Carmine

One of the hottest stories around the web at the moment is Squidoo.com -- yes, it sure is a funny name.

And here's another funny thing. They don't call them web pages. Nope they're lenses. And the singular is lens.

But on the good (very good actually) side is how popular the Squid is with Mr Google.

One thing you can do with your Squidoo lens is to suck in fresh content by using a nifty piece of technology called a RSS feed.

WHAT IS THIS "RSS" THING ANYWAY?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it allows you to add content from other websites to your website or Squidoo lens, simply by copying one line of code into the page you control.

That means -- if you can copy and paste, you can do this thing.

One of the great things about RSS is that the content from the other site is automatically updated on your site whenever it changes at the original site. I think now is the time to say... Ah, the wonders of automation.

So to recap:

Freshly baked new content is sucked into your lens every hour/6 hours/12 hours/day (whatever you choose) and you don't have to do a single thing after you set it up.

Another benefit is that it helps you flesh out your Squidoo lens.

Know why that matters? They won't even display your lens until you have at least 4 "modules". In other words, 4 blocks of various kinds (basically info, RSS feeds, YouTube videos, eBay ads, Amazon ads, etc).

At least one of your modules has to be text you have written (or copied-and-adapted from elsewhere).

So we come to our question of the day:

WHERE DO YOU GET RSS FEEDS FROM?

Answer: All over the internet, actually. You have undoubtedly seen the orange XML rectangles and square orange RSS logos on lots of websites. Underneath those graphics you will find the web address (URL, to be technical) for that particular RSS feed. You just copy that into the RSS feed module at Squidoo and site back and marvel at your handiwork.

Was that what you wanted to read?

No?

You wanted more??

Okay, here ya go...

This URL is going to pull in news from Yahoo about American Idol. See those 2 words at the end? You can change them to any other 2 words and it will still work. Or delete [ +idol ] if you only want news about a one word topic... like incontinence. Oops, did I say that?

http://jeremy.zawodny.com/ynews-search-rss.php?q=american+idol&go=go

EXTRA RESOURCES:

The lights are focused and gloved fingers ply inside the belly with a tong of forceps. The blood soaked sponge keeps the operating area clean and visible. Dr. Silly would be in his elements with such a gory sight. It would not curdle up his blood. It is said that appendix is the bread and butter of a surgeon. One appendix is bread and more number of appendices he removes the more butter it brings to his family. No wonder a patient who was found gripping his belly with pain, hardly able to speak, was found to carry in his pocket a note: "Doctor, please do not remove my appendix. It has been removed thrice." But here was a strange spectacle inside Dr. Silly's consulting room. What was Dr. Silly doing in his own consulting room, kneeling down, kowtowing, head almost touching the floor, and gaze turned upwards at the cabinet box of CPU? I admit he was at a liberty to do any thing in his own consulting room, as long as he was alone. But the human mind is inquisitive and this strange position that is not described in any of the kamsutra positions would perplex anybody. His consulting room had the same lavish ambience that you find in the Crystal Ball Room of the five star hotel of Taj International Group. Just awesome!

Dr. Silly in his plush consulting room was tinkering with the innards of his desk top computer's CPU. The operation carried out using some assorted set of screwdrivers seemed to be over. Out came the hard disk and out came the ram. Dr. Silly wiped the sweat off his face and slumped in his luxurious chair. His face showed a mixture of triumph and dismay. We can allow Dr. Silly the joy of triumph for anybody would attest that ordinarily he would not have even opened a torch to replace the battery inside. The hardware engineer told Dr. Silly his verdict, "Your hard disk is conked off and there has been a short circuit. Your ram is singed." Dr. Silly admitted that he smelt something burning when he was meddling with the insides of the computer in the head down, bottom up position. He then quickly switched off the computer and finally found he had inserted the ram in the slot in a direction opposite to what should have been.

A smartass who plays nasty pranks on other person's computer while logged in to his own laptop, and hiding somewhere in the World Wide Web would be called a hacker'. What is the opposite of hacker'? What would you call him who cannot log in his own website's control panel or cannot prevent his own website's domain name from being usurped by some one else? I would not call him nave'. Can you figure out an antonym for hacker'? If you can't, don't rake your brains. Moreover, you will not find it in any of the world's books of Thesaurus, so don't waste time searching for it in Google. I will disclose to you the word that best describes the opposite of hacker', but first let us finish with Dr. Silly's story. Let us spill the secret.

What was the emergency that made Dr. Silly kowtow in the humble Buddhist posture of meditation to work with the screw driver?

Dr. Silly's plight was that his computer, his internet connectivity and his websites were all in critical condition. His domain name was likely to be sabotaged. His website did not show up on the internet for several days. Dr. Silly's websites are registered on someone else's name and in the God's world he does not know how to get it transferred to his own name while renewing the domain registration. He faced all this despite having paid five years fees for domain name renewal before the date of expiration. Expiration, Dr. Silly knew was a deadly sin in medical practice. Adding to this misery, [you will know when it happens to you] was the pitiable condition of his computer, which was bereft of hard disk and all his precious data. He is at sixes and sevens when it comes to computronics in the web world. I do not mean things that are complicated and difficult where a geek can say to his colleague, "It's elementary, Dr. Watson." I hope you understand I am talking of as simple things as writing your name on your own notebook.

Let us allow Dr. Silly his sense of achievement because despite the damaged hard disk and lost data, he did manage to boot his computer using a Live CD Ubuntu Linux, which was an antique outdated version, but functional. Fellow geeks and well wishers on the other side of the continent came to his rescue. He is grateful to them and glad about it.

But my question remains unanswered, "What do you call such a nut? What is the antonym for hacker'?" I will call him sacker' until you come up with a better name. The word sacker', pronounced today is historical, a new addition to English language, a word that will find a place in Thesaurus henceforth. And what is the antonym of the word Thesaurus'? Never mind. Let us not scratch the cerebral cortex or cortices too much.

Original and Fresh

In the small business computer consulting business there are no sole survivors or lone wolves! You simply cannot survive in today fast paced, ever changing and global economy if you decide to attack it alone. No one person has a monopoly on ideas, vision or the magic bullets. This includes the services you provide to your own client base right threw to building your business. You need to have the support of like-minded individuals who are open to sharing and committed to success, growth or learning to assist you along the way.

The right mastermind group can provide the fundamental resources for building your business. Mastermind groups can be made up from a group of peers in the exact same industry that you are in, a group of companies that focus on the same vertical market or market segment, or just a group of business leaders that are ready to help out those of us that are just starting out.

The right Mastermind Group can be a conduit to growth and success within your small business IT business, what should you look for? Here are some guidelines to assist you in creating or finding the right mastermind group.

Shared Vision It is critically important that your group have a shared vision. If you are a group of IT professionals or small business technology entrepreneurs, you need to make sure that everyone is on the same wavelength and committed to the vision of the group.

Trust - Trust is a major factor in the success of any business group, you must be able to trust all the members of your group that issues, challenges and needs are kept confidential within the group and they are not discussed with others outside the membership. When you have complete trust with your group, it is amazing how you and your colleagues open up and share challenges, pains, frustrations and weaknesses with everyone.   Create a team Creating the right team is important to the success of any mastermind group, when you have a team of like-minded professionals assembled for one common goal or shared vision, the results can be extraordinary. Your peers in your mastermind group will be on the lookout for opportunities to help you and your business grow, and you will be doing the same for them. Besides sharing business opportunities, there are a number of different areas that sharing starts to happen, these can range from business to personal dreams, goals, challenges and issues. The team is there to help you succeed.

Open Mind and Heart Successful mastermind groups keep an open mind and also an open heart with others in the group. No one person can do it alone and the support of the team is critical to its success. If you are the type of person that can open your mind to new ideas and open your heart to building new strong relationships, then your mastermind group will be an overwhelming success. In a mastermind group, there is a personal side of success that the group is there to aid and support all the members of the group with.

Commitment - This is perhaps the most important key to success. Mastermind Groups that have committed members will have endless opportunities. Members need to be committed to getting their goals accomplished on time, committed to sharing their resources and learnings, committed to helping each member grow their business, commitment to the group in general. When you have a room of committed members, your group becomes a trusted, well oiled, and an extension of your business family.

Remember to have fun - This is the most important tip, if you are not having fun doing what you are doing, why are you doing it? If you are forced to go by an employer or if you are the business owner, do not force your employees to attend. Sell them on the importance of the concept and then let them choose if they want to attend. However, fun is one of the critical components to a successful mastermind group. Have fun, learn, open up and give of yourself.

Be respectful of other members time Be on time when attending your mastermind group, nothing shows more disrespect to others than you consistently showing up late. Be on time, and be respectful of others time when you are in the group meeting, dont monopolize the groups time by speaking too much. It is important to listen to others and allow everyone to have equal opportunity to say their piece.   There are a number of tips and tricks to creating or joining a mastermind group that you should look out for. One of the most important tips that I have found is to step out of your comfort zone when participating in your group. Be open and honest, let your guard down and be willing to share with others. Remember to give from the heart, givers always receive more than what they give in the long run.

Mastermind groups are hard work; there is no coasting when you are working effectively in your group. When a mastermind group is working effectively there will be homework that challenges your mind, makes you examine who you are and what your company stands for. Be ready to work hard and challenge yourself. When you are ready to challenge yourself you will start to reap the benefits associated to a successful mastermind group.

Seek out a mastermind group or start one today. 80% of success is just showing up, when you participate and show up, you are most of the way there. Showing up is more than just making an appearance, showing up is actively getting involved, participating in the exercises and being honest with the group?

Are you ready to show up, commit, and have fun with your group today?

Stuart Crawford is the Director of Business Development for IT Matters Inc., Calgary, Albertas award winning Microsoft Small Business Specialist. He can be reached at scrawford@itmatters.ca or via their website http://www.itmatters.ca Stuart just released his second book for the Small Business IT industry entitled Do you have IT? Get it online today at http://www.doyouhaveitbook.com Stuart is also putting together a marketing mastermind group for IT Professionals that is free to join, email him today for more information. Stuart is also an active member in HTG, a peer group for IT Professionals, visit http://www.htgmembers.com for more information.

When do you need to get a tutor? The short answer is that getting a tutor is never the wrong thing to do, unless you're so strong in a given subject that you're a tutor yourself. Given that having a tutor could never hurt, how can you determine when you really need a tutor's help?

Get A Tutor When You Don't Like The Grade You're Getting

In my experience, my students who are in the B to A- range seem to be the most likely to seek out extra help. Empirically, these students are not in grave need of a tutor, most people would probably say, but they are not happy with their grades and seek extra help to bring their grades up. What we can learn from them is that grades are a warning sign. If you get back a paper or a test with a grade that makes you unhappy, you might want to think seriously about making an appointment with a tutor.

When You're Sincerely Trying Your Best And You Just Don't Get It

Maybe you wish having a B average was your worst problem in the course that's giving you trouble. If you're attending your class meetings regularly and doing your best to complete your assignments but the material is just going over your head, you should definitely make an appointment with a tutor. Some people come to college better prepared than others, and some people come to school very well prepared but still end up studying subjects that make them dizzy at the thought of them. If you are at sea in a subject, the best thing you can do for yourself is find a tutor. This person will work one-on-one with you to help you gain a grasp of the material that's had you struggling. You can feel free to ask a tutor all of your "dumb" questions, and/or just admit when things are not making sense to you. If you get a tutor's help on assignments and course concepts early enough in the semester, he or she may help you to master the course material to the extent that you might not need the help after a certain point.

When Else Should You Get A Tutor

If you have had a period of absences from your class because you have been ill, or there's been a family emergency, or perhaps you have an athletic or band commitment that takes you out of town for away games. When you've missed a lot of classes, catching up on your own can be a difficult challenge. Consider making your life a little easier by engaging a tutor's help.

Take a look at more industry related articles by Elizabeth Saas at CareersandEducation.com Elizabeth Saas is a frequent contributor with articles pertaining to using Distance Learning and Career Advice.