App Inventor is the easiest way to create apps for your phone! App Inventor is built on the idea that you do not need to be a developer to build great mobile applications. Instead of code, App Inventor allows you to visually design applications and use blocks to specify application logic.

App Inventor is a new tool in Google Labs that makes it easy for anyone – programmers and non-programmers, professionals and students to create mobile applications for Android-powered devices.

For many people, their mobile phone and access to the Internet is always within reach. App Inventor for Android gives everyone, regardless of programming experience, the opportunity to control and reshape their communication experience.
You can build just about any app you can imagine with App Inventor. Often people begin by building games like WhackAMole or games that let you draw funny pictures on your friend's faces. You can even make use of the phone's sensors to move a ball through a maze based on tilting the phone.


But app building is not limited to simple games. You can also build apps that inform and educate. You can create a quiz app to help you and your classmates study for a test. With Android's text-to-speech capabilities, you can even have the phone ask the questions aloud.

The best part is that to use App Inventor, you do not need to be a programmer. App Inventor requires NO programming knowledge. This is because instead of writing code, you visually design the way the app looks and use blocks to specify the app’s behavior to put it more simple you will simply be doing drag & drop task.

The video below shows a very simple app being created in seconds, using absolutely no coding skills.

App Inventor is currently open by invitation only, Click Here to request an invite for App Inventor.

Source: App Inventor

I have been waiting for this wordpress release for quite a while, its a major update and its finally here.

This is a great time to make sure you update all your wordpress blogs, since this is a major update and it might be a while since we see further updates too.

Without any further a-dues, WordPress 3 Thelonious.

Arm your vuvuzelas: WordPress 3.0, the thirteenth major release of WordPress and the culmination of half a year of work by 218 contributors, is now available for download (or upgrade within your dashboard). Major new features in this release include a sexy new default theme called Twenty Ten. Theme developers have new APIs that allow them to easily implement custom backgrounds, headers, shortlinks, menus (no more file editing), post types, and taxonomies. (Twenty Ten theme shows all of that off.)

Developers and network admins will appreciate the long-awaited merge of MU and WordPress, creating the new multi-site functionality which makes it possible to run one blog or ten million from the same installation. As a user, you will love the new lighter interface, the contextual help on every screen, the 1,217 bug fixes and feature enhancements, bulk updates so you can upgrade 15 plugins at once with a single click, and blah blah blah just watch the video.

Be sure to view the below video which shows alot of the new features and changes in action.

Updating your Plugins got a whole lot easier, the Core Updater now allows you to update multiple plugins at once, and also the new support for Short Links are some of the reasons you will most likely want to upgrade now.

Highlights

• WordPress and WordPress MU have merged, allowing the management of multiple sites (called Multisite) from one WordPress installation.
• New default theme “Twenty Ten” takes full advantage of the current features of WordPress.
• New custom menu management feature, allows creation of custom menus combining posts, pages, categories, tags, and links for use in theme menus or widgets.
• Custom header and background APIs.
• Contextual help text accessed under the Help tab of every screen in the WordPress administration.
• Ability to set the admin username and password during installation.
• Bulk updating of themes with an automatic maintenance mode during the process.
• Support for shortlinks.
• Improved Custom post types and custom taxonomies including hierarchical (category-style) support. (Try the Custom Post Type UI or GD Custom Posts And Taxonomies Tools plugins to see the possibilities.)
• A lighter admin color scheme to increase accessibility and put the focus more squarely on your content.

For a complete and in-depth list of changes Click Here.

I switched to Windows 7 sometime ago, it’s pretty amazing and of the best Operating System in my opinion after Windows XP.

I installed Apache and PHP along with MySQL, after testing and confirming the installation was successful, i shutdown my PC and went for nap, after getting back up i logged into Skype (which i also installed).

I thought i should work on a project of mine, when i noticed that Apache is not running working anymore!

I also tested out MySQL which was working perfectly normal, but something was wrong with Apache – The port that Apache uses (port 80) is already being used by another program, i found this out after a little bit of troubleshooting…

The culprit here is Skype! – Skype by default uses port 80 and 443 as it’s incoming connections, But the fix for this is pretty simple and straight-forward.

As shown in the above picture, all you have to do is Un-check the box which says use port 80 and 443 for incoming connections.

I just read about the Google DoubleClick’s – Ad Planner while i was in my Google Webmaster Tools account, thought i should it share since it seems very interesting and more useful.

My final thoughts about the Google Ad Planner is that it’s a very nice and useful marketing tool provided to us – it looks to me like a new and improved version of Alexa, at-least a little..?

Watch the below video by Google to see an overview of Ad Planner.

Click to Enlarge

DoubleClick Ad Planner is a free media planning tool that can help you identify websites your audience is likely to visit so you can make better-informed advertising decisions.

Refine your online advertising with DoubleClick Ad Planner, a free media planning tool that can help you:

Identify websites your target customers are likely to visit

• Define audiences by demographics and interests.
• Search for websites relevant to your target audience.
• Access unique users, page views, and other data for millions of websites from over 40 countries.

Easily build media plans for yourself or your clients

• Create lists of websites where you’d like to advertise.
• Generate aggregated website statistics for your media plan.

It provides marketers with a demographics breakdown for selected web sites that includes valuable information, such as gender, age, education, income and language. Ad Planner helps marketers identify web sites their audience views, and buy advertisements on those websites.

Webmasters can claim their websites and edit information related to their websites on the Ad Planner, you can also put your Ad Placement so that potential advertisers can see and reach you.

There are different ways to claim your website, if you’re already using Google Webmaster Tools, then most of your information will be available to the Ad Planner once you join, it will prompt you to collect information about your websites from you Webmaster Tools account.

Note:-

If you’re a Google AdSense publisher, your ad placements will automatically appear in DoubleClick Ad Planner.
For instructions on claiming site ownership with Google Webmaster Tools, visit the Google Webmaster Tools Help Center.

With DoubleClick Ad Planner, you can:

• Define audiences by demographics and interests.
• Search for websites relevant to your audience.
• Access aggregated statistics on the number of unique visitors, page views, and other data for millions of websites from over 40 countries.
• Create lists of websites where you’d like to advertise and store them in a media plan.
• Generate aggregated website statistics for your media plan.

http://www.google.com/adplanner/

Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions.

This little trick will allow you to switch your opened programs, pictures, etc, etc.. in 3D!

Something’s to note before you start is that you have Windows Aero enabled (otherwise this won’t work for you), i haven’t tried but i’m sure this trick would also work on Windows Vista since it also includes Windows Aero.

What we are going to do is create a shortcut that will allow us to use the 3D Flip (switch) feature with One Click – but there are other ways to use it for example the shortcut keys.

The first shortcut key is:  Windows Key + Tab

You will have to hold down the Windows Key and Press the Tab to switch around different windows.

The second shortcut key is: Ctrl + Windows Key + Tab

You don’t have to hold down any keys to switch here, after pressing the keys you can use the Tab key to move around or you can also use the Up and Down keys to navigate as well – when you need to switch to a certain window you just click on it with your mouse or you can use the Enter key when that Windows or Program is in the front.

For your convenience i am providing a link to download the shortcut, just incase you don’t want to do it yourself.
Click here to download the Windows 7 Flip 3D Shortcut

To start creating the shortcut, follow the below instructions:

• Right click on an empty space in your desktop goto New -> Shortcut (click it).

• When the window opens up to ask you of a location enter this: C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe DwmApi #105

• Click on the Next button.

• Type any name in the next window for your shortcut (it can be anything you want, for example – Flip 3D).

• That’s it..

• The next following steps will take you through the process of giving the shortcut it’s icon.

• Right click on the shortcut you just created and click Properties.

• The window that pops up will have a button named Change Icon, click it.

• Another pop up window appears, theres a text field type the following in it %SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll

• Press Enter

• New Icons appear, the one we want is the first one in the list, which should be selected by default.

• Click on OK, and we’re done.

For easier access i would recommend you Pin this to your taskbar, like in the below picture.

Requirements to use Windows 7 Aero Feature:

• 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
• 1 GB of system memory
• A graphics card with support for DirectX 9 graphics with at least 128 MB of memory.
• The graphics card must support Pixel Shader 2.0 and the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM).
• You must be have True Color (32 Bit) set rather than High Color (16 Bit).

Recently some while ago, i was contacted by the guys at Uprinting.com with offer for sponsership.

I agreed, but i haven’t been able to use this great opportunity up until now, I just checked few days that eBloggy has increased its pagerank now being a PR3 Blog

So to celebrate this, and courtesy of Uprinting we are holding a contest for  500 Absolutely Free Business Cards for 2 (two) Lucky Winners.

• Sizes: 2 x 3.5”, 2 x 3”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.5 x 3.5” (skinny card)

• Paper: 14 pt gloss cardstock, 14 pt matte cardstock or 13 pt recycled uncoated cardstock

• Specifications: Full Color Both Sides; Offset Press; 3 Business Day Printing

• Shipping: FREE UPS Ground Shipping

• Eligibility: Limited to US Residents only

• [Winner will be chosen randomly by a script].

You might be thinking if you can print online the business cards but you have a way of  looking at what i’m talking about by looking at their Business Cards Online, checkout their samples while you are there – they are very neat.

How to Enter this Contest?

Its simple, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog telling why you want these business cards or how you will use them, simple.

Second (Double) Entry (optional)

Yes, you can put a second entry by tweeting, digging or stumbling this post, just let me know in your comment you did it, you may also write a post on your blog about this give-away and post the URL in your comment by putting a second entry you are increasing your chances of becoming the one to take the prize, its not required though.

You must include your real name and email address with your comment, so that you can be contacted if you’re the winner.

When Does it End?

Lets see, this contest will end 13 days from now on Feburary 10th, so hurry up guys and post your comments

Winners Update

The random winners are (drums) dtoker & Jessica, congratulations! both of you will be contacted via email, if either of the 2 doesn’t respond within 24 hours we’ll just have to move onto the next person in the list

About Uprinting

For over 25 years, UPrinting has been a trusted leader in Online Printing, featuring its signature easy-to-use website and the famous free file review, a complimentary proofing service which requires no upfront payment. UPrinting offers convenient marketing support services such as design, lists, and direct mailing to help grow small and medium-size businesses nationwide.

Twitter Services, Tips and Tricks

Twitter, one of the most popular and widely used social service its not just limited to communicate with your fellow colleagues or co-workers, Twitter has become a good platform for people to promote their services.

Today, i would like to share a nice little trick that you can use to promote your blog or website on twitter in-front of large audience.

Do you want your messages tweeted to thousands of Tweetaholics?

If your answer for the above is YES, continue to read further below!

You should be following @guestbook on twitter – if you’re not already do it now because when you follow @guestbook he will follow you back once that happens you are able to send Direct Messages to @guestbook which would broadcast your message to all its followers – This technique can surely help you generate great massive traffic, you might even make some royal followers if you’re promoting something useful or helpful, so use it wisely.

Be sure to Follow Me on twitter while you’re at it (I will follow back)

Watch Pakistan Express News Live Online

Watch Pakistan Express News For live and latest news coverage, updates, discussion and much more.

Express News slogan itself tells the story “Har Khabar Per Nazar“.

Express News is a Pakistani television news channel launched on January 1, 2008. It is owned and run by the country’s third largest Urdu daily newspaper – Daily Express. Express News has a logo similar to that of British news channel Sky News.

The owners of the channel, Lakson Group, later launched ‘Express 24/7′, a 24 Hour Pakistani English news channel.

It has become the second most-watched news channel after Geo News.

Please try clicking the Play button again – it might be due to the stream load.

WordPress 2.8 has just been released..

Well, i just saw on the admin panel of wordpress that wordpress 2.8 is ready for public, so i just had to install it.

I haven’t got the time to browse for every single feature, but i did notice the plugin manager seems to have improved and it sure looks faster to install and upgrade your plugins.

The most notable addition would seem to be the ability to browse themes from within the WordPress Dashboard. With the Theme Browser you can specify the color you want, how many columns there should be, and fixed or flexible width. You can then select and install themes that you like quickly, without leaving the Dashboard.

Major New Improvements (WordPress blog)

First and foremost, 2.8 is way faster to use. We’ve changed the way WordPress does style and scripting.

The core and plugin updaters in previous versions of WordPress have been such a success we decided to bring the same to themes. You can now browse the entire theme directory and install a theme with one click from the comfort of your WordPress dashboard.

If you make edits or tweaks to themes or plugins from your dashboard, you’ll appreciate the new CodePress editor which gives syntax highlighting to the previously-plain editor. Also there is now contextual documentation for the functions in the file you’re editing linked right below the editor.

If you were ever frustrated with widgets before, this release should be your savior. We’ve completely redesigned the widgets interface (which we didn’t have time to in 2.7) to allow you to do things like edit widgets on the fly, have multiple copies of the same widget, drag and drop widgets between sidebars, and save inactive widgets so you don’t lose all their settings. Developers now have access to a much cleaner and robust API for creating widgets as well.

Finally you should explore the new Screen Options on every page. It’s the tab in the top right. Now, for example, if you have a wide monitor you could set up your dashboard to have four columns of widgets instead of the two it has by default. On other pages you can change how many items show per page.

Highlights

• New drag-and-drop widgets admin interface and new widgets API
• Syntax highlighting and function lookup built into plugin and theme editors
• Browse the theme directory and install themes from the admin
• Allow the dashboard widgets to be arranged in up to four columns
• Allow configuring the number of items to show on management pages with an option in Screen Options
• Support timezones and automatic daylight savings time adjustment
• Support IIS 7.0 URL Rewrite Module
• Faster loading of admin pages via script compression and concatenation.

But thats not it – If you would like to checkout the complete list of changes and features Click Here.

Just saw these ads running and thought to post the details regarding it.

Telenor Pakistan proudly introduces new USB DATA Package with amazing bundle offer for our valued Telenor Persona Postpaid subscribers. In USB Data Package, customers can get:

• One Year Free Internet.
• One USB Stick – E 169
• One Postpaid SIM (with USB DATA package)

Telenor offers widest EDGE connectivity when compared to other operators in Pakistan. By using Telenor USB Sick, our customers can access internet at any time and at any place in more than 2000 cities & towns of Pakistan.

Telenor USB DATA Package Offer:
For the first time in Pakistan, Telenor is proudly introducing free internet package for One Year.

Telenor Smart Stick =  Rs. 9,555/- (Inclusive of Taxes)
1 Postpaid SIM with Data 5 Package  =  Free
Refundable Security = Rs. 500/-
1 year free GPRS/ EDGE (with monthly usage of 4GB).

Below are the Terms & Conditions:

• 12 months Line Rent for USB DATA package is built-in in the Telenor USB Stick price. No Line Rent will be charged for 12 months from the date of sale of Telenor USB Stick.

• After 12 months, USB DATA package offer will expire and subscriber will be automatically shifted to Data 3 price plan.

• Customers can activate Voice on their USB DATA package without additional cost or security deposit.

• Existing Telenor USB stick holder can change his / her price plan from Data3 to USB DATA package without any additional cost. Customer will have to show evidence of the ownership of older version of Telenor USB & SIM.

You can visit the offical page by Clicking Here.

I was trying to find the Plan Prices, but couldn’t find them – i guess they haven’t put those up online yet.

The monthly bandwidth limit is low too, but will be better to decide once we know what the price is – also, all they have said on the page is that its Edge service but there’s actually no specific internet speed provided.

One of my friend is planning on trying this out, i will know more about how good or bad they are providing the service is (but personally, i dont have much hopes).