It’s all about wares for your iPad this week and the best thing; you don’t have to get rid of your beloved Smart Cover to get them! In fact, manufacturers have created protection that address the flaws of Apple’s Cover and enhances its functionality so that you get the best out of your “Smart Cover” and your iPad. Here is a sneak peek into some cases that gel really well with your iPad and iPad2:

1. Bracketron: Available in landscape and portrait configurations, the iRoom iDock (for iPad and iPad 2) can be mounted on a wall and has been designed for effortless docking and undocking. You can trust it to keep your tablet secure because it has a motorized mechanism that makes it easy to secure your tablet with the docking mechanism. Coming in black or white, the iDock can be activated via a proximity center too!

2. Choiix: This super-thin carrying case supports the iPad and a number of other tablets, such as the LG Optima or HP Touchpad and makes carrying your device around extremely convenient. Weighing a mere 145 grams, the Sleeve 2E (iPad and iPad 2; price unavailable) has a set of magnetic straps that keep everything secure. And the polyurethane eco-leather construction that is sure to keep the environment friendly happy and the style conscious amazed.

3. LostDog: This back case (for iPad 2) – which has been aptly named “Won’t Let You Down” – comes with a patent-pending locking system that keeps your Smart Cover securely attached.  Made of durable and recyclable polycarbonate, the case is only one millimeter thick and weighs just 65 grams. Available in black or white, it can be yours at just $30.

4. Macally: Also made of polycarbonate, this back case named SmartMatec (for iPad 2) lives up to its name and protects your tablet while holding a Smart Cover tightly in place. Bearing cutouts for all the appropriate ports, buttons, and camera openings, this one lets you take your pick in colors clear, black or white.

5. OtterBox: The Reflex Series Case (iPad 2) is one powerful package. Bearing a built-in touch screen protector that doubles up as a viewing and typing stand, the device also has a design that lets you use Apple’s dock-connector case easily without compromising the protective capabilities of the case. And what’s more? It has a unique audio pathway that redirects sound from the back of the device towards you for improved audio output. All these amazing features and you’ll have to pay only $70!

Have your site’s rankings suddenly taken a nosedive? Here are 9 possible reasons and 9 ways out.

Reason #1 You used Black-Hat SEO Techniques: Have you been participating in link schemes recently; buying or selling links, creating “doorway pages”, or using “hidden text” on your site? These illegitimate (Black-Hat) SEO practices could be the reason behind the drop in your rankings.

The Way Out: Google has Webmaster Guidelines which all SEOs and webmasters must abide by. If you think you’ve run afoul of the rules, you might want to re-read Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and find out where you’ve gone wrong. You should then file a reconsideration request.

Reason #2 Changes in Search Engine algorithm: Search engines have a hard time keeping spammers at bay due to which they frequently change their algorithms. Take Google’s latest big algorithm update known as Panda (or Farmer), for example. Intended to deal with sites that offer poor-quality content, this update also happened to affect other sites that were not actually supposed to be affected.

The Way Out: Stay tuned to the happenings in Search Engine Land. Danny Sullivan’s Search Engine Land [http://searchengineland.com/], the official Google Blog (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/), and the inside-Google Matt Cutts’ blog (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/) are sites you would want to keep an eye on for the latest updates.

Also consider changing your SEO techniques after an update. If you don’t think your site was supposed to get affected by an algo change but it did, you can always write about it on Google Webmaster Forum; your problem will most probably be solved.

Reason #3 Someone stole your site’s content: Search engines hate duplicate content with a passion. So, if someone has stolen or “scraped”, as they call it, the content from your site and posted it somewhere else on the Web, rankings of both your and the copycat’s site are lowered.  Don’t worry; your site will be ranked higher than before once it’s been found who is at fault. This may take some time, though.

The Way Out: You can do any of these; locate the site that posted your content and contact their webmaster, email their host, file a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) request or take the matter to court. We recommend that you contact the scrapers first.

Reason #4 Maybe it’s the other way round: Maybe you’ve been penalized for Copyright Infringement. It could be that your in-house SEO or a third-party firm you hired used somebody else’s content. This could have caused the owner of the content to file a DMCA request or report your site to Google for copyright infringement.

The Way Out: The first thing you need to do is remove the duplicate content. You should then hire a new SEO or an SEO services provider. Also submit your site for re-inclusion. (http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35843)

Reason #5 You’ve been pipped in the SEO race: Competing sites could have managed to boost their rankings to a substantial degree causing your rankings to go down.

The Way Out: See how they’ve managed to do it and do what needs to be done (give them competition, we mean).

Reason #6 Crippled site structure: Maybe there are broken links, HTML code errors or other structural discrepancies on your site making your rankings go down.

The Way Out: Running an audit and fixing all the flaws; that’s what you need to do. Or maybe your site is invisible because your host is down and the server is not responding. A thorough site audit should show that, though.

Reason #7 Important Backlinks Got Removed from Your Site: “Juicy” backlinks with top Google positions pointing to your site being removed could result in a rankings drop for your site.

The Way Out: Tackle this problem by checking the backlinks pointing to your site. Have experienced SEOs run such checkups to see if any of the links got assigned the “nofollow” attribute, were hidden from search engines because of the robot txt file or were simply removed. If this is found to be the cause, get these links back or get similar backlinks from other websites.

Reason #8 This is Google’s QDF Algo at Work: QDF, which stands for “query deserves freshness”, is an algo used by Google to balance its appreciation of older content and is applied to trendy queries that become popular on the Web all of a sudden.

The Way Out: Since the query will eventually stop being trendy and you’ll get your power back, you just need to sit back and wait for it to cool down. However, you can check what topics are all the rage at sites like surchur.com and www.buzzfeed.com.

Reason #9 Google Started Picking “the wrong” Canonical URL for Your Site: It could be poor canonicalization making Google decide to pick your non-www page to include into its search results, thus causing your site to end up at a lower position.

The Way Out Get your canonicalization right by using internal linking, 301 redirects, and canonical tags ( which by the way, isn’t always justified) to explicitly point out your canonical URLs to Google.

Well, these are just 9 reasons for your site’s rankings to have dropped out of the blue; there are plenty of others that could be causing it. However, something is better than nothing, right? We’re sure the advice we’ve given you is going to come in handy when finding problems and fixing them.

As Canada awaits the implementation a new anti-spam law – one of the toughest anti-spam laws in the world – it’s time businesses in the country got down to work and changed their emailing practices. If you run a business in Canada, you’d better take this seriously because those found violating the law will have to pay huge amounts as penalty; an individual can be fined up to $1 million for violations and an organization up to $10 million! Mind you; the chances of this law being violated are pretty high given its nature and its scope. So, if you don’t want to land yourself in legal trouble, you should definitely keep reading. Here are some things you should know about the law:

• Also known as Bill C-28, this soon-to-come-into-effect law requires recipients explicitly to opt in to receiving e-mails and other electronic communications rather than simply requiring that they be given an opportunity to opt out.
• If you’ve done business with the recipient of your message in the past two years, chances are you have the consent from the recipient to receive commercial. But that implied consent expires after two years (which might be now!), so don’t just rely on the consent. Find a new way to track your business dealings with people on your mailing lists; you might need to remove their names from the list or obtain their explicit consent to keep sending them messages. And you should do that before the two year period comes to an end.
• As suggested by the experts, you need to review your procedures to ensure you know how you obtained contact information and when you last did business with each customer on your lists. You could also seek explicit consent from everyone on your lists before the law comes into effect. Don’t forget to ask all new customers for explicit consent to e-mail them. As Lisa Kember, regional development director in southern Ontario for Constant Contact, puts it, asking first is always the best policy.
• The new law has it that even if you have explicit consent from recipients to receive emails from you, your messages must always offer an easy way for them to unsubscribe from future mailings. You should also mention your physical address apart from your electronic contact information in your emails. We’re not sure if you should make the third party (which you use to send marketing e-mail) include their contact information as well but what we do know is that you should not count on third parties outside Canada to know about the law.
• Verbal consent may not be enough. This, probably, is the negative aspect of this law. Suppose you exchange business cards with a prospective customer at a trade fair and mail him later on. How do you prove that he hadn’t asked you NOT to mail him? Or even if he gave his consent verbally, how do you prove he did? You can keep such problems at bay by asking trade-show visitors to fill out a form requesting information rather than just collecting cards.
• The law has exceptions, though. These exceptions apply if the recipient of your messages is a family member or someone you have a personal relationship with. However, it should involve regular contact with the person within the last two years.

This strict anti-spam law is probably going to come into effect this fall before which you should review procedures and train staff on the new requirements. Don’t forget to give your insurers a call. You want to be fully covered should an unintentional violation occur.