Why Amazon Rules

Amazon Web Services may be the biggest online retailer in the world, but its e-storefront didn't do so well in an independent study of top e-commerce sites in the books, music and games (BMG) category in 2007. In some aspects, it still doesn't compare favorably with other best-of-the-best sites today.

Indeed, in 2007, barnesandnoble.com led the sector in terms of reliability, which is measured by the site's performance along such key factors as high-speed response, response time consistency, geographic uniformity, and load handling. The site also ranked first in availability at 99.6 per cent during peak periods.

But as of September this year, it is borders.com that logging the best performance in terms of speed and responsiveness, followed by abebooks.com and overtstock.com. Amazon comes in fourth, with barnesandnoble.com now coming in a poor sixth.

But even while amazon.com is now ranking the highest in terms of success rate, with no outages, in the BMG sector (it was No.3 in August), its position among the study's top Business 40 sites is at 21st for speed and 20th for reliability.

It's google.com that rules the major players, clocking the best speed in response time among 14 sites that had tied for first place in reliability with 100 per cent execution success rates. Facebook trailed google.com in terms of speed but came in 19th in terms of reliability.

However, the study's qualitative analysis placed amazon.com at the top of the BMG sector, outperforming other sites along the study's brand impact and customer satisfaction indices. Beyond speed and reliability, these indices determined a site's ability to satisfy customers, drive acquisition (a.k.a. get them to buy), and support the company's brand.

This is where the rubber meets the road. Visual appeal, price satisfaction, and the responsiveness of the purchase process were found to be the top factors that drove conversion rates (a.k.a. getting them to buy). Both visual appeal and price satisfaction also determined brand impact and return use (a.k.a. getting them to come back again and again).

The study was conducted by Keynote Systems, a leader in internet and mobile cloud monitoring, headquartered in San Mateo, California. Its avowed mission is to assist its some 3,000 corporate clients into becoming the 'best of the best' by helping them enhance e-commerce site performance and mobile communications quality.

In giving Amazon the highest overall ranking in the BMG sector, Keynote said, "amazon.com leads the way for site excellence in customer experience."

Amazon Web Services posted $24.51 billion in revenues in 2010.

Wet Carpets Have to be Chemically Treated to Eliminate Mold

When you try to treat a carpet at home you will most likely think that everything is really easy. The problem is that you have a big chance of making a very common mistake. Any mold removal Atlanta firm will tell you that there is a need to have the carpet wet when you are treating it chemically. This is something that is crucial if you want to be sure that mold is prevented.

We can say that mold prevention is crucial when drying a carpet after any water incident. This is because of the fact that mold is basically a fungus that releases airborne spores. These spores will find moisture and then grow. The next process is a release of new spores and this can go on forever. We cannot see airborne mold till it multiplies. In addition, the spores can be inhaled and this is going to be really dangerous for both people and animals.

Toxic mold is black in most cases and it produces mycotoxins. They are going to be really dangerous even for those that are in the best health possible. If you are suffering from asthma or a respiratory problem then you will be in trouble. We recommend that you take this fact seriously and that you pay close attention to how long the carpet will stay wet. When the carpet remains wet there is a lot of damage that keeps happening and mold will multiply. As soon as you get the carpet wet you should try to get it dry as fast as possible or you will quickly end up with a carpet that cannot be used anymore.

The only real way of getting rid of mold is to hurry. In the event that you do not have what is needed, you should contact some professionals.

Turn to lead paint testing for reassurance

The joy that one experiences after the construction of a new home is unsurpassed; however this is also a period of exercising caution and running tests to ensure that all the quality standards are met by the various aspects that have gone into making the new home. Infact it is important to test the quality of these aspects even if one is about to take a house on rent or lease. Air quality, water testing, paint inspection, drywall testing and so on need to be carried out to ensure that the environment around the house is congenial and inhabitable. Of all the tests that homes in the USA must run, lead paint testing is critical.

Government regulations allow only 0.6% of lead in paint used for household and commercial construction purposes; however there are notorious manufacturers that go well beyond this prescribed limit in order to cut manufacturing costs and give a finer finish to the paint; this can prove very dangerous for the inhabitants of the building painted with this kind of paint. Increased exposure to fumes emitted by lead paint can lead to various life threatening conditions such as cancer, lung and liver blocks, nerve damage, coma, delayed cognitive development and so on, hence it is very important for buildings to go through the right company for lead paint testing USA.

This kind of testing involves checking the level of lead concentration in the paint used in the building and determining the nature and intensity of the threat. Once households and commercial buildings go through these tests, adequate measures can be taken to remove these threatening elements from the building décor and secure the health of the people residing in these spaces and also prevent soil contamination caused by exterior paints containing lead.

Lead Paint removal needs to be done by professionals

If you have a very old building, then there is every possibility that the paint that was used on the walls contained lead. If that is the case, then you need to be very careful as it is a health hazard. It can cause problems to your family members, especially children. Kids below the age of six would be severely affected by the presence of lead as it would stunt their growth and cause damage to the nervous system. Therefore, you need to ensure that you get the Lead Paint removal done as quickly as possible so as to avoid any problems.

But you need to be careful while you are handling the lead paint. It is not safe to simply scrape it away. You need to get a proper renovation done so that all the old paint can be disposed of in the proper fashion. If there is any negligence while the Lead Paint removal is being done, you would have to face problems in the future. More often than not, when the old paint is being removed, you would find pieces of it still in the house. This is where you would find a problem.

Therefore, the best thing to do would be to get a professional company so that the Lead Paint removal can be done in the proper way. Such companies would have employees who have the necessary expertise to ensure that the paint is removed properly and everything is disposed off. The possibility of finding any scrap of paint in the house would be very less and so you can be sure that this health hazard has been completely removed. To find the right company, all you need to do is search the internet. You need to do the proper research before hiring a company.

Chinese Drywall Testing to Combat Chinese Drywall Problems

The construction industry has been witness to huge Chinese Drywall import in 2001, when increased demands of drywall could not be met by the drywall companies in the nation and importing the same from China was imperative for making the demand and supply graph meet at a point. A research conducted in 2006 puts across an amazing result – China exported almost 550 million pounds of this product during the time and it reached the nation to trigger off one of the greatest nightmares ever seen by the building industry. Chinese Drywall Testing is one of the guaranteed ways to detect the defectiveness of this drywall in homes and offices.

The greatest threat in Chinese Drywall is the presence of elemental sulfur. The CPSC and the HUD recommends the change of the Chinese Drywall at home if Chinese Drywall Testing reveals a positive result in elemental sulfur content. Call the experts for testing if you can spot one or some of the signs listed below-

Overbearing smell of sulfur at home

Eye irritation and watering

Breathing difficulties

Runny noses

Persistent headaches

Corrosion of copper wires at home

Metal components in electrical appliances like air conditioning units fail quickly

FA Chinese Drywall Testing is done through certified testing methodologies which include XRF Testing through Fluorescence X-ray light.

If the drywall in your home was installed between 2004 and 2007 and you are facing any of the above problems, get a Chinese Drywall Testing done to conform the integrity of your drywall. Understanding the status of the drywall of your home can help you to avoid a number of health hazards which can sneak in if Chinese Drywall problems are present in your home.

Testing for drywall is also a must if you are buying a second hand property.