Active Web Group, Inc. Offers Free Press Release With SEO Agreement

Active Web Group, Inc. (AWG), announced a Free Press Release with SEO, a $500 value, for firms that sign for SEO marketing. AWG has a long and substantial track record utilizing SEO initiatives to promote businesses of every size and across many diverse industries.

Active Web Group, Inc. (AWG), the award winning online marketing company headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, today announced a Free Press Release with SEO, a $500 value, for firms that sign for Search Engine Optimization marketing. Search Engine Optimization is a customized strategy to enable websites to become more visible to search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo. The long-term goal for SEO campaigns and initiatives is most often more leads and conversions. For ecommerce sites, the goal is generally greater revenue and an increased ROI. Well-optimized websites rank well on the major search engines which is a key factor in achieving online business’ success. By offering new clients a Free Press Release with SEO, Active Web believes they will be jump-starting the firm’s efforts to assist online businesses to achieve their goals.
Optimizing a website takes time ranging from several months to as long as a year. So when beginning an SEO strategy for a client’s website, supporting Internet marketing tools such as press releases can help ‘fill in the gaps’ until resilient and long lasting organic search initiatives take hold. This way, online firms can see positive results almost at once while the techniques that bring lasting results continue to develop.
“In support of a company’s SEO marketing a succinct and well-placed press release may also serve as a vehicle for higher search engine rankings and increased profits,” states Pat Norton, Vice President and Director of Business Development, Active Web Group, Inc. “These releases may be optimized as well so that our client’s company may reap SEO benefits indefinitely,” he adds. “By offering our customers a Free Press Release with SEO when they sign with Active Web Group, we can jumpstart their campaign while the long term benefits of organic search are just getting underway,” Norton concludes.
Active Web Group has a long and substantial track record utilizing Search Engine Optimization initiatives to promote businesses of every size and across many diverse industries. Their SEO strategies for their clients are designed to generate high search engine rankings, more relevant site traffic and increased conversions.

Microsoft Release New REST API Framework as Part of .NET 4.5

As part of the recent Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 launch, Microsoft formally unveiled its new web services framework called the ASP.NET Web API. Included as part of the ASP.NET MVC 4 offering, the open-source ASP.NET Web API is designed to simplify the development and consumption of RESTful services.

In a post called “Where does ASP.NET Web API Fit?”, Rick Strahl of West Wind Technologies explains the purpose and benefits of the ASP.NET Web API.

ASP.NET Web API differentiates itself from the previous Microsoft in-box HTTP service solutions in that it was built from the ground up around the HTTP protocol and its messaging semantics. Unlike WCF REST or ASP.NET AJAX with ASMX, it’s a brand new platform rather than bolted on technology that is supposed to work in the context of an existing framework. The strength of the new ASP.NET Web API is that it combines the best features of the platforms that came before it, to provide a comprehensive and very usable HTTP platform. Because it's based on ASP.NET and borrows a lot of concepts from ASP.NET MVC, Web API should be immediately familiar and comfortable to most ASP.NET developers.

Strahl points out the core capabilities that make the ASP.NET Web API a natural fit for both existing users of the the ASP.NET MVC framework, and developers who need to build HTTP endpoints.

Strong Support for URL Routing to produce clean URLs using familiar MVC style routing semantics
Content Negotiation based on Accept headers for request and response serialization
Support for a host of supported output formats including JSON, XML, ATOM
Strong default support for REST semantics but they are optional
Easily extensible Formatter support to add new input/output types
Deep support for more advanced HTTP features via HttpResponseMessage and HttpRequestMessage
classes and strongly typed Enums to describe many HTTP operations
Convention based design that drives you into doing the right thing for HTTP Services
Very extensible, based on MVC like extensibility model of Formatters and Filters
Self-hostable in non-Web applications
Testable using testing concepts similar to MVC
Microsoft already has an existing a web services framework called Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) which lets developers build contract-first services that leverage transport protocols such as TCP, HTTP and MSMQ. Originally built for SOAP-based services that want WS-* capabilities, WCF eventually added a handful of REST-friendly capabilities. While the ASP.NET Web APIs were initially aligned to the WCF framework, they were eventually shuffled over to the ASP.NET team as described in a Code Project article by Web developer Ido Flatow.

As time passed, the WCF Web APIs had a lot of trouble adapting WCF to the “native” HTTP world. As WCF was primarily designed for SOAP-based XML messages, and the “open-heart” surgery that was required to make the Web API work as part of WCF was a bit too much (or so I understand from people who were involved in creating the Web APIs). On the other hand, the ASP.NET MVC infrastructure with its elegant handling of HTTP requests and responses, and its support of easy-to-create controllers seemed like the proper way to go for creating this new type of services.

WCF remains alive and well in the latest .NET 4.5 release and Flatow identifies some of the decision criteria for choosing between WCF and the ASP.NET Web API.

If your intention is to create services that support special scenarios – one way messaging, message queues, duplex communication etc, then you’re better of picking WCF
If you want to create services that can use fast transport channels when available, such as TCP, Named Pipes, or maybe even UDP (in WCF 4.5), and you also want to support HTTP when all other transports are unavailable, then you’re better off with WCF and using both SOAP-based bindings and the WebHttp binding.
If you want to create resource-oriented services over HTTP that can use the full features of HTTP – define cache control for browsers, versioning and concurrency using ETags, pass various content types such as images, documents, HTML pages etc., use URI templates to include Task URIs in your responses, then the new Web APIs are the best choice for you.
If you want to create a multi-target service that can be used as both resource-oriented service over HTTP and as RPC-style SOAP service over TCP – talk to me first, so I’ll give you some pointers.
The ASP.NET Web API is included in Visual Studio 2012 and is also available as a download for Visual Studio 2010 users. Developers looking to get started with the framework will find many example projects available on the team’s Codeplex site.

Palette with Variables expanded by CSS

Potentially simplifying the work for Web designers, the working group behind the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Web standard is extending the language so that it supports the ability to define and call variables.



Tab Atkins, a Google developer who is on the working group has been taking suggestions this week as to what may be the best approach to represent variables in CSS.

As its name indicates, CSS is a stylesheet language, one that defines for a browser how a Web page, Web presentation or some other form of electronic content should be formatted. CSS offers a set of keywords to specify stylistic elements in a page layout, such as the font and spacing of text, and the color of the background. CSS can be embedded in the HTML page itself, either in the header or in the body. Or CSS code can be a separate file on the server, which is then referenced by the page.

To date, CSS has not yet offered a way for designers to define their own properties. Users have asked for this feature at least since the language's launch in 1998, according to CSS Working Group co-chair Daniel Glazman. Although the CSS Working Group uses the name "variables" to define this new feature, CSS variables would not have the full scope of the variable primitive found in most languages, Glazman explained. But it would allow designers to define the properties they use on a regular basis.

Nonetheless, such a naming capability would be handy, according to a draft document proposing the addition. It can cut down the amount of copying and pasting a designer must do to update a large Web site, for instance. If an organization has a standard set of colors and fonts to use across a Web site, CSS variables would allow these unique properties to be named by the designer. Then, when a stylistic change needs to be made, the designer simply reassigns the new values to the variables, eliminating the error-prone task of updating that information in each separate stylesheet and Web page.

The CSS working group is still trying to determine how the variables should best be represented in CSS. The designers favor declaring by using a reserved keyword, "var," in front of a new variable, so a new variable would be fined as var-NewVariable. But some users have expressed an interest in a specific key to define a variable, such as the "$" symbol, as in $NewVariable. Atkins cautioned against this approach as it limits the use of "$" for other variable activities, however.

While such matters may seem trivial, those who use a programming or markup language on a daily basis would benefit from the language being as consistent, and predictable, as possible. For instance, PHP has been roundly criticized for having an inconsistent syntax. Because PHP function names vary from one to the next in how they are formatted -- sometimes they have underscores and sometimes they don't -- programmers have more difficulty remembering or guessing the names of PHP functions, forcing them to consult documentation.

An Insurance Agency Management System created by Impowersoft

Aspire, the flagship software from Impowersoft, is a premium insurance agency management system designed to help improve how insurance agencies operate. Impowersoft has taken its expertise in software and used input from insurance agents to craft its premier software offering. It is certified by Microsoft and built around their revolutionary Asp.net framework and SQL server. Aspire is also a 100% web-based insurance software, which enables access from anywhere an agent can get on the internet. Agents can even start processing claims in the field from their internet enabled mobile device.

Impowersoft has loaded Aspire with a revolutionary insurance CRM module. This allows for agent customization to increase efficiency and productivity and enhances the way they connect with their contacts, whether they are clients, business, other vendors, or other employees. The module also has a comprehensive market module with many communication methods including Email, text messaging, and social network integration.

Aspire has been built with unmatched speed and stability, guaranteeing insurance agents maximum performance with little glitches. Software upgrades are seamless as Impowersoft adds new and improved features. Since Impowersoft is continually fine tuning its insurance agency management system, upgrades are always something to expect, but will not result in any downtime for the busy agent.

Aspire’s web-based system also improves energy efficiency at the office. Impowersoft stores all data on its own servers in Pennsylvania and backs them up on a redundant system in Texas, ensuring the data is safe and secure. The insurance agency management system eliminates the need for offices to operate their own servers and associated cooling equipment, saving costs for the agency. In addition, agents do not have to take time to come to the office, further reducing costs for both the agent (through transportation) and agency (through office size reduction and utility costs).

Aspire insurance agency management system is how Impowersoft strives to improve how agents and agencies work. Through its speed and efficiency, Impowersoft hopes Aspire can improve the efficiency of insurance agents and agencies. The reputation of Microsoft accreditation coupled with the detailed input of insurance agents has resulted in the powerhouse that Impowersoft created.

Bonsai Media Group Takes Umbraco Website Development To A New Level

With the launch of their new website, Bonsai Media Group, a Seattle-based Internet marketing agency brings website design and development to a new level. The website features an interactive homepage that allows visitors to discover the three areas of expertise that Bonsai provides and drill down from there. Clouds float by gracefully across the sky and transitions without the use of flash animation, sticking to Bonsai’s philosophy of building websites that can be viewed on all platforms. To up the cool factor, there’s also a 3D version of the homepage (3D glasses not included).

Designed in line with Bonsai’s recently updated branding, the website features four fun characters, a ninja, sensei, grasshopper and samurai. For you Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fans, the samurai is a Shredder-esque character that will bring back memories from the early 1990′s. The sensei, and the grasshopper is a fun half-human, half-grasshopper creation. Seattle comic book artist, Dimi Macheras, illustrated the cartoon characters that bring both the website and the brand to life. The website’s copy was spiced up with the help of copywriter, Keith Creighton, of Sudden Monkey.

The website was designed in-house and developed on the Umbraco content management system. Umbraco is an open source ASP.NET content management system which has an enormous following in Europe and is quickly gaining ground in the U.S. due to its many benefits including:

Leverages a flat XML file and not a database call for content so it’s really fast

Fully customizable fields like a rich text editor for “what you see is what you get” content writing

Active and engaging community that develops free and commercial packages

Going open source back in 2005, the Umbraco CMS platform is taking the business world by storm. Extremely popular in Europe, some of the largest sites on the web, including Microsoft, Wired, and Vogue, are built on the Umbraco platform.

Bonsai Media Group prides themselves on their ability to design, develop and market business class websites. They are one of only four Umbraco Certified Gold Partners in the United States and the only one based on the west coast.

The company's technology allows any Web page to go live in real-time

Obviously, the main advantage of new media companies that utilize the Web—like Groupon, Yelp, or even our own VatorNews—over old media companies that stick to paper and phones is the speed at which they can operate.  In the time it takes your local newspaper to report on an event that happened at 5 pm the previous day, your friendly neighborhood blog has already turned the situation inside-out with up-to-the-minute updates.

The power of “now” on the Web can’t be overestimated, which is why anything happening in real-time is an eye-catcher.  One real-time technology provider, aptly named Realtime, relaunched Tuesday with $100 million in funding from BRZTech, a São Paulo-based investment vehicle backed by a number of private investors in Europe and South America.

Founded in 1997 as Internet Business Technologies, the company has rebranded as Realtime and claims to have developed a technology that will pave the way to the new “live Web.”

To break it down, Realtime has created a platform that allows users—whether they’re businesses, advertisers, or developers—to add a single line of code to a Web page to push data to a single user or multiple users without requiring them to refresh the page.  The technology is powered by Realtime’s extensive Realtime multiplatform language (xRTML), which can be implemented for both Web and mobile apps, including NODE.JS, Javascript, ASP.net, PHP, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
But the lynchpin is its versatility.  Realtime Web is multi-browser, multi-device, multi-protocol and multiplatform, so businesses and developers can get it up and running simply by adding the code, rather than opening up a can of programming worms.

And its uses are equally versatile.  Realtime Web can be utilized to allow Web users to change website content as it comes out, vote and see other users votes in real-time, or simply get customer service help as they need it.  The technology can also fundamentally change display advertising by allowing ads to be replaced while they’re being displayed depending on exposure time and a user’s information.

Realtime’s own website shows you how it works, with a box of statistics that is being continually updated to show how many developers are using it (1,114), how many user connections it’s seeing (123 million every 24 hours), and even how many visitors are checking out the site right now.

“Many people have talked about the coming ‘real-time Web’ in very abstract terms, and Realtime is the first company building a tangible framework that will make that abstraction a reality. We did not create a product. We created an industry,” said CEO and founder André Parreira, in a statement. “We are committing the resources to make Realtime the fluid, next-generation, truly conversational standard for the Web across the world.”

With offices in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, London, Madrid, Lisbon, and now Santa Monica and New York, Realtime is securing partnerships in the U.S. and already has over 2,000 partnerships around the world.
Realtime was recently classified as a “Cool Vendor” by Gartner (as IBT).

“[Realtime] has the potential to set a new industry standard for real-time Web experiences that feel more like you’re in a giant chat room than the static, often frustrating quest for information we are often subjected to today,” Gartner reported.

Probox file-sharing tool to rival Dropbox launches by Proact

Storage integrator Proact has launched a new online file storage service, Probox, to compete in the fast growing cloud storage market against the likes of DropBox, SkyDrive, iCloud and Google Drive.

Probox will allow employees to share and sync all their work files with their colleagues, and to their mobile devices automatically.

Proact commercial director Mark Butcher told V3 that unlike other file-sharing services in the market, Probox had been designed with business users in mind.

Butcher said Proact aims to give Probox users the flexibility they want, while ensuring enterprise-grade security. "Many of our customers deny how many of their staff use Dropbox-type services. Staff use the services to store company critical information, but this leaves the IT department with no guarantee of security, knowledge of data location or control," he said. "All users want is simplicity, but with the storage services on offer at the moment, many IT departments can't give them this. Current enterprise storage services are clunky and need a secure VPN service, hence why Dropbox has been so successful in businesses. "The new cloud service provides each employee with 20GB of personal storage space, and can sync data across a range of platforms including Mac, PC, iOS and Android. When a user accesses Probox, all the data they transmit will be encrypted, said Butcher.

"All enterprises in the UK market will also be given the guarantee that all data will be stored in a tier three UK datacentre," added Butcher.

"There are storage enterprise cloud services out there but the security isn't up to scratch."

The release of Probox follows a series of hacking attacks on consumer storage provider Dropbox. Following the attacks, security engineers and analysts have warned UK businesses need to stop trusting free consumer services with their data.

Probox is priced at £6 per user, per month, for the 20GB of storage. Although Proact has just released the new service today in the UK and Europe, Probox has undergone beta testing for a number of months by

Proact partner, NetApp.
Probox will face competition from a number of cloud storage firms that are specifically targeted at the
enterprise and meet requirements when it comes to security, such as Ignite and Intronis and US firm Box.

Microsoft Office Store goes live

Microsoft has declared the Office Store open, meaning those running the Office 2013 preview can now integrate various web-based services into their productivity software.

A number of “cool apps” can now be tested out with the preview versions of Office, SharePoint or Exchange. Microsoft introduced the customer preview release of its Office 2013 productivity suite last month, and has been busy talking up its cloud-related features.

“We’ve built the store so you could integrate the very best of the web with the powerful features of Office and SharePoint,” said Microsoft’s Vivek Narasimhan in a company blog post. “We’ve also focused on making it really easy to get, install and use apps.

“All apps that are listed on the Store get extensively validated so users can trust them. Since these apps are all based on web-standards, they load straight away – there’s no need for IT to pre-load them. If you use a new machine, just sign-in with your Microsoft account and all your apps will be there.”

To Serve ASP.NET Based Enterprise Level Project IndiaNIC Increases the Workforce

ASP.NET is the best technology for building effective enterprise solutions, and IndiaNIC has been providing quality ASP.NET development services to corporates worldwide since several years. Recently, IndiaNIC made substantial additions to its workforce to meet the growing demand for ASP.NET.

As there has been a significant use of software in corporate companies, the demand of enterprise level IT solutions has increased. Large scale businesses face bigger competitive pressure that requires robust IT solution to manage the customer relationship, data of sales and marketing and other such content. ASP.NET has been one of the most preferred technologies to provide software solutions that ensure the flow and keeps the data easily accessible.

“Large enterprises require flawless process in maintaining accurate data and handling content management for what ASP.NET is preferred choice these days,” said Project Manager, ASP.NET Department at IndiaNIC. Looking at this trend, the company expanded their workforce to meet the demand. “IndiaNIC commits to provide best enterprise level solutions such as CRM, ERP and CMS and thus, recruiting more brains in ASP.NET technology makes the sense!” he added further.

The company is a trusted partner of Microsoft Inc. as a part of its Gold Certification program that helps developing enterprise level projects in MS technologies. “The developers and coders in ASP.NET technology have quicker and better access to the genuine tools as we are Microsoft Partner”, stated the Microsoft Technology Team Leader.

Giant corporate companies have started to understand the facility that enterprise level software can provide in managing their in-house staff and customers worldwide. Microsoft technologies are well known to provide scalable and user-friendly IT solutions that are easy to understand and operate.

Serving the industry since 15 years, IndiaNIC is an offshore company providing a wide range of IT solutions in web and mobile technologies. It serves robust software to various industry verticals and has expertise in developing web portals, Goods Management Tracking Systems (GMTS), Web Content Management System (CMS), Customer Relationship System (CRM), Order Management System (ORM), eCommerce Development or Shopping Cart and Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) etc.

“When it comes to IndiaNIC as a solution provider, the client is worry free about the project and there are various hiring models for affordable IT solutions for corporate companies. A transparent deal in the business and robust security measurements are two main reasons why corporate giants prefer IndiaNIC as their outsourcing hub”, said the CEO of the company finishing the conference.