Saturday, March 27, 2010

Want a Home Server? You Have One Already! Here's How...


 HP EX495 1.5TB Mediasmart Home Server ( Black)

Have you ever wondered about having your very own server and website in your closet, maybe in your den, or in you media niche, or where ever you see it fit?   Well, if you’re like me, who’s always wondered how to get a home server up and running without reading forums after forums of tech-perts that only rant about how stupid newbies are, then you have serendipitously landed on this page! Go buy yourself a lottery ticket afterwards...you might just win!  In this article, I will show you how simple it is now-a-days to get your home server configured and your webpage brought online, all from the hardware that you currently have.

Disclaimer: Please read this whole article in completion with complete understanding before starting any installations.  If in doubt, do nothing.  This article is for educational and testing purposes only .  As such, it is understood that I or any persons, associates, or references are excluded from being indemnified from all and any monetary, software, hardware, personal or business lost from all or any attempts suggested by this article.

1.  Use Your Laptop or Desktop PC

You should really use an old desktop PC that's reliable enough to run 24/7/365 days a year without your business or personal data on it. No,not your Grandpa’s PC (a mainframe).  Get a Desktop PC with Pentium 3 or 4 Desktop CPU. Or use a laptop PC.  It doesn't matter as long as it can run Window's 2000 or XP at least!  If you're planing to use this for business, don't do it, because it has no redundancies.  This article is for testing a non-production personal home server.  I used a "headless" (no keyboard, mouse, or video terminal)Shuttle PC with XP Media Center SP3.  Remember, a server is only a software.  They only call a hardware a server because of its hardware assembly redundancies in which it can host a software that specifically designed to run services for that hardware, 24/7/365 days a year.  Your PC with a server software becomes a server without the hardware redundancies, so please do not use it for business or production purposes unless you place redundancies for it.  Now, if you’ve installed Linux on your PC, then you’re reading this article for entertainment value.  Leave now or you'll think I am a newbie.  If your PC has Windows OS installed, then I feel sorry for you.  I'm joking!  Let’s move on.  Windows OS is okay, just as long as it's Windows 2000, XP, or Windows 7, (AVOID VISTA if you can).  It is understood that you’re already connected to the Internet with a ubiquitous router and you're somewhat PC literate, but if not, take some courses on how to run a PC and get an ISP ASAP (if you're reading this article from a friend's computer, of-course).  Basically, prep-up and come back here at http://perpetualads.blogspot.com/  when you're ready.

2. Download and install WAMP on your Windows PC

Back in the olden days, we had to install and configure the IIS, Apache, and the database software to make a web server work for a Win-tel platform.  Now, all you have to do is download a package that will install and configure all of the for you for the Win-tel (Windows-Intel) machine.  The package that can do this is called Windows-Apache-MySQL-PHP or "WAMP".  If you have Linux, you've already installed the LAMP ("L" stands for Linux instead of Windows).  So, start downloading WAMP on your Windows machine.  You can download WAMP here.

Watch this YouTube video on how to install WAMP from YouTube in HD now:







3. Download and Install Joomla

Once you've installed WAMP, you will have a sample welcome page or landing page called "index.html" from your Apache web server located in your WWW root directory under the folder WAMP.  If you type "localhost" on your Internet Explorer's address field, you will see that it will take you to that welcome page.  You basically have a full-pledged Web Server on your PC now.  It is just not accessible from the world wide web or cyberspace.  But before we get your Web Server ONLINE so cyberspace can see it, let's make it look good first.  So, I will introduce to you a system called "Content Management System" or CMS.  This system called CMS will help you customize your webpages for your web server more easily and professionally than ever before.  No more ugly webpages from the 1990s that took forever to redesign and recode -HELLO!  Joomla is one of those web page CMS's and it's total free with full backing and support from a growing community, so download it here for FREE.  Install it on your WAMP server PC only after you've seen this instructional video from YouTube in HD.  Remember to create your MySQL database first for your Joomla website and keep all Login Name and Passwords the same throughout your web development to minimize confusion and frustrations.  You can do all WAMP configurations from the WAMP systems tray icon on the lower left hand of your Windows desktop.  Also, if you want your website to come up automatically when typing localhost from your browser, you will need to unzip the Joomla files directly into the /WAMP/www root folder.  Note:  There are many ways to install Joomla faster than ever before, but if you want to know how it all works, do it manually like in this following video.

Watch this video on how to manually install and configure Joomla on your Windows PC with WAMP:








4. Showcase your Website from your Home Server to the World

Now that you've got your Test Home Server and Website up and running, you'll need to access it from outside your home or local LAN (Local Area Network).  In order to do that, you'll need to access your home router to configure port forwarding to forward HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) requests to your home server and create a DNS or Domain Name Service to associate a Domain Name to your IP address of your home web server's router.  First, find out what the login and password is of your router.  If you don't know, then it should be the default login name and password for your specific brand of router.  Click here for the default login name and password of your router.  Write down the default information.  Now open a CMD (command prompt) window by typing "CMD" in the Run window from the "Start" tab from your home server by clicking "Run" first. In the command prompt window, type: "ipconfig /all" and record the IP address of your web server and the default gateway's IP address.  Then try to login to your router from your web browser by typing in the Gateway IP address in the address field.  You should be prompted for a Login Name and Password and if you have not changed it, it should be the default login name and password. If you are able to login to your router, then the next thing you need is the IP address assigned by your Internet Service Provider or ISP for your router.  It should NOT start with 192.x.x.x.  Record this IP address because this is the IP address you'll need to input when applying for a domain name from DynDNS.  Then you will need to go through the DynDNS's steps to get your web server or home server linked with a Static Domain Name for your router's ISP assigned IP address. With most routers, there is a reserved field for assigning DNS names from companies that provide Free DNS names such as DynDNS.  See if you have that and configure accordingly in your router.  Finally, you will need to forward the HTTP ports to your home server's local IP  address from your router.  Now, your home server's IP address should be statically assigned, but as long as the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server in your router assigns the same LAN IP address to your home server all the time, you should be fine. But just keep a note that this should be a static IP.  If you would like to configure your home server's IP as a static IP, then you'll need to go to Start-Control Panel-Network and Internet Connections-Network Connections then right click "LAN Area Connection", highlight "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)", and click "Properties" from your Windows desktop.  This will show you a window where you can assign the Dynamic IP address as a Static IP address by choosing and filling up "Use the following IP addresses" section with the same dynamic information.  Here are the complete instructions for obtaining a DynDNS account and DNS name by clicking here.

Of-course, a video of this gibberish is worth a thousand words, so here it is:







5. Test your home web server using your DNS name

If everything works out right and Murphy's Law somehow never got to you during this process, then buy two lottery tickets, or drink a beer, or do something to rejoice because you're on your way to perpetuating yourself online forever!  So, test this home server with your chosen FREE DNS name from DynDNS. Type in your DNS name which should be a sub-domain of any DynDNS domain name.  Don't forget to type as such: http://yourdnsnamefromdyndns.whateverdyndnsdomainname.com.  This name is now linked to your ISP's IP address of your home router which forwards the HTTP request from the outside world to your home server's local IP address, in turn, forwarding that to your Apache web server's index page of your home server which is enabled with PHP scripts and MySQL database for a complete Content Management System!  Congratulations!...I think.

Note: There are more things you can do afterwords, but is out of context of this article, so I will furnish you with some links to move your development of your home server forward, should you be so lucky enough to get pass this article with success. Here they are:

1. How to change the Joomla Logo to your logo

2. Make Joomla Administrator link secure from hackers
3. Download Joomla Templates for Free
4. Joomla forums
5. PHP forums


-CD Grecia



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Serendipity

Monday, March 22, 2010

You Don't Need No Stinkin' Website


Samsung UN55C7000 55-Inch 1080p 240 Hz 3D LED HDTV (Black)
You've heard it a thousand times before.  Here it is again, a thousand times and one.  Yes, you can make money online with many different affiliate programs.  How much money you say?  About $1/day if you're off to a good start with Google Adsense and a blog page generating about 200 visitors a day and about $300/month between 3 months to 3 years with a steady increase of traffic of about 400 to 1000 visitors a day with a mixture of affiliates like Adbrite, Bidvertiser, Clicksor, Chitika, Fastclick, Exit Junction, and Adtoll (you taking notes?).  Or nothing at all.  It all depends on how you cultivate your affiliate farms with keywords (you'll know more about keywords later if you don't already) or when Google AdSense or any other affiliate programs cut you off because you're earning too much that they'll think you're probably cheating the system.  Yes, folks, you've heard it here.  This ain't no get rich quick scheme and the affiliates will only pay you when they're satisfied with you and not the other way around.  There is an inherent flux that you can't control even if you think you can with affiliates advertising.  You've probably heard of people selling some kind of system that will supposedly make you a ton of money online only for $19.95 and such, using affiliate programs of some sort.  You're skeptical but curious, so you buy one just to satisfy your curiosity.  And in doing so, you've probably got burned and figured out that the only one really making the real money was the seller.  The get rich quick system that you bought into may have satisfied your curiosity for $19.95.  A low risk, small investment, big rewards scheme for you and absolutely for the seller.  But if you've been burned before or frustrated in the past about making money online, or don't know where to start, or don't think you can start one, then look no further and have some faith.  The information that I am going to introduce to you is called "Blogging". You've heard of it, and I will help you get started with your first blog page with an affiliated marketing called Google AdSense or Adbrite in return for your viewership and perpetuation of this article.  No $19.95 with big promises here.  No sirree.  And, you don't need NO stinkin' website to make money with affiliates marketing online. You just need a blog page with Google Adsense built-in.  Here's how.

Step #1.  Sign-up with Blogspot.com or Blogger.com, they're one in the same.

Just think.  You could already have accrued some change if you knew of this in the past, so don't waste anymore time because time is literally money on the Internet. With a little bit of work, even a small amount of money can perpetuate to become a lot, specially when you can save that chunk of change with interest.   Again, you don't need a website or domain name to get started, so sign-up with Google's blogspot for a blog page here:  http://www.blogspot.com/ or http://www.blogger.com/  .  Use your Google email and password if you have one.  Alternatively, sign-in with an email you regularly use if you don't have a Google email account.  You might be saying, "Isn't a web page or blog page a website?"  Technically yes.  But for the purpose of this article and to differentiate, I will state that a website is something you have to design and build, versus a web page that is already designed and working for you.  Therefore, a web page or blog page is just that; a page hosted by somebody else that is readily available for your use.  So, configure your blog page from blogspot once you're in and go thru each menu tabs to configure them accordingly.  Once you're done configuring your blog page's name and template for use, you will need  to remember your URL name for your blogspot home address.  For example, mine is http://perpetualads.blogspot.com/.  A unique sub-domain name of blogspot.com.  You will need to start blogging and posting articles in order to convince Google that you can contribute to their AdSense program when you apply because you have fresh content on your blog page.  Same goes for Adbrite.  Remember to make your home address name or URL something that will have a representation about your blogs to the world. 

[Now, this is were I ask you to perpetuate this article by posting it as your first article for your blog page.  It will make your application for a Google AdSense and Adbrite account faster as they will see that you have a blog already up and running on the page that is endorsing their product.  You can erase this paragraph when cutting and pasting to your edit page of your new blog page if you want.  You don't have to do this for me.  It is just a suggestion but remember that you must have your blog page running with an article and modules configured such as the news feed to convince Google and Adbrite that you have a working blog page that has content. Google and Adbrite will deny your application otherwise.]

Step #2.  Apply for Google AdSense or Adbrite to create an account

Login to Google AdSense at https://www.google.com/adsense . You can use your Google email and password, again, if you have one or just use your email other than Google's and sign-in  or sign-up to create an account, if you don't have one.  Once you've created and account, you will already have entered your credit card account numbers and your webpage or website name that Google AdSense asks of.  You will enter for your web page name for example, http://yourblogpagetitle.blogspot.com.  You will notice that this application is completely secured with https secure socket layer or SSL.  This is good and this is safe.  It encrypts your data to Google.  You should not trust your credit card numbers to anything without https on the URL when applying or buying things online.  Once everything is completed, you will submit your application for further review by Google AdSense.  If Google AdSense declines you, no problem, just do it over at Adbrite: http://www.adbrite.com/

Step #3. Write your article while you wait for your AdSense or Adbrite's approval


Time it takes: A long time to write a unique article. About a week for Google AdSense to reply.  Adbrite, usually within 3 days.

Now that you're waiting for approval, this would be the best time to start writing your very own article for your blog. Try to be original at all times.  You can always add this article as your first blog if you have not done so.  This will be an exception to originality, of course, but I give you total permission not only to help me perpetuate this article, but to help you get started with your affiliates program application.  It's hard to come up with an original article especially when you're doing something you're not used to.  But with practice and some guidance on how to write an article for a blog (see this for advice on writing your articles: http://perpetualads.blogspot.com/2010/03/articles-with-side-order-of-google.html ), it will get easier to start writing articles as you go along. Now, you don't have to write an article every time just to blog, but a majority of websites take advantage of complete articles with content just to satisfy Google's Page Ranking system. You'll want to write complete articles because Google AdWords will have more keywords to pick from to service the AdWord reader.

If you get approved for your AdSense application, CONGRATS!  Start spreading the news on Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, families, and friends.  If you get declined, no worries.  You just need find out if your blog complies with Google's AdSense policies if you want to stick with Google AdSense. You might need to also get more articles published on your blog, that's all. Try again and good-luck. If you still can't get approval from Google, time to shop around for another affiliated keyword pay-per-click (PPC) programs like Adbrite.  I gave you a list in the beginning.  Start applying!
 
In my next article, I will show you how to continue to perpetuate your article online so that for every article you create with blogspot, the title of your new article will get posted from your original article and link back to your home page where your AdSense or Adbrite program reside through the use of RSS feeds.  You can post these articles with RSS scripts to articles banks such as http://www.perpetualads.com/  to start generating traffic of about 200 visitors a day.  Now, isn't it about time you got your program started?  You've promised yourself before.  You wanted to know more and now here it is.  With cloud computing, Content Management Systems, and Super Fast Computing all at your disposal, there is no better time to take advantage of making a few bucks online while having fun writing about, well, what ever you like.  Just don't defame anyone.  I am living proof that you can make an honest buck with Google Adsense and Adbrite, and you don't need NO stinkin' website to do it!  You just need a blog page, so start blogging.

Thank you for reading!

('DiggThis’)
 

-CD Grecia

Friday, March 19, 2010

Articles with a Side Order of Google Adsense




Well, so now you have a website.  And you want some traffic...instant traffic...LOTS of TRAFFIC!!! What do you do?  Write an article with advertisements and links to your website.  Simple as that...but it's easier said than done. In this article, I will instruct you on how to submit and monetize your articles to websites such as PerpetualAds.com.  This is a simple instruction on how to post articles with perpetual ads for additional instant traffic to monetize your article in cyberspace and beyond.

Rule #1.) Be creative

Articles get boring without any pictures or videos and articles without a title that captures the readers’ attention will just get ignored.  So, add an interesting picture or a video to your article with a back-link to your website, if possible, and create a really gripping title!
  
Rule #2.) Have a
topic

You need to have a topic to talk about and add enough content for that topic.  The topic usually is your thesis statement sentence placed at the end of the first paragraph.  Enough content usually means 5 paragraphs about the topic.  More than 5 paragraphs and people start to wander off.

Rule #3.) Use a Formula


You need to follow a formula in writing your article.  If you can write enough articles with this formula, you will soon create your own style of writing articles. Your style will then differentiate you from the rest of the writers in cyberspace and the real world.  What I usually follow is this 5 step formula:

a. Introduction statement paragraph followed by your thesis statement as the last sentence of the  1st paragraph.
b. Supporting paragraph of your thesis statement with an example as your 2nd paragraph.
c. Supporting paragraph of your thesis statement with another example as your 3rd paragraph
d. Contrary paragraph of your thesis statement with supporting theories or examples as your 4th paragraph
e. Create an ending paragraph that vindicates your thesis statement by reinstating it with scientific evidence or case studies.

Rule #4.) Advertise and Get Paid


Include links for any word you think is a keyword for your Article and link it back to your website but do it sparingly!  You must also include your campaigns to monetize your writing efforts to perpetuate your ads in cyberspace! Do that strategically within the confines of your article.

Rule #5.) Review, Edit, and Publish

Edit, Edit, Edit!  Edit your articles at least 3 times by running it through spell checker or a friend!  Until it is the best looking article you've ever made without any spelling or grammatical errors, don't publish it.  People will turn off to misspelled and incorrect grammar every chance they get!  Also, don't forget to include meta tags for Search Engine Optimization before publishing it.  You can publish your article to many blog websites for free. Just Google it but why do that when you can do it (click Submit Article on the top menu) here or at  http://www.perpetualads.com/user.cgi .

And there you have it...because PerpetualAds.com has over 4200 websites that display your articles for maximum viewership AND GROWING, you can start submitting your creative articles that have pictures and videos linking back to your site that will show advertisements making you money by signing up for
free!  Try it and you'll see what I am talking about. http://www.perpetualads.com/ .

Thanks for reading!

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