I came across a nice little 8 page ebook and found it fascinating. (I wouldn’t have read it if it was too huge in the first place.)

This ebook, is called Marketing Apple – 5 Secrets of the World’s Best Marketing Machine.

The author, Steve, has worked with Apple for quite a long time and has helped Apple in many of its Marketing Strategies. He has worked with other Multi National Corporations as well.

I dont think I have to talk much on this, enjoy the ebook. Steve Jobs has always been an inspiration, you have heard The Steve Jobs Speech, haven’t you?

Download The EBook | Meet the Author

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Leave a Comment: Marketing: Doing It The Apple Way

I prefer software’s that are build to do just one job rather than the ones that can do a lot of chores. I love software’s that come free. doPDF is my free and simple PDF Printer of choice.

I have only one practical application of a PDF Printer, but that’s one thing that hasn’t got a replacement. A PDF Printer comes handy to print filled out web forms. I cant think of an easier way to do it.

The Free PDF Creator

doPDF weighs 3.72 MB, comes with a clean installer. Like every other PDF Printer, it shows as a printer in your list of printers.

Here is a screen shot of how doPDF looks like in action.

doPDF Screenshot

To save web-forms, fill them up and then print the page from the File menu of the browser using the PDF printer.

Get novaPDF for Free

As you might have guessed from the screen shot, novaPDF is a pro version of doPDF with added features like merging PDF files, adding water marks, compressing PDF files, modifying the document properties (from the Change Options menu) and creating printing profiles.

Honestly, I don’t think ‘most‘ of us would ever need any of those features. But if you need them head over to Digital Inspiration for a free, but a stripped down copy of novaPDF.

Both doPDF and novaPDF works on both 32-bit and 64-bit systems.

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FreeMind is my choice of software for Mind Mapping. Its simple, Free and awesome.

How to use FreeMind

FreeMind is simple. You need to use just 4 keys.

• F2 to edit any node (a node means a branch).
• Insert to create a node.
• While staying a node, press Enter to create a node.
• Delete button deletes a node.

Here is a simple tutorial demo for FreeMind, this map was created using FreeMind. Click the image for a larger one.

9 Ways how you can make use of FreeMind

FreeMind as a Research Tool

Research of any level includes collection and organising data. Data when arranged as a map will be easier to comprehend and manipulate.

For instance, you are learning about, say, Scuba Diving. You will probably find many pages online that will help you out, but finally you have to arrange and organize all the points. FreeMind is your answer for that. Think of doing it in a text document. Much easier with FreeMind.

FreeMind treats long chunks of text differently, when you try to edit a long text, a small editor pops up.

FreeMind lets you Visualize

Didn’t your History teacher tell you to think of history as a movie. Learning it that way makes it easier to remember.

Mind maps help you visualize the topic at hand. Information is presented just the way the human brain stores it. FreeMind is just that.

Making Presentations has never been this Easy

If you are going to use FreeMind for just one thing, then this be it. FreeMind helps you organise your slides better.

Your presentation would have some major divisions, they can be the primary nodes. Each slide under a category can be a sub-node. Plus you can add notes-to-self with the points that you would like to speak of.

Related: 7 Tips to make your next Presentation Impressive. Check-out my presentations on SlideShare.

Prepare those ‘Pillar posts’ with FreeMind

Writing Pillar Posts (the posts that bring spikes in your traffic report) demands research and time. Collecting resources from the web, working on each of them and organising them can take days.

FreeMind can come handy as you can store all your collections into one singe place, organise them right there via simple drag and drop and add points then and there. This can make the Research to Post conversion easier.

Your personal Idea Vault

When an idea strikes you, the best thing you can do is to write it down, you will forget it no matter how big the idea is. FreeMind works for me as my personal idea store.

I can work on the idea whenever I get time, add on more into it, adapt and blend with better suggestions.

FreeMind helps you Plan better

Planning is crucial. A piece of paper and pencil is the best planning tools you can have, FreeMind do the same on your PC.

For instance, you are planning a party. You can have nodes like Food, Guest Invitations, Accommodation etc. and write down the tasks under each category. When you complete one, you can check it off using any of the pre-set symbols available in FreeMind.

A White-Board on your Desktop

Write down random notes, reminders and quips and quotes from emails, FreeMind can work for you ask a white board. You decide how you use it.

Browse your PC with FreeMind

FreeMind has a browse mode under Modes > File. It shows the folders on your PC as a map. This is especially useful if you have a lot of un-organised files and folders on your PC

You can open files and folders right from the map. cool huh?

Bonus: Use FreeMind for Note Taking

FreeMind comes handy at conferences and meetings to take down quick notes. I use it during BarCamps to note down pointers from the speakers. Very useful.

Do you use Mind Maps?

Do you use any mapping tools? What do you use to plan your work and stay organised?

FreeMind is a must have. You WILL love it.

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I was using the Free Bandwidth Monitor on my Windows XP PC, but once I switched to Vista (64 bit), the 32 bit software ceased to work.

Free Bandwidth Monitor was simple and efficient; after trying out many other softwares, I am now happy with NetWorx – A free, simple, Bandwidth Monitoring and Analysis Tool.

NetWorx does its job fairly well. Reports can be seen on last 24 hours, daily, weekly, monthly and Total. It can also show you custom reports within the dates you specify.

Here is a screen-shot of NetWorx, for more screen-shots click the image.

With NetWorx you can -

• Find out and monitor how fast your Internet connection is.
• Find out and monitor how much Internet traffic you consume.
• Verify whether your ISP charges your Internet usage fairly.
• Detect a suspicious network activity on your computer.
• Perform simple network tests such as ping and trace route.
• Be notified about excessive Internet usage.

NetWorx stays as a button near the clock, additional features can be accessed by right click-ing the icon. Its that simple.

Download NetWorx Free – Look to the right sidebar for the download link. In case you need, detailed online help is available here.

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Leave a Comment: Bandwidth Monitoring Tool for Windows Vista and Seven

Everyone is always concerned about hosting I guess. Those who don’t have purchased a host yet, look for the right one. Others who have one, look for better options. That’s what I felt after the review of Web Hosting Geeks went live.

Checkout Web Hosting Rating. It’s again a Hosting Rating service, that looks like a variant of Web Hosting Geeks, but it sure does have more categories and more options. For those who care, these guys have been out there since 2002.

The Top 10 Hosting Rankings on the homepage might seem similar; see the Best Host Awards section. Its a monthly rating of web hosts based on the votes given by users. Awards are given to hosts on a category basis.

Web Hosting Rating also has an whole section of CMS hosts. Hosts are categorized in terms of their Support for specific CMS like WordPress or phpBB. A section on Best WordPress Hosting is there!

There are also some good articles and a wide knowledge base that might interest you. Here is one: 6 Essential Tips for Better SEO.

Hope you guys find this useful. Good luck!

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Leave a Comment: Web Hosting Guide 2.0

They started like everyone else. They learnt everything on the way. They never gave up, fought the battle day after day. And here they are…

Dude?

OK. This is a post honoring four bloggers who travelled way lot during the past year. They may not seem very successful in all respects, but they sure know what they are doing. Presenting, In no specific order…

Amal Roy of Computing Unleashed

Amal is a Tech Blogger from Kerala, India. He writes about Computers, Softwares, Hardwares, and shares Tips and Tweaks related to Computers. Some of his articles are so comprehensive that they ended up on the homepage of Digg. Last December he got his domain, and now this December he is on WordPress. Way to go!

Girish G of DotGiri

Most Bloggers I have met took really long time to get their First Google Adsense check, this guy did it in a matter of few months. He writes about Windows and Linux How-To’s, Tech Reviews, Computing Tips, Softwares and the Internet. He has already started expanding his network of blogs. Good luck!

S.Pradeep Kumar of HellBound Bloggers

Lately I found that he have been spending 15 hours a day on various Blogging activities. He uses that time to do research and brings them all into his blog. He writes about Blogging, the Internet, Security and Tech. You will find some amazing and useful List Posts there. A job well done

Sriraj of Sriraj Digital Magazine

The name suits it well; his blog is a real magazine. He writes about Blogging, Technology, Gadgets, Softwares and Web on one side and then on Automobiles, Career Tips, News and Sports on the other. Thoughtfully, he have provided separated feeds for each category. Grew to over 1000 RSS readers this year, congrats dude!

Wish you all a great year ahead!

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Leave a Comment: Blogs of Note – 2009

Choosing a host is one of the BIG decisions you make with regard to your blog. The host is important because it affects the very performance of a website. Changing hosts often is not practical, so you got to make the right choice.

Unfortunately, very few people have tried more than a couple of hosts, so every person you ask for a recommendation would give you a different answer. Probably you end up with the same host that your friend uses.

What if you could pass a piece of paper around and ask all your friends to rate their favorite host on various parameters, say Uptime, Support, and so on? Take a look at Web Hosting Geeks.

Web Hosting Geeks is a Hosting Rating and Reviewing service. Various hosts are grouped into different categories and users can rate them on nine different parameters (Tech Support, Customer Support, Software, Traffic, Reliability and Uptime, Space, Price, Quality, and User-Friendliness). Also a custom review in words can also be added.

The Homepage features a list of Top Ten Web Hosts of 2009 based on user ratings. The sidebar links will help you choose the right one for you. For instance, if you are looking for the best VPS hosting, just look around.

Something more interesting is the way various Hosts are grouped (see them on the left sidebar). Hosts with Free Google Adwords, Free Yahoo Marketing, and if you care for the environment (which you should do), there is a list of Green Web Hosting providers. Green Web Hosts uses Renewable Sources of energy like solar power or wind power, adopt measures to reduce CO2 emissions and recycle waste. Cool huh?

Web Hosting Geeks also have a pretty good knowledge base for the beginner. Starting from their homepage (below the fold) is a general introduction into various types of website hosting. Also you will find some good articles. Which Web Hosting is good for you, and How to make Money with Web Hosting are two articles that I choose to read and found some new tips.

They also maintain a Blog sharing tips of all kinds, SEO, CMS’s and other stuffs that interests every webmaster. The Blog, as well as the ratings are updated regularly.

Wish there was an interactive form that recommends the right host for you based on the options you choose. Like, if you are looking for a Green Host for under $10 p.m. with free dedicated IP and free domain, you would enter your options, click on submit and you would get a list of hosts matching your criteria sorted based on their rating. But you can’t ask for everything, or can you?

Hope you find Web Hosting Geeks useful. Good luck choosing your web hosting partner!

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Leave a Comment: Choose Your Next Web Host Wisely

Earlier this year, Twitter started mobile SMS updates in India with over an alliance with AIRTEL. Subscribers were charged premium rates for SMS then.

Last day I stumbled over a fresh and amazing service called SMSTweet. What’s amazing is the simplicity of the concept  and that its not backed by any Mobile service provider.

SMSTweet works based on SMSGupShup’s Application development platform and Twitter API. SMSGupShup is another venture that provides various free PC to Mobile SMS, Group SMS and other Social Messaging services in India. Messages are handled by SMSGupShup, which then updates the Twitter Status over API.

SMSGupShup uses a 10 digit standard mobile number, so the SMS sent will cost you only that of a normal SMS (national SMS in some cases) and not the premium rates. So, on the front end, you can update your twitter Status at the rate of a national SMS. Check with your service provider for SMS packs to make this even cheaper.

Upon successful updation, SMSTweet replies to you with the latest @mention of yours, so you can even carry on with a conversation via SMS’s.

How to Use SMS Tweets

First you need to provide your Twitter credentials to SMSTweet. Use any of the two ways to sign-in:

Using Oauth:
If you are online, you can allow SMSTweet to access your account using the ‘Sign-in with Twitter’ link on their homepage.

After you allow SMSTweet to access your account, you will be redirected back to the homepage. Then provide your 10 digit mobile number in the specified section on SMSTweet.

Sign-in via SMS:
Send TWEET<space>REGISTER<space><TWITTER USERNAME><space><TWITTER PASSWORD> to 09220092200

How to Update your Twitter Status Using SMS

Once SMSTweet have your details, you can start tweeting by sending your messages in the following format to 09220092200

TWEET<space><MESSAGE>
E.g.: TWEET Hanging out with friends from school. Feeling Nostalgic.

I love this thing. Simply Amazing. Hats off to Mayank Sharma, the man behind all this.

Sourced from: Million Clues! | Follow on Twitter | Fan on Facebook

Leave a Comment: Update Twitter via SMS at No Extra Cost

Guest Post by Ishan Sharma

Windows is the world’s most popular OS. There are millions of softwares for it. In this post, I have summed up 10 free softwares that you will find very useful. Without any further addo, here are they:

1. Launchy

Launchy will make you forget about Start Menu and even Windows Explorer! It is a small utility that lets you launch programs easily with a few keystrokes. By default, you need to press Alt + Space and it will show up. Just type name of application and hit enter to launch it. You can select the areas to index(start menu, drives etc.). A very nifty utility if you have lot of programs in start menu.

Download Launchy

2. CCleaner

CCleaner lets you remove useless keys in Windows Registery safely. I am using “safely” because it can backup all the changes made to registry. It can also remove browsing traces, private data and unused files. There’s also a Program UIninstallation option that lets you remove programs and left over registry entries of such programs. It will help a lot in keeping your PC clean.

Download CCleaner

3. Fresh UI

Fresh UI lets you apply many tweaks to user interface of your Windows without having you to go deep down into the dark cave full of dangers (in short, Windows Registry )! There are lot of tweaks available right from changing boot screen to removing those shortcut arrows from, well, shortcuts(I hate them!).

Download Fresh UI

4. BootVis

Bootvis is a free utility from Microsoft that lets you optimize your PC for shorter Start Up times. It also defragments your startup programs so that they load up faster. However, it works only with XP!

Download BootVis

5. K-Lite Codec Pack

K-Lite Codec Pack has all the essential codecs needed to play major audio/video formats. Install it and forget it, no need to hunt for any codec individually. It also has Media Player Classic which is a light media player.

Download K-Lite Codec Pack

6. Q10

This is, in my opinion, the best software ever made for writers! Before I tell you anything about it, close your eyes, take a deep breath and count how many times you were distracted when writing your last post. Q10 removes all those distraction by occupying all the space available on your screen(in short, it’s a full screen text editor) With no toolbars, no status bars and not even a title bar, this software is perfect for people who like to write without distractions.

Download Q10

7. Game Booster

At any time, there are 25+ useless process running in background on your windows PC. They can take up a good amount of RAM and CPU and this can make games frame. If you experience slow-down with games(especially in crowded areas), try Game Booster. It will close all the useless programs thus increasing amount of available resources.

Download Game Booster

8. Pidgin

Pidgin is what the doctor has ordered for IM addicts(however, the doctor in case is evil as Pidgin will only make you more addicted!). You can easily manage multiple accounts including many popular services like GTalk, Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger.

Download Pidgin

9. Opera

Opera is web-browser complete web-suite that is master of all trades. In small 6 MB pack, you get most standard compliant browser, a capable mail client, RSS reader, widget support, Dragonfly(web page debugger) and notes manager. Opera 10 also has a “Turbo” mode in which it can fasten surfing speeds on slow connections(by compressing images).

Download Opera

10. Your Choice

I will leave this one on readers. Tell me which software you would like to see in this list and why.

This was a guest post by Ishan Sharma. He blogs on Blogging With Success. If you liked this article, check out How To Sell A Dead Horse For $500 by him.

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Leave a Comment: 10 Free Windows Softwares To Make Your Life Easy

I think, URL shortener’s took off along with twitter. Before that, the only one I had heard of was tinyurl.com. When tinyurl links started getting the bad-boy image, I switched to tr.im and u.nu.

Tr.im is good; I loved their statistics and the idea of choosing custom URL’s, but now tr.im is closing down. U.NU is amazing for its simplicity and just-what-you-need style. (I don’t use bit.ly just because everyone else use it.)

Then one day, I tried Su.pr – the StumbleUpon baby. Its amazing.

The SU.PR Edge

Central Control of all your Links and Detailed Stats

Su.pr lists all shortened links along with quick stats on a single page. You can easily say, which did well and which link flopped. Statistics are comprehensive with the re-tweets, traffic sources and of course, the traffic from StumbleUpon and other sources.

Promote Your Own Blog

In Su.pr settings (above red dot) you can specify up to 3 domains. When Su.pr links are used, the target page will contain a sidebar. Links from the promoted websites that are popular on StumbleUpon will be shown here. So with every tweet your links get more exposure.

More Traffic

With the Toolbar and Sidebar in place, the links get easily thumbed up and reviewed brining more SU Traffic. In my case, the SU traffic is much more than the twitter traffic (below red).

Suggested Posting Time

Su.pr keeps track of the performance of your links, analyses them and suggests the best posting time for each day (orange). So now you know when to shoot that ace link of yours.

Schedule Tweets

What if the best posting time is at 2.00 am? Just schedule the tweet. (Green)

Post to Twitter and Facebook

Once you allow Su.pr access to Twitter and Facebook (via settings), you can post status directly to Twitter and Facebook. (Green)

Thumb Up and Review

For links not submitted to StumbleUpon yet, a “Thumb Up Now” link (pink) is shown instead of the thumbnail. You can Submit the link or write a review – the links are ready for you.

You are always Credited

Its not easy to find amazing unique links. When your tweet comes in someone else’s time line, he owns the tweet. He can choose whether to credit it back to you or not. But with Su.pr, the links you shorten always carry your name to it, you are always acknowledged.

Su.pr is really working for me, it took a couple of hours to get used to, but now its perfect. Thanks to Ishan for pulling me into it.

Which shortener do you use?

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Leave a Comment: Drive Traffic To Your Blog With Every Tweet