Wireless broadband needed in USA

Since 2001, the U.S. has fallen from 3rd to 16th in worldwide broadband adoption, an alarming trend that seriously threatens American competitiveness in the digital age. Wireless broadband is the most promising way to extend affordable, ubiquitous, high-speed Internet connections to all Americans, particularly in under-served rural and low-income areas (Wireless Innovation Alliance). Roughly 15 million households cannot get broadband from their phone or cable provider because the companies have been slow to expand their high-speed networks in areas where there are not enough customers to generate what they regard as an adequate profit.
“If you don’t have a broadband connection, you’ll be left in a backwater and won’t be able to take part in the economy,” said David J. Leonard, WildBlue’s chief executive. “There’s a growing unmet demand in these markets.”
Wild Blue is a fast growing satellite based technology designed to bring DSL comparable speeds to rural areas that can not receive DSL, cable service.
What are your choices if you live in one of these un-serviced areas? Well there is dialup (eech) which is the whole reason for switching to broadband. Now if all you do is email and the occasional browsing then dialup is fine. But, if you are like the rest of us you would like to take full advantage of what the Internet has to offer. And, if, you are in business you need high speed.
So what are your choices in this new wireless realm? Well wireless is a broad term and covers everything from your home laptop to huge wide area networks. We are talking about wide area. This comes in several flavors, mesh, multipoint, and satellite.
In areas where mountains are not a problem mesh and multipoint work fine. Mesh and multipoint use ‘line-of-sight’ antennas. In areas where terrain is an issue then you will need satellite.
Now all of these have their strong and weak points, like I said terrain is a factor, weather can be a factor and of course cost. You will need to do your homework to see what is available in your area and which service is best for you.

Lone Bird Studio web design is based in Asheville, NC. CEO and head web designer Chris Kaminski built his first website in 1996. He has a passion for computer technology, web design and development and loves to share his knowledge and empower other internet businesses with tips and advice. Feel free to contact Lone Bird Studio with any questions, business or to link up with us!!

What is in a .name?

The Internet has grown no argument there. It has replaced ground mail and the phone book. It has revolutionized business and banking but, there is one little piece that has gone un-noticed until now. In fact it has become the fastest growing segment in the private sector (a little corporate talk) and that is personal web sites.
And, that is because of the .name web extension. We are all familiar with .com, .net, .biz, .tv, but the real sleeper has been .name.
Why a personal web site?
- It's memorable. Use your first, middle, last or nickname in any order. The only thing anyone needs to remember is your name.
- You can have your own personal email.
- It is a global top level domain, .name works for individuals in exactly the same way .com works for businesses.
- It is personal. Use it to show off your family photos, or as an online portfolio, your .name domain is the best way to express yourself online.
- It's non-commercial. No companies no third parties in your domain. It's your name ending in .name, and that's it!
One of the great things about the Internet is freedom of expression, the opportunity for anyone to publish something on your own. It can be about your favorite sports team or music celebrity, personal or family news, political views, anything. There are a huge number and variety of individuals' web pages already online, including some very professional family and personal websites intended to keep relatives and friends up-to-date.
It is relatively simple to produce and publish your own pages, it can be great fun, and you also can learn some IT skills. Software for web page creation is easily available on the web, with many free or low costs. There are many websites that give advice and tips for budding designers. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer space to "host" personal web pages as part of their offers, and there are websites that offer free space for personal pages.
So, what’s in a name? A whole lot and you can take it global.

Welcome to the New Digital Economy

As we watch our traditional economy slow to a halt you can’t help but worry. I don’t need to go into why because that is covered enough on the news. But if you notice none of the institutions you see in the news are online. In fact the virtual business world, though sales are down, is still going strong. So if you have been paying attention to business trends, there is a way not only to survive but to grow, welcome to the new digital economy!

We are living in a unique time. A time when popular trends (moving business online), economic necessity and globalization (finding new ways to earn a living) and the technology of the Internet all come together and collide with a recession.

We have been through recessions before but this time we have a second virtual world to turn to. And when the real world fails we can fall back on this virtual one (scary huh).

Why? Let’s take a look. Fact, it is easier and less expensive to start and run a virtual business than a traditional one. Fact, in the past few years there has been a dramatic increase in telecommuting (working from home). Fact, the Internet has become the worlds business / banking / shopping / socializing backbone. Put all this together and this is truly the age of the entrepreneur.

Virtual business is the missing key that breaks the work from home world wide open. Whether you make sales calling on clients one by one or you sell and ship a product you can do it faster and with less expense then traditional methods.

How? Some examples: put your office online and you can access it from anywhere.

There are shopping carts and payment gateways to handle sales and shipping. To get your message out there is email, video, U-Tube, Google, and blogs to name a few.

Now don’t misunderstand me, every good idea needs a plan and some investment of time and money but you also have tools that were never before available. There is always opportunity if you look even in this economy, so take your idea find a web developer to help with your plan and use the virtual world to make real money.

By Chris Kaminski
Lone Bird Studio Ltd.

The Benefits of Online Business

The Internet has evolved into a powerful tool that allows companies to market and sell products to an online customer base which spans the globe. In the US 73% of the population, about 147 million adults (www.pewinternet.org) has access to the World Wide Web and worldwide this represents a 400 million plus audience.

If your business can tap into only a small percentage of this online community then the returns can be substantial. Businesses have two routes to achieve an online presence, get a professional web developer to produce a web site or use internal employees to build the site themselves.

How much do we spend on advertising?
How much do we spend on printed media? (Catalogues, brochures and leaflets)
How many enquiries do our present marketing activities generate?
What proportion of our sales are achieved by this marketing?

Now, I’m not saying replace all of your current marketing with an online approach, it is worth pointing out that a well thought out web presence can be the most cost effective method of finding new customers.

What are the Benefits?

An advertisement or online shop that is viewable or 'open' 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year.
An incredibly large potential market.
A platform that allows small companies to compete on a near level playing field with large corporations.
A method for reducing ongoing operating costs. (Postage, phone bills and company time)
A one time setup cost with small annual running costs.
Better comunication routes with customers using email and online methods.

Author Chris Kaminski is head web designer at Lone Bird Studio, an Asheville web design and SEO company located in North Carolina.

How a Website Works

Ever wonder how a website makes it to your computer? Well, several things happen after you enter or click on a web address, I’ll explain.

First let’s start with that web address, actually it is called a URL (Universal Resource Locator) and has 3 basic parts. Part one is the “protocol” (http, ftp). Think of this as the instruction set of the requested document. Second is the server name (www.lonebird.com). And third, the name of the file requested (index.html).

When you hit enter you computer sends a request for this address to your ISP (Internet Service Provider) who forwards it to DNS.

What is DNS? Only the most important part of the Internet and yet, almost invisible.
Domain Name Servers store the location of websites. If one server does not know the address of a website it forwards the request down the line to the next one. This happens until one responds with an IP address (street address of the website) and sends your request to that server where the site is stored. This, in turn sends the information to your computer. The DNS system forms one of the largest and most active distributed databases on the planet. Without DNS, the Internet would shut down very quickly.

The real amazing part is how fast the process completes. You can click on a web address located on the opposite side of the world and have the information in seconds. Even if you have dial up and it takes half a minute, it is still pretty amazing when you consider what has to be done.
So the next time you are tapping your foot waiting for a page to load just remember your request may have had to search the world to find it.

Author Chris Kaminski is head web designer at Lone Bird Studio, an Asheville web design and SEO company located in North Carolina.

Your Digital Footprint Online

Most people are aware of their carbon foot print especially in today’s ‘green’ world. But few are aware of their “Digital Footprint”. According to the PEW Internet & American Life Project (http://www.pewinternet.org) fewer are even concerned.

What is your digital footprint? Simply, it is information about you. How did it get there? Well mostly by you but also as more databases become available online is easier for the search bots to find it. Google your name or phone number (not so much with cell) and see what comes up.
The PEW Internet & American Life Project recently completed a study and here is some of what the found out.

Digital Footprints: Summary of Findings at a Glance

The nature of personal information is changing in the age of Web 2.0.
Internet users are becoming more aware of their digital footprint; 47% have searched for information about themselves online, up from just 22% five years ago.
Few monitor their online presence with great regularity.
Most internet users are not concerned about the amount of information available about them online, and most do not take steps to limit that information.
Internet users have reason to be uncertain about the availability of personal data; 60% of those who search for their names actually find information about themselves online, but 38% say their searches come up short.
One in ten internet users have a job that requires them to self-promote or market their name online.
Among adults who create social networking profiles, transparency is the norm.
More than half of all adult internet users have used a search engine to follow others’ footprints.
Basic contact information tops most searchers’ wish lists.
Source: Madden, Fox, Smith and Vitak. Digital Footprints. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project, December 16, 2007.

Author Chris Kaminski is head web designer at Lone Bird Studio, an Asheville web design and SEO company located in North Carolina.

Apple bundles iTunes for New Monopoly

For years Microsoft haters slammed the company for being a greedy bully that forced their software on users. The core argument against Microsoft was that its market share gave it monopoly power. More exactly, the “bundling” of the Internet Explorer Web browser, which they claimed was forced on users because Microsoft offered it as part of Windows.

Now lets talk about iTunes and how Apple is using it to shove Microsoft aside as the industry’s biggest bully. How? Well everybody loves iPods. iPods come bundled with iTunes. Want to buy music from Apple? Guess what? You must install iTunes. Want an Apple cell phone from AT&T? Yep! ITunes is required even if you want only to make phone calls. Want to buy ringtones for your Apple phone? iTunes.

Apple not only “bundles” iTunes with products like Quick Time, it forces you to use it. At least with Internet Explorer, you could always download a competitor (like Fire Fox) and ignore IE.
With Windows, you could reformat your PC install any number of other PC-compatible operating systems.

Can you uninstall iTunes but keep using the iTunes store and your iPods? Apple says no, claiming that the iPod, the iPod software and iTunes are three components of the same product. Isn’t that what Microsoft said about Windows and IE.
Steve Jobs recently bragged that “bundling” works, Apple has distributed 600 million copies of iTunes to date (Mac World 9/2007).

But wait … What about all that content you bought and paid for, maybe 100’s of songs and dozens of movies? Well it only works with iPods and iTunes. You can’t change brands of mp3 players. Apple has an iPod customer for life. Microsoft never had this kind of monopoly power.
Microsoft used to be the bully, but now has to learn how to share.

Author Chris Kaminski is head web designer at Lone Bird Studio, an Asheville web design and SEO company located in North Carolina.