Many of our clients use StatCounter.com to analyze their website traffic. StatCounter
has a free analytics program, which is very good. They also have an upgraded program.
Some of our clients use Paypal to pay for this service.
Statcounter just sent out an email to their customers who pay for the upgraded
program via Paypal.
It sounds like Paypal has been having many issues with regards to double
billing and delayed invoicing. For those of you who use Paypal for your
recurring billings, you may be experiencing a similar situation as to what
StatCounter is experiencing.
Here is a copy/paste of their email they sent to all Paypal users:
We at StatCounter are having ongoing, critical problems with Paypal.
In view of the complete lack of assistance from Paypal in this regard and
the gravity of the problems, we have decided that we have no option but to
inform you, our members, about the facts of the situation. This will allow
you to make an informed decision about whether to use (or whether to
continue to use) Paypal.
Please note that these problems have been ongoing since 15 May and arise
not only in relation to payments made to StatCounter but in relation to ANY
Paypal payments that you make. We hope that our communications will equip
you with the information necessary to make sure that YOU do not become
another victim of this ongoing Paypal saga.
The two major issues affecting StatCounter Paypal subscribers are:
- Delayed issuing of invoices
- Instances of double billing
At StatCounter we have tried phoning, emailing, posting on the Paypal
forums… Many of our contacts are ignored, but even when we do get an
answer all we are told is that “Upon review of your account, unfortunately
we do not have a time frame for a resolution to your issue we are currently
actively investigating your issue with subscriptions.”
Folks - we sincerely regret any problems you are experiencing and assure
you that we are doing our best to get all of these issues resolved for you.
We strive to offer a high level of customer service and pride ourselves on
being responsive to the needs and suggestions of our members. To have our
hands “tied” in this way as a result of Paypals inaction is frustrating to
say the least.
We would be very grateful for your patience at this time as we wait for
Paypal to resolve these issues.
We would also ask you to be patient with any of our fellow internet
merchants experiencing difficulties with Paypal at this time.
For further information or to post a question or a comment, please visit
our blog.
Imagine running your car on pond scum. That may very well be the future.
Algae grows fast, and algae oil can be extracted ready to be refined into fuels like bio diesel. One acre per year can produce 100,000 gallons of algae oil. Compare that to 20-30 gallons per acre with corn.
And… this algae oil can be produced on desert land!
If 1/10th of the state of New Mexico was converted into algae production alone, it can cover all the transportation needs in the United States.
Take a look at some of these findings that were just released from a global study on consumer response the climate change. The report was conducted by IPSOS over nine countries (US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, India and China) using over 11,000 online interviews and 18 focus groups.
-79% of consumers would rather buy from companies doing their best to
reduce their impact on the environment - this is most marked in China
and Brazil, but least in the UK and US
- 89% of people are likely to buy more green goods in the next 12 months
- 35% are willing to pay a premium for green goods
- 74% of consumers feel they can actively contribute to solving Climate
Change - this figure is higher in developing countries, but lower in
developed countries
- Only 11% of respondents strongly feel their respective government is
doing enough to tackle Climate Change
US Factsheet
- Respondents in the US simultaneously have the greatest understanding of
the climate change issue and the lowest level of concern
- 34% of US respondents are eco-apathetic - almost six times as many as
in Brazil or Mexico. The eco-apathetic typically marginalise the issue
of climate change, recognising the concept but sharing none of the
responsibility
- The US also has the third-smallest proportion of eco-absorbed
respondents in the world, with 23%. The eco-absorbed are those who are
very focused on the issue of climate change and only the UK (17%) and
Germany (15%) have fewer than the US as a proportion of the population
- 71% of American respondents agree that tackling the issue of climate
change means changing the way we live our lives - a significant
proportion, but still lower than any other country in the survey
- 61% of Americans agree that climate change will affect them and their
family, but only 50% believe they can contribute to solving the problem
- 51% of US respondents would be more likely to buy
environmentally-friendly goods in the next 12 months if they were at
the same price and standard as their usual brands. 31% would be willing
to pay a little extra for those goods
- Only 20% of Americans agree that their government is making a
significant effort to combat climate change
- Americans believe the oil and gas sector is the most damaging of all
economic sectors in terms of the environment, while media and telecoms
is the least damaging.
My son just got the Lego Mindstorm robotics system for his birthday. As you know, he has a Lego Show that he does on YouTube which receives over 1000 video views per day. Soon you will be seeing some of his new Lego robotic creations on his show.
Just to give you an example of what the Lego Mindstorm is capable of doing, check out this video. This mindstorm can solve the rubik’s cube
The Lego mindstorm has a series of sensors that comes with the kit, such as a light sensor that can detect light and color, a sound sensor, touch sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor that can measure distance and react to movements.
Just the other day I was writing about the Innovation Hotel, as being the first 100% green hotel. I’m thrilled to see a trend happening in the hotel industry. It looks like Starwood Hotels is also working on making their new hotels more ecologically friendly.
Starwood did a study and found that:
nearly 60% of frequent travelers admit to dropping their “green routines” on the road.
while 70% of people agree that they try to conserve water “as much as possible” at home, only 18% do the same in a hotel.
63% percent of frequent travelers admit to being more likely to leave a light on when they leave a hotel room than home.
In response, Starwood is building ELEMENT Hotels, which will make it chic and easy for guests to be eco-friendly on the road.
ELEMENT Hotel features will have:
energy efficient stainless steel appliances and lighting
water-efficient faucets and fixtures and bins for paper
plastic and glass which make recycling easy
Filtered water in guest rooms and amenity dispensers in the showers reduce plastic bottle waste.
low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paints and carpets with up to 100% recycled content and anti-microbial carpet pads which improve indoor air quality for guests and staff.
Guests driving hybrid cars are rewarded with priority parking.
“Do Not Disturb” sign gets a green makeover, replacing the traditional paper tag with the environmentally-friendly magnet.
As a traveller, here are some things that Element Hotels suggests that you can do right now to be more energy efficient:
Get unplugged: Many people don’t realize that their cell phone charger, laptop cable and other electrical plugs drain power while they are plugged in, even if they are not in use. In fact, only 5% of the power used by an average cell phone charger is used to charge the phone—the other 95% is wasted energy.
Seize the day: Take advantage of natural light as much as possible—it is as renewing for your spirits as it is for the planet.
Chill out: Hotels are often climate-controlled, but many will let you adjust the room temperature. Always set the temperature around 68 degrees in winter and 78 degrees in summer to maximize both energy efficiency and personal comfort.
Lights out: Keeping the bathroom light off overnight makes a big impact—and will help you to sleep better. Traveling with a nightlight is an easy, eco-friendly alternative.
Conserve while you sleep: ELEMENT’s survey confirmed that only a small percentage of people change their linens every day at home—so why should a hotel be any different? Taking advantage of a hotel’s linen reuse policy is a smart choice.
Use common sense: Be sure to turn off the lights and TV and make sure faucets are closed before leaving your room.
I just started a Green Brands group on Facebook. If you want to come join and help support companies that make environmentally friendly choices, we welcome you. You can also share your favorite green technologies and green companies.
As many of you know, Wordpress automatically is set up so that comment links are nofollow.
There are bloggers who feel that good comments should be rewarded with dofollow links, and I agree. I’ve now set up my blog where commenters can enjoy an incoming link back to their site.
There are some great plugins and hacks available that you can download to make your blog a dofollow blog. In fact, Andy Beard has made a great dofollow list of plugins
I was reading Andy Beard’s blog, and he mentioned that you can add your Twitter account to Technorati. Interesting. I did not know that was possible.
I gave it a try, and it works. This is what you need to do.
1. Log into you Technorati account
2. Go to your account and click the ‘Blogs’ tab
3. Scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says ‘Claim a blog’
4. Add your Twitter account ( in my case it was http://www.Twitter.com/Rita012 )
5. In your next screen you will have the option to ‘Use Post Claim’. Click that.
6. Technorati will give you a code. Copy that code.
7. Paste that code into the ‘what are you doing now’ box in Twitter and click ‘update’
8. Go back to Technorati and click the ‘Release the Spiders’ button.
9. You should have the ‘congratulations’ screen. Now go back to you twitter account and click the trash can next to your post to delete your twitter entry, since people won’t want to see a tweet with code in it.
I discovered a blogger by the name of James Lee on Twitter. What caught my attention is that James had posted a tweet where he had used Jim Carrey’s name in his post about Jim Carrey and the Power of Affirmations and how that suddenly spiked his blog traffic significantly.
In fact, James had 30-50 visitors per day on his blog. The day he mentioned Jim Carrey, he had 2370 visitors!
Let’s see how this will work for him on his next post about Kobe Bryant. I’m looking forward to hearing about his results.
I think this is exciting, and we should support businesses who make the decision to make environmentally friendly choices.
The solar powered ‘Innovation Hotel’ - which is the brainchild of the InterContinental Hotels Group ( owner of Holiday Inn ) could be the world’s first ever 100 per cent ecologically-friendly hotel!
Features include:
* The forwarding of all unused non-perishable food to charities or food banks
* Solar panels on the roof to heat water
* A rainwater harvesting system to supply water to toilets
* A roof garden rich in shrubbery to provide extra insulation
* Windpower to generate electricity for the hotel
* Recycled glass windows
* Furniture and fittings made entirely from recycled materials
* And household waste to provide heat and power
I just started a Green Brands group on Facebook. If you want to come join and help support companies that make environmentally friendly choices, we welcome you. You can also share your favorite green technologies and green companies.
