A Life Lesson By Rick Butts

Hi and welcome back

In the book "The Leader In You" the writers devote a whole chapter to attitude.

The saying goes "change your attitude and you can change your life".

Rick reviews one story from the book "The Four Hour Work Week" that helps us to see the importance of our attitude.

Have a look...



As Rick says "it's all about FREEDOM"

for more of what I like:

check out my site.

and/or join my NETFRIENDS

email me anytime @ garydotgray

Till next post.

Smiles :o)

Gary

Learn How to Create Your Own Membership Site - Free Report

Learn How to Create Your Own Membership Site - Free Report: "

If there was one emerging trend spoken about more than anything else in the Make Money Blogging track at Blog World Expo it was ‘membership sites’. A number of sessions were directly on the topic while quite a few others touched on the topic (including the ones I spoke on).

It seems more and more bloggers are looking to expand in this way - whether it be by setting up teaching courses, starting paid forums or setting up areas where they offer subscribers exclusive content to paying subscribers.

By no means is it the only model to make money online - but it is one that more and more bloggers are looking towards and one that we’re even seeing more mainstream media doing also.

Yaro has this week relaunched a free report on the topic of Membership Sites - The Membership Site Mastermind Report.

The reports shares how Yaro uses membership sites to make a six figure income, how he runs the technology side of things, gives insights on how he gets members to stick on his sites and more. It’s a free report to anyone who gives an email address.

Yaro will be relaunching his Membership Site Mastermind course in the next week or so - but this report is free and contains useful information even if you go no further than downloading it and not going on with the full course.

PS: Get more free teaching on Membership Sites from Yaro in these two videos here and here. Also check out an interview Yaro did with Daniel Scocco on his $10,000 a month membership site.

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

Learn How to Create Your Own Membership Site - Free Report

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Wordpress 2.8.5 Upgrade

Wordpress 2.8.5 Upgrade: "

* Wordpress 2.8.5 Upgrade
Content powered by Maria Reyes-McDavis Social Media Marketing Blog *

Wordpress has released the latest version of it’s popular blogging platform that increases security and provides necessary fixes within its coding. All bloggers who are able (figure that out below), should upgrade to ensure your blog is not vulnerable to security risks.

Why Upgrade?

The version is considered a security upgrade and is mandatory for all Wordpress blogs run on self-hosted servers. The developers are calling this released a hardening release because it tightens up your blogs security. According to Wordpress.org the release addresses these key problems:

• A fix for the Trackback Denial-of-Service attack that is currently being seen.


• Removal of areas within the code where php code in variables was evaluated.


• Switched the file upload functionality to be whitelisted for all users including Admins.


• Retiring of the two importers of Tag data from old plugins.

To make it plain and simple, it fixes what needs to be fixed for your own good

Before the Upgrade

You should never just upgrade your Worpdress blog without doing due diligence before the upgrade, regardless of how large or small the upgrade is. Here’s a checklist I tell clients to follow before you begin your upgrade to help avoid any unnecessary drama:

Make sure all plugins are compatible with the upgrade. While you really only have to do this with major upgrades, like going from 2.6 to 2.8 — I say, why not just do it all the time to avoid issues. Complicated plugins can break with the smallest upgrades (like WP-Forum, WP Wishlist and WP eCommerce).

• Head on over to the plugin page and see if anyone has reported issues;


• and, search Wordpress.org for any reported issues.

Make sure your theme is compatible with the upgrade. Same issue as with plugins, not all themes are created equal. An upgrade can cause your theme to lose structure and cause custom coding to malfunction.

• Head on over to your theme designers main page and search for reported issues;


• and, search Wordpress.org for reported issues.

Always backup your blog database first. Always. If you own a Wordpress blog and do not know how to do this, you are a sitting duck. Take the time to learn it, now. If you’re using a hosting service like GoDaddy, you can easily backup any database with a click and if you don’t know how, call them — now. Wordpress also provides manual backup instructions that are fairly easy to follow.

Deactivate all plugins while upgrading. This will ensure that if you have missed potential conflicts in your due diligence, you won’t cause any serious problems. The key here is to then reactivate them one-by-one to ensure everything is groovy. You can simply “select all” and deactivate in one full swoop.

Do the Upgrade

You have three choices when deciding to upgrade:

1. Do an automatic upgrade through your hosting provider;


2. Complete the manual upgrade, detailed instructions here;


3. or, use the automatic upgrade feature within your blog dashboard.

Our team always completes the manual upgrade. It gives us more control over the process and ensures the upgrade is not hung up through the blog itself.

Get on with life…

That’s it! Now go and do something groovy for yourself

"

Barnes & Noble Nook is Official — Knocks the Kindle to the Curb

Barnes & Noble Nook is Official — Knocks the Kindle to the Curb: "

The much ballyhooed e-book reader from Barnes & Noble is now officially announced. The Nook is smaller and thinner than I originally thought and from the photos and promotional video is pretty darn nice. The 6-inch E-Ink screen is indeed augmented with a small color LCD touchscreen at the bottom. This screen is used to interact easily with the Nook, making it simpler to operate than other readers.

The Nook has free 3G via AT&T which is used to shop for and download books to the reader. The Nook can be synced with other Barnes & Noble readers and devices, making it as versatile as the Amazon Kindle. Nook owners can lend e-books to friends for 14 days by “squirting” them to the friend’s reader, cell phone or computer. B&N is also touting the availability of free content available while in B&N stores.

The Nook can be pre-ordered now, but a firm shipping date has not been specified by B&N. The Nook is $259 with free shipping.

Specs:

• Height: 7.7 inches


• Width: 4.9 inches


• Depth: 0.5 inches


• Weight: 11.2 ounces (317 grams)


• Wi-Fi


• 3G – AT&T


• 2GB internal storage, microSD slot


• MP3 player


• 3.5mm headphone jack


• internal mono speaker


• USB charging, 3.5 hour charge time


• Android OS

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Growing mobile data use turned up heat on carriers in Q3. Read the, 'Mobile Q3 Wrap-up.'

"

Google Analytics Becomes More Powerful, Flexible and Intelligent

Google Analytics Becomes More Powerful, Flexible and Intelligent: "

Google is rolling out some useful enhancements to its already useful and powerful Google Analytics tool. These new features give the Analytics tools more power, flexibility and intelligence.

Here are the highlights of the new features of Google Analytics:

• Addition of two new goal types for measuring user engagement and branding success that allows webmasters to set thresholds for Time on Site and Pages per visit. Up to 20 goals can now be defined.


• Improved tracking of mobile websites and mobile apps on mobile devices even if the device is running Javascript or not. This was made possible through the addition of a server side code snippet on mobile websites using Google Analytics


• Addition of Advanced Table Filtering feature for advance data analysis and for filtering rows in a table based on different metric conditions


• Creation of Custom Report with the option to select Unique Visitors as a measurement against any Google Analytics dimension


• Multiple custom variables, sharing segments and custom report templates for enterprise adaptation of Google Analytics. These tools provide customization options for enterprise Google Analytics usage

These are the highlights of the enhancements that were done to Google Analytics but the most interesting new feature is perhaps the Analytics Intelligence. This new feature provides automatic alerts when there are significant changes in the data patterns of site metrics and dimensions on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Analytics Intelligence will prompt you on the most significant indicator that you should pay attention to. This will give you more time on doing corrective action to the issues highlighted by Google Analytics.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Google Analytics Becomes More Powerful, Flexible and Intelligent

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Top 4 Takeaways from Blogworld Expo - #BWE09

Top 4 Takeaways from Blogworld Expo - #BWE09: "

The last two days, I attended BlogWorld Expo, held in Las Vegas. The show covered a wide range of topics interesting to bloggers and podcasters, including topics for bloggers who want to turn their new media efforts into commercial successes, newbies wanting to get started and companies trying to develop strategies and processes for working with social media. I focused my time on the tracks relating to turning your blog or podcast into a commercial success.

From those tracks, I came away with four key takeaways for bloggers and podcasters who are trying to become commercial successes at what they do.

1. You have to be willing to work hard. Whether you’re trying to break through or already well known, you need to put in the hours to make it work. The evidence suggests that the most successful bloggers 3-5 times every day. Whether it’s blogging, podcasting, video, or micro-blogging, consistently producing lots of content is a key component of success.

2. You need to be the expert, or a least perceived as the expert. And you need to put in the time to stay ahead of others in your field. Expertise leads to credibilty which can lead to trust and conversion.

3. You need to develop and follow a process for successful new media marketing, capturing attention, engaging your audience, building influence and ultimately getting your audience to take action. I saw a great presentation on the topic from Jason Van Orden and will be providing detailed notes in a later post, so stay tuned.

4. Most of us need produce a signature product to be commercially successful. Making money via advertising just doesn’t seem to pay enough to make it work unless you have a huge audience. Whether it be an ebook, a coaching class or a continuity program, product seems to be the way people make good money. If you can develop a successful continuity program, that seems to be the most lucrative product.

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Windows 7: A Graphics Powerhouse

Windows 7: A Graphics Powerhouse: "Microsoft's new operating system takes a step towards the dream of GPU computing."

The Lost Art of Focus: Multi-tasking vs. Mono-tasking

The Lost Art of Focus: Multi-tasking vs. Mono-tasking: "

Further research continues to indicate that focusing on more than one task at a time actually decreases productivity and may jeopardize the fundamental quality of our work and communication. But this data seems to contradict what many people hold as the vision of a fully engaged and adapted 21st century worker.

The people who engage in media “multitasking” are those least able to do so well, according to researchers. This recent BBC article examines the results of a study done at Stanford University.

And this NPR radio segment also highlights some enlightening research into multi-tasking.

But in today’s workplace, and even just in our day to day lives in the information age, a certain amount of multi-tasking is unavoidable. So it seems the skill to develop is knowing when, where, and what to multi-task. Ali Hale weighs in with what I feel is a reasonable and well thought out opinion in her article ‘Multi-Tasking vs. Mono-Tasking’:

So how do you know when you should “multi-task” and when you should “mono-task”? And how do you manage to do the latter? Some things lend themselves brilliantly to multi-tasking. These tend to be activities which are purely physical, or which by their nature take a set amount of time to complete – however well you focus.

All of this has given me food for thought – as I am a person who is prone to multi-tasking and have convinced myself that I am pretty good at the juggling routine. In fact, I half-jokingly said to my brother just the other day, ‘I’ve got to focus, no more multi-tasking, from now on I’m only going to do two or three things at a time.’

So, here’s a little eye-opening challenge if you feel the same way: try this online game called MULTITASK and see if it might start to change your opinion.

"

Inspirational Destinations: Location Independent in Costa Rica

Inspirational Destinations: Location Independent in Costa Rica: "

Image by Peter Sheik

In this month’s Inspirational Destinations post, we’ve interviewed the author of the brand new Little LIP Guide to Nosara about Costa Rica as a Location Independent destination.

It’s a place already pretty popular with LIPs and Nancy Sun explains why…

Can you briefly introduce yourself & your business?

I am a new location independent professional. This summer, I let go of my Wall Street career to become a certified yoga instructor and professional freelance writer. Online, I am parlaying my 10+ years of personal blogging experience to launch the health and wellness blog HappinessPie.com. Its mission is to inspire conscious living on and off the yoga mat.

You wrote a great guide on Nosara, Costa Rica for us, how long have you spent in Costa Rica so far & what made you first visit?

I have visited Costa Rica three times; my last trip ended in August and lasted just under 3 months. My first visit in Winter 2007 was by accident: I was planning to go to Thailand but by the time I finally got employer approval, however, ticket prices had skyrocketed!

In search of closer, more budget-friendly tropical waters, I booked a flight to Costa Rica. I immediately fell in love with the country and have been spending increasingly longer periods of time there. I am returning this November for 6 months!

I am not alone in my love of Costa Rica. This summer, the country was named “The Happiest and Greenest Place to Live” by the New Economics Foundation. The Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica also recently received a lot of attention as a ‘blue zone’ where people are scientifically regarded to live the longest, healthiest lives. The town of Nosara is located on this peninsula.

How LIP-friendly is Costa Rica in your experience? What about Spanish? Is it a must-have or can you get by with just the basics?

I find Costa Rica to be very LIP-friendly. All the towns I have visited have Internet cafes and high-speed wireless is increasingly common.

LIPs have greatly benefited from Costa Rica’s $1.92 billion tourism industry. It is currently the most visited country in Central America. There is also a real estate development push here to market the country as a great place for a vacation, second, or retirement home. As such, many towns are creating infrastructure to accommodate the ‘first world’ technological amenities that LIPs need to thrive.

Linguistically, Spanish is not a ‘must have.’ English gets many people by. In fact, I have had many friends who’ve spent years here and bemoan that their Spanish should be better. That said, even attempting basic Spanish is looked well upon and can get you far. I’m not fluent myself and have not had any problems.

Image by Wha’ppen

Nosara sounds like a fantastic place – where else would you recommend in Costa Rica?

I would recommend Santa Teresa / Malpais, which recently got press for being the site of American football player Tom Brady and Supermodel Gisele Bundchen’s second wedding ceremony. That said, however, Santa Teresa is far from glitz and glamour – it is a small, friendly, and heavily surf-oriented beach town that is very LIP-friendly with several free wifi hotspots.

Well-known American tourist spot Tamarindo (and its surrounding beaches) is also highly LIP-friendly though more commercialized. Burger King and the American pizza chain Papa John’s have both recently set up shop. Puerto Viejo is alluring for those who want to see the Caribbean side and seek calmer, snorkel- and scuba dive- friendly waters.

As a place to visit, I recommend Arenal: the view of the volcano and its surrounding l hot springs, Tabacon ($$) or Thermopolis ($) are worth a weekend trip.

As a tourist, what’s been your best experience so far?

I’ve had many good experiences in Costa Rica: I’ve done the requisite rainforest zipline and canopy tour, jumped off waterfalls in Montezuma and learned to surf almost daily while gazing at sunsets over the Pacific ocean.

My best experience, however, was an impromptu 5-hour hitchhike I made from Nosara to the neighboring beach town of Playa Grande. My friend Jordan and I missed the public bus and rather than take a taxi, decided to see how far we could get depending on the kindness of strangers.

The verdict was ‘all the way.’ In addition to watching the passing scenery, I loved seeing who stopped, who didn’t, and meeting everyone who nudged us in the right direction in-between. I even made a video about my experience.

This hitchhike was a great experience as it was one of many events this year that helped me make my decision to live unconventionally.

Image by ChrisGoldNY

What challenges or drawbacks would you mention for anyone (LIPs) considering living or visiting Costa Rica?

LIPs should protect their valuables and passports. While Costa Rica has a low violent crime rate, petty theft is high. I have come across quite a few travelers who have had items stolen – even if that means just your flip flops on the beach!

Foreigners can get lulled into a false sense of security here because the locals are friendly, many of the towns are small, and they themselves are in a vacation state of mind. Don’t be fooled!

There is still an economic disparity between first world travelers and many of the locals in this developing country. Always make sure your residence is secure and lock your laptop, camera, mp3 players, etc. in a safe when not in use.

Any final insider tips or words of wisdom for LIPs visiting or wanting to live in Costa Rica?

While in transit from one town to another, let go of any expectations of the time you will arrive. Direct public buses may stop for locals and you might find a deep riverbed intersecting the very road you need to cross.

Be flexible and patient; things always work themselves out. You will get to your final destination – even if it means getting towed by the Costa Rican Off Road 2008 Champion in the Four Cyclinder Jeep category (as once happened to my friend)!

As the Ticos say, pura vida!

Are you interested in visiting Costa Rica as a Location Independent Professional? Do you want the low-down on one of the best places to head to, written by Nancy (interviewed above)?

We’ve just released the The Little LIP Guide to Nosara, available for instant download.

Related posts:

1. Inspirational Destinations: Location Independent in Barbados
2. Inspirational Destinations: An Interview With A LIP In Shanghai
3. An Interview About Being Location Independent In Istanbul, Turkey

"

Next Generation Is for the Cloud?

Next Generation Is for the Cloud?: "

Could anyone rely on the clouds some years ago? And nowadays we have an innovation that can save much time and lots of money.

The term “Cloud” was first borrowed from telephony. Telephone companies were able to offer Virtual Private Network (VPN) based services with the same guaranteed bandwidth as fixed circuits at a lower cost because they could switch traffic to balance utilization as they saw fit, thus utilizing their overall network bandwidth more effectively. The term “telecom cloud” was used to describe this type of networking, and cloud computing is conceptually somewhat similar.

The concept of cloud computing dates back to 1960 when John McCarthy said that “computation may someday be organized as a public utility”. The term cloud had already come into commercial use in the early 1990 and in 1995 General Magic launched a short-lived cloud computing product. By the turn of the 21st century, the term “cloud computing” began to appear more widely and nowadays it includes three categories such as: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

A cloud service has three distinct characteristics that differentiate it from traditional hosting. It is sold on demand, typically by the minute or the hour; it is elastic – a user can have as much or as little of a service as they want at any given time; and the service is fully managed by the provider.

A cloud can be private or public. A public cloud sells services to anyone on the Internet. A private cloud is a proprietary network or a data center that supplies hosted services to a limited number of people. When a service provider uses public cloud resources to create their private cloud, the result is called a virtual private cloud. Anyway the goal of cloud computing is to provide easy, scalable access to computing resources and IT services. The majority of cloud computing infrastructure consists of reliable services delivered through data centers and built on servers with different levels of virtualization technologies. The services are accessible anywhere that provides access to networking infrastructure.

Cloud computing customers do not generally own the physical infrastructure serving as host to the software platform in question. They consume resources as a service and pay only for what they really use.

Cloud computing is criticized for limiting the freedom of users and making them dependent on the cloud computing provider. Even if data are securely stored in a cloud, many factors can temporarily disrupt access to the data, such as network outages, denial of service attacks against the service provider, and a major failure of the service provider infrastructure.

In spite of the fact that cloud computing limits the freedom of users and makes them dependent on the cloud computing provider, it still remains a reliable service accessible anywhere that provides access to networking infrastructure.

Kristina Frangulyan is a Marketing Specialist at Monitis Inc. She has graduated the faculty of philology and a pedagogy (Armenian, Russian, Spanish, English). Her interests include Search Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media , Marketing itself.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Next Generation Is for the Cloud?

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