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| In Today's Issue: | |
| Quote: | Charles Darwin on change |
| News: | Yahoo in bill payment deal with CheckFree |
| Facts: | E-billing predicted to cut costs |
| Tip: | Find out where you are "linked"! |
| Biz Sites: | 1. Take the Internet Quotient Test |
| 2. Career Testing Online | |
| Term: | "Autoresponder" |
| Ripple Rock: | Search for ET on your home computer! |
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QUOTE OF THE DAY:
*** "It is not the strongest of
the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the ones
most responsive to change."
---- Charles Darwin
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LATE BREAKING NEWS:
Yahoo in bill payment deal with CheckFree
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 8 (Reuters) - Internet media company Yahoo! Inc. said Wednesday it entered a bill payment deal with CheckFree Corp., an electronic billing company.
The company said in a statement that it
had started Yahoo! Bill Pay, a service that lets Yahoo!
users in the United States pay bills from
any computer connected to the Internet.
Through the company's relationship with CheckFree, Yahoo! users can pay anyone electronically in the United States.
CheckFree will automatically debit the bank account from which users' Yahoo! Bill Pay payments are made. The Yahoo! Bill Pay fee appears on individuals' bank statements as a bill payment fee.
Source:
http://www.mediacentral.com/
CyberSisters' comments:
Here it comes! Do you owe your sister $10? Want to put a deposit on a purchase or pay a business invoice? Use the web! This isn't just Visa/Mastercard purchases anymore. It is invoicing and electronic bill payment systems that are easy to use, readily available and affordable. I predict this will be huge - businesses are advised to make it as easy to accept payment as possible!
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FACTOID OF THE WEEK:
Companies that adopt electronic billing systems can expect to save up to $8 billion by 2001, according to a report released today by research and consulting company Killen & Associates. The report says electronic billing will cut costs on postage, paper, processing, and customer service.
The Killen report predicts that the amount of bills being presented electronically by U.S. businesses will reach 8% in 2000 and increase to 34% by 2005.
Source: Information Week
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK19990121S0004
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TIP: Find out where you are
"linked"!
As Internet marketers we are always wanting feedback about how our efforts are paying off. One of the key indicators to how popular your site is on the net is how many other sites are linking to it. To find out, go to the Alta Vista search engine (http://www.altavista.com/) and, in the search box, type in:
link:http://www.mydomain.com/
where www.mydomain.com is your web site address, for example to see how many times Digital Ripple is "linked", you would type in link:http://www.digitalripple.com/ .
Just a quick little tip on how to track who is linking back to your web site!
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BIZ SITES OF THE WEEK:
1. Take the Internet Quotient Test!
Are you about to embark on an Internet project? Here's an online quiz focusing on how strategic your thinking is, and whether your company is ready for the Internet Economy. Check it out at:
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/750/indicator/quiz.html
2. Career Testing Online
While you're in the test taking mood, here's a web site that has a number of career planning/personality tests available. Whether you are considering a career change yourself (perhaps in the "cyber" direction) or whether you need help in assessing an employment candidate, these tests may be worthwhile checking out.
http://www.careers-by-design.com/p13.htm
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TERM OF THE DAY:
"Autoresponder"
An autoresponder is a mailing software
utility that automatically sends a reply to an e-mail message. When an
email message is sent to your autoresponder email address, the autoresponder
automatically replies back with your information. It is a great way for
you to provide information about your products, services or business opportunities.
It's similar to fax-on-demand, but over the Internet. If you need
to provide information to people 24 hours per day on the Internet, then
an autoresponder is just the tool you need.
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Ripple Effect "Rock"
What's a Ripple Effect Rock? Well, think of a rock thrown in a lake, and how the water ripples outward. This section of the newsletter covers developments and technologies that we think might soon cause a "ripple effect" in business or society.
Ripple Rock for Sept 9, 1999:
Well, once again, the CyberSisters couldn't resist this one! Why not join the search for ET on your home computer?
A virtual, global, Internet-connected distributed "supercomputer" is now searching the heavens for signs of extraterrestrial life. SETI, or the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, which requires massive amounts of computational power to analyze signals from radio telescopes, has chosen to use YOUR idle computing power (if you allow it) to continue searching for extraterrestrial intelligence.
If you run the SETI@HOME screensaver, your PC or Macintosh can join the 600,000+ (as of mid-June) nodes in this global supercomputer, receiving small tasks from the SETI@HOME server to chew on while you're not typing away, and sending the results back for further analysis.
Ok, so if you're thinking that this is only going to be a ripple rock if they actually find ET, think again. Even if they never find signs of ET, they've certainly demonstrated the incredible power of a large number of computers networked together, not just sending information, but actually contributing CPU power! One day you may be able to designate percentages of your CPU power to donate to charitable causes or other projects of your choice. Fascinating.....
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That's it for now! Have a great
week!
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http://www.digitalripple.com/joinlist.html
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British Columbia
21327 91B Ave
Langley, British Columbia
Canada V1M 2C1
Telephone: (604) 888 3911
Facsimile: (604) 646 9063
E-Mail: dcurrie@digitalripple.com
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: (416)430-5726
Facsimile: (416)430-5726
E-Mail: alcurrie@digitalripple.com
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Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: (905)721 0285
Facsimile: (905)721 1335
E-Mail: alcurrie@digitalripple.com
"Exploring the Ripple Effect of Digital Technology"
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