Ronaldo lifts world award

Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has been named FifPro World Footballer of the Year.

It is the first in what is expected to be a host of individual honours for the 23-year-old, who scored 42 goals for United on their way to Champions League and Barclays Premier League title glory last term.

Ronaldo had suggested last week he could do no more than he did to be crowned the best player on the planet and peers from over 40 countries are in agreement.

influential player

At £12.2m, Ronaldo has proved to be a bargain since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, growing steadily into the most influential player in the United team.

It is anticipated Ronaldo will also scoop the Balon D'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award.

Game Reviews - Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

In hindsight, we'd go one further. The myth that EA makes the bimbo football game and Konami makes the cultured one is - to return to the note upon which we began our FIFA 09 review - thoroughly dead. But that doesn't necessarily mean the same is now true in reverse. FIFA 09 may be excellent, and the last few Pro Evolutions have gone backwards, but what of PES 2009?

At its heart, we suspect, lie many of the same lines of code that drove the success of the series on PS2 for so many seasons, because the fundamentals are unchanged: player movement is on eight directions (with in-betweens during sprints), passing is zippy, and ball movement is physically convincing, if a little heavy. The graphics reinforce the impression that PES is reliant on existing content and assets, too, because despite the usual claim that it's "undergone a stunning graphical update", movement animations are wooden and repetitive, and the players look more like they've undergone a stunning facial beating under a railway bridge.

FIFA, by inevitable comparison, is so smoothly plastered with graphical Polyfilla that almost every angle of ball receipt, every tweak of the analogue stick, is covered by an appropriate animation, which frees the players and football to move organically in ways that PES wouldn't countenance. It's not quite that perfect, but the fact is we used to talk about the difference between PES' loose ball and FIFA's gluey boots, and these days it's the difference between PES' grids of movement and FIFA's cloud of possibilities. No wonder Peter Moore's crowing about the review scores.

But while the visual comparison between PES and FIFA is now rather harsh on EA's Japanese adversary, Konami's re-minted PES Production Team in Tokyo is a bit like the James Bond film crews - their grandfathers worked on this stuff, doncha know, and they know a bit about it. So it shouldn't be a surprise to discover that while PES 2009 lacks FIFA 09's fluency - graphically and mechanically - and the EA game's authoritative command of licences, it still plays much better than last year's effort thanks to a few nips and tucks, and gives PES fans who can't break away from its hard-coded diagonals and toxic waste likenesses their best return for a few years.

Dirk Kuyt's stamina stat is reassuringly mental, even if he does look like a dead-eyed Gary Busey.

PES moves at a fair old trot, and while the attacking principles are the same as they are in FIFA - pass the ball, retain possession, go backwards when you can't go forward, drag players out of position to make space, be ruthless when you do - wing play is more effective, with a high frequency of goals from diving or jumping headers, and the trick moves that used to be on the right analogue stick have now migrated to the d-pad or left stick (whichever you use for movement), so they're easy to incorporate into your approach play, rather than an afterthought. Nippy strikers and wingers have less trouble holding onto the ball under duress, too, reaching the byline fairly often in spite of typically adhesive pursuing defenders.

This is because, absent the need to counterbalance FIFA's omnidirectional player brains, PES doesn't have to be so rugged and physical. Defensive pressing is more about pushing wingers inside or driving your opponents down blind alleys. Aggressive pressing with two players - similarly suicidal in both games, since it leaves tons of space for AI or a wily human opponent to exploit - results in a fair few niggly trips, but there's less bullying. If you want the ball, you're going to have to chase it and earn it, which in turn encourages patience in attack. Once you have it, as with FIFA, the basic vocabulary of controls and a sensible approach will bring you results, but there's a huge range of subtleties to master, whether it's different types of pass, cross and shot, flair techniques, off the ball instructions, when it's best to make substitutions, and so on.

new iMac from Apple's

Who could've seen this one coming? Apple surprised no one this morning with brand new iMacs. Built from aluminum and glass, the new all-in-one desktops feature a complete, slimmer redesign and will come in two sizes: 20-inch and 24-inch. There's the usual compliment of ports like USB 2.0, Firewire 400 / 800, a slot loading SuperDrive, iSight camera and so forth. The new look features a glossy display to match the majority of Apple's consumer lineup, and new keyboards are indeed coming along for the ride -- in an extended wired version as well as a mini wire free model, running the Bluetooth 2.0 spec. Under the hood Apple has up to a 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme processor, ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro graphics, up to 1TB of storage, 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0, with 8x SuperDrives and 1GB of RAM standard across the board. Prices start at $1,199 for the 20-inch, $1,499 for a processor and graphics bump, $1,799 for the 24-incher and $2,299 for Core 2 Extreme. The full rundown of Apple's stock models is after the break.

Update: Corrected the 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme spec, and added a fourth configuration to the rundown.

• $1,199
• 20-inch, 1680 x 1050 LCD
• 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 1GB RAM
• 250GB SATA
• 8x SuperDrive
• 128MB ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT

• $1,499
• 20-inch, 1680 x 1050 LCD
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 1GB RAM
• 320GB SATA
• 8x SuperDrive
• 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro

• $1,799
• 24-inch, 1900 x 1200 LCD
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 1GB RAM
• 320GB SATA
• 8x SuperDrive
• 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro
  
  
  
• $2,299
• 24-inch, 1900 x 1200 LCD
• 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme
• 2GB RAM
• 500GB SATA
• 8x SuperDrive
• 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro

La Liga 2008 - 2009 Transfer news

La Liga 08/09 Transfers	From	To	Price (Euros)
Florent Sinama-Pongolle	Recreativo	Atletico Madrid	undisclosed
Gregory Coupet	Lyon	Atletico Madrid	€3million
Johnny Heitinga	Ajax	Atletico Madrid	€10million
Paulo Assuncao	Porto	Atletico Madrid	undisclosed
Tomas Ujfalusi	Fiorentina	Atletico Madrid	Free
Alexander Hleb	Arsenal	Barcelona	€15million
Daniel Alves	Sevilla	Barcelona	€32million
Gerard Pique	Manchester United	Barcelona	undisclosed
Henrique	Palmeiras	Barcelona	€8million
Jose Manuel Pinto	Celta Vigo	Barcelona	€500,000
Martin Caceres	Villarreal	Barcelona	€16.5million
Seydou Keita	Sevilla	Barcelona	€14million
Esteban Granero	Real Madrid	Getafe	undisclosed
Achille Emana	Toulouse	Real Betis	€7million
Mehmet Aurelio	Fenerbahce	Real Betis	Free
Ezequiel Garay	Racing Santander	Real Madrid	€10million
Rafael van der Vaart	Hamburg	Real Madrid	€13million
Ayoze Diaz	Racing Santander	Real Mallorca	undisclosed
Josemi	Villarreal	Real Mallorca	undisclosed
Henok Goitom	Real Murcia	Real Valladolid	Loan
Damian Escudero	Villarreal	Real Valladolid	Loan
Lautaro Acosta	Lanus	Sevilla	€7million
Sebastien Squillaci	Lyon	Sevilla	undisclosed
Damian Escudero	Velez Sarsfield	Villarreal	€5million
Edmilson	Barcelona	Villarreal	Free
Jozy Altidore	New York Red Bulls	Villarreal	€6.4million
Joseba Llorente	Real Valladolid	Villarreal	undisclosed
Robert Flores	River Plate	Villarreal	undisclosed

5 Essential Performance Monitoring Gadgets for windows vista

The new sidebar in Windows Vista provides many opportunities to present the user with information. For those of you that like to monitor your system performance, the sidebar is the perfect place to run various performance monitoring gadgets. Windows Vista ships with a simple CPU and Memory usage gadget, however, there are many more gadgets out there that are much more useful and help you monitor almost every aspect of Windows.

1. Wireless Signal and IP Address Gadget

This gadget displays your wireless network information such as it's status, signal strength and security. This gadget also displays your internal IP and gives you a direct link to your router's / wireless gateway's web based control panel.

2. Battery Meter Gadget

Monitor the battery level of your laptop with this gadget. This gadget provides a much more accurate level reading than the tiny system tray icon.

3. Multi-Meter Gadget

Info shown: - Cpu usage % ( 2 cores ) - Ram Usage % - Ram info ( Total, used, left size) - Status bars animated above 90% - 100 Skins + background selection

4. Uptime Gadget

This gadget allows you to see how much time has passed since you last restarted your computer.

5. Free Space Gadget

This gadget monitors your PC's drives and shows you the available space for those you've selected

iPhone Delivers Up to Eight Hours of Talk Time

Now Features Durable Glass Top Surface

CUPERTINO, California—June 18, 2007—Apple® today announced that iPhone™ will deliver significantly longer battery life when it ships on June 29 than was originally estimated when iPhone was unveiled in January. iPhone will feature up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback.* In addition, iPhone will feature up to 250 hours—more than 10 days—of standby time. Apple also announced that the entire top surface of iPhone, including its stunning 3.5-inch display, has been upgraded from plastic to optical-quality glass to achieve a superior level of scratch resistance and optical clarity.

“With 8 hours of talk time, and 24 hours of audio playback, iPhone’s battery life is longer than any other ‘Smartphone’ and even longer than most MP3 players,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve also upgraded iPhone’s entire top surface from plastic to optical-quality glass for superior scratch resistance and clarity. There has never been a phone like iPhone, and we can't wait to get this truly magical product into the hands of customers starting just 11 days from today.”

iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a revolutionary multi-touch display and pioneering new software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. iPhone combines three products into one small and lightweight handheld device—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and the Internet in your pocket with best-ever applications on a mobile phone for email, web browsing and maps. iPhone ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones.

Pricing and Availability
iPhone will be available in the US on June 29, 2007 in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac®. iPhone will be sold in the US through Apple’s retail and online stores, and through AT&T’s select retail stores.

*All Battery claims are dependent upon network configuration and many other factors; actual results may vary. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information. Music capacity is based on four minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding; actual capacity varies by content.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and will enter the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.

21 tips for your iPhone

You can do a lot with the iPhone—make a phone call, surf the Web, watch a movie—just with the touch of a virtual button. But dig a little deeper, and you can do a lot more. After three weeks of putting the iPhone through its paces, here are 21 tips for getting the most out of the iPhone’s advertised features… or finding a couple of features you might not know were part of the phone’s repertoire.

1. Use your iPhone as a storage device

One of side benefits to the iPod beyond its music-playing capabilities is the fact that you can use it to store files. You can’t do this with an out-of-the-box iPhone. But with the help of a $10 program—and a Mac—you can. The app is iPhoneDrive, a small utility from Ecamm Network that displays the free storage area of an iPhone in the manner of a Finder window in Column view. To add files to the iPhone, either click the Copy to iPhone button or drag a file or folder to the iPhoneDrive Window; dragging from the iPhone or clicking on Copy From iPhone puts iPhone files on your Mac. Note that music and photo files for use on your iPhone are off limits.—CHRISTOPHER BREEN

2. Get a bigger keyboard for Web browsing

Like any other iPhone function requiring data entry, tapping Safari’s address bar summons an on-screen keyboard. However, if you rotate the iPhone horizontally before tapping the address bar, the Safari window will switch to horizontal mode; then, when you then tap the address bar, the onscreen keyboard also appears horizontally. More important, it will also be much larger than the standard vertical keyboard, making data entry a little easier. By the way, Safari is currently the only iPhone application in which this horizontal keyboard appears. (Also worth noting: If you summon the keyboard before rotating your iPhone, then Safari won’t rotate.)

Rotating your iPhone horizontally before summoning the onscreen keyboard produces this horizontal—and much easier to use—keyboard.

3. Create a home page in Safari

With the regular version of Safari that runs on your Mac (and now your Windows-based PC), setting a particular site as your home page is as simple as going to the General tab in Preferences and typing in a URL. You can’t do that on the iPhone, however. But you can use this work-around: Add your would-be home page to your bookmarks list and then move it to the top of your bookmarks list. Yes it’s an extra tap—first the Bookmarks button and then the bookmark itself—but it will get you to your favorite Web page with a minimum of fuss.

4. Share your URLs

If you want to send the URL of a Web page you’re viewing to a friend, tap the Address Bar, then tap Share. A new e-mail message, containing the URL, will open in Mail; just choose a recipient(s), add any comments you want to include, and tap Send.

5. Scroll through separate boxes on a Web page

If you encounter a scrolling box or list when surfing Safari on your iPhone—say you’re responding to a post at the Macworld.com forums —and try to scroll using your finger, you’ll find that the entire page scrolls, instead of just the box. The trick is to zoom in and scroll such areas with two fingers.

6. Make a call from Safari

If you find a phone number in Safari that you’d like to call—say the phone number at a restaurant you’d like to make reservations at—there’s no need to jump to the phone component. Just tap the number; iPhone will dial it for you. (This is also the case with phone numbers and URL embedded in e-mails and SMS chats; tapping either one will place a call or open a Web page, respectively.)

7. Find out where those links go

When in Safari, holding your fingertip down on a link instead of tapping it produces an information balloon that displays the underlying URL. The same thing happens in Mail when you hold a link, which makes this tip much more useful. Now when those “account update” e-mails appear, you can press and hold on the link to find out if you’re really going to be taken to the site the e-mail claims.

8. Avoid Mail confusion

Don’t name two of your e-mail accounts with the same name, as Mail will get confused and copy the settings from one account to the other. And you can’t fix the situation by simply renaming one account; you’ll need to delete one of the accounts and then recreate it.

9. Mark previously-read messages as unread

There doesn’t appear to be a way to the mark a read message as unread on the iPhone, but it’s in there. While viewing a message, tap Details, which reveals a Mark As Unread option; tap it, and the next time you view your Inbox, the message will display the Unread indicator.

10. Recover ‘lost’ e-mails

Say you try to send an e-mail, but the iPhone can’t get network access. You might think your message has disappeared completely, but don’t worry—it’s still on your phone. A temporary Outgoing folder is created, and the message winds up in there. You can access this temporary folder from the main screen of the sending account; the folder will disappear once network access is available and the message is sent.

11. Create e-mail folders

Well, actually, you can’t create e-mail folders on the iPhone. What you can do, however, with an IMAP e-mail account is create folders on the IMAP server—for example, if you have a .Mac account, using the .Mac Web Mail interface. Those folders will then appear on the iPhone, and their contents will—eventually—be synced between the iPhone and the server.

12. Save e-mail messages as drafts

If you want to save a message you’re working on so you can come back to it later, tap Cancel. Instead of deleting the message immediately, Mail pops up a dialog asking you to Save, Don’t Save, or Cancel. Tap Save and the message is placed in your Drafts folder. If your account doesn’t currently have a Drafts folder, Mail will create one. However, don’t be alarmed if the message doesn’t appear in Drafts immediately; in my testing, it takes a while to show up.

13. Pick where you listen to voicemail

If you’ve got a Bluetooth headset, incoming calls get routed there automatically—not so when you call up Visual Voicemail. However, an Audio button on the Visual Voicemail screen lets you set where you listen to your message: the handset, the built-in speaker, or a Bluetooth headset.

14. Find another way to scroll through Contacts

Everyone knows that you can scroll through the Contacts list on your iPhone two different ways—either flick your finger on the list to scroll up or down, or tap on one of the letters on the alphabet running down the right side of the screen to jump to contacts beginning with that letter. But there is a third way: hold your finger on the alphabetical list and then slide up and down—you’ll be able to scroll through your Contacts in a more controlled manner than by flicking your finger.

15. Use the Favorites and Recents list for more than just phone calls

Favorites and Recents are part of the main Phone screen; the former is iPhone’s version of frequently called numbers while the latter is a list of people who you’ve called and whose calls you missed. But this is not just a phone feature—assuming the numbers in Favorites and Recents belong to a mobile phone, you can send them an SMS message. Just tap the > button next to the contact name or number and then tap the Text Message button at the bottom of the contact listing.

16. Save time in driving directions

One of the primary uses for the iPhone’s Map application is to get driving directions. Both the starting point and destination fields offer the Bookmarks button, so you can quickly use a bookmark, recent location, or contact when searching for directions. The first thing you should do in Maps is find your own address and then bookmark it—this will make finding directions to and from locations as easy as tapping your home bookmark.

As with the iPod, the iPhone lets you set the speed of audiobook playback.

17. Recreate some of the iPod’s audio controls

If you listen to an audiobook on an iPod, you probably know that, ever since the fourth-generation iPod’s release, you can alter the playback speed to make it go faster or slower as your preferences dictate. That feature makes its way over to the iPhone as well. Just tap Settings and then the iPod option; tap the Audiobook Speed entry and in the resulting screen, tap to choose among Slower, Normal, or Faster.

In fact, that’s just one iPod feature that also appears on the iPhone. You can also use the Settings screen to turn on Sound Check (the feature that makes volume more consistent from one track to another) and change the EQ with 22 included equalization presets.

18. Change your iPod icons

By default, the icons on the bottom of the iPod screen are Playlists, Artists, Songs, Videos, and More. You can change those first four, just as you would the commands that appear on an iPod’s main screen. Simply tap the More icon and, in the More screen, tap the Edit button at the top-left of the screen. A Configure screen will wipe up from the bottom and display icons for Albums, Podcasts, Audiobooks, Genres, Composers, Compilations, Playlists, Artists, Songs, and Videos. To substitute one of these icons for one that appears at the bottom of the screen, just tap and hold on an icon and drag it over the icon you want to replace. Tap Done when you’re done.

19. Say goodbye to already-viewed videos

Even owners of the largest-capacity iPhone might feel constrained by the 8GB limit when it comes to storing videos. A full-length motion picture takes up around 1GB of storage, which is a significant chunk of space for just one piece of media. To help ease the storage crunch however, the iPhone offers to delete videos after you’ve finished watching them; just tap a button and Pirates of the Caribbean will disappear off your iPhone, freeing up more space.

After you finish watching a movie, the iPhone will ask if you want to free up space by deleting it.

20. Syncing notes with the iPhone

One of the major limitations to the iPhone’s Notes app is that you can’t sync it with data from any application on your Mac. There’s a work-around, however—each contact has a notes field. So create a fake contact and paste any info you’d like to keep with you in the notes field for that contact in Address Book. One sync later, and all that info will be at your fingertips.

21. Rebooting your iPhone

Pretend for a moment that your iPhone suddenly becomes unresponsive. Pushing the Home button does nothing. Hitting the On/Off button produces the same discouraging result. What do you do? Apple’s first reset tip is to press and hold the Home button for about six seconds to quit any application that might have locked up your iPhone. If that doesn’t work, trying pressing and holding both Home and On/Off; after about 10 seconds the Apple logo will appear. (This reboot trick takes a little big longer than the iPod equivalent—holding down Select and Menu usually restarts your music player after four seconds.)

Read This Before You buying Computer

This content is designed to help you understand and make better decisions when purchasing computer hardware, software and computers. This content gives you tips and what to look out for when you purchasing computer hardware or software base on Location,

Auctions

Auctions / On-line auctions are becoming more popular location for people to purchase computer equipment because of the low prices. However, there are several things to watch for when buying through auctions.

• Scams - On-line auctions are now the number one location where thefts and scams will occur. If at all possible look at the sellers history or profile. Always remember if it sounds to be good to true, it probably is.
• Piracy - With the advances in technology it is now possible for anyone to make their own CDs it is possible that you may be buying copied software that is illegal. Ensure that the software you are buying is an authentic copy, documentation is included with the software, and the the CD does not appear to be burned. Generally burned CDs will have a unusual color such as green or gold tint. However, it is still possible for someone to make CDs that can look like an ordinary CD. Another way of possibly determining if Illegal copy is the price. For example, if you see an Adobe Photoshop CS3 for $20-$70 dollars its more than likely not an authentic copy. If it sounds to be good to be true it probably is.
• On-line Auctions - Companies such as E-bay or Yahoo may provide auctions that other people have the capability of listing products that they are selling. We recommend that if you purchase through an an auction that you only pay by check to prevent possible credit card fraud. If you need to user your credit card consider such options as PayPal.
• Return Policy - Ensure that the you verify what the resellers return policy may be in case the device is not functioning or is not compatible with your computer. Extra Note: Generally software cannot be returned to the place of purchase to help prevent software piracy.
• Warranty - Verify the warranty on the product insuring that it is either provided by the manufacturer of the product or the place of purchase.

Internet

With the increase popularity of the Internet it is becoming easier, faster, and cheaper to buy over the Internet however pay close attention to what you are buying.

• Security - When buying over the Internet it is generally a good recommendation to ensure the page you are purchasing from offers some type of security. When entering your credit card information look for a small padlock / on your browser toolbar indicating that all information entered will have additional security helping to prevent information from being stolen by another entity. If you do not see this icon in the bottom left or mid left of your browser its a good possibility the page does not offer this additional security.
• Well known company - Ensure that the company you are purchasing your computer components from is a well known company. It is possible for anyone to setup a web site, make sure the company has an official domain (e.g. www.computerhope.com). It is more difficult from someone to setup fake domains then for someone to setup a fake free server such as a Geocities account. Ensure that the page your are purchasing from has contact information for the company in case issues arise.
• Piracy - With the advances in technology it is now possible for anyone to make their own CDs it is possible that you may be buying copied software that is illegal. Ensure that the software you are buying is an authentic copy, documentation is included with the software, and the the CD does not appear to be burned. Generally burned CDs will have a unusual color such as green or gold tint (unfortunately you will not be able to see the CD until bought). However, it is still possible for someone to make CDs that can look like an ordinary CD. Another way of possibly determining if Illegal copy is the price. For example, if you see an Adobe Photoshop 5.0 for $20-$70 dollars its more than likely not an authentic copy. If it sounds to be good to be true it probably is.
• Return Policy - Ensure that the you verify what the resellers return policy may be in case the device is not functioning or is not compatible with your computer. Extra Note: Generally software cannot be returned to the place of purchase to help prevent software piracy.
• Warranty - Verify the warranty on the product insuring that it is either provided by the manufacturer of the product or the place of purchase.
• E-mail receipt - Generally most companies will provide you with a e-mail confirming that they have received your order. Keep this e-mail until your product has arrived.

Local retailer

A Local Retailer is one of the safest location to buy computer hardware and software. However, issues can still arise be sure to watch out for any of the below.

• Incorrect Information - Unfortunately good help can be hard to find. Its possible for representatives to give you incorrect or false information either to help the sell or because they representative may not know all of the required information. If the sells rep says that a certain hardware device is capable of something see if they can demonstrate it to help certify their claim.
• Return Policy - Ensure that the you verify what the resellers return policy may be in case the device is not functioning or is not compatible with your computer. Extra Note: Generally software cannot be returned to the place of purchase to help prevent software piracy.
• Warranty - Verify the warranty on the product insuring that it is either provided by the manufacturer of the product or the place of purchase.

Mail order

Mail order is sometimes considered an unsafe location to purchase your computer software and or hardware from. However, taking the correct steps can help prevent issues from occurring.

• Company information - Ensure that the company provides a valid phone number. Allowing you to speak directly with someone if required.
• Return Policy - Ensure that the you verify what the resellers return policy may be in case the device is not functioning or is not compatible with your computer. Extra Note: Generally software cannot be returned to the place of purchase to help prevent software piracy.
• Company - Try determining how long the company has been in business. There have been several mail order companies that have packed up and left overnight leaving you without anyone to contact.
• Warranty - Verify the warranty on the product insuring that it is either provided by the manufacturer of the product or the place of purchase.

17 Google Tips for Web Businesses (Google Analytics, Google AdSense, and Google AdWords)

Whether you're a first-time blogger or you've owned a Web site for many years, chances are you're not doing it just for fun. Mostly everyone wants to make money with their online venture, or at least gain lots of exposure. If this is the case, then you may want to opt for some Google tools to track your success.

If one of your objectives is to have a lot of eyeballs on your site, you may want to set up an account with Google Analytics, so that you can track your Web site's referrals and run traffic reports. Next, you'll likely want to choose which advertisements are relevant to your site's content by using Google AdSense. This way, you can earn money every time a visitor clicks on these ads. (Yes, real money!) Finally, Google AdWords will help you customize your ads and choose the right keywords to make your site search-friendly.

The idea of using these tools may seem a bit overwhelming at first. That's why we asked the Google experts to provide PC Magazine with a list of tips for using Analytics, AdSense, and Adwords. Study them, because they may just help your Web site grow and profit.

Google Analytics Tips

Google Analytics lets you track your Web site's referrals, ads, and e-mail promotions.

1. Get the basics out of the way. Defining basic terms will help Web site owners and Webmasters with using the Web analytics tools.

• "Visits" is the number of sessions on a Web site, the number of times someone interacted with a site.
• "Bounce Rate" is the percentage of single-page visits or number of visitors who left instantly from the entrance page.
• "Page View" is the instance that a page is loaded by a browser.
• "Average Time on Site" is how long visitors stay on a site.
• "% New Visits" is how many sessions or interactions were from first-time visitors.

2. Understand traffic sources. Once you get the basics, find out where people are coming from.

• "Direct Traffic" is composed of visitors coming to a Web site by typing in the URL of that Web site or from a bookmark. Some people also call this "default traffic" or "ambient traffic."
• "Referring URLs" are other Web sites sending traffic to a Web site. These can be from banner ads or campaigns, and they can include blogs or affiliates that link to a site.
• "Search Engines" are—you know—Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, and others. This subset includes both organic and paid (PPC/SEM) traffic.
• "Other" means campaigns that have run: e-mail, direct marketing, and so on.

3. Determine what reports mean the most. Learn how to read data and make use of reports.

• Look for trends and see where growth is coming from in the last three to six months. Is it from free traffic? Paid traffic? Have efforts to get people through other channels succeeded?
• Drill down to specific Web sites that send traffic and, of course, keywords and key phrases that are sending traffic. Both of those help make sense of customer intent.
• Improve pages that need attention. Pages with a high "Bounce Rate" are not delivering on the promise that drives customers to a site.
• Make sure an ad campaign's keywords are not leading to high bounce rates and are delivering on an intended action or conversion.
• Search for surprises in your data, such as unexpected or unusual patterns.
• Identify and label goal pages in order to calculate return on investment.

4. Walk in their shoes. Experience a Web site as a visitor.

• Look for clusters of heavy clicks, links that ultimately drive high conversions and items that connect with people. Do more people convert on a site if they click on product comparison on the homepage, or do they go directly to a product page?
• Follow the heavy clicks and see what people do next.
• Check out referrers to each page. It may explain bounce and exit rates.

5. Focus on outcomes. Measure and evangelize your data, and take action.

• Identify needed improvements to your pages.
• Consider merchandising, cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.
• Answer the question, why does a Web site exist? Then go through the four steps mentioned above to identify the two or three key metrics that help measure those outcomes.

Google AdSense Tips

With Google AdSense, choose which ads are relevant to your site's content, and you can earn money every time a visitor clicks on them.

1. First off, you must have launched a Web site with acceptable content and a valid URL. If you don't have a Web site, you can use Google's free programs: Page Creator or Blogger (page.google.com, blogger.com). Then, sign up for an AdSense account and you are on your way.

2. Make sure your site is attractive by customizing the ads to your site. For instance, sites with white backgrounds should use ads with a gray background, as well as use colors in ads that already exist on the page.

3. Place ads on the best location on the page. One of the best locations is in line with your content.

4. Create a lot of content and add fresh unique content regularly. Sites with the most pages and content have more opportunities for ads and clicks. A site with 10 pages won't make nearly as much money as a site with 50 or 500 pages of relevant content.

5. Promote your Web site by emailing friends for word-of-mouth, and submit your site to all search engines so content will be indexed.

Google AdWords Tips

Create your own ads and choose powerful keywords for your site using Google AdWords.

1. Know your audience. Precision is the key to search advertising with programs like Google AdWords. You want to reach the right users at the right time. Take a good look at the products and services you're selling and the customers who are buying.

2. Identify your goals. Once you have a clear sense of your business, stay focused on how to reach your customers. You'll need to know your ultimate goal so you can measure success. Structure each campaign based on a simple, overarching goal such as a category, product line (coffee, tea, or machines), or theme (seasonal or promotional).

3. Choose powerful keywords. Choosing keywords is both an art and a science. Start brainstorming by expanding your list as broadly as possible, and then narrow your focus. Try to think like your users do. Understand which keywords work best for you and increase your bid on those words to maximize your return.

4. Write "gotta-click" ads. It's time to write the ads that users will see when they search on your keywords—the ads that will make them feel they must click on your ad to learn more. Typically, you'll have three short lines of text with which to grab your potential customers' attention. To get your ad right, try these tips:

• Include your keywords in your title and description.
• Convey key product benefits.
• Get to the point quickly.
• Write copy that includes a strong call to action, such as "buy now" or "sign up today."
• Direct users to the landing page that most relates to your ad.

5. Hit the right users with the right ads. Once you know your potential customer, you can target individual campaigns to reach your audience. Write and target ads in a variety of languages if you have a global business. You can also target a particular geographic area, such as a region that your business serves.

6. Track down to the last customer. After your campaign goes live, measure its results regularly. Keep a close watch on your account statistics, review your own Web logs, and use conversion tracking software (available for free through some advertising programs).

7. Test. Adapt. Thrive. Continually review what you've set up, keeping in mind that there's always room for improvement, and that the online advertising environment is dynamic. Don't be afraid to make changes and try new things.

How to Move Your Data to the iPhone 3G

From music to contacts to your favorite bookmarks, here's how to integrate an iPhone—3G or otherwise—into your digital life.

As another, failed, wireless carrier once said, don't call it a phone. With Apple's iPhone 2.0 software update, it doesn't matter if you spring for the iPhone 3G or hold onto your first-generation iPhone. Either way, you get a top-quality handset with a revolutionary touch-screen interface. Pair it with your desktop or laptop PC, though, and it becomes so much more than that.

This guide will show you how. It's intended for beginners who have never owned a smartphone before, though some of the tips can also help experienced users. Whether you just got home with your brand new iPhone 3G, or you want to improve the way you synchronize your current iPhone, here's what you need to know.

Note: Apple has revamped the activation process for the iPhone 3G compared with the original iPhone. So if you're buying one, you'll need to activate it in the store, rather than taking it home and activating it from your computer. Meanwhile, if you're upgrading an existing iPhone to an iPhone 3G, you'll want to hook your old one into iTunes and synchronize it first, before you get started with the new one.

Synchronize your media. First, download and install the free iTunes 7.7 application and set up an Apple iTunes Store account per Apple's instructions. You'll need to do both of these things to get started. iTunes will let you manage your music, movies, television shows, and iPhone applications (including games) on both your iPhone and your desktop (be it a Mac or a PC). iTunes will also synchronize photos from iPhoto on a Macintosh. For PC users, iTunes will grab photos from Adobe Photoshop Album, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and any picture folder (including My Pictures) on your PC and then synchronize them with the iPhone.

Synchronize your address book and calendar. Mac users are good to go right out of the box. Not only will iTunes take care of the aforementioned media files and applications, but the iPhone will also connect to your Mac's Address Book, iCal, Mail, and Microsoft Entourage applications and synchronize that data as well. If you're on a PC, iTunes will pick up Outlook and Outlook Express data, but not data from any of Vista's built-in apps. For webmail users, the iPhone can automatically synchronize contacts from Google Contacts and Yahoo! Address book. The same goes for Web-based e-mail itself; while the iPhone doesn't sync AOL contacts, it does synchronize with AOL Mail, Yahoo! Mail, and Gmail accounts.

Synchronize your Web bookmarks. If you use Safari on the desktop—either on a Mac or on a PC—you can synchronize your bookmarks with your iPhone. On the other hand, the iPhone can't synchronize Firefox bookmarks or Internet Explorer favorites; instead, install Safari, export the bookmarks to a file, import them into Safari, and then synchronize your iPhone to transfer them over.

Synchronize your data wirelessly. MobileMe, Apple's replacement for its old .Mac service, isn't required for you to use your iPhone. But for $99 per year, along with some other helpful features, it lets you synchronize your calendar, contact, Safari bookmarks, and other data wirelessly. (Note: Apple has largely cleaned up the widely publicized issues that early MobileMe adopters ran into, and is now offering a 30-day credit to those users.)

Synchronize your workplace data—but heed this warning. If you connect your iPhone into your workplace Exchange server, you'll be able to sync your e-mail, contacts, and calendar over the air—even without MobileMe. But there's a catch. If you do this, you'll lose the ability to sync your personal data, even if you subscribe to MobileMe. You can connect to only one or the other, for reasons that still elude me.

Retain access to your PC at all times. If you want to access your PC's files from your iPhone, you may want to look into Syncplicity. There are plenty of services like it—Avvenu (which Nokia now owns) and SoonR immediately come to mind. But Syncplicity recently launched an iPhone-specific page at m.syncplicity.com: When the site detects that you're using an iPhone, it redirects to this iPhone-formatted page. Syncplicity is free for up to 2GB of storage and syncing two computers (not counting the iPhone); it's $9.99 per month for the 40GB plan and an unlimited number of computers.

List of Premier League transfers in January transfer window

LONDON: List of player transfers involving Premier League clubs during European soccer's January transfer window:

Arsenal

In: Luke Freeman (Gillingham).

Out: Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth), Matthew Connolly (QPR), Fran Merida Perez (Real Sociedad, loan), Jay Simpson (Millwall, loan), Kieran Gibbs (Norwich, loan), Mark Randall (Burnley, loan).

Aston Villa

In: Wayne Routledge (Tottenham).

Out: Gary Cahill (Bolton), Chris Herd (Port Vale, loan) Stephen O'Halloran (Southampton, loan), Tobias Mikaelsson (Port Vale, loan).

Birmingham

In: James McFadden (Everton), David Murphy (Hibernian), Mauro Zarate (Al Saad, loan).

Out: Rowan Vine (QPR), Neil Danns (Crystal Palace), Neil Kilkenny (Leeds), David Howland (Port Vale, loan), Artur Krysiak (Gretna, loan).

Blackburn

In: Jonathan Flynn (Ballymena).

Out: Robbie Savage (Derby), Andy Taylor (Tranmere), Peter Enckelman (Cardiff, loan), Paul Gallagher (Stoke, loan).

Bolton

In: Gary Cahill (Aston Villa), Matt Taylor (Portsmouth), Gretar Steinsson (AZ Alkmaar), Tamir Cohen (Maccabi Netanya), Grzegorz Rasiak (Southampton).

Out: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Gerald Cid (Nice), Gary Speed (Sheffield United), Christian Wilhemsson (Deportivo La Coruna, loan), Lubomir Michalik (Leeds).

Chelsea

In: Nicolas Anelka (Bolton), Branislav Ivanovic (Lokomotiv Moscow), Franco di Santo (Audax Italiano).

Out: Ryan Bertrand (Norwich, loan), Adrian Pettigrew (Rotherham, loan), Anthony Grant (Southend, loan).

Derby

In: Emanuel Villa (UAG Tecos), Robbie Savage (Blackburn), Laurent Robert (free agent), Roy Carroll (Rangers), Alan Stubbs (Everton), Mile Sterjovski (Genclerbirligi), Hossam Ghaly (Tottenham, loan), Danny Mills (Manchester City, loan).

Out: Steve Howard (Leicester), Matt Oakley (Leicester), Andy Griffin (Stoke), Jon Macken (Barnsley), Lee Holmes (Walsall, loan), Stephen Bywater (Ipswich, loan).

Everton

In: Manuel Fernandes (Valencia, loan), Dan Gosling (Plymouth Argyle), Anthony Gardner (Tottenham, loan).

Out: James McFadden (Birmingham), Alan Stubbs (Derby, free), Patrick Boyle (Crewe, loan), Lukas Jutkiewicz (Plymouth, loan).

Fulham

In: Brede Hangeland (FC Copenhagen), Leon Andreasen (Werder Bremen), Eddie Johnson (Kansas City Wizards), Erik Nevland (FC Groningen), Toni Kallio (BSC Young Boys), Jari Litmanen (free agent), Paul Stalteri (Tottenham, loan).

Out: Steve Davis (Rangers, loan), Collins John (Leicester City, loan).

Liverpool

In: Martin Skrtel (Zenit St. Petersburg), Alex Cooper (Ross County).

Out: Mohamed Sissoko (Juventus), Jack Hobbs (Scunthorpe United, loan), Lee Peltier (Yeovil).

Manchester City

In: Felipe Caicedo (FC Basel), Nery Castillo (Shakhtar Donetsk, loan), Filippo Mancini (Inter Milan, loan).

Out: Rolando Bianchi (Lazio, loan), Georgios Samaras (Celtic, loan), Ousmane Dabo (Lazio), Danny Mills (Derby County, loan), Matthew Mills (Doncaster Rovers, loan), Marc Laird (Millwall, loan), Ishmael Miller (West Brom).

Manchester United

In: Manucho Goncalves (Petro Luanda).

Out: Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City), Phil Bardsley (Sunderland), Adam Eckersley (Port Vale), Manucho Goncalves (Panathinaikos, loan), Fabian Brandy (Swansea, loan), Kieran Lee (QPR, loan), Jonny Evans (Sunderland, loan), Darron Gibson (Wolverhampton Wanderers, loan), Fraizer Campbell (Hull City, loan), Kieran Lee (QPR, loan), Lee Martin (Sheffield United, loan).

Middlesbrough

In: Afonso Alves (Heerenveen).

Out: Jonathan Woodgate (Tottenham), Andrew Davies (Southampton), Ben Hutchinson (Celtic).

Newcastle United

In: Ben Tozer (Swindon), Tamas Kadar (Zalaegerszeg), Fabio Zamblera (Atalanta), Wesley Ngo Baheng (Le Havre).

Out: David Rozehnal (Lazio, loan), Matty Pattison (Norwich).

Portsmouth

In: Lassana Diarra (Arsenal), Milan Baros (Lyon, loan), Danijel Subotic (FC Basel), Lucien Aubey (Lens, loan), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham).

Out: Matt Taylor (Bolton Wanderers), Djimi Traore (Rennes, loan).

Reading

In: Marek Matejovsky (Mlada Boleslav), Jimmy Kebe (Lens).

Out: Simon Church (Yeovil, loan), Hal Robson-Kanu (Southend, loan), James Henry (Norwich, loan), Alex Pearce (Norwich, loan), John Halls (Crystal Palace, loan), Simon Cox (Swindon).

Sunderland

In: Jean-Yves Mvoto (Paris St-Germain), Phil Bardsley (Manchester United), Rade Prica (Aalborg), Jonny Evans (Man United, loan), Andy Reid (Charlton).

Out: Andy Cole (Burnley, loan), Stanislav Varga (Burnley, loan), Greg Halford (Charlton, loan).

Tottenham

In: Alan Hutton (Rangers), Chris Gunter (Cardiff), Jonathan Woodgate (Middlesbrough), Gilberto (Hertha Berlin).

Out: Phil Ifil (Colchester), Lee Barnard (Southend), Wayne Routledge (Aston Villa), Ben Alnwick (Leicester, loan), Hossam Ghaly (Derby, loan), Anthony Gardner (Everton, loan), Paul Stalteri (Fulham, loan), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth).

West Ham

In: None.

Out: Hogan Ephraim (QPR), Christian Dailly (Rangers, loan).

Wigan

In: Wilson Palacios (Deportivo Olimpia), Maynor Figueroa (Deportivo Olimpia, loan), Erik Edman (Rennes), Antonio Valencia (Villarreal), Marlon King (Watford), Erik Hagen (Zenit St Petersburg, loan).

Out: Fitz Hall (QPR), Denny Landzaat (Feyenoord).

Inside the Latest iPhone

Apple packed a lot of features into the latest version of the iPhone but managed to keep a tight lid on the cost of components that go into it. Manufacturing and components for the 8-gigabyte iPhone 3G set Apple back about $173 per unit, according to an estimate by Silicon Valley-based research firm iSuppli, due to be released June 24. Comparable expenses for the earlier iteration of the iPhone were about $226, iSuppli says.

Analysts scour component-price estimates to gauge profit margins on Apple's best-selling products, while keeping a close eye on which supply manufacturers have won the potentially lucrative contracts from Apple. Falling component prices let Apple (AAPL) add new features, including navigation tools and faster Internet download speeds, while maintaining healthy margins, say iSuppli analysts, whose estimates are preliminary. The iPhone 3G is due to be released July 11. "They have done a good job in using what worked well with the first one and making improvements where it mattered," iSuppli analyst Jagdish Rebello says.

Consumers who purchase the iPhone in Apple and AT&T (T) stores will pay $199 for the 8GB version, but AT&T will subsidize a big chunk of the price of each phone—an estimated $499 for each device. AT&T hopes to make up for the expense through monthly service packages but will take a bottom-line hit of 10¢ to 12¢ a share through the end of 2009. After royalties, Apple's per-unit profit on an 8GB iPhone works out to about $281, or about 56%, in keeping with the percentage on other Apple products, iSuppli says. The figure doesn't include other costs, including software development, shipping and distribution, packaging, and miscellaneous accessories included with each phone. Apple also pays fees to its Chinese manufacturing partner, Hon Hai Precision Industry.

Apple added parts that enable faster download speeds and navigation features, via Global Positioning System satellites. One big winner appears to be the German chipmaker Infineon (IFX), which iSuppli says won the contract to supply the 3G wireless chipset. Broadcom (BRCM) unit Global Locate will supply the GPS chipset.

Most Components Unchanged

Aside from those changes, most of the components used in the original are likely to remain unchanged. "It makes sense that Apple would go with the same design and not change very much inside," Rebello says. Samsung is thought to be supplying the same applications processor as on the original iPhone. The specifications of other chips haven't changed much either. The new iPhone's camera boasts a picture quality of only two megapixels—again, the same as on the original. Idaho-based chipmaker Micron (MU) likely stayed in place as the supplier, though at a lower cost, Rebello says.

The most expensive parts are the memory chips. Eight gigabytes worth of NAND-type flash memory costs about $23, and about double for 16 gigabytes. Suppliers of the NAND chips are many, and include Samsung, Hynix, and IM Flash Technologies, a joint venture of Micron and Intel (INTC).

Apple also has to pay about $45, or about 9% of the price of each handset, in royalties for patented 3G technologies, according to the iSuppli analysis. Chief among these collectors of royalties is wireless chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM), who owns several patents related to a technology known as WCDMA used in the 3G chipsets. Others that may be collecting some royalties include Sweden's Ericsson (ERICY) and Finland wireless giant Nokia (NOK).

Another difference this time around: Apple and AT&T have abandoned the revenue-sharing agreement that gave Apple an estimated 30% to 35% of the monthly service revenue generated from iPhone contracts. Apple is making up for the lost revenue with the subsidy from AT&T.

Apple is also likely to benefit from further declines in the component prices. The component price tag is likely to drop to $148 in 2009 from the current $173, iSuppli estimates. That bodes well for the company's gross margins, which widened to 34% in the first six months of the current fiscal year, from 33% in the year-earlier period.

Cesc rules out Madrid move, for now

Cesc Fabregas claims he has told Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon that he is not prepared to move to the Bernabeu this summer, but the Arsenal star has refused to rule out a return to his home country in future.

His revelation that he has spoken to Calderon comes in the wake of reports on Sunday that claimed Real have made the reigning PFA Young Player of the Year their number one transfer target after struggling to prise Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United.

Fabregas – who at just 21 years of age is already Arsenal’s most influential player – has told Real he is unwilling to move but the open-ended nature of his statement and the fact that Calderon has been in touch are unlikely to please Arsene Wenger.

The Arsenal boss has previously been angered by suggestions that Real have, without his permission, been in contact with the player he plucked from Barcelona’s youth academy at the age of 16 and transformed into one of Europe’s finest players.

Talk of a return to Spain has resurfaced in almost every transfer window since his first team breakthrough in the 2004-2005 season but Fabregas is not ready to end his English adventure this year.

Speaking to Marca before his return to pre-season training with Arsenal, Fabregas stated: “I didn’t say ‘No’ to Ramon Calderon, I told him that right now it’s not the moment to join Real Madrid.

“The fact that Real Madrid - one of the greatest teams in history - want you is important.”

Fabregas has six years remaining on his current contract in North London but the Euro 2008 champion is not prepared to spend another season without silverware at Arsenal.

A solitary FA Cup victory is his only reward for four seasons in the Arsenal first team and Fabregas is desperate for the club’s trophy drought to end.

“Not winning any title in four seasons would be very long to me,” he added.

Manchester over Madrid for Tevez

Carlos Tevez’s agent Kia Joorabchian has confirmed he will ‘make sure’ the Argentinian secures his long-term future at Manchester United, amid fresh reports that Real Madrid are chasing the forward.

Madrid are reportedly ready to turn their attention from Cristiano Ronaldo to Tevez, who is yet to complete a complex £32 million deal with United.

The ownership of Tevez’s rights make any deal more complicated than a usual transfer, giving Madrid space in which to unsettle the Argentina international.

However, Tevez is hugely valued at Old Trafford and Joorabchian is confident his long-term future remains with The Red Devils.

“He is very happy at United and that’s the key. That’s all he wants to concentrate on. He wants to do the Treble – that’s his ambition at the moment," he said in The Daily Star.

“We will help him accelerate the deal to make sure it goes through.

“Everyone is keen to make sure his future is dealt with in the correct way. Manchester United have been fantastic with Carlos – he’s very lucky to have them and they are lucky too because he’s been very good for them.

“It looks like it will happen but we don’t know the timing, whether it will be a month, two or six.

“But we’ll make sure when the time is right everything is done smoothly.”

Big Phil wants four-midable Blues

Luiz Felipe Scolari has raised the bar for his Chelsea players by telling them he wants to win all four competitions in which his side compete in this coming season.

The Brazilian has refused to settle for a halfway target in his first campaign in charge of The Blues, instead insisting he believes his team can triumph on four fronts.

Having watched the West London outfit get pipped to both the Champions League and Premier League titles last term, as well as being defeated in the Carling Cup final, Scolari is desperate to blow his rivals out of the water in his debut campaign in the English league.

“We have four competitions this season and I will try to win them all,” the Brazilian said in The Sun.

“Of course it will be very difficult. But we have the players to do it. And in my life I have learned one important lesson — never say never.”

Scolari is now confident that, under his guidance, Chelsea can improve on what was a frustratingly disappointing last season and claim glory as he feels they have solid foundations for success.

“Last year this team arrived in two finals and came close in the league,” he continued. “That is very good news for me.

“I also want to arrive in finals. I will be happy if we do that because I know the way to win them. And the players understand that.

“I’ve told them to work hard and have confidence in themselves. After that, the rest is my problem.”

Recycling Plastic Gift Cards

Gift cards are a new currency. They’re perfect for gift givers in search of hassle-free presents and for gift-receivers tired of sweaters they’ll never wear and gadgets they’ll never use. Because of their popularity and ease of use, it’s no surprise that almost 17 billion plastic cards, including gift, library, video rental, and membership cards, were produced in 2006, according to the International Card Manufacturing Association. Unfortunately, once spent, these cards typically get trashed�a very unfriendly environmental practice because the cards are often laden with polyvinyl chloride (PVC)–a known human carcinogen.

To keep cards out of the trash, Earthworks, an eco-friendly manufacturing and recycling company, recently launched its Retailer Gift Card Return Program. It allows retailers and consumers to send in cards for recycling so that the gift of these cards can live on and on.

Plenty Magazine chatted with Earthworks President Rodd Gilbert about the card recycling business, greenwashing, and the best gift card he’s ever received.

What inspired you to start recycling gift cards?
Since I’m in the recycling and manufacturing business, I was already taking unwanted materials from one company and selling it to another. After awhile, I began to see that the card manufacturing industry makes a lot of scrap that gets trashed. I saw a chance to make a difference not only for the environment, but also for the industry. It’s just good business to avoid buying raw materials because they can be expensive. At the same time, I also noticed that people wanted to be green, but that there’s not always the option to do so. I started working with the card manufacturing company Arthur Blank & Company on recycling these cards. Earthworks collects the cards and reprocesses them into recycled card sheets, and Arthur Blank reprints new cards from the sheets. The company now has the exclusive right to brand its recycled products with the Earthworks name. Now that we�ve started this program, there�s an outlet for people who don�t want to throw their cards away.

How successful has the program been so far?
The program started in January 2008 and we’ve already had a couple of nationwide retail chains starting to collect cards and send them to us. We�re also currently doing a couple of pilot programs in the Greater Cleveland area, including a Starbucks. A Starbucks employee contacted me after noticing how many gift cards the Starbucks she works at generates. She brought the plan to recycle these cards to the general manager and it snowballed from there. The program has done so well that Starbucks is looking to bring the card recycling program to a national level.

Does the recycling process create any waste?
It absolutely does not create any waste. It’s a really simple process that involves securely destroying the material by chopping it up and then melting the plastic down. There’s no chemical waste because we don’t use any chemicals in the process, which a lot of post-consumer products need in order to clean the material. The other great thing is that recycling a card and making it into a new one saves about 80 percent of the energy that would be used to make a brand new card. That’s because our product is made from 100 percent recycled materials with no raw materials and no petroleum.

This seems like such a basic idea. Why is your company the first to recycle gift cards?
Since it does seem to be an easy enough thing, you’d think it would�ve been done before. But the recycling process does get a little complicated: A lot of cards have magnetic strips, use different kinds of inks, and are made from different types of plastic, so it makes it difficult to recycle these cards without getting cross-contamination. The same is true with plastic bottles. Many people go out and buy a bottle made from corn plastic thinking that they’re doing something good for the environment, but they don’t realize that you can�t mix corn plastic and traditional plastic in the recycling process because one will contaminate the other. That’s why we encourage our companies to buy Earthworks-approved products–they’re not only 100 percent recycled, they’re also 100 percent recyclable. You also need to be careful if companies claim their products are biodegradable, because often there’s a magnetic strip and additives on the cards, so it’s pretty hard for them to biodegrade. There’s lots of misinformation out there and people need to be aware of it and ask questions.

Can individuals mail in gift cards?
They definitely can. After all, it will only cost you shipping. We think it’s great when people send in their individual cards. It makes us feel good that consumers are taking the time to do that. But it would really make a difference if people pressured their favorite stores to start offering the card recycling service. It’s easy to do, just put up a collection box and people would be happy to throw their used cards in.

Should consumers be worried about sending in confidential information?
What I always say is that it’s better than putting the gift card in the garbage can behind the register. I mean, how safe is that? Plus, if you’re sending in blank gift cards, there’s obviously no value to them, so why be concerned? As far as others kinds of cards (like licenses), just put them in a secured box, tape it up and ship it to us. If you’re really worried, you can cut the card in half.

What’s the best gift card you’ve ever received?
I’d have to say a Gap card because it had our logo on it, but also because I like the Gap. About the worst gift card you could send me is a non-recycled card. My family and friends know that if they’re going to get me a gift card, it better be a recycled Earthworks card!