Daily Cup of Tech

Note: This blog entry is sponsored by LoudLaunch.

I was playing around with my home firewall the other day and I discovered that it has a serial port on it. Upon further examination, I discovered that I could hook an old modem up to it and if my Internet connection ever went down, it would automatically dial out and I would continue to have (slow) Internet access.

I though that this was a pretty cool idea, since I am completely lost without Internet access. Now, I definitely will not be able to run streaming videos this way but at least I can still access my e-mail and go a quick Google search.

I am fortunate enough that my Internet provider give me a free dial up account with my broadband connection. If you are not as fortunate, you can sign up for relatively inexpensive at dial-up service at locally or you could try a new startup company called PCDialup.com.

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Note: This blog entry is sponsored by LoudLaunch.

Are you a hardcore gamer? Can you complete every level of Half-Life in your sleep but still get lost on the way to the bathroom? Do you see an article on how to overclock your system and you are surprised to realize that there are some people who do not overclock their systems? If so, then FiringSquad.com is looking for you!

FiringSquad.com is looking for creative writers and videographers who are avid gamers and technologists to compete in a chance to win cash and prizes and ultimately content contracts with FiringSquad.com.creative writers and videographers who are avid gamers and technologists to compete in a chance to win cash and prizes and ultimately content contracts with FiringSquad.com.

FiringSquad.com is the premier website for the hardcore gamer. From the website:

FiringSquad continues to bring you the absolute latest in the world of PC technology, hardware, and the games that take advantage of them. In these pages you’ll find the rigorous and unbiased reviews and previews, technology guides, and up-to-date events coverage that you’ve come to expect from FS. Our roots have always been in hardcore gaming, and we believe that these gamers will be the ones to shape the communities, competitions, and industries of tomorrow.

The writing contest preliminaries end Wednesday February 28th. The video contest preliminaries end on February 25th and March 18th. So get your entries in now!

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

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As you may have noticed, I have added a new section to the sidebar on Daily Cup of Tech.  This is the new DCoT Discounts.  There are two purposes for DCoT Discounts:

1. To generate income for Daily Cup of Tech so that I can keep it running
2. To provide products to DCoT readers at a discounted price

I see this as a win-win situation for everyone.  If you are in the market for a product and it is available through DCoT, you may as well get it at a discount.  It also helps to keep DCoT going (which is starting to become a costly venture).

The other thing about products in the DCoT Discounts section is that they are actually products that I use.  I will not put a product in the DCoT Discounts section until I have worked with it and I feel that it is something of use.  Which is pretty difficult since I find that there are a lot of FOSS products out there that will do what you want them to do for nothing.

So, hopefully we can all see a benefit out of this.

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Note: This blog entry is sponsored by LoudLaunch.

Making money on the Internet is not always an easy prospect. The Internet, in many cases, has become a one way medium where people take from websites and then leave without returning any benefit to the website owner.

This is why I am skeptical about how successful Cafe.com is going to be.

From the Cafe.com website:

At Cafe.com, our mission is to provide the best gameplay and social experience available on the web. So we figured, why not give it away for free? Everyone likes free stuff right? All kidding aside, Cafe.com welcomes all players to enjoy our games without tricks or gimmicks. Simply stated, our profits come by providing an improved gameplay experience through the sale of additional items, power-ups, or other game enhancing objects. That means no spyware, no adware, no spam, none of that junk!

I think the other thing that is going to put people off from Cafe.com is the fact that you need to download a 12MB client file to play games online. There are a lot of other websites out there that require nothing more than Flash or Macromedia to play which will let you play all kinds of games.

Now, on a more positive note. The avatars do look very cool and if they get some really addictive games going, they could do quite well.

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Note: This blog entry is sponsored by LoudLaunch.

I don’t know about you but just by looking at the PC-VIP website, I think they may already be in trouble. According to the news campaign release:

PC-VIP is a revolutionary new service that alters the way computer support is delivered to small and medium business and traveling executives and artists/models/actors.

I’m not really sure what this means but they have at least until April 1st to figure it out since this is when they will be releasing their service. There isn’t much on their website but I guess that will change soon. It seems like they are putting a lot of effort into generating hype about this. In fact, I even received an e-mail from them back in January. They were trying to recruit new technical resources to support the people who actually do the work. Here is the letter I received:

Hello.

On April 1, 2007, a new concept in Computer Support will be rolled out across the United States and Europe. We believe that PC-VIP will turn the market for support services to the SMB space ON IT’S EAR.

We are looking for qualified support professionals to act as field personnel in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Austin, Seattle, and Washington DC, as well as in Paris France and Brussels, Belgium, immediately.

The money is big, and no kidding, this will be so big that it’s entirely likely that anyone who isn’t “with us” might find themselves with a bit of a problem professionally, pretty soon.

One catch: We aren’t supporting the computers, we’re supporting the people. This means that while your technical skills matter, your people skills matter even more.

Simple offer: let us know of your interest, and we’re going to put upward of $100K/year in your pocket, and probably make your life easier at the same time.

You know what to do . . .

–
Jeff Yablon
President & CEO
PC-VIP Inc.
http://www.pc-vip.com

I sent him a polite response indicating that I did not work out of any of the cities that he was interested in.

So, I decided to do some digging and it seems that Mr. Yablon has been quite busy. Here is his history taken from a Google cache of his webpage:

Jeff Yablon, renowned educational speaker and broadcaster, software author, and business development expert, has worked in concert with senior management of companies large and small to craft and deploy strategies for implementing technology and business processes for employees and customers. He has been developing PC-VIP for several years.

In March 2000 Mr. Yablon, a syndicated radio and internet talk show host, sold his equity positions in Denver-based Planet Computer Inc. and San Francisco’s PlusMedia Broadcasting, both of which operated using business models designed by him and implemented under his direct supervision. Doing business as PlanetUplink®, Planet Computer was one of the first Application Service Providers, and remained one of very few serving the small-to-medium-sized business space until its sale to a larger corporate entity. PlusMedia produced and distributed news and entertainment programming via the internet, broadcast radio, and television.

In a career spanning nearly two decades, Mr. Yablon has consistently remained at the forefront of the way information is delivered and absorbed—often recasting rules for entire industries and segments of society. In February 1999, It’s Your Money Inc., the holding company for Yablon’s consulting, broadcasting, and software development efforts, was acquired by Planet Computer Inc. As its President and Chief Operating Officer, Jeff integrated Planet’s application hosting and consulting divisions with both business and consumer-oriented broadcasting services.

An internationally recognized expert in computer implementation, Jeff has written for International Data Group’s PC World Magazine and performed as an on-air analyst for CBS Television News’ Up To The Minute. In 1989 he founded the world’s first electronic publication, and built IYM Software Review’s reader base to 300,000 through distribution agreements negotiated with CompuServe, America Online, and others. In 1995, Jeff created The Computer Answer Guy™ for delivery via broadcast radio and internet-based audio. In that persona, he pioneered techniques for delivering advertising to listeners via streaming media, and maximizing its impact.

Jeff is also the author of Uninstall for Windows™. Upon its introduction in 1992, UN4WIN gained worldwide acceptance as the best tool for safely and completely removing unwanted software from computers running Microsoft’s Windows® operating system.

During his two elected terms as President of the Computer Press Association, Jeff helped author ethics standards for the journalism community, and created guidelines for accrediting electronic journalists that were implemented by virtually the entire technology tradeshow industry.

Jeff studied Economics and Marketing at Dickinson College and Rutgers University.

There is even more information about him at his ZoomInfo page.

I am definitely going to be following to see where PC-VIP goes. Jeff seems like a man with a good business sense based on his history. Even if PC-VIP looks to be shaky at this point.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

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