Posts Tagged ‘Network’

Digital Network: Best Internet Connection

Internet is considered as one of the major requirements possessed by the people with the passage of time. In fact almost all the communication is moving through internet and people are trying their level best to get hold of the internet service even at the residential homes without facing any kinds of concerns with the passage of time. This is generally considered as the cheapest source of communication wherein you just need to pay only limited amount with the passage of time without any concerns. There are many providers giving out the required ISP services as you will not be able to point out even one location wherein the internet is not still available. People are actually confused when it comes to the selection of the provider.

Considering the present trends you might not be aware about the exact time frame wherein you might require the service from the internet and as a result you should try to get hold of a reliable service without facing any issues with the passage of time. You might be wondering on the term reliable service as you should be able to access internet around the clock without causing any kinds of issues with respect to the connection. Also the speed must be really good wherein you might not be having enough time that could be spend for the cause without any concerns. It is true that you might be able to get hold of many services from the ISP providers including the web hosting facilities using digital servers and these requirements are very necessary especially while moving with the help of business ventures with the passage of time.

There are different internet plans offered by different providers and you should go through these plans effectively in order to access the best plan as per your requirements. There are many people looking out for the VPN service in the right manner without any concerns with the passage of time as protection is trying out to be very important with the passage of time using the mode of encryption without any concerns. Even you might be able to make use of the free mail box spaces in the right manner wherein you need not have to pay any extra charges to make use of the email accounts in the right way wherein the emails will be safely guarded from the spam that are actually very common in the present time.

http://technology.ezinemark.com/digital-network-best-internet-connection-32283906fed.html

Computer application to load ? flow study of the national 330kv transmission network

Computer application to load – flow study of the
 national 330kv transmission network
 (using newton – raphson technique)

                    1 James agajo 2 Sylvester Ehijie Ezewele  3 Awolo C. I.                         

                  Dept. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering                                 

          Federal Polytechnic, Auchi,
               Edo state  Nigeria                                                

                                    Phone: +2348053312732                                                                       

           agajojul@yahoo.com 
                                     
                                                Abstract
Computer application to Load – flow or power – flow
studies involves the determination of the bus
voltages and their phase angles, actute and reactive
powers of a system. The Newton – Raphson method
as it is used in this project [Load flow studies of the
National 330Kv transmission Network] is based on
Taylor’s series and partial derivatives. And the
Jacobian matrix are formulated using this Newton –
Raphson technique. However, the application of
MATLAB program based on the Newton Raphson
method is used in the computation of the voltages
and the sinusoidal wave form of the three phase
voltages of the 330Kv transmission network is also
analyzed.
Keywords:      Voltage ‘V’, phase angle ‘d’, active
power ‘P’, Reactive power ‘Q’.  
 
1.0    INTRODUCTION

Because of large territorial extension of a typical power system, it’s interconnection with neighboring systems and its layered structure, a modern power system can be considered to be composed of several subsystems. Earlier standpoint on power system operation and control was based on underlying assumption of centrality. But a rigidly centralized monitoring and control of a large power system poses many problems load flow analysis or some variation of it has got an extensive use in the operation of modern power system. For an online load flow study, it is necessary to update some of its input data continuously and the output results are also to be used on a real time basis.

For a large power system it means a continuous collection of real time data form various points dispersed in a vast time data from various points dispersed in a vast geographical area, a continuous updating of a large data base and a continuous delivery of its output results to a large number of remote points. All these factors may seriously affect the reliability, speed and practicability of a monitoring and control scheme [1].

If computations for different subsystems of an integrated system are done concurrently using a number of processors, load–flow study can be done in a shorter time. If distributed processing is done in real time, data is to be collected from local points only and a comparatively smaller data base is to be updated locally at regular intervals. Transmission of data over long distance to the central processing computer is reduced when MATLAB is employed. The eastern part of the Nigeria 330Kv grid network consists of Onitsha – Newhaven (96 Km) 330kv transmission line, Onitsha – Alaoji (138km) 330kv transmission line and Alaoji – Afam (25km) 330kv transmission line [4]. The eastern part of the network takes its source from Benin, through the Benin – Onitsha (137km) 330 transmission line this location all in Nigeria. The performance of the transmission line depends on its four parameters; series inductance and resistance, shunt conductance and capacitance. These four parameters are uniform only distributed alone the line.

In a realistic power system, there are large numbers of buses, though; each bus is connected to only a small number of the remaining buses.

In a large power system, there is sparsity due to presents of zero elements. This sparsity help in reducing the bus admittances matrix, that the numbers of elements are minimized. Also, computer memory requirement is minimized, since only non – zero elements are to be stored. This resulted in high-speed computation.

1.1           ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

Load–flow studies are the essential and vital part of power system studies. Load flow studies are extremely important and essential for power system planning, designing, expansion design and for providing guidelines to power system engineers.

1.3             Importance Of Load – Flow Study In Power  System

Load–flow evaluations provides power flow and voltages for a specified capability of generators’ condensers and tap changing under load transformers as well as specified net interchange between individual operating systems.

1.4       Newton – Raphson Method as Applied to Load – Flow Studies

One of the methods applied to load – flow studies, which can easily be programmed and run in a digital computer is the Newton – Raphson techniques. The load – flow problem can be solved by using the Newton – Raphson technique. Among the numerous solution methods available for load flow studies, the Newton – Raphson technique is considered to be the most sophisticated and important. The Newton – Raphson technique is based on Taylor’s series and partial derivatives [3]. The method is recent, involves less number of iterations to reach convergence, takes less computer time, involves less computation cost and has convergence that is certain. The Newton – Raphson technique is very accurate, and it is independent of some factors like:

Swing bus selection
Transformer regulation and
Numbers of iterations.

The number of iterations needed in Newton – Raphson method is almost independent of the size of the power system.

Convergence can be achieved at a shorter time, if the first iteration is done through Gauss – Seidel technique and then use voltage value obtained for starting the Newton – Raphson iterations. These voltages obtained are used to evaluate active power (P) of every bus except the slack bus and also reactive power (Q) wherever reactive power is specified. The correction of bus voltage is determined by the difference between calculated and specified values. The process of iteration is continued till the difference in the specified and calculated values of the active power, reaction power and voltage magnitude are within the given permissible limit.

In Newton – Raphson technique, partial derivatives of second and higher order are neglected, this assumption requires the initial solution to be close to the final solution [2].

1.5       BUS CLASSIFICATION IN LOAD FLOW STUDIES

In load – flow studies, four quantities are associated with each bus, the four quantities are; active power (P), reactive power (Q), voltage magnitude /V/, and phase angle (d). In a load–flow problem, two of the four quantities are specified and the bus classification depends on the type of quantities specified at each bus. Base on the type of quantities specified, three types of buses are classified. They are;

1.5.1    Generation Bus

1.5.2  Slack or Swing Bus

The summary of the above discussion is given in the table below;

Table 1.1:           Bus classification

TYPE OF BUS

SPECIFIED QUANTITIES

UNKNOWN

Generation Bus

P,    /V/

Q,     d

Load Bus

P,     Q

/V/,  d

Slack Bus

/V/,  d

P,     Q

2.0    LOAD–FLOW EQUATIONS BASED ON NEWTON – RAPHSON  

        TECHNIQUE

Newton – Raphson method can be applied to load – flow problems in a number of ways. The most common is those that uses polar co – ordinates and rectangular coordinates. In practice, Newton – Raphson method using polar coordinates is used. This is because the use of polar form results in a smaller number of equations than the total numbers of equations involves in rectangular form [6]. In this project, only the polar coordinate form will be discussed.

2.1  NEWTON – RAPHSON TECHNIQUE USING POLAR  

       COORDINATES

When the bus voltages are expressed in polar form, Newton – Raphson technique can be applied to the load flow problem.

For any ith bus,

Vi  =  Vi ejdi   – -  – - – - – -  (2.1)

Taking the complex conjugate of equation 3.1, gives

Vi*  =  Vie-jdi   – - – - – - -   (2.2)

Vk  =  Vk  ejdk  – - – - – -  (2.3)

yik   =  yik e-jqik  – - – - -  (2.4)

Where d is the phase angle of the bus voltage and θik is admittance angle.

The complex conjugate of the power injected by the generating source is given as;

Si   =  Pi – j Qi  =  Vi    S    yik  Vk  – - – - -  (2.5)

Substituting the values of equations 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4 into equation 3.5 gives

Pi – j Qi  =     S   Vi Vk yik e-j(θik + dI – dk)  – - – - – (2.6)

Thus,

Pi  =     S     Vi Vk yik Cos (θik  +  di  + dk ) – - – - – (2.7)

And,

Q  =    S   Vi Vk yik Sin (θik + di – dk)  – - – - (2.8)

For n = 2, 3, 4 – - – - n and slack bus is bus 1

The off – diagonal elements are

pi  =  Vi Vk yik Sin (θik + di – dk) for  J1  – - – - – -  (2.9

dk

pi  =  Vi  yik Cos (θik + di – dk) for J2    – - -  – -  (2.10)

 

Qi  =  Vi  Vk yik Cos (θik + di – dk) for J3    – - -  – -  (2.11)

Qi  =  Vi  yik Sin (θik + di – dk) for J4    – - -  – -  (2.12)

The diagonal element are:

pi  =    S    Vi Vk yik Sin (θik + di – dk) for J1    – -  – -  (2.13)di

pi  =   2Vi yii  Cos θii +    S   Vk yik Cos (θik + di – dk) for J2  

Vi           – -  – -  (2.14)Qi  =    S    Vi Vk yik  Cos (θik + di – dk) for J3   – - -  -  (2.15)  

pi  =   2Vi yii  Sin θii +    S    Vk yik Sin (θik + di – dk) for J4, 

Vi     - – - – - -  -  (2.16)

         

2.2  APPLICATION OF NEWTON – RAPHSON METHOD TO LOAD FLOW STUDIES OF THE EASTERN PART OF THE NATIONAL 330KV TRANSMISSION NETWORK

The eastern part of the national 330kv transmission network consists of Onitsha, Newhaven, Alaoji and Afam. For the purpose of this study, Afam (22) is taken as slack bus and given code as Bus 1, Alaoji (18) is taken as Bus 2, Onitsha (17) as Bus 3 and Newhaven (14) as Bus 4. The bus data for the system is given as

Bus Code

Pa

Qa

/V/

d 

PL

QL

Bus Type

1

4.51

0.00

1.03

0.00

0.44

0.21

Swing

2

0.00

0.00

1.00

0.00

2.76

1.34

Load

3

0.00

0.00

1.00

0.00

1.52

0.73

Load

4

0.00

0.00

1.00

0.00

1.32

0.64

Load

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2.0         Bus DataThe line admittance is given in the table below:                                                              

Bus Number

X(PU)

R(PU)

Z = R + jx

y = 1/z

1 – 2

0.0035

0.0005

0.0005 + j0.0035

40 – j280

2 – 3

0.419

0.0049

0.0049 + j0.0419

2.8 – j24

3 – 4

0.0296

0.0034

0.0034 + j0.0419

1.9 – j25

 

 

 

 

Table 2.1         Line Data   The Mutual – Admittances are computed as follows

y12  = y21  =  -40 + j280

y23  =  y32 = -28 + j24

y34  =  y43  =  -1.9 + j25

The Self – Admittances are computed as follows

y11  =  40 – j280

y22  =  y12 + y23 = 40 – j280 + 2.8 – j24 = 42.8 – j304

y33  =  y23  +  y34
y44  =  1.9 – j25
From equation 4.8
Q02  =  -V    V1 V21 Sin (q21 + d   - d   ) – V   V23 Sin
(θ23 + d   - d  ) – (V  ) y22 Sin q22
= -1.0  x  1.03  x  283 Sin 98 – 1.0  x  1.0  x  37 Sin 139
-12  x  307 sin (-82)= -288.7 – 2.4.3  +  304  =  -9
D Q    =  2.76 – (-9)  =  11.76
Q    =  -V    V2 y32 sin (q32 + d   – d  ) – V   V4 y34 Sin
(q34  + d   – d  ) – (V   )2  y33 Sin  q33
= -1 x 1 x 37 Sin 139 – 1 x 1 x 25 Sin 95 – 12 x 49 Sin (-85)
= -24.3 – 25  +  48.8  =  0.5 Q    =  0.73 – (-0.5)  =  1.23
Q    =  -V    V3 y43 Sin (q43  + d   – d   ) – (V  )2  y44 Sin q44
= -1 x 1 x 25 Sin 95 – 12 x 25 Sin (-85)= -24.9  +  24.9  =  0
D Q    =  0.64  +  0  =  0.64
Therefore,

D V    = 0.00368 x 11.76 – 0.00373 x 1.23 + 0.00373 x 0.64 =  0.04

D V    =  -0.00373 x 11.76 + 0.0458 x 123 – 0.0458 x 0.64= 0.017

D V    =  000373 x 11.76 – 0.0458 x 1.23 + 0.0859 x 0.64

= 0.04

Hence,V    =  V    + D V    = 1.00 + 0.04  =  1.04 Pu

V    =  V    + D V     =  1.00 – 0.017  =  0.983 pu

V    =  V   + D V    =  1.00 + 0.04  =  1.04 pu

                                                                                                           

3.0  SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

Since we are determining the magnitude of voltages, partial derivatives of the reactive power with respect to voltage magnitude is considered when formulating the Jacobian’s – Matrix. This is so because the flow of reactive power (Q) is not much affected by the changes in the phase angle (d), but affected by the variation in magnitude of bus voltage (DV).

The elements of Jocobian’s matrix are formulated with latest voltages given and computed power (reactive). However, manual computation of load – flow done using Newton – Raphson method is very complex and it very easy and simple. This is shown in Appendix one, which is the MATLAB code that generates computed voltages. The MATLAB program for Newton – Raphson is simpler and contains few lines when compared with MATLAB program for Gauss – Seidel method.

The sinusoidal wave form of the three phase voltage of the 330Kv transmission network is analyzed in appendix two, using MATLAB subplot command.

The beauty of the work – done is the fast convergences of computed values.

Finally, the values obtained when MATLAB is used are in accordance with the once obtained using numerical analysis (Newton – Raphson Technique in polar coordinates to show the bus voltage angles). These values converge with the specified values from PHCN data book, see appendix.

4.0   CONCLUSION AND

Load – flow studies is extremely important and essential in power system analysis. It provides (1) guide line to power system engineers and acts as operating instructor to generating station and substation for relay settings, switching sequence, loading, tap – setting etc.

Informations obtained from load flow studies are used in analyzing the effect of temporary loss of generating station or transmission path on the power flow. Also it help in preparing software for on line operation, control and monitoring of power system.

When digital computers are employed in load – flow studies, it is important to use the Newton – Raphson method.

            RECOMMENDATIONS

i.          Accurate and effective load – flow studies should be done to provide required information for power system operation.

ii.         The initial solution for the values obtained should not be very for from the actual solution.

iii.        The Newton – Raphson method should be analyze by using computer program such as MATLAB.

REFERENCE

[1]        Gupta, J.B. A Course in Power Systems, Tenth Edition, S.K. Kataria & Sons, 2006.

[2]        Gupta, B.R. Power System Analysis and Design, Second Edition, Whereler Puplishing 1997.

[3]        Stevenso, William D, Elemement of Power System Analysis, Second Edition, Mchraw Hill Book    Company,     New York, 1962.

[4]        Anazia, E. Lecture Note on Power System analysis.

[5]        www. Weley. Com

[6]        Suml S. Rao, Switchgear Protection and Power Systems, Eleventh Edition, Khanna Publishers, 2004.

[7]        www. Synergetix. Com/tech/source book/material.

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/189696_computer-application-to-load-flow-study-of-the-national-330kv-transmission-network

Building a Network: How to Make Your Social Network Popular

One of the main concerns of a social network owner is how to make the site popular and successful through user activity. A social networking site will die if there are no members who will make use of the functionalities of the site and who will encourage visitors to join in on the activities.So how does one turn a seemingly generic social networking site into a bustling community full of active participants? Here are some ways on just how to achieve that:1. Offer something that other social networks don’t haveOr at the very least, make an existing function better. We see a lot of social networking sites that have practically the same content; the only difference lies in the number of users and usually, their interface. Try to compare the different successful sites that you can find and determine whether they’re lacking something that you, as a user, would like to see in those kinds of sites. If you can’t find anything, try to see if there’s anything that you can improve to make the users’ browsing and activity better.2. Judge your site the way a normal user wouldForget the lines of codes, the costs, the time it takes to develop and all those other technical stuff. Put yourself in the shoes of a normal, average user and criticize your layout, functions, interface and other add-ons to see if they would work well even for those who aren’t computer-savvy. I’m guessing that this will be one of the hardest tasks that you have to do since you know your site like the back of your hand so if you get stuck on this one, ask a friend or a family member to do the judging for you.3. User bases help in spreading the wordOffer privileges to the first ten or 50 users who sign up to your site and in return, you can ask them to help you in promoting your site. This promotion can be in the form of inviting their friends and family through email or by posting you networking site’s link on their personal sites or simply by word of mouth. This is actually how the successful social networking sites started out – if it worked for them, it can work for you.4. Listen and take time to consider the users’ feedbacksIf they know that you personally take time to address their concerns, your users will be more loyal to you. It isn’t everyday that a webmaster actually responds to his site’s users’ feedbacks. Explain to them if what they want is possible or not. Consider the feedbacks as constructive criticism on how to make your social networking site more enjoyable for them and for future members.This is just the start, mind you. It takes a lot more to continually pursue the road to popularity and success with a social networking site. It’s the start but it can definitely help. The social networking site’s owner and users must cooperate with each other to ensure that the site can and will make it big despite the many rivals today.

Creating Your Own Social Network: Creating New World!

For survival it is necessary for every individual to live in a society as no one can live in isolation. Society provides us security, exposure and plays a key role in overall development of an individual. From the very past times, this concept of society is prevailing in the world. Earlier Indus valley civilization, Nile valley civilization and many more other sophisticated and well maintained societies had given birth to the society concept. With time, this society concept is accepted every where in the world. Creating our own social network in this highly modern society is necessary for every human being.With the advancement in the internet facilities, social networking has become so easy and simple. Gone are the days when can not contact with any other person living at another end of the world. The highly advance internet system has made it easy for everyone to be in touch with their near and dear ones, without any fear of long distance. The Internet is the best medium available to users where they can make their own social networks effectively and can easily communicate with his friends fro worldwide. In this workaholic world, Internet has simplified our problems to a great extent.Nowadays many social networking websites have evolved, which are the fastest and the most interesting medium to make worldwide networks. Through these amazing networking websites every one in this world can remain in touch with outer world and is able to communicate more excitingly with other persons residing at any end of this vast world. Some of the social networking websites at present are Orkut, Facebook and My space, which have become highly popular among users. These websites are the best medium to remain in touch with the whole world for business as well as personal purpose. Lots of people have accepted these websites for social networking and have made important contacts worldwide for different important purposes. This concept has gained so much popularity that almost every one has embraced this highly innovative concept of making effective and everlasting social contacts with the outer world.With time and demand for new social networking websites, many other interesting websites have also come up, to provide more excellent communicating services to its users. Through these unique mediums of networking one can not only take advantage of sending SMS but can also make PC to PC call. This is the most lovely and popular service which has helped users to communicate more effectively with their loved ones. Besides this, various social networking websites also provide you with the amazing facility of sending instant messages to any mobile number of any countries that too at very affordable rates or even many times free of cost also.Besides this you can also share your favourite videos and pictures with your Internet friends through these effective networking sites. It also let users to join many communities of their favourite choice, where you can give your opinions and thoughts and can also share views with other persons. All these fantastic and amazing facilities have made these websites very famous among customers through out the world.Making a social network with outer world is not a tough job nowadays because of these highly advance and efficient websites, which allow users to create their accounts to remain in touch with their friends from every part of the world.

Using Free Adult Social Network to Get the Hottest on the Internet

Some years back, it would be very difficult to find a free adult social network that makes adult dating easier. Unless you are a premium member of the site, it would be next to impossible to find a date. This means to get a good date or a good lay, you have to upgrade your membership and pay for it. That’s not the case today anymore. You can now find a free adult social network that will provide you with everything to get a most satisfying date. And because a free adult site offers services that are… well, free, the number of its members is also growing. A growing number of members in a free adult social network open up lots of opportunities to catch the hottest on the site. That’s because the more people you connect with, your chances of dating someone will also increase.The big question however is how to attract lots of members to your personal profile. The answer to this is quite simple. You have to fully utilize the tools and web services offered by the free adult social network. Here’s a step by step method of getting lots of adult friends on a free adult social network.1. Always use the advanced search utilities of the free adult social network. Advanced search functions are usually offered only to paying members of an adult dating site. But these functions will now be available to you if you join a free adult social network.You can search for members by locality, by age brackets, interests, or anything to really narrow down your search. Filtering your search increases the chance of finding someone that really matches your preference. 2. Use the blog facilities of the free adult social network to attract attention. Remember, it will add brownie points to your profile if you will write witty, sexy, and compelling stories about you or your experiences. Blog them and you can surely grab the hottest on the site.While you’re into the blogging facility of the free adult social network, why not upload your photos there or feature your home made videos. In fact, photo and video uploads have a dedicated page on the free adult social network. Use these services to stand out among the multitudes. You never know, your video could become the most talked about material on the site, which could really enhance your popularity.3. Send private messages and use the flirt functions of the free adult social network. However, don’t send mundane flirting messages like ‘hi gorgeous’ or other non-evocative one-liners. Send flirts that will surely get a conversation going. In this way, you will not end up on a dead-end communication.You can also utilize the chat facilities or forum boards of the free adult social network. In the past, these services are normally available only to paying members. But on a free site, you can fully use these facilities to flirt and attract others to view your profile. These tools are sure date grabbers, so maximize their potential.

Build Your Network Marketing Business by Generating Leads With Social Networking

Generating leads for your Network Marketing business is much easier when you use Social Networking sites. They are excellent places to connect with people that have similar interests and build relationships that can lead to business partnerships.
Every network marketer knows they need as many quality leads for their downline as they can find. Let’s take a look at how you can use this new social tool to generate fresh leads for your business on the Internet.
The key point in a social networking site is that people enjoy building relationships within a community of other people with similar interests and opinions. The networking aspect comes into play because you can recommend products or opportunities that you are involved in a natural way. You will be more trusted because you are a friend as opposed to someone trying to sell them something.
This does take some work on your part by getting to know people and developing relationships with them. There is no sense trying to join a social networking site strictly for the purpose of building your business, because you will come across as a phony.
There really is no limit to the potential that your business can derive from these sites just based on the sheer number of registered users. For example Facebook has over 100 million registered users which is an astounding number. My Space has twice as many as that.
Another form of networking can come through social directories such as Digg, or Stumbleupon. These directories serve as an excellent way to meet people and a place for you to bookmark a blog post for both the reader and the search engines to find. This bookmarking can lead to potential visitors and future leads for your network marketing business as well.
One key aspect that makes social networking sites so popular is that you can do it without spending a lot of money. Your only real investment is the time that it takes to hang out and socialize with other members and become a social network marketer. Over time this can pay off by attracting new leads and network marketing business partners.
The Internet continues to move at almost lightning speed. Tomorrow there will be new innovations that will even help take your MLM business to heights you never imagined possible.
However, today the one thing that is certain is that socializing is a perfect complement to a network marketing business. Some of the top network and internet marketers are learning how to utilize this to their full advantage.

The Secret of Marketing on a Social Network

The explosion of online social networks like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn has opened up a whole new world of marketing. These social networks create new realms of possibility in the realm of online marketing, as it enables (at a minimal cost) a massive word-of-mouth campaign. As word-of-mouth is the most effective form of advertising, it’s no wonder that so many companies of all sizes are interested in social network marketing.The earliest and still most common form of marketing on social networks is to simply create a presence on the social network. Many corporations, charities, bands and other organizations have an account on the social network, and one or more employees is tasked with maintaining this social presence. Through the social network, the organization can announce to it’s many friends and customers what new products and services they are offering, in addition to enabling customers to have a more personal relationship with them. This is free and productive, however it does not have much of an effect and many corporations are seeking other options.The best way to market via social networks is to encourage participation. Many companies have found that by taking suggestions, running contests and otherwise bringing the members of the social network in, they can greatly increase customer loyalty. It also permits companies to quickly “crowd source” projects such as logos or new food flavors.One last way many organizations use social networks is for “Astroturfing,” which is when an organization works to make the appearance of a grassroots organization when actually they are using a network of company agents to advertise a product or service. This is often against the terms of service of the social network, and it also often leads to severe backlash. Many modern consumers will see astroturfing as lying to them, and so it is a tactic best avoided.

Baby Boomer Social Network Catches Fire?2900% Growth

Baby Boomer Social Network Catches Fire—2900% Growth

Lifesmine.com, considered by many to be the fastest growing social network of its kind, has recently been experiencing explosive growth as more and more people over 40 years of age are catching onto the hottest trend on the internet–social networking. In just the past few weeks, Lifesmine’s internet reach, as tracked by Alexa a subsidiary of Amazon.com, has grown by 2900%. While growth is slowing at most top Internet sites, it is skyrocketing at sites focused on social networking, blogging and local information.

The dramatic success of those Internet categories is apparent from a recent online-traffic analysis provided by market research firm ComScore Media Metrix, which examined visitor growth rates among the 50 top Web sites over the past year. As of December 2006, it was a busy month for social networks across the board. In September, one in 20 U.S. Internet visits included a stop at a leading social network, almost twice the rate of a year before.

Lifesmine’s (www.lifesmine.com) phenomenal growth is even more impressive when compared with many of the social network industry leaders. The five fastest growing social networks, other than Lifesmine, identified during a recent tracking period include Bolt (271%), Bebo (95%), Orkut (63%), MySpace (51%), and Gaia Online (41%). In an industry where high growth is the rule, Lifesmine.com’s expansion dwarfs all the others.

The recent success of Lifesmine is also important considering what a recent national analyst said about the social network business model in general. “In order for a social networking site to be successful, it must attain a critical mass, and competition is fierce to attract new member,.” said Jill Meyers, an Analyst with In-Stat. “So far, sites have focused their attention on a younger demographic, which is finite, fickle and limited in expendable income,” she added. Recent In-Stat research finds that the biggest American generation, the baby boomers, is frequently overlooked.

Baby Boomers are one of the two age groups that Lifesmine CEO Larry Lutvak has focused on in terms of his efforts to build a strong company. “We know that adults from 40-60 years old are in the midst of an entertainment transition,” stated Lutvak from his Tampa Bay area offices. “High speed bandwidth and cheaper computer costs are driving internet usage and more and more people are choosing social networking as a way to meet new people and spend their time,” he added.

Lutvak also cited the recent strategic adjustments by Facebook as regards their renewed focus on the 35 and up marketplace. “We could see that advertisers wanted to see an evolution in social networking towards more mature age groups”, said Lutvak.

Observers have lauded Facebook for attracting an increasing number of business and professional users and more consumers in the 35-plus age categories than is usual for networking sites, which often skew younger. All this should mean growing advertising revenue for the site.

Industry experts have also said a broader base of investors seems ready to embrace social networks, citing as evidence the networks’ rapid growth and funding rounds by venture firms and rich individuals. A recent case in point: the $40 million raised by Ning, an online service that allows consumers to create their own social network “for free in seconds,” according to its Web site. Netscape pioneer Marc Andreessen is one of its co-founders.

All of this bodes well for Lifesmine.com provided they continue to grow rapidly. The company is using a combination of Google pay par click advertising and consumer generated online publicity to add new subscribers. With general internet user trends pointing to continued growth of internet penetration by Baby Boomer, Lifesmine.com is poised to enjoy even more growth.

Robert Cefail

Editor-In-Chief

Press Direct International

Be Careful With Social Network Invite E-mails

Nowadays, many of us receive e-mail invitations to join social networking websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or MySpace. These services make it easy for members to send out invitation emails complete with response links, and it is in their best interests to do so – as more friends sign up, these sites register higher visits and page views, potentially leading to increased advertising income.

While only a few well-known social networking sites used to exist, this number has skyrocketed, resulting in many more invitations in your e-mail Inbox. Even if you know the sender and name of a social network to which you’ve been invited, before you click on an invitation response link, take a second and consider that not all invitation e-mails are what they seem. Some fraudulent “friends” and “social networks” could have drastic consequences to your security and privacy:

1) Make sure the invite link actually goes to the social network website and not somewhere else trying to “phish” for your personal information! It’s better to copy and paste URLs into your web browser instead of clicking invite links, as there are many sneaky tricks to hide the true web addresses in e-mail messages.

Even when you copy and paste URLs into a web browser, before actually visiting the websites, look in the browser’s address bar for any text such as “redirect” or “goto”. These may be signs of someone trying to redirect you to a nefarious website.

For example, imagine getting the following link inside an e-mail message for a hypothetical “Google Social Networking Service”:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=stopbadware.org&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=es&tl=en

Since the e-mail claims to be from “Google”, and the web address contains “google.com”, this will take you to a page on Google’s website, right? If you visit the above link you will go somewhere else…

This misdirection link was just an example and fairly easy to detect. Real spam e-mails use lots of other tricks for obfuscating (hiding) true web addresses. Instead of copying and pasting links, it may prove even safer to just visit website homepages directly, skipping invitation links, and then asking senders to be re-invited as their friend.

2) Do you know the person sending the invite? Do you know the name of the social networking site? If you’ve never heard of neither, there’s a high probability the site or the member is spamming. Sign up to the site and be placed on the user’s “friend” list and your mailbox may be subjected to all sorts of unsolicited e-mail.

Just as responding to junk e-mail alerts spambots that your e-mail address is active, responding to junk social networking requests does the same thing.

If you do know the friend but not the social networking site, what’s wrong with sending a quick e-mail to your friend and asking them if their invite was legitimate? If it was, no big deal, but if it wasn’t, you might have alerted your friend to a problem they need to fix on their end.

3) Nefarious websites may be breeding grounds for spyware distribution. Visit the website with the wrong browser and/or wrong software installed, and your computer may become infected.

Think your computer, even with antivirus and anti-spyware software installed, cannot be infected? These software packages may be installed on your system, and the wrong version combined with a 0-day exploit (a previously-unknown bug that has not been patched) can allow spyware / malware to be installed (this is not an exhaustive list):

Internet Explorer Macromedia Flash Mozilla Firefox Opera QuickTime for Windows RealPlayer Safari Shockwave Windows Media Player … And the list goes on.

4) When you access the social networking website, does it ask questions such as the following during the signup process?

* Social Security Number (a big NO-NO!)

* Name and password to another e-mail account so the site can notify all your contacts to join the social network (or nefarious sites can use your account to send e-mail spam to all your contacts UNDER YOUR NAME!)

* Mother’s Maiden Name (while legitimate networks may ask this for a “Security Question”, I would not provide it. This is one type of information miscreants can use to possibly get more information about yourself or sign up for credit or other offers in your name).

* Credit Card or Bank Account Number (unless it’s a LEGITIMATE SITE, you know it’s not a phishing site, and you’re signing up for subscription/premium services, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION! This can cost you money, time, aggravation, and your credit rating.)

These are just four techniques nefarious social networks and/or members can use to violate your privacy, cost you time and money, and possibly harm your credit rating. While I’m not saying you should never join social networks, just be a little careful when you get invitations. Know who is sending you the invite and the legitimacy of the social network. Confirm the invite and visit the social network’s homepage directly. Plus, never provide too much information when signing up. Follow this advice to help increase your safety on the Internet while having fun joining your friends in social networks.

Social Network Site Benefits

Make your social network earn money for you. Choose the right social network software to design your website, and provide the right kind of services to retain the users, helping them to invite their friends, in an attempt to build up large communities and groups. Provide them with enough opportunity to spend more and more time on your website, and slowly create that customer loyalty which is so very important in running a social networking website. The longer that the user remains on your website, they get more and more familiar with the name, and also get to know the products and the premium services that you offer. Your website starts to generate business as customer confidence builds up.
You would need to create a brand for big business coming your way. You would just need to see the kind of worldwide traffic visiting MySpace and Facebook, and spending considerable time in there. It is simply because the websites have been successful in creating a brand name for themselves, offering services that retain customers. The longer time that users hang around on your website, the more business opportunities are created for you. Your social networking software must be able to provide such facilities to the users, where the tools that you provide, help them to build their own identity amongst the groups and community that they join. Your website must be able to generate that interest in the users, making them spend more and more time in networking.
When you look at creating big business, your social network software must be able to generate interest in attracting advertisements from other well known websites. Last year, Google has paid nearly a billion US dollars to MySpace to put its advertisement on their site. Myspace also shared the revenue that was generated from the Google advertisements. That is big business. Your social networking website can earn money for you, when other business advertises on your site. But why should a running web business advertise on your website? Simple, since you have been able to create a huge database of the users. Obviously, advertising on your social networking website would prove to be advantageous.
Social networking helps to build up personal or professional set of relationships between individuals. It represents both, a collection of ties between people, and the strengthening of those ties as well. A website, which utilizes the right social network software, can provide a tool to measure of the loyalty that builds up by the continued presence of the users, and, at the same time, assists in determining how the information flows within the groups, building up and fostering the growing trust within.
There is good number of advantages in having your own social networking website. It has a great amount of value in internet marketing. It is also true that internet marketing could also be established without such a network, by getting involved in MLM with friends and relatives, purchasing email addresses and sending off flyer advertisements regarding your products, and many more. The marketing options become restricted than what it would be without a social networking website. For one, it is much easier to put together a large email address list by owning a social networking website. For such a website, you need to plan and have a marketing strategy, and with the deployment of the right social network software, much could be achieved.
In purchasing email lists, you need to remember, that the vast majority of the people in that email list is not interested in what business you have, no matter what it is. Most of your marketing email to the list would be considered as spamming, since there is no interest what-so-ever in what you have to offer. Even if you had tangible goods to offer for people to buy, there would not be any significant success in marketing your products, if you are restricted to email marketing using purchased email address listings.
So how would you benefit from having your own Private Social Network?
Here’s how:
-Build up your brand.
-Increase customer loyalty.
-Expand your customer base virally.
-Increase Traffic to your online content.
-Improve Communities.
-Up-sell Products & Services.
-Increase Market Differentiation.
-Boost Revenue.
-Reduce customer service costs.
-Retain customers.
If you are in a competitive business, where you need the attention of people, having your own social networking website is the only solution for you to build up customer loyalty and stand out more prominently in the marketplace. For such a website, you would need the right social networking software to provide you with the tools. As long as you can draw users on your website, more and more communities would develop, bringing in the customer loyalty that is so very much important for any business.