What Social Networking Can do for You

Online social networking offers internet users a means of connecting and sharing information with other individuals and groups who share common interests and goals.

Although more popularly known as socializing forums, social networking sites also play a vital role in helping online as well as off line organizations achieve their business goals. Social networking platforms offer businesses a forum for reaching out to potential customers beyond the immediate community.

Social networking sites, especially ‘friend-of-a-friend’ (FOAF) social networking sites such as MySpace and Friendster, are especially designed to directly connect like minded individuals and groups. Members interact with each other using many innovative tools including discussion forums and private or public messages.

An FOAF network typically displays directories featuring people or topics that all members can browse through. Whenever you find another member with similar interests, you can send the member a message requesting to be added to their list of contacts. This gives you the opportunity to meet other like minded users from that member’s network, thereby multiplying your organization’s contacts faster than you could in the real world. With every extra person you add, your network has the potential to expand exponentially.

2008 ROUSH 428R Mustang

Performance continues to pay tribute to Ford’s legendary history with the 428R Mustang, a limited edition pony car which follows in the tremendous success of their 427R model introduced last year and which remains in the ROUSH product lineup for the 2008 model year.

The ROUSH 428R Mustang will arrive at participating Ford dealerships in October 2007.

“We are continuing to honor and celebrate the heritage of the proudest models of Ford racing history – the 427, 428 and 429 (engines),” stated Jack Roush. “These are iconic numbers in the Ford world and it is an honor to put them onto ROUSH Mustangs and insert them back into the muscle car world.”

“The 427R is easily the most popular Mustang model that ROUSH has ever introduced to the market,” said Joe Thompson, ROUSH Performance’s vice president and general manager. “That vehicle will remain the cornerstone of our lineup, but to celebrate Ford’s history of automotive breakthroughs we will build a 428R in 2008 and a 429R in 2009. These cars are intended to be a collector’s edition with limited production that pays respect to Ford Muscle Car history.”

The 2008 ROUSH 428R Mustang is limited to 200 vehicles, each a potent street slayer with 435 horsepower and 400 lb.-ft. of torque thanks to the famous ROUSHcharger system, which, in the 428R is a chrome powdercoat which glistens when the hood is raised. Other under-the-hood goodies include ROUSH billet radiator and intercooler radiator caps, oil cap, and strut tower caps which add to the sparkling engine compartment.

The looks of the car continue on the exterior also, with the ROUSH front fascia, chin spoiler, hood scoop and rear wing adding to the muscular look. The locking hood pins show the world that there is something lurking under the hood, and the black bar high-flow grille adds to the aesthetics.

As for handling, the ROUSH suspension package makes it simple to manage the left and right turns. Changed by the ROUSH technicians are the front and rear shocks, front and rear springs, front and rear sway bars, jounce bumpers and an anti-wheel hop kit is installed at the Livonia, Mich., factory. ROUSH 18-inch cast wheels and high-performance tires grip the road, and the offroad exhaust system gives the ROUSH 428R the necessary growl expected from a V-8 Mustang.

The interior of the 428R gets the ROUSH treatment as well as ROUSH sport leather seating is installed, the white face electro luminescent gauge cluster, and the ROUSH short throw shifter with retro ball makes quick gear changes. Rounding out some of the interior upgrades are ROUSH sill plates and floor mats.

As with all ROUSH vehicles, the 428R comes with unique fender and decklid badges as well as a pair of engine bay plaques to authenticate this as an official ROUSH vehicle. Each vehicle comes with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Jack Roush. The ROUSH 428R is available with either a five-speed manual or automatic transmission.

Advantages of osCommerce

Trusted
osCommerce is well known and widely used. It has a large support community and a long history behind it.

Cost effective
Open source software is free to download and use, and existing code/contributions are also free.

Easy to use
The software features a familiar shopping cart model, with a number of ways to access the product catalog.

Suitable for a wide range of stores
Clients can choose whether to build/modify their own site or use an experienced developer, and the software suits a wide range of store types. In addition, osCommerce supports international stores, as it includes facilities for multilanguage and multi-currency shops.

Flexible
osCommerce is customizable and expandable by someone with the right skills or the desire to learn.

Secure
The software allows the use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. Other features in the Administration area allow greater precautions.

Well supported
There is a strong community of osCommerce users and developers.

Increases effective selling
There are several ways osCommerce optimizes selling. For example, it allows product catalogs that can be browsed and searched, product specials, reviews, newsletters, as well as the Related Products feature and the What’s New feature.

Facilitates promotion of customer base
osCommerce helps merchants build up a customer base by being customer focused and easy to use, and by providing extras such as reviews, newsletters, and the Email a Friend feature.

Customer focused
Customers find osCommerce easy to use. They can receive newsletters and email notifications about products, and they can read and create online product reviews.

Customers also appreciate the secure accounts that protect their personal data, allow access to their purchase history, and provide updates on the status of their orders.

Merchant focused
osCommerce is an affordable option for merchants and it caters for a wide range of languages, currencies and store sizes. It provides a wide range of features, including report generation, payment processing and backup tools, as well as invoices and packing slips.

osCommerce features a straightforward administration area that is easy to secure, and merchants have control of catalog content and structures, products, and shipping cost calculations.

Source : http://www.oscommerce.co.nz