Track the NCAA Basketball Tournament using Google

With all the hype over the NCAA Basketball tournament and March Madness fast approaching most viewers won't find it hard getting help filling out their brackets. All the major sports websites have online web based brackets ready and waiting for your office pool.

This yearly tradition has gotten so popular even Google has gotten into the act and now has a way to track all your favorite teams in their version called Basketball Bracket Battle. This feature can be created using the iGoogle gadget tool.

If you already have a Google Gmail account you can just add this gadget to your iGoogle desktop. Once you have added this gadget you can then create a bracket for yourself or even form a league with your friends or co-workers.

Once the NCAA Basketball Tournament starts you will be able to track all your chosen teams on the Basketball Bracket Battle gadget. As the tournament gets going you will also be able to see how you rank against your friends and co-workers brackets.

If you still want to print out your brackets as we did in the olden days check out Maddux Sports and print out a pdf file that you can just write in your team positions.

Domain Registry of America: Domain Name Hijacking

I keep getting these letters in the mail at least once every other week notifying me that the domain name that I registered is about to expire. This letter looks very official and it is emblazoned with a graphic logo that depicts the American flag at the very top of the letter. Also at the top reads the words "Domain Name Expiration Notice"

This letter is strategically made to look like an invoice, complete with line items that spell out how long I have until my domain name expires and how much it will cost me to register my domain name for another year. It even gives me the chance to register my domain name for up to five years at a discounted price.

To most this letter would seem like an awesome reminder and even a better way to make sure I don't miss out on keeping this domain name secure for my current and future use. Unfortunately that is not the case.

I currently have 3 of my clients who were so inclined to take this company up on its offer to renew their domain names. Here is the best part, two of the three really thought this company was officially in charge of registering their soon to expire domain name so they proceeded to pay for three years in advance.

What my unsuspecting client didn't realize is that they were tricked into paying more than three times the price for registering their domain name to a company that had no control whatsoever in whether or not it expired. Instead of paying less than $30.00 for three years of registration they paid $30.00 per year to register just one domain name.

Once they paid this money, they automatically gave this company the right to become their new registrar of their domain name. We then had to go through and act of congress to get the domain names back but the money they spent would not be returned.

Why didn't they get their money back you may ask? Well the letter that they recieved was again made to look like an invoice but it clearly said in bold letters "This notice is not a bill" It also had some fine print on the back of the letter that spelled out what was going to happen if you paid for this domain name to be registered with their service.

Here are the steps involved in not getting your domain name Hijacked.

1. When registering a domain name make sure you remember the name of the registrar. Whether it's Godaddy.com, Networksolution.com or Proemailaddress.com make a note of the date you register the domain name and put in on your calendar.

2. If you cannot remember who your domain name registrar is or you own the domain name but your webmaster registered it for you, do a whois search of your domain. Going to http://www.whois.net/ will allow you to put your domain name in their search box and find out when the domain name is set to expire.

3. If someone else registers your domain name, say your webmaster/web developer make sure they put your email address as the one that will be notified when the domain name is set to expire.

Most domain name registrars send you multiple reminder emails months in advance notifing you that your domain name is set to expire.

4. This may be something you may not want to do but I highly recommend doing it if you are given the option when registering your domain name. Register it for more than one year. Some registrars like proemailaddress.com will allow 10 year registrations of domain names.

5. Finally if you do get one of these letters in the mail from Domain Registry of America or any other company other than the one that you acctually registered your domain name with, throw it in the trash with the rest of the junk mail.

The Conversion to Linux hosting is On

Until recently all my websites have been hosted by a company that was using the Microsoft Window platform. At the time I chose a host that gave me the flexibility of creating multiple websites in a shared server environment. That was almost 5 years ago and the Microsoft IIS Server software was paramount and most dominant with the majority of hosted services.

I now have the need to use more applications that are built specifically for both the Linux and Mysql environment. I am currently converting all of my websites to Linux hosted environments. I was fortunate to choose a host that kept up with the times and was prepared enough to help me make this move rather seamlessly.

When I first looked to create a website I was looking for more of a personal website hosting company. Even though I was creating these websites for small businesses, I was treating them as my own property. What I should have been looking for is a business website hosting company. One that would give me the tools needed to keep my websites flourishing with activity.

Right now I am fairly happy with my current host but if I had to choose one that would give me the best of both worlds in a personal and a business website hosting company I would choose Burton Hosting. Burton hosting has all the makings of a complete host. By that I mean a hosting company that can give you all you need to be successfully and most of all reliably maintained.

Ipod vs Zune

I have been in the market for a portable mp3 player for a long time now. The Apple ipod nano has been the front runner for some time now but has come into question now that the new second generation Zunes from Microsoft have entered the market. Both come in 4gig and 8gig models. The one thing that keeps me debating whether or not to get the Zune over the ipod is the Wifi features. The Zune has Wifi sync and Wifi sharing. The ipod nano does not.

One other feature that makes me want the Zune over the ipod is that fact that I can put my Zune on any computer I want. I would be limited on putting my ipod on just one computer that is subscribed to itunes. This means I could download music and wirelessly sinc it to my Zune from any computer. I could only sinc to my ipod from my home computer that was registered with itunes.

Then I saw and ad for a refurbished ipod nano on couponchief.com that caught my eye and I could not resist the temptation to at least check it out. This ipod nano is only a 2gig unit but for only $79.00 is seam like a steal for a first time ipod buyer like me. If I can convince couponchief.com to give me the free shipping as well I think they may have a deal.

If I get the ipod for that price I can wait another year or so and see what the Zune does for its third generation of mp3 players. Maybe by then Microsoft would have caught up to the awesome attraction and innovation Apple has over it at this time.

Little Known Application Suite Zoho.com makes a Big Dent

If you are a small business and you are thinking of purchasing software to run your business like the most well known business suite of software made by Microsoft Office, then you may want to read on and take a better look at what is out there.

Microsoft Office for Windows which consist of a suite of software programs that include Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher and Power Point. These programs are the core of software used by many small to large businesses. The most well know of the suite and most widely used is Microsoft Word which is a word processing program.

Zoho.com is a web based service that offers their own suite of programs for businesses. The one great thing about these online programs is that most of them are absolutely FREE. I am currently using 5 of the 12 main programs Zoho Writer (Word Processor), Zoho Sheet (Spreadsheet Program) Zoho Planner (Online Organizer) Zoho Project (Project Manager) and last but not least Zoho CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) .

My favorite program right now is Zoho Planner. Zoho Planner is a way for me to keep track of my business ideas and personal goals with an automated to do list. It also lets me stay organized by storing my documents and images while also sending me email reminders on what I need to get done for the day. The one thing that sets these online programs apart from their off line competition is the ability to share and collaborate with others in your business.

At a press of a button I am sharing my to do list with my wife, my spreadsheet with my coworker and my latest invoice with my accountant. All one needs is an email address to be put on a list for sharing secure access to any of my Zoho suite of programs.

The only draw back to this great way of sharing thoughts, ideas and documents is the fact that you have to be on the Internet to use the programs. If for some reason you don't have a continuous connection to the Internet you can't do business. Here is where the off line Microsoft products have their advantage.

So as a business owner I would need to way the circumstances and needs of my business. If being able to access your work off line is important to you, and you want to sacrifice speed, mobility and collaboration, then the more traditional Microsoft products may be your way to go.

Zoho.com has me hooked on business in real time. I totally enjoy being online almost all the time and reaping the benefits updated information that I can get right now. I also enjoy not having to be tied to a desk to do my most important work. I can do my work whenever and where ever I please in the world that has an Internet connection.

Zoho.com suite of online programs will give your business an affordable, fast and mobile way to conduct its operations.