Many of today’s computers have built in the ability to boot from USB sources. This can become valuable when your computer’s hard disk, floppy disk or, CD-ROM drive become inaccessible. If you aren’t sure that your computer supports USB Boot, you can check your BIOS settings. To view, enter your BIOS start-up screen at boot (usually by pressing ESC, F2, F10 after you press the power button); navigate to the boot options, and look for options that start with “USB” (like “USB Key”). If the option is listed, then your computer has USB Boot capabilities.

There are a variety of websites that post “How To’s” for making your USB Memory Stick Bootable, however, the process can become tedious and technical. The fundamentals are to:

1. Backup all files to your hard drive
2. Format the USB Memory Stick bootable
3. Restore all files back to your memory stick

To complete this process, you will need (1) a utility to format the USB Memory Stick and (2) the System files to copy to the Memory Stick.

The best place to find these files and utilities is at:  http://www.bay-wolf.com/usbmemstick.htm

Included are links to the all the files needed to complete the operation, detailed (and easy to follow) instructions, and images of each step of the process.

Toyota hybrid cars were the first to hit the market. After decades of quality gas-fueled vehicle manufacturing, Toyota Motor Corp. redirected its creative efforts in an environment friendly direction. The first model from the Toyota hybrid cars was Prius that made a true revolution in the world of automakers. The design of the Toyota hybrid cars is considered superior to all the other similar models available on the market: the engine, the mph rate it gets within a few seconds and all the road conditions it offers are some of the best, not to mention that the reliability of the concept and the price are equally advantageous for car owners.

Some of the Toyota hybrid cars are also expected to bring modifications in terms of cylinder performance so that they may come to mark a total change in independent circuit racing. Not everybody is prepared to embrace vehicles in the green line, which is why the production as such is kept pretty limited. Anyone who’d like one of the Toyota hybrid cars manufactured in series production can place an order and a deposit with the local Toyota dealers. Before going for the purchase, have a look at the technical data and even analyze them together with an expert mechanic.

The next Toyota Prius model is expected to be unveiled in January 2009 and it is the one to keep the consumers hopes up.  It is designed as a more powerful and larger vehicle with an engine growth to 1.8 liters. The range of all-electric fuel-free driving possibility will be extended without increasing the weight level of the existent Toyota hybrid cars.

Even if the future Toyota hybrid cars will undergo some upgrading, they will keep relying on the nickel metal hydride batteries without offering any plug-in choice. Thus, the Prius is expected to be provided in a variety of models from the compact and the small SUV to the wagon and the pickup. The new Toyota hybrid cars are tributary to the first Prius models with the all-electric mode available for low speeds. Then, the combined power engine of the gas and electric motor devices will allow you to enjoy the speed of a comfortable ride while on optimal fuel consume.

As your website continues to develop and grow, there will be times that you may want to reorganize the pages of your website design.  When you expand or change your online business, it makes good sense to implement these reorganizations so that you can better manage your data and so that site visitors can easily and logically follow the content on your web pages.

However, as you have built your website, the search engine spiders have been crawling and indexing your website and they expect to find pages where they were last posted.  Also, other web pages may have been linked to those pages, and if you move them, their links will no longer point to valid page locations and eventually, you will begin to lose search engine ranking.

Fortunately, creating a 301 redirect is a solution to the problem that will make both the search engine spiders happy as well as maintain your inbound link integrity.  You will need access to the .htaccess file in your website’s root directory.  If you do not have access, ask your website administrator for assistance.

To redirect the page, add the following code:

redirect 301 /original_folder_location/original_page_name.htm http://www.your-domain.com/new_folder_location/new_page_name.htm

It is critical that you use the relative path for the original location (remove the “http”//www.your-domain.com) and leave a space between the original and new location.  For the new location, you need to give the full URL, including the “http://www”.

Proper redirection is the best way to maintain credibility with both the search engine spiders and your website visitors.  If this redirect method will not work for you, it is is important that you contact your web administrator to find out how you can implement a 301 redirect for your moved pages.

Using Drop Down Menu Bars for websites is a common and effective way to logically present your site links to your visitors. If you are considering a drop down menu for your website, make sure that you thoroughly research your options before you spend your time and/or money.

There are are hundreds of options for menu bar design, but be cautious of considerable difference in the rendering of the menu bar across the different web browsers that will have a negative impact on your website’s effectiveness. Typically the issue is that the menu bars are CSS based, which makes it virtually impossible to get identical rendering across the variety of browsers available. There are several menu bars that met a fair, qualifying criteria:

1. No (or very low) cost
2. Cross-browser compatibility
3. Minimal code
4. Easy to install
5. Easy to follow html code (well commented and logical flow)

After several hours of research and testing, I settled on Chrome CSS Drop Down Menu.  While it isn’t perfect, it did well in meeting my overall criteria. The cost is free (a couple of lines of reference/backlink are required in the header source code for use) which, of course, scores a 5-star rating.

This drop down menu bar performed consistently with IE, Firefox, and Safari (only the latest versions were tested). My only issue was an overrun of the hover color that covered the right-side border on the drop-down menus. Most people probably wouldn’t notice or care, but I thought I should point it out.

The code to install on the HTML pages is minimal and easy to understand. A server-side JavaScript file handles the back-end functions of the menu bar and needed no editing. The CSS page was well commented and easy to edit. I simply had to change the menu bar color gifs to match the websites and I was ready to go.

You can find several good and affordable choices for CSS drop down menu bars, however, I recommend Chrome CSS Drop Down Menu. If you have questions about CSS drop down menu bars or want one installed at your website, contact us at www.fmxservices.com.

For samples, visit:
www.bizoutsolutions.com or
www.tampaheartbreakers.com.

A common practice in today’s e-commerce environment is to use email marketing campaigns to launch advertising initiatives for products and services offered online. Since 2003, CAN-SPAM laws were enacted to protect consumers from abusive spammers and email marketing exploits have been harnessed. Once again, email campaigns are a viable marketing tool in the e-commerce world.

As with most things internet related, you need to be careful and use common sense when purchasing goods and services via the internet. Unlike traditional business transactions, you rarely meet face-to-face or even have a phone conversation with internet sellers. This makes it harder for buyers to gauge the validity of performance claims made at a seller’s website. So, if you are considering using email marketing to promote your product or service, practice the following four techniques for choosing a provider.

1. Make sure that the provider is CAN-SPAM compliant.

Even though you are using a third-party to distribute your email campaign, you are still legally liable if your provider violates the CAN-SPAM laws. Reputable providers will conspicuously advertise on their website if they are CAN-SPAM compliant. If they do not promote or state their compliance, you should steer clear of their services.

2. Ask for referrals.

Only deal with email marketers who are willing to give you referrals. I recommend at least 5 referrals with company names and contact information. Ideally, you will be able ask for and get a referral to a user who targeted the same or similar type of prospect you are targeting. Either way, require a diversity of companies and ask that the referrals are from organizations outside the email marketing industry.

Be sure to follow up and call the referrals. You can expect these referral sources to be some of their best customers who should able to provide you with accurate response results from their email marketing campaigns. You can also expect these results to be at the high end of your realistic results, so set your expectations accordingly. Also make sure to ask how helpful, flexible, and responsive the email marketing company is to special needs and complaints. This will help you to decide if they are a good fit for your company’s needs.

3. Find companies that offer email lists for your targeted market.

In some cases, emailing advertising to tens of millions of general prospects would make sense; however, many products and services are targeted at particular markets, making it important that you use a provider that can supply accurately targeted email lists. Targeted lists cost a little more money but, as with most things, you get what you pay for. In my experience, I have gotten better return rates paying $500 for 100,000 highly targeted emails versus paying $199 for 3,000,000 emails sent to a broader audience.

There is no exact formula for calculating what to spend per email. Companies will spend 25 cents or more per email for highly targeted lists. Ultimately, you need to consider your total cost versus your expected sales conversion rate to determine if a particular targeted email campaign makes sense for your product or service. Start with a small, targeted list to test your email campaign for effectiveness. While the initial, smaller list will cost more per email address, it could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars if you find out your campaign message isn’t achieving the success rate you need to make your campaign profitable.

The most reputable email marketers spend a considerable amount of time and effort (and money) to ensure that their email lists contain high-quality prospects. Make sure to ask for expected “open” and “response” or “click-through” rates so you can calculate your projected return on investment. If they claim a response rate over 5% or give you a broad range like “100 to 1000 hits per 100,000”, be very skeptical. The only possible exception is for very specifically targeted campaigns.

4. Check the provider’s complaint history.

You can check to find if others have had any problems with a company by checking with the Better Business Bureau. Providers who are members of the BBB will advertise it on their website and are most often your best option. Even with BBB members, you still need to check their complaint history.

Above all, use good business sense. Avoid providers who make claims or offer prices that seem to good be true. Read their satisfaction guarantees in detail. A company may claim satisfaction guaranteed, however, it is your responsibility to ensure that this guarantee exists in writing and that it offers you a proper comfort level with their service. Following these practices will help you choose the best provider for your email marketing campaign.