This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of faceVsion Technology USA. All opinions are 100% mine.
I’ve been on a few business trips. I like them, overall– it’s a nice opportunity to get out of the house. But it must be extremely laborious to go on business trips regularly (and expensive, too!). Sure, there’s always video conference calls… but I have tried Skype and Windows Live, and… let’s just say that the quality leaves something to be desired. Very “skippy” and blotchy. And, really, for a video conference call to look and feel professional, you really need a nice web cam. Those cheesy little $30 ones just won’t do when you’re discussing you next big idea to the boss.
Thankfully, technology is swelling with options to make conference calls easier and affordable for the small business person. The best I’ve seen on the market so far is faceVsion. FaceVision does what other HD cams, such as Microsoft Cinema and Logitech Pro 9000, cannot do– stream high resolution live video over the Internet with clarity. The FV Express Combo from FaceVision Technology USA has a special chipset and encoder/decoder to provide really clear video. The nice thing is that it’s affordable, too. You can make video calls through Gmail, too– the FV Express Combo allows you to sync your Gmail contact list to your HD contact list.
There’s much more to the faceVision technology– see the faceVision on line store for more details and a good intro video. There’s a great promotion going on– save $10 off any purchase with the promo code FVTBTS2 . This ends on September 30, 2010, so don’t delay.
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Tags: small business, video conferencing, web cam
I was given a link to a good website today. I’d been having web hosting server problems, and it seemed that somewhere down the pike between my computer and my server at Hostgator, I was encountering connection problems. The tech support dude gave me a link to a website where I can check all the connections “down the pike.” Checking the IP connection is called “pinging.” The site is PingPlotter.
Let’s run through a basic scenario where we discover the route between your computer and an interesting destination (maybe one you’re having a problem with).
Normally, when troubleshooting a problem, you want to run PingPlotter against the server where you’re experiencing problems. Maybe that’s a web server (in which case, you’ll want to enter that web server’s address); maybe it’s a game server (in which case you’ll want to enter that game server’s address). If you aren’t experiencing problems with your network connection or something you access with it currently, no worries – just think of something you access regularly with your Internet connection to use in the exercise below. If you really can’t think of anything right now, feel free to use something interesting like quikorder.pizzahut.com or bigmac1.mcd.com. It doesn’t have to be food related either… If you don’t like Pizza Hut or McDonalds, and can’t come up with a server off the top of your head, use www.pingplotter.com.
It’s a free program that you download and use. I’m definitely going to check it out.
Tags: Internet connection, IP, ping, web hosting
I tried GoToMyPC this week, while I was away on a trip. I liked it! I took part in the free trial for 30 days… after that, it’s $15 a month. Gulp. I rarely travel for long periods of time, so I don’t think I’ll be needing it anymore. But if I do start to travel extensively, I’ll probably use it.
I first heard about it from Kim Komando (GoToMyPC sponsors her). It was better than I thought it was– very easy to download, to run. The connection between the two computers seemed a little sluggish, but not too bad. GoToMyPC is not paying me at all, I’m merely mentioning then in case you need something like it.
Basically, GoToMyPC is a remote-controller. You install the program on your host PC. You must create an account and also a username and password to access the host computer. You can log in to your host computer while away, to access your email, bookmarks, passwords, etc. I found it very useful, and much more secure than entering in my personal data on a public machine or on a public WiFi connection that can be read by scammers.
You must leave your host computer ON while you are away, however. If you have power settings that shut off your hard drive while idle, you must turn this off.
So I give it a thumbs up. It was very easy and straighforward to use. However, $15 a month is really steep, especially when there’s LogMeIn which is absolutely free.
Tags: business services
Looking for a seller offering Home Land Contract? Look on the web! A land contract is a legally binding contract between seller and buyer– a seller allows the buyer to repay a home loan in installments while the buyer lives in the home. It’s an interesting way to buy a home– it eliminates the middleman (the bank) and allows the buyer and seller to make transactions between each other. I know of a few people who have purchased such home (the homes were usually damaged or in need of renovation), but these folks got incredible deals on the homes. There’s a good resource at HUD, too– see the resource overview on buying a home.
It’s not easy to find land contracts; it’s not like they are advertised very much. But the Internet has some great resources available to you- TheLandContract.com is one of them. You can search by location (zip code, city, state) and by price. The listings are usually very comprehensive– most have photos and very detailed information, such as extras, amenities, square footage, and etc. It’s a greta resource if you’re looking for a land contract. Plus, if you are like me and just want to keep tabs on the housing market in your area, it’s good to browse the listings. And if you are considering to offer a land contract for your home, check out the articles at the website for more information on how to go about it.
Tags: housing, Internet, real estate
