Aug 29, 2014

Best Money Making Adsense Alternative Yet!

A few years ago I was abruptly kicked off of Google Adsense with very little explanation. If you search around the Internet you will find that it is a pretty common occurrence. Since Google is the number one name in the game of CPC advertising, they really don't care if they lose a few bloggers here and there. They also don't offer any live support with real people you can talk to to try to get re-instated. In short, once you get booted from Adsense you are screwed!

Since then I've been trying to find a decent alternative to Adsense that pays as good, and I just haven't found it yet. The last article I wrote on this subject was about Technorati Media ads, and that was back in 2012. I also wrote about Media.net which operates the Yahoo/Bing advertising network, but their ads look like crap. Neither of those has performed even half as well as Adsense.

Well I started using Amazon's new CPM advertising system on top of my Amazon Associate affiliate links and I'm now starting to see some decent revenue. It's still not as good as Adsense, but it's doing way better than Technorati or Media.net. If you are making money from Amazon Associate links, then adding their CPM ads to your site will give you some good supplemental revenue for sure.

So as of now, my pick for the best Adsense alternative is Amazon's Associate network mixed with their CPM ads!

Aug 12, 2014

Configure XenServer for SNMP

Monitoring your virtualization cluster is very important. I mean, they run most of your critical servers for crying out loud right? Well besides VMWare in my company's environment, we also have XenServer. Since we just added another node to our XenServer cluster I thought I would write about how to configure it for SNMP monitoring.
  • SSH into your XenServer
  • Edit: /etc/sysconfig/iptables with your favorite text editor. (I like nano)
  • Add the following lines AFTER the line “-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p udp –dport 5353 -d 224.0.0.251 -j ACCEPT”
    -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p udp --dport 161 -j ACCEPT
    -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p udp --dport 123 -j ACCEPT
     
  • Execute: service iptables restart
  • Edit: /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf with your favorite text editor
  • Replace the community with your current SNMP community if you have one.
    # sec.name source community
    com2sec notConfigUser default public
  • Execute: chkconfig snmpd on
  • Execute: service snmpd restart
That's it, now you should be able to do an SNMP walk using your monitoring software. We happen to use Zenoss Core and it is able to pick up everything we need to monitor our XenServers!

What do you use for monitoring? Do you like it? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.

[Via Gimpland]

Aug 11, 2014

The Most Amazing Wearable Tech of 2014

Hoodies that send text messages, wristwatches that run iOS and contact lenses that protect against the harmful rays of the sun were all once considered gadgets of the future. However, recent advancements have turned these tech tools into a reality. Some consider this to be the beginning of the end of humanity, where the line between human and machine begins to blur, whereas others believe that it is an extraordinary advancement that will turn is into more powerful humans. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, one thing is for certain: wearable tech is here to stay.

Smart Hoodie

Imagine a world where a sweater can both keep you warm and send text messages for you. The Smart Hoodie, created by NYU grad students Rucha Patwardhan and Alina Balean, is technically still in demo mode. The plan is to create a hooded sweatshirt with a GSM radio sewn in that responds to a person's gestures. In other words, if you want to send a text that says "I love you" to your significant other all you'll have to do is roll up your sleeve or touch the hood, explains The Verge. This Smart Hoodie also may be able to save lives with the text-to-911 feature that is currently in the works.

iWatch

Apple is known for its sci-fi inspired creations—the iPad looks almost identical to the tablets seen in Star Trek. And, the company has done it again with iWatch. It's believed that the official introduction for this wearable tech will take place in late 2014, comments Mac Rumors. Little is known about this long awaited tech tool, but it is likely that the iWatch will be an iOS-friendly watch that is compatible with the iPhone, reports Tech Radar. That means that this wearable tech will make it easier to check incoming notifications and messages without having to pull out your devices. However, it's expected that the iWatch won't be as sophisticated as the iPhone 6, which, according to Apple Insider, has a release date of October 14, 2014.

Speaker Clutch

We've got futuristic clothing and accessories, what more do we need? Well, apparently Rebecca Minkoff thought we needed a more modern version of the clutch. Created for the brand Stellé Audio Couture, edgy clutches with Blutooth-enabled wireless speakers inside are already available at Nordstrom. This conversation piece comes in navy blue, forest green, hot pink and silver and has a retail price of $400, says Cosmopolitan. If you want to bring the music with you wherever you go, this speaker and clutch hybrid is for you.

UV-Protection Lenses

The Acuvue Oasys brand has developed contact lenses that protect against harmful UV rays by blocking 96 percent of UV-A rays and 99 percent of UV-B rays, says Vision Direct. In addition, contact lenses create a full barrier over a large part of the surface of the eye and the entire cornea as opposed to many sunglasses that do not protect the eyes from solar radiation that comes in from the sides or around this type of eyewear, says the American Optometric Association.
It is difficult to predict exactly where wearable tech will take us simply because it has the potential to encompass many aspects of our lives. It is reasonable to expect that this type of technology will improve various industries, particularly the medical and communication sector. Business Insider mentions that the goal of wearable tech has always been to improve our awareness without getting in the way of social interactions. If this proves true, wearable technology will inevitably allow us to have more control of our surrounding environment.



Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More

 
Design by Free WordPress Themes | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premium Blogger Themes | stopping spam