Welcome to elreno.org

Web Hosting - Do It Yourself Administration, Things to Consider The choice of whether or not to try to administer your own web site brings with it a host, pun intended, of issues. For most web site owners, the primary focus is naturally on creating, maintaining and enhancing the site. That often is just part of managing an entire business, for which the web site is just the means to an end. That implies there will be little interest in or time left over for technical administration like database maintenance (tuning, space management, security, bug fixes), establishing and maintaining backups to ensure they're successful and usable, email administration, disk space management, applying operating system fixes for bugs and security, and other tasks. But cost is always a factor in any business. Paying for technical help can burden the budget of a new and struggling business. Consulting fees can range from a few dollars an hour to over $100. On the lower end, the poor skill level and quality of work will make it not worth even that small amount. On the higher end, you can quickly rack up expenses that will bust your business. Permanent employees are usually somewhere in the middle of that range when you add up salary, employment taxes and more. Often, server and/or web site administration can be paid for as part of the web hosting package. That cost is usually lower than independent contracting help, but those staff are usually tasked with maintaining dozens if not hundreds of servers and sites. They can, therefore, give very little individual attention to yours. Often, novice web site owners are intimidated by some of the technical requirements for server or site administration. But, as with anything, a little familiarity can show that the knowledge required is more modest than one might expect. Administration in many cases involves fairly elementary, and frequently repetitive, tasks. These can be learned easily. Using a test site or a free hosting service is a good way to practice and learn without risk or cost, other than time invested. Once that initial hurdle is jumped over, administration can be done quickly and some even find it interesting. It allows the site owner to exercise additional control over the total product, and there's satisfaction in being able to say 'I did that' even if you prefer not to do it forever. That real-life learning experience also allows the site owner to better judge any consultants or staff that are hired. It's much easier to judge if someone is providing you with an accurate assessment of a problem if you've solved it yourself. Any time-estimate they provide to fix it can also be better calculated if you've had to do it yourself. Every web site relies on a variety of factors, usually unseen, in order to continue to function properly. But the fact is that they misbehave from time to time. Deciding whether to tackle those problems yourself depends on your available time and skill set, and what it will require to get things back on track. In other words, it's a standard cost-benefit analysis that everyone has to undertake every day in life.

Yes, There Really is a Freebie Santa Claus If you are a cynic when it comes to offers of free stuff, you are not alone. Everyone has had notions like “there is no such thing as a free lunch” and “if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is” drilled into their heads, and for good reason – these things often hold water. On the flip side, there ARE actually lots of places you can score some decent free stuff, if you know where to look and are willing to devote some time to hunting them down. The key to getting the best free stuff with the least amount of hassle is to stick with that healthy cynicism but to also dipping your toe in the freebie pool little by little. But why would anyone give stuff away for free? It is certainly an obvious question, but if you stop to consider it for a moment, you can see that companies actually have a lot of motivation to give away free stuff. After all, if they give you something for free, you are bound to have a little soft spot for their company, and when you are ready to part with some cash, their product may near the top of your list. Also, by giving away free things, companies can convince people to try new products. You might not want to try a new kind of shampoo if you have to pay for it, but you’d certainly be willing to give a free sample a try. You may end up loving it and switching to that shampoo for good, turning you into a paying customer. Another reason a company might give you free stuff is to complete market research. This is where getting free things can get a little complicated for some people because the products may not cost you money, but the offer may cost you a little time. A company might ask you to take a survey of your buying habits before they give you a free offer, or they may ask you to provide feedback on a regular basis as you try their product for free. Some people balk at the time commitment required here, but for other people, filling out some paperwork is a small price to pay for some free stuff. Of course, to convert you into a customer or to communicate with you about market research, a company will have to contact you, which is complicated area number two for freebie lovers. You will almost always be forced to hand over your email address in order to cash in on a free offer, and that is a recipe for opening your inbox up to a barrage of spam (many companies sell your email address to offset the costs of their free promotions, which means the number of people soliciting you can go through the roof very quickly). If you want to avoid this downside of freebie hunting, set up a special email address specifically for your freebie deals. That way all of your spam goes to this one address and your regular email you use with family and friends remains free and clear. One final note of caution about free stuff online: a lot of scammers have hit on the idea of using pretend freebie offers to solicit personal information about people or to convince people to send them money. Don’t send money, even for postage, to a company you don’t know and never, ever give out personal information online. No reputable company is going to ask for your social security number or bank account details for a freebie offer, so don’t hand them out to anyone. When in doubt, skip it and move to the next freebie.

You Can Find Free Deals and Discounts at Slick Deals Where can you go when you want to find the best deals on the net? Where can you turn to when you need quality advice before making a major purchase? How can you make sure that you never pay too much for something again? This is where slickdeals.net comes in. Slick Deals is a great website for finding what you are looking for, and making sure that you never pay too much again. Tips and Hints for Searching on Slick Deals Slick Deals is home to an advanced search engine that allows you to compare the prices of different items, both small and big ticket, and compare prices. This website allows you to make sure that you can always find the lowest price and never overpay again. Here are some hints and tips for searching for the best deals on Slick Deals. First, if at all possible, make sure that you have the SKU number on the item you are searching for on hand. Using the SKU number allows you to search for the right item at all times. The SKU number will vary in length and number-letter combination, depending on the kind of object or item you are shopping for. Avoid using parentheses when you are searching for something. Avoid using negation modifiers that will potentially exclude items from your search. You should also avoid hyphens in your search. This will tend to filter out more potential search hits, rather than pull up more potential choices. For the Latest Deals on Slick Deals, Check the Front Page When you are looking for the latest deals on Slick Deals, you will want to make sure that you check the front page. The default front page is also home to the newest deals. By defaults, you will only see deal titles when you first log onto the Slick Deals website. All of the deals on this front page are color-coded. You will find that ongoing deals are displayed in a bold blue tone. Expired deals are displayed in a gray color. To find out more about these front-page deals, simply click on the title. Then the deal will expand and you will be able to read more about the deal. Once you have read all the information you want, simply click on the title once again to close the window. To find out more about deals of the whole day, click on the day bar. When you click on the day bar, all the deals of the day will expand so you can read the details. Simply click the day bar once more to close the deals. How to Share Deals with Friends The Slick Deals website makes it easy for you to share deals with other interested parties. If you would like to share a deal that you find on Slick Deals, simply choose one of the following three methods. You can share a great deal with a friend by selecting the 'Tell a Friend' button that is available for each deal. Clicking on this link allows you to send a friend an email, informing them about the deal on Slick Deals. Another easy way to contact a friend or potentially interested friend is to send them an instant message using AOL Instant Messenger. Simply select the 'AIM' button for this option. Another easy way to send a copy of the deal to a friend is to send them a permalink using another form of communications. You can also leave your own opinion or review of the deal by selecting the Comments link. Slick Deals relies on user-driven content to establish a vibrant and informative website geared directly for consumers.