Thursday, June 7, 2012

How to make money on the internet: the easy way


This article is a bit outdated. I leave it here for people who were used to it and would like to check something, but for more updated info about Infobarrel, what it is and why you should write for it (to make money online), please see here.

There are many ways to make money on the internet but it generally requires patience, perseverance and knowledge of the internet.

One easy way to make money on the internet, at least to get started is to write articles for InfoBarrel.com. How does it work?
1) You register to InfoBarrel.com, Google Adsense, Chitika, Amazon affiliates and optionally to Barlrol.
2) You write articles (plenty of possible topics: what you like, what you don't like, common misconceptions that make you mad, how you see the society, tips and tricks you know about, ...).
3) InfoBarrel.com will take care of publishing the article (through an approval process), of the ads around the article, of the visibility of your article through google search, ...
4) People will read your articles.
5) The money made through the ads (if people clicks on the ads or if some advertisers are paying to simply display the ads) are then split between InfoBarrel.com and you (75% is for you).
6) Optionally, if you register to Barlrol, you could summit your InfoBarrel articles there to get extra readers

Notice: promoting your articles on Facebook, Tweeter, etc... is an advantage but it is not mandatory.

Some common questions
Why not write on my own blog/website?
Actually, you don't need InfoBarrel. You could write your articles on your own blog/website and get 100% of the ads revenue. The advantages of InfoBarrel are:
- they take care of the website maintenance (get it up and running at all time, take care of hacking threats etc...)
- they take care of the ads, facebook like buttons, etc... which means you only need to take care about the article itself
- they are ranked well on google, so if someone tried to find the info you are writing about, it will be easier to find the article on InfoBarrel than on your blog/website (unless you know very well SEO techniques, spend a lot of time with your blog/website, ...)
- they have a good community of people writing for them. Those people can give you some advice, rate your articles, motivate you etc...

Any alternatives?
Yes, hubpages, squidoo, xomba, wizzley, etc... but InfoBarrel seems to have the best percentage of revenue sharing, positive atmosphere, seriousness of articles (non serious articles deteriorate the site reputation, hence the visibility of your articles).

Why Google Adsense?

Because it is the one available in most countries, because it is one of the very few to care about you even if you don't have a big website (>500 daily page views) and of course, because it is integrated with InfoBarrel (you just need to register to Google Adsense and enter your id in InfoBarrel to be set).


Why Chitika?
Simply because it is one of the very few programs you can use in parallel with Google Adsense. Also, it is integrated with InfoBarrel so you just need to register to Chitika and enter your id in InfoBarrel to be set.


Other ways to earn money on the internet?
Yes, you can be paid to answer polls, receive and read mails, surf on the internet, ... But generally speaking, this is not worth it. Too much time spent, too little interest and too little money. Other alternatives that are already more interesting are: taking and selling your photos, finding names/slogan for Pickydomains.com, etc... A more detail guide about those alternatives will be available soon.

How to write the backslash antislash symbol '\' with android default keyboard


Back slash on android

It is actually easy to do once know it. Go to the symbol keyboard by using the "12!?" button and then go to page 2 of the symbol keyboard by using the 1|2 button (this is what people generally miss).

Here the 12!? is the second button on the bottom line

Please notice the 1|2 button on the second line from the bottom (on the left of '!')

Friday, June 1, 2012

Java: what is it? do you need it?


Java is a popular programming language based on objects. Basically instead of saying to the computer "do this, then do that, then if something, do this thing too", we tell him "this is an object. It has this and that attribute. It can do this or that". The benefits or not completely clear to non-programmers but modern experience has shown that it was a good approach to programming, basically because if you want to review the code (add a feature, change something), you will not need to got trough the whole code, you will simply focus on the object you want to change, or maybe you will simply add another object.

I know, this is very abstract for most of you, I am sorry about that, but I thought a quick introduction to Java could be nice. Now, what does all mean to you in practice? Do you need Java? How do you install it? Do you need to upgrade it? etc...

One of the problem of Java, is that to run a java "application" (game, utilities,...), your computer needs to know Java. Not all computers come with Java by default, so it will be your responsibility to install it and maintain it. Don't panic, it is not that bad. Java is installed as any other programs and will warn you if an important update is available. Also, you only need to install it if you are going to use it. Generally speaking you don't need to install it, until you get to a website you regularly need and that is not working because you don't have Java on your computer. You will generally get the error message that Java is not installed and that you need it to view the page.

I advise you to install java from their main website, ie www.java.com. Click on the Free Java Download and you are set. Wasn't it easy? If you get a message once that a new version of Java is available you can also simply go to the mentioned page and follow the instructions there.

I would NOT download java from other websites, peer-to-peer programs and so on, because the version of Java you will find may be corrupted (or simply incompatible with the version of your PC). I would also avoid clicking blindly to links when you get a message that you need to install java from here (this could be a fake message from a hacker).

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How to downgrade Java on Windows


So, you upgraded Java recently and something is broken? Some important sites are not working anymore? Here is how to downgrade the Java software on your PC (for more basic info on Java, please click here).

I am writing this article because I had problems last time I upgraded Java on my PC. After the java upgrade, Internet Explorer and Firefox were working great but I had troubles with Opera. I had Java version 7.0.40 and Opera version 11.64 BUT this article is about how to downgrade Java in general and is not specific to Opera or to this version of Java.

Actually, it is pretty straightforward. When you update Java, it will simply install the new version and will not care about the old one(s). This may sound messy (you will have old Java versions installed for nothing) but in our case now, this comes really handy, as we will simply have to uninstall the newer version of Java and the old version will become the active one automatically.

To uninstall the newer version of Java, go to "Programs and Features". To do this, click on the windows start button, then "Control Panel", then "Programs", and finally "Programs and Features.


You should see a list of programs appearing on the page. Wait a little bit to have all the programs. You should now see a list of Java programs.


What is important is the Java (TM) programs. In the picture above, you can see I had 2 versions: Java 6.0.29 and 7.0.4. The new version I had problems with was 7.0.4, so I simply clicked on it, uninstalled it and I was left with version 6.0.29 which was working fine, like before the upgrade.


The only warning I have is that Java is upgraded regularly to improve security issues. Running old versions of Java is not a perfect solution, just a temporary solution, hoping that the next version will be released soon and will fix the particular problem you have.



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