We are long time subscribers to Discover magazine, and this morning there is a sidebar column chalked full of information useful to those of us using the internet – be it for fun or business. According to this analysis, written by Adam T. Hadhazy, here are some amazing facts (worth noting!):

Fact 1: Number of Bytes Transmitted Online

According to a University of Minnesota report, researchers estimate the volume of internet traffic is growing at an annual rate of 50 to 60 percent.

The number of bytes transmitted over the course of last year:

o A whopping 78,000,000,000,000,000,000

Fact 2: e-Commerce Spending

In 2008, the United States alone spent $214.4 BILLION online. These statistics come from comScore reports. They continue to draw the conclusion that online spending is increasing by 7 percent per year. However, this is down from previous years (before the huge financial mess the country and world has gotten itself into or had done to us by greedy s.o.b’s, which was growing at a rate of 20 percent per year). Time for those recovery plans to kick in!

Fact 3: Trojans, Worms, Viruses, etc.

Symantec reports a total of 5,060,187 bot-infected computers, the same computers that deliberately send out spam to the rest of us poor suckers, have produced 1,122,311 different trojans, worms, malicious code, etc.

To make matters even more critical, and to highly encourage you to PROTECT your computer (I recommend Kaspersky!), the Sophos internet security firm “discovered a new infected WEB PAGE every 4.5 seconds, on average).

NOTE: If you’re using nothing but the feeble Windows firewall to protect your computer, change NOW. It’s much better to get a real firewall/antivirus and malware protection system (again I recommend Kaspersky) that to trust to the fact that the folks at Microsoft 1) stay on top of things (they don’t) or 2) give a damn whether your system gets infected or not. BE SMART.

Fact 4: Number of Minutes We Are All Online

Viewing JUST the social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, internet users have racked up a whopping 34,916,000,000 minutes in the United States alone viewing just these sites. In fact, in January 2009 all by itself, the average user spent 10 percent of all of his/her minutes online in these network communities.

Fact 5: What State Ranks Highest for Adult Website Subscriptions?

That dubious honor goes to none other than… Utah. In fact 5.47 households out of 1,000 have adult-content site subscriptions. Montana comes in with the lowest rate, only 1.92 out of 1,000 households. And, just to round things out, 36% of all internet users spend time on at least one adult web site per month (reported again by comScore).

So what does this all mean to those of us using the net for say internet marketing?

o Online purchasing (e-Commerce) though lower than recent years, is once again on the rise.

o Facebook and MySpace may be very popular (duh) – and worth investigating – but also make us warn that you best have a truly unique approach to getting some of that traffic. Invest real time into building the community. You’ll get the traffic, but you still need to persuade them to choose you for the sale.

o Not protecting your computer, and not having a firewall warning system in place, has got to be the dumbest thing anyone owning a computer can manage not to do. There are those out there with, apparently, plenty of time on their hands to figure out ways to either ruin your computer or, at a minimum, make it necessary for that trip to say the Geek squad at Best Buy to fix it up. This can be very expensive, so why allow it to happen in the first place? Get the best program out there that covers everything from surfing to email to… And again I suggest Kaspersky.

o Maybe, just maybe, we all need a bit more fresh air. I know I am guilty of rarely stepping outside. While I have, and continue, to lose weight, really watch and upgrade my diet, and get a bit of strength training indoors, nothing beats stepping out your door. In fact, medically, to ensure you get enough Vitamin D, you need to spend from 5 to 20 minutes outside every day – during the critical 10 to 2 hours (high noon) WITHOUT sunscreen to absorb the Vitamin D your body needs. Step outside, do a bit of weeding, talk to your neighbors, walk the dog. But get some fresh air LOL!

o Well… the last being the adult websites, don’t know what to say about that, but the fact that it’s Utah (we live in Nevada) has us laughing our heads off.

Okay, there are enough stats to keep you busy and maybe planning some internet and marketing strategies and plans for your business, blog, website online.

PLEASE Don’t forget to COMMENT!

With two major holidays behind us, and the New Year festivities upcoming, many will be making those often un-lived-up-to resolutions.

If you spend a lot of time sitting in your chair at your computer, and you’ve found your bottom (and various other body parts) spreading due to a lack of exercise, your options to get into shape for the New Year (and thus continue marketing in the best of health!) are many.

However, some people will be tempted to turn to quick solutions, and this post is a warning I found this morning in our home town Las Vegas Review Journal:

FDA warns against using 28 weight-loss products

“If you’re looking for a little help shedding extra pounds after the holidays, the government is warning you to stay away from nearly 30 weight-loss products that contain unlisted and possibly dangerous ingredients.

The pills are advertised as “natural” fat busters and have intriquing names such as Imelda Perfect Slim and Zhen de Shou. Some are touted as new versions of “ancient remedies” from Asia.”

Now while I cannot and do not advocate that the FDA gets everything right, the article goes on to explain that the FDA lab tested 28 dietary supplements “that could land unsuspecting users in the emergency room.”

Not where you want to be to start out your New Year, right?!

The problem appears to be that many of these products contain sibutramine, a chemical cousin and powerful appetite suppressant along the lines of amphetamines. Heart attacks, strokes, and heart palpitations are just some of the reported “side effects.”

Sibutramine is used to treat the extremely obese. However, these tested products were reported to have as much as three (3) times the prescribed dosage… 3 times!

We’re all for making solid, common sense, New Year’s resolutions. And more often than not, weight loss tops the list.

However, if you’d like to live through the coming new year as a healthy and active internet marketer, our advice is to take a look at this website FDA Warns Consumers About Tainted Weight Loss Pills.

Sad to say, a vast majority of these products are coming out of China. China seems to be having huge problems lately exporting healthy and safe items – from food, supplements, candy, toys, etc. – and now we can add this information to that growing list.

Start your New Year off right! And stay healthy! Scott and I want to see you returning again and again for many years to come; we’ve got tons of social media and internet marketing to share with you!

Happy New Year!

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Don’t forget to comment! It’s free marketing for you!

One of our “tenets” in our tag line for this blog includes “hot topic news” and this most certainly fits the bill. Please read on!

I must be having withdrawal symptoms since my favorite MSNBC news shows air only Monday through Friday. So it’s digging deep into our local, “switch sides every other day” (sound familiar?) local newspaper, The Las Vegas Review Journal that grabbed my attention this morning.

Actually much of the following – other than my own two cents – comes from a section of the paper, the Las Vegas Sun (don’t ask me what their relationship is – but the one does stick in parts of the other). And, just so you know up front, the Las Vegas Sun endorses Obama.

The first tidbit I’d like to share is along the lines of “is wealth distributed properly in this country.”

Here’s a shocker for all us working “Joes and Janes” (thanks Palin) – from Sunday’s Parade Magazine:

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For a fun (and educational!) Sunday, I’d like to share a resource I just discovered via a Blogcatalog visitor.

Divyatha (or Rhinestonne as she is known at BlogCatalog) has several interesting blogs, including her Best of Web Pages.

It was on that site that I found listed along the sidebar, (more…)