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Pure Css Icon Sketcher

2008-03-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here's an useless trick but I thought it'd be interesting to share. I am sure that you have seen online icon drawing applications. Looking at one of those recently I had an idea of how to draw old school pixelated shapes using only css. So I am presenting what might be a world's first pure css drawer :)

Take a look at the Pure Css Icon Sketcher

The Concept

So how to "draw" with nothing but css? There's not much to work with as you can imagine. My idea was to create a 32 x 32 grid made of elements. Each has random id and href attribute. By default links have "transparent" backgrounds. When link is clicked on, :visited pseudo class is applied. I have styled :visited links with dark grey background. So, marked as visited, link is no longer transparent.
That gives us a feeling that we're coloring boxes and - actually drawing.

IE users will not be able to use this tool repeatedly because when page loads, IE treats all anchors as visited.

Create Resizing Thumbnails Using Overflow Property

2008-03-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

This tutorial is aimed at controlling the size of the thumbnails appearing on your page. Sometimes we don't have enough space to spare to fit in large thumbnails and yet we would like to avoid small and barely recognizable images. Using this trick we limit the default dimensions of the thumb, and show it in full size when user mouse-overs it.

Take a look at the demo | Download zip file

Overview

What we have here is not actual image resizing. It is a resizing of the thumb's visible area on mouse over. How do we do that? Using overflow property!
The overflow property defines the appearance of the content when it overflows the container area. If the container has limited size, for one reason or another, then we use overflow to define what happens. Possible values of overflow property are visible, hidden, scroll and auto. It's the combination of these values that we will use here and make this trick work. Basically, we will hide a part of the thumbnail when in default state, and show it entirely on mouse over.

The Concept

The idea behind this is, to place an image into a certain container. Since we're talking about thumbnails that container would be an tag. We set the size (width and height) of the container to desired values and we set the position property of the container to relative. Image inside has an absolute position. We use negative top and left values to offset the image. Container has overflow set to hidden so only a part of the image that is placed inside the container's actual area will be visible. The rest of it will be hidden. On a:hover we set the container's overflow to visible, and reveal entire image.

The Code

This trick can be used for thumbnail lists or single thumbnails, as shown on the demo page. For markup we use standard tags

Definition of the default state for thumbnails would be something like this:

	ul#thumbs a{

		display:block;

		float:left;

		width:100px;

		height:100px;

		line-height:100px;

		overflow:hidden;

		position:relative;

		z-index:1;		

	}

	ul#thumbs a img{

		float:left;

		position:absolute;

		top:-20px;

		left:-50px;	

	}

tag has defined width and height to whatever fits into our site's design. Also, overflow is set to hidden. We then play with negative top and left values to "crop" the image to a perfect fit. If you want to take this further, you can define cropping area for every single image you have in thumb list and target the area you would like to show.

 	

	ul#thumbs a img{

		float:left;

		position:absolute;

		top:-20px;

		left:-50px;	

	}

	ul#thumbs li#image1 a img{

		top:-28px;

		left:-55px;	

	}	

	ul#thumbs li#image2 a img{

		top:-18px;

		left:-48px;	

	}	

	ul#thumbs li#image3 a img{

		top:-21px;

		left:-30px;	

	}	

	.

	.

	.

Now, when user mouse-overs it we set the overflow to visible:

		ul#thumbs a:hover{

			overflow:visible;

			z-index:1000;

			border:none;		

		}

Note the z-index for both default and hovered container. This is very important because we want to place the hovered above it's siblings. Otherwise it would be placed below and the trick wouldn't be complete.

Soft Edge Technique Soft Edges and Opacity Gradients for Images

2008-03-14T10:19:00.001-07:00

With this article CSSG continues to provide image manipulation techniques. The trick I am about to demonstrate creates soft edge for content images using lightweight and unobtrusive JavaScript and CSS interventions. With it you can create "cloudy" soft edges or one-side opacity gradients without any image editing software.

Take a look at the Demo | Download Soft Edge

Features

Opacity gradients can be turned on and off for all 4 sides of the image separately. With simple configuration you are able to control number of steps of the gradient, step's width in pixels and, as mentioned, what sides of the image you want to have gradients applied to.

How does this technique work

This is unobtrusive script so it means that no interventions in the html code are necessary, except for class naming to select specific images. If you decide to apply this to all content images then you don't even have to add class names. The script will collect all content images on your page and apply this script to them.
Based on the settings from configuration area in JavaScript file, script locates the images, creates a loop where it puts one image on top of the other. First image has opacity set to minimum value while last added image is not transparent. At the same time, using CSS clip property, images are clipped progressively, first image not being clipped at all, while last image (the one on the top) is the most clipped.

Usage

To use this trick, download the JavaScript file and link to it from your html page.

There is a configuration area in the JS file where you can edit settings and achieve various effects.

// css class of images that you want to apply this script to
// if you want to apply this script to all content images, leave this string blank

var imageClass = "";


// integer defining the soft edge depth
// the larger the number the softer the edges :)

var step = 20;


// define directions wher you want gradient to appear
// set top, right, bottom and left to true or false to turn it on or off
// setting all 4 directions to true will give you soft edge effect
// while setting one of the

var dirTop = false; 
var dirRight = true; 
var dirBottom = false; 
var dirLeft = true; 


// integer defining each step's width in pixels

var stepWidth = 1;

Enjoy! :)

Custom Double Solid Borders for Images

2008-03-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

We are not going to use border-style:double; As we know these are not easy to control.
Imagine a situation where you want outer border on the image to be 3px thick and green and inner border 1px thick and yellow. How would you achieve this? And further more, how would you achieve this with no additional markup?

The Trick

What we'll do here is use css border property for outer image border and we'll fake the inner border using combination of background and padding properties.

First we add a border property to the image and set the values

img{
 border:2px solid #72a143;
}

If we set the padding to 1px and add a yellow background,

img{
 border:2px solid #72a143;
 padding:1px;
 background:#ffeda5;
}

the image will receive another "border" inside the real one.
That's it! :)

8 Premium One Line Css Tips

2008-03-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

The best solutions are often the simplest. Here's a list of 8 tips that contain only one css property.

1. Vertical centering with line-height

line-height:24px;

When you have a container with fixed height you can use line-height property to vertically center the content.
Take a look at this demo.

2. Prevent oversized content to break fixed width floated layouts

#main{
 overflow:hidden;
}

When oversized content (i.e. wide image) is placed in fixed width floated container, it may break the layout. To prevent that use this trick. It will hide a part of the content but at least your layout structure will remain intact.
I wrote an article about it a while back.

3. Prevent line breaks in links

a{
 white-space:nowrap;
}

This little trick will prevent line breaks on your links. I recommend using this with long text to avoid having links break into 2 lines.

4. Always show Firefox scrollbar

html{
 overflow:-moz-scrollbars-vertical;
}

Firefox hides vertical scrollbar by default. So, when you browse a site that have different page heights you notice a horizontal shift. This code will always display a scrollbar and prevent shifting.

5. Centering block elements horizontally

margin:0 auto;

For all modern browser this line of css is enough to horizontally center a block level element.

6. Remove vertical textarea scrollbar in IE

textarea{
 overflow:auto;
}

Textareas in IE have vertical scrollbar visible by default. If you want those removed (I know I do) use this line.

7. Force page breaks when printing your document

h2{
 page-break-before:always;
}

With this line of code you can control places where you want your pages to break when printing a document.

8. Remove active link borders

a:active, a:focus{
 outline:none;
}

Originally found here, this will remove dotted outline from focused or active links.

3 Simple Steps in Coding a Rounded Corners Layout

2008-03-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

What we should aim in coding is simplicity and try to avoid any unnecessary markup. Various rounded corners techniques often include several additional elements that are purely presentational.
When talking about fixed width, rounded corners layout, there's no need for complications.
Let me show you my approach to coding just that, fixed width, rounded corners layout in 3 simple steps.
As a special treat, PSD and XHTML/CSS files included in this brief tutorial :)

Take a look at the demo | Download zip file

Markup

Markup is pretty basic, and as you can see, there are no additional divs for top or bottom corners.

Step 1 - Header

In order to simplify things I often crop entire header as a single background image. The size of the image rarely exceeds 50kb and it also makes additional changes a lot easier to apply.
With this particular layout we'll add something extra to the header cropping. We'll not only crop entire header, but the top corners of the content area as well. That area is not meant to have any content, it's just for presentation. It really doesn't matter if we put it at the bottom of the header background image.

Note: if you use repeating gradient image for body background, like I do in my example, keep the height of the repeating image same or less than header height. That will make your life easier because you will not have adjust the body background in the content area.

Step 2 - Content

Unlike other sections, content area is expandable in height. Of course, we'll use 1px high gif that repeats vertically. We all know that :)

Step 3 - Footer

Similar as with header, we are avoiding additional markup for bottom corners of the content area. So, we'll "close" the content area with footer background image. So footer's background is used for end of the content and beginning of the footer.

That's it, view live example or download files (PSD included, yeah!)

Creating and Styling Resizable Buttons

2008-03-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

When structuring your markup there are many paths you can choose to reach the same goal. Most of the times it's a matter of preferences which element you wish to apply on a specific spot. I have my own personal preferences. One of them is preferring BUTTON over INPUT type="submit" elements. Why? Well W3C says it "Buttons created with the BUTTON element function just like buttons created with the INPUT element, but they offer richer rendering possibilities".

It's the rendering that I am after. You can easily apply image replacement techniques to buttons and make your form look good. Most interesting feature is that BUTTON element may have content. I will use that possibility in this tutorial.

So, the goal is to create and style button that can handle variable length so there is no need for later interventions. We'll treat button element as a container and add some markup.

Take a look at the demo | Download zip file

HTML

Here it is:

This is a valid code, and it gives us a lot to work with.

Please note, I am using two child elements instead of only one because I couldn't get rid of some paddings that button preserved. If anyone succeeds in styling with one child element only, please let me know :)

Concept

This concept is probably familiar to you from various navigation tab styling techniques. We have one long background image:

This one is 550px wide. I believe that is more than sufficient for buttons :)
So, we apply this image as a background image of a top element (in this case SPAN), place it to top left and add some left padding. Nested element (in this case EM) have the same background image but placed to top right and with right padding. As the content text grows so will the button.

Height of the button is fixed in my example but you can use similar technique and some more markup and place the same background image to all 4 corners.
To make sure that the text is vertically centered I use line-height property.

CSS

button{
 border:none;
 background:none;
 padding:0;
 margin:0;
 width:auto;
 overflow:visible;     
 text-align:center; 
 white-space:nowrap; 
 height:40px;
 line-height:38px;   
 }

Resetting button's default styling.

button span, button em{
 display:block;
 height:40px;
 line-height:38px;   
 margin:0;
 color:#954b05;
 }

Setting child elements. Note that value of height property is different than line-height. That's because I have 2px shadow at the bottom. Line-height vertically centers the text within the button graphic, shadow is excluded.

button span{
 padding-left:20px;
 background:url(bg_button.gif) no-repeat 0 0;
 } 
button em{
 font-style:normal;
 padding-right:20px;
 background:url(bg_button.gif) no-repeat 100% 0;
 }

Setting backgrounds and paddings for both child elements.

As I mentioned earlier, it would be more elegant if I could use BUTTON and SPAN only, but I couldn' t get rid of BUTTON paddings. Is any find a solution that uses only one child element, please let me know.

Character Encoding Problem - Browser Cannot Auto-Detect Arabic Pages

2008-03-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Tamer Al-Khouli is facing a strange character encoding problem with Firefox 2 and IE 6.0 browser.

Both the web browsers are unable to detect local language webpages (Arabic in his case) and display junk unrecognizable characters instead.

Since the character set cannot be detected automatically, Tamer has to manually select the correct character encoding each time he visits a webpage written in Arabic. He further writes:

If I followed a link from that page to another Arabic page, I need to repeat the process and so on ! I tried to solve this by going to Advanced-General-languages in Firefox , and set the Arabic language to the top of of preferrable languages list , but this didn't work.

I tried setting the encoding in IE as Arabic ( not "Auto select" ) .. but this also didn't work .

Tamer, most likely the problem is not at your end but with the webpages that you are visiting. The site developers may have failed to include the correct character encoding information in the meta tags of the webpages [check the following line in the HTML source of the sites you visit]

Coming to the solution, since auto-detect is not working for you, try setting the browser to use Unicode ( UTF-8 ) encoding which is a form of universal character encoding and should display most characters.

If even that fails, set the character encoding as Universal in Firefox as the last resort. (see screenshot)

The above fixes may or may not work - the real solution would be to drop an email to the owners of your favorite websites an ask them to specify the character encoding information in their webpages.

Online Keyword Suggestion Tools

2008-03-10T09:38:00.001-07:00

Pay-for-placement advertising has been called by some the most effective method of direct marketing today. Finding the most obvious keywords for your website pages requires simple logical thinking but to choose high-performing keywords, word combinations and phrases that people search for, you need the help of tools to build a more effective keyword list.

Search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN allow advertisers to bid against each other for the placement of ads tied to keywords. An account for your business can be opened for $5 to $50, and bids typically start at 5 cents or 10 cents per click. Paying one penny above another advertiser moves your listing above his. Beyond the account set-up fees, your credit card is charged only for the clicks on your listings. So, the more you pay, the more ad viewers are clicking through to your Web site.

How to Find more keywords relevant to your website? Here we discuss the best online keyword research tools that help your find the best keywords relevant to your blog or website. Try to choose popular and narrowly targeted keywords.

This keyword tools guide is split in two parts. In part 1, we discuss the more popular keyword tools like Wordtracker and Overture while in Part 2, we will mention about lesser known and even unexplored keyword research tools that are also free to use.

1. Overture Inventory Keyword Selector Tool # | #
How many searches can your business get? Enter a keyword to see how many searches have been conducted on that term in the last month.

The Overture keyword suggestion tool displays the most popular keyword combinations for a given keyword or phrase. The suggestions are based on the number of times similar phrases were searched on the Overture network the previous month. The Overture tool is very fast, displays related keywords and also the search statistics for that keyword.

2. Overture View Bids Tool #
To use the Overture Bidding Tool, enter your search keyword and it displays the Advertiser's Max Bid and listing of the ads. (A Max Bid is the highest amount an advertiser is willing to pay for each click.)

Though the OVBT displays what Overture adervtisers are bidding for keywords, it can be used in combination with the Overture Inventory tool to shortlist keywords that can attract higher bids.

3. WordTracker keyword research tool #

Wordtracker is the keyword search tool of choice for professionals worldwide. Wordtracker keyword research reports contains thousands of keywords being used across the major search engines. Using the online Wordtracker interface, you can cherry-pick keywords with high popularity and low competition.

This is how the trial verion of wordtracker works. Enter a keyword or phrase, WordTracker extracts keyword suggestions from 200 related web pages across the internet. Using search data from Dogpile and Metacrawler queries over the last 120 days, Wordtracker displays the search statistics for the top 15 related keyword searches. [Start WordTracker Trial]

If you want to test-drive Wordtracker to discover its true potential of the Wordtracker keyword system, buy a 24 hour pass (1 day account) for $4.20. Wordtracker is a decent resource and well worth paying for to get full access. Wordtracker sends a free weekly Wordtrack Top 500 frequently searched words on the Internet. You can view the top 30 search terms for various metacrawlers (Dogpile, Metacrawler) over the past 48 hours here

4. Google Suggest #
As you type into the Google search box, Google Suggest guesses what you're typing and offers suggestions in real time based on the overall popularity of various searches.

Though Google Search is built for suggesting more refined searches up front, SEO and web authors can use Google Suggest as a keyword suggestion tool to quickly discover related keywords and how many results will be returned for that query on Google. Google Suggest might offer suggestions that you will find novel or intriguing.

Google, someone who really knows how people search, has compiled a comprehensive database of keywords or search phrases that people search for. Google also has indirect access to reports of what people are searching for on other search engines through Google Analytics.

If you are an Adwords advertiser, Google provides you full access to this keyword database.

5. Google AdWords Keyword Tool #

Type in keyword(s) or website URL into the keyword tool to view additional related keywords. The google keywords tool generates a list of the most popular synonyms and related phrases based on searches performed by user on Google search. Keyword results can be limited to countries and languages.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool shows three kinds of related keywords:
More Specific Keywords - Broadly matched keywords are replaced
Shows relevant, more specific alternatives to your general keywords

Similar Keywords - Expanded Broad Matches
Shows related search queries

Similar Keywords - Additional Keywords
Users who searched for your keyword(s) also searched for these terms.

Microsoft Attorneys Knock the Door of Windows AutoPatcher

2008-03-10T09:37:00.001-07:00

Windows Autopatcher, that made life so simple for Windows XP users, is officially no more.

A little Autopatcher background - Microsoft announced XP SP2 in August 2004 and have have released hundreds of security updates and hotfixes since then.

If you install Windows XP on a new computer, you either have to download numerous updates from Windows Update website or you could install the latest version of AutoPatcher XP which includes each and every fix released by MSFT.

The Autopatcher installer is maintained by Windows enthusiasts - it saved bandwidth for thousand of XP users and the software was even distributed with some popular Computer Magazines.

Today, Microsoft Legal called up the AutoPatcher team asking them to discontinue the project and remove the download links. Microsoft is concerned that malicious software could be redistributed with Microsoft Update via Autopatcher. Microsoft will only allow updates to be downloaded from its own servers.

It's strange that Microsoft legal team acted now though the project has been in existence for the past four years.

Now that AutoPatcher is history, Microsoft should work towards releasing the XP SP3 final package real soon else offline Windows XP users will have no way to keep their computer updated with recent Microsoft patches except slipstreaming with nLite.

Earlier, Microsoft had warned users against downloading the XP SP3 Preview package that surfaced on Google groups.

Outlook 2007 File Attachment Previewers - Great Feature

2008-03-10T09:36:00.002-07:00

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 has this very useful feature where you can quickly view file attachments without having to open them in external applications.

For instance, if your colleague sends you a Powerpoint presentation, you can view the slides right inside Outlook 2007. And you don't have to install Microsoft Powerpoint on the computer, not even the free Powerpoint viewer.

Attachment Previewers for most common Office Applications, text documents and image files are pre-installed with Office 2007 while additional file previewers may be downloaded from the Office Online website. And like Outlook 2003, you can always double click the email attachment to open it inside the associated application.

If there are multiple attachments in an email message, say a HTML webpage and jpeg image, they will display in separate preview pane but in the same message window. Outlook file previewers also let you navigate inside documents and presentations that extend to more than one page.

Will save lot of time since you no longer have to wait for bulky Adobe Reader to load before you can view the contents of that 10 Kb PDF attachment.

Related: Create, Edit & Save Office 2007 Documents in Office 2003

Quick Note: These file previewers also allow you to preview files in Windows Explorer on Microsoft Windows Vista. If you are not using Office 2007, you may enjoy similar feature with X1 Desktop Search tool - X1 comes with even more file previewers like Adobe

Cheap International Phone Calls

2008-03-10T09:36:00.001-07:00

Talk anywhere across the world at local call rates, All you need is a Internet line to get started - Steve writes about making a crystal-clear Internet call using Skype's slick software in PCWorld.com:

With all the talk about Internet calling services like Vonage and AT&T's CallVantage, you might have overlooked my favorite option, Skype, which has been around for a couple of years. Using Skype is much like using instant messaging. (In fact, IM features are built in.) Click a name in your contact list, and your PC rings your contact's phone. Once that person picks up, start blabbing. It's free to call anybody, anywhere, who has Skype installed. You and your friend will need a broadband connection for Skype to work well.

Skype has lots more going for it, too: The program is incredibly easy to set up and use, the sound quality is great, and unlike with Vonage there are no monthly fees. In fact, in the United States, you avoid all taxes and pesky regulatory fees. And for a small charge, you can obtain various landline-like features from Skype. For example, SkypeOut allows you to call any landline or cell phone. You pay only about 2.5 cents a minute for SkypeOut calls. I spent 12 cents using SkypeOut to arrange for a hotel reservation in Buenos Aires. SkypeOut's rates are on a par with those of other VoIP and landline services.

There are some cool things to do with Skype. Another service called Skypeout lets you make calls to old-fashioned phone numbers all around the world. Landlines, mobile phones... it works with almost all of them. SkypeOut is not free but it is pretty cheap, actually. Or link up to five folks in a conference call. (Click Tools, Create a Conference.) To add more, have participants invite people. Did you know that you can use Skype with the same telephone you use for regular telephone calls? For more tips, see Michael Gough's Skype Tips page. Download Skype and start calling for free all over the world.

Determine Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack version

2008-03-10T09:35:00.001-07:00

This is a simple reference table to determine which version of Microsoft Office 2003 service pack is installed on your computer.

Microsoft Office 2003 has the following version numbers for the original release and for the service pack releases:

Just locate the executable file in Office 2003 installation directory and verify the version of your Office program. Default location for these files in Office 2003 is : Program files\Microsoft Office\Office11

You do not have to install office 2003 sp2 if you have a later version of the files that are listed in the table.

Google Instant Messenger Screenshot

2008-03-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

Is Google building a IM ? Speculation is that in addition to leveraging its existing assets and expertise in search technologies, IM would allow Google to complete a communication platform that includes Gmail (its Web mail system) and Orkut (its community networking portal).

The Google IM screenshot mentions the name of the Google IM application as "Google instant messenger jabber alpha 0.068". Reports also indicate that Google's IM platform and client would be based on the open source Jabber protocol.

GMail settings carry a link to download google talk (full size). Outside of speculation, there is a currently little known reality about Google's current IM capabilities. It actually already has an IM tool and it's publically avaialbale — it's not even a Google Beta or a Google Labs project. Google though its acquisition of Blogger last year also acquired a company called Picassa, which also offer an instant messaging service. The IM technology is called Hello and is currently focused on instant messaging between people to share pictures and now to post pictures to a blog. Hello is currently available only for Windows and uses a proprietary protocol.

See a full screen preview of the old screenshot of Google Instant Messenger

Update: Threadwatch points to an article in NYTimes - Where to Spend $4 Billion? Google Has Plenty of Projects in Mind.

Google executives say they plan to unveil on Wednesday a "communications tool" that is potentially a clear step beyond the company's search-related business focus.

While executives would not disclose what the new software tool might be, Google has long been expected to introduce an instant messaging service to compete with services offered by America Online, Yahoo and MSN from Microsoft.

Wikipedia Must Rollback the Rel=NoFollow Change

2008-03-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia doesn't want to become the playground of spammers so they implemented a major change today that makes their website less interesting to spammers.

Any URL on Wikipedia website that points to a location other than en.wikipedia.org is now stuffed with rel=nofollow tag meaning Wikipedia won't help bring any Google juice for your site.

So whether it's the CNN website or a PayPal phishing site or an illegal Viagra store, Wikipedia will have the same policy for all - we don't trust you so you get the rel=nofollow tag..

Now that's a worrying development. The search engines would believe that Wikipedia is the actual owner of the content and will rank their pages higher in organic listings even when the content was sourced from other "credible" sites like CNN, Engadget or even your mom's blog.

Let's illustrate with an example:

Say you discover a cool feature in the iPod (called Stylus) and blog about it. Tomorrow, the Wikipedia contributors append the details of iPod Stylus (your discovery) to the Wikipedia page on iPod. They do attribute your blog but search engines will never see that attribution (or read your blog via Wikipedia) because of the rel=nofollow tag.

Now that Wikipedia enjoys higher credibility and trust (read PageRank), the search algorithms will rank the Wikipedia iPod page higher than yours (for queries like iPod Stylus) because the search engine bots are not aware that Wikipedia's content is actually based on your blog page.

Result, your site appears after Wikipedia in the "iPod Stylus" search results and you get less or no traffic while Wikipedia gets to enjoy all the fruits of your labor..

Penalizing everyone for the spammy actions of few individuals is just not right. They should rollback this change immediately.

Firefox Search Bar Hacks

2008-03-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

the Firefox Search Bar in the upper-right corner, sitting next to the address bar, is one of the most frequently used feature inside Firefox.

You can do a lot of tweaking to the Firefox search bar like Add new search engines, delete unused search engines, change the order of search engines, delete autocomplete, change the default search engine or even resize the width of the search bar. We discuss each tip in detail here (also applicable to Flock):

How to add a new search engine to Firefox search bar ?

The Firefox Search bar comes pre-loaded with Google, Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, Answers.com, and Creative Commons search. If you'd like to add more search engines to the search bar, click on a search engine name here or browse the full directory of search engine plug-ins at mycroft. Alternatively, click the down arrow next to the G in the search box, and choose Add Engines.

How do I remove a search engine from Firefox search bar ?

To Uninstall a Firefox search plugin, open the searchplugins folder situated in the Mozilla Firefox 1.5 installation directory (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\). Sort the entire folder by name so that files selected with any search engine stay together at one place.

Delete both .src and .gif or .png search plugin files for the search engine you want to remove. For example, to remove the eBay search engine, you would delete the files "ebay.src" and "ebay.gif". Restart Firefox and the search engine will be deleted forever. Any custom search engines may be located in the Firefox Profile folder inside Windows Application Data folder.

There's even a Firefox extension for uninstalling Firefox search plugins - just right click on a search plugin and choose Delete.

How do I rearrange the order of search engines in Firefox ?

Search engines are added to Firefox search bar at the bottom. As your list of search engine grows, you may want to sort the order and place the maximum used search engine at the top. Here's how change the order in which the engines are shown in the Firefox search bar.

Type about:config in the Firefox location bar.
Type browser.search.order in the filter.
Now change the values as you wish to reorder.

For example, to make Yahoo as the top engine and Google just next, make the following changes:
browser.search.order.1 = Yahoo
browser.search.order.2 = Google

The other easy option to change the order is download Search Plugin Manager that lets you re-sort the search plugin list in the Mozilla Firefox browser as well as rename, edit, delete or hide search plugins.

Search Engine Ordering is another related search bar plugin that lets you even create new firefox search plugins beside installing, deleting or arranging existing ones. Just Drag-n-Drop to change the order as you want or right click somewhere in the menu to sort them alphabetically.

How do I resize the Firefox Search Bar ?

firefox extension or do it To change the width of the Firefox Search bar, you can either download the resize search boxmanually. Add the following lines of code to userChrome.css file located inside the chrome folder of Firefox profile directory.

/* Make the Firefox Search box flex wider */

#search-container, #searchbar {
width: 400px !important;
}

This is much easier if you get the chromEdit extension, which allows you to edit userChrome.css, userContent.css or user.js, without the hassle of finding your profile.

How do I delete autocomplete entries (history) inside the Search Bar ?

The Firefox search bar and some form fields on web pages have autocomplete dropdowns that appear with a list of previously-entered data. To delete individual entries, Click on the text area, press down to activate autocomplete, highlight the entry you want deleted, and press Shift + Delete.

You can clear the previous searches from the Search Bar. Just right-click it and select "Clear Search History".

You can disable the display of autocomplete entries by adding the following lines to userChrome.css
/* Remove autocomplete dropdown */
#PopupAutoComplete > .autocomplete-tree { display: none !important; }

How do I customize a search engine plugin in 30 seconds ?
Say you have already installed a search plugin that uses www.google.com. You want to change the default behaviour so that the same plugin now searches using www.google.co.in or google.es if you are in Spain.

Open the searchplugins folder located inside the Firefox installation directory. Open the file google.src with a text editor like notepad and make a simple change in the following line
action="http://www.google.com/search"
change this to..
action="http://www.google.co.in/search" or
action="http://www.google.es/search"

Save the file, quite notepad and restart Firefox.

Using the Firefox Search Bar - Keyboard Shortcuts

To search, click in the Search Bar (or press "Ctrl+K") and start typing. Hit "Enter" and your search will be run. You can use "Alt+Enter" to open search results in a new tab.

The Search Bar supports more than one search engine. To see the list of available engines click the icon at the left of the bar, and a list showing the choices will appear. You can also use "Ctrl+Up"/"Ctrl+Down" to cycle between the available choices.

How do I auto-resize the Firefox search bar as I type

The Searchbar Autosizer Firefox Extension makes the searchbar fit its contents. It auto expands the searchbar if needed, and shrinks it if you don't have anything typed in you'd probably want to read.

This is especially useful, when the URL- and Searchbar share the same toolbar, so that both can be as wide as possible - but it works in every toolbar.

How do I create my own search engine plugin for Firefox search bar ?

Technically, a search plug-in is a text file that describes the information to send to a search engine and how to interpret the results. A small icon completes the plug-in so that search plug-ins are easily recognized. If you want to know more, read the documentation.

Even O'Reilly has detailed tutorial on creating a Firefox search plugin from scratch. They create a search plugin to search inside the Whitehouse website. More instructions here.

Though the Google Toolbar for Firefox provides a similar search box, it is not as versatile or customizable as the native Firefox search engine toolbar. If the drop down search engine bar in firefox is not working, try clearing the Firefox searchplugins folder and add your favorite search engines again from mycroft search plugins database.

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Review

2008-03-10T09:31:00.002-07:00

With one of its fastest updates to the product family yet, Adobe this week announced the Acrobat 7 family of products, which includes Standard, Professional, and Reader versions.

You can convert your Adobe PDF file into Microsoft Word (.doc, .txt, or .rtf) using Adobe Acrobat 7.0.

Document Reviewing and Markup

This is probably the boldest change for Adobe Acrobat 7.0 and Adobe Reader 7.0, and appears likely to make a major long-term impact on both how PDF is used, and the number of people involved in the document review process.

Acrobat 7.0 (Professional only) now enables you to give Adobe Reader users permission to use all the commenting and review tools that were previously only available to Acrobat Professional and Standard users - basically it was restricted to users who paid for the functionality. This should mean a far more widespread use of PDF-based document review and, over time, Adobe will no doubt hope that it moves more Reader users towards buying a version of Acrobat that allows them to also send PDFs to colleagues and clients for review.

Download patches for Adobe Acrobat 7.0 and Adobe Reader 7.0 - The Adobe Reader 7.0.2 and Adobe Acrobat 7.02 update addresses several known issues in Adobe PDF software. This update provides improved security. It also addresses known issues associated with forms and viewing PDF files using a Weblink plug-in.

Daily Interesting News Roundup

2008-03-10T09:31:00.001-07:00

Manhattan parking rates rival rents in other places
In Manhattan, where three out of four families don't have a car, the other 25 percent now pay as much for parking as many people in other parts of the U.S. spend on rent. Most Manhattan residents manage without a car, relying on subways, buses and taxis to get around and renting a vehicle when they need to for a weekend getaway. Those who say they must have a car sometimes find bargain parking by heading up to Harlem.

Cure Me with Sex
Woman takes out full page ad in newspaper seeking men to have sex with to cure her cancer. "The ideal candidate would need to have sex with me every two days for at least a year"

Getting Undressed Reveals Your Personality
If you throw your clothes all over the place, you are a friendly, life-of-the-party type. If you remove each piece of clothing and put it away carefully, you are a serious person who likes her life to be very calm. If you take off the shirt, and ten minutes later get around to the pants, you are an extremely self-confident person. If you take off your rings, earrings, necklace, watch, etcetera before anything else, you are a warm and sensitive person.

$70 million penthouse in New York
This penthouse located at Fifth Avenue in New York got to be one of the most extreme apartments out there. The 16 room apartment is located within one of the world's best hotel, the Pierre Hotel, and the top three floors can be yours. 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, 5 fireplaces, a grand terrace and a spectacular 360 New York view can be yours for a measly $70 000 000.

TV in the bedroom halves your sex life
A study by an Italian sexologist has found that couples who have a TV set in their bedroom have sex half as often as those who don't. The study found certain programmes are far more likely to impede passion than others. Violent films will put a stop to sexual relations for half of all couples, while reality shows stem passion for a third of couples.

39 MegaPixels digital camera pricey than a BMW
The medium-format H2D-39 features a 2.2-inch OLED display, on which you can view your 78MB shots. If you're wondering about pricing, the H2D will run you about $31,000. The CF-39MS will make an even bigger dent in your wallet, priced at about $40,000. So, get yourself the world's premier medium-format 39-megapixel DSLR… or buy a Bimmer

client=firefox-a » The Magical Firefox String That Brings Millions for Mozilla Foundation

2008-03-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

There's huge money in free and open source software as Mozilla proves it yet again.

Mozilla, developers of Firefox browser, generated a revenue of $53 million in the year 2005 mostly from "search engine relationships". [Jason Calacanis' estimates were close enough.]

Now it doesn't take rocket science to assume that most of this money flew in from Google as it is the default search engine in Firefox.

So how does Mozilla generates those millions of dollars from that 200 x 22 Google search box sitting on the top right corner of Firefox ? The answer lies in "client=firefox-a"

Type in any query in that box and hit enter [make sure Google is selected as the default search engine] - Now take a close look at the Google URL that appears in the Firefox address bar - you'll see a substring saying client=firefox-a.

http://www.google.com/search?q=fountain+pens&client=firefox-a

That is sort of a hidden instruction from Mozilla to Google search engine saying the search originated from Firefox search box and if the user clicks on a sponsored link (Google Ads) displayed in search results, give us a commission.

There are millions of Firefox users worldwide searching Google several times a day and that keeps the cash registers at Mozilla ringing.

To clear any confusion - Google doesn't pay Mozilla when somebody downloads a copy of Firefox from Mozilla servers. It's only when users perform a search from Mozilla products and clicks on the Google ad.

Update: Mozilla gets revenue from other browsers as well including Microsoft IE and Opera which is free now. Only the reference string changes in that case.

Firefox - http://www.google.com/search?q=test&client=firefox-a

Opera - http://www.google.com/search?q=test&sourceid=opera

IE 7 - http://www.google.com/search?q=test&sourceid=ie7

Update: If you are curious to know how Firefox passes that parameter to Google, follow these steps:

» Open the Firefox installation folder [generally c:\program files\mozilla firefox]
» Open the google.xml file in notepad [located in searchplugins folder]
» You will see the firefox-a string in the file.

Yahoo, Google Going Different Directions

2008-03-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

Google Answers is shutting down forever. While Google and Yahoo may be competing in the web search domain, internally these companies have different visions of the future as suggested by some of the recent developments outlined here:

§ Blog Search Engine: Yahoo earlier integrated Blogs Search with Yahoo! News but for some reason, they quickly removed this feature without offering any reasons. On the other hand, Google is heavily promoting their own blog search search engine in the form of Google Blog Alerts and occasionally highlighting Blog Search results in the main organic search results page. Google also displays blog posts in their Finance portal.

§ Q & A Properties: from the Yahoo! Answers page to their main web search page. Google too has an equivalent paid service called Yahoo! is heavily betting on the success of Yahoo! Answers which some analyst believe could prove to be a turning point for Yahoo. They are also pushing search resultsGoogle Answers which is not so popular as the one from Yahoo. And today, the news is out that Google Answers is closing shop after a period of 4+ years.

The existing Qs and As will be available for reference but the site won't accept new Answers to questions by the end of the year.

As search engines keep getting better and better, people are probably not willing to pay for queries as they can find relevant information for free without much effort. Plus there are better places like Google Groups, Internet Forums and Yahoo Answers where your question is exposed to a diversified group of experts and replies are almost guaranteed.

Virtual Keyboards: Start Typing Anywhere Sans Keyboard

2008-03-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hate the cramped key layout of your cellphone ? Looking for a more ergonomic replacement of your desktop keyboard that makes typing as comfortable as laying hand on a flat table surface ? You'll probably love the magical yet affordable Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard shown above. [the screenshots are real]

Virtual Keyboards project a full size QWERTY keyboard with 63 keys on any flat surface - you can then type away accompanied by simulated key click sounds. The device occupies no desk space and you can easily carry it in your side pockets since it's just the size of a matchbox.

If not a replacement of standard 101-key keyboards, these virtual laser keyboards can be a useful add-on for mobile phone or PDA users who frequently type long SMS or email messages using the minuscule keyboards of the handheld device.

And if you don't find them very useful yet, they could be a great gadget to impress your girlfriend atleast. [Works with PC, Mac, Treo and almost all Smartphones]

I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard | Think Geek [Available for ~$180]

ASCII Art Made Easy!

2008-03-10T09:27:00.002-07:00

If you don't want to save the image as an HTML file, you can use a program like Paint Shop Pro (free evaluation available) to take a screenshot of your browser showing the text-image, and save it as a normal image. Don't forget to use the tools to cut the text-image out of the rest of the screenshot.

Magic ASCII Picture has a lot of output modes for you to create your own ASCII Art Photo, such as Custom Text, Random Letters, Binary Numbers, Hex Numbers, MAP Gray Chars and so on. So you can make some web photos with this application. The image that you choose to have converted, along with your own personal message, can be exported into three major formats, HTML, Rich Text Format (for emailing and word) and BMP. The software is backwards compatible with all major web authoring software and graphics programs.

Now it is so easy to convert your pictures to text - Just point your GIF image and this amazing script (http://www.degraeve.com/gif2txt.php) converts the GIF file into ASCII text or colored HTML. You will be surprised to see the conversion. It is so accurate and looks beautiful.

If your image is in other format like jpg or bmp, try a free converter likr Irfanview.

Toogle is a Text version of Googles Image Search. Currently it creates images out of the very term that was used to fetch those images, later we will endeavour to create images out of the search terms entered by users past and present.

Sharing PowerPoint Presentations on the Web: Can Zoho Show Take on Slideshare ?

2008-03-10T09:27:00.001-07:00

Zoho Show, the online version of Microsoft PowerPoint, recently added a new feature that lets you embed PowerPoint presentations as Flash slideshows in your blog or website.

Slideshare [detailed review] is another popular product in the "PowerPoint to Flash" domain that's specifically designed for embedding slideshow in the blog. Now which one do you choose for your PPT slides ? Let's do a quick comparison between Zoho Show and Slideshare. [all points are out of 5]

Zoho Show lets you create new Powerpoint style presentation from scratch or you can import presentations from your hard drive into Zoho and edit them online. Slideshare can only import presentations and once upload, slides cannot be edited. [Zoho 4, Slideshare 2, Weight 20%]

It took few seconds to upload our 150kb PPT file on Zoho and Slideshare though only Zoho sent a confirmation email once the document was uploaded on their servers. [Zoho 5, Slideshare 5, Weight 10%]

Privacy remains a concern on Slideshare as all presentations are public by default. In Zoho you can set presentations as Private but can still embed them inside blogs. [Zoho 4, Slideshare 2, Weight 10%]

When it comes to converting PPT files to Flash, Slideshare beat Zoho by a large margin. Our first presentation had a logo only on the first slide but Zoho replicated that to all other slides during the conversion. Some of text in our second presentation was cut/invisible inside Zoho though both the files were rendered flawlessly by Slideshare. [Zoho 1, Slideshare 4, Weight 40%]

Zoho Show lets you resize the presentation to fit your blog layout but the Slideshare player has a more polished look-n-feel. Secondly, Slideshare supports tags, user comments and slide transcripts something which we missed in Zoho Show [Zoho 2, Slideshare 4, Weight 20%]

As you would have guessed from the scores, the competition was very close.

The editing features offered by Zoho Show are unmatched and a big time saver if you have to update a presentation that's already streamed by 100 other blogs. In Slideshare, you have no option but to delete the existing presentation and reupload it which breaks the code of existing sites that are linking to the original presentation.

Apart from the editing capabilities, if you just want to share powerpoint slides in Flash format, Slideshare is a much better product than Zoho Show both in ease-of-use and conversion features. Final Scores: Zoho Show 2.5, Slideshare 3.5

Riya Photosearch Private Invitation link

2008-03-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

I have received an invitiation to try Riya search based on face recognition technology. If you are willing to try Riya, drop a comment here and I'll send you the link.

The Riya image uploader is PC only. Once you upload the pictures, you have to train the software just like you train Microsoft Office for speech recognition.

Here's how a image recognized in Riya looks like (the flickr-like notes appear when you move the mouse over the face)

Applying for a Broadband Internet Connection ? Read This

2008-03-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

Before you order a braodband connection (ADSL) through the standard phone line, pay very close attention to the Internet connection speed numbers that are promised by the service provider.

The Internet connection speed is measured in Megabits (Mb) or Kilobits (Kb) which is not the same as Megabytes (MB) or Kilobytes (KB) that are typically used to measure file sizes on a hard disk.

1 Mbps connection = 1,000 Kbps ~= 125 KBps [1 Byte = 8 Bits]

Therefore if you ask for a 1Mbps broadband connection, it will take minimum 8 seconds to download a 1 MB file from the internet.

» We say that "minimum 8 seconds" because it's very unlikely that you'll ever receive the full download speed promised by the broadband company [unless it's late in the night when the entire city is sleeping and you are the only person who's connected to the internet]

» Most broadband companies define 1K as 1,000 and not as 1,024 which is the standard in computing. So 1KB is 1,024 Bytes but in broadband jargon, 1Kb is equivalent to 1,000 bits and not 1,024 bits as you would expect.

» Broadband connections are generally asymmetric meaning the download and upload speed will be different [generally the upload speeds are lower than the average download speed]

» The download speed can also vary depending on the quality of your telephone line wiring.

» Finally, if you use the internet even for a few hours daily, try to opt for a plan that has no "download limits" (or unlimited bandwidth) - that helps you browse and download music, videos and other large files with complete peace of mind.

Else those rising bandwidth meter graphs will spoil your browsing mood especially when you are about to exhaust your monthly quota.

Screencasting Software News Roundup; ViewletBuilder 5

2008-03-10T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some quick updates from the wonderful world of Screencasting:

» After a long break, Qarbon is all set to release a new version - Qarbon ViewletBuilder 5 - in January 2007. Meanwhile existing users can download ViewletBuilder 4.5.8 here. [Read our review of Viewlet Builder 4.5] The upgrade price from VB4 to VB5 will be $199.

» Camtasia Studio 4 for Windows Vista - Techsmith have just released Camtasia Studio 4.0.1 to make the popular screencasting software work with Windows Vista. Camtasia Studio 4.0.1 will overwrite a previous installation of CS 4.0.0 but will not overwrite 3.1.2. [download here Username: betatester Password: gnaws55]

» Some pleasant surprises are in store for Mac users. One, there are strong hints that Techsmith is developing Camtasia Studio for Mac platform. Second, Qarbon has resumed development of ViewletBuilder for Mac and according to Jay Lucke, the new version is expected sometime in Q1 2007. Download ViewletBuilder for Mac trial here.

» Tanida Inc. released a new version of their very popular simulation and authoring tool - Demo Builder 5.1. You can password protect your screencasts and even set an expiration date. Unfortunately, we do not quality for a free update. [Read detailed review of Demo Builder 5]

» Paul Pival delivered an excellent talk on Screencasting at the SirsiDynix Institute. You can download Paul's Powerpoint slides or listen to the presentation in MP3 format or read his FAQ here.

» Camtasia Studio users just can't afford to miss this excellent series - 30 Videos in 30 Days - a series that will transform you into an expert Camtasia Studio screencaster. Thanks Betsy Weber, Troy Stein, Brooks Andrus and others.

» Here's an excellent Screencasting blog by Manuela Hoffmann - screencasting.de - Though Manuela writes in German, there's plenty of interesting stuff for English readers as well.

» Pascal van Hecke has extensively reviewed the various online video sharing websites for hosting screencast videos. Revver and Blip.tv get the most points though screencast.com was missing from the list since that's a paid video uploading site.

» Molly McDonald produces some interesting video reviews of latest Web 2.0 apps in the form of screencasts at Screeniac.com. If you like to know more about Molly or how she does her screencasts, read her interview with Centernetworks here.

» Meredith Gorran Farkas has just finished writing a very interesting article on Screencasting. Meredith is a distant librarian and the brain behind some of the best screencasts that I have seen including this one on creating conference wikis (produced with Adobe Captivate).

Screencast, Photocast, Vidcast, Webcast, Skypecast, Textcast, Podcast: Differences explained

2008-03-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

Screencasting, Webcasting, Photocasting, Podcasting, Vidcasting or Vodcasting, Skypecasting, Mobilecasting, Textcasting, Coursecasting, Blogcasting - these are all different forms of broadcasting digital content using basic hardware, software where you play the role of a actor, producer and the director. You create content on your computer and using RSS, broadcast it over the internet to be consumed by millions of people.

So let's put the techie jargon aside and try to understand these "complicated" terms in simple English so that you don't feel embarrased when someone mentions them in the next geek conference.

Podcasting - A podcast is just another mp3 file that you can play either on your computer or any portable device like the Apple iPod or Creative Zen. Podcasting refers to the entire process of creating the podcast [audio], editing and publishing to the web via RSS. Podcasting requires a microphone and audio editing software like Audacity or Adobe Audition. Mac users are lucky to have Garageband and iLife.

Autocasting - Autocast is like a cousin of podcast - the only difference being that the audio is not narrated by a human being but it has been generated automatically from the blog feed using a text to speech conversion engine. Talkr is one such Autocast service that converts the text inside RSS feeds to podcasts [mp3 files] for free.

Blogcasting - Barring a few search engines like Blinkx, most cannot index audio content. Therefore some podcasters attach a transcript of the podcast to their blog so that both human beings and search engines read [and index] what's there inside the podcast show. This is BlogCasting - blog + podcasting.

Voicecasting - VoiceCasting is the distribution of podcasts directly to a mobile phone, traditional phone, or VoIP phone. The audio is taken from a Podcast, and played back live to the listener. VoiceCasting is sometimes even referred as Phonecasting.

Mobilecasting - Like voicecasting, mobilecasting refers to downloading and listening to podcasts on cellphones. When we compare with voicecasting where the user dials a number to get the podcast,in Mobilecasting, the users subscribes to the podcast feed and automatically gets the content on his phone without making a separate request. For some, creating/recording podcasts using a mobile phone also falls under the mobilecasts umbrella. GCast is one such service that lets you record your podcast via a toll-free call from any phone.

Vodcasting - often used interchangeably with Vidcasting which essentially means creating and distributing video podcasts. Unlike Podcasting where you only require a microphone, for creating Vodcasts you need a video camera (preferably HD) and video editing software like Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere or Apple Final Cutpro. The video on demand {vod) content is distributed via RSS feeds. Associated terms are vlogs, vlogging, vodcasts and vcasts. Rocketboom and Diggination are popular vodcasts.

Learncasting - elearning via feeds - Learncasting is a category of podcasting or even vodcasting that aims deliver educational content. Stanford University professors are already putting their lectures on iTunes. Also know as podagogy.

Webcasting - The term webcasting is usually reserved for referring to non-interactive linear streams or live events like Product launches, stockholder meetings or reporting quarterly earnings. A webcast is similar to a broadcast TV show but designed for internet transmission. Webcast clients allow a user to connect to a server, which is distributing (webcasting) the webcast, and displays the televisual content to the user. Related: Desktop Screen Sharing.

Skypecasting In simple terms, Skypecasting means recording your Skype conversations, conference calls and interviews for inserting in podcasts. The person who does the recording is known as a SkypeCaster while the recorded audio is called a SkypeCast.

Photocasting is a new way of sharing photos accompanied by music or narrations. It's like sending your photo album to your friends and family, and having it change automatically on their computers when you update it on yours. When your grandmother subscribes to your photos [photocasts], she'll see them in her iPhoto library just as you see them in yours.

Screencasting According to Jon Udell, a screencast is a digital movie in which the setting is partly or wholly a computer screen, and in which audio narration describes the on-screen action. Capturing a screencast needn't be much more complicated that capturing static screenshots. Screencasts are excellent tools for learning how to use computers, and several podcasts have started to teach computer users how to use software through screencasts. Techsmith Camtasia Studio is pretty much the industry standard for creating screencasts.

TextCasting is just a day old term coined by Slate Magazine. Just like Blogcasting, Slate is looking to make text of some of its articles available for reading on the iPod. Lexus, which advertises on Slate podcasts, is sponsoring the textcast, with its logo appearing where the album art is usually shown and in a text ad within the story.

CourseCasting: Apple allows colleges to set up customized portions of the iTunes Music Store to distribute course content and other audio and video material. CourseCasting allows professors to record their lectures and make them available for students to download and listen to on their iPods or computers.

Latest Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Cracked

2008-03-10T09:22:00.002-07:00

New workaround prevents Microsoft AntiPiracy check

When you access Microsoft Download Center or on the Microsoft Windows Update Web site, you are prompted to install an WGA ActiveX control (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool) that performs a validation check to verify that your copy of Windows is genuine.

Microsoft recently updated the WindowsUpdate website that seems to break the previous WGA workaround scripts.

However, hackers have comeup with another solution - A new WGA Workaround User Script floating around called Windows Genuine Advantage Patcher (1.5.512.0) claims to circumvent validation checks for Microsoft Windows Updates and Microsoft Download Center.

The WGA byepass script works in four steps:

1. Download the latest Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool (KB892130) from from Windows Update. Download and Install Now after you click Express or Custom. Reboot if prompted.

2. Disable the WGA Add-On

3. Dowload the validation patch for LegitCheckControl.DLL ver. 1.5.512.0 (WGA_Patch_1.5.512.0.exe - 14336 Bytes)

4. Go offline (disconnect), apply the wga patch and clear your IE Cookies, Temp and Cache folder.

P.S. Use at your own risk. We have not tested the procedure.

Also, the Automatic Updates feature is not affected by the WGA validation check. Therefore, you can use the Automatic Updates feature to make sure that you receive critical Windows updates.

The Annoying Windows Automatic Updates Restart Dialog

2008-03-10T09:22:00.001-07:00

Windows XP users have turned on Automatic Windows Update will have absolutely no problem recognizing the "Restart Now, Restart Later" Dialog shown in the screenshot below:

When Windows XP is finished downloading and installing new updates/patches from Microsoft Windows Update website, it will ask you to restart the computer to complete the installation.

The Restart Dialog Window can be removed by killing the wuauclt.exe process from Windows Task Manager or SysInternals Process Explorer but the most irritating part is that the window pops-up again after few minutes.

There are two solutions to get rid of this annoying Restart Window depending on what version of Windows XP you are using.

The easiest way is to start Windows Command Prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd) and type the following command:

sc stop wuauserv

The Restart Window will disappear immediately including the icon in the system tray.

Microsoft entering Adobe territory

2008-03-10T09:21:00.002-07:00

Microsoft's insatiable quest for software dominance continues. And this time, the target is Adobe Systems. Microsoft is not willing to concede the design market to Adobe/Macromedia. As a first step, they acquired Creature House to solidify its presence in the design market. And if Microsoft is successful, it will represent the most significant competitive threat Adobe/Macromedia has seen in many years.

Adobe PDF, Photoshop and Flash find themselves in Microsoft crosshairs.

Target I : Adobe PDF - Microsoft is working on a new XML based document format "Metro" that will challenge Adobe's PostScript and PDF technologies. Microsoft Metro will be licensed royalty free and users will be able to open Metro files without a special client. It will be available around the time Visa is released. [read details]

Target II : Adobe Photoshop - Microsoft's own illustration and graphic design tool Acrylic is actually an updated version of Creature House Expression bought by MS in 2003. Microsoft intends to offer Acrylic as an alternative to Adobe Photoshop, likely at a lower cost. Acrylic supports XAML format that will enable developers to take advantage of Windows Vista's new graphics engine known as Avalon. [read details]

Target III : Adobe-Macromedia Flash - The Adobe-Macromedia merger will close this fall and Macromedia Flash is set to become Adobe's baby. Infact, Flash received the maximum boost in recent announcement of Macromedia Studio 8. And Microsoft Sparkle is all set to challenge Flash dominance.

Update: Microsoft Sparkle has better 3D capabilities but requires Windows Vista. It might take few years before it actually makes a dent to Macromedia Flash's marketshare.

The ubiquitous lightweight Flash player is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, handheld devices and cellular phones. And Flash Player is free while Sparkle would require users to upgrade to a completely new OS and even new hardware.

So what is Microsoft Sparkle ?

Sparkle is a vector graphics software (SVG) also based on Creature House Expression. It will automate XAML application development. XAML is the page/UI description language for Windows Vista. XAML is also integrated with the new Avalon graphics system of Vista, which talks directly to accelerated graphics cards. Some believe that Microsoft may offer the Sparkle/Avalon/XAML trio even for free.

More details on Microsft Sparkle are expected in the PDC 2005 conference.

At its upcoming Professional Developers Conference next month, Microsoft Corp. will divulge more details about its Expression Studio suite of design and developer tools for the Windows Presentation Foundation, formerly code-named Avalon.

Expression Studio will consist of Acrylic, Sparkle and other components. Microsoft is looking to push the Expression suite in lockstep with its Visual Studio developer tools suite to make designers key participants in the development process.

Sparkle, which has already created enough ripples and excitement in the Flash community, could also spell the demise of tools that convert Microsoft Powerpoint to Flash files. (read, Macromedia Breeze Presenter module). And Metro could impact the Adobe Acrobat share.

But why did Microsoft choose to target only Adobe Flash ? 3DS Max 8 and Alias Maya 7, recently unveiled at Siggraph 2005, are much more sophisticated design tools when compared to Flash. The fact that Sparkle will be embedded into the OS could mean faster rendering times and better graphics.

Life without Quintessential Microsoft Office

2008-03-10T09:21:00.001-07:00

To evaluate the threat of Web-based software and services to Microsoft Office, an MSNBC reporter tries to do without Microsoft Office for a week relying on free software and services - available via the Internet - for everyday business tasks. (MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)

After spending a weeking without clicking any of the Microsoft Office Icons, the writer concludes

it came down to the familiar question of what was worth more, my time or my money. While it was technically possible to perform most of my daily work without using Microsoft Office - or my credit card - it took considerably more time. Setting up the new systems was time-consuming, as I had expected.

Here are some of the alternatives to MIcrosoft Office Program which he used in his research:

Alternative to Microsoft Word
..And once I had OpenOffice's "Writer" on my machine, I found I didn't miss Microsoft Word at all. Many of the commands were the same, and I was able to easily open Word documents using Writer. The program also makes it extremely easy to save documents in the PDF format, something Microsoft only plans to offer with the forthcoming version of Office, due out in 2006.

On Web-based word processing
It was a breeze with Writely to import Word documents already on my hard drive, and relatively simple to save Writely documents in either the Word or OpenOffice format. gOffice offered more sophisticated formatting options, and it was easy to print documents as PDFs.

Database Application
OpenOffice's database program, Base, was able to import my contact list from Microsoft Outlook quickly and elegantly but did not give me the option of saving the data into the file format needed to transfer it to most other applications. Another OpenOffice program, Calc, let me to save the data in the right format but took more time to tweak the data so it would import correctly. Overall, I found it easier to use Microsoft Excel.

Web Based Calendars
My overall favorite turned out to be CalendarHub, which easily imported four years worth of calendar data into a pleasing interface and offered handy e-mail reminders of upcoming events. CalendarHub also offers a desktop program that will list upcoming meetings, but I had trouble getting it to work. When contacted, the company quickly fixed the bug.

E-Mail Client
Although my company's server software settings made it difficult to use other e-mail clients, I did work some with Mozilla's Thunderbird and found it to be a functional alternative to Outlook. The interface was familiar, and it was easy to set up and to import old e-mails. I also used several free, Web-based e-mail accounts for some business communication. Gmail was my favorite for organizing data based on "conversations."

Privacy Concerns
Also, although it is nice in theory to be able to access data online, in practice it often took longer to log on to different applications every time I needed something, rather than just opening a file on my desktop. Perhaps my biggest concern was about my privacy, once I began entrusting my calendar, contacts and other information to Web-based systems instead of my own hard drive and my company's secure network. And I wondered if I should really be storing such valuable work data on systems that could crash or go out of business at any time. I found some benefits to having my work available on Web-based systems, and there are some I will probably use again. But, for now at least, Microsoft is right these challengers will complement, not replace, my Microsoft Office software.

For now at least, Microsoft says it doesn't see these alternatives as a major threat, regarding them mainly as complementary to Office. And yet, Microsoft recently launched its own companywide push towards offering more Web-based software and services.

SharedView - Microsoft Screen Sharing Tool Is Now Available

2008-03-10T09:20:00.001-07:00

Tahiti, the screen sharing software from Microsoft, is now available for public download without requiring an invite. The software also has a new name - SharedView [not to be confused with SharedCopy]

Nothing much has changed since the Tahiti release though the latest version looks stable and sports a more polished interface.

With SharedView, a maximum of 15 users can hold a live meeting, share screen and collaborate real time. You will still have to wait for future ShareView releases to get audio support or chat function.

Only the host or the person who initiates a SharedView meeting requires a Windows Live ID, the participants or invitees to the session can join without signing up as long as they have the invitation password from the host.

Microsoft has added a strange clause that says "This Service may only be used within the United States of America." though it is technically possible to use the service anywhere since they are not checking the IP address of the host or guest computers yet.

Top Paying Chitika Keywords

2008-03-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

Chitika eMiniMalls is a new pay-per-click, contextual advertising system like Google Adsense. has been running Chitika eMinimalls (affiliate) since some time now. Our initial impression is that individual clicks on Chitika ads earn better revenue when compared with Google Adsense. But Adsense units give a higher CTR as they easily blend with the text.

Since Chitika now supports channels (SID) , we can use this technique to determine the best Chitika keywords that have a higher CTR as well as eCPM.

Here we have written a simple hack to determine the top paying keywords in Chitika eMinimalls. Since this hack only extends the existing channel names, we will still be able to track which Chitika interactive unit was clicked by the user.

All you need to do is add one more line of code to your Chitika Javascript code.

The variable ch_sid holds the SID level/channel name. We have just extended the channel name to include the product name. Once this is enabled, your Chitika eMiniMalls reports will show data for "channel name" + "product name". So you will easily know which keywords are performing best and remove the ones that are low paying or receive no clicks at all.

Chitika Customer service are doing an excellent job. They sometimes reply to your queries in few seconds.

I made a few changes in the above code based on Michelle (Chitika Customer Service) advice.

1) The semicolon was missing in the first ch_sid. This can lead to javascript errors on some browsers. Also I added // before the "Chitika Channel Name". (since people tend to blindly copy the code. If there is a comment atleast the code wont break)

2) Nitpicky thing: changed the repeated ch_queries[ch_selected] to ch_query (and saved 1 nanosecond to avoid the array reference! :-)

Download Windows Vista Wallpapers, Backgrounds Themes

2008-03-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

Download Windows Vista Wallpapers

You can download any of these beautiful Windows Vista desktop backgrounds by clicking the wallpaper thumbnail images.

They are all high resolution Vista Wallpapers and will also fit your wide screen Laptops or dual screen computer monitors. Will even make a perfect Windows Vista theme for XP.

If you are not upgrading from XP to Vista yet, this is possibly the easiest way to make your XP Desktop look like Windows Vista [choose one of the green Wallpapers with leaves and water drops or one with bamboo sticks]

This photo gallery of Windows Vista Wallpaper images is constructed from Flickr where the wallpapers were uploaded by Brajeshwar.

If you like to download the entire Vista wallpaper collection in one go, here are the links:
Windows Vista Wallpaper Pack
Microsoft Windows Vista Wallpaper
[Official wallpapers from Microsoft bundled in the latest Windows Vista build.]

Instructions for enabling Blogger Trackbacks

2008-03-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Blogger Backlinks, just like Trackbacks, enable you to keep track of other pages on the web that link to your posts. Here's a short tutorial on how to enable trackbacks in Blogger. There is also some little HTML code that you can add to your blogger templates. The code is very similar to the Blogger comments template code.

Backlinks feature is based on the link: operator of Google Blog Search. So sites linking to your blog will need to be indexed by Blog Search and there may be a slight delay before the backlinks appear on your blog.

1. The backlinks setting can be found under the Settings Comments tab, and consists of a single, simple option to turn it on or off:

2. If you are using a standard Blogger template, the Trackback code automatically gets appended in the template as soon as you enable the above setting. But if you are using a custom Blogger template, the above setting will not be available for you. You are then required to add the HTML code manually to the template at the right place.

3. Look for the area enclosed in the tag in your template. You will notice a comment block section (look for Links to this post:

" rel="nofollow"><$BlogBacklinkTitle$>: posted by <$BlogBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$>

<$BlogItemBacklinkCreate$>

You will have to change the CSS styles and classes based on your Blog CSS Template. Just like comments, Blog owners can even delete or hide backlinks that they do not wish to display.

If you want to turn off backlinks for individual posts, you can do so. The process is the same as that for turning off comments. Just edit the post in question and change the options that appear below the posting form. (see the image on the right).

This is not anything new for experienced bloggers. People have long used Technorati Cosmos to know who are linking to their posts. But since it comes from Google, it definitely deserves attention.

Update: Blogger introduces additional options for Backlinks. If you click that link you'll be taken to the post page, where the backlinks are all listed beneath the comments. Clicking the triangles next to each link will display a snippet of text from the page linking to you, as well as some author and date information.

Cursive Writing, Handwritten Documents Are Endangered Species

2008-03-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

We are not writing letters on paper anymore because email is fast and more convenient. We don't use the pen or pencil to take notes in libraries because our research is done online and notes are often stored in digital scrapbooks or Word documents for easy retrieval.

Two years ago, I remember my niece in Maryland carrying a Tablet PC to her classroom - she had just entered teens and would often complete her school homework typing on the computer keyboard instead of writing on traditional paper notebooks.

Not just keyboards, handwriting recognition software of your touch-screen Tablet, Digital Pen or PDA have become so efficient that you can scribble the way you like and it will be read correctly. That further reduces the need for learning good or even legible handwriting skills.

When SAT exams introduced handwritten essays, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. Everyone else printed block letters because they were not used to writing with Pen.

Handwriting may soon become a lost art with not just the younger generation but even with old timers like Mark Cuban who very frankly admits -& ;"I forgot how to write".

Mark went to a meeting without his laptop and missed noting the important points because he couldn't write fast enough though he can touch type pretty fast. His comment - "Is writing with a pen on a pad of paper not like riding a bike ??"

In the digital age, we aren't writing any less but the medium has shifted from pen or pencil to the keyboard. Maybe it's time to rephrase the old saying - "the ~~pen~~ keyboard is mightier than the sword".

WashingtonPost Announces Ad Network for Bloggers Only

2008-03-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

The prestigious Washington Post has launched a very interesting advertising program specifically for all Bloggers that will bring additional site traffic to your blog plus open up a new alternate revenue stream from advertisements.

Anyone can apply for this Washingtonpost Blogroll program and once your blog is accepted, it will be promoted as a rotating banner on the Washingtonpost.com website which is again a very high traffic Internet property. [see screenshot from their website below]

These blogs will be made available to potential advertisers and will only show ads that offer better returns than your existing Google Ads or other networks. Basically, you will have to suggest your existing CPM to Blogroll and that becomes the threshold for potential advertisers. No ads would be served that of a lesser value.

Here's the current status of the program [from an email message] - "Since our first announcement in August, we have been working diligently with our platform partner, ADiFY, to build out the infrastructure to support the program. We apologize for the long silence, but are very excited to say that our systems are in place and we are sorting through the 1,200+ blogs that were submitted to us."

The WashingtonPost Blogroll programs has all the right ingredients to become a hugely successful and popular ad network program for bloggers. Some reasons:

1. The "Washington Post" brand name needs no introduction and will easily bring in a pool of good advertisers. And their sales team already has decades of experience.

2. The Blogroll technology would show ads only when they offer better returns [higher CPM] than your existing ads. So blogger get the best of both worlds.

3. WashingtonPost Blogroll lets you approve or reject ads before they appear on your blog property. Not all existing ad networks offer that facility.

4. The Ads would be served in standard sizes making it easier for publishers to blend them in their existing blogs. They could be a mix of text, image and Flash.

5. Since your blog link would be displayed on properties like WashingtonPost, it may translate to gallons and gallons of Google juice plus an avalanche of new visitors.

6. Now the real winning point - Buyers can purchase ads directly from your website and make instant payments via Credit Card or Paypal. This could be the biggest attraction as advertisers get an easy way to advertise on websites that they accidentally discover on the web.

The extra effort involved in sending an email to the site owner or going to a third site for placing ads may be turning lot of potential advertisers away.

There are also plans to promote blogs on other properties including Newsweek.com, Slate.com and BudgetTravelOnline.com.

However, there's no information on the commission rate or what percentage of ad revenue will be retained by WashingtonPost.com. Our rough estimate is that it would be somewhere in the 30-40% range, slightly above the standard industry rate.

Synchronize Files, Folders across Multiple Computers Automatically

2008-03-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

The Problem - Imagine a scenario where you have multiple computers that are all connected to the internet - the home desktop runs Windows and contains all your song collection and family photos, the office computer stores important documents / presentations and while traveling, you prefer to carry the Macbook laptop.

Your goal is sync the data (music, documents, photos, etc) scattered across multiple computers or even directly access files stored on computer A from computer B. For instance, if you add some new photos to your home computer, they should also become available in your Macbook pictures folder as well so that you can enjoy the pictures while on the move.

Similarly if you have work from both office and home, the documents on the Office computer should be accessible for editing from the home computer and once edited, it should automatically replace the outdated version sitting on the office desktop.

The Solution - When your files are scattered across computers and you hate transferring data via CDs, FTP, email attachments or USB cables, a neat time-saving solution is FolderShare - a free software utility from Microsoft that can synchronize the contents of folders on different computers over the internet.

To get started, you download the FolderShare software on each of the computers that you want to synchronize and then select the folders that you would like to keep in sync - a good example is the "My Documents" folder.

FolderShare runs in the background and automatically syncs files across different computers. If a particular machine is offline, the document will be synched the next time you connect it to the web.

Other than sync, FolderShare can also be used to download files in shared folders from any computer remotely via the web browser (similar to PurpleNova or Dekoh).

There are absolutely no limitations expect that the maximum size of individual files should not exceed 2 GB.

More Advantages - And Windows Live FolderShare is a perfect alternative to online backup services like Mozy or IDrive - the moment you connect your computers to the net, content of one computer are automatically backed on the hard drive of the other computer(s) that may be located in the nearby room, your office or somewhere else.

And though FolderShare is from Microsoft stable, it supports file sharing on both Mac and Windows computers.

Rapidshare, MegaUpload and YouSendit - Unlimited File Hosting

2008-03-10T09:11:00.001-07:00

Q: What is Rapidshare, Megaupload or YouSendIt ?

A: These are free and unlimited file hosting services where anyone can upload and download large files including MP3 songs, videos, games, software, ebooks, etc.

While Rapidshare and Megaupload are available only in the browser, alternative YouSendIt also has a desktop client that can resume uploads.

Problem: Since services like Rapidshare or Megaupload make file sharing so simple, they are often used for sharing illegal content like warez, adult movies and software cracks. Rapidshare URLs are not protected by passwords so anyone can download that content.

Q: What is a Rapidshare Premium account ?

A: When you download files from Rapidshare (or Megaupload), there are certain download limits per IP address. You have to wait for some time and type a certain CAPTCHA before downloading Rapidshare files. No FTP support and it is not possible to leech Rapidshare files as the service permits one download thread per IP. You can bypass all these restrictions by purchasing a Premium Account for unlimited downloads.

Q: How to get free Rapidshare accounts?

A: Rapidshare in the past has offered free premium accounts on their website but they are extremely rare. Most of the username and passwords for Rapidshare premium accounts that you would find on the web are either expired or just an hoax like the rapidshare golden pack. You just need Paypal for becoming a premium Rapidshare user. The same is true for Megaupload premium accounts.

Q: Is there an Rapidshare File Search Engine ?

There's no official Rapidshare search engine but you can use Google to search files on Rapidshare and Megaupload. Here are some search tips:

Search Videos on rapidshare.de avi|mpg|mpeg|wmv|rmvb|3gp site:rapidshare.de
Search Audio MP3 files on Rapidshare: mp3|ogg|wma site:rapidshare.com
Search archives or programs on Rapidshare zip|rar|exe site:rapidshare.de
Search pdf files, documents, ebooks, magazines: pdf|doc|lit|rar|zip site:rapidshare.de

Other Google search operator that will help search files are intitle: and inurl:

Q: Do you know of any working Rapidshare Tricks?

A: You can bypass the download limit on Rapidshare with an IP address change - turn off and on your modem if you have a dynamic IP - the tip will not work for static addresses. Also remember than Rapidshare will delete files that have not been accessed for 30 days or longer.

Q: How to Download Files from Rapidshare and Megaupload?

A: If you have a web browser that accept Javascript, you can download files easily. Wait for some time and let the download begin. There are some Rapidshare hacks to beat the download timer by reducing the wait time but they are too complex for the average Joe and not recommended.

Incase of free Megaupload accounts, the limit is on the country. You can access Megaupload files via proxy (like anonym) or Google Translate to download without wait.

There are some Rapidshare clones that provide FTP access, no download limit and can resumes broken downloads but not sure how they will survive in the near future.

Q: How to Upload files to Rapidshare ?

A: Incase of Rapidshare and Megaupload, you need the browser but for uploading files to YouSendIt, you can use Microsoft Outlook.

Q: Is there any Rapidshare Downloader ?

A: If you have free Rapidshare account, you can only download files via the browser. However, Premium Rapidshare account owners get direct file URLs that they can paste inside any download accelerator software like RapidGet, FlashGet, GetRight or Orbit Grabber.

Q: Rapidshare.de and Rapidshare.com - how are they different ?

A: Rapidshare recently moved from the .de to .com domain though its the same service.

Q: An email contains links to download Playboy magazine and Paris Hilton video. What should I do ?

A: When you upload files on Rapidshare or Megaupload or YouSendIt or SendSpace, they are are not checked for the presence of any virus or trojans. Therefore always stay away for such luring offers as executables are often dangerous for the health of your computer.

Q: Do I need a file hosting service when I can send them as email attachments ?

A: If a file is large enough to send as an email attachment, just upload it to rapidshare and email the file link to the recipient. Rapidshare also provides a delete link so that you can remove the file from Rapidshare servers once the recipient has download the file to his own computer.

Demo Builder - Create Software Movies, Demos and Presentations

2008-03-10T09:10:00.001-07:00

Part II of Screencasting software review series. In our previous review, we covered Qarbon Viewletbuilder in detail. Here we do a review of Demo Builder 5, a powerful software for creating computer presentations, software moviews and demonstrations.

Demo Builder is installed with a sample presentation movie "Screen Saver" - Render this file and you will understand the capabilities of Demo Builder.

When Demo Builder starts, users are shown a simple task pane (similar to that in MS Word) which provides one click access to create new movies or open the existing ones. And even the most recently modified movie files are also listed in this panel.

Demo Builder has one of the best interfaces among all screen capture programs coupled with a good context-sensitive offline help system. The program UI, icon designs and tools tips are so intutive that even first time users may skip the help file.

No other program offers the kind of annotation systems that comes with Demo Builder. If you are select the "Properties" item from the desktop menu, Demo Builder is smart enough and would automatically insert a nice looking balloon shaped graphic or Bubbles with drop shadows that says "Select the Properties menu". There is even support for Animated annotation objects to attract immediate attention of the user.

The workflow of Demo Builder is similar to other screenshot capture programs like Viewletbuilder. You take a series of screenshots of a running application by pressing some pre-defined hotkey. It records the actions being taken on the application and so is able to demonstrate a simulation of these actions. Each screenshot constitutes a Frame that can be further edited in a timeline similar to Macromedia Captivate. The objects are displayed in the Timeline in the order that they are inserted in the frame.

The final movie can be exported in Flash format, standalone executable .exe or a sequence of images.

DemoBuilder 5 includes a new Localization Wizard and a lot of additional new features.

* Demo Builder version 5 introduces new events for your interactive objects(Buttons, Click Zones, Edit Zones) to give you total control over how your movie behaves in response to user actions. Each individual Event now has its own TimeLine so that you can precisely control the separate and specific sequencing of display and behaviours for that event.

* With Demo Builder 5 you can now have Notes automatically inserted into your frames if 'special keys' are pressed at capture time. For example, if F5 is pressed Demo Builder can automatically insert a Note with the text "Press F5 key".

* Maintain consistency of 'look and feel' at a single click! For Balloons, Buttons, Notes and Texts you can now apply your chosen font style/formatting to all objects of the same type using the enhanced font properties editor.

* Record voice-over narration at the time of capturing the screenshots for your new movie. Record voice-over narration whilst previewing and editing your movie.

* Translate your movie text and distribute your movies internationally. The Localize Wizard allows you to update the language of your movies for international distribution by exporting your movie caption text (Balloon, Note, Text etc.) which you then update with text in the desired language.

* Animations have been redesigned, more animation categories (all with subcategories), choose from more colors and set the direction of motion for your animations.

Thanks to Dan Tatomir from DemoBuilder support for providing me a full version of Demo Builder for review.

Download DB Trial or Buy here - The single user license is available for US $199 until Dec 31. You will also get free upgrades to the updated versions that are released within one year from the date of your purchase.

WildForm WildPresenter: Flash Movies, Screen Capture, PPT conversion

2008-03-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

WildForm, the developers of WildFx and Flix (now owned by On2), recently unveiled WildPresenter 2.0 - a rapid Flash Presentation software . Here's our exclusive review of WildPresenter .

Unlike competing Flash development products like Swish or Xtivity, WildPresenter is more than just a Flash Presentation tool. WildPresenter is a feature-intensive suite of useful products packed in one neat timeline-driven interface. WildPresenter has tools for:

1. For Screencasting
WildPresenter has a powerful screen capture feature that lets you record screen actions with voice-overs (narrations) and mouse movements. The screen actions can be exported as a series of image files (frames) which can later be imported into Adobe Illustrator for advanced editing.

2. For capturing Audio or Video from external devices
WildPresenter can directly capture audio-video data from Webcams, Video Capture Cards (TV Tuners), HandyCams, DVCam or a simple Microphone. The captured data can be saved in either Flash or AVI formats.

3. For converting PowerPoint to Flash (PPT to SWF)
You can import Powerpoint Presentations (ppt, pot or pps) in WildPresenter and convert them into a Flash animation video with animation and transitions intact.

4. To Convert any Audio or Video file to Streaming Flash video (FLV or SWF)
WildPresenter can directly import .mp3, .wav, .wma audio files and .avi, .dv, .mov/.qt, .mpeg, .mp4, .3gp, .asf, .wmv video files. WildPresenter will convert it into a SWF or FLV file based on the encoding settings you select.

5. For creating impressive Text Effects in Flash
Remember Matrix ! You can create those stunning Flash text effects in WildPresenter without having to learn complex ActionScript. The software comes pre-loaded with hundres of effects but you can also create your own.

6. For creating Flash Presentations, Flowcharts without Powerpoint
WildPresenter lets you create an entire presentation from scratch using Wizards. The slide sorter will look very familiar to existing Powerpoint users. You can add transitions, auto shapes, animations and audio-video in your slides and later share them as SWF format.

WildPresenter Interface
The interface of WildPresenter looks inspired by Macromedia Flash, Microsoft Powerpoint and 3dsMax. You have a slide sorter like Powerpoint, layers with timeline like Macromedia Flash and a Object Settings panel that displays properties of the object currently selected on the stage.

Pros
WildPresenter screen capture utility is better than some standalonge Screencasting products. WildPresenter Powerpoint conversion engine is not as advanced as Macromedia Breeze Presenter or Articulate Presenter, it offers a cheap and nice alternative. There's also support for Alpha channels to maintain transparency. WildPresenter can also convert your existing FLV files (like Google Videos) into SWF formats which can be directly played in a Flash Players.

Cons
Since this is the first public release of WildPresenter, there are areas that need to be fixed. The Text effects engine crashed when changing effects. When an object is deleted from the stage, the corresponding layer stays in the timeline. There is no option to turn of help in Wizards that seems to occupy half the screen area. The help manual is concise but a couple of tutorials and tips would have helped. Finally, there's no scripting support for advanced users.

Final Verdict
WildPresenter remains a good choice for creating Flash animated movies and presentations if you are on a budget. The feature set is useful but the Wildform Wildpresenter interface failed to impress.

Download WildPresenter 2.0

The review copy of Wildform WildPresenter was provided by Leonard Dumanovsky of Wildform.

HP Laserjet 1010

2008-03-10T09:08:00.001-07:00

http://h50025.www5.hp.com/hpcom/in_en/10_25_101_1706_Q2460A.html

I recently purchased the 1010 laserjet printer. You can opt either for an additional 3 year warranty or an extra cartage.

It is a pretty decent product for my home-office. The speed is good and model looks sleek.

Poor man's Photoshop

2008-03-10T09:07:00.003-07:00

For those who can't afford the ubiquitous Photoshop, welcome to the world of GIMP (acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program)

This program allows you to do most, if not all, of what you can do with comparable programs costing hundreds of dollars.

The GIMP is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. You can resize images, feather edges, erase, fill, magnify, and select portions of your images using the lasso tool. You can also create layers and add text to your images.

Microsoft Website Layout

2008-03-10T09:07:00.001-07:00

Microsoft have updated their main website, Microsoft.com.

The site features a new layout, with more focus on directing users towards security and feature updates like service pack 2 for Windows XP. The navigation also appears clearer, allowing easier access to the many parts of Microsoft's site.

One problem that still remains, however, is the site's lack of standards compliance. It doesn't validate to the very basic (and somewhat aged) 4.01 HTML standard. Also, the site appears quite different in non-IE browsers - Firefox users don't see all elements of the site, and they also enjoy 'poor' images due to DHTML image rendering filters. See this post for more information.

StopDesign has an interesting piece on the new design, pointing out that Microsoft have moved away from tables, towards css, the effect being to reduce page size massivly. They've also moved away from "bulky javascript" that previously dominated the code.

Review of Viapoint

2008-03-10T09:06:00.001-07:00

Viapoint is one more promising player in the desktop search market. Today, I received an email from Aaron Abend, the President of Viapoint Corp for doing a first hand review of Viapoint.

I just read your brief blog entry regarding Matt Fordahl’s coverage of Viapoint. I would be pleased if you would be interested in reviewing Viapoint more thoroughly yourself. If you are interested, please email me and I can send you a press license which is a full use product. Or you can simply download the Demo version (which gives you a great view of the product very quickly) from http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?qt=viapoint&tg=dl-2001&search.x=22&search.y=11

Though I would be shortly trying out the product myself, if you have used this product, please post your experiences here.

Transparent Laptop Wallpapers

2008-03-10T09:04:00.002-07:00

All you need to make a transparent laptop screen is a digital camera and ofcourse, a laptop. And you don't need the expensive Photoshop or Gimp for these magical screens.

View some more Transparent Screens on Flickr.

Google Server Error

2008-03-10T09:04:00.001-07:00

I was trying a search on google and got this "server error". Since this was my first issue I ever face with Google, I thought of sharing it with you. I know it would be difficult to reproduce this error on Google.

P.S. I pressed the Search button again and the problem was gone forever

Tech Etiquette Failures

2008-03-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

Corporates are hiring etiquette consultants to address the misuse of the handhelds and laptops that are supposed to improve employee productivity.

A survey revealed that while people are extremely aware of others' poor behavior--whether it's text messaging in the middle of a meeting or screaming into a cell phone--they often don't see themselves as offenders.

77% said they've overheard a cell phone conversation while in a public restroom. Over half say they are made to feel "unimportant" when someone they're talking to answers a cell phone.

Source: Forbes

Intel Viiv Review

2008-03-10T09:01:00.002-07:00

Intel explains Viiv (pronounced like "five") as a combination of hardware and software that would combine functions of the TV, the DVD player, the VCR and the videogame console.

Intel says Viiv Chipset is still developing and that the best Viiv devices are yet to come. But the Intel Viiv Technology has failed to meet the expectations - Roger Pegoraro shares his experiences with Viiv here

Viiv doesn't look much like that initial vision.

Google Finance Portal

2008-03-10T09:01:00.001-07:00

Currently, when you search for stock prices on Google, the live stock quotes are supplied by ECN while the detailed results are from Yahoo Finance, MSN Money Central and Fool.com.

Google may be preparing to replace this workaround soon with Google Finance or GFinance.

Loren of SEJ is speculating that Google Finance may be nearing launch.

First, he noticed a few referrals from Google.com/finance. Second, the referrals come from computers tracked back to Google.com.

http://google.com/finance?q=goog&btng=search+finance

finance.google.com returns "Server not found" error while google.com/finance returns a 404 error.

Loren also feels that the Google Finance portal is listing either blog or news stories related to stock ticker symbols, as the referrals were pointing to his most recent stories on Google Japan and Google Page Creator.

A previous Google Finance launch rumour suggested that Google wants to replicate Yahoo Finance and is in talks with data vendor Revere Data for stock information.

Microsoft suggests Adsense

2008-03-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

An article on Microsoft's small-business center has some suggestions for bloggers to make money from blogs.

To my surprise, the author suggest putting Adsense or BlogAds on your blogs to generate revenue. This may be a huge embarrasment to MSN which is planning to roll out it's own adverting program soon. But is Adsense only good for lesser-known blogs ? I thought people were quitting jobs for Adsense earnings. Also, Lockergnome, NYTimes and host of other popular sites carry GoogleAds. Jeff Wuorio may need to understand blogging better.

For lesser-known blogs, services such as Google's AdSense or BlogAds enable bloggers to establish ad programs. AdSense's — which lets you select several ads that are consistent with the content of your blog — pays you based on how many readers click on the ads for further information. Even better, it's free. BlogAds, on the other hand, hooks bloggers up with would-be advertisers and levies a commission in return for any ad placements that result.

Computer Software Engineer, Chiropractor in Top Jobs List

2008-03-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

Fast Company Top 10 jobs for 2005-2009 include Computer Software Engineer at the 9^th position while Chiropractors come next. Is there a relation among these two professions ?

When using a computer, several factors including incorrect postures, long sitting hours, Bad Office Workplace Ergonomics may cause discomfort in your hands, arms, shoulders, neck, or other parts of your body.

And a Chiropractic claims to be effective in the treatment of back and neck pain, headaches, and other symptoms that chiropractic views of spine-related conditions.

The increasing use of Computers may have made the job of Chiropractors all the more important.

Interesting Google Billboard

2008-03-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

There are some questions that can't be answered by Google. - City TV spotted this unique Claude Presbyterian Church billboard in Orangeville.

My two cents here - When you can't find something on Google, modify your search queries and if that doesn't work, post that question on your blog. Your readers will definitely help you find answers.

Need some more Google Entertainment ? Try your hand at any of these addictive Google Games.

There's also a website [Can't find on Google] by Wayne Radinsky where you can post your search queries that did not show satisfactory results in Google Search. Other readers on this site will help you find what you are looking for.

MillionDollarHomepage eBay Auction ends in disappointment

2008-03-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

Own The Last 1,000 Pixels on MillionDollarHomepage.com - The eBay Auction is now over but the closing minutes of the auction were a big disappointment atleast for Alex Tew - the creator of MillionDollarHomepage.com

Alex Tew was selling the last 1,000 pixels of MillionDollar Homepage in an eBay Auction. Yesterday, the highest bid amount for 1000 pixels was $160,000 but just minutes before the close of auction, all high amount bidders ($1,000,000+) either retracted their bids or were found to be fake.

Ebay user latentauthor who bid $153,000.00 retracted from the auction citing "Seller [Alex Tew] changed the description of the item".

Two other users - lost.river.trader and ast1155td retracted saying they entered the wrong amount while bidding. Both had entered $160,000,00+ in their pixel bids. A $25m and another $6 million bid were cancelled as they were found to be fake.

The MillionDollarPixel auction was won by greatdealsdepot for US $38,100.00. He made the bidding on 05-Jan-06 and the auction received no "real" bids since then.

The MillionDollarHomepage made more than a million dollars (999,000 + 38,100) It was your Final Chance to Own a Piece of Internet History!

Update: Alex will announce the winner on the Million Dollar Blog once he receives the full payment.

Sleeping with the iPod

2008-03-10T08:56:00.001-07:00

soft comfortable pillow and some slow, relaxing background music are important ingredients for a perfect sleep.

ThinkGeek, the favorite joint for shopping geekie stuff, are now shipping iPod Pillows for music fans. These MP3 pillows are not just shaped like an iPod, they can actually play your favorite music through the internal speakers.

You can either plug-in your iPod or Zune into the hidden pocket or use the built-in FM radio. Even the buttons on the pillow face are functional and let you modify the audio level or change radio stations.

When it's time to lay your weary head to rest, press the power button to shut it all down.

Warning: Don't wash the iPod pillows like the regular once - spot cleaning only.

calendar.google.com goes live

2008-03-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

It looks like Google Calendar (GCalendar) is coming really soon. The calendar.google.com domain is live now though it shows the main Google search page for the moment. I noticed this while seeing one of my website referral.

Even before the launch of Google Talk and Google Base, their subdomains went live few days before the actual launch. The same can be anticipated with GCalendar since the Google calendar subdomain is now live.

It'd be nice if Google integrates calendar into GMail. Yahoo Mail already supports calendar which can also be synched with Microsoft outlook. Let's hope gCal could be much better. Google calendar should also connect with the Calendar plugin in Google Desktop and even the TODO list plugin.

The Talebans of Blogistan

2008-03-10T08:54:00.002-07:00

Iranian authorities dislike weblogs and people who try to promote blogs.

A Canadian blogger was recently detained in Iran and forced to sign a letter of apology because he posted instructions on the Internet in Farsi on how to set up a weblog.

Infact, after China, Iran has the most sophisticated systems to filter internet content. But unlike China where politics is the main issue, Iranian bloggers rarely discuss politics.

The most common issues are cultural, social and sexual. Blogs also are a good place to chat in a society where young men and women cannot openly date. There are blogs that discuss women's issues, and ones that deal with art and photography.

Netpadd - not Notepad

2008-03-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

Netpadd is a free web development related text-editor on Windows; an enhanced Notepad with additional web-specific functionality, suited if you so far use Notepad for editing, like HTML, XHTML, XML, SVG, CSS, ASP, PHP, Python, Java, JavaScript, and so on. I use the program for all my text editing on a constant day to day web programming basis and it seriously speeds up my work.

Netpadd can make backups of the current file, it has file sharing options within an intranet, it can display an (X)HTML document tree to validate the source. You can start a Java compile, call up a complete CSS syntax help. You can load files of any size. You have a code colorizer recognizing XML, XHTML, XSL, ASP, JSP, PHP.
There's a second clipboard. A jump to a line feature. Solid search, and search & replace, of course. You can convert characters to HTML, or look up special characters. You can see the output of an XSL transformation. You can convert tabs to spaces of your defined length. There's auto-completion features. You can easily wrap text with tags. Any many more things.

Cloning Website Designs

2008-03-10T08:53:00.001-07:00

You may have spent millions of hours designing your latest website. You might think your website design is unique. But one fine morning you may get the shock of your life when some creative "web designer" clones your website design pixel by pixel. And you are not alone.

Pirated Sites showcases side-by-side comparisons of web sites that are suspected of borrowing, copying or stealing copyright-protected content, design or code without permission.

In the above example, everything from graphics, text layout, css styles of the Volkswagon UK website was cloned by an Indian company.

Pirated Sites contains links to creations of hundreds of lazy and dumb web designers who just rip-off interfaces and graphics of popular websites like Macromedia and Adobe.

Adobe Captivate 2.0

2008-03-10T08:52:00.002-07:00

After acquiring eHelp, Macromedia did not add any major new feature in eHelp Robodemo 5 software except renaming the product to Macromedia Captivate 1.0. They did release minor updates (Captivate 1.01) for integrating the FLA module with the main program and a minor update to make Captivate SWF files compatible with Macromedia Breeze Presenter.

There is some good news for Captivate fans again. First Macromedia Captivate lives. Second, Adobe developers are indeed working on the next version of Adobe Captivate 2.0 and the rock solid screencasting, screen capture software has already entered the beta phase.

This development been been confirmed by Rick Stone of RoboWizard and Mark Fletcher of Webassist. Both are Macromedia Captivate experts and probably beta testers too.

Screencasting community may already be excited enough to see what innovations Adobe puts in Captivate 2.0 - I expect Adobe to put better drawing tools and enhanced audio-video support. It's not clear if Adobe would release a Mac OS X version of Captivate 2.0 - They didn't do it for Premiere Pro. Even the Captivate 2.0 beta group is not really sure if a Mac version exists yet.

Googlewashing: Increasing Google ranking by stealing content

2008-03-10T08:52:00.001-07:00

People copy articles you've written for the Web and post them as though the material was their own. The problem gets worse when their Web pages get higher rankings in search engines than your own pages do for the same search terms. Andrew Orlowski describe this style of search hijacking as Googlewashing.

Google can't easily tell which of several duplicate sites is the genuine, original source of the content. If you are also a victim of Googlewashing, Brian Livingston has some very useful advice for you.

If you find copycat sites, it may be useless to complain to the offender directly - if you can even find a way to contact him or her. But you might get results by complaining to the copyist's ad network or Web hosting provider.

You can use Google or any other search engine to look for unauthorized duplication of your content:

• Look for copies of your last paragraph because many sites legitimately reprint the first one or two paragraphs of your content in the course of linking to your site.

• Make up little-used phrases at the end of your articles to help you zoom in on copycats. Common words and phrases will appear on so many Web pages that copies of your particular work will be hard to find.

Google Cell Phone

2008-03-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

If the above screenshot shows the actual mobile phone that Google is developing in association with Samsung, Apple iPhone or the Nokia Internet Tablet may be in for some serious competition.

The phone specs say that "it combines the traditional voice and SMS capabilities of phones with all the exciting Google services from the PC such as Search, Gmail, Maps, Blogger"

And check the screenshot of that paid Google survey that actually caused this "Google Phone Storm" in the blogger community.

windowsvista.com/getready - Windows Vista Specs

2008-03-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

Should I buy a new computer with Windows XP or wait until Vista arrives next year ? The answer depends on the hardware that you plan to purchase.

To make sure that PC owners are ready for Vista, Microsoft is making an official announcement of the final Vista Tech specs today at windowsvista.com/getready. EWeek has the details of MSFT announcement beforehand:

Microsoft is expected to label a PC as Vista Capable if it has an 800MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and a DirectX9 capable graphics processor.

Most recent PCs meet Vista Capable requirements. But in order for Vista to display its most advanced features, namely its three-dimensional Aero interface, a PC must meet Microsoft's Premium Ready guidelines - a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 128MB of dedicated graphics memory, along with a graphics processor that meets numerous requirements.

The Best Photography Websites

2008-03-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

If you are into photography, these are some of the best resources on the web for you.

Belgium Digital Belgium Digital is a site with thousands of on-line photos, information about digital cameras and forums.

dcresource Founded in November 1997, the Digital Camera Resource Page was the first of the digital camera sites. The DCRP is designed to be an unofficial resource for current and future owners of digital cameras.

dcviews A value added portal in English with info about all digital cameras, tools and information, as well as an extensive tutorial section, and reviews of selected digital cameras.

digital photography NOW News, reviews and advice about all aspects of consumer digital cameras, scanners, printers, software and associated services.

DPreview Provides an on-going source of information about new products, digital camera information, along with numerous reviews of current digital equipment.

Imaging-resource The Imaging Resource offers comprehensive, informative, and factually accurate digital camera information. Information on the latest digital cameras, scanners and printers.

LetsGoDigital A website with up-to-date daily digital imaging news, reviews and show reports from PMA, etc. Available in English, French, Spanish and Dutch the site offers a camera comparison filtered out of the extensive database.

Outbackphoto Web Magazine for Quality Outdoor Photography using Digital Cameras. Contents include: news, opinion, nature photos, reviews, workshops and galleries.

ShortCourses is a highly-regarded educational site on digital photography published by an editor and author of many leading photography and computer books. It's also the home of the Short Courses Publishing Company, publishers of books on digital cameras and photography.

Steve's Digicams For up to the minute news on new products and all aspects of digital imaging, Steve's Digicams is the site to visit.

Via Megapixel.net

Disgruntled Googlers Announce Resignation on Flickr

2008-03-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Alex Rainert and Dennis Crowley, Dodgeball founders who became Google employees after the internet giant bought their baby, have quit in the most unusual style.

These two-year old Googlers were unhappy and frustrated about the manner in which Google had treated their baby ("DodgeBall") that allowed new competitors (read, Twitter) to win over the game.

The duo announced their decision to resign from Google on Flickr with thumbs-down. And they have tagged the picture on Flickr as "G00G" (that's the stock symbol for Google with Zeroes)

The whole experience was incredibly frustrating for us - especially as we couldn't convince them that dodgeball was worth engineering resources, leaving us to watch as other startups got to innovate in the mobile + social space.

Another irony is that Twitter, which gets much attention than Google-owned DodgeBall, is the brainchild of an ex-Googler.

Let's do a quick recap of high-profile exits from Google:

March 2006 - Google acquires @last, developers of SketchUp. March 2007 - Sketchup co-founder quits Google. [Life as Googler : 12 months]

January 2006 - Google acquires radio ads firm DMarc. February 2007 - dMarc founders leave Google. [Life as Googlers - 13 months]

February 2003 - Google acquires Pyra Labs, developers of the Blogger platform. October 2004 - Founder Evan Williams calls it a day at Googleplex. [Life as Googler - 20 months]

Does this indicate any trend ? Not really as the founding teams of other popular Google acquisitions such as YouTube, Writely, JotSpot, Picasa, MeasureMap, Urchin and others are still enjoying life at Google.

Slipstream Microsoft products

2008-03-10T08:46:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wanted a Windows CD that would install Windows by automatically putting in your name, product key, timezone and regional settings? And have it merged with the latest Service Pack to save time? Followed by silently installing all your favourite applications along with DirectX 9.0c, .Net Framework 1.1 and then all the required hotfixes, updated drivers, registry tweaks, and a readily patched UXTheme.dll without any user interaction whatsoever? Then this guide will show you how you can do just that!

According to Langa, slipstreaming means you create a new setup CD that includes all the patches and updates right in the setup files, so you can create a new Windows installation that won't need hours of downloading and installing patches and updates to be made current. Instead, it will be fully current from the start.

L@rray, a Langalist read has come across a goldmine of a site.

While there, I learned to slipstream XP and various versions of Office, create a bootable CD/DVD, and pack it with a series of scripts that installs the OS, adds specific drivers during the process, installs Office complete with advanced customizations, installs applications such as MSN Messenger and Windows Media Player and even installs Nero Burning ROM (using command-line switches!). There is a whole host of apps that have been documented on the site, with full instructions on getting things right. There are even sample scripts that you can copy and paste to get you started.

There are tools that you can download from the site that even allow you to run a batch command and pack the whole shebang into an ISO file that can be burned directly to a CD (or DVD if you exceed a CD's capacity), or use Virtual PC to mount the ISO as if it's a CD. Then you can "virtually" test your creation without sacrificing a load of disks during the process. Best of all, the site is completely free. Note to readers: Make sure you understand the overall process before diving in. Read the entire site and double-check your scripts before you ever burn your first CD.

If you got a DVD Recorder, you can even bundle Office XP with Windows XP.

What you will need:
A Windows CD. Applicable with Windows 2000 through Windows 2003.
The Service Pack you wish to use for your operating system. Windows 2000 SP4 - Windows XP SP1a - Windows XP SP2
The Deployment tools for your operating system. This guide will cover the build for Windows XP SP2. Those can be found here

Other related interesting reads:
Windows XP SP2 Unattended | Office XP Unattended | InformationWeek on Slipstreaming Windows & Office Programs (Windows XP, Office XP/2003).

The Utterly Butterly Girl

2008-03-10T08:45:00.000-07:00

Amul is a brand of butter made in India. As kids we used to dip Amul buttered bread in hot milk chai. But the Amul Utterly Butterly Girl is an icon of middle class India from the 60s to now. The eagerly awaited Amul ads combine scathing social commentary on the scandal du jour and shine light on little known middle class aspirations that make India a very special place. For example see these Ads made during the 1976-7 emergency. Or see the entire archive till today.

The Amul girl who lends herself so completely to Amul butter, created as a rival to the Polson butter girl. "Eustace Fernandez (the art director) and I decided that we needed a girl who would worm her way into a housewife's heart. And who better than a little girl?" says Sylvester daCunha. And so it came about that the famous Amul Moppet was born. From the Sixties to the Nineties, the Amul ads have come a long way and continue to tease a laughter out of them. Where does Amul's magic actually lie? Many believe that the charm lies in the catchy lines. That we laugh because the humour is what anybody would enjoy. They don't pander to your nationality or certain sentiments. It is pure and simple, everyday fun

Respondus StudyMate: E-Learning Games, Activities in Flash

2008-03-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Respondus StudyMate is an easy-to-use e-learning authoring tool used by educators and course designers for creating Flash-based interactive student tests, quizzes, surveys and games without having to learn Flash scripting, graphic design, or HTML. Respondus recently received the Gold Excellence in E-learning Award from Brandon Hall Research in the Innovative Technology category.

StudyMate can create the following types of Flash activities: Fact Cards, Fact Cards Plus, Flash Cards, Fill In the Blank, Pick A Letter, Matching, Glossary, Crosswords, Quiz, and Challenge. The user interface for the Flash activities can appear in six different languages (Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, or Spanish).

StudyMate exports the activities and games in Macromedia Flash (.swf) format and can publish activities directly to eLearning systems such as ANGEL, Blackboard, eCollege, WebCT, WebCT Vista. Studymate can also export SCORM 1.2 compliant Flash learning objects which can then be uploaded to any other eLearning platform or even a web page. You can also save StudyMate activities to a hard-drive, CD-ROM or DVD for offline viewing. StudyMate additionally allows the exporting of the questions and items themselves (without the Flash templates) to popular formats such as MS Word.

Respondus StudyMate solves a majority of the issues faced by eductors who create exams and self-assessments for publishing to eLearning Systems like WebCT or BlackBoard. And unlinke Articulate Quizmaker, StudyMate offers advanced users a way to create custom HTML templates and to specify which template(s) to use when creating Flash objects with StudyMate.

The StudyMate editor provides three basic templates for entering questions or text that will be used in the activities. Each template can generate a variety of activities based on the data that is entered. During the publishing step, you indicate which of the activities to include in the Flash (.swf) file and then let StudyMate upload the materials to your online course (or you can upload the files manually).

• No Answer - A fact, phrase, or question that doesn't have an associated answer.

• One Answer - A question or definition that has a specific answer or term associated with it.

• Multiple Choice - A question followed by a set of answer choices (only one being correct).

Many StudyMate activities challenge students to acquire "points" and even to spell words correctly. For example, if a word is misspelled in the "Fill in the Blank" activity, StudyMate will highlight the incorrect letters, allow the spelling to be corrected, and deduct a point for each incorrect attempt.

Questions and answer choices can be randomized in StudyMate so that the activity is different each time it is used. The built-in Equation Editor lets you insert complex mathematical formulas and scientific symbols. You can also replace the Respondus Equation Editor with MathType by Design Science. Other features include a spell checker, the ability to add "inline" images and web links, and "StudyMate Organizer" (a free tool for organizing Flash objects on a local drive or server). The Spell Checker tools in StudyMate include three dictionaries: American English, Canadian English, and British English. Additional dictionaries for French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Finnish, and medical terminology can be download from Respondus website.

StudyMate follows a wizard-based approach for importing existing content from MS Word, rich-text, IMS QTI (xml), and Respondus format. StudyMate can also download and import publisher test banks for the leading textbooks in higher education, via the Respondus Test Bank Network.

Respondus StudyMate requires web activation before it can be used. If you want to install StudyMate on a second computer for personal use (or move the license to another computer), you can request a second activation password here.

Respondus Website | Respondus StudyMate 1.5 | Download Respondus Studymate 1.5 | Respondus Test Bank Network | Respondus Studymate Interface Screenshots

Respondus is a registered trademark and StudyMate is a trademark of Respondus, Inc. ANGEL is a registered trademark of ANGEL Learning, Blackboard is a registered trademark of Blackboard Inc., eCollege is a registered trademark of eCollege, and WebCT is a registered trademark of WebCT Inc.

Technosexuality - What's that ?

2008-03-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

Wordspy definition of technosexual (tek.noh.SEK.shoo.ul) n. A male with a strong aesthetic sense and a love of technology.
—technosexuality n.

How is it different from geek? Look again at that "strong aesthetic sense". Real geeks never care what their technology looks like; it's almost a badge of honour to have an ugly box running some elegant code. What fascinated me more than the term itself was the linguistic process of transmission.

Earlier this year, people who spend less money on mousse and more on mouse pads decided that if the style-savvy guys could get their hands on a marketable brand name, then the uber-geeks could certainly come up with something better than nerd: Thus, the term "technosexual" was born.

For years, technological experts have been called many derogatory names, including geek, nerd, dweeb, technophile, gadgeteer, techie or Mr Computer Guy.

"With metrosexuality, it's about style, fashion, culture, and grooming for the straight male. A metrosexual man may be seen at an NBA game one night and an art gallery opening the next," says Ricky Montalvo, the man who wants to take technosexuals mainstream. "We take it one step further by adding technology. A technosexual man may not need to go to the NBA game because he can get highlights and scores via SMS or by browsing the web on his PDA while at the art gallery."

TryMicrosoftOffice.com - Download Office 2007 Trial Software

2008-03-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Office 2007 Trial versions can now be download from the Microsoft Office website. They have created a separate portal for distributing the 2007 Microsoft Office release trial programs.

The trial software can be used for a period of 60 days and they have all the features available in the retail Office 2007 software. During the download process, you will be given a Office 2007 serial number that will be required during the installation process.

There's no information whether these trial versions of Office 2007 can be coverted to full retail versions by purchasing a license. Atleast Office XP trial had that facility.

trymicrosoftoffice.com - Microsoft Office Trial Portal [via Patrick Schmid]

For those of you outside the US, you need to use the following URL's:

Canada: http://www.trymicrosoftoffice.com/canada
Japan: http://www.trymicrosoftoffice.com/japan
Germany: http://www.trymicrosoftoffice.com/germany
UK/Ireland: http://www.trymicrosoftoffice.com/ukireland
France: http://www.trymicrosoftoffice.com/france

Update: Alpesh Nakars has confirmed that Office 2007 Trial version can be converted to a full retail copy by entering the Office 2007 serial number. You need not re-install Office 2007, just enter the registration key after the 60 day trial gets over.

Download Mosquitotone: Teenage Repellent turns favorite Ringtone of Students

2008-03-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

Technology vs Teenagers - Who is winning ?

Mosquito device sends out a high pitched irritating noise that can only be heard by young men as most people over 25 do not hear sound at this frequency range. The purpose of Mosquito is to prevent unwanted gatherings of youths and teenagers in shopping malls and around shops or chase them away.

Not only shopkeepers, Railway companies have placed the device to discourage youths from spraying graffiti on trains and the walls of railway stations.

When Compound Security System developed Mosquito, they would never have imagined that the device would actually help kids and teenagers in their classrooms.

The sound emitted by the Mosquito Teens Repellant is now converted into a Cellphone Ringtone. Since adult teachers cannot hear the sound because it's too high-pitched, school children can receive text message alerts and incoming calls on their cell phones without the teacher knowing.

Google Mirror - elgooG

2008-03-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Google Mirror is wonderfully impressive. A common practice for busy websites is to create a mirror site, which is an exact replica of the original site but on a different server. This way if one server is really busy, you can go to the other server. elgooG is a play on this idea, except instead of an exact replica of the site, it's a mirror image of the site.

The Google Mirror is implemented using a CGI script on our server. Your web browser requests a Google URL from our server. Our server then opens an HTML connection to the Google server and gets your desired web page. Our server analyzes the contents of the page, reverses it, and sends the mirrored page back to your web browser. In some sense, our server is acting as a proxy (albeit a very strange proxy) between your web browser and the Google server. Any images in the requested web page are also downloaded to our server and mirrored. Currently only JPEG and GIF images are supported. A caching system is used for common images and web pages.

The mirror site is a parody of the English language version of Google in which all the text on the web pages has been reversed. The text terms used for searches are also entered in reverse. Viewing the page using a mirror makes it somewhat easier to read, and would allow someone to find a website. Web site "mirroring" normally involves copying the contents of a site and hosting on a different server. This can be useful if one server is particularly busy.

Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 vs Natural Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard - Video Review

2008-03-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

We recently replaced our Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 keyboard with the Wireless Entertainment Desktop 7000 series which also comes with a rechargeable Wireless Laser Mouse 8000. So how does this new Bluetooth desktop compare with the ergonomically designed 4000 series ?

Microsoft has made some big changes in the 7000 series - the standard Numpad is gone so the keyboard is less in width and they have moved the multimedia keys from the top edge to the left side which makes them more accessible.

The 7000 keyboard has an integrated touchpad (like in Laptops) so you can navigate the screen easily even without the mouse. And there are even buttons to emulate the right / left click mouse operations.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC55LyMPKbs">Video Review of Microsoft Keyboards</a>
The keyboard layout has a comfort curve layout though not as wide as we have seen in the 4000 Ergonomic keyboards. The standard F1/F2 and other function keys are replaced with feather-touch buttons and using the Microsoft Intellitype software, you can can assign any program/file folder to run using these keys.

The Wireless 8000 Laser mouse has a comfortable design but it's slightly on the heavier side. It comes with a rechargeable base and connects via BlueTooth or USB.

The Windows key has been moved to a new location below the space bar though I would still prefer the previous placement which is next to the spacebar. Using the Live Call button, you can run any of your favorite IM programs like Google Talk, Yahoo or Windows Live Messenger in a single click.

This high definition mouse supports scrolling in all four direction and there's a magnifier button to quickly zoom areas where the cursor is.

The keyboard-mouse duo has an attractive design and you'll love it even more if you struggling with desk space. Do check our video review where we compare Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 Keyboard with the Microsoft Wireless Desktop 7000.

Microsoft Office 2007

2008-03-10T08:38:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Office 2007 is the official successor to Microsoft Office 2003. Microsoft was earlier referring the next killer edition of Microsoft Office as Microsoft Office 12 and Microsoft Office Vista.

When Office moved from Office XP to Office 2003, Microsoft customers weren't sure which one was newest. Therefore, Microsoft decided on the name "Office 2007" to avoid confusion.

that Microsoft Office 2007 is already behind Microsoft earlier planned to release Office 2007 towards the end of 2006 but some reports sayschedule.

Microsoft also announced pricing and packaging details of Office 2007. Microsoft Frontpage is being phased out and not included in Microsoft Office 2007 suite.

Microsoft Office 2007 Pricing
Microsoft is largely keeping prices the same as Office 2003, making minor changes to the suites it will offer.

For individuals, Microsoft Office Professional 2007 features the typical array of Office applications: Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Access, and Publisher for $499 USD, or $329 USD when purchased as an upgrade. Office Small Business 2007 offers a similar lineup without Microsoft Access for $449 and $279 USD.

Office Standard 2007 will include the four basic applications as before: Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook for $399 and $239 USD.

Microsoft is replacing Office Student and Teacher edition with a $149 Home and Student edition that can be used by all home users. Microsoft is also removing the Outlook from that edition and include OneNote instead.

Microsoft Office 2007 Packaging Details
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 with SharePoint and Microsoft Office Communicator will replace Professional Enterprise Edition 2003. A new addition to the Office 2007 suite lineup is Office Enterprise 2007, which adds Groove 2007 and OneNote 2007.

The Beta 1 'Refresh' of Microsoft Office 2007 will be available for download in March.

Google Spreadsheets Screenshots

2008-03-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

Google has announced Google Spreadsheets [spreadsheet.google.com] which is a web based spreadsheet based on XL2Web software from 2Web Technologies.

Google Spreadsheets is the fourth program of Google Office Suite, the previous ones being Word/Writely, OneNote/Notebook and Frontpage/PagesCreator.

Google Spreadsheet offers limited set of features with no support for Charts or Excel Macros. You can sort data or use the 200 functions and common spreadsheet formulas for doing basic calculations of numerical data.

Industry experts feel that Google Spreadsheets may pose a threat to Microsoft Excel but I think otherwise. Though Google says it's working on improving printing, charts, filtering and "drag and drop" features, in the current state Google Spreadsheet may offer competition to other web-based spreadsheet software like NumSum, ZohoSheet, JotSpot Tracker, iRows or wikiCalc but not to the rock-solid Microsoft Excel. They are still miles apart.

To prevent the initial heavy rush of users, Google will only invite undisclosed number of users tojoin the initial trial phase on a first-come, first-served basis. How do I sign up for Google Spreadsheets?

Google Spreadsheets allows import of spreadsheets from CSV or Microsoft XLS format without loosing the formulas or cell formatting.

Google Spreadsheet can be saved in XLS, CSV or HTML formats.

The spreadsheet document can be shared using Google Talk. People can edit or view your spreadsheet at the same time as you - their names will appear in an on-screen chat window.

Google Spreadsheet Help | Try out Google Spreadsheets

Update: Just had a word with Zoho guys and here's what they have say about Google Spreadsheet:

We knew the big guys, especially Google, will be coming soon into the Web 2.0 space. We don't see them as a threat. Instead they help us indirectly like when folks like you mention us along with such news, we get new users! And some of them love us (instead of say, Google's Writely) & stick with us. Also, we think we can offer more value for the enterprise market.

More players mean more competition which puts pressure on the companies to innovate. Consumer is the king here.

Secret Firefox Tricks

2008-03-10T08:35:00.002-07:00

BugMeNot.com is a popular extension for surfing websites that otherwise require registration. The only problem with BugMeNot approach is that if a website credentials are not available in the BugMeNot database, a user cannot enter the website.

However, most news websites, including ones that require registration, would like to see their content indexed by Google and other search engines. Therefore, as soon as they realize that a Google Spider is on their door, they open the gates for GoogleBot spiders to crawl and index their content. And if a normal human being visits the website using a web browser, he is politely redirected to the "Please register first" webpage.

Imagine wearing a mask of a GoogleBot spider before entering such a site. The webserver will think that you are from Google and will gladly let you in byepassing registration. This is exactly what the first Firefox trick does. It lets you switch the user agent so that the reg-only website is fooled to think that you are a web spider.

Download the Firefox user agent switcher extension here and add the following line :

Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html)

Sometimes Firefox 1.5 makes your computer crawl like a snail. You open Windows Task Manager and notice that the Firefox.exe process is taking couple of hundred of MB of RAM. The second trick is about preventing Firefox from consuming the entire memory of your computer by fixing a Firefox Memory leak issue:

1. Open Firefox and go to the Address Bar. Type in about:config and then press Enter.
2. Right Click in the page and select New -> Boolean.
3. In the box that pops up enter config.trim_on_minimize. Press Enter.
4. Now select True and then press Enter.
5. Restart Firefox.

This memory-fix trick can also be applied to Thunderbird and Netscape browser.

GWiki or GoWiki or GHost- Google hosting for Wiki

2008-03-10T08:35:00.001-07:00

Google has offered to assist online encyclopedia Wikipedia, by providing some much needed storage and hosting services to the giant non-profit site. Although terms of the upcoming arrangement have yet to be finalized, Wikimedia commented that any deal will still see Wikipedia remaining ad-free; meaning that the arrangement will not impose Google "AdSense" technology on the popular site. An administrator for the Wikipedia project spoke briefly about the pending agreement:

"Google has at least tentatively agreed to give us access to a certain number of dual Xeon servers at one or more of their data centers and with unlimited bandwidth. I've been told that there are no strings attached, meaning they don't expect us to do anything for then, such as having Google Ads. In short, this is wonderful news... In addition to taking a lot of work, there is barely ever enough money to run what will shortly become one of the top 100 websites on the internet, and the only thing limiting Wikipedia's growth is hardware."

One would think that we will see a closer relationship develop between Google Search and the access of Wikipedia entries. Recently Microsoft finalized its new and improved MSN Search tool, allowing direct access to its Encarta encyclopedia. Another major search engine, Yahoo, offers visitors directed access to the Columbia Encyclopedia. Details of the final arrangement, including changes to either site, should be made available sometime in March.

See an interesting discussion on GWiki here - The simple solution is to require that google make the entire archive available to anyone for a nominal fee (covering their costs and overhead) for as long as Google uses the encyclopedia. If google agrees then their motives are most definitely altruistic. If not, they are almost certainly looking to co-opt the wikipedia archive and interface into google (similar to what they have done with usenet news, being the sole owner of a historical record).

Via Neowin | Wikimedia

See related stories from Google News...

Googlepedia: The End is Near PC Magazine

There is a debate within the online community regarding the fate of the amazing Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that has grown into one of the largest free ...

Google may host encyclopedia project ZDNet UK

Wiki Media Foundation, the group behind the Wikipedia online encyclopedia project, said Friday that search giant Google has volunteered to host some of its ...

Google may host encyclopedia project
color=#6f6f6f>ZDNet.com.au, Australia

Wikipedia.org could soon be hosted on Google's servers, as the search giant looks for ways of supporting the Wikimedia Foundation. ...

Everyone's a reporter or editor on Wikinews Marin Independent-Journal, CA

By Aaron Weiss, New York Times. You might, in the course of reading this article, spot a factual error that made it to press. A certain ...

Google SMS

2008-03-10T08:34:00.001-07:00

Text messaging users can use Google SMS to get specific search information such as prices, definitions, area codes, ZIP codes and phone listings.

Using a mobile phone or a handheld device that supports SMS (Short Messaging Service) text messaging, users can tap Google SMS through specialized queries that trigger very specific replies. For example, entering the word "pizza" along with a zip code prompts Google SMS to return related business listings in that geographical zone. Likewise, entering a person's name along with a city, state and/or zip code yields residential phone listings.

Google doesn't charge for the Google SMS service, but wireless provider fees for text messaging apply.

This service will not be available in India currently.

Optical Illusions free

2008-03-10T08:33:00.002-07:00

In anticipation of a slow news day i would like to direct the Slashdot hordes to Akiyoshi Kitaoka's Optical Illusions page. The page also has explanations on why/how they occur (in PDF format).

Caution: This page contains some works of "anomalous motion illusion", which might make sensitive observers dizzy or sick. Should you feel dizzy, you had better leave this page immediately.

Some of the pictures on this website can cause dizziness or might possibly epileptic seizures. The latter happens when the brain can't handle the conflicting information from your two eyes. If you start feeling unwell when using this website, immediately cover one eye with your hand and then leave the page. Do not close your eyes because that can make the attack worse.

J-Walk points to a blog about Optical Illusions. It has links to some great illusion sites:

Optical Illusions

2008-03-10T08:33:00.001-07:00

http://www.maani.us/charts/index.php

PHP/SWF Charts is a powerful PHP tool to create attractive Flash charts from dynamic data.

Folder Redirection

2008-03-10T08:32:00.001-07:00

I never use Microsoft Window’s default settings of My Documents, My Pictures, or My Music. I change it up on my own or use TweakUI, a Windows PowerToy. For home users, there is no compelling reason to change the defaults. I do it because I have my way of doing things and organizing. For business users or networked environments, it’s a good idea to redirect folders because of the backup system and use of network…

http://channels.lockergnome.com/windows/archives/20040906_folder_redirection.phtml

Scanning Slides

2008-03-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

I have accumulated several thousand slides and 35-mm negatives that I'd like to digitize. Is there any good reason to invest in a slide scanner that I'll never use again, or does it make more sense to get a flatbed with high resolution and a slide-scanning feature? Also, what resolution should I be looking for?

Solution Given the number of slides and negatives you have, I'd argue that a good slide scanner, also known as a film scanner, is worth getting. One reason is resolution. At the risk of oversimplifying, for best image quality you need an image resolution of at least 300 pixels per inch (ppi) at the size you're printing. For a 35-mm original printed as an 8-by-10 photo, that works out about 2,200 ppi for the scan. Scanning at higher optical resolution is even better, in case you decide you want to crop the image.

You can find flatbed scanners with sufficient claimed resolutions, but they often don't live up to their claims—typically because of the limitations of the optics. But any decent slide scanner will provide the resolution that slides need, because slides are its primary function, not an extra.

You also need to consider dynamic range—the scanner's ability to record details over the entire range from the darkest to lightest shades. Almost any slide scanner will do a better job on this than almost any flatbed scanner. Keep in mind, too, that slide scanners generally make the scanning procedure a little easier. With thousands of originals to scan, even the smallest convenience will make a big difference over the course of the project.

Useful Blogger Help & Blogspot Support Resources

2008-03-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

Want to contact Google Blogger Support directly ? Or report a bug in Blogger ? Here are some relatively unknown but very important pages on blogger.com for anyone using blogspot:

www.blogger.com/changes10.g - Dynamic list of most recently updated blogs hosted on Blogger.com [like Digg Spy]

www.blogger.com/login.g - A simple no-frills page to sign-in to your Blogger account.

www.blogger.com/redirect/next_blog.pyra - To visit any random blog hosted on blogspot.com [something like Stumble Upon]

help.blogger.com/?page=wishlist - This is the place to go when you like to make a suggestion to blogger about new features or vote for existing features.

www.blogger.com/forgot.g - When you forget your Blogger password or even the username, this is all you need.

help.blogger.com/?page=help - The secret page to contact blogger when you have a problem with your blogspot blog. People are not using this much but believe me, the blogger team at Google is very responsive and do listen to your complaints.

google.com/group/blogger-help - This google group is monitored by employees of google working on Blogger. This is one place you should visit very frequently to get an update on new blogger template ideas, suggestions, issues, etc.

help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py - List of known bugs or issues in the Blogger platform and possible workarounds.

Blogger Templates - Resources for free blogspot templates.

Hide Blogspot Navbar - How to remove the blogger navigation bar.

Earn Through Survey

2008-02-26T00:43:00.002-08:00

Most of the earn through survey programs are meant for US citizens or they ask for a US PayPal ID. Before joining any program, check if they accept Indians or non-US people.

Do you want to earn money expressing your opinion on various topics?

There are a number of scam sites that tell you they will pay for your opinion and then ask you to send a similar letter to others and earn money.

Becuase of these scam sites people get scared to sign up for any such offers.

The second problem is giving your email id to someone who can bombard you with spam emails.

Be careful when you select the survey site you want to join. Read around, look around ensure it looks professional and the company / people behind it are trust worthy.

Keep two email ids. Use one for your personal use and another for signing up to earn through surveys, download ebooks, freebies, etc. This way you wouldn't be filling up your personal email inbox with unnecessary promotional emails.

Please remember sites which ask for your opinion do not pay you immediately. It takes time for them to process through your submission and pay you. So it may take a few months to get paid.

Check out this site as a sample to earn through surveys.

If you think the site is trust worthy you can sign up with them and from time to time you will get intimation from them seeking your opinion on various topics.

make money through PayPal

2008-02-26T00:43:00.001-08:00

Paypal is another payment processor - and is an easy way to send money by email. Most affiliate programs also use PayPal, so if you have a PayPal ID, you can join these affiliate programs.

You can use your PayPal balance to purchase products online and once you have $150, you can withdraw your money and get a cheque for it.

If you haven't signed up

earn money through ClickBank

2008-02-26T00:40:00.000-08:00

ClickBank is a payment processor - which means marketers use it to accept payments online. It's also the biggest marketplace for affiliate products. All you need is a free ClickBank ID and you can promote thousands of affiliate products.

Whenever you make a sale, your affiliate commissons are recorded in your ClickBank account. Once you earn $50 (or the amount set by you at ClickBank), you will receive a cheque.

Niche Markets

2008-02-26T00:39:00.000-08:00

niche is a subset of a larger group. Niches basically help you focus your efforts on a smaller group of potential customers and get better results. For example, if you are selling gardening supplies, one of the niches you can focus on is growing bonsais. Or you could focus on growing plants organically. The more focussed the niche, the better the results.

In the context of making money online, you might hear marketers advise you to create niche websites for making money from AdSense websites. Here are some tools which help you create niche websites:

How to Make Money Online in India

2008-02-26T00:36:00.001-08:00

Google AdSense is a great way to make money from your websites. Once you have an AdSense account, Google will display ads on your webpages and whenever someone clicks on those ads, you will earn money.

To apply for an AdSense account, you need a 25 page website. Once your application is accepted, you can put the AdSense code on all the websites you own - you do not have to apply for each website separately.

Free Affiliate Training

2008-02-26T00:34:00.000-08:00

What is affiliate marketing? How can you earn money through an affiliate program?

You earn money by selling others products in affiliate marketing.

For example, I create an ebook and sell it for $60. I set 50% commission for my affiliates.

If you join my affiliate program, I will give you a special link that includes your affiliate ID.

You promote my product through your affiliate link. You tell others about my product, its features, etc. and recommend it to others.

Suppose someone buys my ebook through your affiliate link, I will pay you $30 (because I have set the commission as 50%)

If you sign up for a free ClickBank ID, you can choose any product from their market place and sell them. Some of the products have as much as 75% commission.

Do you want an audio course on affiliate marketing?

Check this Affiliate Marketing Audio Course.

The price of the course is $10. But it is free for my subscribers.

To get the course free of cost sign up here.

Free Internet Marketing News

2008-02-26T00:33:00.002-08:00

If you want to make money online, it is necessary for you to keep in touch with the latest news from the internet marketing world.

'Know First Profit Most' is the motto of a free news site called IMNewswatch that provides the latest news free of cost.

You can just go to the site and bookmark it and get the latest internet marketing news on your desktop day-after-day for zero rupees / dollars.

Or you can subscribe for free and get email updates of the most important news items.

You can read free articles, know about new products that are being launched, attend free teleseminars and learn all that you want about internet marketing.

Click here to check out the best internet marketing news site. Don't forget to bookmark it if you like what you find there.

Road Map to Making Money Online

2008-02-26T00:33:00.001-08:00

Here is how you can integrate all the four ways of making money online so that you can optimize the potential for earning online.

1) Make a list of interests/hobbies that you are passionate about.

2) Use a Keyword Software to find out whether your topics are in demand.

3) Sign up for a free ClickBank Account.

4) Search for Affiliate programs for your topic. (What is an Affiliate Program?)

5) Search for free articles for your topic. (Use an Article Software to speed it up)

6) Sign up for free webspace. (Learn how to upload your website) or buy domain name, webspace and create your websites,

7) You need a website builder to create your websties.

You have two options for creating your own websites.

1. Pay a little more, get a Website Builder with more features.

2. Pay less, get a Website Maker with less features.

8) Add your own content in addition to the free articles.

9)Sign up for Google Adsense. (Learn how to apply for Google AdSense)

10) Add Google Adsense Code to your site.

11) Promote your site. (Learn to drive traffic to your site)

12) Create your own eBook/Software on your selected topic.

13) Register for domain and hosting.

14) Promote your product. (Learn to drive traffic to your site)

15) Repeat the same steps for the next niche.

Blog FAQ

2008-02-26T00:32:00.000-08:00

1. What is a Blog, a Blog site and what does it do. Is it only for correspondence or for writing features?

A blog started as a person journal online that you could share with the whole world or your family and friends. Now blog has developed into authority sites on specific topics, online newsletters, ezines, frequently updated content on any topic under the Sun.

1. A blog is easy to create.

2. You can post content on the blog easily. No technical knowledge required.

3. The latest content you post are on top. All the other posts are in archives.

4. You are the editor of your blog. So similar to a newspaper editor you have all the power and facility to decide what goes into your blog and how many ads you want to have on it, etc.

5. You need to choose the topic carefully, if you want your blog to earn money for you.

6. If you want the blog only for sharing your ideas or give an expression to your thoughts, you can choose any topic you like.

Please have a look at some of my blogs - some are earning me more money than others. Some get me very little money but I maintain them for other purposes.

Blogger Blog

What are the advantages and disadvantages?

You can start earning through a blogger blog. But the disadvantage is that your blog is hosted with Google and all your links will have - YourBlogName.blogspot.com.

That is .blogspot is added to all the blogger blogs.

Your earnings can be limited because of the limited options with blogger blog.

But I would certainly say it is a very good beginning for you to start earning without spending any money of your own.

Watch my free video tutorial for starting a blogger blog.

What about WordPress blogs?

WordPress platform is free to use, but you need to buy domain name and webspace. The advantage is you own your blog. You own the domain name and webspace. You can use a number of plugins to optimize your blog for monetization and promote it. If you plan well to get traffic to your blog, you can earn back the $47 you invest and make profit. But you will have to pay $47 every year.

You can get a prepackaged WordPress blog complete with all plugins at Web20Wealth.

You get step-by-step video tutorials right from installation of the blog to monetization. You can watch the videos as many times as you like, learn the steps and earn through your blogs.

To use this package you need to buy domain name and webspace.

The total amount you need to spend is:

- $47 Domain name and Webspace - every year

- $67 One time payment

This is the type of blog you will be able to create: (Look at how the blog looks etc.)

http://www.want2learn.com/internet-marketing

3. How do you earn money through the blog?

Pl read Legal Way Of Earning Money, Earn With a Blogger Blog, and Blog Monetization.

Also check http://www.askrangoo.com/faq for answers to the frequently asked questions.

Blog Monetization

2008-02-26T00:30:00.000-08:00

Listen to Blog Monetization Audio Tips.

Good updated content is necessary to monetize your blog well. Whatever topic you have chosen for your blog, you should be able to give up-to-date information on that topic to your visitors.

If you are not able to produce the content yourself, you need to find other ways of keeping your blog updated on a regular basis.

Read or listen to audio tips for keeping the content on your blog fresh and updated.

The next important thing is to get some traffic to your blog.

1. Bookmark your blog in social bookmarking or networking sites such as

delicious

stumbleupon

digg

Check at the end of the post on this blog. You will see the icons of many social bookmarking sites. You can just click on each one of them, create a free account and bookmark your site.

Internet Marketing Blog

You can just click on each icon. It will take you to those sites. You can create a free account for yourself. When you bookmark your sites remember to bookmark some good sites of others. This will add value to your bookmarks and others visiting the social networking sites will visit your blog.

2. Go to http://www.feedburner.com. Create a free account for yourself and create a feed for your blog. Ny optimizing and publicizing your feed, you can increase the traffic to your site.

3. Submit a site map of your blog to Google. Go to https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools and submit your blog. Prepare a site map of your blog and submit it. Similarly you can submit to other Search Engines such as Yahoo and MSN.

4. Spread the word around about your blog through online and offline means. Tell as many of your friends, relatives, colleagues, etc. as possible. Add the link of your blog to your email signature. Whether you are chatting with your friends in Orkut or sending a message to your Yahoo group, include your blog link. Go to forums, participate in the discussion and never forget to include your link in your signature. Write an article for a newspaper or magazine and include the url of your blog.

5. Submit your blog to blog directories. You will get traffic from these sites which list all blogs. Visit this blog to get a list of sites where you can submit your blogs http://www.internetmasterycenter.com/blog On the right menu you can find a list of directories under the heading "Submit Your Blogs To...".

Getting traffic to your blog is very important for monetization.

How can you monetize your blog?

1. The simplest thing to do is to Sign up for AdSense. and add the code to your site. This is the easiest thing to do because you do not have to select any ads, Google will do it for you. Your blog visitors need not buy anything, all they need to do is to click on an ad for you to get paid. You might earn only 0.10 for an ad or it might be a little more for some of the ads. But as you get more and more traffic, the amount you earn can easily add up to a good amount.

2. Google has also started a referral program. In addition to pay per click through Google AdSense, you will also get paid for referring others programs. For this to work your visitors have to sign up for some free product or buy something. But you will get more money for these ads.

For example, for some of the referral ads below, for a free sign up, you can get about $0.50 to neary $1. For a sale you can get about $38 for one of

3. You can earn through affiliate programs. For most of the affiliate programs, it is free to sign up. Once you sign up you keep the information about the person's product on your site. And when someone clicks on it and makes a purchase you get paid. The easiest thing to do here is to create a free account with ClickBank. You can get a market place full of products with 50 to 75% commission. Suppose a product sells for $100 you will get $50 and for some products you will get as much as $75.

Click here to sign up for a free ClickBank ID.

You also need to sign up with PayPal to get paid. Now PayPal is integrated with Indian Banks also. So you can directly transfer the money to your bank from PayPal.

Click here to sign up for a free PayPal account.

4. You can earn from $5 to $10 or more for writing reviews. You can write reviews of products, services, sites, etc. And the sites which pay you include

ReviewMe

Blogsvertise

You can sign up with them for free. You need to submit your blog link and then wait for them to send you the assignment. The assignment is usually to write about 200 words or two or three paragraphs about a product, site or service they give you.

There are many other sites that pay you for reviews. You can find them by doing a Google Search for review.

5. Bidvertiser is a pay per click advertising program. You can Monetize your Website or Blog with BidVertiser by referring other advertisers and publishers.

Bidvertiser says, "

Place your ad on thousands of sites with BidVertiser. Get $20 in FREE clicks.

5. You can promote your own products on your blog. You can either sell products, which come with resell rights or create your own products and sell them on your blog. Even before you start your first blog, think about what you might want to sell later. Choose a domain name and content for your blog keeping that in mind.

If you want to get a prepackaged blog with video tutorials to monetize it check out Web2.0 Wealth. This blog has all the social bookmarking and other plugins prepackaged/ You get a series of videos that take you by hand right from installing your blog to monetizing it.

Earn With a Blogger Blog

2008-02-26T00:29:00.002-08:00

The moment you feel you have had enough of viewing ads and earning in pennies, you can start with your blogger blog.

Blogger blog is completely free and easy to set up. It has cool page elements and you can keep your blog fresh with Google videos and Google news.

You can also add interactive elements such as a poll.

Watch video tutorials to create a blogger blog

Learn from other make money tutorials

How can you earn through a blogger blog?

There are many ways but the most important ones are the following:

Google AdSense: After you have about five posts on your blog you can Sign up for AdSense. and start earning. Signing up is a simple procedure - it is just like signing up for an email account. Please be careful about the address you enter. Your cheques will be sent to that address. So make no mistake in entering your home address. You can have only one account per that address. So it is better you give your permanant home address than your temporary accommodation such as you hostel or guest house.

After you Sign up for AdSense., it will take a couple of days to get the approval from Google. When you sign up you will get a message thanking you for signing up and that you will receive intimation in a couple of days. Then you will get an email that says your account has been approved and you can use Google Adsense on your site.

If you do not know how to sign up or if you have problems during the process you can learn from this tutorial:

Google AdSense Tutorials

If you don't get the approval email from Google in a couple of days, check your spam folder and ensure that you have given the right email id while filling in the form. Once you get the approval, you add the Google AdSense page element to your blog.

Watch a video tutorial to add page elements.

You can also listen to AdSense optimization audio tips.

From personal experience and testing results on my own blogs I find a 336X280 block on top of your post and 160x600 skyscraper format on the right menu works best.

You can try different ad formats and choose the one that works best for you.

Beware: Once you have ads on your blog, you might be tempted to click on them. NEVER NEVER click on your own ads. NEVER tell your friends or family members to click on your ads. I know of people who create sites for you and then ask you to go to different cybercafes and click on your own ads. You will get BANNED from Google sooner or later. Those companies will also get banned and the accounts created by them will fall under scrutiny. Once you are banned, you will not be able to get approval again. It is extremely difficult almost impossible.

Google can find out what search keywords are used to find your site, how many people have visited your site through search and other referring sites, how long the visitors stay on your site, which ads they click, how long they stay on the advertisers site, etc. If you just click on your own ads or your friends or family members do it, Google can find out these are not real clicks. As you do more of this you will get into trouble. First you get your site value down. This means each click will get you less. Then the next stage is you will get an email from Google saying that there has been illegal activity on your site. Finally you will get banned.

You can also analyse the traffic you get to your blog by using Google Analytics. You can create a free account for yourself and find out more information about the type of people who visit your site.

Try to understand Google AdSense from the advertisers point of view. Google gets paid from the advertisers and Google shares part of that revenue with us. Why do the advertisers pay Google? They want potential customers who are looking for the information, services and products they have on their website. If that purpose is not solved they are not going to pay Google and Google is not going to pay us. So a lot of research is being conducted on "click frauds' and it is quite easy for Google to catch you, if you are engaged in illegal activities.

Instead of wasting time clicking on your own ads, spend your time efficiently to earn more.

- Go to different social bookmarking sites and bookmark your blog. You will get a lot of traffic and some of them will click on your ads and you will earn money.

- Visit other blogs which focus on your topic, post a comment and leave your blog url there. Whoever visits that blog will read your comment and click on your url and come to your blog.

- Add your blog url to your email signature. The people you send email to will visit your blog.

- Find offline means such as posting a notice wherever you can and writing an article for a newspaper and make it a point to tell people you have got a blog and you have interesting content.

- Submit your blog to sites such as technorati, bloglines, etc. which are blog directories. People come to these sites to search for blogs. If they find the information you have interesting they will come to your blog.

Note this point that others need to find the information you provide interesting, relevant to what they are looking for. So when you choose the topic for your blog be careful to choose not just what you are interested in but what a group of people searching for information online might be interested in.

By spending your time this way you will get visitors and as they are reading your content they also find the ad relevant to the information they are looking for and they click on your ad. After clicking they go to the advertisers site, spend time reading the information there and take some action. This will increase the value of your blog. And you will earn more per click.

You need to get to a good page rank for your blog. The better the page rank, the more money you will get through other advertising means. To get a better page rank you need to have good content on your site and get traffic to your blog through a variety of sources.

Get free traffic to your blogs.

Read more about getting traffic to blogs.

In addition to Google AdSense you can earn through Affiliate Programs, selling resell products or your own products, selling ads on your blog, selling reviews, and selling your blog itself.

Earning Without Website

2008-02-26T00:29:00.001-08:00

You can start earning online without even starting with your first website. It is completely legal. The only problem with such earnings is that you will not get rich through these means. You will earn in pennies and it is not worth the time and effort you put in. If you are already engaged in other earning activities, viewing ads can be useful

- to get you a few extra pennies

- to use the amount you earn to advertise your own sites

- to learn from the other websites you visit (get inspiration for your own ventures)

- to pass time after a hard days work and still earn (like channel flipping on TV)

- to decide what not to get yourself into (sometimes you will get to view sites that are either in the black or gray zone - this will help you decide how much above board you want to be)

- to learn what catches your attention as a customer, what lasts in your memory and what you hate or ignore (this will help when you start your own business and your own sites)

Here are some of the sites where you can view ads and earn money:

Mobile Ads

ClixSense

Clix4Coins

Beware: Whenever you join a view ad program you have to take care of a number of things and be very careful about your safety and security.

1. Do a Google Search and study the reactions of other people to this company. In the Google Search box if you write for example AdBux Scam? you will get a lot of reaction from people - some who think it is a scam site and some who think it is not. You can study that and come to a decision who you want to believe.

I joined AdBux to test it out because someone asked my opinion about it. First I thought AdBux was a scam because my payment was delayed by a few days. But AdBux paid me. So I do not think AdBux is a scam site. This is my opinion. There may be other who have not got paid. By reading as many reactions as possible you will be able to arrive at a general conclusion.

2. File a Support Ticket and try to contact the company. Every site that says they will pay you to view ads must have a "Contact Us" facility. You can click on that, enter your name and email ID and post your question. Try to find out if they respond to help desk tickets. This will help you later to contact them in case you do not receive the payment.

3. Check Yahoo Answers and find out if someone has posted a question about not being paid by that company. You can also post a question there to find out from others what their experiences have been.

4. Check Forums and participate in the interaction. AdBux, for example, has a forum and I could post my comment there about not being paid. And then ofcourse I got paid. In addition to these companies having their forums, there are other forums where people discuss their experience. For example, if you do a Google Search on "Online Type For Dollars" Scam? you will find blogs and forums where this issue is being discussed. By participating in the discussion you can find out whether the company you are joining to earn money online will really pay you or it is just a scam.

Most Important

Do not pay anyone in the hope of earning in thousands overnight. The following view ads and earn money programs are free to join:

Mobile Ads

ClixSense

Clix4Coins

But there are other programs where they ask you to pay to do typing work or surveys etc. I am asking you to thoroughly check even for free programs. You should never part with your money without double checking everything about the company.

Legal Way Of Earning Money

2008-02-26T00:28:00.002-08:00

Question: I like to appreciate about sharing inf about the fact about these sites in getting money .

But now I want to know the legal way in which a person residing in India wants to make money online .
I wud be thankful to u.

Again Appreciate for sharing yur thoughts.

Answer: Whether a person is residing in India or in any other place in the world, it is possible to earn online through absolutely legal means.

Many resort to illegal means because of the misconception that you cannot earn online in India and you can earn only if you are in US or other countries. This is not at all true and you CAN earn online in India through legal means. I am doing it and so can you. What you need is committment, sincerity, patience and perseverance.

You need the following to earn online:

Mindset: The first thing you need to earn online is the mindset of a successful business person. Think of yourself as a future millionnaire investing your time and energy in a well-planned manner to achieve your goals. Expand your horizen and start feeling and acting like an efficient executive who knows where to take his company. Even if you are just starting online, imagine you have a huge company with hundreds of employees and you are planning every step towards the final goal not only for yourself but for all the people you have employed.

You are not a petty thief and you will not degrade yourself by engaging in activities that bring short term profits but are harmful in the long run. You have a vision and you want to reach somewhere through legal means because only this way of working will get you profits for years and years to come. You will be free of all the mental tensions of engaging yourself in some blackhat tactics and live in the fear of being caught.

MindMap: You need to brainstorm and draw a mindmap of the process that will make you a millionnaire. You may just click on ads and earn in pennies today. But you should have a plan to move ahead and start earning in dollars and in hundreds and thousands. Brainstorm all that you can do to earn online and prepare a path for yourself. Decide what you are going to start with and what following steps you are going to take. Invest part of your earning for taking the next step.

Apply for Google AdSense

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I'm sure you have finished creating your website by now. If you need any help, just send me an email.

Now, today we will apply for an AdSense account. Google AdSense helps you make money from your website by placing small text ads on your site. The best part of it is that the ads are related to your website content, and whenever visitors click on the ads, you make money. How simple is
that :-D

Signing up for Google AdSense is as easy as applying for an email account.

Generate revenue from your website. Google AdSense.

You have to just fill up information like you name, email, postal address, and the website link. It will take two minutes for your to sign up.

If you need more information on Google AdSense, you can check out one of my other sites -

More Information on How to Sign Up for Google AdSense

Just follow the steps at the site and sign up for an AdSense account. Once you have applied for an AdSense account, be patient - it could take from a week to 10 days for your application to be reviewed. It might be faster too, so keep your fingers crossed.

You can't do much till your AdSense application is approved so today's task for you is just to apply for AdSense and read more about it at:

More about Google AdSense

If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask. Next step, I will show you how to add your AdSense code to your website. You are just 2 steps away from making money online!

Step 2: Add Content to your Website

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Ok, so you have your website ready? Now you need to add some content to it. If you are planning to apply for an AdSense account, you need at least 25 pages of content on your website.

What kind of content can you add? You could add tips, articles, step-by-step tutorials, ecourses - just about anything.

But what if you are not a good writer? Not all of us can write well - does that mean that you cannot have a website? Not at all. If you can't write, then just find free articles from the Internet and post them on your website.

Remember! Do not plagiarise! Copying from others' websites is a strict NO! However, there are certain sites which allow you to use their articles if you leave the author's name intact. That's not so bad, is it? The author gets some publicity and you get free content.

Here are some places where you can get the free articles. Remember, when you use them on your website, include the author's name and resource box without fail.

Step 1: Get a Website

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If you want to make money online, the first thing you need is a website. Without a website, you won't be able to apply any of the tips we mention.

There are lots of sites which offer you free webspace, for example, Geocities and 50Webs. But read the terms and conditions carefully. Some webspace providers do not let you add your own ads. They place their own ads on your webpages so that they can earn money from it. So look out for webspace where they allow you to add your own ads.

When you are starting out, you can get host your website on any free webspace provider. And later on, once you start making money, you can buy your own domain and webspace.

While registering for your webspace, try to use a name which will be easy to remember. For example, if your site is about gardening, then your site could be garden.50webs.com.

Make Money Online Checklist

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Here's what you need to do if you want to make money online. I'll be adding more detailed instructions for each step soon.

1) Make a list of interests/hobbies that you are passionate about.

2) Use a Keyword Software to find out whether your topics are in demand.

3) Sign up for a free Clickbank Account.

4) Search for Affiliate programs for your topic. (What is an Affiliate Program?)

5) Search for free articles for your topic. (Use an Article Software to speed it up)

6) Sign up for free webspace.

7) Create your website. (Use an easy Website Maker)

8) Add your own content in addition to the free articles.

9) Apply for Google Adsense.

10) Add Google Adsense to your site.

11) Promote your site. (Learn to drive traffic to your site)

12) Create your own eBook/Software on your selected topic.

13) Register for domain and hosting.

14) Promote your product. (Learn to drive traffic to your site)

15) Repeat the same steps for your next website.