More update from duelsBot

Wow, now they put up the duelsBot demo to show how it works!

http://duelsbot.selfip.com/demo

duelsBot on duels.com

It definitely had been a while since my last post, again! I've been busy with work and got addicted to online RPG game called duels.com! If you don't know or never heard of duels.com go take a look! It's fun and very VERY addictive!

As I mentioned, I want to play but don't really have time to level up and doing all the boring work, I found this site where it provide a automated bot called duelsBot which automate everything (well almost)! You simply configure few things, if you want to customize some actions, and run the duelsBot.

It pick-up all the player in the range and skirmish through them and collect Gold/Tokens/Experiences for you. It even accept and place challenge if you want it to. What's better is that it can place challenge with action if you want it to. Additionally, when you accept the challenge, it auto-detects action (if it is action challenge) and apply the actionset before accepting the challenge! More Gold/Token/Experience for you to spend.

What's more is that you can run it in the background and still use the browser to browse the web in different tab(s)! It's a great time saver and let you enjoy everything else! =)

http://duelsbot.selfip.com

Famous Entrepreneurial Quotes

The Cheap Revolution have article Top 20 Entrepreneurial Quotes recently wrote which have inspired me as well. Lots of quotes does provide good guide lines and common senses. However, some are not so intuitive which add more values.

Here's the quote:

1. I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work - Thomas Edison, inventor and scientist
2. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary - Vidal Sassoon, entrepreneur
3. Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won't, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't - Anonymous
4. A good idea is ten percent implementation and hard work, and luck is 90 percent -€? Guy Kawasaki, entrepreneur, investor, author
5. Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory - Mahatma Gandhi, political and spiritual leader
6. Failure defeats losers, failure inspires winners - Robert T. Kiyosaki, author, entrepreneur, investor
7. Entrepreneurs average 3.8 failures before final success. What sets the successful ones apart is their amazing persistence - Lisa M. Amos
8. Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life - John F. Kennedy, U.S. President
9. In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable - Dwight E. Eisenhower, U.S. President
10. The greatest reward in becoming a millionaire is not the amount of money that you earn. It is the kind of person that you have to become to become a millionaire in the first place - Jim Rohn
11. Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them - Anonymous
12. Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make - Donald Trump, real estate and entertainment mogul
13. The entrepreneur in us sees opportunities everywhere we look, but many people see only problems everywhere they look. The entrepreneur in us is more concerned with discriminating between opportunities than he or she is with failing to see the opportunities -€? Michael Gerber, author, entrepreneur
14. An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he'll quickly learn how to chew it - Roy Ash, co-founder of Litton Industries
15. The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer - Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's
16. I will tell you how to become rich. Close the doors. Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful - Warren Buffet, investor and billionaire
17. I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others... I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent - Thomas Edison, inventor and scientist
18. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover - Mark Twain, author
19. There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose the ventures before us - William Shakespeare, author
20. Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration - Thomas Edison, inventor and scientist

Here are our quotes:

Being an entrepreneur is a lot like playing poker -€? you can fold, limp in, or go for it - Yasmine Mustafa

If you kick it around enough, it starts to look like a ball - Skip Shuda

Drupal Useful References

For those of you who are thinking of using Drupal to build your sites, here are some useful references that you can use to get things started. Drupal is a great Content Management Tool (CMT). With it's flexibility and great community, there is almost nothing that it can't do.

Drupal Terminology
Drupal Handbooks
Drupal API reference
Drupal usage lessons (With videos and class notes)
Drupal Cookbook (for beginners)
HowTo turn your drupal website to video host site as Youtube
HowTo: Add drop down menus to your site



Technorati Tags: tutorial, reference

PHP resources for developers

Nikolas from webdigity forum have posted 10 projects every php developer should use which provides very good list of tools that can save developers hundred of hours of development time. Quoted list is shown below.

Sending Emails

Sending emails is something very common for every web site. Php's mail() function is good for this, but what if you want to attach a file, or send through an SMTP server, etc? Well in that case you should use phpmailer.

User Manipulation

Another common module is the user module. With that you can manipulate users (login, logout, register, etc.) Personally I've never found a project that is good enough, so I created my own Php user class is a module that can be used even in established projects, as it uses variable data for database tables, fields, session variables, etc.

Fetching RSS Feeds

Ever wanted to fetch an rss feed from your project? Well there is always an easy way to fetch a feed but in most cases you need more than that. When that is the case you should definitely use Magpie RSS.

Geotargeting

There are many times that you need to know where are your visitors coming from. Maxmind gives a solution to this. For a complete tutorial check this article.

Grabbing Remote Content

Some times RSS is not enough so you need to grab the content of a web page and parse it. If you are a huge fun of preg you should not continue reading, but if you are not you definitely need the htmlSQL class. The htmlSQL class allow you to access html values with SQL code. Nice huh?

Trackback

Sending and receiving trackbacks is vital for a web site in our age. And in fact it is very easy if you are using a class like php trackback.

Template System

Another thing that all sites use is a template. A template engine can save you lots of time, while it can make display changes very easy. A complete template engine that most projects use is Smarty.

BBcode

BBcode used to be a functionality for forums, but as more and more sites use it in order to be more friendly to their users, you might want to use BBcode to your site. The problem is that BBcode requires a lot of coding and I am not sure if you have the time for this. If you don't you'll find StringParser_BBcode class very useful

Paypal Payment Integration

As you may know paypal has a nice API for developers who want to integrate paypal payments in their sites. The paypal IPN integration class helps you make use of it and start accepting payments in 20 minutes.

Editor Controls

I don't have a problem to make changes to a site using phpMyAdmin or a simple text area, but when it comes to my clients I have to give them more than that. A javascript WYSIWYG editor is a perfect solution but as it requires countless hours to get it done I would suggest you to use the tinyMCE control.


Technorati Tags: php, article, tutorial

AJAX solutions for developer who do not have much time at hand.

The Smashing Magazine put togather 80+ AJAX-Solutions For Professional Coding that can save many Many hours of development time! The topic that is being covered are as follows:

AJAX Auto Completer
AJAX Instant Edit
AJAX Menus, Tabs
AJAX Date, Time, Calendars
AJAX Interactive Elements
AJAX Developer’s Suite
Enhanced AJAX Solutions
Ajax Forms
AJAX Grids, Tables
AJAX Lightboxes, Galleries, Showcases
Visual Effects, Animation
Useful Basic JavaScripts
Galleries, Resources

Technorati Tags: article, reference, resource

Web business competition research tools

Now, lots of businesses are getting online and because of ease of starting a web based business, more and more people are gathering their ideas and coming on board to business 2.0. Because of this fact, competition is getting fierce and knowing thyself and your competitor is becoming very important to be able to position yourself in the market and being successful.

Jessica Hupp from virtualhosting put together a great list of online tools that you can do to gather more intel on your competitors in the article Webmaster Intel Basics: 25 Tools to Compile an In-Depth Dossier on a Competitors’ Site. The major quotes on the list are as follows:

Domain Name and Ownership Intel

1. Whois: Check out the Whois on your competitors to find how who owns the site and where they operate. You can also gather contact information through this tool.
2. Mark Alert: Mark Alert lets you know if a domain name is registered with a term or phrase that may violate your trademark. This can help you defend your trademark and make sure that competitors don’t get too close.
3. Company Profile Report: Look up a competitor’s Company Profile Report to get information on sales and contacts. This can be used as a comparison tool.
4. Domain History: Domain History allows you to see the historic ownership of any site. In the case of private registrations, you can view contact information for the site before it was privatized.

Traffic Intel

5. Compete: Compete offers SnapShots of any site. They provide visitor information, growth and traffic counts, If you register, you can compare up to 5 sites at once, save them to a portfolio, and vote to rank sites.
6. Alexa: Alexa’s Traffic Rankings offer stats on the percentage of internet users who visit a site, its traffic rank and page views. You can compare up to 5 sites at a time on Alexa’s Traffic Graph, too.
7. Search Engine Optimization Analysis Tool: Use the SEO Analysis tool to see how a search engine spider sees any website. This is a great way to discover your competitor’s SEO weaknesses and consider how you can improve on your own.
8. Statsaholic: Statsaholic’s website statistics offer information on competitors’ ranks, page views and more. You can create a permalink to any site’s stats for quick reference at a later date.

Hosting Intel

9. Who is Hosting This?: Who is Hosting This? offers a way for you to find out who is hosting any domain name. Whether they’re just using Blogger, a traditional host, or running their own server, you’ll be able to find out.
10. WebSitePulse: WebSitePulse monitors how fast a website’s host is. Find out response time, size and more.

Marketing Intel and Backlinks

11. SpyFu: SpyFu’s web scraping tools let you know how much your competitors are spending on pay per click ads so that you have a reference point to work from. You can also find out how many clicks per day they get and which keywords they are advertising for.
12. URLtrends: URLtrends provides SEO data like Page Rank, incoming links, ranking trends and more.
13. Backlink Checker: Find out who your competitors are sharing links with and use this information to set up link trades of your own.
14. Market Leap: Another SEO tool, Market Leap lets you test the ranking of a competitor’s pages. You can enter your own URL and see how it compares with up to 3 competitors’ sites at a time.

Trademarks and Filings Intel

15. Trademark Electronic Search System: Use the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to perform basic, boolean and advanced searches for trademarks.
16. SEC Filings and Forms: Check out the Securities and Exchange Commission’s database for company filings.
17. Patent Electronic Business Center: Search the patent office’s records for full-text and full-page image returns on your competitors’ issued and published patent applications.

Public Relations

18. Better Business Bureau: Search the Better Business Bureau’s database for reliability reports on your competitors. You can search by name, address, and phone. You can even check out businesses of a specified type within a certain mile radius.
19. KnowX: Use KnowX to search lawsuit public records by defendant, plaintiff, case number, date and type of case.

Financials

20. Credit eValuator Report: The Credit eValuator Report gives information on creditworthiness and payment history. Using this tool, you’ll be able to find out if your competitor is struggling or flourishing.
21. Business Background Report: The Business Background Report provides information on a company’s history, background, operation and data on senior management.
22. Yahoo! Finance: If your competitor is a publicly traded company, you can check out stock quotes and analysis on them using Yahoo! Finance.
23. BusinesScope: Use BusinesScope to directly compare your financials and credit with your competitors. This report is good for a year and updated quarterly.

Browser Compatibility and Accessibility

24. Watchfire WebXACT: WebXACT tests the quality, accessibility and privacy of single webpages.
25. Wave 3.0: Wave 3.0 tests website compatibility with WCAG 1.0 and Section 508.
26. Browsershots: Use Browswershots to see how any website looks in various browsers like Firefox, Safari and Iceweasal.
27. Ready.mobi: Ready.mobi lets you test any web page to see how it will look on mobile phone browsers.

Technorati Tags: article, business 2.0, competition, intel, web

Web site design and development using open source codes

Recently, I got real interested in developing my own web site so I started digging into them since I do not have time to implement from fresh. I was looking into Content Management Tools like Joomla for one example. Installation was breeze but I still need something that give me overview of what will be necessary and what would be required to have the implementation and deployment of the site that can work.

During my search, I ran into IBM developer network which has Using open source software to design, develop, and deploy a collaborative Web site. It shows you from beginning to the end of what you need to do in step by step fashion. This is exactly what I was looking for and I suggest you to take a look at these if you are interested in developing your own website or web business!

It shows that it is utilizing the following tools:

• 
  Drupal. An open source content management system
• MySQL. An open source database store
• PHP. A Web-based language for supporting dynamic content with PHPMyAdmin and SQLBrowse
• Apache. An open source Web server
• Eclipse. An open source development environment
• CVS. A source code management system that tracks changes in your code

This is basics of what is covered in 15 part articles that they published:

• Building your development environment
• Getting started with Drupal
• Observing the interaction of Drupal with other software tools (such as MySQL, Ajax, and PHP)
• Building custom Drupal modules
• Deploying and tuning your installation

Each of the topics of each part is illustrated here:

Part 1: Introduction and overview
July 2006
This first article introduces the business scenario and describes the factors that drove the Internet Technology Group team to choose open source tools and Drupal over other content management systems available today.

Part 2: Design for an effective user experience
July 2006
Follow along as the Internet Technology Group team redesigns an existing Web site, analyzing business goals and users' goals, evaluating the existing site, and iteratively refining alternative solutions based on user feedback.

Part 3: Building your development environment in Windows

August 2006
Install and configure in this tutorial all the software necessary
to develop a Drupal-based Web site in Windows, including Eclipse, PHP,
and more. When you're done, you will have a blank development canvas
that you can use for any development project.

Part 4: Building your development environment in Linux
August 2006
Install and configure in this tutorial all the software necessary to develop a Drupal-based Web site in Linux, including Eclipse, PHP, and more. When you're done, you will have a blank development canvas that you can use for any development project.

Part 5: Getting started with Drupal
August 2006
Learn about the Drupal programming model used in developing Web sites, and explore different types of content, developing new features using modules, implementing hooks to enable those modules, and site URL design.

Part 6: Building a custom module in Drupal
September 2006
Create a custom Drupal module for announcements. Learn about implementation and use code samples to create your own custom module.

Part 7: Structuring content for theming using XHTML
October 2006
Explore methods to structure content delivered by Drupal during the development of a new extranet Web site.

Part 8: Styling content for theming using CSS
October 2006
Learn methods for structuring the content of a new extranet Web site, including how to change the presentation and styling of the content delivered by Drupal.

Part 9: Understanding the database layer
October 2006
Discover best practices for module developers. Get details about using the Drupal database functions. And implement the necessary code to support a new database -- IBM DB2® Express-C.

Part 10: Adding features for an extranet Web site
November 2006
Define an extranet to meet client requirements and explore implementation techniques to create an extranet Web site.

Part 11: Using taxonomies in Drupal
December 2006
Use the taxonomy system in Drupal to provide structure to your Web site, which in turn helps support navigation and organization of your content.

Part 12: Hosting and deployment
December 2006
Investigate the issues surrounding deployment of a Drupal site using virtualization technologies. Find out why the team opted to go with virtualization in this scenario and which hosting options you should consider for your own Web site.

Part 13: PHP development within Eclipse
January 2007
Use the Eclipse integrated development environment to create your Web site, with a focus on Eclipse's support for PHP and using Concurrent Versions System (CVS) for version control.

Part 14: The announcement module source code
March 2007
Get the complete announcement module that is used as an example throughout this series. All the functions from this module are included and can be downloaded in a single file.

Part 15: Lessons learned and what's new in Drupal
April 2007
You've completed the process of developing a Web site using open source Drupal driven by Apache, PHP, and MySQL. Find out which decisions and approaches worked or didn't work for the team, and the latest in Drupal 5.0.

Technorati Tags: article, tutorial, reference, open source, design

Common interview questions and how you should answer them

The wisebread put together How to answer 23 of the most common interview questions. Lots of these are common sense, specially to people who have gone through few interviews themselves. However, it is always good to check them and double check before you do go into any interviews.

In particular, last item about asking questions at the end, I really really strongly recommend that you should always have at least few questions ready. Addition to what's being said in the quote below, the questions that you will ask the interviewer your genuine interest in the company and the available position as well as part of your personality. The worst thing that you can do is tell the interviewer that you do not have any questions...

Here is the quote on 23 items that is discussed:

1. So, tell me a little about yourself.
I’d be very surprised if you haven’t been asked this one at every interview. It’s probably the most asked question because it sets the stage for the interview and it gets you talking. Be careful not to give the interviewer your life story here. You don’t need to explain everything from birth to present day. Relevant facts about education, your career and your current life situation are fine.

2. Why are you looking (or why did you leave you last job)?
This should be a straightforward question to answer, but it can trip you up. Presumably you are looking for a new job (or any job) because you want to advance your career and get a position that allows you to grow as a person and an employee. It’s not a good idea to mention money here, it can make you sound mercenary. And if you are in the unfortunate situation of having been downsized, stay positive and be as brief as possible about it. If you were fired, you’ll need a good explanation. But once again, stay positive.

3. Tell me what you know about this company.
Do your homework before you go to any interview. Whether it’s being the VP of marketing or the mailroom clerk, you should know about the company or business you’re going to work for. Has this company been in the news lately? Who are the people in the company you should know about? Do the background work, it will make you stand out as someone who comes prepared, and is genuinely interested in the company and the job.

4. Why do you want to work at X Company?
This should be directly related to the last question. Any research you’ve done on the company should have led you to the conclusion that you’d want to work there. After all, you’re at the interview, right? Put some thought into this answer before you have your interview, mention your career goals and highlight forward-thinking goals and career plans.

5. What relevant experience do you have?
Hopefully if you’re applying for this position you have bags of related experience, and if that’s the case you should mention it all. But if you’re switching careers or trying something a little different, your experience may initially not look like it’s matching up. That’s when you need a little honest creativity to match the experiences required with the ones you have. People skills are people skills after all, you just need to show how customer service skills can apply to internal management positions, and so on.

6. If your previous co-workers were here, what would they say about you?
Ok, this is not the time for full disclosure. If some people from your past are going to say you’re a boring A-hole, you don’t need to bring that up. Stay positive, always, and maybe have a few specific quotes in mind. “They’d say I was a hard worker” or even better “John Doe has always said I was the most reliable, creative problem-solver he’d ever met.”

7. Have you done anything to further your experience?
This could include anything from night classes to hobbies and sports. If it’s related, it’s worth mentioning. Obviously anything to do with further education is great, but maybe you’re spending time on a home improvement project to work on skills such as self-sufficiency, time management and motivation.

8. Where else have you applied?
This is a good way to hint that you’re in demand, without sounding like you’re whoring yourself all over town. So, be honest and mention a few other companies but don’t go into detail. The fact that you’re seriously looking and keeping your options open is what the interviewer is driving at.

9. How are you when you’re working under pressure?
Once again, there are a few ways to answer this but they should all be positive. You may work well under pressure, you may thrive under pressure, and you may actually PREFER working under pressure. If you say you crumble like aged blue cheese, this is not going to help you get your foot in the door.

10. What motivates you to do a good job?
The answer to this one is not money, even if it is. You should be motivated by life’s noble pursuits. You want recognition for a job well done. You want to become better at your job. You want to help others or be a leader in your field.

11. What’s your greatest strength?
This is your chance to shine. You’re being asked to explain why you are a great employee, so don’t hold back and stay do stay positive. You could be someone who thrives under pressure, a great motivator, an amazing problem solver or someone with extraordinary attention to detail. If your greatest strength, however, is to drink anyone under the table or get a top score on Mario Kart, keep it to yourself. The interviewer is looking for work-related strengths.

12. What’s your biggest weakness?
If you’re completely honest, you may be kicking yourself in the butt. If you say you don’t have one, you’re obviously lying. This is a horrible question and one that politicians have become masters at answering. They say things like “I’m perhaps too committed to my work and don’t spend enough time with my family.” Oh, there’s a fireable offense. I’ve even heard “I think I’m too good at my job, it can often make people jealous.” Please, let’s keep our feet on the ground. If you’re asked this question, give a small, work-related flaw that you’re working hard to improve. Example: “I’ve been told I occasionally focus on details and miss the bigger picture, so I’ve been spending time laying out the complete project every day to see my overall progress.”

13. Let’s talk about salary. What are you looking for?
Run for cover! This is one tricky game to play in an interview. Even if you know the salary range for the job, if you answer first you’re already showing all your cards. You want as much as possible, the employer wants you for as little as you’re willing to take. Before you apply, take a look at salary.com for a good idea of what someone with your specific experience should be paid. You may want to say, “well, that’s something I’ve thought long and hard about and I think someone with my experience should get between X & Y.” Or, you could be sly and say, “right now, I’m more interested in talking more about what the position can offer my career.” That could at least buy you a little time to scope out the situation. But if you do have a specific figure in mind and you are confident that you can get it, I’d say go for it. I have on many occasions, and every time I got very close to that figure (both below and sometimes above).

14. Are you good at working in a team?
Unless you have the I.Q. of a houseplant, you’ll always answer YES to this one. It’s the only answer. How can anyone function inside an organization if they are a loner? You may want to mention what part you like to play in a team though; it’s a great chance to explain that you’re a natural leader.

15. Tell me a suggestion you have made that was implemented.
It’s important here to focus on the word “implemented.” There’s nothing wrong with having a thousand great ideas, but if the only place they live is on your notepad what’s the point? Better still, you need a good ending. If your previous company took your advice and ended up going bankrupt, that’s not such a great example either. Be prepared with a story about an idea of yours that was taken from idea to implementation, and considered successful.

16. Has anything ever irritated you about people you've worked with?
Of course, you have a list as long as your arm. But you can’t say that, it shows you as being negative and difficult to work with. The best way to answer this one is to think for a while and then say something like “I’ve always got on just fine with my co-workers actually.”

17. Is there anyone you just could not work with?
No. Well, unless you’re talking about murderers, racists, rapists, thieves or other dastardly characters, you can work with anyone. Otherwise you could be flagged as someone who’s picky and difficult if you say, “I can’t work with anyone who’s a Bronco’s fan. Sorry.”

18. Tell me about any issues you’ve had with a previous boss.
Arrgh! If you fall for this one you shouldn’t be hired anyway. The interviewer is testing you to see if you’ll speak badly about your previous supervisor. Simply answer this question with exteme tact, diplomacy and if necessary, a big fat loss of memory. In short, you've never had any issues.

19. Would you rather work for money or job satisfaction?
It’s not a very fair question is it? We’d all love to get paid a Trump-like salary doing a job we love but that’s rare indeed. It’s fine to say money is important, but remember that NOTHING is more important to you than the job. Otherwise, you’re just someone looking for a bigger paycheck.

20. Would you rather be liked or feared?
I have been asked this a lot, in various incarnations. The first time I just drew a blank and said, “I don’t know.” That went over badly, but it was right at the start of my career when I had little to no experience. Since then I’ve realized that my genuine answer is “Neither, I’d rather be respected.” You don’t want to be feared because fear is no way to motivate a team. You may got the job done but at what cost? Similarly, if you’re everyone’s best friend you’ll find it difficult to make tough decisions or hit deadlines. But when you’re respected, you don’t have to be a complete bastard or a lame duck to get the job done.

21. Are you willing to put the interests of X Company ahead of your own?
Again, another nasty question. If you say yes, you’re a corporate whore who doesn’t care about family. If you say no, you’re disloyal to the company. I’m afraid that you’ll probably have to say yes to this one though, because you’re trying to be the perfect employee at this point, and perfect employees don’t cut out early for Jimmy’s baseball game.

22. So, explain why I should hire you.
As I’m sure you know, “because I’m great” or “I really need a job” are not good answers here. This is a time to give the employer a laundry list of your greatest talents that just so happen to match the job description. It’s also good to avoid taking potshots at other potential candidates here. Focus on yourself and your talents, not other people’s flaws.

23. Finally, do you have any questions to ask me?
I’ll finish the way I started, with one of the most common questions asked in interviews. This directly relates to the research you’ve done on the company and also gives you a chance to show how eager and prepared you are. You’ll probably want to ask about benefits if they haven’t been covered already. A good generic one is “how soon could I start, if I were offered the job of course.” You may also ask what you’d be working on. Specifically, in the role you’re applying for and how that affects the rest of the company. Always have questions ready, greeting this one with a blank stare is a rotten way to finish your interview. Good luck and happy job hunting.

Technorati Tags: article, career, interview, advice

UC Berkeley lecture videos on YouTube

Full length lectures from UC Berkeley is now available on YouTube. They have decided to expand their educational direction toward more open and wider audiences. It is great way to expand and it is a great way to provide additional educational opportunities to students. However, for most professionals, they are not as useful, since the offered courses are in fairly elementary topics only. I would love to see more graduate level courses in software as well as hardware related items.

All playlist can be found here.


Technorati Tags: article, tutorial, education

Identify the right IPO

When I missed the opportunity to buy some Google or VMWare shares during their Initial Public Offering, I was all bombed out since I did had chance to buy some. Now worry no more. The GigaOM has article 5 Tips To Spot A Hot (or Not) IPO by Kevin Kelleher. He relays 5 great tips to look for to identify plausible the big money making opportunity. Here's the quote of 5 tips:

1. Pick your key stats. The first thing I
   always look at is in the financial table up high: Does the company have
   an operating profit and, if not, are the losses growing dramatically?
   Some companies go public with losses and do just fine; but more often
   they don’t. Then I check revenue growth rates. Then, a bit further
   down, I look at operating cash flow, and whether that’s growing.

And finally, a rough idea of potential valuation: Often the company
will put something like a “proposed maximum aggregate offering price”
on its first page to estimate its registration fees. Divide that by the
most recent 12-month revenue figure. If it’s more than 8-10 times
revenue, that’s not great. These help give me coarse picture in a few
minutes. Your mileage may vary.
2. Compare new filings with old ones. The “risk
   factors”, “legal proceedings” and “management’s discussion of
   financials” are all important sections, but can go on for pages.
   Comparing the most recent S-1 filing with the original will highlight
   changes that were made in the interim - often at the request of lawyers
   or the insistence of the SEC.You’d be surprised what can come out in
   the highlighted text. I use Microsoft Word’s “compare and merge documents” command, which is kludgey but does the trick. If anyone has a better alternative, please speak up.
3. Examine the margins.
   Once a company goes public, investors will be scrutinizing whether
   profit margins are rising or falling, so you might as well get a head
   start. There is often a table listing expenses as a percentage of
   revenue, letting you see in a few seconds whether costs are falling,
   and whether margins are rising.If margins are falling, it’s not
   necessarily bad. R&D or marketing costs might be up to plant seeds
   of revenue growth. Look in the management’s discussion to see if you
   buy the reason why. If all costs are up as a percent of revenue, that’s not good.
4. Follow the money being raised.
   This can be found in the “use of proceeds” section. It’s like the “how
   I will change the world” speeches at beauty pageants. Normally a
   company will say the funds will go to possible acquisitions and general
   purposes like hiring and R& D. The more detail there, the better
   the chances that there’s a focused strategy in place.Recently, some
   companies have used most if not all proceeds from their IPOs to pay
   existing investors a big fat dividend. That’s not necessarily a sign of
   a bad company (VMWare did it) but if it happens with a company that has
   a lot of other red flags in its S-1, it’s a clear warning.
5. Check out the bosses’ pay.
   Steve Jobs may draw a $1 salary and Larry and Sergey may insist on no
   salary, but they are exceptions. Top executives at companies trying to
   go public often draw between $200,000 and $350,000. Salaries above
   $500,000 - and especially $1 million - can be a warning that managers
   are only in it for the money. Look at the compensation tables in the
   S-1.Another bad sign can be insiders selling the majority of their
   pre-IPO shares, or insiders selling more aggregate shares than the
   company itself is. Still another bad sign is an eleventh-hour plan to
   issue millions of shares to board members and executives right before
   the offering. These can be harder to spot.

Technorati Tags: article, startup, IPO

Guides to startup company by Marc Andreessen

While I was reading through my google reader something popped out of no where! It was one of the Pmarca Guide to Startups from Blog.PMARCA.com by Marc Andreessen, former CEO of Opsware which had been purchased by HP for $1.6 billion in cash.

It is a great guide to people who are interested in a startup operation and what is needed to get it started. Here are list of articles that are published so far on this topic.

• The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 9: How to hire a professional CEO
• The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 8: Hiring, managing, promoting, and firing executives
• The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 7: Why a startup's initial business plan doesn't matter that much
• The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 6: How much funding is too little? Too much?
• The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 5: The Moby Dick theory of big companies
• The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 4: The only thing that matters
• The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 3: "But I don't know any VCs!"
• The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 2: When the VCs say "no"
• The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 1: Why not to do a startup

Additionally, there are couple articles that are being published about Big Companies and what they need to keep their niche.

• The Pmarca Guide to Big Companies, part 2: Retaining great people
• The Pmarca Guide to Big Companies, part 1: Turnaround!

Technorati Tags: article, startup, guide, reference

Great open source application round up!

The Mashable have done it again. It put together 480+ open source applications which contain almost everything that you would like to do or develop! You can get the full list from article OPEN SOURCE GOD: 480+ Open Source Applications. This open source list contain Accounting to Browser. Almost everything! Take a look.

Among them, most interesting and seems useful is Content Management Systems as shown in the article CMS Toolbox: 80+ Open Source Content Management Systems. Here's couple of the recommended one's.

Joomla - popular, award-winning CMS that will help you build powerful online applications.

XOOPS - extensible, easy to use; ideal tool for developing small to large dynamic community websites, blogs, portals and much more.

Drupal - equipped with a powerful blend of features, rich set of modules, very popular.

Technorati Tags: article, reference

Conversion Tools round up for Video, Music, Images, PDF and MORE!

While you are finding your resources on internet, you'll find that there are so many media format that many people uses. However, they are not always using most popular and most common formats which will trouble you when you try to port those media files onto your portable media center devices like iPod, Zune, SmartPhone, and PDA. Most of the tools that you will find will cost you money and most of the time, they are not up to par on what they promises.

Codswallop have put together 101 list of tools that you can use to convert anything that you will find online. Mega tools which does most conversions from one tool is quoted below and full list can be found in the article Conversion Central: 101 Tools to Convert Video, Music, Images, PDF and More.

Mega Tools

There are lots of specialized tools out there, but sometimes you just need one good tool to get the job done. These mega tools are great for general conversions.

1. Zamzar:
   Zamzar does all sorts of conversions, ranging from documents and images to music and video. In addition to its versatility, this tool boasts the ability to do all of your conversions without downloading software.
2. SUPER:
   This aptly-named tool offers a simple and efficient way to convert any multimedia file to any format you need. You won’t need to download any additional codecs or deal with any time or function limitations.
3. CZ Document Converter: CZ Document Converter is a powerful batch document converter. It supports every popular document file you may need, including PDF, HTML, DOC, XLS, and WPS.
4. Media Convert: This tool is another great all-around converter. It can take files from your computer or a webserver and convert them into pretty much any format. The tool is web based and full of versatility.
5. Image Converter Plus: Image Converter Plus can professionally convert graphic files, photos, drafts, finance documents, and any image format. It supports more than 120 graphics formats and more than 800 dialects of these formats. You can convert files in a batch while also altering and enhancing images.
6. Quad-Lock Unit Converter: The Quad-Lock Unit Converter does conversions for more than 650 units. With this all-inclusive library, you're sure to find what you're looking for.

Technorati Tags: article, media, conversion, tools

Free Stock Image for your Web developments

For those of who want to develop their own web page and for your unique design, you are going to need all those wonderful pictures, most of which you find online are copy write protected or will cost you money. Laura Milligan have gathered 100 (Legal) Sources for Free Stock Images for everyone to share and most importantly FREE and LEGAL! You can find the full 100 list from her site but for the most popular pick, they are quoted below:

Most Popular

These resources are some of the most popular free stock image sites on the Web and with good reason. If you’re looking for some mainstream images, these are the first place to try.

1. FreeFoto:
   FreeFoto.com claims to be “the largest collection of free photographs on the Internet.” They’re available for offline projects as well, as long as you’re not using them to make a profit.
2. KAVEWALL: Look for images and textures in unique categories like tattoo, smoke, and food.
3. Digital Dreamer: Free, royalty-free stock images can be found here.
4. Free Photos Bank: This features a handful of the newest photos in their directory, so check back often.
5. Free Digital Photos: Find gorgeous, easy-to-download photographs in categories like animals, celebrations, home & garden, and lots more.
6. PD Photo: Browse through the categories and subcategories in this site’s database, most of which depict the urban and rural landscapes of the United States.
7. Visipix: Search over a million photographs and fine art pieces.
8. Cepolina: On cepolina, you can choose to save photos in up to five different formats.
9. DexHaus: A wide array of beautiful images are found on this well-organized site.
10. FreeStockImages.net: Chances are you’ll find whatever it is you’re looking for on this terrific site.
11. TurboPhoto: TurboPhoto has 10 categories keep the high res photos easy to find.
12. Yotophoto: An immensely popular site, Yotophoto is worth checking out.
13. Stockvault: Search by photo subject or by the newest and most popular photos on Stockvault.
14. Dreamstime: While most of the photos on this site cost a fee (some as low as $0.26/image), Dreamstime provides a few free stock photos.
15. Open Stock Photography: This site offers over one million images for you to download and use however you want.

Technorati Tags: article, free, image