Types of Video Advertising

Video advertising is becoming a popular form of advertising thisyear. Success in this market requires thorough knowledge of ad formats, and a working sense of the user experience.

In-Stream

Some companies show an ad before the video starts in what’s called the pre-roll portion. Pre-roll ads come in two forms, those the user has control over and those the user does not. Pre-roll ads are often a part of the video itself, so the user usually has to view them before viewing the video. If the user wants the content badly enough, in-stream or pre-roll ads can get a lot of exposure.

In-Banner

Ads that are said to be “in-banner” are like any other form of banner advertising. They are most often shown in the content of a page, usually in the margins. They may expand as the user hovers over them, so always ask the traffic network that you are buying from whether or not ads scale. These ads can be disruptive under certain situations, so thoroughly test your in-banner ads before deployment to verify that the user experience is non-intrusive.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is a display advertising expert with fifteen years of experience in the industry. Ted Dhanik provides lead generation tips using banner advertising. Find out how to build leads with Ted Dhanik and engage:BDR.

Semiconductors: Manufacture and Applications

Semiconductors are found in almost every electronic device in your home. The process to build one has many phases, including rigorous testing. The device is able to regulate the flow of energy, like an “on/off” switch. Creating the circuitry is done in steps, and requires advanced fabrication techniques like plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Here is a bit more information on how this process works.

Semiconductor Manufacture

Semiconductors need to have a circuit board mapped out, then circuitry applied. They are made of compacted silicon, which is then shaped and hardened before they are cut to size. The chips are often wafer thin, and the entire process can take up to eight weeks. This is all done at a nearly microscopic level due to the precision required. First, a kind of “map of circuitry” is drawn (or more accurately, printed) onto the surface of the board. Next, ion beam etching is used to apply the materials to the circuit board.

Throughout this process, hazardous materials are used to coat the device, including arsine and phosphorus. After manufacture, chips must be tested with an electronic tester. This devices presses tiny probes against the chip to determine if it transfers power properly.

Applications

Semiconductors are found in just about anything. They are the primary components in computers, but they are found in other electronic appliances as well. They are used to transfer power from one section of a device to another, like powering a computer processor.

Denton Vacuum, LLC manufactures a magnetron sputtering system used in the manufacture of semiconductors and industrial devices.

Manufacturing Techniques for Medical Technology

Modern medical device coatings are designed to eliminate the discomfort involved with tubes inside the body. Items like catheters would cause extreme discomfort without some sort of technology to make the tubing slip-proof. Using special manufacturing processes, we are able to create medical devices that can fit comfortably within the body. The following are just a few uses for this exciting technology.

Beam Technology

Using a super-heating process with ion beams, manufacturers are able to produce medical tubing that is capable of resisting long-term wear and tear. It’s a similar process to the one used in the manufacture of metalized plastic, which can be found in aircraft systems. This space-age technology uses electrons to super heat a substance and melt it down to a molecular level. The particulate matter then bounces around the chamber until it settles on the substrate. The material coats the substrate completely, which allows manufacturers to coat materials that would otherwise melt under the extreme temperatures. apply particular matter to something called the substrate. Manufacturers must first create a 3-D model of the substrate, which they use to make the proper calculations before it’s placed in the chamber.

Medical Applications

This technology is prevelant in many devices in circulation today. Chances are good that anyone wearing a prosthetic implant uses materials created by this technology. This process can be used to metalize plastics and make them more durable, useful for joints in a moving part like an artificial knee or hip. Thanks to plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, we can replace lost limbs and give patients a new lease on life.

Denton Vacuum, LLC makes PECVD systems for use in the coating of medical devices. Find out more about manufacturing with PECVD when you visit Denton Vacuum, LLC.

Save Money on Your Web Hosting

By Rack Alley

Just about every company in LA needs help with hosting. It’s how they keep a website up and running that actually serves their best interests. Unfortunately, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could be working against your own. Los Angels web hosting companies can charge an up and a leg and unsuspecting businesses are usually paying.

However, you can save on LA web hosting if you know what you’re doing. First, consider the fact that the whole surrounding area can be used for your hosting. You could even head to Northern California.

Secondly, you want to consider those companies that have an a la carte option. By this, I mean that you need shouldn’t have to pay for a bunch of options you’ll never use. Maybe you just need web hosting, but not colocaiton. Many companies offer both and will insist on you buying a package that includes the two. This is wasted money.

Lastly, there’s no underestimating redundancy. You absolutely need a system for backing up your information. This will save you a ton of money if an earthquake hits or something else goes wrong. Of course, it will also save all the information you need to successfully run your business.

Rack Alley is your one stop shop for a LA data center. Whether you need colocation, hosting, support or just about anything else, Rack Alley has the resources, redundancy and expertise to ensure you get what you’re looking for at the best possible price.

How Vacuum Metallization Works

Ion beam assisted deposition is an important manufacturing process used in many household goods.

Written by: Denton Vacuum, LLC

There are two major components that are important to ion beam assisted deposition: you need a substrate that you can apply a coating to. This could be the lens of a pair of eye glasses, the cell from a solar panel, parts for a car, or medical tubing. The coating material is also required. It can be a special chemical to erase glare in lenses, or it can be aluminum to be applied to plastic sheets.

Process Explained

Once you have both the substrate and coating, both objects are placed into a vacuum sealed chamber. Then the coating can begin.

Optical coating systems start by heating the coating substance and melting it down. This breaks the coating down into particulate matter, which then bounces off the walls of the chamber before settling onto the substrate. While this is happening, the chamber is being cooled. The combination of the hot and cold causes the particles to settle and solidify on the substrate.

Applications

Ebeam technology is used to manufacture the solar absorbent coating on a solar cell. It also adds durability to common parts used in manufacturing and automobiles through metallization, or the application of a thin metallic coating. You can find evidence of deposition on eye glasses as well.

Final Thoughts

Much of the technology that uses sputtering was once out of reach of consumers. Solar panels are still the exception, being too expensive for everyone to afford at the moment, but we are fast approaching a time where technology makes it easy for us to mass produce amazing items.

Space Weather Balloons Bring Families Together

Looking for something fun to do with the entire family? Finding a family-friendly activity that everyone will enjoy is easier said than done. But it’s not impossible. Simply ask anyone in your household, young or old, if they would like to send a weather balloon into near deep space and you’re sure to get a resounding yes. And you don’t have to pay a fortune to do it either.

Sky Probe, a company that offers near space platforms, is making it possible for families to spend quality time together as they work on the launch of a professional weather balloon into near space. How is this possible? The company offers affordable weather balloon launch kits designed for the average consumer. The kit includes the balloon, a GPS datalogger, and two extra support arms.

The whole idea behind this project is that anyone can do it. Families can work together to build the kit, plan the launch, and track the payload during the entire adventure. The company even offers technical support along with full instructions on how to build and use the balloon, which means you can participate even if you’ve never done this before.

If you’ve always wanted to make science and engineering fun for your children, a high altitude balloon launch kit is the answer. So how much does something like this cost? The Ultimate High Altitude Launch Kit is around $800. Considering that you can use it several times and that it will bring together your entire family, it’s worth the cost.

Household Products Manufactured with Sputtering

Several household products would not exist today without the usage of sputtering. Sputtering is used heavily in the medical industry, creating products plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The process is also responsible for many kinds of household products that you probably use every day.

Sputtering Defined

Sputtering is the process of depositing thin layers of film onto an object. You can think of sputtering like tinting the windows on a car, but the process occurs at a microscopic level. In medical technology, for instance, sputtering uses vacuum deposition systems to apply a viscous coating to something that will enter the bloodstream. This keeps the device from gaining too much mass. Household products aren’t as concerned with mass, but there are a variety of reasons why a microscopic layer of film could be useful.

Mirrors

A microscopic layer of film applied to a pane of glass creates a mirror. The early days of mirror manufacturing involved a layer of mercury applied to a sheet of plate glass, usually to the back of the surface. The result is a kind of looking glass, where the mirror seems behind the glass pane.

Safety glass mirrors use a special film that helps the glass break a certain way to avoid injuries. Silkscreen glass windows apply their colors to a specially treated film that allows the dyes to adhere. Silvery glass mirrors are ordinary panes of glass with a thin film of silver to provide reflectivity.

Computers

Silicon can act like a conductor in certain situations, a fact that helped create the “Silicon Valley.” Engineers discovered that by purifying and melting silicon, they could reshape the substance and create circuit boards. Still, anyone with a laptop can appreciate the process of sputtering.

Once the board is made from the silicon, sputtering is used to lay down chemicals that form the basis of the circuits. The actual characteristics of the board are based on the types of chemicals used, and the formation of those chemicals. Without sputtering, laptops and desktops wouldn’t exist along with hundreds of other household appliances.

Cameras

Cameras themselves don’t use sputtering outside of the formation of their circuit boards, but the lenses might. Thin film coatings help protect lenses from UV light and scratches. Special coatings can also add colored filters, which are useful in film. This process occurs in a vacuum, where the lens (called a substrate) is allowed to absorb the chemicals as they are heated and allowed to flow freely within a sealed chamber.
—————————————————————————————————————
Denton Vacuum, LLC makes sputtering systems that can help manufacture Diamond like carbon. For more information on sputtering systems, contact Denton Vacuum, LLC.

Direct Marketing vs. Branding

This article was written by Ted Dhanik

Direct marketers have a need to sell, and a need to do so quickly. Brands concerned with awareness tend to pull value from engaging users on multiple platforms. Which of these goals fits your display advertising campaign?

Conversions

Direct marketing campaigns are decidedly concerned with conversions. In direct marketing, money is constantly spent on display advertising, necessitating a return on investment. Direct ads tend to lead directly to a landing page where the customer can buy or fill out a form to receive something. Good direct marketers focus on listing their benefits in the sales copy, and trying to close the deal as soon as possible.

Engagement

Marketers who are concerned with branding tend to view banner advertising as a means to an end. These types of campaigns may take a customer to a special interest style website set up to promote a service, or a blog post that details something new and exciting that is forthcoming. Because engagement doesn’t necessarily mean conversion, brand awareness is viewed as a long-term objective. The idea is to get the brand on as many pages as possible for the smallest cost.

Clicks versus Views

While the two goals, clicks and views, are similar,  the end results are very different. A page view can help brand awareness if what is on that page can go viral, or if the user stays engaged with the content. Retargeting can be useful to get multiple page views at a lower cost. Both direct and brand marketers are very interested in clicks, which lead to action. Clicks tend to be more valuable, and a lot more expensive. Thus, the ratio of clicks to page views must be tighter for a campaign to be considered successful.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is a sales and direct marketing professional. Ted Dhanik has worked extensively on digital marketing with big brands like MySpace.com. Find out how to increase your conversions when you visit Ted Dhanik.

Why Clocks Might Be What Your Company Needs

By Allied Time

If that headline has you wondering what I could possibly be talking about, I don’t blame you. Doesn’t every company have clocks? Plus everyone has them on their computer, their cell phone, heck, maybe even their wrists!

But I’m not talking about any ordinary kind of clock. I’m talking about the high-tech solutions you can find at Allied Time. I’m talking about the type of clock that allows you greater results from your staff because it provides you with better tracking.

Professional time clocks are so advanced these days you can even use them to verify the right person is signing in. It wasn’t so long ago that people could simply use another person’s card and clock in for them. But nowadays, an advanced time card machine can make this near impossible. Of course, you can also use a tracking system that analyzes fingerprints. No way is someone tricking that!

The clocks themselves are really just the interface though. That’s because there is a ton of software that goes with it. And you can use this software to not only confirm people are working when they’re supposed to, but to monitor for any trends that might be of interest. This will help a lot when it comes to proposing or implementing new technology.

So while there is no shortage of ways you can improve your company, a very affordable and efficient method is by adding the types of clocks that allow you to really see what’s going on.

______________________________________________________________________

Visit Allied Time today for all the time clocks you could ever want (including versions of the fingerprint time clock mentioned above) and any of the information you might need about time card machine options and more.

Running Ad Analysis like a Pro

Written by Ted Dhanik

How well you analyze the performance of an ad will determine how much money you will spend on testing figuring out whether it works or not. Learning what to track is the difference between an amateur and a professional. You will need to use a combination of your own analytics, and any analytics provided to you through your banner advertising network.

Time of Conversion

The first thing you should be aware of is the times of day you are most likely to get a conversion. This is a huge money-making tactic that many newbies overlook. It’s common to think your ads will perform just as well overnight as they did throughout the day. Unfortunately, this may not always be the case. You should review your conversion data and create a spreadsheet that tracks time of day with number of conversions.

Once you’ve run the campaign for a few weeks, you will know which hours of the day will yield the most profits. Up the traffic coming to your placements during those times, and you will stand to gain more conversions.

Source

The more you know about the traffic source, the better. So it’s important that you spend time properly targeting your audience. You should use parameters on your URL to track the campaigns you run, and view your Analytics routinely to see if the traffic numbers from your backend tracking match the numbers reported by your traffic source. Work with your traffic provider to determine the optimal targeting for your campaign, and test these settings in their own ad groups.

Creative

Testing creative for a display advertising campaign can be difficult because it’s hard to find banner ads with data that shows whether they convert well. If you need help hunting for a banner, start with affiliate networks. They host ads in all genres, so you’re bound to find one that will work for you. You can also check some of the potential placements for your ads to see what banners those websites host. Remember, these are not placements from the network itself, only the kinds of placements you would expect to do well on.

Pay attention to which sizes are most prominent, and whether different banners advertising a similar product are competing for space. Look for commonalities like keyword usage and calls to action, then build your own ads from there.

Bio: Ted Dhanik has over fifteen years experience in the direct marketing space. Ted Dhanik routinely offers tips for businesses to expand their leads through display advertising. To sign up for engage:BDR, visit Ted Dhanik online.