Reference

References that I don’t want to forget. Tutorials, links, general information

4/29/2009

  • How I Do Niche Research

    During the years of running my online business I’ve come across a lot of different ways of doing online research.

    Lots of the info out there is pretty dumb.

    Dumb…meaning…it’s just not info that will help you know what’s good and what’s bad.
    Dumb…meaning…what they’re telling you XYZ means, just isn’t true.
    Dumb…meaning…”this does not help me pick a niche!”
    Dumb…meaning…”I will never do this because there’s nothing at all scientific about what you’re teaching me! and it’s too time consuming and there’s no way in the world I could have someone else do this for me.”

    So I’ve developed my own way of doing niche research.

    • it’s very scientific
    • the numbers are super meaningful
    • it’s easily outsourced (just give them this video!)
    • you will uncover GOLD using it

    Here it is for you:

    Get Flash to see this player.

    Here are some myths you’ll hear people say:

    • Use overture to find keywords
    • Look at the number of results returned by google to find how competitive a niche is. For example: (this tells you nothing!)

    I use this method when:

    • searching for new niches to enter (I create lots of spreadsheets on lots of different topics)
    • researching within a single niche to find out what keywords I should target
    • researching a market someone has brought to me as a “gazillion” dollar idea

    I outsource all of my research.

    UPDATE: I had someone tell me that what I said about the PPC ads isn’t clear. I’ll explain.
    In general, lots of PPC ads means there’s quite a bit of money to be made in that niche.
    If I want to run PPC ads for that niche, then having lots of PPC ads is not good. It means it’s very competitive and probably very expensive. I might want to run PPC ads if I KNOW I’m entering a niche but the pagerank is high and I can’t compete with SEO.
    On the other hand, if I discover a niche that has lots and lots of ads, but the pagerank is low, that means that the niche is very profitable (lots of ads = lots of money to be made) and that I don’t have to compete with the high bid prices due to the amount of ads. The low PR means that I can do SEO, get my site to the top, and get the traffic for free. In this case, the “lots of ads” is an invitation to me to enter that niche because it means the niche is profitable.

    digg this!

8/1/2007

  • Opening and Managing 2 Google Accounts in the Same Browser

    This is a follow-up to my post about why IE sucks so much.

    I figured out how to not use IE, and still be able to open multiple google (or gmail) accounts in Firefox at the same time.

    I had two different people tell me to use FF and Safari, which Apple just released for windows.

    I figured out how to do it in Firefox using profiles, along with a short hack.

    Normally, when you open up multiple Firefox windows, they share the same cookie data. If you’re logged in to one account on a website, and you open up another browser, you are automatically logged into that same account on that same website automatically. This is designed behavior in Firefox.

    To set this up to work first you need to create 2 profiles.

    • Close all your firefox windows
    • do Start -> Run and then run this command: “c:\program files\mozilla firefox\firefox” -ProfileManager
    • Create another profile using the profile manager
    • Create a shortcut to user your second profile (you need to know what you named it, and it is case sensitive)
    • Right click on the firefox icon on your desktop and select “create shortcut”
    • Right click on the new icon and select properties
    • The target field in the new window is something like: “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe”. Change it to be: “C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe” -P “YourProfileName” (where YourProfileName is the name of the new profile you just created)

    You’re now done creating the profiles.

    Now, you need to do the small hack.

    Go to Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables -> System Variables -> New

    In the 2 boxes, put MOZ_NO_REMOTE and 1 (so you are setting the environment variable MOZ_NO_REMOTE=1) and click ok, ok, ok.

    That’s it. When you open firefox normally (with the normal icon) it will open your default profile.
    When you click on the second shortcut (the one you just made), it will open your second profile.

    The two magically don’t share cookies, and now you can login to 2 gmail accounts at the same time, without using IE.

    This will also work with any other site (not just gmail and google accounts) that requires you to login.

    [tags]open two google accounts,open two gmail accounts, manage multiple accounts[/tags]

    digg this!

7/19/2006

  • ‘Tag and Ping’ Review

    Today I wrote a review of the product Tag and Ping.

    Because I thought the 112 page ebook could have been explained in about 4 pages, and because I thought the $147 price for it is ridiculous, I basically wrote a summary.

    That way, you don’t have to spend the $150 bucks buying it.

    Linked:
    Tag and Ping Review

    [tags]tag and ping,tag and ping review,tag,ping[/tags]

    digg this!

5/4/2006

  • Search and Replace in all files within a directory recursively on Linux

    Man…this was difficult.

    I have a directory on my computer (I run linux for my desktop) that has a bunch of directories in it. I needed to change one string in each of the files to be something else.

    I did this like 2 months ago but this time I had a really hard time finding the solution. I also remember that last time I tried like 6 different commands and none of them worked.

    So, to search recursively through directories, looking in all the files for a particular string, and to replace that string with something else (on linux), this command should work:

    find ./ -type f -exec sed -i ’s/string1/string2/’ {} \;

    Where string1 is the search string and string2 is the replace string.

    Just for future reference

    (also, it looks like my wordpress theme is stylizing those single quotes to look like something else. When I copied and pasted that onto the command line I got this error: sed: -e expression #1, char 1: unknown command: `
    I fixed it by replacing those ` (backtick) characters with single quotes)

    Note: Be sure to replace the ` (backtick) characters in all these commands with single quotes.

    [tags]search and replace, linux search and replace, recursive search and replace, sed, xargs[/tags]

    digg this!

3/3/2006

  • Setting the Hostname on Linux

    I’ve had to do this many times, and have never really found a good, definitive tutorial on this until now. Because of this, I decided to just copy and paste it into my blog in case they take it down at some point.

    The following came from: http://www.cpqlinux.com/hostname.html

    Checking your Linux host name

    First, see if your host name is set correclty using the following commands:

    uname -n
hostname -a
hostname -s
hostname -d
hostname -f
hostname

    If the above commands return correctly with no errors then all may be well;
    however, you may want to read on to verify that all settings are correct.

    Configuring /etc/hosts

    If your IP address is assigned to you by a DHCP server, then /etc/hosts is configured as follows:

    127.0.0.1	mybox.mydomain.com	localhost.localdomain localhost mybox

    If you have a static IP address, then /etc/hosts is configured as follows:

    127.0.0.1	localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.0.10	mybox.mydomain.com	mybox

    Setting the Host Name using “hostname”

    After updating the /etc/hosts file correctly, the “hostname” command should be run as follows to set your hostname:

    hostname mybox.mydomain.com

    Checking /etc/HOSTNAME (if present)

    You may or may not have the file /etc/HOSTNAME:

    mybox.mydomain.com

    Checking /etc/sysconfig/network

    If you have a static IP address, then /etc/sysconfig/network is configured as follows:

    NETWORKING=yes
HOSTNAME="mybox.mydomain.com"
...


    If your IP address is assigned to you by a DHCP server, and you wish to update the local DNS server through Dynamic DNS, then /etc/sysconfig/network is configured as follows:

    NETWORKING=yes
HOSTNAME="mybox.mydomain.com"
DHCP_HOSTNAME="mybox.mydomain.com"
...


    It makes more sense to move this “DHCP_HOSTNAME” variable into /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 (or appropriate NIC cfg file). So the above section has been moved, see below. If you have only 1 NIC, then the above struck section works fine, but with more than 1 NIC it makes no sense. Maybe this is true for the “‘HOSTNAME” line too, maybe that line should be moved into /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 as well. I will investigate further. By default RHL places HOSTNAME=localhost.localdomain in /etc/sysconfig/network.

    Checking /proc/sys/kernel/hostname

    This is checked with the following command:

    cat /proc/sys/kernel/hostname

    If you need to set this file, you can either reboot or set it now with the following command:

    echo mybox.mydomain.com > /proc/sys/kernel/hostname

    Dynamic DNS - Updating the local DNS server with your host name and DHCP IP

    For Red Hat Linux if you receive your IP address from a DHCP server, you may update the local DNS server by adding the following line to the correct ifcfg file in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts, such as ifcfg-eth0 or ifcfg-eth1:

    DHCP_HOSTNAME="mybox.mydomain.com"

    or if running Debian, edit /etc/network/interfaces as follows (adding the hostname line):

    
iface eth0 inet dhcp
    hostname mybox.mydomain.com
    digg this!

12/11/2005

  • Keys to Success - Jim Richie

    About 3 years ago I took an “Entrepreneurial Lecture Series” class at BYU. The class met once per week and had a different entrepreneurial speaker come each week and speak to us.

    After 3 years I only remember a few of the speakers, and remember less of what they spoke about. However, there was one speaker I distinctly remember because he

    1. Was a good speaker
    2. Gave useful advice

    I’ve never been able to remember who he was or exactly what his keys to success were, other than he said to get up early. Well, I just found my notebook from that semester and have been going through the notes I took from the speakers. Here are my notes from Jim Richie.

    Jim Richie
    Two formulas for success

    1. J. Paul Getty
      1. Get Up Early - Successful people get up early in the morning. They work while others are sleeping.
      2. Work Hard
      3. Find Oil - Real Estate, banking, internet - Anything can be oil.
    2. David B. Haight (his mission president, who gave this advice on his last day before going home)
      1. Get your education
      2. Make your mark - make a difference in the world
      3. Get prepared to be used / be of service

    The more credibility you have, the more opportunity you’ll have. That’s why you get an education.

    Putting all of those things together, Jim’s list was:

    1. Get up early - 6:30 am at the latest
    2. Work Hard
    3. Get your education - Respect/trust is easier to gain if you have a degree
    4. Find oil - Find something you can be the best at
    5. Make your mark
    6. Get prepared to be of service

    The sixth one is the only one that matters. That’s why you do the previous five, so that you can serve others.
    Make a lot of money and become financially independant so you can be of more service. You’re more useful to others if you don’t have to work.

    digg this!

6/30/2005

  • Enableing multiple IP addresses on a server

    This tutorial: HOWTO Enable multiple IP addresses does a wonderful job of explaining how to get a server to respond to multiple ip addresses.

    We just got a server that I’m the admin for (I hate doing server admin stuff) and I had to figure out how to get it to respond to multiple addresses.

    That was easy!

    digg this!

4/25/2005

  • EVDO StompBox Project

    Ever wanted to have online access anywhere you go? I currently do with my pda/phone, but the connection is so slow that it’s often discouraging. I simply don’t want to do certain things online with it because it’s so slow.

    This guy, however, has created a dream:

    EVDO StompBox Project

    So what’s a Stompbox, anyway?

    These web pages are about a project I’ve been working on. Put briefly, it’s a WWAN (Wireless Wide Area Network) router. In more human terms, it’s a compact little box that gets data from cellular towers and re-shares it for multiple computers to use.

    This project is SOOOOO cool I can’t wait for him to improve it so it becomes more accessable to the masses. I’ll almost guarantee that someone will commercialize this solution so that it becomes cheaper and more functional.

    The basics of the project are this:
    Get online using the verizon network ($80/month for unlimited access).
    The network functions between 100-600Kbps (between ISDN and DSL speeds)
    Add a custom wireless router to the system so you can get multiple computers onto the network
    Powered off the cigarette lighter of your car
    Add a webcam and have it post to a remote server every so often (live webcam in his car)
    Add a gps unit so he can track his car from anywhere (or…anyone can track his car from anywhere)
    Hack google maps so the tracking is cool

    The system runs a about 100kbps down / 30 up when in 1xRTT areas. This jumps to about 600kbps down / 120 up in EVDO. The price for this kind of service from Verizon is only about $30/mo for limited use or $80/mo, flat rate, all you can eat. This opens up a lot of possibilities:

    * Live vehicle tracking
    * Theft recovery
    * Remote site monitoring
    * Truck-fleet tracking
    * Asset management
    * Covert ops

    The system’s total cost is surprisingly low:

    * Soekris net4211: $180
    * Verizon 5220 card: Anywhere from $50-$150
    * CDMA antenna: $35
    * Pigtails/cables/adapters: $30
    * 802.11b card (optional): $80
    * 802.11b antenna (optional): $30
    * GPS (optional): $50-$200
    * Software: Open source! ($0)
    * Webcam: $50-$200

    Many of these prices are artificially high as I bought them retail and at single-quantity. Were you making a number of them (for, say, a fleet-tracking application) you could get the price down quite a bit. I’m working on such a solution for my truck-company-owning uncle right now.

    Currently I’m working on ways to get into the standard vehicle diagnostics port to give realtime tracking of car data to go with the position data. Other project ideas are things like simple serial-line terminals (or tapping into a consumer car-stereo to use it as a text display) to display things like traffic alerts or instant messages to a driver. Text-to-speech would be handy here as well. One could also use this system as a data backhaul for other existing car electronics projects such as an MP3 player (netradio in motion, anybody?) or live-update to an existing navigation product.

    Other upgrades in progress:

    * Bluetooth support (to give data to PDAs within the car)
    * Video router support (multiple cameras
    * VoIP car-to-car communications
    * Car-to-car auto update meshing:
    o Cars going the other way sending traffic reports as they pass you
    o Other cars sharing police/radar activity logs from radar detectors
    o Multi-car gaming for passengers
    * Auto-wardriving, storing/uploading wardriving data constantly while you drive without any user intervention, possibly adding into one of the global-wardrive databases

    digg this!

12/31/2004

  • PHP Newsletter software

    I’ve spent the last few days researching php software to handle newsletter mailing lists. After a lot of research, I found a really good one at

    http://www.phplist.com

    It’s called phplist. It has soooooo many features. Stuff like automatically have it send out an email to a list every week/day/month, have it auto populate the content of the mailing with an rss feed, multiple mailing lists, custom subscribe templates, custom subscriber data fields, email open tracking…, …, … The list goes on.

    digg this!

3/11/2004

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