Finally, something to make the web cooler! PicLens is totally awesome for viewing images. It turns your browser into a 3-D full screen picture viewing machine. Check it out and let us know what you think.
I don’t know if you’ve heard about this, but Microsoft has offered to pay $44.6B for Yahoo. Now this deal isn’t set in stone yet, but it may pay to review the MSN search algorithms since they are pretty different from Google. If they do wind up purchasing Yahoo, Microsoft will finally be able to offer Google some competition. More details will come out as events run their course. For those of you that want to know more, this article gives a real good overview of what to expect with this change, and what webmasters should be doing to keep on top of their SEO.
It seems every few months I always find myself trying to find a good open source photo gallery, since I know I will never have the time to make one. All I want in my gallery is three things: flexibility, fast load time, and visual look that isn’t terrible. You wouldn’t think that it would be that hard to find one that meets these requirements, but in reality they are next to impossible to find.
I recently found PostcardViewer which isn’t quite open source, but is pretty great if you don’t mind the way that it looks out of the box. I haven’t had a use for it yet, but I think we’ll get around to it someday.
If you know you are going to have a bunch of large images Flash Image Gallery seems to be the way to go. It works well for showing large things in a limited amount of space and for giving multiple viewing options. That being said, I don’t really think I’d use it for most sites because it doesn’t seem that easy to incorporate into an overall site design.
Ever since the Adobe Spry came out we’ve been pretty excited about using some of their “easy to use AJAX” features. If you look at their demo section, their photo gallery hasn’t really reached its full potential yet, but in time I think it will be pretty awesome. Loading images from XML, not needing flash, and being able to customize the look make this gallery worth the time it will take you to figure it out.
I know this isn’t everything great out there, but this should at least get you started. Don’t forget to let us know if you come across something worthwhile. It will save me some time in two months when I have to look again.
Intrigued by a reference during a recent business meeting, I picked up the book “Rules for Renegades” by Christine Comaford-Lynch. Apart from an extremely high recommendation, I wanted to touch on one of the more powerful moments I experienced and have thus “borrowed” from Christine.
As an entrprenuer, I have an insatiable curiosity for learning, exploring and improving new ”things”, and an equally ambitious attraction to the thrill, work and reward of a new venture - of taking risks. Although I haven’t always seen it as such, failure in my life now is a virtually non-existent term. Where there is no sense of failure, there is no apathy, complacency or pessimism. Anything is possible. Thats is what I believe.
And while I have always had an unexplainable, unshakable and often frightening (to others :))drive when it comes to pursuing my passions, challenging norms, acheiving success and “making things happen”, I had never thought about the declaration of any formal decision to cement and guide my future searches and ventures. Atleast, not until I met Ms. Comaford-Lynch.
In her book, Chrisitna doesn’t say she is a high school drop out, or lament over her lack of college degree. However, she doesn’t ignore it either. She owns it. She “made a decision to drop out of high school” and “made a decision to drop out of college” (a college she talked her way into without a high school diploma!). And a few years later, she made the decision to be a millionaire. Three years and ten million dollars after she made that decision, she began helping others do the same.
The compelling aspect to this “decision” awareness exisits in its practicality. Making decisions is so commonplace - an everyday, multiple times a day occurence, on several levels ranging ifrom life changing to soda flavor - that I lost sight of their purpose…and of thier power. A decision is a plan - a promise - the follow through.
It is a cold Melbourne morning. Your feet are freezing, your scarf is so tight you feel as though you are strangling yourself and your fingers will not work because they are blue and cold. You slide into the front seat behind the wheel and turn the key. Nothing happens. Well it is winter! Now what do you do? Call the car repair shop? Buy a new, better car? Or you can do few simple things to prevent this happening.
Starting a car with a cold engine is easier said than done, and there are times it can be a real frustration particularly if you live in the hills or areas that get exceptionally cold. Getting late for work, missing deadlines, not being able to drive the kids to school: these are just some of the things that happen when your car refuses to start due to cold engine. How to avoid this from happening?
Cold weather will come; that’s for sure and inevitable. The trick is to not let cold engines stop you from driving your car without hassles.
Firstly, because cold weather affects liquid evaporation. When it is cold, petrol evaporates less, making it more difficult to burn. By the time petrol burns sufficiently, it is already too burnt for the car to use properly.
Secondly, a cold engine might have problems in starting because oil happens to get thicker in cold weather. Oil, just like any liquid, changes consistency when exposed to very low temperatures. The oil then may my not properly circulate in the car engine.
But oil is not the only problem, as car batteries are affected too by cold weather. Since batteries function through chemical reactions, cold weather can severely hamper those necessary chemical reactions, making it hard for you to start your car. You end up starting the engine futilely as the batteries struggle to spark a chemical reaction.
When these three difficulties occur at once, then it becomes clear that you really won’t be able to start your car anymore. What to do then?
Spray ether into the engine to help evaporate the petrol quickly and help your engine to start. Opt for thin synthetic oil which has better resistance from coagulating in the cold. Also, park your vehicle inside a garage where it’s warm and sheltered. Leaving it out in the cold is a sure-fire way to deaden your engine. Never miss a family or business appointment again!”
***This is a great website for all car problems! http://articles-cars.blogspot.com/2007/12/help-my-cold-engine-wont-start.html
DON’T GET CAUGHT WITHOUT THE BASICS….
When developing a new website, there are "Must-Do’s" to take care of that will act as a basic foundation for your future SEO efforts.
Important questions such as "Have 301 redirects been put into place? Is the robots.txt file authored to allow adequate crawling? Are there any broken links?" must be addressed and answered prior to moving forward.
Because its important for every business owner to be vaguely familiar with SEO and SEM terms(especially when negotiating or hiring an SEO firm), we have supplied our viewers with a nifty little chart to help along the way.
With thanks to Search Engine Magazine for the handy diagram, below is your SEO Checklist!
ATTENTION INSTANT GRATIFICATION, CAN’T WAIT FOR ANYTHING GENERATION: INTRODUCING GOOGLE VOICE SEARCH!
Because the internet has become such a reliable source of information within the last 10 years, and is still continuing to rapidly increase, it is no surprise that our technology dependent world now wants the same capabilities they get from a desktop computer, right on their cellular phone. Using speech recognition, you can now use your mobile phone to search for stock news, movie times and weather. The most convenient tool for me, being one who does not have the internet on my phone (for a number of reasons including the monthly cost and because I have access to it all the time at my desk) is the free “information” number. Everyone can use the 1411 for phone listings when you need a number on the road, but calls like that don’t come cheap! Calling 1-800-GOOG-411 when you need a phone number and you do not have a computer, or even a telephone book in front of you is so convenient! The best part of the deal is that it is a free call!!!
1-800-CALL-411 is the same system, and it is also free to use. You simply dial the number, say what you are looking for, anything from a store or restaurant name to the product you are looking for (pizza or web-design) for example. You will then be given either the place you specifically asked for, or a list of places that fit the title of the service or product you are searching for.
Beyond this, more information is available, whether it is a text message of the number (just say “text me the info”), from movie listings, show times or even buying tickets, to hearing the current weather conditions in an area , or a map and directions to a business you are searching for, and don’t forget, your call is completely free.
Below you will find a list of some of our favorite business magazines profiling everything from websites to leadership to management to more!
Website Magazine Has tapped premier talent in the Internet industry for our content and each and every issue will contain practical advice and insights for… |
Successful Promotions Shows you how effective imprinted promotional items can be for any kind of campaign…. |
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The Future Sales Force - A Consultative Approach Learn the new skills your sales force should know about selling complex products and services in today’s marketplace…. |
Direct Covers every aspect of Direct marketing, including postal and regulatory issues, creative, lists, customer relationship management and… |
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COVER Magazine Delivers no-nonsense business news and feature stories, designed to improve the retailer’s everyday business operations…. |
Hosted CRM Buyer’s Guide: Choose the Right Solution for Your Business Learn what a Hosted CRM system can do for you and understand what issues you should consider during your decision-making process…. |
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Business Management Has delivered sharp, practical management comment alongside educational materials. It is a targeted blend of leadership and learning for… |
CRM Magazine Is written for executives responsible for moving the enterprise toward a customer-focused approach…. |
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Workforce Analytics Business Intelligence Meets Human Capital Management Review Aberdeens comprehensive look into process, procedure, methodologies and technologies with best practice identification and… |
Target Marketing Covers all direct response media, including direct mail, telemarketing, space advertising, the Web and direct response TV…. |
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HR Daily Advisor Provides news on the latest issues in HR Management, summaries of white papers on key HR Management strategies, and updates on changes to… |
Smart Meetings Feature the latest in meeting industry trends, emerging technology, personality profiles, and updates on the best venues and destinations… |
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Employee Benefit News Provides the most comprehensive, useful coverage available today on the ever-changing business of employee benefits…. |
Human Resource Executive Provides these key decision-makers with news, profiles of HR visionaries and success stories of human resource innovators…. |
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The Deal Is the indispensable newsweekly for all dealmakers covering M&A, bankruptcy, private equity, venture capital, law & tax, corporate… |
Business Xpansion Journal Provides timely information and useful tips on a state’s or region’s business climate amd are outlined in exclusive interviews, state… |
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Make it Meaningful!
Its important to try to include your key word or words in your chosen domain name. For example, if you are a candle retailer, a good name would be www.toledocandles.com or www.candlesandmore.com. You can also use a domain name for your company, and have both pointing towards your website.
Will 2008 be the year that making your site viewable on mobile devices becomes truly important? Up until now there haven’t been enough users to warrant giving much thought to the mobile phone market, but with the innovative iPhone and the continuing rise of Blackberry users, it may be time to get on the bandwagon. Sites that appeal to users on the go are going to see the most mobile traffic but most web analysts agree that everyone across the board will start to see more hits from these devices.
The main challenge of designing your web content so that it will be compatible with mobile devices is that the screens are just so darn small. Devices like the iPhone have interfaces that simply shrink down web pages so they fit on the screen, but since many phones display web pages differently it can be hard to make your site work for devices without making an entirely separate site.
Some web designers have had success adding mobile device specific style sheets that remove most formatting, since that’s where mobile browsers have the most trouble displaying things. This however does not solve the problem of images since many phones do not display images by default.
Bigger companies like Flickr and Google have created separate sites that dispense with virtually all formatting, just giving their users the content that they desire. In the game of who can display the information the fastest, this approach is the best for the end user. If mobile users are a big part of your target market, this seems to be the way to go.
Want to know more? You may want to read Mobile Web Design, a new book by Cameron Moll.
If that book seems like too much for now, here are some of Moll’s blog posts about this very subject from 2005. Authentic Boredom presents: Mobile Web Design
Last but not least, Google Mobile Proxy is a neat tool to see how your website will probably appear on a mobile device.