News and Information Blog 06 2008

Consumer confidence plunges in June

NEW YORK – Confidence among U.S. consumers hit a 16-year low in June, after falling for the seventh time in as many months, according to a report today from The Conference Board. The board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell a record 7.7 points compared with the month before, to to 50.4 points (1985 = 100); expectations for the future also dimmed.

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Twellow: The First Twitter Directory Launched

Twellow, the first Twitter directory was launched today by WebProNews. Twellow currently indexes and categorizes over 300,000 Twitter users. Twellow.com is designed to assist you in finding real people who really matter.The first reviews are positive ...Mashable:read more

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Baghaus.com - New Weekly Coupon Update June 23 - 29

This Week's deal as follows:

Baghaus Weekly Deal:

Offer: Take an Additional 15% off the Urban Expressions Highland Tote.
Coupon Code: HIGHLAND15
Active: June 23rd, 2008
Expires: June 29th, 2008
Link: http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=11037&m=11744&u=[YOURID] Note: In the above link please replace "[YOURID]" with your unique Shareasale tracking ID which can be found in any of your existing Shareasale links. This deal is active in the Shareasale Deals and Coupons database. Check out the new Baghaus Tumblr Page that aggregates all of the Baghaus Affiliate Program News in one location. Information about the program can be found on the Baghaus affiliate program page. Sign up for the affiliate program here.

Add Input Fields

Use this script to upload files. As a file is selected, another input field is automatically added.

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Educating Employees Reduces Security Breaches

Employee behavior on the Web can make or break your network security. Teaching employees what to look for is the first step.

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Assembly approves expansion of ‘sunshine’ laws

PROVIDENCE – A measure intended to speed access to arrest reports and other public records has won approval from the General Assembly. It would be the first major change in 10 years to the state’s open government or “sunshine” laws.

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Google Hints At New Service Via WSJ

Internet usage reporting may be the next free thing from Google, a service that would put them in competition with companies that charge a hefty premium for such information.
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A Delicious New Add-On For IE

Users of Microsoft Internet Explorer, and del.icio.us social bookmarking now have a new add-on to enjoy.

Nick Nguyen, senior product manager of del.icio.us announced on the del.icio.us blog the release of the "Delicious Bookmarks" add-on that brings with it features from the Firefox add-on, plus some new stuff.
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Google Being the Guy in Clothes at the Nude Beach?

Google recently introduced Google Trends for Websites, which has sparked some controversy around the web.

The tool allows users to view stats for any site they choose, and like Doug mentioned here, this could mean trouble for companies like Alexa, Compete, and their competitors.
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Speed Up the Web

This tutorial demonstrates how a Web page can be loaded and redered 10 times faster than normal using Ajax.

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Beyond Simple File Sharing: Using Hidden Shares

On a network? Have files you don't want everyone to see? We walk through how to hide whichever ones you want to keep to yourself.

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No jail time in Narragansett smoke-shop case

PROVIDENCE – No jail time was ordered at the sentencing yesterday of the three Narragansett Indian Tribe members convicted on charges related to the smoke-shop raid five years ago, according to R.I. Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, who expressed relief that the case at last is closed, saying: “this case is over, and its finality is good [for] our state.”

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Ad Giant Publicis Applauds Google-Yahoo Deal

Though some US legislators expressed concerns about Google's growing power in online advertising, one big ad firm welcomed Yahoo's search ad agreement with Google.
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LowerPriceUSA printer ink deals for affiliate partners

LowerPriceUSA.com - Special Weekly Deal June 19 - July 4

This weeks super discount deal for LowerPriceUSA printer inks is as follows.

LowerPrice Special Weekly Coupon:

Offer: 12-Pack Remanufactured Inkjet Cartridge Combo for Epson Stylus C62 Printers (Six Black T040120 & Six Color T041020) - for $37.99 ($17 off) and Free Ground Shipping!
Coupon Code: C6217OFF
Active: June 19th, 2008
Expires: July 4th, 2008
Link: http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=11011&m=15859&u=[YOURID] Note: In the above link please replace "[YOURID]" with your unique Shareasale tracking ID which can be found in any of your existing Shareasale links. This deal is active in the Shareasale Deals and Coupons database. Check out all the details on this printer ink program here, and sign up for the program through Shareasale here.

JsTetris

A Tetris-clone game. Does not require images. Keeps tracks of high game scores, using a cookie.

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Hard Looks in Yahoo-Google Ad Deal

With Google and Yahoo ad deal on hold, regulators will be asking the industry how much competition matters in search.

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Oops! Compete Shorted Yahoo's Search Share

The numbers didn't crunch very well for May's US search engine market share figures at analysis firm Compete, as it seems they dramatically undercounted Yahoo's slice.
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In the Cloud: Storage Meets Collaboration

Share, edit and store your documents – without investing in a whole lotta hardware.

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It’s Getting Hot in Here

It's not just the summer heat wave. There’s lots of debate and discussion where people are fired up about the possible formation of an industry trade association.
I recommend you check out the threads about the topics on the online forums – ABestWeb is a great one. There are many different opinions on the topic. I like that people in the online community are smart, vocal, passionate and opinionated.

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Leading Indicators rise 0.1% in May

NEW YORK – The U.S. Leading Economic Indicators rose in May, surprising analysts, according to the latest report by The Conference Board. “Taken together, the behavior of the composite indexes so far continues to suggest weak economic activity in the near term,” the board said.

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Calling an ActionScript Function from JavaScript

This tutorial will show you how to use the FlashProxy JavaScript class to proxy function calls between Flash and JavaScript.

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eBay Opens Up Wide to Developers

Project Echo will change the extent to which developers can integrate with
eBay.

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Review: Policy Commander 2.0

Protecting your company's sensitive data and complying with industry or government regulations can be challenging and costly. Policy Commander offers a simple, affordable option.

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Got Text Input? Better Check For Holes

Google's noteworthy antispam engineer Matt Cutts discussed the issue of cross-site scripting (XSS) flaws, as vulnerable sites have infected pages popping up in the dominant search engine's results pages.
read more

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Global market scoops up U.S. securities in April

WASHINGTON – Foreign purchases of U.S. securities rose more than expected in April, to an 11-month high, according to a report today from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

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New affiliate coupons for ladies handbags.

Baghaus.com - New Weekly Coupon Update June 16 - June 22

This Week's deal as follows:

Baghaus Weekly Deal:

Offer: Take an Additional 10% off all Baghaus Whitney Totes.
Coupon Code: WHITNEY10
Active: June 16th, 2008
Expires: June 22nd, 2008
Link: http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=10938&m=11744&u=[YOURID] Note: In the above link please replace "[YOURID]" with your unique Shareasale tracking ID which can be found in any of your existing Shareasale links. This deal is active in the Shareasale Deals and Coupons database. Check out the new Baghaus Tumblr Page that aggregates all of the Baghaus Affiliate Program News in one location. Information about the program can be found on the Baghaus affiliate program page. Sign up for the affiliate program here.

Microsoft Opens Up About Future in Search

Robert Scoble scored a video interview with Brad Goldberg, manager of the Microsoft Search team, and had an interesting discussion on what Microsoft has up its sleeve as far as their future in search is concerned.

What kinds of things can they do to compete with Google? Scoble suggests that some Mahalo-type strategies could be in order.
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Conflicting Futures for Social Networks

It is being said that major social networks like MySpace and Facebook, and perhaps social networks as we know them have reached their climaxes in terms of usage and monetization.

Om Malik says these networks are getting a "sanity check", citing new numbers from comScore:

Today there are numbers out from comScore that indicate plateauing growth for the big two — MySpace and Facebook — in the U.S.read more

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Datejs
An open-source JavaScript date library. This library will simplify and enhance the creation of dates in your scripts.

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Growing Pains for Web 2.0
Traditional publishers and advertisers face challenges in a brave new media world.

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'Free Wi-Fi' May Not Be What It Seems
Beware of ad-hoc networks when you connect to the Internet in public places.

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Spammers Celebrate Father's Day In Your Inbox
When June 15th rolls around, Dad will be glad if you ignore spam offering "reproduction" Rolex watches, and just buy him something useful. Tools are good; we love tools (hint hint).
read more

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Health care copay unlikely for R.I. lawmakers
Rhode Island is one of only two states in the nation that pay the full cost of health insurance coverage for legislators and their families, including dental and optical care. Despite House support for a copayment, Senate resistance makes that unlikely even as lawmakers wrestle with a deficit of at least $400 million for next fiscal year.

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Online Marketers are Passionate
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the BAAMC (Bay Area Affiliate Manager Coalition) monthly meeting. Held at the offices of Real Media in San Francisco, the two hour lunch meeting was attended by about 25 affiliate managers from leading companies and merchants in the area.

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Green IT: Reduce Costs and Increase Customers
Just because you're small doesn't mean you can't operate in an environmentally friendly way. Here's how green computing can help conserve energy – and grow revenues.

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Cable Ad Sales Fail At eBay
After a year, eBay closed down its Internet-based TV and radio ad selling platform, as cable channels avoided it due to fears of commoditizing ads.
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Magazine: Cicilline among top ‘Innovative Mayors’
WASHINGTON – Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline has been honored by Governing Magazine and its Web site, Governing.com, as one of “America’s Innovative Mayors.” He is the third mayor profiled – after Thomas M. Menino in Boston and John Hickenlooper in Denver – in the public-policy journal’s ongoing series.

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Gimme That Golden Link
Revenue is pleased to be nominated for a 2008 LinkShare Golden Link Award for the Performance Marketing’s Most Vocal Advocate. This is the same category we were nominated in last year, but lost to the fabulous Kellie Stevens of AffiliateFairPlay.com.

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Special weekly deal promotion for ink and toner

LowerPriceUSA.com - Special Weekly Deal June 12 - 27
This weeks super discount deal for LowerPriceUSA printer inks is as follows.
LowerPrice Special Weekly Coupon:
Offer: 12-Pack Remanufactured Inkjet Cartridge Combo for Canon i865, i950, i960, S-820 Printers (Two of Each BCI 6 BK/C/M/Y/PC/PM) - for $24.99 ($15 off) and Free Ground Shipping!
Coupon Code: B615off
Active: June 12th, 2008
Expires: June 27th, 2008
Link: http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=10915&m=15859&u=[YOURID] Note: In the above link please replace "[YOURID]" with your unique Shareasale tracking ID which can be found in any of your existing Shareasale links. This deal is active in the Shareasale Deals and Coupons database. Check out all the details on this printer ink program here, and sign up for the program through Shareasale here.

Apple Bails on Storage Hardware
As Apple exits the storage hardware business, it turns its attention to software and takes steps to provide for hardware users.

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Quartic Equation Solver
This script can solve quartic equations in the form of ax^4 + bx+3 + cx^2 + dx + e = 0.

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Ratings, Not Usage, Moves Google Rankings More
Despite massive server farms with processing power to burn through mountains of user data, Google relies on a quaint approach to tweaking its rankings.
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Carcieri names 5 experts to rate wind-farm bids
PROVIDENCE – Gov. Donald L. Carcieri this afternoon named a panel of experts to evaluate bids from private contractors interested in creating a wind farm off the coast of Block Island. “The selection of the team … is another important step in our march towards bringing wind power to Rhode Island,” he said.

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Affiliate Best Selling home bar gear

Top 5 Best Sellers by Quantity Sold in May.
The following are the 5 Best Sellers by Quantity Sold for KegWorks.com in May:

DTC302US Sankey Keg Coupler - Lever Handle

24R-6Beer Line Rubber Washer - Set of 6

603-60Air Line Jumper 5' w/screw clamps

DTR1002Premium Double Gauge CO2 Regulator

4-600Connectors for Beer Lines

Not Yet an Affiliate? Sign-up for our affiliate program here For more information about KegWorks.com LinkShare affiliate program, please click here KegWorks.com - No one knows home bar supplies and equipment like we do!

AOL Aims For Devs With AIM Money
AOL opened its revenue sharing platform for applications constructed with the Open AIM development kit.
read more

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HP Debuts 10 Business Notebooks
Calling today's product announcement the "broadest and most innovative notebook rollout" in its history, HP gives small business owners plenty of options when it comes to buying a laptop PC.

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RIH loses $2M suit to 1998 heart-surgery patient
PROVIDENCE – A Providence County Superior Court jury ruled that Rhode Island Hospital must pay $2 million plus interest to a Warwick man for brain damage he claims to have suffered as a patient at the hospital after bypass surgery in 1998.

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LinkShare Names Co-Presidents
Nearly two months after LinkShare President Steve Denton stepped down, the company announced it has appointed co-presidents.

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The Business Face of Social Networking
They say it's not what you know; it’s who you know. They're right. Social networking sites let you leverage years of contacts to improve your business.

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Healthline Palpitates Healthcare Ad Market
The newly launched HealthSTAT network seeks a piece of the growing online advertising market for healthcare interests online.
read more

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U.S. pending home sales rise 6.3%, hinting at turnaround, Realtors say
WASHINGTON – Sales of existing homes nationwide may rise slightly over the next couple of months, and improve significantly by the end of the year as affordable mortgages become available to more buyers, the National Association of Realtors said today. The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index for April, a leading indicator for the U.S. housing market, rose 6.3 percent compared with March to 88.2 points. Increases were seen in every region except the Northeast, where the index dipped 1.9 percent to 79.3 points.

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New weekly coupons for handbags and accessories

Baghaus.com - Coupon Update June 9 - June 15
This Week's deal as follows:
Baghaus Weekly Deal:
Offer: Take an Additional 10% Off Select Giraffe Print & Zebra Print Bags
Coupon Code: safari
Active: June 9th, 2008
Expires: June 15th, 2008
Link: http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=10837&m=11744&u=[YOURID] Note: In the above link please replace "[YOURID]" with your unique Shareasale tracking ID which can be found in any of your existing Shareasale links. This deal is active in the Shareasale Deals and Coupons database. Check out the new Baghaus Tumblr Page that aggregates all of the Baghaus Affiliate Program News in one location. Information about the program can be found on the Baghaus affiliate program page. Sign up for the affiliate program here.

JQuery
A fast, concise, JavaScript Library that simplifies how you traverse HTML documents, handle events, perform animations, and add Ajax interactions to your Web pages

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YouTube Now On Sony Bravia TVs
Sony has announced that YouTube will be available on the company's Bravia Internet Video Link service.The Internet Video Link is a small module that attaches to the back of the company's LCD flat-panel television models. The service streams on-demand content including movies, TV programs, YouTube videos along with news, weather and traffic information using an existing Ethernet connection without the use of a PC.read more

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Translating science to the real world
The projects are specialized and often high-tech, focusing on the biochemistry of bone growth; the molecular mechanisms involved in a common form of blood cancer; new uses of antibodies to facilitate tissue repair; human responses to a type of insecticide; even dietary formulas to maximize the beauty of tropical marine ornamental fish.

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YouTube Creating "Reporters" Channel
When it comes to reporters, there's no shortage of options. Tough old men, pretty young women, and everything in between can be seen on TV. But if you're looking for still more alternatives, YouTube's introducing a "Reporters" channel.read more

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Page Glossary
This script collects all of the abbreviations, acronyms, and definitions on a page and builds a definition list of the terms, which is appended to a specified container. The script checks for duplicate terms and also alphabetizes the terms.

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Danny Sullivan Wants Search Choice In Firefox
The relationship between Google and Mozilla keeps the Firefox maker well-funded, but apparently relegates the option for Microsoft's Live Search to one step away for consumers.
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Jobless rate surges to 5.5%
WASHINGTON – The U.S. unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent in May, from 5.0 percent the month before, as teenagers swelled the work force and non-farm payroll employment shrank for the fifth consecutive month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said today.

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Discovering Dashboards in Excel 2007
We step through the process of creating a Dashboard chart and data display in Excel 2007 for more efficient analysis of and quick access to your critical information.

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New Ink and toner coupons for affiliate partner sites.

LowerPriceUSA.com - Special Weekly Deal June 5 - 20
This weeks super discount deal for LowerPriceUSA printer inks is as follows.
LowerPrice Special Weekly Coupon:
Offer: 16-Pack Remanufactured Inkjet Cartridge Combo for Epson Stylus C64/C84/C86/CX4600 Printers (Four of Each T044120, T044220, T044320, and T044420) - for $54.99 ($35.00 Off) and Free Ground Shipping!
Coupon Code: C6435OFF
Active: June 5th, 2008
Expires: June 20th, 2008
Link: http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=10787&m=15859&u=[YOURID] Note: In the above link please replace "[YOURID]" with your unique Shareasale tracking ID which can be found in any of your existing Shareasale links. This deal is active in the Shareasale Deals and Coupons database. Check out all the details on this printer ink program here, and sign up for the program through Shareasale here.

Outsource Your Phone System
We look at a company that found satisfaction, serious features and significant savings when it outsourced its phone system to a hosted PBX service.

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Fingers Do The Walking To Directories Online
The yellow pages businesses enjoyed decades of dominance as the caretakers of local information for millions of consumers.
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Eastern Ice completes move to Fall River
FALL RIVER – Eastern Ice Co. Inc., formerly of Newport, was joined by city officials today for the grand opening of its $4.5 million ice-making plant in the Fall River Commerce Park.

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Cookie Monsters Inc
One of the most powerful tools available to the Web developer are HTTP cookies. Here's the 411 on how cookies work, complete with public domain JavaScript functions.

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SMX: Under The Hood Of The Website
The architecture of one's site for SEO purposes requires as little as some title tag tweaking, or an overhaul of its wired-in links.
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Online Video Advertising Levels Playing Field for SMBs
For small and medium businesses, online video advertising can play a key role in delivering a unique message that engages consumers and drives them to act.

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House vote set on 3rd renewable-energy measure
PROVIDENCE – A package of legislation intended to encourage renewable-energy projects in Rhode Island moved closer to reality with the passage of all four bills by the Senate. The House, which had previously approved one of the measures, yesterday approved a second and is expected to vote on a third today.

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The Driving Need for a Performance Marketing Trade Group
I took a 450 mile road trip down to Camarillo, Calif. in the middle of last week. There’s nothing like a long drive to clear your head. I find it relaxing to hit the open road (although, that was before I reached the Los Angeles area later in the week).
I had several items on my agenda for the trip – to rent a car that I might consider purchasing in the future (a Toyota Prius); to try and do my weekly Affiliate Thing Podcast while driving down to my destination (don’t worry I used a headset); and to think about the broader issues that I would like to see an industry association address and bring them up at the dinner in Camarillo (which was really the main reason for the trip).

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Skincare bestsellers from affiliate sales.
GreatSkin.com had another record sales month in May, and here are the items which moved for our affiliates the fastest... The best selling items in May are as follows:

OB-103 - Obagi Clear 2 oz.: $80.30

OB-102- Obagi Blender 2 oz.: $76.70

OB-106- Obagi Foaming Gel Cleanser 6.7 oz.: $32.40

OB-114 - Obagi Toner 6.7 oz.: $32.40

DC-110- DCL AHA Revitalizing Lotion 20 4 oz.: $14.00
Login and get Text Links Not Yet an Affiliate? Sign-up for our affiliate program here For more information about GreatSkin.com LinkShare affiliate program, please click here If there is anything I can assist you with or any ideas you might like to share, please feel free to drop me an email: william@greatskin.com GreatSkin.com - Great Products, Great Price, GreatSkin!

Exclusive: Google Leads People To NoFollow Help Center
Matt Cutts told Mike McDonald of WebProNews about something new from Google: the search advertising company opened a little help center on the topic of nofollows and links.read more

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Concentric Adds SMB Web Site Packages to Host of Services
The company says its three packages are designed to take the worry out of Web sites and get your focus back on your business.

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State analysis: R.I. No. 11 in nation for tax burden
The R.I. Department of Revenue today released an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data for fiscal year 2006 that places the state 11th-highest in the nation in terms of the state and local tax burden as a percentage of personal income.

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New Weekly Coupon Update from Baghaus

New Coupons for June 2 - June 8
This week's deal was available publicaly with an expiration of June 4. However, special just for our affiliates, we're extending this expiration to June 8. This Week's deal as follows:
Baghaus Weekly Deal:
Offer: Take an Additional 10% Off These "Sex in the City" Style Handbags
Coupon Code: CITY10
Active: June 2nd, 2008
Expires: June 8th, 2008
Link: http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=10731&m=11744&u=[YOURID] Note: In the above link please replace "[YOURID]" with your unique Shareasale tracking ID which can be found in any of your existing Shareasale links. This deal is active in the Shareasale Deals and Coupons database. Check out the new Baghaus Tumblr Page that aggregates all of the Baghaus Affiliate Program News in one location. Information about the program can be found on the Baghaus affiliate program page. Sign up for the affiliate program here.

Developing a Simple Validation Library in JavaScript
This tutorial teaches some of the most commonly used JavaScript functions for client side validation of HTML forms. You can reuse these scripts to inject into server side controls.

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Can Social Media Advertising Work?
A new medium demands a new approach to advertising, one ad executive argues.

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Yahoo Rejected $40 Per Share From Microsoft In 2007
No wonder Yahoo didn't want this little tidbit coming unsealed in a lawsuit against Yahoo by the city of Detroit and its policemen & firefighters.
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Trend Micro Aims to Make Security Worry-Free
The company's improvements to its small business security solutions include protection against evolving Web threats, tools to help mobile workers keep their data safe and a little something for QuickBooks customers, too.

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Jury clears 2 ex-CVS officials in influence scandal
PROVIDENCE – Two former executives of Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) have been exonerated in the influence-peddling scandal known as Operation Dollar Bill. Former government-affairs executives John R. Kramer, 75, and Carlos Ortiz, 64, had faced fraud, conspiracy and bribery charges for their role in the drugstore chain’s hiring of former state Sen. John Celona. “We thought the evidence justified a conviction; the jury didn’t,” said Robert Clark Corrente, the U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island.

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Feedburner Incorporates AdSense Into Feeds
About a month ago, it was hinted at that Feedburner would start incorporating AdSense into feeds as a product of its acquisition by Google.

It appears that time is approaching with feeds for some publishers getting ready to start displaying AdSense ads this week.
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Twitter Could Have Problems for Months
Lately, it seems that a high number of Tweets has been causing problems for Twitter, making key features unavailable, and in a post to the Twitter Technology Blog, it was implied that more popular users like say, Robert Scoble, who have a lot of followers are the reason that the service has been failing.
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