To Say Sorry, To Conratulate and To Observe ShopCade

I’ve been busy, guys; I’ve really been busy, though I know that any justification of my absense for some time isn’t suitable enough.

For now, I can only say I’m sorry and one more thing: now I’m married, officially, so looking forward to getting some congrats from your side, both live and online!))

If talking seriously, there have passed a number of serious events while I was gone, like The Europas 2011 Winner Announcement, for instance, by the way, for those who haven’t heard of it yet, the startup that has won Grand Prix is PeerIndex (the sort of analogue of GroSocial or somewhat like this), and this fact can easily be used as one more confirmation of various social services having now become insanely popular…and profitable.

Yet, I would now like to speak of another new site that has also much in common with social media networks and is aimed at your earning due to being more active and “persistent” – that is ShopCade.

To start with, let me explain the actual idea, how ShopCade platform works: you check the relative online store app on Facebook, purchase the goods, and also share/recommend what you’ve bought with your friends, of course, in case, you wish to earn some money.

That’s basically it, the more your recommended goods are purchased, the more you can earn, as in every affiliate program.

Is ShopCade useful?

Well, as with every affiliate program, like the ones, you’ve all perhaps participated in (namely, AdSense, or, mm some of them from file-sharing sites, like RapidShare or FileTram Affiliate Program, etc.), it’s not really hard to make some cash.

Is ShopCade the good source of income?

I wouldn’t be so sure, really. I mean, if you were given the rewards for clicks, it could become a good way to make money, but you need your friends to buy, and this turns out to be not as frequent, as it may seem. So, it can only serve as a bonus, not the main salary.

Is ShopCade annoying?

Oh, yes, yes, it is. I’ve already spent hours speaking of how disturbing it is to be spammed by your friends. On the one hand, you realize that they wouldn’t spam you in vain; they just don’t have another choice.

On the other hand, you simply start loathing the services, which make the good people spammers.

Such irritation would prevent me from using the services of such kind. So, even if Dropbox ovecome 4Sync or SugarSync one day (though I doubt that))), for example, I wouldn’t use it anyway. The service which shows no respect to its users, deserve no respect.


Ok, I’m heading to have lunch with my wife now. C ya soon, guys, I’ve missed you.

Stay cool)
Andy

Yahoo Futures– the Ship has Sailed!

I first got acquainted with Yahoo! service many years ago, or it just seems so now, as the paste of technological progress has already reached its cruising speed. And although I’m not its active user right now, Yahoo! will always be like the old-school toy, which you used to play being a mere child, but still can’t throw away into the trashbin…

Yet, no matter how nostalgic the service’s fans will be, it seems that Yahoo! will not be able to reach the popularity rate of its rivals, or at least stay competetive in the relative niche of the market. One of the reasons for that is the recent firing of Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, who used to be taken almost as the new “Steve Jobs” for the company, though the expectations were not fulfilled.

As for now, the future of the service is more, than vague, in spite of the fact that its top-managers keep saying that everything’s gonna be ok. From the objective perspective, it sounds more, like one of autotraining therapy sessions, than the logical long-term planning.

Moreover, since the competition’s getting tougher each day with Google worldwide expansion in almost every sphere of modern IT-technologies (introduction of Google+, the purchase of Motorola Mobility, or the release of Google Hotel Finder, for instance), Yahoo! isn’t seemingly strong enough to survive the battle with its mighty rival.

In this respect, Google has one more powerful engine to maintain its positions on the market – the company’s management is constantly searching for more niches to take and is ready to invest money in the innovative projects, if those seem promising. I’d not be surprised at all if the next step in Google development was the introduction of the company’s own file-syncing service, for example, to help the users back-up all their data online, similar to 4shared Sync, or SugarSync.

These are, of course, just the thoughts; likewise as the final ‘good-bye’ to old-known Yahoo! is yet to be said. Unfortunately, taking the recent events into account, this ‘good-bye’ can’t but take place in the recent future…


Stay cool)
Andy

More Deals, More Sells, More Rumours: Skype+ GroupMe

Rumour has it…Well, not actually the rumour, but some of the popular news sources have begun speaking of another essential purchase on the softmarket.

Namely, one of the huge competitors in the modern software industry, Microsoft, or, better to say, one of its newly-bought enteprizes, Skype, has officially released the news about its purchase of GroupMe for around $80 million.

For those, who haven’t yet heard of GroupMe, the service enables you to chat with people via sms on your mobile phone or just from your PC and use the conference calling option, without a need to add others to the chat everytime, you wish to send an sms to everybody from the particularly created group.

Although, the analytics admit, that the purchase of GroupMe will definitely be helpful in the maintainance Microsoft’s position in the relative field of the market, I’ve got some doubts about that.

I haven’t been using GroupMe myself, though I’ve tried it, having heard the news about the deal, and, to be honest, the service is simple, and, all in all, fun. Yet, I really couldn’t find any super-advantageous features, if compared to Skype itself, and it seems quite vague, that GroupMe is really as useful for a person, as the data backup with versatile sync apps, like 4shared Sync, or SugarSync, for instance.

The conference calling option, as an example, is available in all modern smartphones, so you don’t, actually, need any additional app or service to talk to several people on the phone simultaneously, and Skype chat room isn’t a brand-new function either.

Of course, my opinion won’t be shared by GroupMe fans, or, perhaps, some experts, who predict the flourishing future for this services integration, but something tells me, that the purchase of Motorola Mobility is much more important and promising, than this one.

If I were asked, I’d say, that Microsoft should also develop the independent software fields within its businesses, like the development of mobile applications not for Windows Mobile only, but for other OS’s as well, provide their users with access to file-sharing sites, like RapidShare, or 4shared, for example, and create various apps to stream video and music, and other essential accessoires for people, who need to have high-quality services at hand, not just chat with their friends.

Otherwise, the giant won’t handle the comptetion with its rivals, I’m sure of that.

But, as usual, we’ll see.

Stay cool
Andy

SugarSync Review - Which is the Best Sync Service?

For those, who’ve been missing my reviews, I’m sorry again for quite a delay, mostly influenced by daily routine stuff. Nonetheless, here I am now, back with the fresh ideas and a review to share with you.

To tell the truth, when I started my blog, I actually planned to jump from one kind of software to another, so that the whole bunch of newly-presented apps would be covered. Yet, having started with worlds’ famous sync services, I’ve decided that it would be better to finish with this niche of soft market to make the vision of this field clearer, and only after that move on to other one.

Having already posted 4shared Sync review and Dropbox review, I’ve chosen the third so-called “competitor’ and am now ready to present SugarSync review.

So, what is SugarSync?

1. To start with, I’ve visited official site of SugarSync and, if honestly, was a bit confused about such a huge number of tabs, lists of features, etc. The first-sight impression was that SugarSync can do everything. Nevertheless, having read the app features, I’ve found that the described functions are all quite similar, if not duplicated. Still, applauds to content-managers, they are very-very verbose.

2. Before I could, actually, download the app, I was asked to sign up as the new SugarSync user, and it was basically ok, though I had to provide my full name in addition to e-mail address. First thought: will they stock me now?))

3. Finally, I have reached the downloading part of the app, and it was a little odd, that the size of the SugarSync file, provided in instructions and the actual size of it were different. Hm, really, the company seems to be working on the government, so far).

4. The installation was ok, and didn’t really differ from other sync services, I’d already tried.

5. I managed to sync a few text files, some music and photos, yes, but, again, again there was a problem with downloading my favorite Fallout: New Vegas, it has turned out that the free SugarSync account allows to synchronize only up to 5 GB-sized files. RRR…that’s disappointing.

6. As for security, well as much as several days have past, I didn’t notice anyone steal my photos, or music. Good news? I hope so…


All in all, I’ve decided to compose a chart to compare the objective differences between the 3 competitors at the sync market and defined the most beneficial options in bold. Here, it is:




Now, you can make your natural choice, guys.

See you soon with the upcoming reviews.

Andy