I had never heard of a free application for providing live support / live chat on a website.

One of my friends (Eric) mentioned this the other day. It is called Crafty Syntax and I am posting the link below:
http://www.craftysyntax.com/

You can use this to add live support to your website free of charge.

Also, if your site is run on Drupal, then you can refer to the below page to see how Crafty Syntax can be integrated into Drupal.
http://drupal.org/node/248920

As always, I am excited seeing free and open source. But if you want to support them, you can always donate.

I got the below from a forwarded email from a friend. I thought it is helpful. Hoping to add more as and when I come across any.

- To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

- When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won’t be any white mess on the outside of the cake.

- If you accidentally over salt a dish while it’s still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant ‘fix-me-up.’

- Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

- Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.

- Cure for headaches: take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

- If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

- Don’t throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

- For cuts, wounds, dog bites etc: After washing the affected part with water, tie a bandage with crushed small onions and coconut oil. Pour water over the bandage often. The wound will heal quickly.

- To get rid of Roaches:

Boric Powder - 4 TSP
Wheat Powder - 1 TSP
Sugar - 1 TSP

Mix the above ingredients with enough milk to make balls. Sun dry these balls and keep them in the affected areas. You can also mix the ingredients to a paste and apply on the affected areas. Repeat after few months.

Once when I was asked by a friend to do their shopping site, I suggested ready made paid solutions like Godaddy.com, Amazon or even sell it through ebay. There are packages available from Godaddy and from few other websites that are paid and that give you the complete shopping cart funtionality.

But I always liked free.

Recently, I came to know from my friend about the package osCommerce. I knew about this, but had never really appreciated it. This friend mentioned that he purchased a template that is integrated with osCommerce for $160.

I started searching for osCommerce templates on google. I found many free ones. One of the template that really attracted me is called the GG9 - Free lightbox osCommerce template. It is available from the below link:
http://www.badeziner.com/2008/07/12/gg9-free-lightbox-oscommerce-template/

Actually, if you want to build a shopping site, I would recommend the following solutions:

Fully paid and payment integrated:
- Godaddy (shopping cart is available from $9 to $42 at the time of this post)
- Amazon (Search for webstore from amazon and you will find). Here is the link:
http://webstore.amazon.com/

Free solution:
- Find a good osCommerce template for free. This usually comes with the osCommerce package that is also free.

If you just want to sell stuff and dont really need a website or personalized solution:
- Amazon.com: Open an account and start selling
- Ebay.com: This is a bidding site. But you can sell products at a standard price.

Here is the link to osCommerce:
http://www.oscommerce.com/

We started finding videos on youtube and creating playlists out of them. But when playing from Youtube, the videos do not play in fullscreen continuously.

Searching on the web, I came across this code:

This is the embed link that you get from Youtube for your playlist. Put this code in an HTML page and playing this in fullscreen would play the videos continously in fullscreen. Just a tip to remember.

I have the privilege of sitting besides a car expert (Robert). He has driven his Toyota Camry for over 600,000 miles. He fixes everything by himself, thus saving thousands of dollars.

Today one other colleague came to him and told about his Honda that stalled on the road with a check engine light on. He had taken it to the Honda service. And they reported that the Radiator and engine gasket need to be replaced.

Then Robert was mentioning a very easy check to see and confirm that the gasket was indeed the problem. He suggested checking the oil cap and if you notice Vaseline like creamy coating on the cap, then it might be a gasket leak. This is formed because the coolant leaks and mixes with the oil.

Just thought of noting down the ways I try to find a good deal (especially applicable for electronic products).

Check the below websites:

• deals.hardkap.com: This is a page I created that will allow fast search of various deal sites. Best method to search rather than visit all the deal websites.
• deals2buy.com: This is a popular deal site. If you want to get more details with pictures compared to the above search.
• edealinfo.com: Another popular deal site.
• amazon.com: Sometimes, we might be able to find good deals here.
• ebay.com: Make sure you look for “buy it now” items. Also check for the feedback of the seller.

Second set of sites you can search:

• bestbuy.com
• circuitcity.com
• frys.com
• target.com
• walmart.com

Usually, when I am looking for an electronic item. I search all these sites in the order specified and go for the cheapest and best deal. Make sure you check the full amount (price+tax+shipping).

The trick to center a div in IE.

• Body selector: text-align: center;
• Div/Container: margin: 0 auto;
• Div/Container: text-align: left; on the container to counter the center align for body

I saw this google product that can be very helpful for businesses and creating products.

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#

You can see what people are searching, what regions are searching for a particular search term. You can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames.

The below page lists some ways in which you can use the data from Google insights:

http://www.google.com/support/insights//bin/answer.py?answer=96693

Some of them are:

* Choosing advertising messages
* Examining seasonality
* Creating brand associations
* Entering new markets

One interesting study I came across recently was stating that, when comparing linux and ubuntu using the google search trends, they found that the linux searches are decreasing and Ubuntu is increasing. Ubuntu might soon overtake Linux in search trends. This is showing the marketing behind Ubuntu. Now the world is beginning to think that Linux is Ubuntu instead of the fact that Ubuntu is just a flavor (very successful) of Linux.

Another post based on one of the recent reading on the web. This is related to presentation skills.

As always you are encouraged to read the full article at:
http://wziwyo.com/?p=177

Take aways for me from this article:

1. Set the theme: (example: There is something in the air today - a theme for Macbook air announcement). Once you identify your theme, make sure you deliver it several times throughout your presentation.
2. Demonstrate enthusiasm: If you think a particular feature of your product is “awesome,” say it.
3. Provide an outline: Make lists and provide your audience with guideposts along the way. Divide into sections and make clear transitions in between.
4. Make numbers meaningful: Dont just throw out a number. Make it meaningful, explain in detail.
5. Try for an unforgettable moment: This would be the part of the presentation that everyone would be talking about later.
6. Create visual slides: Even if its a single sentence, try having a slide.
7. Give them a show: Enhance your presentations by incorporating multimedia, product demonstrations, or giving others the chance to say a few words.
8. Don’t sweat small stuff: Don’t sweat minor mishaps. Have fun. Few will remember a glitch unless you call attention to it. Try handling such situations in a cool or funny way.
9. Sell the benefit: Your listeners are always asking themselves, “What’s in it for me?” Answer the question. Don’t make them guess. Clearly state the benefit of every service, feature, or product.
10. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse: Self explanatory. This helps coordinate between the words, multimedia, slides etc.

Just thought of writing about the morals/thoughts I learned or realized after watching the hindi movie called “Tare zameen par” which means “Stars on the Earth” in english. The movie is about a boy who has difficulty in reading and writing, but has other significant skills with painting and creativity.

Parents and teachers continually put him down branding him as a good-for-nothing foolish child. Once a teacher who had similar problems in his own childhood meets this boy, he realizes and helps this boy. Finally, the boy’s confidence develops and he starts making very good progress that the teahers speak very well of him.

Some thoughts I had after watching the movie:

- Parents - never break a child’s spirit. Never brand them negatively.

- For all of us- We all have unique talents and ways of creativity. Dont ever stop pursuing it. Dont allow the world and others to adulterate the unique creativity in you.

I really love what Google is doing. It says - you ‘ve to work 4 days a week for the projects assigned. We will pay 1 day for you to be creative and dream. Popular google products like Gmail and many others came out of this 1 paid day of creativity. When will the other companies learn from this example?

- One statement in the movie goes like this: “…each child has his pace to study and pick up things .. dont pressurize them, they will learn it today or tomorrow.

As example to this statement. There were very studious and average and below average students from my school and college. But finally, I see most of them ending up with top IT companies. Some below average or average folks are even managing the studious folks.