There is an old saying which states that, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

However, there are cases that these words may not be applicable. For instance, why would anybody spend US$ 500 on an iPad or even US$ 200 on a Kindle Fire when you can get the Pandigital Planet 7-inch Android tablet for US$ 99? Or a MID 70009 Android tablet for $72.95?

A tablet is a tablet is a tablet, right? Wrong.

Most of these dirt-cheap tablets have excruciatingly slow processors; you tap an icon, and nothing happens for several seconds. Scrolling a Web page can be an unresponsive exercise in frustration. The usability here pales in comparison to what you get from a more mainstream tablet. In short, cheaper versions of iPad or Kindle are just horribly terrible.

What's more, some bargain tablets employ resistive touch screens, which require physical pressure. That is in contrast to the capacitive screens used in better tablets, which respond to the slightest brush of your fingertip. With a resistive screen, you have to push -- and that ruins the entire experience. Plus, with those slow processors, it's very difficult to tell if the tablet has registered your input, so you end up push-tapping again -- often with unwanted results. Bleh.

Another big issue: no Google Play (aka Android Market), meaning you're severely limited in the apps you can add. They might have knockoff app stores, but with none of the apps you'll want. No Angry Birds, No Kindle, no Facebook. Double-bleh.

Recently there has been an upsurge of attractively priced 7- and 10-inch models with fast processors, capacitive screens, and even Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), but still no Google Play (or, for that matter, Amazon Appstore). Trust me: You won't be happy without at least one of them.

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Did the one save of the season pave the way for a title for Jessica Sanchez? The answer, it did not.

The guitar-playing Phillip Phillips, 21, from Leesburg, Georgia, was just named the new "American Idol." After a record-breaking 132.3 million votes were cast by viewers, Phillips proved that the "White Guy With Guitar" type is still the favored hype by American music consumers. It has also been characterized by recent winners, such as David Cook, Kris Allen, and Lee DeWyze.

The final performance episode was kind of a sleeping-fest, with fairly decent performances by both finalists, but there was really nothing that jumped out and really got the audience's attention. Maybe they were saving their energy for tonight's big show which is a a two-hour performance with look-backs, reminders of eliminated contestants everyone barely got to know, and of course, the big revelation.

The finale was typically star-studded with John Fogerty, Fantasia Barrino, Chaka Khan, Reba and Neil Diamond among the guest performers who took the stage along with the two finalists and the previously eliminated contestants for various musical numbers.

After all of the performances and amusing segments, everyone came back to where it all started, with two singers vying for the grand prize. It cannot be argued that both have earned their place in the finale, but only one can be declared the winner.

After the last of the 132,300,000 votes were counted, Phillip Phillips was announced as the winner. Jessica Sanchez is the runner-up.

The 16-year old Sanchez, a Filipino-Mexican-American who grew up in Chula Vista, California may have lost in the votes, but she has nothing to be ashamed of. She has consistently done well in the competition. She has brought honour to many Filipinos. For her fans, she will always be their "American Idol".

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Do you think that the time for cash, coins and credit cards are over? Well, that is the same opinion that electronics manufacturers, phone companies, banks and credit card issuers wanted everyone to think. They also expect cellphones to be the main way consumers pay for purchases in the not-so-distant future.

The only problem is that not all buy this futuristic scenario. This vision-of-tomorrow is still somewhat blurry to many, especially after what happened during the US cellphone industry trade show held recently in New Orleans where there were lots of ideas, but little agreement.

The stakes, however, are high.

"Eighty-five percent of the world's transactions are still made with cash and checks. We have a wonderful opportunity to convert those," said Gary Flood, MasterCard’s president of global products and solutions, in a keynote speech at the show.

One concept that gets a lot of attention is the "digital wallet"– a virtual repository for our credit card numbers, receipts, coupons.

It's not much different from a PayPal account, which can be linked to different cards. A lot of companies see the wallet as the key to influence in the world of mobile payments, especially if it sits on a cellphone, not just on a PC. Google introduced its Wallet last year.

It's available on a few phones that can be tapped against certain payment terminals to complete a payment.

Andrew Lorentz, a lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP who works with the payments industry, said at the show that if he had a dime for every digital wallet that’s been announced, he’d be rich.

"I can have more wallets than cards," he said.

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Many readers of this site have asked me several time what I think about working at home using the affiliate opportunities available online. I tried some of these sites to find out if it is really worthwhile working in the comforts of one's residence as an affiliated worker. The question is, is it really worth the time and effort to set up a viable home-working environment?

After a few days, it appears that there are some basic things that need to be done in order to be successful in this kind of system. These recommended actions may not be exhaustive, but it may be worth reading for those who want to maximize what they can get from online affiliation opportunities.

The first three things I suggest are the following:

1. Don't leave money on the table
   
   The number 1 difference between successful and less successful home-based affiliate work, is the amount of time put into posting links, tracking results and making adjustments. Less successful affiliates don't do much after posting links and count on providence to drive in sales. These people are leaving 'money on the table'.
   
   Succesful affiliates work the program like a professional business, and they receive professional results. They track their referrals all the way through the process via the 'my pipeline' feature of their affiliate account like the one found in vWorker.com. They monitor results and make adjustments to learn what types of promotional ads work best on their site. And when they notice problems, they act BEFORE it impacts their bottom line. Taking these small steps can make a huge difference in your bottom line!
2. The numbers game
   
   Affiliate sales are like any other type of sales...100% of all prospects will not convert into back end profits. However it's also true that the more prospects you bring in through the front end, the more money you will end up making on the back end. Successful affiliate understand that bidders will drop out for various reasons, and refer as many employers as they can--knowing that they can count on the percentages to work in their favour.
3. Thinking outside the box pays big
   
   There are some sites that reward the most successful affiliates by giving them an even larger percent of the profits than normal. Most of these 'super affiliates' have been very creative with the ways they send traffic to the site, and can teach us all good lessons on increasing affiliate profits.
   
   Some have created 'doorway pages' to the site and registered them with search engines on relevant keywords to drive in large amounts of sales. Others have created valuable reference pages on freelancing and outsourcing IT and gotten many sites to link to them (and of course at the bottom is their affiliate link to site itself). And others have purchased keywords on cost per click providers such as Overture.com and make money off by driving in large quantities of referrals that way. Thinking outside the box can pay big...so see if you can brainstorm your way to larger profits!

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Experienced marketers and entrepreneurs know that name recognition and name recall are really big in the world of small business. They are important aspects in choosing or keeping a company name and in considering how to package a product, what name to give it, and how to market it.

The process of choosing the right name can be as simple as choosing between star and stellar when labelling a prime product; or it can be as complex as choosing what colors can best convey the worth and mission of a company. If you play your cards right, your company image can stick indelibly to your prospective customers minds, and you can have them coming back for more.

However, going so far as to legally change your name to one of the most iconic creatures ever to walk the planet might be a bit of overkill.

This is exactly what happened to a 23-year-old Nebraska native who was born Tyler Gold and left that moniker behind in favor of Tyrannosaurus Rex. His name change was even approved by a judge, though it was reported that they had a hard time trying to keep from busting out in laughter.

Gold had to field a series of questions regarding his request, including whether he was choosing to change his name to avoid creditors or law enforcement. He noted that he had no troubles in either the legal scene or with bad debt, and he merely wanted a recognizable name to help promote himself as an entrepreneur.

If Gold is really serious in attracting clients to his services or products and sustain that momentum further, then he needs know his strengths and weaknesses before venturing in a name-changing venture. What are his goals? What is his company’s mission and vision? Is he offering products that will last through the long term, or is he making products that will be updated regularly? Is he offering services that can be carried out online, or is he offering services that will take place in a brick-and-mortar store?

As soon as he has all this information, he can decide on a name that fits his companys needs, and to brand it in the market. The key to successful branding is to create an image that will be remembered, and that will allow easy recall.

Whether prospective clients will now see him as a valuable business partner — rather than a complete fool — remains to be seen. Tyrannosaurus Rex Joseph Gold (his full name) will certainly have a fun time proving his identity when purchasing alcohol or after getting pulled over for speeding. Perhaps he'll just bite them in half instead.

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Working directly for non-profit organization is a great experience and can be very rewarding financially and emotionally. It is because these institutions have played a major role in pushing for sustainable development at the international level. They became key drivers of inter-governmental negotiations, ranging from the regulation of hazardous wastes to a global ban on land mines and the elimination of slavery.

Through the years, these groups offering Non profit jobs, such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have evolved and are not only focusing their energies on governments and inter-governmental processes. With many governments reducing their policies from a number of public functions and regulatory activities, NGOs have begun to fix their sights on powerful corporations - many of which can rival entire nations in terms of their resources and influence.

Unfortunately, NGO work is in high demand among specialists building out their careers nonprofit portfolios. NGOs recognize that in many cases (not all), the specialist benefits more from the relationship with other networks and donors than the institution. Hence, there is a need to overcome their doubts over the true motivation of the specialist for working with them.

Recruiting and retaining a high-quality staff for non-profit groups can also be challenging. Understanding (and learning from!) the challenges recruiters face should therefore not just be a priority for human resources professionals, but for all job seekers in this area.

Fortunately, the NonProfit Times, the flagship publication of NPT Publishing Group in Morris Plains, N.J., delivers news, business information and original research on the daily operations of various non-profit organizations. Their website for those looking for Nonprofit Jobs or exploring a shift to nonprofit careers has been providing weekly e-letter with human resource information and newly posted job opening for several years now.

The NonProfit Times explore common challenges aid groups and their recruiters face in several of their articles — on everything from hiring innovators to hiring for hardship posts. Look at it from their perspective to find out that the old line that “your work will help increase awareness of NGO cause which, in turn, will result in more funding,” just does not cut it anymore.

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