Showing posts with label Internet Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet Tips. Show all posts

Monday, June 11, 2007

Google Adsense Really Works and Pays

Google Adsense Really Works and Pays - Eventually

I had started using Google Adsense around March of last year. The going was quite slow at first. However, around December of 2006, I got quite a few visitors - some of which translated into clicks.

I made my first US $100 at the end of March 2007 (a year later). It took around 730 clicks to get there. I waited for the cheque but it did'nt come. Then I realised that I need to apply for a Google PIN Number. The PIN Number arrived at the end of April. It had been thrown by my postman in the parking area outside my apartment building, like all my other letters.

I entered the Google PIN, removed all holds and waited for my cheque. Around the end of May, I checked my Google Adsense Account and found out that the cheque had been sent. I buzzed my friends to pick up the cheque and pass it on to me if they see it lying around anywhere.

I finally recieved the cheque in June. Google Cheques are payable at par at all Citibank branches in India. The cheque was lying on the stairs of my building. It had arrived from a Google Office in Singapore and included my Adsense Earnings till May. This was a little more than the US $ 100 that I had expected. However, as the value of the Indian Rupee had increased, I only got Rs. 40 for every dollar.

At first, I was quite skeptical about using Google Adsense, especially on a personal blog that has bits of my life in it. I've never asked people to click my Ads, because I'm too scared of getting caught. I never imagined that I'd have numerous strangers reading my blog from around the world who would actually be interested in the ads.

Fortunately, I was lucky. You can actually get money from Google Adsense by being honest. Neither, do you have to own a spam website. I got a cheque just by sharing my thoughts on my personal blog. Do you use or plan to use Google Adsense on your website ? It could prove to be an added source of income!

Friday, February 09, 2007

Fake Profiles On Orkut

Fake Profiles On Orkut

Today, lots of people are facing the problem of 'pranksters' creating fake profiles on the social networking site Orkut. First, lets take a look at some of the incidents -

obscene vulgar lewd fake profile orkut social networking websites

Case 1 - Delhi - An air-hostess working for Kingfisher Airlines asked a city court for help in filing a case against Orkut after a vulgar profile was posted by someone. The fake profile had a pic of her in her work uniform and her neighbors' telephone number listed for 'friendship'. Her neighbors were flooded with pesky calls leading to a lot of embarassment.

Case 2 - Delhi - The family of a school girl started recieving obscene phone calls and visits from strangers after a prankster created a lewd fake profile on Orkut and listed the girls phone number and email address.

Case 3 - Mumbai - A 20 year old economics student at Mumbai University recieved hundreds of raunchy phone calls after someone posted a fake profile of hers on Orkut. She later compained to Cyber Crime Cell in Mumbai.

Case 4 - Mumbai - A guy who owns a boutique in Mulund faced a lot of humiliation after a fake profile on Orkut listed him as a 'porn seller' mentioning his phone number and home address for good deals.

So, who are these 'pranksters' who create fake profiles on social networking sites?

Well, these so called 'pranksters' are not unknown strangers living in a far off country but some of the people most closest to you. They usually include classmates, college friends, ex boyfriends/girlfriends, neighbors, colleagues, relatives, family or business rivals. You usually trust them enough to give them your phone number and address which is how your vital information gets listed in fake profiles.

Why do they create fake profiles on social networking sites ?

The main reason is jealousy due to different reasons - either you are more popular in school or office, make more money, are better looking or are more attractive to the opposite sex. Another reason is to get back at you for something they think you are to blame - like them getting yelled at by the boss, teacher, family member or close friend. Some psychos do it after you reject them. A very few of them do it as a 'prank' or joke - these people usually confess or stop immediately after they see you getting hurt.

So, what do you do if it happens to you ?

First decide what you want - Do you want it to stop quietly, do you want to make some cash sueing the social networking site or are you just looking for some publicity ?

If you want it to stop quietly, first guess who the 'prankster' is. It will usually be someone you know and once trusted. Watch their reactions and the language used to describe you and you will be able to guess who it is. Tell that person to stop and threaten him/her with legal action/media publicity. However, if that person seems like a psycho then don't contact them.

If they admit it and still decide not to withdraw the fake profile then report them as bogus to the social networking website like Orkut. You can also search throught the list of communities on Orkut for one that 'hates fake profiles'. Write a complaint listing the url of your profile and the bogus profile and gets others also to report the 'prankster' as bogus.

If the fake profile is not withdrawn and the obscene phone calls continue you will have to take legal action as is available in your country.

In India, you have to file a case with the Cyber Crime Cell of the police department in your city. Section 67 of the Information Technology Act of 2000 deals with Cyber Crime. Some folks file cases with the Economic Offences Wing. Don't send a complaint by email but go there in person. As an email is not signed by you no action can be taken by the cops. In many cases those who are arrested are found to be known to the victim's family and are let off after some counselling. Usually the victims drop the case as no one wants to prosecute a 'friend' ?

Those who are looking for publicity should send complaints to the National Commision for Women followed by email and fax press releases to the bureau chief's of all newspaper and television companies.

If you are looking to sue Orkut for cash or revenge in India, the process will take a real long time. However, if you are lucky you may win a settlement like Brazilian Formula One driver Rubens Barrichello who sued Orkut for a fake profiles posted by a pranksters.

obscene vulgar lewd fake profile orkut social networking websitesA few months previously, Orkut was considered the safest online social networking site because it allowed members to register only through invitation. This meant that it was easy to trace created profiles to the folks who sent out the invitation. If you invited yourself to create a fake profile it could be easily found out. However, after October 2006, Orkut allowed people to sign up for a free account without an invitation. This has resulted in people making unlimited fake profiles with different email addresses and data. Maybe Orkut just wanted to increase its hits and revenue but the way I see it people have become more wary of social networking and stay away.

I am a member of Orkut with my real name and also have a fake profile called Cyberkitty. Neither are obscene !

Do you use social networking sites like Orkut ? Have you created fake profiles ?

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Does Google Adsense Really Work

Does Google Adsense really work - A review of Google Adsense.

review of google adsense earnings decrease clicks pay less hoax conspiracyAround six months ago, I heard about 'Google Adsense' and thought I'd give it a try. It seemed simple enough - just add some javascript ad code which puts up relevant ads to your website. When folks click on the ads - you get paid. I signed up and added the script to a few websites and my blog to check out if 'it really worked' and this is what I found out -

A Monthly Review of Google Adsense

1. April - Initially in the first two months I earned around 50c for every click. The clicks were few and far between, but I hoped they'd increase in the future.

2. May - a few clicks

3. June - a few more clicks

4. July - found out that the total money earned was slowly decreasing. eg. If it was $5.00 on one day, it would reduce to $4.39 after maybe a week. I sent them an email to which i recieved no reply.

5. August - realised there was a problem with the Google Adsense totalling system. The value of the adclicks did not add up properly to the amount which they should have.

6. September - Heard on the internet that Google is giving less money per click. Found out it was true after I checked my Google Adsense Earnings account. Instead of earning 30-70 cents per click I now earn around 1-5 cents per two clicks.

The Google Adsense earnings have decreased even though visitors and clicks have increased by more than 300 percent. Maybe the adsense earnings decrease is due to a large amount of new members joining in leading to advertisers paying less per click or maybe Google is paying less cause they suspect fraud clicks. Whatever the reason, Google Adsense does not really work !

Analysis - Maybe Google Adsense was a good bet to earn some extra cash a few months ago, but today the 'Google Adsense' bubble seems to have burst. There may be a few folks earning in thousands but that's what they are - a FEW.

I am now leaving the ads on as a test till October to see if there are any new developments, after which I will remove them and give my final review....Unless, of course, Google bans me from Adsense for writing this post !

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Review of Social Networking Websites

A Review of Social Networking Websites


Review of Social Networking Websites online communitiesEvery other day my friends send me invites to join social networking websites or online communities. After signing up at a few popular ones I thought I'd write a review of these social networking websites. This review is based on the amount of activity at the website, safety of members and other features.

Review of Social Networking Websites online communitiesOrkut - 8/10 - most members are from Brazil or India usually in their late twenties or thirties. I found orkut relatively safer as no member can join without being invited by another member. As all members can be traced back to the person who recommended them, there is little chance of making fake profiles and getting away with mischief. I liked the interface, the testimonial and friend rating features. There are also various communities - offices, educational institutes or other interests that you can search through and join as a member. I managed to find and get in touch with quite a few of my long lost friends. The only problem are a few bugs - as orkut is still in beta version.

Hi5 - 5/10 - By Yahoo - lots of fake profiles here. Plus you have to have your own blog at hi5 you can't add your blogger url.

Friendster - 3/10 - Heard a lot about it, but when I first checked it out the site was closed for maintenance. It says it has thirteen million members but I'm willing to bet more than half are fake profiles. Lots of ads on knee pain here !! I wonder why ?

Ryze - 3/10 - Is a business networking site, so I don't use it much. Has many ads.

Gazzag - 2/10 - Is another online community that has very few members and uses lots of ads. Free signup.

MySpace - 4/10 - This Social Networking site is very popular in the United States among teenagers. Quite unsafe as it has free signup which leads to lots of fake obscene profiles by older persons. Offers popular blogs and videos.

Care2 - 7/10 - Is a Social Networking site for those concerned about the environment and animals who click on ads to donate money to various social causes and petition the govenment to deal with certain issues. Has folks of all ages from around the world.

Bebo - 4/10 - Is an online communities popular among school and college kids in North America, UK and Australia only. Anyone can register which leads to lots of folks causing mischief.

Fropper - 1/10 - Indian Dating and online community website......boring

ApunDesi - 2/10 - a social networking site optimised for ads which is dedicated towards Indians and Pakistanis commonly known as Desis.

So have you joined any of these sites ? What was your experience like ? Perhaps you know of a cool one I've missed out on ?

Tags

Saturday, August 26, 2006

A Review of Blog Directories and related sites

A Review of Blog Directories, Listings and Related sites.

In June, I signed up to a few blog directories and related sites, some of which asked me to add a link to their site, which I did for two months. This review of Blog directories, listings and search websites is based on factors such as the links to my weblog and the web traffic that I earned from them.

Blogexplosion.com - 7/10 - A site where you surf other blogs to earn traffic to yours. I surfed through updated weblogs from different countries, some of which were cool and also got quite some traffic from other bloggers. I also found links to my blog on search engines. The other useful item was the invisible counter for visitor statistics.

Bloginspace.com - 3/10 - A website that broadcasts your blog into space, it has been rated 3 for the link that showed up on the search engines.

Bloglines.com - 7/10 - Is a blog feed reading website. Useful to read blogs I like when there is a new or updated post.

Blogrankings.com - 0/10 - A Blog Directory from which there was zero traffic and no link to my blog in the search engines has to be rated zero.

Blogarama.com - 0/10 - A website that lists blogs from which I got no traffic, searches or links will also get a rating of zero.

Bloggernity.com - o/10 - ranked nil as this blog directory is similar to the above three.

Bloghop.com - 2/10 - Though no traffic came from here, I did find a link to my blog from some search engines.

Blogmad.net - 0/10 - A zero traffic Blog Directory, no links either.

Blogstreet.com - 0/10 - I had heard a lot about this website but was disappointed to get zero hits from this blog listing website.

Blogwise.com - 0/10 - gets a nil ranking for the nil traffic and links to my blog.

Desiblogs.org - 5/10 - I did find a few links to my blog from search engines from here though I did not get any traffic.

Globeofblogs.com - 8/10 - Quite a few links and hits from here.

Lsblogs.com - 2/10 - one link from here

Submitexpress.com
- 9/10 - useful site for submitting blogs to various search engines and checking how many websites are linking to you.

Sunsuna.com - 4/10 - I originaly got quite some hits from here which changed to zero after they changed the design of their homepage.

Technorati.com - 6/10 - gets a moderate rating for the links and hits I got through technorati tag search.

Wolfsurfer.com - 0/10 - An earn traffic by surfing others website - Unlike Blogexplosion most of the websites here were on boring topics like search engine optimization and internet marketing. I got zero hits in proportion to the large amount of sites I surfed through.

I have now taken off the Blogroll on my sidebar that had compulsory links to some of the above websites and have now linked only to the useful sites from this post.

Do you know of any good blog related websites ?

Sunday, July 30, 2006

I am Preity Zinta

Celebrity Face Recognition at Myheritage.com

preity zinta cyberkitty charlotte church celebrity face recognition myheritageEver since I first heard about the online celebrity face recognition tool on www.myheritage.com I just knew I had to give it a try. You first have to create an account, then upload a photo of yourself and with their face recognition and mapping software they tell you which celebrity you resemble the most. Of the Indian celebrity's I am 56 % Preity Zinta and 47 % Kajol.
preity zinta cyberkitty charlotte church celebrity face recognition myheritage
Of the International celebrity's my features most closely resemble Charlotte Church 66%, Heather Locklear 63 %, Joan Cusack 62 %, Jackie Kennedy 61 %, Heidi Klum 59 %, Jennifer Connoley 59 %, Gillian Anderson 56 %, Jennifer Garner 53 %, Shiri Appelby 53 %, Alicia Silverstone - 51 % and Kate Winslet 51% - quite a good looking list, I must say.
preity zinta cyberkitty charlotte church celebrity face recognition myheritage
Apparently I also looked like a few guys like Matthew Perry- 63 %, Matt Damon 54 % and Jacques Villeneuve the formula one racer - 48 %. It's a good thing all these guys are the feminine type otherwise I would have been quite upset.
preity zinta cyberkitty charlotte church celebrity face recognition myheritage
Many people have told me I looked a bit 'chinky' and I was not surprised to see some Chinese/Asian results also pop up like Son ye jin, Maggie Cheung and Song Hye Kyo whose picture is on the right.

Just to check the accuracy of this face recognition software, I ran Jennifer Aniston's photo to see what results the software would turn up. I found it worked quite well - another picture of Aniston turned up as her perfect celebrity double, though only with a similarity of 75 percent.

So, who's your celebrity twin ?

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Bypassing Censorship in India

As you must be knowing by now sites like blogspot, geocities and typepad have been blocked for some reason. Here are some url's through which you can access your site/ blogs which I found on wikipedia.com.

* http://pkblogs.com, www.boreproxy.com, www.hidemyass.com, www.shysurfer.com

* http://www.daveproxy.co.uk, www.ninjaproxy.com