If you are a common reader for my blog, you've already noticed the change in the appearance. A more simplified, easy to read format that even my grandparents may find appealing. It's not "over the top" or "obnoxious" as some blogs and personal websites, but it still has some personal flavor.
The change is due to Blogger (my free blog hosting site) adding some new features. Blogger is a Google product and it has proven to evolve in the few years my blog has been out there. The update to the layout and look is welcomed by everyone and it shows. I appreciate any comments that you may have.
Now you may be asking what the "changes" are from the title. Well the ads you now see on my site are changes. When I started, I just wanted to get my ideas out there and provide some help to people who wanted technology explained in a more common language. No more mixing of ROM and RAM, multi-core processors, the scary world of Linux or the basic changes happening to cyberspace. Straight forward thoughts and explanations of what common, as well as up and coming, technologies could/should/would do for everyone.
Well now, I've got a reader base and some people actually enjoy what I have to say (LOL???). I'm in the real world. I've got real rent to pay, real insurance payments, real car payments (something I'm going to elaborate on in the future), and overall a much higher budget that is resulting in decent savings, but debt nonetheless. So the ads and search features are there to make your life and my life easier.
For today's lesson, we are going to elaborate on Google Adsense. Adsense is a program that anyone can use to put helpful links to helpful products and websites on their own websites. If someone clicks on the link, everyone involved makes money. Think of it as networking without actually meeting anyone. Google indexes just about every website and every website has a specific set of information included in it. This information is called meta data and Google can use that data to link websites that are common together. This is used in basic web searches, shopping and overall for Google Adsense. I put the word "Apple" and "iPad" as a piece of meta data in one of my posts and Google immediately puts my post in with the millions of other posts and websites about Apple (the company) releasing the iPad recently.
Again, the ads and search features are just there to make your life and my life easier. I'm not saying you need to click on them or search utilizing the features because that's illegal through the bylaws of the Adsense project. I just want you, as readers, to understand why the look has changed and why you now see ads and a search box.
Please let me know if you have any questions and what you think of the new look!
Showing posts with label Blogger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogger. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Blogger "One-Ups" Wordpress with blog.gears
Through most of the tech blogs yesterday, it was announced that some genius has created a way to integrate Google Gears into Blogger to allow for offline blogging entries. blog.gears anyone? How amazing is that?
The simplified version of this breaks down as follows:
- Google Gears is a Google Labs work in progress that allows for users to access web pages across the Internet. It, in turn, saves the appropriate page to your computer and allows you to view and access the page in its entirety without having a connection. From personal experience, it works wonderfully with Google reader while working offline on airplane or in the car (while someone else is driving of course). You can find the page to download this great tool here. Tutorials are available as well.
- Blogger is the Google owned blogging service that lacks the wonderfully easy and beautiful customization capabilities of other services such as Wordpress. The reasons I use it: 1) It's back by Google. 2) I've modified it to my own liking. 3) It's backed by Google. Wait, did I mention that already?
When you mix the two together, you get a wonderfully easy interface that allows you to blog offline at any time and it's called blog.gears.
As I've evolved in the blogosphere, I've found that quality of content rather than quantity provides for a better blog so when I receive an epiphany on what to write about but I don't have an Internet connection, I can still write my blog and publish it as soon as a connection is established.
Give this great innovation a try and congrats to whoever made this one possible! I know that it is still in beta but I love it already! Nice work!
I could be wrong and this could be just a failed attempt to revive Blogger but I doubt it! Prove me wrong!
Don't forget to link up, Digg me and subscribe!
Have a great day!
The simplified version of this breaks down as follows:
- Google Gears is a Google Labs work in progress that allows for users to access web pages across the Internet. It, in turn, saves the appropriate page to your computer and allows you to view and access the page in its entirety without having a connection. From personal experience, it works wonderfully with Google reader while working offline on airplane or in the car (while someone else is driving of course). You can find the page to download this great tool here. Tutorials are available as well.
- Blogger is the Google owned blogging service that lacks the wonderfully easy and beautiful customization capabilities of other services such as Wordpress. The reasons I use it: 1) It's back by Google. 2) I've modified it to my own liking. 3) It's backed by Google. Wait, did I mention that already?
When you mix the two together, you get a wonderfully easy interface that allows you to blog offline at any time and it's called blog.gears.
As I've evolved in the blogosphere, I've found that quality of content rather than quantity provides for a better blog so when I receive an epiphany on what to write about but I don't have an Internet connection, I can still write my blog and publish it as soon as a connection is established.
Give this great innovation a try and congrats to whoever made this one possible! I know that it is still in beta but I love it already! Nice work!
I could be wrong and this could be just a failed attempt to revive Blogger but I doubt it! Prove me wrong!
Don't forget to link up, Digg me and subscribe!
Have a great day!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Blog Editors
I've been experimenting with blogging since I started in February. Everything from subjects, to templates to fonts, I've been trying them all. Lately, I've been trying different ways to actually publish my blog posts and I thought my readers might find them interesting.
I use the Blogger blog service so I've always had the original web-based system for blogging. It's easy and simple to use and it will let you writing HTML or plain composition. The tool bar is basic and the labels work well in search engines. Overall: it's a bare bones form for writing a blog and really comes in handy when you aren't on your normal computer but you get inspired to write.
Two other options I use are actually browser based blogging services for Firefox based browsers. I use the ScribeFire add-on when I'm utilizing my original Firefox browser. It works well and allows me to add tags to Technorati's search engine. It will also ping my favorite pinging services, Ping-o-matic, for me which saves a lot of time! The other browser based blog service is use is through my new favorite browser, Flock. The instant blogging addition makes for easy set up and publishing through the browser. Overall: both work well and provide a great way to keep my browsing going while still drafting and publishing blog entries.
The final service is actually a Microsoft product and it's actually really nice! (normal readers, don't hyperventilate) For those that don't know, I'm not a huge fan of Microsoft products and I am always willing to try anything that is trying to out perform Microsoft. But Microsoft Live Writer is actually a very advanced and simple product at the same time. I've just been testing it a few times and I've it to be great for just simple drafting and posting, yet I could add pictures, videos, hyper links and pretty much anything you can imagine to my blog with the click of the mouse. This is still in a testing phase for me, but I may switch to it permanently if I keep finding more and more great things in the product.
Right now, I'm writing this blog using Blogger and the original website for actual blogging. Blogger is a Google owned company so things are always changing! This is how I started out. I had no clue where to begin: what service to use, what template was good and what to even write about. Well needless to say, I pretty much randomly picked everything.
Blogger was an easy start up. No former knowledge and nice looking templates made this one seem to be a good choice.
Now, I'm modifying everything from formats to templates to widgets and it's great! Now I want your opinion on what is good and bad and what needs a change. Tell me what you want to see on this blog. What do you want more of an in-depth approach on? Is the blog easy to read or would some different colors and styles be nice?
Please let me know because I'm not only here to express my opinion but to please my readers and keep them coming back!
Fill out the poll, link up, subscribe and leave comments and let me know!
Have a great day!
I use the Blogger blog service so I've always had the original web-based system for blogging. It's easy and simple to use and it will let you writing HTML or plain composition. The tool bar is basic and the labels work well in search engines. Overall: it's a bare bones form for writing a blog and really comes in handy when you aren't on your normal computer but you get inspired to write.
Two other options I use are actually browser based blogging services for Firefox based browsers. I use the ScribeFire add-on when I'm utilizing my original Firefox browser. It works well and allows me to add tags to Technorati's search engine. It will also ping my favorite pinging services, Ping-o-matic, for me which saves a lot of time! The other browser based blog service is use is through my new favorite browser, Flock. The instant blogging addition makes for easy set up and publishing through the browser. Overall: both work well and provide a great way to keep my browsing going while still drafting and publishing blog entries.
The final service is actually a Microsoft product and it's actually really nice! (normal readers, don't hyperventilate) For those that don't know, I'm not a huge fan of Microsoft products and I am always willing to try anything that is trying to out perform Microsoft. But Microsoft Live Writer is actually a very advanced and simple product at the same time. I've just been testing it a few times and I've it to be great for just simple drafting and posting, yet I could add pictures, videos, hyper links and pretty much anything you can imagine to my blog with the click of the mouse. This is still in a testing phase for me, but I may switch to it permanently if I keep finding more and more great things in the product.
Right now, I'm writing this blog using Blogger and the original website for actual blogging. Blogger is a Google owned company so things are always changing! This is how I started out. I had no clue where to begin: what service to use, what template was good and what to even write about. Well needless to say, I pretty much randomly picked everything.
Blogger was an easy start up. No former knowledge and nice looking templates made this one seem to be a good choice.
Now, I'm modifying everything from formats to templates to widgets and it's great! Now I want your opinion on what is good and bad and what needs a change. Tell me what you want to see on this blog. What do you want more of an in-depth approach on? Is the blog easy to read or would some different colors and styles be nice?
Please let me know because I'm not only here to express my opinion but to please my readers and keep them coming back!
Fill out the poll, link up, subscribe and leave comments and let me know!
Have a great day!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
A Quick Blog Shout Out!
Over the past few days I've come to realize that I need to take advantage of the beautiful weather and the wonderful company of my girlfriend, my family and my friends while I am still at home and have some time available. This is why my blog has not had an entry for a while.
I also realized I was getting a little too wrapped up in the blog and, in turn, I wasn't letting myself just find new stuff and write about it. (The surge in my readership mixed with some helpful tools online can be attributed to this.)
I decided to do a revamp of the site appearance. If you hadn't noticed, the site was looking almost old-fashioned and not very modern. With that, I decided to research a lot more into some different formats to make my blog reflect me a little better.
Luckily, I just happened to stumble across THE BEST Blogger/Blogspot tweak blog I've ever read and it will blow your mind if you are a Blogger user.
My new appearance can only be accreditted to the author(s) over at Tricks for New Bloggers. This blog is wonderful and really brings my enthusiam back to Blogger after trying out WordPress.
This blog will help your blog look better, run better and overall just ROCK!
Look it up and prove me wrong in my opinion that this is THE BEST place for Blogger help!
Thanks and don't forget to link up, subscribe, read and just enjoy!
Prove me wrong!
I also realized I was getting a little too wrapped up in the blog and, in turn, I wasn't letting myself just find new stuff and write about it. (The surge in my readership mixed with some helpful tools online can be attributed to this.)
I decided to do a revamp of the site appearance. If you hadn't noticed, the site was looking almost old-fashioned and not very modern. With that, I decided to research a lot more into some different formats to make my blog reflect me a little better.
Luckily, I just happened to stumble across THE BEST Blogger/Blogspot tweak blog I've ever read and it will blow your mind if you are a Blogger user.
My new appearance can only be accreditted to the author(s) over at Tricks for New Bloggers. This blog is wonderful and really brings my enthusiam back to Blogger after trying out WordPress.
This blog will help your blog look better, run better and overall just ROCK!
Look it up and prove me wrong in my opinion that this is THE BEST place for Blogger help!
Thanks and don't forget to link up, subscribe, read and just enjoy!
Prove me wrong!
Blogged with Flock
Thursday, August 16, 2007
A Connection: Part II Browsers
After reading a recent article at TechCrunch by Michael Arrington, I was bit perplexed by what he was saying. Google is thinking about purchasing and rereleasing a browser that they could call their own.
REALLY?
Now why would Google want to do that? And just how many browsers do they think users need or even want?
These were just a few of the questions I asked myself when I read the article so I decided to research a little and find out some of the facts that revolve around web browsers.
In my mind, there are several browsers that deserve note in every article about web browsers.
-Internet Explorer, Microsoft's browser that comes preloaded on every Windows machine and does the trick but is susceptible to security flaws for the sole reason of being a Microsoft product.
-Mozilla Firefox 2.0: an open-source project that is becoming the largest contendor for Internet Explorer. With a huge selection of add-ons and a strong support base, this is a great browser.
-Safari: Apple's attempt at a strong web browser that has recently switched to be used over Mac and Windows operating systems.
-Opera: An open source project that is developing a name for being the underdog against the three browsers previously listed. It's nice and simple and does the trick.
In recent search on Download.com, I found 286 entries for browsers. Granted, browsers can be anything from web browsers to media browsers to P2P (person-to-person) share browsers and the list goes on and on. After just checking the first 20 entries, I was astounded to find that only two of listed browsers are what could be considered to be mainstream browsers, Mozilla Firefox and Opera.
Now why would Google think we need to see a browser from them? I'll tell you why: because Firefox has adapted an all inclusive browser that I am using currently called Flock. and it's the next big thing for web browsing!
Flock is a social networking browser that incorporates many of the major blogging, picture and video sites into the browser itself and allows you to update anything from Flickr to Blogger and Wordpress to PhotoBucket from any page on the Web.
I've blogged Flock before. You can find the entry here.
I think Google is trying to find a way to cash in on this market as well by implementing a browser that will allow you to use all of their services like Blogger, orkut, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Reader, Google Talk and so on.
This makes complete sense and it would be another way for Google to advertise for a lot of companies in a short amount of time! Is this good? I think so. Will we see it soon? Maybe. Will I switch over to G-Browser? If the product is quality, I'll try anything! Does Flock still rock? OH YEAH!
So let me know what you think! Don't forget to leave some comments, link up, subscribe if you like what I have to say and just let me know!
Have a great day!
REALLY?
Now why would Google want to do that? And just how many browsers do they think users need or even want?
These were just a few of the questions I asked myself when I read the article so I decided to research a little and find out some of the facts that revolve around web browsers.
In my mind, there are several browsers that deserve note in every article about web browsers.
-Internet Explorer, Microsoft's browser that comes preloaded on every Windows machine and does the trick but is susceptible to security flaws for the sole reason of being a Microsoft product.
-Mozilla Firefox 2.0: an open-source project that is becoming the largest contendor for Internet Explorer. With a huge selection of add-ons and a strong support base, this is a great browser.
-Safari: Apple's attempt at a strong web browser that has recently switched to be used over Mac and Windows operating systems.
-Opera: An open source project that is developing a name for being the underdog against the three browsers previously listed. It's nice and simple and does the trick.
In recent search on Download.com, I found 286 entries for browsers. Granted, browsers can be anything from web browsers to media browsers to P2P (person-to-person) share browsers and the list goes on and on. After just checking the first 20 entries, I was astounded to find that only two of listed browsers are what could be considered to be mainstream browsers, Mozilla Firefox and Opera.
Now why would Google think we need to see a browser from them? I'll tell you why: because Firefox has adapted an all inclusive browser that I am using currently called Flock. and it's the next big thing for web browsing!
Flock is a social networking browser that incorporates many of the major blogging, picture and video sites into the browser itself and allows you to update anything from Flickr to Blogger and Wordpress to PhotoBucket from any page on the Web.
I've blogged Flock before. You can find the entry here.
I think Google is trying to find a way to cash in on this market as well by implementing a browser that will allow you to use all of their services like Blogger, orkut, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Reader, Google Talk and so on.
This makes complete sense and it would be another way for Google to advertise for a lot of companies in a short amount of time! Is this good? I think so. Will we see it soon? Maybe. Will I switch over to G-Browser? If the product is quality, I'll try anything! Does Flock still rock? OH YEAH!
So let me know what you think! Don't forget to leave some comments, link up, subscribe if you like what I have to say and just let me know!
Have a great day!
Blogged with Flock
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Social Networking for Everyone!
Social networking seems to be the topic of discussion for almost all of the Web over the past few weeks. Facebook did this, MySpace did that, AIM added this, Yahoo pleased more customers, Google tried to break into all of their balloons of success...blah blah blah!
For those who don't know what social networking on the Web entails, I suggest you read this article by Mark Hendrickson at TechCrunch and possibly read into some of the links he has posted there as well.
For the basic understanding, social networking is basically meeting up with people you know online as well as meeting with people who have similar interests in life. They way to meet these people is the area of interest for users. There are platforms all over the Web that allow users to find other users through common links. Think of the rule "Six degrees of seperation" but on steroids.
The problem for most users is trying to find the right one that lets them do what they want, when they want and how they want. Each site has restrictions and safe guards for the both the company and the users.
Check out my recent post about the variety of networks that you can connect to.
My reason for this post is basically because it seems as though people are forgetting about the original way to link up to people on the Web: through word of mouth and actually links from blogs and sites!
I love my readers. They inspire me to keep writing and looking for new and wonderful things in the world of tech. They keep me on my toes and really make me smile.
I guess this is a call out to everyone that reads my blog: Let me know that you read my blog. Add me to your e-mail or RSS feeds, link up to a post that you like, leave me comments (good or bad, I enjoy feedback)!
Fellow bloggers, let me know if there is something you want me to read on your blog or check out in relation to something I've writtin. I would love to meet some new bloggers and get some fresh ideas!
Let's social network the old way a little bit. I'm trying to my best by having a link to some blogger every day! If you blog, why not give it a try for every blogger out there?
My blog has no restriction on who can leave comments or add me to e-mail or RSS and I don't require membership. Let me know what you think and if you like what I have to say, add me! Spread the word and I will be glad to do the same!
Thanks and have a great day!
For those who don't know what social networking on the Web entails, I suggest you read this article by Mark Hendrickson at TechCrunch and possibly read into some of the links he has posted there as well.
For the basic understanding, social networking is basically meeting up with people you know online as well as meeting with people who have similar interests in life. They way to meet these people is the area of interest for users. There are platforms all over the Web that allow users to find other users through common links. Think of the rule "Six degrees of seperation" but on steroids.
The problem for most users is trying to find the right one that lets them do what they want, when they want and how they want. Each site has restrictions and safe guards for the both the company and the users.
Check out my recent post about the variety of networks that you can connect to.
My reason for this post is basically because it seems as though people are forgetting about the original way to link up to people on the Web: through word of mouth and actually links from blogs and sites!
I love my readers. They inspire me to keep writing and looking for new and wonderful things in the world of tech. They keep me on my toes and really make me smile.
I guess this is a call out to everyone that reads my blog: Let me know that you read my blog. Add me to your e-mail or RSS feeds, link up to a post that you like, leave me comments (good or bad, I enjoy feedback)!
Fellow bloggers, let me know if there is something you want me to read on your blog or check out in relation to something I've writtin. I would love to meet some new bloggers and get some fresh ideas!
Let's social network the old way a little bit. I'm trying to my best by having a link to some blogger every day! If you blog, why not give it a try for every blogger out there?
My blog has no restriction on who can leave comments or add me to e-mail or RSS and I don't require membership. Let me know what you think and if you like what I have to say, add me! Spread the word and I will be glad to do the same!
Thanks and have a great day!
Blogged with Flock
Monday, July 16, 2007
Flock Rocks!
So I've been trying to get back into the swing of blogging this week but it has been a miserable attempt on my part I must admit!
I've been doing a lot of research for Web 2.0 and I have come to a revelation about the entire movement: I knew nothing at the start of this whole endeavor!
Considering that Web 2.0 is basically a movement from hardware/software based applications to completely online services and applications, I was completely in the dark. I just knew that I liked where the movement was going and the services that were being offered.
I utilize many of them now and it is becoming almost a hassle to remember passwords and update everything at once so I've been trying to find a tool that will combine all of my accounts into one easy to use, FREE, application and I've found it!
Flock is a Firefox- based web browser that allows me to login to all of my account ranging from Blogger, Flickr, Wordpress, del.ic.ious, YouTube and more and keeps me logged in. It has a great upload feature for pictures on Photobucket or Flickr, a built in blog editor for whatever/all account(s) you use and the feed reader is just awesome! Click and drag and the feed is in your reader!
I must say that I absolutely love this browser/cache of awesomeness tool that is Flock. The only downside is a lack of Add-ons in the Firefox respect. Keep in mind that the add-ons that I use are completely encompassed within Flock!
Please give this one a try and let me know your thoughts!
Personally, I think it's awesome!
Blogged with Flock
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