tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63953612801201651122024-02-07T05:16:30.510+01:00Treble ClickTreble Click - Tips and tricks of design, Internet, computers and technology.ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-61232660270076139342015-02-07T05:00:00.000+01:002015-02-07T05:00:01.410+01:00Chrome Keyboard Shortcuts<h3>Keyboard Shortcuts in Google Chrome</h3><p>This is a collection of useful keyboard shortcuts for the Google Chrome Web Browser, that will speed up your browsing, and improve your experience.</p><h4>-Clicks:</h4><p>(“Click”, with no other specification, means a Left Mouse Button Click.)</p><ul><li><strong>CTRL + Click:</strong> Open link in a new tab.</li>
<li><strong>SHIFT + Click:</strong> Open link in a new window.</li>
<li><strong>Middle Click:</strong> (On a link) Open link in a new tab (in the background.)</li>
<li><strong>Middle Click:</strong> (On a tab) Closes the currently clicked tab.</li>
<li><strong>Shift + Middle Click:</strong> Open in new tab, and shift focus to this newly opened tab.</li>
<li><strong>ALT + Click:</strong> Save link target as...</li>
</ul><br />
<h4>-Tabs:</h4><ul><li><strong>CTRL + T:</strong> Open a new tab.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + N:</strong> Open a new window.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + SHIFT + N:</strong> Open a new incognito (private browsing) window.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + SHIFT + T:</strong> Re-opens the last closed tab. (Repeat to keep re-opening previous tabs.)</li>
<li><strong>ALT + Left or Right Arrow Key:</strong> Go forward or backwards in your browsing history.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + TAB Key:</strong> Change focus moving through the next tabs.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + SHIFT + TAB Key:</strong> Change focus moving through the previous tabs.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + PageUp:</strong> Go to the next tab.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + PageDown:</strong> Go to the previous tab.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + (1 through 9):</strong> Go to a tab in the chosen position.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + W:</strong> Close the current tab (if it were the only open tab, it would close your browser.)</li>
<li><strong>ALT + F4: Close your browser window, no matter how many tabs were open.</strong></li>
<li><strong>CTRL + R:</strong> Reloads the current tab.</li>
<li><strong>F5:</strong> Refreshes the current web address.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + P:</strong> Print the current webpage.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + F5:</strong> Refresh the current page, bypassing any cached version.</li>
<li><strong>ALT + Home Key:</strong> Navigate to your homepage.</li>
</ul><br />
<h4>- Actions</h4><ul><li><strong>CTRL + F:</strong> Search occurrences of the given text in the curent webpage.</li>
<li><strong>F3:</strong> Go to the next search result with the current search query, in the current webpage.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + U:</strong> View source code of the current page.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + D:</strong> Add the current page to your bookmarks.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + H:</strong> Open your browsing history.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + B:</strong> Toggles the visibility of your bookmarks bar.</li>
<li><strong>SHIFT + ESC:</strong> Opens up the task manager of Google Chrome.</li>
<li><strong>ALT + F:</strong> Opens the tools menu.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + SHIFT + J:</strong> Opens the developer tools menu.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + O:</strong> Opens the selected file using Chrome.</li>
</ul><br />
<h4>- Address bar / URL</h4><ul><li><strong>CTRL + L:</strong> Moves the cursor focus to the address bar, allowing you to write a new website address.</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + K:</strong> (Also CTRL + E) Focuses on the address bar, including the <strong>?</strong> symbol before your cursor, to perform a Google search.</li>
</ul><p><i>After writing something in the address bar:</i></p><ul><li><strong>CTRL + ENTER:</strong> Adds “www.” and “.com” to the text we've written, and navigates to that URL.</li>
<li><strong>ALT + ENTER:</strong> Open the chosen URL in a new tab</li>
<li><strong>CTRL + ALT + ENTER:</strong> Adds “www.” and “.com” to the text we've written, and loads that address in a new tab.</li>
</ul>Dreminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11119627208961403852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-75737502563989977252015-01-18T05:00:00.000+01:002015-01-18T05:00:01.942+01:00Headphones: Quick guide to dB, Ohm and Hz.<h3>What ind of Headphones / Ear Buds should you buy?</h3><p>Let's simplify all the information related to <b>Ohm</b> (Ohms), <b>dB</b> (Decibels) and <b>Hz</b> (Hertzs). There is a lot of technical information around the Internet trying to explain what they are, but they don't answer the quick, frequent question of <b>what should I take into account when purchasing a new set of headphones?</b></p><p>TrebleClick aims to make your life easier, so we're going to simplify all that, and explain it in an easy-to-understand way:</p><br />
<h3>Ohm, dB and Hz: what they are, what's their purpose, and why are they important?</h3><ul><li><b>Ohm:</b> Ohms are the <b>Impedance</b> of your headphones, or, in plain English: the resistance that your headphones oppose to the flow of an electric current. This determines the amount of power that reaches your headphones, in relation to the amount of power sent. More Ohms will require a higher power input value to work properly. If the resistance value is very high, your system will need an amplifier. You will find the nominal value of resistance in the technical specifications of your headphones. 16, 24 or 32 are usual Ohm values, and they should work for regular purposes.</li>
<li><b>dB:</b> The Decibels represent the <b>Sound Pressure Level (SPL)</b>, or the <b>audio volume power</b>. Higher dB values will make the sound in your headphones be louder. But higher dB values will also lead to earlier distortion in such sound. The higher this volume value is, the closer to the distortion threshold you'll be.</li>
<li><b>Hz:</b> Hertzs are the <b>Audio Frequency</b>, and they actually are <b>the most important parameter</b> to take into account when considering the sound quality of some new headphones. The Hertzs represent the frequency range that your headphones will play back, from the lowest bass to the highest treble. This usually comes specified in minimum and maximum values, so the best headphone sets will have broader ranges, with a lower minimum, and a higher maximum. Human ear can hear sound frequencies ranging between 20 and 20.000 Hz.</li>
</ul><br />
<h3>Conclusion: what do I need in my headphones?</h3><p>If you are a professional sound technician, or an expert, and you already have a pretty decent sound system, you won't probably even need to read this, and you may even disagree about some details. But if you are just an average computer user, avid gamer or designer, and the only thing you want is some headphones to use with your computer or laptop, the only things you need to take into account when choosing them are as follows:</p><ul><li>A higher dB value implies higher sound volume. The usual values are set around 112 dB/mW.</li>
<li>Higher Ohm mean higher resistance values, and this means that you'll need higher input power values - otherwise, you'll experience a lower sound volume. Nominal Ohm values of 16, 24 or 32 are the most frequent ones.</li>
<li>A higher Hz range will play more sound frequencies, providing higher quality sound playback. <b>This is the other key parameter</b>. 20-20.000 Hz is okay. From that point on, a broader frequency range <i>(like 12-28.000 Hz)</i> should have better sound quality, while a narrower frequency bandwidth <i>(for example, 21-18.000 Hz)</i> would provide lower sound quality.</li>
</ul>Dreminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11119627208961403852noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-30746205158480860592013-07-28T06:41:00.002+02:002013-07-28T06:41:45.262+02:00How to use your computer keyboard as MIDI in Music Creator 6 Touch<h3>Playing music in Cakewalk Music Creator 6 with a computer keyboard </h3><p>Have you ever wanted to play music with your computer keyboard when you don't have a regular MIDI keyboard at hand? This time-saving feature is usually available at most music creation software, but unfortunately, it isn't built as part of Cakewalk Music Creator 6 Touch.</p><p>That's why I found out a way to <b>use your regular computer keyboard as a MIDI keyboard</b> that would be <b>recognized by Music Creator 6</b>, so you can compose some quick musical experiments even when you are on the go! The following sections will detail the steps to get this nice feature working on your music creation software.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyFPjGg7VLqaSiDVpISM8uiwQIFTlivXX0Gc8sbahj46DcnD0JVE57LaawRQKP_FwT8DEV0WQ4aArPDzckiiLyZbTOCvA17qm-sOSXMLpv7NFCnAMg3t1_7quSvpNPUOq-2TtaynMM8c/s1600/Computer-keyboard-as-music-keyboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Using a computer keyboard as music keyboard" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGyFPjGg7VLqaSiDVpISM8uiwQIFTlivXX0Gc8sbahj46DcnD0JVE57LaawRQKP_FwT8DEV0WQ4aArPDzckiiLyZbTOCvA17qm-sOSXMLpv7NFCnAMg3t1_7quSvpNPUOq-2TtaynMM8c/s1600/Computer-keyboard-as-music-keyboard.jpg" /></a></div><h3>How to make Cakewalk Music Creator 6 Touch to recognize your computer keyboard as MIDI input</h3><p>The procedure to have your keyboard recognized as a MIDI keyboard in any music creation software would follow these steps:</p><ul><li>A virtual MIDI keyboard should <b>capture the keystrokes</b> from your computer keyboard and turn then into MIDI.</li>
<li>This MIDI information should be <b>rerouted</b> from the output of the virtual keyboard to the <b>MIDI input</b> of your music creation software.</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhPgYBr435TiNOk4rwunOyBtaytM1g89W-T_M5FzV6qBlgt33EPpYR9uRUV1DcjhZnp4N5-bX20C2fsNxy0pRc6RNbXNzKF_NZjO8KF8u17dtWqojAwyxTjbT5QOP_xW1mQSCJ4vUMZ0/s1600/use-computer-keyboard-as-MIDI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Use your computer keyboard as MIDI input" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhPgYBr435TiNOk4rwunOyBtaytM1g89W-T_M5FzV6qBlgt33EPpYR9uRUV1DcjhZnp4N5-bX20C2fsNxy0pRc6RNbXNzKF_NZjO8KF8u17dtWqojAwyxTjbT5QOP_xW1mQSCJ4vUMZ0/s1600/use-computer-keyboard-as-MIDI.jpg" /></a></div><p>Getting your keyboard to work with Music Creator is easier than it seems, once you have the following two software programs:</p><ul><li><b>VMPK</b>. It is a useful open source project that stands for Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard. VMPK will recognize the keystrokes in your computer keyboard as MIDI input. It can be downloaded from <a href="http://vmpk.sourceforge.net/">here</a>, where other detailed usage instructions are available.</li>
<li><b>loopMIDI</b>. This program, created by Tobias Erichsen, provides a reliable and extremely simple way to reroute your virtual MIDI cables. It works from Windows XP to Windows 8 systems, supporting both, 32 and 64 bit systems. It can be downloaded from the author's website <a href="http://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/loopmidi.html">here</a>.</li>
</ul><h3>Detailed steps to use your computer keyboard as a MIDI input in Music Creator 6 Touch</h3><p>Once you have Cakewalk Music Creator 6 Touch installed in your computer, as well as the other two previously mentioned programs, you just need to follow these steps to start playing and recording music from your computer keyboard.</p><p>First, <b>run loopMIDI</b> by executing loopMIDI.exe. Click the plus (<b>+</b>) symbol to <b>add a new loopback MIDI port</b>. In the example, we created a new MIDI port with its default name, <i>loopMIDI Port</i>. Don't close loopMIDI, since you'll need this program to be running as a background process in order for the MIDI reroute to take effect.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6CPO8I00Q-uz4RjDcxZ6vf_uTqu_LuYgAVQXO4LamF-jO95cboXEjvWuL0yD6Ril96NrlokVcvYSOq8EkQHAAycdxwG46HMapn1KyTPUqKFM8kkmC2foDwinKlAqHG_6JWPgNF9FicoU/s1600/add-new-MIDI-port.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6CPO8I00Q-uz4RjDcxZ6vf_uTqu_LuYgAVQXO4LamF-jO95cboXEjvWuL0yD6Ril96NrlokVcvYSOq8EkQHAAycdxwG46HMapn1KyTPUqKFM8kkmC2foDwinKlAqHG_6JWPgNF9FicoU/s1600/add-new-MIDI-port.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<p>Then, run <b>VMPK.exe</b> to execute the Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard software. It will start capturing the keystrokes from your computer keyboard as MIDI input, as long as its window is selected and has focus as an active window. Select <b><i>Edit > MIDI Connections</i></b> to configure the MIDI output of this program.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbun8UqrgmlNxq4NMmdi543CG-_iPH5fpxeWMJKqAVFE0HtCJMKDG88UGxAHchh_dyS-4Pto-LGQozLI3sDt6aqit-OPRxKx4k1HdH_0KwVnL_Snym_KGx8zYKg1_wRP434YYmiCSNuI/s1600/edit-keyboard-MIDI-connections.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="edit virtual keyboard MIDI connections" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJbun8UqrgmlNxq4NMmdi543CG-_iPH5fpxeWMJKqAVFE0HtCJMKDG88UGxAHchh_dyS-4Pto-LGQozLI3sDt6aqit-OPRxKx4k1HdH_0KwVnL_Snym_KGx8zYKg1_wRP434YYmiCSNuI/s1600/edit-keyboard-MIDI-connections.jpg" /></a></div><p>We want the output of this virtual keyboard to go towards our recently created virtual loop MIDI port. That's why inside the VMPK MIDI setup menu we should be selecting the name of the new loopMIDI port as an <b><i>Output MIDI Connection</i></b> – in this example, we select our previously created port named “<i>loopMIDI Port</i>” and hit OK.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OkaaB-FBFIRqr2shxtUqXP3VATSvhn0Wgo9wfXIT_JuHehW_PlS82_u3YyKimW8Luq8RvPtpSoB_nKzyu5OVbyT7RKijgvbEblh1TQr51JOXsYm4E16YUqBx4qab0H5iVEw90hBff9Q/s1600/VMPK-output-MIDI-configuration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="output MIDI connection" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OkaaB-FBFIRqr2shxtUqXP3VATSvhn0Wgo9wfXIT_JuHehW_PlS82_u3YyKimW8Luq8RvPtpSoB_nKzyu5OVbyT7RKijgvbEblh1TQr51JOXsYm4E16YUqBx4qab0H5iVEw90hBff9Q/s1600/VMPK-output-MIDI-configuration.jpg" /></a></div><p>Here's where <b>Cakewalk Music Creator 6 Touch</b> comes into play. We are already recognizing the keystrokes from our computer keyboard, and sending them to a new MIDI port that would reroute them as a MIDI input. So the next step is to configure Music Creator 6 to use this virtual port as its <b>MIDI input</b>. Inside Music Creator, open the preferences menu by selecting <b><i>Edit > Preferences</i></b>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURbAx17L0zsvEBm6vGqrpFuFvrtEG_fl-L81jdq9wmScOE6ahx1H3O9E3XFueNNNyFM0N1QCEg9M2_rGF8exHNufLzbC7_-vbJeUsBYCEkewOQva71Bch0AE8FQkrQM1a_5ZQVkCXCpw/s1600/edit-music-creator-6-preferences.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="edit Music Creator preferences" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURbAx17L0zsvEBm6vGqrpFuFvrtEG_fl-L81jdq9wmScOE6ahx1H3O9E3XFueNNNyFM0N1QCEg9M2_rGF8exHNufLzbC7_-vbJeUsBYCEkewOQva71Bch0AE8FQkrQM1a_5ZQVkCXCpw/s1600/edit-music-creator-6-preferences.jpg" /></a></div><p>Inside the Music Creator preferences window, select <b><i>Devices</i> </b>under the <b><i>MIDI</i> </b>section. The top list will display all available MIDI inputs under the <i>Inputs</i> label. Look for the name of the <b>virtual MIDI loop port</b> you just created – <i>loopMIDI Port</i> in our example – select it by checking the box at the left of its name, and click okay.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrc1w12fauEBt9_k6qLHrEZNZOHn65fV_CfTllpNwVuur9vsc8BI44Sjyr7wwEJRXqQTBnKPvM_7nZjyb_Uhycuwqmqz46QyJRL_pd1pokkSVNLOhroOG_TYrPgnY1Nu4S-s4uaYFy28M/s1600/input-loop-MIDI-port-cakewalk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cakewalk Music Creator MIDI input devices" border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrc1w12fauEBt9_k6qLHrEZNZOHn65fV_CfTllpNwVuur9vsc8BI44Sjyr7wwEJRXqQTBnKPvM_7nZjyb_Uhycuwqmqz46QyJRL_pd1pokkSVNLOhroOG_TYrPgnY1Nu4S-s4uaYFy28M/s400/input-loop-MIDI-port-cakewalk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&nou=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=tf_til&asins=B00466HM28" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 20px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br />
<p>And that's all! <b>Cakewalk Music Creator will now recognize your keystrokes as MIDI input</b> (as long as your VMPK window is the selected, active window, and as long as the loopmidi software is running,) allowing you to record (and even step-record) the notes of your songs directly from your computer keyboard.</p><p>Even when nothing can replace a full music keyboard, this is a quite time-saving solution if you don't have a MIDI keyboard at hand or if you are composing music on the go.</p><br />
<br />
ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-61482987461786188962013-05-23T21:23:00.001+02:002013-05-23T21:23:24.018+02:00Play Video!<h3>Geeky 3D Music Video.</h3><p>From one of our writers and designers, <a href="http://www.dremin.com" target="blank">Rael del Fraile</a>, comes this 3D video of the little <i>big-headed robot</i> from Star Wars, dancing like the <i>King of Pop</i>:</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/I9KruI7DKwQ?rel=0&hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<p>Well, now you can tell your friends that you have seen <a href="http://www.dremin.com/video/r2-dance.html" title="R2 Dance">R2D2 dancing like Michael Jackson</a>.<br />
</p>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-27527651712829575172013-03-25T18:30:00.001+01:002013-07-28T21:53:36.323+02:00Alternative Mobile Versions FAQ<h3>How To Optimize Mobile-Only Websites</h3><p>A few years ago, mobile devices were just used for phone calls. But nowadays, the traffic that our websites receive from smartphones just keeps increasing to a level that their importance cannot be denied anymore. And with new technologies and opportunities come new challenges and questions.</p><p>To make things easier, we are sharing here a list of questions and answers about how to optimize mobile-only versions of your websites, taking into account technical, user experience and SEO considerations.</p><ul><li><a href="#mobileFAQ1">Why would redirecting to a mobile version make sense?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ2">Should you display different content for mobile browsers in the same URL, or redirect them to a different, mobile-only URL?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ3">Should you create different versions for feature phones and smartphones?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ4">How is a mobile URL marked as a mobile, alternative version?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ5">If there is no corresponding original page, where should a canonical tag inside the mobile version point to?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ6">How can you detect mobile browsers to serve them different contents?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ7">Should Google's mobile crawler be considered in mobile browser redirection scripts?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ8">Server-side redirection or Javascript redirection?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ9">Permanent 301 redirect or temporary 302 redirect?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ10">Should you include a vary HTTP header in mobile URLs?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ11">Should you include a link to the original, regular version in your mobile-optimized version?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ12">Where should a link from the mobile version to the regular version exactly point?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ13">How to allow mobile users browse your regular version?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ14">What about redirecting desktop / regular users accessing your mobile version to your regular version?</a></li>
<li><a href="#mobileFAQ15">Are tablet browsers mobile browsers too?</a></li>
</ul><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ1">Why would redirecting to a mobile version make sense?</h3><p>Responsive web design presents several advantages when compared to creating a detached, alternative version just for your mobile users:</p><ul><li><b>Maintenance can be simplified</b>. Even when responsive websites can increase the level of complexity, only one website would have to be modified. Content-wise, all your contents would remain on just one place, making it easier to expand and update your site for both, regular users and mobile users.</li>
<li><b>SEO can be simplified</b>. Presenting a single version of your website for all your users with (mostly) the same content avoids the hassle of notifying search engines about both versions, making clear which one is the main version and which one is the mobile-optimized version.</li>
</ul><a href="#mobileFAQ1"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/1-responsive-design.jpg" alt="responsive design" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>However, even when responsive web design is probably the only trend that will survive in the not-so-distant future, creating a responsive web design instead of a mobile version may not be the best option under certain circumstances:</p><ul><li><b>Budget constraints</b>. Responsive designs require additional planning in advance and testing in a broad array of devices and screen resolutions, for all the kinds of content.</li>
<li><b>Outdated phones</b>. If most of your users still rely on feature phones or old smartphones, but still do want to navigate a mobile version of your site, then you better make that version very lightweight and fast, specifically designed with simplicity and speed in mind.</li>
<li><b>Legacy code</b>. If you already do have a mobile version in your website, or a website that would be very hard to turn into a responsive website, then working with your existing versions would make sense.</li>
<li><b>Context restrictions</b>. The goals of your users while on the go may differ from the goals of other users accessing your website from a desktop computer. There are some additional interface and context restrictions as well: typing on a small touchscreen while walking down the street may render your web forms useless; reading on a tiny mobile screen may render your detailed, long pages overwhelming.</li>
</ul><p>If you are under one of these previous scenarios, you will definitely want to keep using your separate mobile website version, and optimize it as much as possible so:</p><ul><li>You will be serving easy-to-navigate content to your users.</li>
<li>It will be easy to discover for search engines.</li>
<li>Your <i>mobile version won't compete with your original version</i>, cannibalizing your search engine results.</li>
</ul><p>Here is a list of frequently asked questions about how to optimize the performance of a standalone mobile version.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ2">Should you display different content for mobile browsers in the same URL, or redirect them to a different, mobile-only URL?</h3><p>There are two approaches to serve mobile optimized content to your site users: keeping them in the original URL but sending them different, mobile optimized content, or redirecting them to a different URL where they would find mobile optimized contents.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ2"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/2-mobile-URL-redirection.jpg" alt="mobile URL redirection" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>The first approach has a SEO-related advantage: all links pointing to one of your mobile URLs will also pass their ranking to the main URLs, since both are the same.</p><p>However, this approach also has bigger risks as well. Issues with this configuration, like failing to tell apart your mobile users appropriately, may lead to search engines think that you are sending shallow content to all users, or creating a URL masking scheme.</p><p>There could be issues with your mobile users as well. Without the URL providing additional feedback about the version they are browsing, your users might be confused about thinking this is the only version of your website (if your "go to original version" link weren't very visible.)</p><p>That's why redirecting to a mobile-only URL still makes sense, as it can be technically easier to work with, pretty clear to understand, and very well organized. But you need to make sure such an URL is marked as just for mobile browsers, as an alternative version, so it won't compete with your regular URLs in search engine rankings.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ3">Should you create different versions for feature phones and smartphones?</h3><p>While smartphones boast not-so-tiny touchscreens and powerful processors, those old mobile phones out there, the so called feature phones, will lack enough screen real estate or processing power to deliver a good browsing experience in most websites.</p><p>The answer to this question depends on your business. Your browsing stats will be priceless for this purpose. Most stats tracking software will give you a detailed breakdown about the hardware that your visitors are using to navigate your site. If that list contains a decent percentage of old mobile phone users, then creating a version optimized for featured phones would make sense.</p><p>However, mobile phones are quickly evolving. It depends on your target market and on the country where your business is located, but chances are that feature phones will quickly disappear in favor of more powerful smartphones. And taking into account that the processing power of smartphones is coming closer to being little desktop computers, chances are that your future website design plans should consider only smartphone-optimized versions.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ3"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/16-feature-smart-phones.jpg" alt="Feature phones vs. smartphones" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>At the end, this is what the other big web design trend of responsive design is already hinting: in a not-so-distant future, desktop versions and mobile phone versions would only be distinguished by the layout used to present information. In the meantime, a single alternative fast-loading and concise mobile version should suit the needs of all your mobile users.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ4">How is a mobile URL marked as a mobile, alternative version?</h3><a href="#mobileFAQ4"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/3-tagging-mobile-pages.jpg" alt="Tagging mobile pages" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>Google <a href="https://developers.google.com/webmasters/smartphone-sites/details">recommends</a> tagging pages with alternative versions following this approach:</p><ul><li>The regular, original page should signal that there is a mobile-friendly version serving similar content.</li>
<li>The mobile-optimized versions should point at their related regular pages, marking them as the main, canonical pages.</li>
</ul><p>Screen size is used to discriminate mobile phones, while the media type <i>handheld</i> is used to target feature phones. In the most common scenario where there's just a mobile-friendly version, these are the <b>alternate link</b> tags that you would include in your main, regular version:</p><br />
<div class="programCode"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="<span class="remark">http://www.mobileURLHere</span>" /><br />
<br />
<link rel="alternate" media="handheld" href="<span class="remark">http://www.mobileURLHere</span>" /></div><br />
<p>And this is the <b>canonical link</b> that you would include in the mobile version:</p><br />
<div class="programCode"><link rel="canonical" href="<span class="remark">http://www.mainURLHere</span>" /></div><br />
<p>You can also tag mobile versions in your sitemap.xml as alternative versions. Each alternative mobile version should be associated to its related regular version, so the sitemap of your website would look like this:</p><br />
<div class="programCode"><?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><br />
<br />
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"<br />
<br />
xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br />
<br />
<url><br />
<br />
<loc><span class="remark">http://www.mainURLHere</span></loc><br />
<br />
<xhtml:link<br />
<br />
rel="alternate"<br />
<br />
media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)"<br />
<br />
href="<span class="remark">http://www.mobileURLHere</span>" /><br />
<br />
</url><br />
<br />
</urlset></div><br />
<p>It is important to make sure you are redirecting exactly to the URL specified in these alternate tags, or you could be sending confusing information to the search engines, and you could even risk getting your website flagged as spam.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ5">If there is no corresponding original page, where should a canonical tag inside the mobile version point to?</h3><p>If your mobile site doesn't mirror your original site in full (that is, having a mobile-optimized page per each original page) then the quickest approach would also be the safest: small mobile websites can redirect all their pages to your main url in your original version, ensuring all of them pass pagerank to your main webpage.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ5"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/4-canonical-links.jpg" alt="canonical links" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>Take into account that, in an ideal case scenario, every single page of your main website should be having a mobile-optimized page. Other scenarios can lead to bookmarks that don't work as expected across different devices, or, as Google calls them, irrelevant redirects – unless your mobile version is specifically crafted to serve an optimum version considering your mobile users' context and market niche.</p><br />
<p><strong>Update:</strong> in this official blog post titled <a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com.es/2013/06/changes-in-rankings-of-smartphone_11.html">Changes in rankings of smartphone search results</a> Google updated what they consider an irrelevant redirection. According to this report, mobile-accessed pages without a mobile version available shouldn't redirect to your main mobile page, as that would be considered an irrelevant redirection. The recommended approach for pages without mobile versions is to lead the user to the original, non-mobile-optimized page.</p><p>Other than that, the recommended suboptimal approach according to Google is having a mobile-optimized page for every single of your regular pages (thus removing the risk of irrelevant redirections.) And the optimum recommended scenario would follow a fully responsive website approach, with a single version that would work nicely on all devices.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ6">How can you detect mobile browsers to serve them different contents?</h3><p>Mobile browsers identify themselves through their own user agents. By identifying their user agent you can send them different contents or redirect them to a new page.</p><p>You don't need to create a whole list of user agents by yourself. There are some scripts out there that would take care of that for you. <a href="http://detectmobilebrowsers.com/">Detectmobilebrowsers.com</a> is an open-source mobile browser detection library that will do the trick, offering scripts in several different programming languages (Apache server scripts, Javascript, ASP, PHP, etc.)</p><a href="#mobileFAQ6"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/5-detect-mobile-devices.jpg" alt="detect mobile devices" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>Be careful with this tactic, though, since new mobile devices, not considered in this list, might eventually appear. There's a slim chance of your mobile detection script running outdated and classifying new devices into the wrong category. So make sure you keep updated detection rules as well.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ7">Should Google's mobile crawler be considered in mobile browser redirection scripts?</h3><p>Google has a Googlebot-mobile webcrawler, specifically dedicated to crawling mobile versions, which is completely independent from their regular Googlebot. So it would make sense that this crawler reached the mobile version of your website.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ7"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/6-mobile-crawler.jpg" alt="mobile website crawler" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>However, Googlebot-mobile presents itself using <a href="https://developers.google.com/webmasters/smartphone-sites/googlebot-mobile">the user agent of regular, well-known smartphones</a>. <i>You don't need to discriminate Googlebot-mobile</i> in your browser-detection scripts. <a href="https://developers.google.com/webmasters/smartphone-sites/detecting-user-agents">Google warns</a> that doing so can be flagged as URL cloaking, which would bring you a penalty from Google.</p><br />
<br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ8">Server-side redirection or Javascript redirection?</h3><p>There are a couple of different approaches when redirecting your mobile users to a different mobile version. You can perform the appropriate user agent checks on your visitor's web browser by using a Javascript redirection. Or you can go ahead with a server-side redirection, so your web server performs the browser agent checks (either directly on the server engine by using .htaccess rules, or in a server-side programming language, such as .NET, PHP, Ruby and so on.)</p><p>The problem with a Javascript redirection is that part of your original page needs to load before your mobile user is redirected to the appropriate version. On the other hand, a server-side redirection would leave the user agent checks and processing to the server itself, preventing your user from loading unnecessary content.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ8"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/7-javascript-redirect.jpg" alt="Javascript redirect" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<a href="#mobileFAQ8"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/8-server-side-redirect.jpg" alt="Server-side redirect" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>Taking into account that mobile users have limited bandwidth and processing power, <i>server-side redirects are the preferred approach</i> since they will be faster.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ9">Permanent 301 redirect or temporary 302 redirect?</h3><p>There are two main different types of server-side redirects that are triggered by specific HTTP response headers directly sent from the server:</p><ul><li>A 301 redirection is a permanent redirection, indicating that the original URL doesn't matter anymore, so all queries should be redirected to the new URL.</li>
<li>A 302 redirection is a temporary redirection, just signalling that visits to the original URL are redirected to a new URL at the present time, but that this is a temporary situation expected to be reverted.</li>
</ul><p>If you use response codes to redirect your mobile users to the appropriate, mobile version, in Google's own words:</p><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>For this purpose, it does not matter if the server redirects with an HTTP 301 or a 302 status code.</i></blockquote><p>So it really doesn't matter what kind of redirection you are using to send your users to your mobile version.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ9"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/9-temporary-redirect-302.jpg" alt="Temporary 302 redirect" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>However, let's consider a worst case scenario: if some misconfiguration or glitch in the process is preventing both versions of your site from being understood the right way from a search engine's perspective, using a permanent 301 redirect from your regular version to your mobile version would send most or all your pagerank, traffic or users to your alternative, simpler, mobile-optimized version. Such a scenario would be a disaster for your SEO strategy.</p><p>That's why <i>using a 302 temporary redirect</i> pointing towards your mobile version is a <i>better strategy in terms of risk prevention</i>.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ10">Should you include a vary HTTP header in mobile URLs?</h3><p>Google mentions <a href="https://developers.google.com/webmasters/smartphone-sites/redirects">in its guidelines</a> that, in case you use any kind of redirect, <i>any redirecting webpage should also be outputting a Vary HTTP header</i> to notify potential search engine crawlers that mobile crawling is also in order, since the page can lead to different results depending on the user agent used to browse it. This way, every mobile page would be crawled, and the structure of your site would be better understood.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ10"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/10-vary-response-header.jpg" alt="Vary response header" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>This also holds true for websites using the same URL to serve optimized content for both, mobile users and regular users (dynamic serving.) In this case it can become even more important, as there wouldn't be any other way to tell the search engine spiders that a mobile version exists for the present page. You would also make sure that the mobile optimized version wouldn't be considered as masked content or as the main version related to this URL, since you would be announcing its existence through this header.</p><p>The <b>Vary </b>header should be sent indicating that the contents in that page can vary depending on the <b>user-agent</b>, so it should look this way:</p><div class="programCode">Vary: <span class="remark">User-Agent</span></div><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ11">Should you include a link to the original, regular version in your mobile-optimized version?</h3><p>Definitely. Some users will still want to access the full contents of their main version if they feel that they are missing part of the content, or if they just have a smartphone powerful enough for regular browsing.</p><p>If your mobile-optimized version is simple and short enough (as it should be,) the link to the original article / normal version could be safely included at the bottom of the page: there wouldn't be any need to go to the regular version if the mobile version provided enough information by itself. Going to a normal version is rarely a decision taken in the first second.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ11"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/11-link-normal-version.jpg" alt="link to normal version" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>Make sure to display this link to your main version <i>in a very visible way</i>, though. You really do want to make your users know there's still a different, <i>potentially more complete and eye-catching version</i> that they could visit if they wanted to. This becomes specially important if you are serving your mobile contents from the same URL, as the URL wouldn't offer any additional clue about the existence of a regular version.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ12">Where should a link from the mobile version to the regular version exactly point?</h3><p>In the ideal case of having a mobile website composed of a mobile page per each regular page, the links pointing to the regular versions from the mobile pages should precisely target their corresponding regular page, talking about the same subject and offering similar content.</p><p>However, things can be a little bit more complicated if your mobile website comprises just a subset of your whole regular site, which can still make sense to offer a simplified, more straightforward version of your contents to the specific market niche composed of your mobile visitors.</p><p>If there were no matching page, offering a link to the homepage of your website from its mobile version could seem like a good idea, since the homepage presents the most easy-to-access gateways to all your content.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ12"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/12-link-mobile-version.jpg" alt="link to mobile version" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>But that's not enough. Consider the following scenario: a user performs a specific search from his web phone, clicks a specific search result, and is then redirected to the homepage of your mobile version instead. This can be okay as long as your user appreciates the ease of navigation of your mobile version, and as long as he finds relevant information. But, what if he just wants the answer to his original, specific query, and thinks that his smartphone should be able to handle browsing the full, regular webpage? Giving him a link to your main homepage will feel like a burden.</p><p>That is why you should also offer a link to the page your mobile users were trying to reach before being redirected to the mobile version of your website. You can annotate the page where a redirection was started (for example, in a parameter, cookie or session variable.) Mobile users pleased by the ease of use of your mobile version would remain there with no problem. And mobile users wanting to reach the original contents that triggered their click in the search engine results would still have the option to view the original contents they were originally thinking about.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ13">How to allow mobile users browse your regular version?</h3><p>Mobile users should be redirected towards your mobile-optimized version. So when one of your mobile users prefers trying to navigate your full website using a powerful smartphone, and clicks a link to your regular version, how to prevent him being redirected back to the mobile version, and stuck in an endless loop?</p><p>One of the most straightforward approaches to solve this issue is to add an additional parameter to override this redirection for users who explicitly request to see full versions from their mobile phones. Just a query parameter appended to the target URL can be enough. The target, regular webpage would check for the existence of this parameter. If found, any redirection would be skipped this time, allowing your mobile user to navigate the regular version of your website.</p><p>Nevertheless, that might not be just enough. That same user could still want to keep navigating other regular sections of your website. If such parameter weren't kept, your user could be redirected back to a mobile version when clicking a new link.</p><p>So once a regular version is requested by including a parameter to override mobile browsing, this preference should be stored in a cookie for your user, or even just in a session variable. So your user won't have to worry about being redirected to your mobile version again.</p><p>If a cookie or session variable were set for that user, no regular page would redirect such specific mobile user.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ13"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/13-store-mobile-preferences.jpg" alt="storing mobile preferences" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>On the other hand, this user can still go back anytime to your mobile version, not by an automated redirect, but by pressing his “back” button on the web browser of his mobile phone. This is a rare scenario that might only happen if your user decides that the regular version is too much for his phone after explicitly requesting it, but being covered about this case is still worth for optimum user experience purposes.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ14">What about redirecting desktop / regular users accessing your mobile version to your regular version?</h3><p>This is what Google calls <i>bidirectional redirects</i>. It prevents your desktop users from landing on a mobile-optimized version, which in their large screens would look rather limited or empty, and thus, wouldn't create the appropriate first impression.</p><p>If you have an updated mobile agent detection, then bidirectional redirects can make sense. It is very strange that a desktop user would rather see the incomplete or limited mobile version instead of the full, original version of your website.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ14"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/14-redirect-desktop-users.jpg" alt="redirecting desktop users" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>Independently from that redirection for desktop users, some mobile phone users would still like to access your regular pages. Having a link offering to visit the normal version instead would come here into play.</p><p>The only catch about bidirectional redirects is that you need to make sure your code is working perfectly. If not, you could leave your users stuck in the wrong site version or in a redirection loop.</p><br />
<h3 id="mobileFAQ15">Are tablet browsers mobile browsers too?</h3><p>Tablets have some points in common with mobile browsers: they provide their users with some mobility, not-so-big touchscreens, and less processing power than desktop computers.</p><p>However, most modern tablets already allow regular navigation in regular webpages with ease. Their processing power is enough to move normal webpages, and their screens (even the 7-inch ones) are big enough to provide good website readability.</p><p>That's why I suggest not treating tablets as mobile devices, and to exclude them from your user-agent detection scripts.</p><a href="#mobileFAQ15"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/mobile/15-tablet-users.jpg" alt="tablet users" height="333" width="536" /></a><br />
<p>Besides, it is still possible to redirect tablet users to your mobile version as well. This can make sense if your regular version is not so tablet-friendly (if it takes too long to load, if it features Flash content that won't work in iPads, or if it just targets a niche where you wouldn't include your tablet users.)</p><p>If you are using the user-agent-detection script previously mentioned, <a href="http://detectmobilebrowsers.com/">detectmobilebrowsers.com</a>, you would just need to add the following code to the first regular expression to treat iPads, Kindle Fire, Playbooks and Android tablets as mobile devices as well:</p><br />
<div class="programCode">|android|ipad|playbook|silk</div><br />
ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-73404053865382666312011-08-30T01:36:00.000+02:002011-08-30T01:36:16.487+02:00WhatsApp not available for iPad and iPod<h3>WhatsApp is now available only for iPhone.</h3>
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B00414WBT4&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;float:left;padding:20px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>The messaging app <b>"Whatsapp"</b>, is no more available for the <b>iPod</b> and <b>iPad</b> because of a decision taken by Apple, and it has now <b>removed from the App Store</b> for those devices. Now the WhatsApp App is only available for iPhone.</p>
<p>While WhatsApp for Android is free, WhatsApp has a price in the App Store, and Apple is not refunding the amount of any previous purchase.</p>
<p>WhatsApp keeps working on those iPad and iPod devices in which it is still installed. But you won't be able to update or purchase WhatsApp for iPad or iPod anymore.</p>
<p>Those iPod and iPad users who had already purchased it and who want to keep using it in the near future will be able to do so as long as they don't erase the installed app, and as long as the installed version remains compatible enough, because there's no (legal) way to get a WhatsApp app for your iPad or iPod.</p>
<p>You can create a <b>backup of the app</b> syncing the device with iTunes in your own computer, and then copying the file <b>"WhatsApp.ipa</b>" located inside the folder:
<i>"C:\Documents and Settings\<b>Windows username</b>\My documents\My music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Mobile Applications"</i> (in Windows XP; other newer Windows operating systems store the app data in a similar route).</p>
<p>Note: that files has a unique ID, and works only in the device in which the original purchase of the app took place, as it is synchronized with the user's iTunes account. Copying and pasting that WhatsApp data file in a different iPad or iPod will make the app to stop working.</p>Dreminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11119627208961403852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-30244479212390774112011-02-17T10:27:00.005+01:002011-02-23T20:45:02.185+01:00Screenshot in Android Samsung Galaxy S<h3>How to take a screenshot in Android Samsung Galaxy S smartphone</h3>
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B003TLNZLI&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>Saving a <strong>screenshot</strong> in the <strong>Samsung Galaxy S</strong> Android-based smartphone is very easy: it's just a simple <strong>combination of keys</strong>.</p>
<p>You need to <strong>keep pressed</strong> the tactile key <strong>Back</strong> and, <strong>without releasing</strong> this key, we press the central <strong>Home</strong> button (the one that returns to your main screen) and then we would release the "Home" button (without releasing the Back key.)</p>
<p>The best way this screenshot trick works is just keeping pressed "Back" <i>during a second</i> and then pressing "Home". If we do this fast it might not work. And if we wait too long, maybe the screenshot would be taken too late, because the "Back" key might act, going to the previous level in the current app or page.</p>
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B00443M4YO&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<p>Essentially, this trick is all about pressing and releasing "Home" while "Back" is still pressed.</p>
<p>If our screenshot was successful, we would hear a sound similar of a photographic camera shutter, and in the bottom of our screen a message would be displayed: <i>"Screenshot taken. Saving as image file"</i>, and the image would be stored in the "ScreenCapture" folder of the Samsung Galaxy S device.</p>
<p>In spite of the outdated information spread all over Internet about this feature, with statements about the impossibility of saving a screenshot in the Samsung Galaxy S smartphones, suggesting other complex operations, connecting the device to the computer, etc., truth is that these specific Android-based phones, since the Android firmware version 2.2, are able to save screenshots in this simple way.</p>Dreminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11119627208961403852noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-34028013347769442912011-02-15T10:04:00.002+01:002011-02-15T10:04:00.533+01:00Free Spotify Premium trial - but unsubscribe<h3>Try out Spotify Premium for free, but remember to unsubscribe</h3>
<p><i>Even when Spotify is still available in a limited set of countries, it is believed to be expanding soon. And the paid, <strong>Premium version</strong> of Spotify still allows online and offline music playback in any country you'd want.</i></p>
<p><b>Spotify</b> is giving for free a <strong>7 days trial</strong> of their <strong>Premium Account</strong> with no advertisements, with offline playlists even in your smartphone <i>(iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone or Symbian)</i> and even abroad.</p>
<p>Such a deal is very good, since you can try out the premium features at Spotify without having to subcribe and paying a full month in full. But you have to pay attention there if you don't want to keep being a Premium Spotify user (and <i>paying</i> for it:)</p>
<table>
<tr><td valign="left">
<p>Such as Spotify advertises this: <i>"No commitments, you can <strong>unsubscribe</strong> anytime you want</i>", that's where you need to pay special attention:</p>
<p>Once you accept the offer, Spotify will request your <strong>credit card</strong> data, to make a minimum charge of 0.01 &eur; to authorize your account, just ass a way to check and validate your card. That's quite similar to the way used by PayPal to validate a new credit card.</p></td><td valign="center"><img src="http://www.dremin.com/tripleclic/imgs/clic-enfadado-spotify.jpg" alt="angry Spotify user"/></td></tr>
</table>
<p>The <i>"catch"</i> is there: in case that you don't want to keep being a Premium user of Spotify, you need to <strong>unsubscribe before the free trial reaches its end</strong>. On the contrary, once 7 days have passed, Spotify will automatically renew your monthly Premium subscription with the credit card details previously given, so it would be a paid Premium version fron now on.</p>
<table>
<tr><td valign="left"><p>From trebleclick.blogspot.com, we recommend the Spotify Premium Accounts, for being a good service with a reasonable price.</p>
<p>But we are also warning those who don't want to hire a paid music service by mistake.</p></td><td valign="center"><img src="http://www.dremin.com/tripleclic/imgs/clic-contento-spotify.jpg" alt="happy Spotify user"/></td></tr>
</table>
<p>From an original blog post by <a href="http://www.dremin.com/">Dremin</a>.</p>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-88933456346200183442010-11-11T05:54:00.000+01:002010-11-11T05:54:35.361+01:00iPad for Professional Usages<h3>Professionals using iPad</h3>
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B002C7481G&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe> <p>So far, we all know the iPad. The shiny new tablet from Apple was constantly present in the media. Web browsing and gaming just became a new tactile experience. And the iPad became the brand new toy everybody wanted to have.</p>
<p>But the iPad is more than a toy. It isn't too strange to find that <strong>an iPad is used by professionals in their daily jobs</strong>.</p>
<h3>Examples of iPad professional usages</h3>
<p>It's surprising that iPads are becoming popular in conservative businesses as legal practice. In this <a href="http://legalmediamatters.com/apple-ipad-review-for-lawyers/">Apple iPad review for lawyers</a>, an attorney explains how he uses such gadget in his daily job, as a medium between laptops and smartphones.</p>
<p>Some universities are starting to give iPads to their students, like in <a href="http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/30/and-so-it-begins-seton-hill-university-to-give-all-students-a/">this new</a>. The idea is that such device would be good to read on screen textbooks in full color.</p>
<p>Professional graphic designers and photographers are using iPads to introduce their works to their customers. The shiny screen of the iPad works pretty well with images and demo reels, being an eye-catching showcase of that visually appealing work.</p>
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<p>Even some IT professionals that need to manage simple interfaces just use it whenever a wireless connection is available, for professional applications like managing servers with a remote console on the go.</p>
<p>Another interesting approach used by professional advertisers and publicists consists of displaying videos in several synchronized iPads, having that way a big, array-style screen composed of many iPads - a really eye-catching idea.</p>
<p>Even some professionals use iPads to read scripts in a full color, compact and easy-to-carry way, removing the hurdle of having to print lots of pages, or having to carry a heavier laptop.</p>
<h3>What makes iPad useful for professionals</h3>
<p>Since iPad is starting to become useful for professionals, the obvious question would be asking ourselves what gives an edge to the iPad for professional usages as the previously mentioned before. And in fact, there are several advantages for the iPad when compared to other similar gadgets:</p>
<ul>
<li>An iPad has a big, full color screen. Typical e-book readers don't have such a big screen, and color e-book readers are just starting to appear (still, e-book ink is rather faded, while the colors on an iPad are quite vivid.)</li>
<li>An iPad is a quite lightweight, compact and easy to carry device. Some laptops (and even netbooks) are heavier and harder to carry.</li>
<li>You can read in an iPad even when standing. That's really hard to do with an open netbook. If your professional work consists of reading information while waiting on a queue or moving between areas, the iPad is unmatched.</li>
<li>The iPad has a tactile integrated keyboard and a big color screen. This is much more comfortable than the keyboard or screen of any small smartphone.</li>
<li>Some iPads come by default with WiFi and 3G connections. It works with exchange servers too, so it has enough connectivity for professional usages and to keep work synchronized.</li>
</ul>
<h3>iPad professional shortcomings</h3>
<p>But iPad has its obvious shortcomings for professionals as well:</p>
<ul>
<li>iPad is a rather expensive device. <strong>The most basic iPads start from around $600</strong>. You could buy a good laptop, or any netbook or advanced smartphone for such price.</li>
<li>The shiny screen of iPad is not specially optimized for reading texts. The e-ink system of other e-book readers (together with an anti-reflection screen) provides better results for pure document reading.</li>
<li>The on-screen tactile keyboard of the iPad is not very comfortable. If you are going to write more, then you would need an additional wireless keyboard.</li>
<li>Some professionals experience synchronization problems with their exchange servers and the iPad, so network compatibility is not fully developed at this point.</li>
<li>iPad lacks multitasking. If you are that kind of professionals who needs two windows open at the same time while writing on your documents, then forget about using the iPad.</li>
<li>iPad still lacks good sofware for professional usage. On top of that, some iPad apps aren't specifically designed for the iPad (they are mostly iPhone apps) so their graphic quality would be lacking.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Is the iPad worth buying for professional usages?</h3>
<p>It seems that if your work consists of reading documents, showcasing eye-catching images to your customers, browsing and performing quick edits while on the move, then the iPad might be for you, as it is for many system administrators, lawyers and photographers.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you depend on multitasking capabilities, specific professional apps, and easy synchronization, a smartphone, netbook or laptop might be better for you - and probably, cheaper.</p>
<p>If you want to know more about the topic, you can read / comment the following articles:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://legalmediamatters.com/apple-ipad-review-for-lawyers/">Apple iPad review for lawyers</a>: how iPads are proving useful in legal environments.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/e3kq1/even_lawyers_are_using_ipads_what_professional/">Discusion about iPad professional usages.</a></li>
<li><a href="http://speirs.org/blog/tag/theipadproject?currentPage=6">The iPad project</a>: Fraser Speirs' project of installing iPads on school.</li>
</ul>
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<br/><br/>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-15162244684895629422010-10-20T19:09:00.002+02:002010-10-27T12:51:34.884+02:00Reduce Illustrator file size in PDF<h3>How to reduce Illustrator file size in PDF exports</h3>
<p>Have you ever noticed that some Adobe Illustrator files just weigh too much? That can be a problem when uploading files for print, as several online printing sites have tight file size restrictions.</p>
<p>Some typical solutions for the exceeded file size problem are:</p>
<ul><li>Removing unused layers and elements.</li>
<li>Removing the image parts hidden by cropping masks after flattening their transparency.</li>
<li>Exporting the Illustrator file in .PDF format instead of .AI format.</li></ul>
<p>Using PDF format is a wise choice, as those <i>Portable Document File</i> formats keep the information as vectors (whenever possible.) So the PDF files will keep the high vector quality that Illustrator files already had.</p>
<p>But sometimes this export in PDF isn't enough to reduce the Illustrator file size under tight size requirements.</p>
<h3>Uncheck a PDF option in Adobe Illustrator to reduce the file size</h3>
<p>Fortunately, reducing the exported PDF file size a lot is in fact a simple, one-step solution. Just follow these easy instructions:</p>
<ul><li>Select a <em>High Quality</em> print preset in Illustrator to assure that the resulting image would have enough quality for professional printing purposes.</li>
<li>Then just <strong>uncheck</strong> the <strong>Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities</strong> option in the <em>General PDF export menu</em> inside Illustrator.</li></ul>
<img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/Illustrator-PDF-size.gif" alt="option to reduce Illustrator PDF size" width="518" height="301" />
<p>That's all you need to achieve a dramatic size reduction of a PDF file exported from Illustrator (even containing both, vector and raster elements.)</p>
<p>It seems that Illustrator just keeps some of the original information in .AI format inside the exported .PDF file - that's how Illustrator assures that you would keep editing capabilities inside the exported .PDF file.</p>
<p>But truth is that, if you are uploading your final art file to an online printing service, those editing capabilities would be unused, and you would be much more worried by the Illustrator file size itself.</p>
<p>So uncheck that option, send your high-quality PDF file with the optimized file size, and don't worry about Illustrator editing capabilities in such exports!</p>
<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B003B32AQK&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:20px;padding-left:20px;padding-bottom:20px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0321562909&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:20px;padding-left:10px;padding-bottom:20px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0321605586&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;padding-bottom:20px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br/><br/>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-9208531943100202312010-10-13T14:25:00.069+02:002010-10-13T18:59:50.892+02:00iPod voice control commands & headphone shortcuts<h3>Music playback commands in the headphone buttons of iPod touch and iPhone</h3>
<p>A little trick to control iPhones and iPods is that they support certain <i>voice control commands</i> as well as some functions or <i>shortcuts in their headphones</i>.
<p>Some models of the iPod Touch and the iPhone have a small control panel in the very cable of their headphones. We can use these headphone buttons to control the music playback in a quick way, with no need of taking out our music player from our pocket.</p>
<p>This control panel in the iPhone / iPod headphones is composed of 3 front buttons and a voice recognition microphone in the back.</p>
<img src="http://www.dremin.com/tripleclic/imgs/auriculares-ipod.jpg" alt="iPod headphones controls" />
<br/>
<p>With the iPod buttons <b>"+"</b> and <b>"-"</b> we can control the playback volume. And with the central button <i>(pressing the small box in the middle)</i> we can perform the following actions:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>1 click:</b> Pause / Resume music playback</li>
<li><b>2 clicks in a row:</b> Skip to the next track on our playlist.</li>
<li><b>2 clicks, keeping the button pressed after the second click:</b> Fast forward in the current music track <i>(release to continue at a normal speed from the chosen point in the track)</i>.</li>
<li><b>3 clicks in a row:</b> Skip to the previous song in our playlist.</li>
<li><b>3 clicks in a row, keeping the button pressed after the third click:</b> Rewind the current track, <i>(release to resume the playback from the chosen point in the track)</i>.</li>
<li><b>1 click, keeping the button pressed:</b> activate the voice recognition mode to use the <i>Voice Control</i> commands on our iPod / iPhone. So we can issue commands to our gadget by speaking to the microphone embedded in the headphones. We could even start phone calls using our iPhone.</li>
</ul>
<br/>
<h3>The iPod voice control commands to play music are:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Play</li>
<li>Play music</li>
<li>Play (Album) (Album name)</li>
<li>Play (Artist) (Artist name)</li>
<li>Play (Playlist) (Playlist name)</li>
<li>Pause</li>
<li>Pause music</li>
<li>Next</li>
<li>Next track</li>
<li>Next song</li>
<li>Previous</li>
<li>Previous track</li>
<li>Previous song</li>
<li>Play more like this</li>
<li>Play more songs like this</li>
<li>Shuffle</li>
<li>Genius</li>
</ul>
<br/>
<p>The call comands that we can issue to our iPhone to control it with our voice are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>Call (name)</li>
<li>Call (name) (home, mobile, work, etc.)</li>
<li>Call number (555-555-5555)</li>
<li>Dial (name)</li>
<li>Dial (name) (home, mobile, work, etc)</li>
<li>Dial number (555-555-5555)</li>
</ul>
<br/>
<p><i>Other iPod control information commands, answered by a computer synthesized voice:</i></p>
<ul>
<li>What's Playing</li>
<li>What song is this?</li>
<li>What song is playing?</li>
<li>Who sings this song?</li>
<li>Who is this song by?</li>
<li>Who plays this song?</li>
</ul>
<br/>
<p>It's also possible to issue voice correction orders to the iPod / iPhone:</p>
<ul>
<li>Wrong</li>
<li>No</li>
<li>Not that one</li>
<li>Not that</li>
<li>Nope</li>
</ul>
<p>And it is also possible to cancel the iPhone / iPod voice control mode with the simple voice order "<i>Cancel</i>"</p>
<br/>
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<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B003UATJ18&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align:left;padding-top:5px;width:131px;height:245px;padding-right:10px;padding-bottom:20px;"align="left" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-39912441967545811912010-09-27T12:22:00.001+02:002010-09-27T12:22:00.281+02:00Fix 404 pages W3 Total Cache in WP<h3>Why to uninstall W3 Total Cache in WordPress</h3>
<p><a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/w3-total-cache/">W3 Total Cache</a> is an amazing cache plugin for WordPress with lots of advanced options. But for small sites on shared hostings, W3TC is overkill, and might be too complex for your needs. And even worse: if you aren't an experienced user, an error in your configuration of W3 Total Cache might slow down the performance of your WordPress based site.</p>
<p>That's why installing W3TC and then uninstalling it after seeing that it isn't worth in terms of performance improvements in low end hostings is not a strange practice (<a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/hyper-cache/">Hyper Cache</a> would be much easier to install, and probably, more appropriate for novice users or just at shared WordPress hostings with limited resources.)</p>
<h3>How to fix 404 pages after uninstalling W3 Total Cache in WordPress</h3>
<p>A common bug experienced by several users after uninstalling W3 Total Cache is that all pretty urls in all existing WordPress posts now lead to <strong>404 pages with not found errors</strong>.</p>
<p>But fortunately, this problem has a pretty easy fix. After following the basic uninstall instructions (and removing all W3TC rules in all .htaccess files) you just need to check that these lines are present in the <strong>.htaccess</strong> file at your <i>WordPress install folder</i>:</p>
<div class="programCode">RewriteEngine On<br/>
RewriteBase /yourBlogBaseFolderHere/</div>
<p>That should go in the .htaccess file, making sure that you encode it in ANSI format, and just after these lines:</p>
<div class="programCode"># BEGIN WordPress<br/>
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c></div>
<p>And that should fix any 404 page not found error that you might be experiencing on all your pretty links of previous posts.</p>
<h3>Other steps to uninstall W3 Total Cache</h3>
<p>Of course, the 404 not found error for a malformed .htaccess file is just a specific bug after uninstalling W3 Total Cache. If you are considering to uninstall this cache on your WordPress blog, I'll suggest you to take a look at these other insightful articles first:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.scottmcnew.com/home/best-way-to-delete-w3-total-cache/">Best way to delete W3 Total Cache</a> by Scott Andrew McNew</li>
<li><a href="http://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-w3-total-cache-how-to-uninstall-with-no-admin-panel">WordPress support: how to uninstall W3 Cache</a></li>
</ul>
<p>If you follow all those steps, you should have your WordPress site up and running again, with no 404 error pages or traces of W3TC at all.</p>
<div style="margin-left:30px;margin-bottom:10px;">
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</div>
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<br/>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-55293176423778555842010-05-05T01:19:00.001+02:002010-05-22T19:08:53.640+02:00Apple and Adobe - infographics<h3>Apple and Adobe (infographics)</h3>
<p>(Click the image below to view the full resolution version of the infographics)</p>
<a href="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/Apple-Flash-infographics.html"><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/Apple-Flash-Infographics2.jpg" alt ="Apple and Adobe infographics" title="Apple and Adobe infographics: click to view full resolution" width="566" height="4100"/></a>
<p>Since so much has been said about <strong>not having Flash support</strong> in the devices of <strong>Apple</strong> (mainly the Apple <strong>iPhone</strong> and the <strong>iPad</strong>) I put together as much facts as possible about Apple, Adobe, the iPhone and Flash, plus some on video codecs including Theora, H.264 and HTML 5 video.</p>
<p>I hope these infographics help you better understand the big picture with the current situation of these technologies and companies.</p>
<p>If you liked it and found it useful, share it!</p>
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</div>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-3767029708721080532010-04-05T12:49:00.000+02:002010-04-05T12:49:50.147+02:00CSS3 code generator<h3>Automatic CSS3 code generator</h3>
<p>Thanks to <strong>CSS3</strong> (that is, <i>Cascading Style Sheets</i> in its version 3 of the standard) modern web browsers support lots of advanced effects. Those effects that once required several images or hacks are now available in a few lines of CSS3 code.</p>
<p>The best way to get your hands on CSS3 is to use an automatic <strong>CSS3 code generator</strong> which could write the CSS3 code for us just by specifying a couple of easy options.</p>
<p>I would suggest you <a href="http://css3generator.com/" target="_blank">this generator</a> for CSS3 code, as it is very complete and easy to use.</p>
<h3>Which effects can be created with the CSS3 code generator?</h3>
<p>Using CSS3 code you can create effects like:</p>
<ul><li>Rounded corners.</li>
<li>Text or box shadows.</li>
<li>RGB colors.</li>
<li>Multiple column layouts.</li>
<li>Outlines.</li>
<li>Color gradients.</li>
<li>etc.</li></ul>
<p>And all this just using a few lines of CSS3 code, with no need of additional images or HTML markup. That is really a big advantage in terms of code maintenance: if you want to update advanced effects of your site, you only need to rewrite a couple of lines of CSS3 code.</p>
<h3>Which browsers support CSS3?</h3>
<p>CSS3 is the future, and it will be the CSS standard used for all web browsers in a few years. But, by now, only a few web browsers support all CSS3 features.</p>
<p>So it depends on the CSS3 feature chose. But in overall, we could state that <strong>Chrome 4.0</strong> and <strong>Firefox 3.5</strong> (or better) support the most important CSS3 features.</p>
<p><strong>Opera 10.5</strong> and <strong>Safari 10.1</strong> are also other web browsers that support nearly all main CSS3 features as well.</p>
<p>Finally, <strong>Internet Explorer 9</strong> has a rather limited support for CSS3 features. So Internet Explorer could be considered the main obstacle to start using CSS3, as it only allows you to use rounded corners and advanced font face selection.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the <a href="http://css3generator.com/" target="_blank">suggested CSS3 generator</a> would also specify which browsers could use the CSS3 code that was created in an automatic way. That is a very useful feature to be sure about browser version compatibility when using CSS3 effects.</p>
<p>If you want to get serious about the upcoming technologies of CSS3 and HTML5 I would suggest you to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-HTML5-CSS3-Generation-Standards/dp/1430228741?ie=UTF8&tag=eserranocom-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969">read a book on CSS3 and HTML5</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=eserranocom-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1430228741" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important; padding: 0px !important" />, and be the first when those technologies fully arrive.</p>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-33602854001541322282010-03-25T15:03:00.004+01:002010-03-25T15:03:00.099+01:00On2Vp8 vs. H.264 (non-free patented codec)<h3>What is the H.264 video codec?</h3>
<p>You already know H.264. It is a video codec used in YouTube videos, Blu-ray and lots of other videos with very good quality / compression ratio.</p>
<p>But did you know that such standard created by the MPEG group is not free? Yes, H.264 usages aren't free, as it is a patented software algorithm.</p>
<p>So H.264 has changed from being a great video codec to being one of the obstacles which make difficult having a good, common open source video standard as part of the HTML 5 standard, so that it could be used throughout all web browsers free of additional charge.</p>
<h3>The On2 codec alternative</h3>
<p>More than 5 years ago, Flash video achieved an extremely good quality / compression ratio using a new proprietary video codec called Sorenson Spark. Thanks to it, some small videos started appearing on our web pages.</p>
<p>But the days of glory of Sorenson quickly ended when the On2 codec (specially, its On2Vp6 version) was released. This is the video codec that has been used on most Flash videos that you can see out there. The amazing part is that On2 allows nearly full screen high quality videos that load in nearly real time using just an average ADSL connection.</p>
<h3>Google could make On2 free and open source</h3>
<p>The interesting part is that <strong>On2 was purchased by Google</strong>. And Google owns YouTube, the biggest video site in the world. So Google has a golden chance of making the last version of the On2 codec (On2Vp8) an open source codec. And it could start using it through all its YouTube videos, making it a <i>de facto standard</i> in a blink.</p>
<p>If Google did such open source effort, it would be removing the need to use proprietary technologies from the web video landscape (Flash Player still contains some proprietary pieces of code, and remember that the H.264 codec is not free as it is patented till 2028). That would really lead to a new open video standard. And that would be progress.</p>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-15092769781314596842010-03-20T14:30:00.000+01:002010-03-20T14:30:56.013+01:00Web design e-books in PDF<h3>Good web design e-books available in PDF</h3><p>If you have some special interest about increasing your skills in web design, website development and web coding, you definitely need to check out <a href="http://speckyboy.com/2010/03/19/12-must-have-free-downloadable-web-design-books/">this list</a> of useful (and <strong>free</strong>) web design e-books.</p><p>They really cover every interesting topic that a good web developer should know: from web typography to accessibility and usability, including even some freelance business management tips.</p><p>This kind of resource, together with the lots of <a href="http://trebleclick.blogspot.com/2009/06/free-ebook-sites.html">free e-books</a> available, are possibly the best excuses to finally grab a good e-book reader (and, if you were wondering, the answer is yes: the number 1 e-book reader, Amazon's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Generation/dp/B0015T963C?ie=UTF8&tag=eserranocom-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969">Kindle</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=eserranocom-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0015T963C" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important; padding: 0px !important" />, already supports native PDF reading).</p>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-47043186798622109822010-03-01T17:55:00.002+01:002010-03-18T19:41:59.825+01:00Error 8001050F PS3<h3>Error 8001050F solved in all PS3</h3><p>Finally! The in-famous <strong>error 8001050F</strong> that has prevented many <strong>PS3</strong> gamers to play during a whole day has been solved automatically. This trophy sync error that forced many modern PS3 games on the first PS3 models to quit, was a real problem that started on 1st of March 2010 but that should be fixed now, 2nd of March 2010.</p><p>Below is the original blog post</p><hr /><h3>Error 8001050F PlayStation 3</h3><p>Many PlayStation 3 users have recently been welcomed by the <strong>Error 8001050F</strong> when trying to connect PSN or play any game.</p><p>Surprisingly, this error 8001050F does not happen in the new PS3 Slim, but just in the big, original PlayStation 3 models.</p><p>So the error 8001050F in PlayStation 3 is probably making most Sony engineers work agains the clock, as the error is already reported in its official website as being currently fixed.</p><h3>Error 8001050F at PSN and PS3 trophies, but not at PS3 Slim</h3><p>This weird PS3 error has nothing to do with the overall network connectivity of the PS3 system, because it happens even when the PlayStation has a working Internet connection. Nevertheless, the error 8001050F prevents from logging in to PlayStation Network (<i>PSN</i>).</p><p>But the worst part of error 8001050F is that it doesn't allow to play some PS3 games which could have some kind of DRM or trophies data sync. The PS system will display a message such as "<i>trophy load failed - reboot system</i>". But rebooting your PlayStation 3 won't fix the problem.</p><h3>Error 8001050F is not solved rebooting PS3 or restarting games</h3><p>In any case, it is important to warn PlayStation 3 users that such kind of error message about a wrong trophy data load, or trophies out of sync, won't be fixed rebooting the PlayStation system. Restarting games does not fix this this error either.</p><p>So the best course of action is to keep as they are the current saved data, as well as any other configuration data stored in the PS3 till Sony finds a patch for this error 8001050F, as well as its related PSN, trophy and game related problems.</p>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-75502667883475970742010-02-23T16:15:00.005+01:002010-02-28T01:32:00.104+01:00How to create and open CBR files<h3>How to create CBR files</h3><p>Creating <i>.CBR</i> files is very easy. The <strong>CBR</strong> file extension is just an image container. If we have a set of image files that we want to group in a comic or book format, we only need to:</p><ul><li>Sort alphabetically the images that we want to pack iinto the CBR file. <i>The images will be displayed in their original alphabetical order inside such CBR file.</i> <strong>Select all the images and compress them inside a .zip file</strong>. You can do so with <i>"right click / send to / ZIP compressed folder"</i>. Or even with <i>"right click / add to file"</i>, depending on your file compressing utility.</li>
<li>We need to display the file extension in order to modify it. If your operative system isn't currently displaying your file extensions, in Windows XP just select the menu <strong>tools / folder options</strong>, tab <strong>display</strong>, and then uncheck the option <strong>Hide extensions for known file types</strong>, and click accept.</li>
<li>Once we have created the .ZIP file and checked the file extensions, just select that compressed file and then we click <strong>right click / change name</strong>, and then <strong>change the extension to CBR</strong> (replacing the final .ZIP by a final <strong>.CBR</strong>, and we are done.</li>
</ul><p>Note: the images inside the containing CBR file need to be in the root of such path. So when compriming all our images together we need to <i>select</i> all the images (but <i>not the folder</i> containing the images) because this could generate a compressed file with a sub-folder of the same name, which could not be read by some specific CBR readers.</p><h3>How to open CBR files and extract images</h3><p>To open a CBR file and extract their images we only need to invert the previous process. Just right click the .CBR file and select <i>/open with</i>, and then select WinZip, WinRar or any other software capable of uncompressing our .cbr file (there are several compatible compression software that should handle CBR files). That will open the CBR file and show us all the images that we can extract out of such type of files.</p><p>Or, if we have the option to display all file extensions, just change it from CBR to ZIP renaming the file extension, and uncompress the CBR file like any other zipped file.<p/><h3>How to open CBR files in iPhone / iPod Touch.</h3><p>There is an iPhone APP called <a href="http://mycomics.aquafadas.com" target="blank">MyComics</a>, available just by 2.99€, which will allow us to open and display CBR files, as well as other file formats such as CBZ, PDF, RAR, ZIP.</p><p>And if you want to open your CBR files on the go, one of your best choices taking into account a good quality / price ratio could be an <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Apple-touch-Generation-NEWEST-MODEL/dp/B002M3SOBU?ie=UTF8&tag=eserranocom-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969">Apple iPod touch 8 GB (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=eserranocom-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002M3SOBU" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important; padding: 0px !important" /> (affiliate link - it is a product that we tested and that we loved).</p><br/><br />
<a imageanchor="1" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Apple-touch-Generation-NEWEST-MODEL/dp/B002M3SOBU?ie=UTF8&tag=eserranocom-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969"><img alt="Apple iPod touch 8 GB (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B002M3SOBU&tag=eserranocom-20" /></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=eserranocom-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002M3SOBU" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important; padding: 0px !important" />Dreminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11119627208961403852noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-28723526101702723172010-02-01T18:43:00.001+01:002010-02-01T18:43:00.597+01:00How to buy a flat screen TV<h3>Guide about how to buy a flat screen TV</h3>
<p>As a starting point, we have to remember that it isn't possible to pick the best flat TV and the cheapest TV at the same time. The key is to find out which kind is the most important TV feature for us, and then, take into account the quality / price balance. This guide is only orientative so you won't be fooled by biased TV features and data, because while a TV can be very good at some aspects, other TV features might be lacking.</p>
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<center><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/what-flat-tv-buy.jpg" alt="What Flat Screen TV buy?" /></center>
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<h3>Resolution and screen size</h3>
<p>Let's remember that a bigger TV doesn't imply higher resolution. The resolution of a flat screen TV is the number of pixels displayed. While the screen size (in inches) is related to the TV surface where those image pixels are displayed. Having a Full-HD television does no mean that you would be watching all conents in high definition, because you also need a high resolution image source.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>1080p and 1080i</strong>. <strong>1080p</strong> is the maximum TV resolution, <strong>1920x1080</strong>, also known as <strong>Full-HD</strong>. means that you have 1080 lines of vertical screen resolution in your TV, progressive and no interlaced. Nevertheless, <strong>1080i</strong> means that you have 1080 lines of resolution, but interlaced. At 60Hz, <strong>1080p</strong> refreshes all the dots (pixels) on screen 60 times per second, while <strong>1080i</strong> alternates even and odd lines in each refresh cycle, refreshing each half set of screen lines with a 30Hz rate, which can lead to the well known effect of "ghosting" or slipstream. In fact, a 1080i HDTV resolution works like a 720p.</li>
<li><strong>720p</strong> are 720 lines of vertical resolution, <strong>1280x720</strong> is HDTV.</li>
<li><strong>HDTV</strong> stands for High Definition TeleVision, and as a concept, contains every television whose screen resolution is over NTSC resolution of 720x480 <i>(or 720x576 for PAL TVs)</i>. So HDTV could be used with a 1080 flat screen TV, but it doesn't have to be this way. HDTV ranges from 720p to 1080i only (1080p is considered Full-HD). So we should pay special attention to the actual resolution of a flat screen TV, because the High Resolution tag could be somehow deceptive.</li>
<li><strong>HD Ready</strong> just means "prepared for High Definition" but, as well as before with the HDTV tag, we have to pay special attention to avoid being fooled by this tag. HD Ready doesn't necessarily mean that a flat screen TV is in Full HD. A 720p TV could also be called an HD Ready TV. Nevertheless, <strong>HD Ready 1080p</strong> actually means <strong>Full HD</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<h3>TV Screen Technology: Plasma, LCD and LED</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Plasma</strong> was the main technology used in flat screen TVs some years ago. Plasma TVs usually have vivid colors, but that does not last long, as its main drawback is that they need to be recharged after many hours of utilization, as it contains a mixture of noble gases (neon and xenon). Flat plasma TV has also the highest energy consumption, and the lowest image refresh rate.</li>
<li><strong>LCD</strong> stands for Liquid Crystal Display. Flat screen LCD TVs are the most common nowadays. Their underlying technology allow a higher variety of sizes ranging from 15" to 100". LCD screens have a lower energy consumption than plasma TVs, have a longer lifespan, and are a cheaper technology.</li>
<li><strong>LED</strong> means Light Emitting Diodes. Flat screen LED TVs are the latest trend. The whole screen is split into small segments that turn on and off independently. LED flat screens have the lowest energy consumption, and the highest real contrast ratios. On the other hand, it is the newest technology, which makes these TVs expensive, specially at big sizes, having only a few different models available.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Flat screen TV image parameters: contrast, response...</h3>
<p>There are many flat screen TVs out there that seem cheap, and that also seem to have great performance in resolution and size. But you must not get fooled by just a couple of TV features. Those parameters aren't everything you need to check when you go to buy a flat screen TV. You need to check other TV features that have probably the same importance, and which could be lacking in cheap TV models.</p>
<p>About TV <strong>Contrast</strong>, it is necessary to distinguish 2 different kinds of contrast: <strong>Static contrast</strong> which is the real TV contrast, and <strong>Dynamic contrast</strong> which could be the difference between a white and dark gray pixels, instead of measuring a color against black, which could bias the result towards a high contrast value, but that is not an actual contrast value.</p>
<p>Most flat screen TVs also have contrast enhancement options called <strong>dynamic contrast</strong>, which increases the original contrast levels, losing in exchange some tonal image range, with stronger and harder color gradients, higher color saturation, and in overall, sacrificing some image quality.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, most data displayed when you need to pick the right flat screen TV are about dynamic contrast, because using such data the TV specifications look better, but that isn't a completely reliable information. Before buying a new flat screen TV you should search for specific technical information in detail, and for product reviews through Internet.</p>
<p><strong>TV screen refresh rate</strong>. Another important feature that should be taken into account is that your flat screen TV should have a good refresh rate, also called <strong>response time or Hz</strong>, which cause seamless image transitions. With a 50Hz refresh rate a screen can convey a sensation of flickering, specially in very high screens. These are often overlooked data in the flat screen TV advertisements <i>(except in those models that have very good values, because they take special care to highlight these data well for these TVs)</i>, as response time is usually an unknown factor by people, and so they don't recognize its real importance. A good refresh rate value is <strong>100Hz</strong>. There are some models that feature up to 200Hz, and obviously, this good performance highly increases their price tag.</p>
<p>Some models include a special mode called <i>Motion Plus / Fast Motion</i>, which calculates when extra frames are needed. Depending on the effect level in which you configure this feature, you could either achieve an even more seamless image transition, or in too high values you could experience some image <i>"travelling effect"</i>, like a blurred screen image feeling.</p>
<h3>Pick the right flat screen TV according to its usage</h3>
<p>You have to take also into account the main usage an purpose of your new TV, as that can really help you to identify the most meaningful features of your target TV.</p>
<ul>
<li>If you are wanting to buy a flat screen TV to watch <strong>blu ray discs</strong>, then you really need a <strong>Full-HD TV</strong>, as it is the only way to appreciate all the details include in such high quality video.</li>
<li>Nevertheless, if you are going to use your new TV to watch <strong>regular TV</strong>, resolution is not very important, as HD TV broadcasts are just starting, and the source image is not in very high resolution - you could en up watching a blurred TV image in very big screens.</li>
<li>Finally, if you are wanting to play <strong>HD videogames</strong> take into account that most of them won't run at native 1080 lines, so an HD ready TV would suffice for most videogames. Nevertheless, the trend is to create full HD games, and that's why a <strong>Full-HD TV</strong> is your best option - even lower resolution HD games are scaled pretty nicely in Full-HD screens. Videogames have also quickly moving images, so a <strong>good refresh rate</strong> becomes specially important for this purpose.</li>
<li>According to the TV size, the rule of thumb is to pick a flat screen that is completely covered by your vision angle, which is around 30º, so you would be appreciating small details while achieving an immersive TV experience. That means that a widescreen TV of 40 inches will look good at a distance of around 1.7 meters.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Other flat screen TV details</h3>
<p>According to the color, as well as to the smooth flowing of the image <i>(the refresh rate, Hz, previously mentioned)</i> the best we can do is to see a TV in real life and check it by ourselves. We have to take special care to identify whether the flat TV that we are currently watching is with the dynamic contrast option enabled or not, because that could highly affect the original color.</p>
<p>Another fact to take into account when picking a new flat screen TV is that most TV shops feature their products <i>under strong lights</i>. That's why the usually pick the higher contrast settings in all the exhibited TV screens. But such high contrast would be really extreme in a normal TV environment at your house. So take that into account when buying your new TV, as you could not be needing such high amounts of contrast ratio, and even those flat TV screens that seemed somehow dull under strong lights could look great at your home. Usually color accuracy is a more important factor than just color contrast.</p>
<p>Flat TV screens have what is called a <strong>vision angle</strong>. That means that the screen is not seen the same way straight from the front or a little bit from its side, so it is another fact worth checking. As well as the type of screen, <strong>gloss or matt (non reflective) finish</strong>. At first sight, and specially at a shopping center, the glossy TV screen could look more vivid, specially if the flat TV is displaying very colorful images in its screen. But watch out, as this supposed image improvement doesn't need to be necessarily real. It is worth taking into account when buying a new flat screen TV that glossy finish could also reflect objects and light sources, specially when displaying dark images or black areas.</p>
<p>All the information in this guide is focused in flat screen TV features, given as technical data. But according to the underlying technology of the TV (plasma, LCD or LED) and its specific manufacturing, it could display the final images better or worse. So at the end, our best suggestion is to check the TV with your very own eyes. From <a href="http:/trebleclick.blogspot.com" title="Treble Click">trebleclick.blogspot.com</a> we only expect to assist you about how to buy a flat screen TV checking which kind of TVs should be taken into account, what does each TV feature mean and how to prevent being fooled by deceptive TV specifications.</p>
<p>From the original <a href="http://tripleclic.blogspot.com/2010/01/guia-para-elegir-un-televisor-de.html">guide to buy an HD TV</a> at <a href="http://www.tripleclic.blogspot.com">Triple Clic</a></p>
<center><img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/right-flat-screen-tv.jpg" alt="The right flat screen TV" /></center>
<h3>Some examples of good flat screen TVs to buy</h3>
<p>Samsung LN32B360 32-Inch 720p LCD HDTV is probably one of most competitive TV options, specially taking into account its cheap price tag. It isn't full HD, and 8ms of response time might be rather slow, but nevertheless, you are getting a 32 inches flat screen TV with great colors with a low cost - perfect for watching regular TV and even HDTV programs (thanks to its built-in HD digital tuner) without eating all the empty space of your home.</p>
<center><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=EFEEED&IS2=1&npa=1&bg1=EFEEED&fc1=333333&lc1=0000AA&t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=B001U3Y8M2" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe></center>
<p>Samsung LN40B530 40-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV goes a step beyond than the previous model. With its 40 inches flat screen and an improved response time of 6ms, this TV delivers rich colors, big images and quick response. So this is a very good choice for watching full-HD blu ray discs and playing videogames, still with a very competitive price tag.</p>
<center><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=EFEEED&IS2=1&npa=1&bg1=EFEEED&fc1=2E2E2E&lc1=0000AA&t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=B001U3Y8OA" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe></center>
<p>Finally, if you buy a Samsung LN52B750 52-Inch 1080p 240 Hz LCD HDTV, you will be getting it all. It is an expensive TV, but if you can afford it, you will realize that it is worth it. With a huge screen of 52 inches, a quick response time of 5ms, a dynamic contrast of 150,000:1, and a refresh rate of 250 Hz, this TV is perfect for just everything.</p>
<center><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=EFEEED&IS2=1&npa=1&bg1=EFEEED&fc1=333333&lc1=0000AA&t=eserranocom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=B001VKY7WU" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe></center>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-50876129886802167142010-01-31T03:49:00.000+01:002010-01-31T03:49:00.660+01:00Apple iPad facts<h3>iPad, the new product from Apple</h3>
<p>trebleclick.blogspot.com reports:</p>
<p>Apples latest product was a "secret" known by everybody. The Net will be flooded with detailed information, but our objective is very different. So, to summarize, we are providing you the most relevant <strong>Apple iPad facts</strong>:
</p>
<ul>
<li>iPad is a mini-netbook Table with a <strong>multi-tactile LED screen of 9.7 inches</strong>, a screen resolution of <strong>1024x768</strong>. Depending on the model, you can also use WiFi and 3G connections, with capabilities of 16, 32 and 64 Gb. iPad price ranges between 500$ and 700$.</li>
<li>The surface of the iPad measures 24 x 18 cm, and has a width of 1.34 cms. (that's 9.45 x 7.09 x 0.53 inches). It weighs around 680 gr. <i>(WiFi version)</i> and 730 gr <i>(3G version)</i>, with a non-removable internal battery with a duration of 10h of video and WiFi usage.</li>
<li>Inside the iPad is an Apple A4 processor of <strong>1 GHz</strong>, whose microprocessor integrates a graphic processor with video support up to 720p at 30fps in H.264.</li>
<li>iPad runs on the <i>same operative system than the iPhone</i>, and the old iPhone apps will be adapted for iPad with no additional cost for the users who already purchased such aps at the Apple store.</li>
<li>A single USB port, a headphones output of 3.5 mm, accelerometer, light sensor, WiFi N, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and 3G (depending on the model), A-GPS, compass.</li>
</ul>
<p>Summarizing, the fact is that iPad has the same usages of an iPhone or an iPod, in big, with the advantages and limitations that this implies.</p>
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<a href="http://www.dremin.com/tripleclic/imgs/ipad.jpg" title="Apple iPad"><img src="http://www.dremin.com/tripleclic/imgs/ipad-mini.jpg" alt="iPad de Apple" /></a>
<br/>
<p>Via: <a href="http://www.applesfera.com">Applesfera.com</a></p>Dreminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11119627208961403852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-56081919343359569952010-01-27T04:26:00.005+01:002010-01-30T18:14:58.010+01:00Haloscan comments is closing<h3>Haloscan comments closes at 10th February 2010</h3>
<p>The blog comments service haloscan.com, closes the next <b>10th of February 2010</b>.</p>
<p>According to Haloscan sources, a physical failure of its system <i>forces</i> them to close their commenting service. They provide 2 different alternatives:<p>
<ul>
<li>Exporting your existing blog comments, so you can import them in a different commenting service.</li>
<li>Migrating your account to <i>Echo</i>, a different comments system which <i>is not free</i>, probably owned by Haloscan.</li>
</ul>
<p>According to this second Haloscan migration option, they seem no to have no physical system failure that <i>forces</i> them to cut off the service. It all seems to be a rude justification to discontinue their current commenting service and then charge for the same service. Of course they have the right to do so, but their commenting service was somehow limited, with even less features than other free blog commenting services.</p>
<p>These kind of practices betray in some way user's confidence. They decided to start at some point with a free blog commenting system <i>(well, not completely free, let's remind that you accepted such service in exchange to including advertisements in your own blog comments window)</i>, and in the long term they have to face this closing situation. Let's see whether an important drop in their number of users teaches them a lesson.</p>
<p>If you are a user of haloscan.com and you want to keep your previous blog comments, we suggest you to backup such comments before the closing deadline.</p>Dreminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11119627208961403852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-63869212358868140842010-01-13T22:52:00.004+01:002010-01-14T01:22:22.042+01:00Best 5 ways to use Google Analytics notes<h3>What are Google Analytics notes?</h3>
<p>Google Analytics has a new feature that allows you to create notes for your statistics. With <strong>Google Analytics notes</strong> you can attach a description or a comment to any date in your graph. It is just a matter of clicking a point in your graph, and then, writing down your annotations.</p>
<h3>Why are Google Analytics notes so important?</h3>
<p>This feature is very interesting because, till now, you had to keep a <strong>changelog</strong> for any maintained sites. But by embedding notes straight from Google Analytics, attached to specific dates, you can keep your historic of changes together with your statistics.</p>
<p>In a nutshell: with Google Analytics notes you better understand how is your site behaving. And only by understanding your measures you could optimize your site.</p>
<img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/Google-Analytics-notes.gif" alt="Adding notes in Google Analytics" />
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<br/>
<h3>The best 5 ways to use Google Analytics notes</h3>
<p>Since you can write your annotations in Google analytics to understand perfectly how it works (and being thus able to improve it), now the key is writing only those notes that are really meaningful.</p>
<p>For me, these are the 5 best ways to write notes in Google Analytics:</p>
<ul>
<li>Write notes with brief descriptions of your <strong>major site changes</strong>. That is, adding lots of new content, changing the website design, modifying the site navigation, and so on. After all, website analytics were designed to measure scientifically how human users and search engines navigate your site, so you have to pay special attention to strong changes in your statistics from that "major site changes" mark.</li>
<li>Write a comment when any part of your <strong>homepage changes</strong>. Most returning users don't bookmark inner pages in your site: they just type the address of its homepage. And, of course, most new users are guided straight to your homepage. On top of that, your homepage is usually the main <i>page rank</i> distributor to the rest of your site. So any subtle change on your homepage could deeply impact both your users and search engines. And that's why you should pay attention after the "homepage changed" note in Google Analytics.</li>
<li>Add a new note when any <strong>promotional campaign</strong> starts. When you put any special effort in a promotional campaign (either AdSense PPC, e-mailing, link building, and so on), you have to measure its impact. Is your campaign worth your time and effort? Does it attract new traffic? Now, you just have to look at your Analytics after the "promotional campaign started" annotation.</li>
<li>Add annotations to your Analytics whenever you <strong>publish a new article</strong>, blog post or site page. If you really have the good habit of posting high quality content each day, this amount of notes could become overwhelming. Nevertheless, if you just update your contents once a week or less, it is important to measure how your content writing efforts affect your analytics. Check the "new content title" tag inside your Google Analytics graph and discover what is your best kind of content for traffic building purposes.</li>
<li>Write a note whenever you detect a <strong>traffic spike</strong> in your statistics. That is, when a lot of users suddenly access your site, you register a peak in the graphs of Google Analytics. Finding the cause of such spikes is usually very easy: just look at your traffic sources. It will mostly be caused by a link pointing to your site from a very popular site. This way, these eye-catching traffic spikes won't distract you too much when understanding the subtle meaning of your Google Analytics statistics, now being marked with the "traffic spike cause" note below. And keep an eye trying to repeat such useful spikes.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Starred notes in Google Analytics</h3>
<p>Specially meaningful annotations can be marked with a star icon, so you can filter out such less-important notes by selecting the <strong>starred</strong> option.</p>
<p>My suggestion is that you should try to mark everything in your statistics using these <i>Google Analytics notes</i>, because that will give you lots of fine-grain information. Couple this with the new Google Analytics <i>Intelligence</i> feature and you will be discovering tiny details that can really influence your results.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Analytics notes are a time-saver feature. If you want to perform a broader analysis than the default last month statistics glance (let's say, a one year analytics report), you won't need lots of annotations - trust the most important, starred notes to get the big picture.</p>
<p>Google Analytics notes are a great way to understand and at glance the results of your Internet marketing efforts. Quick statistical understanding is the key to measure and optimize. So take advantage of this new time saving feature of Google Analytics when tracking your statistics. Use it wisely, following these <em>best 5 ways to use Google Analytics notes</em></p>
<p><i>From the original online marketing consulting report by <a href="http://eserrano.com">E. Serrano</a></i></p>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-32449777226658463882009-12-21T02:53:00.004+01:002010-01-10T19:41:06.837+01:00Recover Windows user passwords<h3>Backup user passwords for Windows users in USB</h3>
<p>A little known feature in Windows is that you can creat a <strong>password recovery USB</strong>.</p>
<p>Creating that recovery USB is pretty easy: just log in as a Windows system <strong>administrator</strong>. In Windows <strong>control panel</strong> pick the option <strong>User accounts</strong>.</p>
<p>Select the Windows user for whom you want to create the USB for password recovery. Among the options of this user, in the left area, under the <strong>Related tasks</strong> area, there is an option about <strong>Preventing to forget passwords</strong>.</p>
<p>When clicking that password forget prevention fature, a new dialog will appear to pick a <strong>password recovery disc in an USB key</strong>. (<i>Well, you could use even a diskette for password recovery, but it isn't worth in these times...</i>).</p>
<p>By selecting that option, the recovery passwords will be stored in the root of the USB as an encrypted text file. This safe file stores Windows passwords in a safe way, and it can only be accessed in the same Windows computer in which it was created (if no other password recovery USB is created using this same method).</p>
<p>So this is a way to create an USB for each user, as a system to recover Windows user passwords for each user.</p>
<h3>How to store many Windows password recovery files in the same USB</h3>
<p>Since the password recovery file created always has the same filename (it is called <strong>userkey.psw</strong>), you will need a different USB key for each user, in each Windows computer.</p>
<p>To solve this and have several user passwords stored in a single backup USB, you just need to rename the password file created <i>(for example, to user0001.psw)</i> and so on with the next password files that we create. Remember to organize them in a meaningful way to prevent forgetting the user and Windows associated to each password backup file.</p>
<p>After this, to recover Windows user passwords you just need to rename the proper backup file in your USB to <i>userkey.psw</i>, and using the USB key with such standard filename in its root.</p>
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</p><i>Originally written by <a href="http://blogtellas.blogspot.com" target="blank">Eugenio M.S.</a> at <a href="http://www.tatachan.com/respuesta/responder.php?ID_tematica=7&ID_hilo=827" title"Recover user passwords in Windows XP">tatachan.com</a></i>
</p>Dreminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11119627208961403852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-53344399473849547362009-12-16T14:29:00.001+01:002009-12-16T14:31:05.888+01:00Preventing Javascript vulnerability in Adobe Reader<h3>Javascript vulnerability in Adobe Reader</h3>
<p>A recent javascript vulnerability has been discovered in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat. This public and <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142326/Kill_JavaScript_in_Adobe_Reader_to_ward_off_zero_day_exploit_experts_urge">confirmed Adobe bug</a> would allow running malicious javascript code just by opening a PDF document. So yes, you computer could be infected by a virus or trojan if you open a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat or Reader.</p>
<p>The bad news are that this malicious javascript code is hard to detect inside a PDF file, so most antivirus software won't be able to prevent the exploit by scanning PDF files. On top of that, Adobe won't be releasing a patch for this bug till January 2010, so the PDF readers would be vulnerable to exploits and so on.</p>
<p>But there are still good news: just <i>disable JavaScript in Adobe Reader</i> to prevent this exploit. That simple trick will keep your computer safe from virus and malware in PDF files.
<h3>How to disable javascript in Adobe Reader</h3>
<p>Disabling Javascript in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat is very simple. Just select the <i>Edit ></i> <strong>Preferences</strong> menu, and click the <strong>JavaScript</strong> option. Then just <i>uncheck</i> the <strong>Enable Acrobat Javascript</strong> box at the top.</p>
<img src="http://eserrano.com/treble-click/images/Javascript-Adobe-Reader.jpg" alt="Disable Javascript in Adobe Reader" title="Uncheck this option to disable javascript in Adobe Reader" width="455" height="276" style="margin:inherit auto inherit auto;"/>
<br/>
<p>And that's it: unchecking this option as in the image above will prevent the malicious Javascript code from exploiting this recent vulnerability of Adobe Reader.</p>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395361280120165112.post-41945768917064814272009-12-08T00:59:00.001+01:002009-12-08T01:06:18.437+01:00Say No to all in Windows XP<h3>Say <i>"No to all"</i> in Windows XP</h3>
<p>
When copying lots of files, maybe you have missed having a button like the <strong>"Yes to all"</strong> version, which copies and overwrites everything. Maybe you wanted to say <strong>"No to all"</strong> when you only wanted to add the new files (without overwriting old files), and without having to click a lot of times during a massive copy of files.
</p>
<p>
Even when such "No to all" button doesn't exist, there is a way to avoid such <i>overwhelming amount of clicks</i>:
</p>
<p>
Inside such Windows dialog, when you press the <strong>n</strong> key, it is equivalent to clicking the <strong>no</strong> button. We have just to keep pressed the <strong>n</strong> key during the copy. Having this key pressed during the copy is equivalent to clicking the <i>"No"</i> button in all the confirmation dialogs that appear. But you won't need to point and click on any button. That way, we won't have to maim our poor mouse by clicking it again and again.
</p>
<p>
From an original post by <a href="http://www.dremin.com">Dremin</a>.
</p>ESVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00378746204489625224noreply@blogger.com0