So the mad rush is finally over! Everyone had the opportunity to be the first to get their own names as a Facebook link. I’ve been curious as to who made the cut so to speak. Happily I can say I was able to secure mine, beating out all the other Shane Isaacs’s in the world… sorry guys, lol.

You can now find me at http://www.facebook.com/shane.isaacs. This is so much easier than trying to add the old links or run it through it a redirect. I’ve checked out a few of my friends so far, ones I thought for sure would have jumped on this, but they missed the boat apparently… or went for something cooler maybe?? So lets find out what everyone got! Come one, post yours in the comments below! If we are not friends yet please feel free to add me!

In case you haven’t done yours yet, or don’t know how, here is what to do. Log into Facebook and then click this link http://www.facebook.com/username and follow the instructions. That’s it! Then leave a comment showing off your new Facebook link!

The Phoenix. A symbol of rebirth. How fitting to use the Phoenix as the basis for the First Free WordPress Theme offered by Niche Store Market! We proudly present Phoenix Rising for your WordPress sites to symbolize our rebirth by expanding our products to include WordPress and very soon Joomla! Phoenix Rising WordPress Theme is Widget ready and tested on the most current versions of WordPress!

Price: FREE

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View the Free Phoenix Rising WordPress Theme Demo

Every second of every day millions of tweets, status updates, post and comments flutter through the air waves seeking their intended targets. At home, work or on the road with our laptops and cell phones we have the ability to tell the world everything we do, as we do it, and hear what others have to say about it instantly. The digital diary of our lives and those we share it can be viewed, reviewed and interpreted immediately by those we chose to express ourselves to. This inevitably leaves the opening for the abbreviated versions of our feelings or ideas to be misconstrued unwittingly and taken in the wrong context.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love the concept. Use it too. It’s just that as this becomes more and more the norm for communication I wonder if a little more thought should be put into what we say. This doesn't stem from a personal experience mind you, so all of my friends or followers and ect can breathe easy now, lol. What got me thinking about this was another stream I was watching. Basically I took the weekend off to spend some time with my family. When Monday rolled around and I was catching up on everything that happened while I was out I came across a feed between two friends that I was not sure how to take. Then I began wondering how each of them had taken what the other said also. My first impression was of offense that he/she would have been replied to that way, what was theirs? Or was I just misreading to original post becasue I was feeling a little pressured to get caught up?

You see, if you think about it, unless someone specifically posts their emotions in their update we, those who read it, will transfer our own current emotions into what they wrote. If your feeling happy you’ll read happiness into most posts and, likewise, if your feeling sad you may read sadness into others updates as well. With this form of open and public communication that is also condensed into the size of a text message there is an integral and required component missing from a true conversation, feeling. Feelings are the basic foundations of communication and humanity. People being able to relate, empathize and share an emotional experience with another person all starts from being able sympathize with that individuals current state.

When we speak with our friends, associates, co-workers and so on, whether face to face or over the phone, there is always the conveyance of their feelings when they speak to you. You can see it in their face, their body language or just hear it in the tone of their voice. You can then process this input to make appropriate and meaningful conversation based on the other persons emotionality.

Email was bad about this also but at least with email you had an unlimited amount of characters to describe what you were feeling and it’s more personal. Just like writing a letter an email is targeted only to those who you feel will understand what you’re trying to say and respond in kind. Being that we are for the most part a verbal society the need to express ourselves and communicate is as constant as the need to breathe. So what starts to happen when that need is restricted? If we don’t die we adapt. Unfortunately adaptation typically is an evolutionary process that can take thousands if not millions of years.

Again, this is not about condemning or chastising the technology. I love it, I use it and I promote it but that doesn't mean I don't think it’s flawed. To be more accurate I should say that we’re flawed in respect to properly using the technology. Where do we go when a simple update, abbreviated to the bare minimum, looking for reassurance or enlightenment is treated, unintentionally, with sarcasm or condemnation? What about the innocent annotation to hook for lunch being misconstrued as a offer for sex? Or the hundreds of other little things, every tweet, every update, every post leaves open to the interpretation of those reading it whether it was meant for them or not?

So what do we do about it? How do we learn to communicate relevantly through such limited means? Do we preclude each update with an emotion such as “:sad: Today was a heck of a day!” or “:happy: Today was a heck of a day!” so our feelings are not transparent but blatantly obvious? What about the developers including emoticons with every message so you have a little bitty face to show everyone how you feel? Or, better yet, what about us, as users of the technology, just realizing that instant messaging doesn't have to be instantaneous. Sometimes it may be prudent to think before we tweet. That extra 15 to 30 seconds may just help to make someone's day rather than ruin it.

Maybe this seems like I’m making a big deal for such a little issue and I’d probably agree. I don’t think millions of people are being misunderstood, offended or hurt. Nor do I think more safeguards needs put in place to ensure everyone's feelings are protected like some giant textual daycare. I do believe most people understand that this form of communication isn’t the way to really express private personal issues… yet. I also think we are heading that way though and maybe, just maybe we should start thinking about that.

Yesterday we shut down for about an hour to restructure the directories of the website. You should not notice any difference in the operation of the site from this update.

If you do please report them by posting a comment here or using the contact link above. The types of issues that may arise from this are missing pictures, broken links or 404′s.

I think I updated everything accordingly as I modified the directories but there always seems to be that one thing that got missed.

Thanks!

Here is a neat little trick that is easy to do and will mask those ugly affiliate links. This method is a simplified version of what I had made when I created the Build a Niche Store v2 URL Masking Mod. You remember, it was the first url masking to be coded for Build a Niche Store and is surprisingly similar to what the developers ‘created’ and released months later in v3. What a Ko-inky-dink! This trick is for any link you want to mask, if anyone using BANS v2 wants to know how to incorporate this into their stores and mask all those eBay links just let me know and I’ll post the instructions.

This little program here simply hides all your affiliate links, pointing them back to your own site. When a user clicks on the link the program filters the correct response and sends them on to proper website with your affiliate link. There are many other ways to do this but I like this one because it only requires one file rather than making a seperate file with a redirect for every link. It is much more efficient and keeps the clutter down.

First open a new html document or notepad and save it as link.php.

You can name the file anything you want, just make sure you save it as a php file and change all the references below to whatever you named it. Some other popular names would be recommends.php, product.php, site.php and so on.

Second create a folder (directory) on your site (preferably in the root as it’s easier to remember). You can name this folder anything you want. I am going to call mine product.

Now we are ready to start creating some masks. I am going to use the following two links, one is a text link and one is a image ad.

Text Link: <a href=”http://www.phpbay.com/”>Make Money with eBay!</a>
Image Ad: <a href=”http://www.phpostock.com”><img src=”http://nichestoremarket.com/product/phpostock.jpg” alt=”Php O Stock” /></a>

Let’s open our link.php file now. First we need to add this code into it:

<?
$sku = $_REQUEST['name'];
if ($name == ”) {
$name = ($name);
header(“Location:”);
exit;
}
?>

I am going to mask the text link first which is for PhpBay. To do this I am going to add PhpBay to $name == like so:

<?
$sku = $_REQUEST['name'];
if ($name == ‘PhpBay’) {
$name = ($name);
header(“Location:”);
exit;
}
?>

Next lets add in the Location we want the link to point to:

<?
$sku = $_REQUEST['name'];
if ($name == ‘PhpBay’) {
$name = ($name);
header(“Location: http://www.phpbay.com/“);
exit;
}
?>

Finally we will ‘mask’ the url to point back to the new link.php file on our domain:

<a href=”http://nichestoremarket.com/product/link.php?name=PhpBay”>Make Money with eBay!</a>

That’s all there is to it. If we want to add another masked link, such as the image ad above, we just insert a second block of code, modified for our new ad, like this:

<?
$sku = $_REQUEST['name'];
if ($name == ‘PhpBay’) {
$name = ($name);
header(“Location: http://www.phpbay.com/”);
exit;
} else if ($name == ‘Php-O-Stock’) {     //notice we added the word else to this line!
$name = ($name);
header(“Location: http://www.phpostock.com/”);
exit;
}

?>

And then edit our ad link just like we did the text link:

<a href=”http://nichestoremarket.com/product/link.php?name=Php-O-Stock”><img src=”http://nichestoremarket.com/product/phpostock.jpg” alt=”Php O Stock” /></a>

If you want to add more products just copy the bolded code I showed you above and paste it in after the last bracket but before the question mark. Repeat that for every product you would like to add. Don’t forget to edit the $name and the Location for your new product though!

Here is a break down of how the code actually works:

$sku = $_REQUEST['name'];     // Requests the name= from the end of the url
if ($name == ”) {     // Looks if name= from the url is the same as $name
$name = ($name);     // Confirms that name= is equal to $name
header(“Location:”);     // Redirects to the correct url for that product
exit;     // Exits the code if redirect was completed
} else if     // If $name & name= did not match above, repeats for next product

Here are a couple very important things to remember!

<?
$sku = $_REQUEST['name'];
if ($name == ‘PhpBay‘) {
$name = ($name);
header(“Location: http://www.phpbay.com”);
exit;
}
?>

<a href=”http://nichestoremarket.com/product/link.php?name=PhpBay“>Make Money with eBay!</a>

The BOLD text MUST match exactly with no spaces between the single quotes!
The RED item must have a single space between Location: and http://

One you have made all your edits don’t forget to save your link.php file and upload it into the product folder we created. You can now place your new masked links anywhere on your site and they will redirect to the correct url. Make sure to TEST EVERY LINK!

Check out the two links below we just created. Hover over them to see that they point back to my site then click on them and watch them redirect. Just don’t forget to come back!

Text Link: Make Money with eBay!

Image Ad:

Ok. Everyone is always asking me where I come up with some of the stuff I do. Am I just not ‘right in the head’? Maybe I was dropped on my head as a baby. Some just want to know exactly how far away were the power lines from my house. Well I have proof, right here, that it is not just me! My whole family is nuts (and I mean that in the nicest and most loving way, of course). Recently this little tidbit of humor scrolled across my FaceBook:


That is my brother, Jr High School History Teacher and Basketball Coach, Jaime. He is a super duper crazy sports fanatic and posting that he is thinking of getting the tattoo ‘Tarheels for Life’ on his belly! Now I personally think that out trumps any of my ideas hand down. Is he joking?? Well, whether he does it or not, if you think he’s anything like me, then you can be sure he is seriously considering it!!

I hate being outdone! So what can I do about this? How about a life-size Elmo on my back? It might be prudent to do something a little less subtle than a giant red puppet on my back though. What about a smoking hot redhead down my arm? That would be a little less disturbing and more ‘guyish’ but it could possibly be a little harder to explain (to certain people if you know what I mean). I could just get Niche Store Market and my logo somewhere on me. That could be an idea there.

Of course this is all dependant on if my brother actually does it and leaves me ‘something to prove’ of course… or is it?? Do I maybe see the makings of a new contest here? Hmmmm….

Here is a great new contest where everyone wins! Niche Store Market now has their own FaceBook page at Niche Store Market on FaceBook.

This contest is simple. Just visit out new FaceBook page and become a Fan. For every 50 fans we get I will release a new, completely free template!

Becoming a fan of our new FaceBook page will also give you access to special discounts and coupons for purchases made here at Niche Store Market.

Right now, Aprils coupon code is published in our open discussion board. Starting next month some specials and coupons will be sent to fans only. So join now and let all your friends know too! Remember, for every 50 new fans I release 1 new and free template here on Niche Store Market!

Oh and while your there, don’t forget to look me up and become my friend too!

Length of Contest: Currently this contest has no set end time.

I know its there. I know this feature is available. I know I’ve seen it before… BUT WHERE IS IT! Maybe it’s the newest FaceBook Update hiding the formerly quick and easy link to find your own feed or maybe I just got lucky before but I know I’ve seen it. It really is remarkable how hard it is to find and since there really is no way to show your status updates from Facebook on many other platforms using the RSS feed they provide is about the only way.

So why then is it so hard to find? Well, if you were to ask me I would guess they don’t want you readily being able to post your status updates anywhere someone wouldn’t have to join FaceBook to see them. Talk about Control Freaks! But for people like me, who have found that FaceBook seems to be running horribly slow and ‘buggy’ since the last update but don’t want to abandon it completely, finding alternate means of using it is critical.

Lately I have been doing most of my FaceBooking through txt or email. I check my notifications through an RSS Feed. Ironically, the Notifications RSS is incredibly easy to find, apparently they want you to know when you have a notification so you’ll login to the site! If you want to find your Notifications Feed just click on your ‘Inbox’ link and then on the ‘Notifications’ tab. In the right hand column just under Compose Message, not the ads column at the far right, scroll down until you see ‘Subscribe to Notifications’. Just click on that and add it to your favorite reader.

Anyway, getting back to your FaceBook Status Updates, where or where and how oh how do I find and use it? Well once you know its actually not that hard and there are only a few things to do to get to your feed. Then, depending on what, or I should say how, you want to use it you may have another step or two, that is up to you.

1. First things first, before continuing you need to login to FaceBook or you wont be able to ‘see’ the results of the next step. Just open a new tab or window in your browser and head on over there and login.
2. Now that your logged in click on this link http://www.new.facebook.com/minifeed.php?filter=11 to get your Mini Feed to open in a new window.
3. Now just like with the Notifications feed, scroll down that right hand column until you see ‘Subscribe to these Stories:’. Right below that is the link to your RSS feed. There is a little (blue, go figure) RSS Icon and the text ‘My Status.
4. Click on that and you will get your feed in RSS 2.0 Format to add to your readers or to copy the link for other uses.

For me I wanted the link for a couple different reasons. The first was to add status updates to the bottom of the site here next to my Twits. I also wanted to make it available for those that were interested but weren’t ready to join Facebook, or just don't think FaceBook is for them.

There are a couple little problems that I had to work out though. First was remembering the link, i.e. the actual url, every time I wanted to add it somewhere. The last thing I want is to have to go through all these steps again every time I want to use the link somewhere. The second is to be able to ‘see’ if taking the time to use the link is even beneficial, in other words, being able to track subscriptions.

There are lots of different ways to ‘solve’ these little problems and you can use whatever you are most comfortable with but I personally like FeedBurner. They are easy to use, available in my Google Account Page now that Google owns them and I already have all my other feeds burned there

I took my newfound link and went on a little trip to FeedBurner. Within a few clicks I received a nice new Feed Link that I could remember easy and was able to track. I did discover after one trial and error that in order to make the feed work on some platforms, such as using it in a widget on WordPress, I did have to go back and enable SmartFeeds from my FeedBurner Control Panel.

To do this, go to your FeedBurner ‘My Feeds’ page. Click on the feed you want to modify. Under the Optimization Tab look about half way down the column for SmartFeeds and click on it. There will now be a Red Box with a Activate Button in it. Click the button and wait for the box to turn green. Now you can use your feed in about any medium.

Ready for another great variation of one of NSM’s revolutionary templates? Well here it is! The NSM Freedom Version 2 Niche Store Template! The same great template as our NSM Freedom V1 in two new great colors! Niche Store Market was the first to introduce multiple color variations, additional ad blocks and all three sidebars BUILT IN! The NEW NSM Freedom Niche Store Template v2 was updated to be v2 and v3 compatible, features 2 additional ad blocks, 4 built in color variations and 3 built in layouts for a total of 12 TEMPLATES IN ONE! Don’t wait another minute, experience true Freedom today!

Price: FREE

Download Now! | Don’t have Build a Niche Store yet? Get BANS here!

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