for more info.

Advertise your blog, website, affiliate product or whatever and let me know how far could your stretch your $50.

$75 MSN adCenter Credit

2008-03-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

While AdWords has become a crucial element for web marketing, other players are making their big entrance too. One of them is the just launched Microsoft AdCenter. And to make it even better, they also offer a $75 coupon in free clicks. So, you've got nothing to loose. You can always stop your campaign when the credit ends, so that you don't get charged. [Note: The $75 credit expires 90 days after the registration, so make use of it]

Of course, the volume of the clicks is not as high compared to Google's AdWords. For the same campaigns, with MSN AdCenter advertisers tend to get approximately 20% of the clicks they would be gettig from Google AdWords. This surely keeps Google at the top.

However, the conversion/lead rates are a different story. While for AdWords the conversion rate is around 2-3%, AdCenter users report conversion rates as high as 33%, 10 times better. This is due to the fact that MSN has been for a while now in the market and has more data about its clients.

Now, let's do some math. If with Google AdWords you would be getting 100 clicks daily, 3% of them would actually convert to customers. Whereas with MSN AdCenter out of 20 clicks, 30% would convert, which comes to a total of 6 customers.

Bottom line, with $0.05 per click, with Google's Adwords you would be spending $5 to get 3 customers, while with MSN Adcenter you would be spending $1 to get 6 customers.

Adcenter has worked pretty well for me till now, and i get much cheaper keywords for which in Adwords I would have to pay $2-3 more per click, due to the fact that there is much less competition of advertisers in AdCenter. It doesn't give me as much clicks as Google, but hey, its customers that give me the money, not clicks [they rather cost me money].

All in all, you can try it yourself. You've got nothing to loose, but win. Click below and Signup now to get the offer while it lasts!
Click here to claim your coupon to try out Microsoft adCenter free* with a $75 credit for paid search clicks.

Bumllionaire

2008-03-06T03:35:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time in the West... Toke Nygaard from K10K got his laptop broken, and so it was that the entrance to the portal became a page with a picture of that broken laptop and asking people to collaborate so that he could buy a new one... and he got it!

And then there's the story of the guy who, exchanging things, turned a red clip into a house. Last year, John Grden from Rock On Flash and core member of the Papervision 3D team asked something similar so that he could work on improving the performance of the famous 3D engine on a Mac, and it only took a couple of weeks to get the money through Paypal.

In the end, these situations follow the same pattern, some kind of "together we can", that now has been blended with these viral times of us.

Nowadays, the challenge is making Guy Ritchie, a real bum, appear on the next Forbest Richest People through a website called Bumllionaire. As we are over 1 billion online users today, just $1 from each of us would make it..., i'm really curious about if he'll be getting that or not.

With the finest sense of humor (there is even a Facebook group you can join), the site gathers videos and information about Guy and the status of his crusade.

So let's see what the kid can do :)

The Showdown Interactive

2008-03-06T03:34:00.000-08:00

Sorry, this one is one of us, but I have to talk about it as we've spent so much time working on this lately... :)

Last year, One Show asked us to develop the image for their Interactive competition in 2008.

As you may know, fighters have replaced Mariachis as the new mexican cliche and we tried to create a game with some mexican flavor, a bit nasty and that served as a place of reunion for designers, developers, creatives, art directors, etc. trying to have some fun and blood.

Besides whose is the greatest idea now we're talking about whose blood is this, and this is the multiuser game you can play now: Showdown Interactive: "Kill your colleagues".

It's supposed to be played by people who submitted some material to One Show competition (in fact this competition has a final combat that'll take place in New York City next May in the One Show Interactive awards ceremony), but in the end there's a "Try now" button in the main site from which you can look for someone to challenge and crack his bones :)

At the same time, we created some video stuff about some ordinary days in the life of "Fernando", one of our young creatives, and how he struggles when confronting with big names' work, so now he's trying to find something where he can beat them at, "at ANYTHING!"

(some other videos are available at: http://www.youtube.com/showdowninteractive)

BBC version 2.0

2008-03-03T07:22:00.001-08:00

The new BBC website is now online and is worth a visit.
It has been designed like a netvibes or an iGoogle. You can cutomize the homepage: change its colour or the font, choose the topics you are interested into, edit them, and move them around with a click & drag action.

It is interesting to see how this media institution tries to keep itself up to date, and manage to go through the ages.

The homepage is easy to use. But the biggest challenge was probably not to be graphically boring and sad, as that kind of platforms can end up being. And if the layout is inevitably very structured and strict the design is not too bad after all, and you hope the other old school BBC sections will soon be inspired for their design!

The Gap in the Sound of Color

2008-02-29T10:24:00.000-08:00

The Sound of Color is a collaborative project launched by Gap. 5 colors, 5 musicians, 5 directors. Colors for inspiration, music for emotions, and videos to suggest a visual representation of such feelings.

It's a very interesting and inspiring project. However, in my opinion, the website, and by website I mean the way the project is communicated online, lacks of passion and inspiration. It's a one way show, you watch what the artists have produced but you cannot add your piece and your point of you to the representation of colors. I don't want to force UGC in all online projects, but I feel that here Gap missed a valuable opportunity to interact with its target.

The agency behind the idea is Rehab.

Interactive baseball the Japanese way

2008-02-28T17:56:00.001-08:00

As it usually happens when I post about Japanese websites, I have no idea of the reason why they did it, I guess just for self-promotion, considering that the only brand name on the site is the one of the agency (Bascule, the same that did Axe Busters some time ago).

Is it an advergame? Probably... For sure it's a weird visual experience about baseball, with a good art direction and remarkable usability, a characteristic that makes it quite easy to find the way around and play.

Adobe's cards without a soul

2008-02-28T17:55:00.000-08:00

Adobe is online with a new, impressive website, launched to promote its Creative Suite 3. Everything starts with a card. Move the scroll bar at the bottom to unveil a world of amazing animations created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Mike Kellog.

You can tell they really wanted to impress designers. Copy is practically non-existent...

You know I'm the devil's advocate, but to be sincere I would have l enjoyed a bit of text and, in general some information to put the story in context. As it is now, I feel the experience is great but incomplete. I understand I'm not the target for this product (probably designers are more for a "show, don't tell" approach) but still, I think they could have done something more than a lovely animation exercise.

What do you think?

via Cpluv.

Office for Mac: Simplify your work

2008-02-26T17:27:00.001-08:00

I'm surprised Microsoft has worked on a new version of Office for Mac, and I'm even more surprised by the nice site they've launched to promote the new software. "Simplify your work" explains the product characteristics with lovely animations and a touch of sweetness I wouldn't have expected from Microsoft.

The agencies behind the site are McCann SF & Firstborn.

via Cpluv.

Old School Virals Return

2008-02-25T23:06:00.000-08:00

In a return to old school virals ActionAid UK, have launched a viral campaign that allows their supporters to digitally dress up and make their own animation. It is designed to drive sign-ups to the ActionAid WhoPays? campaign, which is looking to put pressure on the government for tighter regulation of how UK supermarkets deal with producers in developing countries.

The viral, featuring comedians Bill Bailey and Katy Brand, encourages people to get involved by uploading a photo of themselves, and dressing up as a banana, cashew nut or pear for a fight (in the style of their choice) with some supermarket trollies!

The activity was conceived by digital creative agency Nonsense

The history of the heart

2008-02-25T07:00:00.001-08:00

The Heart exhibition at the Wellcome Collection explores the medical and cultural significance of the heart. Featuring exhibits from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Leonardo da Vinci and Andy Warhol, through to live heart surgery.

Interesting to discover such an interactive site to promote an exhibition. Curious to find medical information approached in such a way. It's not really the kind of content I'll be willing to discover (I'm too easily impressionable), but I definitely appreciate the effort of making science and medicine accessible.

The agency behind the site is Unit9.

Leica's love stories

2008-02-25T06:58:00.000-08:00

Scholz & Volkmer has launched an interesting website for Leica, the legendary compact camera brand that is currently trying to reposition itself and earn back the success of the past.

Classical music, romance and a touch of mystery are the ingredients the agency decided to use to present the new Leica set of cameras. Three episodes are visually narrated through the eyes (and the camera) of a boy, a man and a woman. The stories stay the same, what changes is the perspective from which they are told.

To be totally sincere, the site is nothing special nor innovative, but it's aesthetically pleasant. What I like about it is the branding exercise, the use of music and images to picture a brand which is trying to recover the charme of the past. I just wish they avoided that annoying and useless cursor effect...

Adidas: Adi Dassler

2008-02-22T23:48:00.000-08:00

Adidas was founded in 1949 and named after its founder, Adi Dassler. Ever since the brand has been connected to global sports and lifestyle. Adidas is now the second largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. 180 Amsterdam just released an animated video that tells the pretty amazing story of the German shoe manufacturer Adi Dassler.

The Coke Zero game

2008-02-22T23:47:00.000-08:00

CocaCola raised the bar for campaigns around UEFA's Euro 2008 football championships with The Coke Zero Game in Germany. It's a huge and impressive video advergame full of girls, fire, cars and adrenaline.

Responsible agency North Kingdom, known for many award winning projects, announced the game as one of their biggest projects ever. A special page on the North Kingdome site provides insides, a gametrailer and a countdown to the English version.

But if I were you, I would instantly go for the German version!

Ikea and Bedrooms

2008-02-22T23:45:00.000-08:00

I LOVE this site... it's been done so well I have little to say other than check it out. It's wickedly good. It by Forsman and Bodenfors.