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The buzz is still whirling loudly surrounding the much hyped and talked up Microsoft Zune and what war it will wage on it’s eternal competitor Apple and it’s original collosal success, the iPod. While tech watercooler talk seems to indicate that Zune won’t reach the same in-demand status as it’s champion contender, it really comes down to a simple fact; If you are already a die-hard iPod user, you would more than likely be hard pressed to convert over to Zune. After all, who wants to re-subscribe and re-download your albums, and be a part of the new Zune movement when your current iPod odyssey is just fine for you? If it’s not broke why fix it?

That’s not to say there are not juicy little features the Apple counterpart doesn’t offer that the Zune does. Want a larger screen? Is picture sharing an important part of your digital device life? How does a built-in FM tuner sound? Do you drool at the thought of wi-fi capabilities? Well then perhaps there is a Zune in your future after all. On looks alone, it’s a matter of taste. While the original Zune design wouldn’t win any beauty contest, the current Microsoft Zune 80 offers a nice, sleek dark design with an almost Web 2.0 feel. What’s more likely to give you a run for your money is if you are not an existing iPod groupie, but are still an avid digital music fan looking for a great new way to listen to your large and growing audio library.

Of course if it’s movies, TV, and games that are must-haves on your list, you’ll have to wait for the next generation of Zune development. If you’re an incurable gadget freak who simply must taste the Zune goodness, then it may interest you to know my personal favorite feature of this device: Scratch resistant design! C’mon on now, don’t tell me you haven’t also danced around in your underwear around the house to a Duran Duran 80’s remix and accidentally dropped your adorably stylish brand new iPod friend. New Zune on Monday!

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(This article is for sample purposes only)

Though we’re months away from Valentine’s Day, it’s always the right time to show that special someone how much you love them. And when a Hallmark card alone just won’t cut it, consider expressing your adoration with a computer mouse that says “I love you” whenever your honey uses the scroll button. This USB optical mouse by Solid Alliance is compatible with Windows XP and even sports a lighted red glow when in use. The target audience is largely aimed at the male gender, considering those three little words are spoken by a female voice.

As you can see, the showcased color is pink. But fear not, red, blue and even yellow lovers aren’t left out in the gizmo cold. While I was initially quite impressed with sentiment of this heart-shaped passion inducing input device, it did occur to me that this actually may be a good gift to give somebody you don’t so much love, but one you love to annoy. Now go right now and make that special one in your life feel extra loved, if not also slightly irritated. If you are truly determined to rush order this sultry little gadget, it would be my advice to accompany the gift with a nice box of chocolates and possibly some earplugs. I certainly don’t mean to leave out all the single folks out there. Lonely? Feeling unloved? Do you have a face that only a mouse could love? This wacky little device is the perfect gift for geeks and narcissists alike!

You can pick one up for about $21 USD here.

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While I will continue to showcase several of my domains here, I feel it is much more professional and organized to streamline them into one site. I’m very pleased with how it came out, so go look at my new baby!

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AUCTION LINK

Here are the FREE gradients, albeit an older collection, but enjoy. Click Here to Download.

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My warning to any domainers out there, make sure you can prove who you are selling to. In this instance it was because the conversation was taken immediately to Messenger and there was no verbal detail exchange in the PM, she cannot prove the scammer is the guy in the thread, though it is obvious it is, still hard to prove.

This transaction was from Canada. It would be my recommendation that for any international PayPal domain sales, to tell the buyer they will have to wait several hours before the domain is transferred, so the payment can be verified as safe.

Hope this helps somebody. My dear friend lost two killer domains!

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I’m very inspired lately to begin theming on my own. I really have just fallen in love with Wordpress and love it’s functionality. Time to maybe dig in and see what I can come up with.

If you haven’t been to the Kong Technology blog, he’s got some great SEO articles.

Meanwhile I’m knee deep in continuing to sort through my piles of domain names. I sold one of my favorites yesterday, PinkBling.com. No idea what I would have done with it but I hope the new owner comes up with somethin nice.

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• 1. LEAVE YOUR DASHES AT HOME. While some may argue that domains with words separated by dashes can be helpful for search engine rankings, if your motive for registering a name is the domain value itself, don’t be tempted with that dash character. Most surfers upon hearing a domain name will type it in AS is. Therefore if you register “my-dash.com”, it is likely people will visit “mydash.com” and you’re just giving away your traffic and confusing your now lost visitor.

2. YOUR NUMBER’S UP. Numero uno is best for phone numbers, addresses and all those fun things numbers like to do. I’ve seen people register names that reflect their age. “www.sandy32.com”. What happens when dear Sandy turns 33? Naturally there are exceptions to this rule but all in all, big no no. The only acceptable use of a number in a domain name is the controversial “4″ or “2″, as in “Dots2Go.com”, “Names4Sale.com”. Another possible “okay FINE” situation is a name like “OneHotChick”. So you can see that there are many sides to this coin. While I will not get in on the debate as to what is more acceptable, it’s my own personal opinion that numerical characters should not preceed any TLD unless your company name IS numbers!

3. BACK TO BACK. A while back I had considered starting a separate website for photo retouching specifically for females. While I’m not giving away the name, the reason I did not register it, is that the first word ended with a “d” and the second word STARTED with a “d”. Example: “cookeddinner.com”. See how that just doesn’t look pretty and is a bit confusing to the eyeballs? Please though people. DON’T get clever and leave OUT one of the double consonants all together, making it “cookedinner.com”. That’s making a bad situation even worse. Perhaps change your wording all together, such as “cookedmeal.com”. See how much better that flows? : )

4.  DOT FORESIGHT. Foresee possible future domain issues. I bumbled badly a few months ago when I registered a name ending in “studios” and did not check to see if the “studio” version was registered. It sure was and while my domain and site are living through that just fine, it does make me wonder if I am missing traffic. When you register a name that ends either in a plural or singular with plural possibility, check it and grab it if you can.

5. PLURAL VS. SINGULAR. Speaking of plurals, there is no way to accurately recommend if a plural adds or decreases from the value of a domain name. One would think that a plural would automatically make it less valuable. It depends really. For instance, I own RockstarVideos.com, which just wouldn’t quite sound as catchy if it were RockstarVideo. In this case you want the “s”, but take that to heart when registering a domain.

6. REVERSE-O-RAMA. Consider the backwards effect. Some catchy names can be easily changed and yet sound the same when swapping the words around. Example, if you are looking to register PinkAngelic.com, consider AngelicPink.com, and check to make sure it is not an already active site.

7. GET CREATIVE. Before taking over the massively trafficked domain boards to get an appraisal on a killer name you just grabbed, do your homework first. I’m not saying you need to be an expert in Alexa or Google PR, backlinks or anything of that nature, but do the obvious. If you registered “BackyardLeaves.com”, make sure names like “BackyardTrees.com” isn’t already available before proclaiming you have struck dot com gold. Consider this too prior to registering the name. The value of a name is dependent upon many things but the bottom line is, the “RARE” factor.

How valuable is your name? on NAME value alone? The bottom line is this. Ask yourself if the name can be readily duplicated. If so, it’s not gold. If NOT? Then you may be on your way to domaining decadence!

I will be adding more to this article and bumping it up as I go along. I hope these tips are useful to you!

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IIf you have by chance seen my domain portfolio, you will CLEARLY recognize a serious addiction. I have over 320 names now and it’s just time to start consolidating a bit. They are not priced yet on the site but have price ranges so feel free to contact me for more info.

I have also finally started putting up my Photoshop styles, free for the taking and using as you see fit. Far more will be posted as time goes on.

I am not currently taking on custom client work as of yet. My to-do-list now has it’s own to-do list!

My previous blog was far more a personal blog, and this new version of my site (on the net for 8 YEARS now btw), will be far more web/business related, though I’m sure I’ll rant and share a few personal tidbits along the way!

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