tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54906190171840585042024-03-14T02:35:05.580-07:00Inspector FlixScouring the web for the meaningful and the mundaneP.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-29299968068342187832014-02-24T20:24:00.000-08:002014-02-24T20:24:00.625-08:003D Printing is the Future<a href="http://inspectorflix.blogspot.com/2014/02/a-look-back-at-3d-technology.html">3D TVs and cameras were a dud</a>. But there is another 3D technology that will more likely be successful and have far-reaching repercussions in the future - 3D printing.<br />
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A 3D printer is like your inkjet printer on steroids. Instead of printing an image or text on a paper, a 3D printer will can create a three dimensional object. And instead of an image out of ink on paper, your final product is the molded item that is made of plastic or other materials like metal or vinyl.<br />
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Out of paper clips? No problem - <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:29614">print your own paper clips</a>. Need a case for your iPhone? Find an <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-create-your-own-3D-Printed-iPhone-Case-from/step1/Creating-the-Case/">iPhone case</a>, and customize and print one for yourself.
<img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=netbookgotoga-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00E5OQIKS" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5OQIKS/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00E5OQIKS&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00E5OQIKS&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=netbookgotoga-20" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mini 3D Printer</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The average consumer may not yet embrace this technology as it the printer itself and the raw materials are currently cost-prohibitive for practical use, but the business enterprises will more likely adopt this technology first. It will speed up and help easily customize production.<br />
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But as 3D printing becomes more prevalent, it is not far fetched to see this technology in homes as well. <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/175562-major-patent-expiration-could-spark-a-second-3d-printing-revolution">Printers will most probably decrease over time</a>, and 3D layouts can possibly become more ubiquitous that anyone can gain access to. P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-78842474364066829952014-02-23T02:27:00.000-08:002014-02-23T02:27:00.572-08:00Where to get Paid and Free Ebooks<br />
I discussed <a href="http://inspectorflix.blogspot.com/2014/02/taking-plunge-on-dedicated-ebook-reader.html">ebook readers</a> in a previous post, and I would like to expand on where to get or download digital books.<br />
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You can purchase ebooks in sites such as <a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-ph/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=generic">Kobo</a>, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/NOOK-Book-eBook-store/379003094">Barnes & Noble</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/books-used-books-textbooks/b/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&node=283155&tag=netbookgotoga-20" target="_blank">Amazon books</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=netbookgotoga-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, and once paid, the digital books will be sent to you.<br />
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However, there are many sites that offer free ebooks in various ebook formats that you can download from (these are actually what got me started on ebooks). <br />
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The top site is <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/">Project Gutenberg</a>, which stores over 40,000 books that have become part of the public domain. <br />
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I also frequent <a href="http://manybooks.net/">Manybooks.net</a>. Like Project Gutenberg, it provides public domain books as well as new authors who wish to distribute their books for free. <br />
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If you have a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCCNJU/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B007HCCNJU&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20">Kindle</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DLPXAO/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B004DLPXAO&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20">Kindle app</a> in your phone or tablet, you can download free Kindle books as well. Sites such as <a href="http://hundredzeros.com/">Hundred Zeros</a> and <a href="http://onehundredfreebooks.com/">One Hundred Free Books</a> show an updated list of Kindle ebooks that you can download for free and later on read in your Kindle or Kindle app. P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-54340029832004673532014-02-21T15:52:00.000-08:002014-02-21T15:52:00.381-08:00Dual Sim Android Phone RecommendationMobile phone capabilities have come a long way. I am particularly happy that dual sim capabilities of mobile phones have grown leaps and bounds. <br />
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Dual sim mobile phones of the past usually ended up in compromises for the consumer. In some phones, you could only make one sim active at any one time. In other phones, their capabilities were compromised to accommodate the dual sim functionality. <br />
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Right now, there are a number of Android phones that offer top notch dual sim capabilities without sacrificing the full functionality of the Android ecosystem.<br />
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One phone I particularly like is the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HTR1D5S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00HTR1D5S&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20">Alcatel OneTouch Idol</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=netbookgotoga-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00HTR1D5S" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmguY8KxcYd3uHh7v3b_CClhk0384n9bxF6bHZnHpr5XuPV08rjPi9F3eGiNjAph20kiTjgtqlSWb2X_L63zmaPgPU39A21J-sTWiNCN33PBVIMsxwg-7QedMpDzXBXAz1jaLA-IG67TAx/s1600/CYMERA_20140216_065114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmguY8KxcYd3uHh7v3b_CClhk0384n9bxF6bHZnHpr5XuPV08rjPi9F3eGiNjAph20kiTjgtqlSWb2X_L63zmaPgPU39A21J-sTWiNCN33PBVIMsxwg-7QedMpDzXBXAz1jaLA-IG67TAx/s1600/CYMERA_20140216_065114.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a>I have two sim cards for two separate carriers, and I got tired of carrying two phones with me all the time. That is why I took the plunge and bought OneTouch, and I have not once regretted the purchase.<br />
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Right off the bat, I was liberated from carrying two bulky phones, while the phone's hardware (it is quad core already) rivals the top Android phones in the market. <br />
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The dual sim capabilities are seamless - both sims are always active at the same time. I can can receive, make, or send calls and messages from both sims without any additional configuration on my part. I can also assign the default sim for texting, for calling, and for mobile data.<br />
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The only drawback from using the phone is its mobile data. It does not offer LTE yet. Also, as you may know, when you use the phone to send an SMS or to call someone, the mobile data gets cut off momentarily. Having two sims and potentially receiving twice as much texts messages or phone calls mean that the mobile data gets cut off more often.<br />
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Despite the drawback, I am very satisfied with my phone. I have used the Alcatel OneTouch for about half a year now, and I have no plans of replacing it any time soon. To sum up my experience, it's like having two <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BV1MVJ0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BV1MVJ0&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20">Samsung Galaxy S4</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=netbookgotoga-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00BV1MVJ0" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> phones for a fraction of the price. P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-46622408458515012492014-02-18T20:44:00.001-08:002014-02-18T20:44:53.517-08:00Price Gap on Androids and iPhones There is a recent article on <a href="http://www.phonearena.com/news/Average-Android-phone-now-costs-half-the-iPhone-and-the-price-gap-is-widening_id52693" target="_blank">phoneArena</a> detailing the widening price gap between Apple iPhones and Android phones.<br />
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The gap is understandable, considering that there are more and more cheap and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=cheap%20android%20phones&linkCode=ur2&tag=netbookgotoga-20&url=search-alias%3Daps" target="_blank">cheap Android phones</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=netbookgotoga-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> being released nowadays.<br />
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However, even comparing the new <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F3J4E5U/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00F3J4E5U&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20">Apple iPhone 5s</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=netbookgotoga-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00F3J4E5U" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> with the high-end Android phones such as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F0FVKRM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00F0FVKRM&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20">Samsung Galaxy Note 3</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=netbookgotoga-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00F0FVKRM" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CMVLH66/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CMVLH66&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20">HTC One</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=netbookgotoga-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00CMVLH66" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, the iPhones end up more expensive.<br />
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The question is, what will you choose between iPhone and Android phone, if they have the same having the same specs? <br />
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I really like the iPhone's and its apps' polished look and the simple interface. But I'd rather have the Android's customization it offers. I like the fact that I can root my phone, the customization of the look, and the freedom to choose which launchers keyboards to use, the option to place useful widgets, among others. <br />
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Choosing one over the other may depend on the user, but I personally like Android phones because it offers more functionality-wise. P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-19233129870225284462014-02-16T03:09:00.000-08:002014-02-18T20:15:56.790-08:00Word Processor Recommendation - Q10There are so many distractions when it comes to writing using the computer. The is only just a click away to pry you away from what you are doing. Even the solitaire or minesweeper beckons every once in a while, making you want to procrastinate for a few minutes.<br />
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When it comes to writing, my default word processor of choice is the Microsoft Word. It offers a plethora of bells and whistles for any of your writing needs. <br />
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Alternatively, <a href="https://www.libreoffice.org/">LibreOffice</a> is a free word processing software, albeit with fewer capabilities. I have it installed in my computer, but I use it only when Microsoft Word or my other preferred word processor - the <a href="http://www.baara.com/q10/">Q10</a> - acts up.<br />
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But when I need to write without distractions, my go to word processor is Q10.<br />
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Q10 is a minimalist word processor - the moment you open it, you will see a full screen of black space. No additional buttons or tabs, little to no diversions.<br />
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Another feature I like about Q10 is the typewriter sound effect (which you can turn on and off). It may be just placebo, but the sounds it makes pushes me to type more. I was still able to use a typewriter when I did my school projects, and I associate the typewriter unadulterated typing. But unlike typewriters, I can do touch typing with Q10.<br />
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The sound and the absence of clutter has definitely helped me concentrate on my writing. Needless to say, Q10 is highly recommended for writers who need to focus on their work. P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-6777970153431489752014-02-15T01:46:00.000-08:002014-02-15T01:52:09.782-08:00Taking the Plunge on a Dedicated Ebook ReaderI love traditional books. Reading a book is an experience in and of itself: feeling the texture of the paper, flipping each page as you go along, hearing the sound that the pages make as you flip them, smelling the irresistible scent of paper. <br />
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However, having your books stored in one gadget is can be a real convenience. Sometimes, I want to jump from one book to the next. I really cannot do that with traditional books, especially when I am not at home, unless I bring all my books with me. That is why I am drawn to ebooks. <br />
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Before, I used to read ebooks through my laptop. But reading from the computer was not really comfortable for an extended period. I was better off reading traditional books. <br />
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I then discovered that I could read ebooks from my Palm Pilot (and later, Treo), but the <a href="http://inspectorflix.blogspot.com/2009/10/yearning-for-standard-ebook-format.html">apps and ebook formats were limited</a>.<br />
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When I had my Android phone, I read my ebooks from there, thanks to a growing number of apps and ebook formats. Right now, the larger screens of tablets offer more real estate for ebooks.<br />
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However, there are drawbacks from reading ebooks in your phones and tablets. The battery life of these gadgets are limited, so you have to constantly plug these. The multifunctionality of these gizmos can also be a distraction from your reading, as it is very easy to switch from one app to the next. <br />
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That is why if you really want to enhance your reading experience, having a dedicated gadget such as an ebook reader like Kindle or Nook is the way to go. It may only do one thing, but it serves its purpose very well. <br />
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Right now, the best ebook reader for me is the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWH595M/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00AWH595M&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20">Kindle Paperwhite</a>. <br />
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It has a long battery life, it is lightweight, and it lets you read under direct sunlight (something that you really cannot do with phones or tablets without cranking up the brightness to max, draining your battery in the process). You can also read at night, thanks to its built-in light. <br />
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Amazon has had a lot of experience in what consumers look for in an ebook reader; its Kindle Paperwhite has ticked all the requirements of what an ebook reader should be, making it the best out there. <br />
P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-83290753862017544932014-02-14T00:31:00.001-08:002014-02-15T01:53:53.943-08:00A Look Back at 3D TechnologyThe last post that I did featured <a href="http://inspectorflix.blogspot.com/2009/10/3-d-cameras-wave-of-future.html">3D cameras</a>, with the optimism that it would be the next big thing.<br />
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Fast forward four years: obviously, it was not.<br />
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It did not even enter the consciousness of the average consumer for the home entertainment system, and for good reason.<br />
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First off, 3D technology requires specialized equipment - a camera that can shoot 3D images, a television or projector that has the ability to show 3D images, and DVDs and files that can play 3D videos and images. In other words, watching and producing 3D films were expensive.<br />
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It's not purely about the cost.<br />
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3D tech could have possibly entered mainstream consumer consciousness - there was a time in the early part of this decade when a slew 3D movies were heavily promoted, and television manufacturers tried pushing <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BB9ORWQ/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00BB9ORWQ&linkCode=as2&tag=netbookgotoga-20">3D TVs</a> as the next big thing.<br />
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The movie-goers may have gone to see 3D movies, but it did not translate to 3D TV sales. <br />
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Why so? <br />
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The technology tries to bank on the novelty of watching 3D films.<br />
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As many movie-goers attest, watching 3D videos can be literally nauseating. I watched Avatar twice in a row, and at the end of the second run, I just had enough willpower not to throw up. Also, when I chanced upon 3D TVs on display, I was curious for a few moments, but quickly lost interest.<br />
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3D technology has been around for a long time <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/04/23/the-history-of-3d-movie-tech">(the first commercially released 3D movie was way back in 1922)</a>, but once the initial novelty wore off, people stopped watching 3D movies.<br />
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So at the present, 3D technology will remain a niche, and will probably continue to do so in the near future. P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-27189897752997828672009-10-30T03:36:00.000-07:002009-10-30T03:36:00.221-07:003-D Cameras. A Wave of the Future?<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In the world of Harry Potter, photos of people in newspapers and posters seem to have a life of their own. For muggles like us, our technology has a long way to catch up to the wizards to have moving photographs. But with the new camera of Fuji, muggles may have taken a wee step closer in terms of photography.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As per <a href="http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/fujifilm-enters-the-third-dimension/?partner=rss&emc=rss">NY Times</a>:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 21px; "><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Fujifilm just took the wraps off its long-awaited </span></span><a href="http://www.fujifilm.com/products/3d/camera/finepix_real3dw1/" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">3-D camera</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> and </span></span><a href="http://www.fujifilm.com/products/3d/viewer/" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">photo frame</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, which can capture and display 3-D (and 2-D) photos and video. The technology is sometimes amazing, but it seems likely to appeal primarily to a small group of stereoscopic photo enthusiasts.</span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Since it is a new technology. it is obviously not perfect yet. It is observed that the people will be fascinated because of its novelty, not because of the quality or the "realness" of the photos. But I think it has a lot of potential. Who knows, maybe 3=D pictures will be the norm in the future, just like 3=D films today! Er... or maybe not... </span></span></span></span></div></span></div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-70315368375759727752009-10-23T03:17:00.000-07:002009-10-23T03:31:32.112-07:00Yearning for a Standard eBook Format<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bkmFhsRK0c53QGcwMj__YT3-CBCcPD-Q3HpLq2tyfIBdxh3-5Wzb0Mrl2ee_ZupB8QKuwr3AZ4s0XultSCcPLsUTTcAlHnA-gMQWBriYFqDGVi4Og9t3jhMBaK_f1Jv0DNBdbxqMmVAh/s1600-h/kindle.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bkmFhsRK0c53QGcwMj__YT3-CBCcPD-Q3HpLq2tyfIBdxh3-5Wzb0Mrl2ee_ZupB8QKuwr3AZ4s0XultSCcPLsUTTcAlHnA-gMQWBriYFqDGVi4Og9t3jhMBaK_f1Jv0DNBdbxqMmVAh/s320/kindle.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395740651487182738" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">I like reading books, whether it is in printed or digital form. Sometimes, it is better to read a book on paper. The look, feel and smell of the paper just adds to the reading experience. But reading digital books has its advantages too. I read books through my Palm Treo phone, and the fact that the books are in my phone is a very convenient thing. Whenever I commute, or I am about to sleep, I just whip out my phone and read. Also, since I have everything on my phone, I can store my favorite books, minus the weight and bulkiness of an actual book.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But one gripe that I have with digital books is that there is no universal format as of yet. For my phone, I have three different readers in order to read my books, because of incompatibility of format. For those who want to try digital books, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/technology/personaltech/24basics.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss">deciding which ereader</a> (like Kindle) to purchase may turn them off. Since there is no dominant format yet, will not be resolved for a long time, until one ereader stands out from the rest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/3470579202/">oskay</a>, Flickr, Creative Commons</div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-88996549416847852572009-04-30T23:23:00.000-07:002009-05-01T03:27:13.716-07:00Protecting Your Virtual Brand<DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2>Do you have a website and you want to protect your "brand"? Protecting your brand is obviously important, especially when you are about to make it big. You don't want to be in a situation where you are in the throes of (relative) internet success, only to find out that others have already taken advantage of what you have sowed. </FONT></DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here are some tips, taken from Dan Schwabel's article entitled "<A href="http://mashable.com/2009/04/30/control-personal-brand/">5 Ways to Control Your Brand</A>":</FONT></DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2>1. Claim Your Google profile - Google has quietly released a feature allowing you to claim your profile when your name/brand is googled.</FONT></DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2>2. Reserve your name on social networks - You don't have to go to each networking site one by one, you just have to <SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0">using<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><A style="COLOR: rgb(64,158,211); TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://namechk.com/" target=_blank>Namechk.com</A><SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>or<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><A style="COLOR: rgb(64,158,211); TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://knowem.com/" target=_blank>Knowem.com</A> to see where you can claim your brand name on the more recognized social networks.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0">3. Establish your personal hub - <SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0">For instance,<SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><A style="COLOR: rgb(64,158,211); TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://nombray.com/" target=_blank>Nombray.com</A><SPAN class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN>allows you to display all of your social networking profiles, blogs and websites under a single domain name (yourname.com)</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0">4. Have a reputation management strategy</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0">5. Promote you expertise.</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px/17px verdana; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(51,51,51); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2; webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; webkit-text-stroke-width: 0">Click <A href="http://mashable.com/2009/04/30/control-personal-brand/">here</A> for the full article.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-56296461309413142352009-04-29T17:30:00.000-07:002009-04-30T21:38:17.221-07:00Shooting Frenzy<DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2>I've always wanted to have an SLR camera - you know, those bulky, professional looking camera with lenses obscenely protruding. i have a friend who sa one, and I always borrow it whenever I get to have a chance. In those rare times that I handle his camera, I always try to practice the intricacies of focusing, zooming and shot composition.I haven't mastered them. I think it will take years for anyone to really master photography. Just like poker, photography takes minutes to learn and years to master.</FONT></DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2>A <A href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/technology/personaltech/30pogue.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss">New York Times article</A> has reported that Panasonic is releasing a camera ahead of its time: it can capture SLR-quality pictures with the ease of a point-and-click camera, and more. </FONT></DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV align=justify><FONT face=Arial size=2>But considering that this is a relatively new technology, it necessarily comes at a steep price of $1,500. What's more, the size of these first generation cameras are just slightly smaller than SLR cameras. But no matter, the potential of the technology alone will make any camera enthusiasts and wannabe-photographers will make them salivate.</FONT></DIV>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-1472745424262846302009-02-14T01:28:00.000-08:002009-02-14T01:28:31.414-08:00A Valentine Card<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2316/2259366530_332c2aebc9.jpg?v=0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2316/2259366530_332c2aebc9.jpg?v=0" style="cursor: move;" width="420" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23182098@N07/2259366530/">thegreatgeekmanual</a>, Flickr, Creative Commons <br />
</span></div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-68496974988385494452009-01-09T05:53:00.000-08:002009-01-09T06:42:20.092-08:00Gorey and The Recently Deflowered Girl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1dcnATs5J_Q92vm8iVphZDquIAp9JBJX9GL3VyatuyvxzQUxaHnL6xxU0z5YL-BDAkhYREZ1u178lWUYMMQkwOpZ421KMaxp8NGi7rH69HZ2aqnbCeuBiKY4TW-PPINz42pb8THZXNxr/s1600-h/bee+on+a+flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1dcnATs5J_Q92vm8iVphZDquIAp9JBJX9GL3VyatuyvxzQUxaHnL6xxU0z5YL-BDAkhYREZ1u178lWUYMMQkwOpZ421KMaxp8NGi7rH69HZ2aqnbCeuBiKY4TW-PPINz42pb8THZXNxr/s320/bee+on+a+flower.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I chanced upon <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/found_objects/3699822.html?page=1">this book scan</a> of <i>The Recently Deflowered Girl</i>. At first glance, it looks like your ordinary etiquette book, albeit of a weird topic. But it isn't so. Consider this, for example:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>You meet an old bachelor friend of your family who has known you since birth. He takes you to his apartment promising to show you old tintypes of your parents. After deflowerment, you ask to see the pictures. He says, "There are no pictures, but your parents are in the next room."<br />
<br />
You say: "Golly, I love surprises."</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Obviously, this should not be taken seriously; the pieces of advice tongue-in-cheek, all. This shouldn't come as a surprise if you had known beforehand that it was authored by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gorey">Edward Gorey</a>, an author known for macabre literature/illustrations. Check out the book, worth a look.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
If you want to see more of Gorey's works, check <a href="http://www.phobos-deimos.com/Edward_Gorey/Main/Edward_Gorey.htm">this</a> out. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/337102798/">aussiegall</a>, Flickr, Creative Commons</span>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-83431099355148343962008-11-27T12:25:00.000-08:002008-11-27T19:57:44.422-08:00Crowdsourcing 101<div style="text-align: justify;">Suppose Jimmy Wales decides to create an encyclopedia all by his lonesome self. Sounds hard, if not impossible, right?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34ee4nNCJPTbgEW1sFQnNdiDw63SmzQSyKx60b3Mc87Nprw_s4eaV58Rppyvs-ps7V5NT0Zgm0dSUv9bJyLy1QxqvJ2FZzEdr21yKKyjvXo1B_Ujlb54sWMkre8wgQyu6xcabnFXT48kn/s1600-h/something+is+wrong+on+the+internet.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34ee4nNCJPTbgEW1sFQnNdiDw63SmzQSyKx60b3Mc87Nprw_s4eaV58Rppyvs-ps7V5NT0Zgm0dSUv9bJyLy1QxqvJ2FZzEdr21yKKyjvXo1B_Ujlb54sWMkre8wgQyu6xcabnFXT48kn/s320/something+is+wrong+on+the+internet.png" /></a>Well, this <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1187286,00.html">Jimmy Wales</a> is the creator of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a>. He did not do an online encyclopedia on his own. In fact, he asked everyone who can access the Wikipedia website to contribute and collaborate on the content of the site. The result: over 10 million articles written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. I have edited some Wikipedia articles in the past myself - although my contribution is limited to correcting typographical errors - just so I can say that I have made some contribution to Wikipedia.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wikipedia typifies crowdsourcing. Coined in 2006, the term crowdsourcing is defined in Wikipedia as:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>[T]he act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people, in the form of an open call. For example, the public may be invited to develop a new technology, carry out a design task, refine an algorithm or help capture, systematize or analyze large amounts of data. </blockquote><blockquote><br />
The term has become popular with business authors and journalists as shorthand for the trend of leveraging the mass collaboration enabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals. However, both the term and its underlying business models have attracted controversy and criticism.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Other well-known crowdsourcing sites are <a href="http://digg.com/">Digg</a>, <a href="http://delicious.com/">Delicious</a>, <a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/">StumbleUpon</a> and <a href="http://flickr.com/">Flickr</a>. But the concept of crowdsourcing is not new. According to Wikipedia (where else?), in the 19th century, the <i>Oxford English Dictionary</i> was written from volunteer contributions of millions of slips of paper. In the early days of the internet, the concept was already being applied by computer programmers and scientists.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><br />
</i></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i>The Emperor's Virtual Clothes</i></b> author <a href="http://www.dintywmoore.com/">Dinty Moore</a> forayed into the (then) mysterious world of internet back in 1995. Thirteen years ago, you had to make do with Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) for social networking. Search was not made through Google. Netscape was still the number one browser. A picture file would take minutes to download.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But even during the "primitive" era of the internet, the idea of crowdsourcing was already alive. <a href="http://www.savetz.com/yic/YIC01FI_9.html">BITNET</a>, <a href="http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_csnet.htm">CSNET</a> and <a href="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/what-is/part1/">Usenet</a> allowed for discussion of computers, computing issues, scientific disciplines and controversy. Usenet, in particular, was famous in universities, research labs or other academic institutions. Usenet originated with a link between two universities, and the exchange of ideas and information is what such institutions are all about. It created huge amounts of information that would have been hard to obtain had there been no Usenet. Collaboration and exchange of information among early Usenet users made it possible.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="mContent">According to <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-crowdsourcing.htm">wiseGEEK</a>, it seems that the potential of crowdsourcing has yet to be tapped. "There is an enormous creative and technical population in the world, many of whom have interesting ideas or skills, and <span class="yellowFade"><span><span class="yellowFadeInnerSpan" style="position: relative;">crowdsourcing</span></span></span> allows companies to profit from their work — often giving them a healthy living in return — at a fraction of the cost of a more traditio</span>nal business model." </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For more information about crowdsourcing sites, you can visit <a href="http://crowdsourcinglinks.com/">crowdsourcinglinks.com</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Comic strip: <a href="http://xkcd.com/386/">xkcd</a></span></div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-56754297281893309292008-11-26T05:29:00.000-08:002008-11-27T09:16:05.364-08:00Spot the Spammer<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGibwwkxWNQqm7zKbKNG6bh_X7OhCQ1P5crL6OV5EKTJp4pyrREQY4dT5mVpJ1u6awAOg3arRi6uzwkWAfFVrx4GXD_6W0Cc-fz7q8mDxGERGYEuH2oFxXFbuX8zCAG_2oKnsbpHlh5VC-/s1600-h/stop+spam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGibwwkxWNQqm7zKbKNG6bh_X7OhCQ1P5crL6OV5EKTJp4pyrREQY4dT5mVpJ1u6awAOg3arRi6uzwkWAfFVrx4GXD_6W0Cc-fz7q8mDxGERGYEuH2oFxXFbuX8zCAG_2oKnsbpHlh5VC-/s320/stop+spam.jpg" width="250" /></a>Lately, my email has been flooded with spam. It is mighty irritating, to say the least. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To top it off, I almost became a victim of <a href="http://www.addictivetips.com/miscellaneous-tips-and-news/6-simple-ways-to-avoid-email-scams-and-website-phishing-attacks/">phishing</a>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There was this one email purporting to be from PayPal. It said that I purchased something via my PayPal account. I'm pretty sure that I haven't bought anything through PayPal for the last 6 months, so I was about to go to the PayPal website (rule of thumb: I never click on any link in any email, except if the email comes from very close friends or if it's an activation code) to check it out. Then I suddenly realized that I wasn't using that particular email for my PayPal account. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So how do we avoid spam mails? If Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail can't solve the spam problem, we sure as hell can't. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But we can settle for the next best thing. <a href="http://mikealao.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-find-out-who-sold-your-gmail.html">mikealao</a> has a great tip for Gmail users: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>It is absolutely impossible for us to find out who sold our email address to those spammers who choke our inbox with unwanted emails. But now there is a solution to find out people who sell our confidential information to others. Gmail provides a not so explicit feature which you can use to find out which website is giving out your email address to spammers. This will not work for the previous websites where you have already registered but you can use it for future registrations.</blockquote><blockquote> Here is how to use it:</blockquote><blockquote>1. While signing up for any new website enter your Gmail address as <b>your_user_name+website_name@gmail.com.</b></blockquote><blockquote> 2. Don’t worry, you will receive the mails as usual because Gmail doesn’t recognize any combination of words or numbers after the “+” sign.</blockquote><blockquote> 3. Whenever you get any spam message just click on the “Show Details” link to expand the email header and find out the email address to which it was sent. The images below show a test which I did with a “+” sign on my email address.</blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote> 4. If you had signed up according to the step number 1, you will be able to find out who gave your email address to the spammer.</blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>Use this to find out which websites are selling your email addresses, check out their privacy policy and sue them if they lied. If you found this useful, don’t forget to share it with others.</blockquote></div>I don't know if there is a similar code for other email providers, though. <br />
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<br />
Photo: <a href="http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1055111">Michal Zacharzewski</a>, SXCP.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-49833816084375701542008-11-25T03:24:00.000-08:002008-11-25T05:18:35.912-08:00Photos for Your Website<div style="text-align: justify;">Blog posts and websites without photos sometimes look drab. I admit, there are times when I don't even read the whole post. I just look at the pictures.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That is why blogs and sites which have photos usually have an edge over those that only have text in them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But what if you suck at taking pictures? Or if your pictures aren't appropriate for your particular post? Or if you don't have a camera at all?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">No problem. There are thousands of photos over the web.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, you can't just copy a picture from a website and simply put it in yours.You'd have to contend with copyright infringement and royalties. In a worst case scennario, you can even be subjected to civil or criminal sanctions.</div><br />
Good thing there are websites that offer free use of photos at no charge.<br />
<br />
My favorite is <a href="http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/">Flickr Creative Commons</a>. <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTtXPRcpfr7KbeKvCna0gib3N7B9F2z8WIRiPcJ1oxwBzv1Es16j7v041Nvr3_bP06KOrAlugSMFYwRuagbu8gQmlm9uEtfG_NqJjHMv6bzqlVkHeXmM8uGx2bo2-HKG52hH8ICIC3ehZ/s1600-h/Flickr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTtXPRcpfr7KbeKvCna0gib3N7B9F2z8WIRiPcJ1oxwBzv1Es16j7v041Nvr3_bP06KOrAlugSMFYwRuagbu8gQmlm9uEtfG_NqJjHMv6bzqlVkHeXmM8uGx2bo2-HKG52hH8ICIC3ehZ/s320/Flickr.jpg" /></a>Many Flickr users have chosen to offer their work under a Creative Commons license, and you can browse or search through content under each type of license.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> It has a huge collection of great pics, that is why I go to this site very often if I need a picture for my blogs.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Another website that I usually use for my pic needs is <a href="http://photobucket.com/">Photobucket</a>. Its terms of service provide:<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEP3IwNuoNKSdLgEFiVDECbHN1S_eF5IhDbkB-LsyuRDB5fxpRPo7rafFS7lLS8HBVsHxsQ-3xGuaXjfCPfAVfhVwf64rJS1jt-DyT2704C-GT7LT6P3Ee5nNH-YPwnd-abhDi5HQYOYXC/s1600-h/photobucket+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEP3IwNuoNKSdLgEFiVDECbHN1S_eF5IhDbkB-LsyuRDB5fxpRPo7rafFS7lLS8HBVsHxsQ-3xGuaXjfCPfAVfhVwf64rJS1jt-DyT2704C-GT7LT6P3Ee5nNH-YPwnd-abhDi5HQYOYXC/s320/photobucket+logo.jpg" /></a>By displaying or publishing ("posting") any Content on or through the Photobucket Services, you hereby grant to Photobucket and other users a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, worldwide, limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and translate such Content, including without limitation distributing part or all of the Site in any media formats through any media channels, except Content marked "private" will not be distributed outside the Photobucket Services. Photobucket and/or other Users may copy, print or display publicly available Content outside of the Photobucket Services, including without limitation, via the Site or third party websites or applications (for example, services allowing Users to order prints of Content or t-shirts and similar items containing Content).</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In short, the publisher of the photo has virtually relinquished his copyright. So anyone can use it for whatever purpose. But I tend to be wary of using Photobucket pics because some photos are obviously taken from other sites as well (presumably without permission).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My third favorite source is <a href="http://openphoto.net/">openphoto.net</a>. It has a collection of amazing pics, but the selection is limited. Here is a sample.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://19091.openphoto.net/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="321" src="http://openphoto.net/cgi-bin/image?image_id=19091" width="420" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another one is <a href="http://www.sxc.hu/">Stock.XCHNG</a>. It claims to be the leading FREE stock photo site. However, you must sign up in order to use the photos in the site. But the sign up is worth it. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG9Oav6KxdJBoTd1nbIOKn3SS-adFD_slyc83rm7a6buoqxJCco0NoadxskiyVYUCcy6eflLWTcIV_h9p04HzwZWXjE5zH_6zkq60QzOEgEHraaPEaxTVimibgTGMFBOQacXwdmAKfkddS/s1600-h/sxc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG9Oav6KxdJBoTd1nbIOKn3SS-adFD_slyc83rm7a6buoqxJCco0NoadxskiyVYUCcy6eflLWTcIV_h9p04HzwZWXjE5zH_6zkq60QzOEgEHraaPEaxTVimibgTGMFBOQacXwdmAKfkddS/s320/sxc.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Just a quick note: When using photos from the sites I've mentioned, please take note of the terms for their usage. It's only but proper. And hey, you're using their photos in the first place. </div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-85366731698331577042008-11-16T00:06:00.000-08:002008-11-16T00:06:00.529-08:00What Happens to Swallowed Chewing Gum?<div style="text-align: justify;">This question has been nagging mer for a very long time now. Obviously, I've had my share of swallowed gums (mostly because I had to avoid getting caught by my teachers).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The usual answers (e.g. it will stay in your stomach forever) are not acceptable to me, for obvious reasons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I had time to search for the answer over the web, and the most satisfactory answer is by <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/digestive-system/AN01006">Mayo Clinic</a>:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Although chewing gum is designed to be chewed and not swallowed, it isn't harmful if swallowed. An old wives' tale suggests that swallowed gum sits in your stomach for seven years before it can be digested. But this isn't true. If you swallow gum, it's true that your body can't digest it. But the gum doesn't sit in your stomach. It progresses relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In other words, you just poop it out. However, the explanation offered by <a href="http://thethunderdragon.co.uk/2008/01/what-happens-if-you-swallow-chewing-gum.html">Thunder Dragon</a> may also be another plausible explanation. Here is the illustration:</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCuJ4VnCouXhEXxof0IuFMDpTh2IkxDmi6g9RMk-osDYmiO5h0rpgWcEPQIkZnnSYXblr8QAVMiDpF_qH3lTxAJpWJE7BvzUvPyF7NrHKp8lJ5KWV5wHxtQUGzroFzMmwTKW3TfM1D4Y_o/s1600-h/what+happens+if+you+swallow+chewing+gum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCuJ4VnCouXhEXxof0IuFMDpTh2IkxDmi6g9RMk-osDYmiO5h0rpgWcEPQIkZnnSYXblr8QAVMiDpF_qH3lTxAJpWJE7BvzUvPyF7NrHKp8lJ5KWV5wHxtQUGzroFzMmwTKW3TfM1D4Y_o/s320/what+happens+if+you+swallow+chewing+gum.jpg" /></a></div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-20498154618432132372008-11-15T02:31:00.000-08:002008-11-25T05:53:35.076-08:00Mosquito Hearing<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFVt7NTSLs9qr-KfxSSf103KWC5uK4NYY1VndRDSDaqPLO5VQl-r0NDJoek1H_dLqloGgN6jcdxyaxmX_eidkXfHejZWtinw1ONAkIQOtw9l3Dyc-M4dHW-XkjoutPLzDM5zJ6lWB47yBG/s1600-h/mosquito.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFVt7NTSLs9qr-KfxSSf103KWC5uK4NYY1VndRDSDaqPLO5VQl-r0NDJoek1H_dLqloGgN6jcdxyaxmX_eidkXfHejZWtinw1ONAkIQOtw9l3Dyc-M4dHW-XkjoutPLzDM5zJ6lWB47yBG/s200/mosquito.jpg" border="0" /></a>Heard about mosquito ringtones? <a href="http://free2surf.org/">Free2surf.org</a> says: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>In medical science there is a condition called “presbycusis”, when most adults over the age of 24 lose the ability to hear high frequency sounds like the mosquito sounds. Some people know this fact and creating a mosquito ringtone so high schoolers and college students are able to receive cell phone calls and text messages even at the classroom.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Which means that a person loses the ability to hear high frequencies as he gets older. Therefore, a mosquito ringtone can be heard by the (young) student but not by the (old) teacher. But beware, I read that a story about a young teacher who reprimanded a student because the teacher, in her mid-twenties, heard the student's mosquito ringtone loud and clear. Needless to say, it was straight to detention for the student.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The technology is even used as an <a href="http://linkinlogs.edublogs.org/2008/11/10/mosquito-ringtones/">anti-vandal system</a> to deter teens who like to hang out at malls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I tried this out with my mom. When I played the mosquito ringtone, and she couldn't hear a thing. She thought I was pulling her leg. Only when she listened closely that she heard the high-frequency sound. Try it out for yourself.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><table style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left; width: 350px;" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" align="center" bgcolor="#a3b2bf"><div id="head">You Have Super Hearing!!</div></td></tr><tr><td style="border: 1px none rgb(170, 187, 170); font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Arial; font-size: 12pt;" bgcolor="#c2d5e5"><div id="text"><div style="text-align: center;">You have great hearing and you are probably pretty young, rock on!</div><br /><br /><center><br /><br /><hr width="75%">The highest frequency you can hear is: <a href="http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org.org/tones/18000.mp3" title="18khz tone">18khz</a></center></div></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family: Arial,Tahoma; font-size: 10pt;" align="center" bgcolor="#a3b2bf"><b>Try the <a href="http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/" title="Ultra Sonic Ringtones">The Mosquito Ringtone</a> and see how well you can hear</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:xx-small;">Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/1503042055/">tanakawho</a>, Flickr,Creative Commons</span></div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-72402113442594548922008-11-14T11:49:00.000-08:002008-11-14T11:49:00.929-08:00Mind block! Now what?<blockquote></blockquote>Sometimes, you desperately want to write about something but you simply just can't. It happens to the best of them. So what to do next?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Maybe <a href="http://www.lipsum.com/">Lorem Ipsum</a> will do the trick. Generate a string of words and hope to the gods that someone doesn't notice that it's in Latin.<br /></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify;">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Donec auctor ullamcorper lorem. Etiam gravida vulputate lacus. Nam ultricies tempus ipsum. Quisque ullamcorper viverra libero. Cras sodales metus non sapien. Ut aliquam, felis id sollicitudin fermentum, metus augue scelerisque lectus, vitae ultricies arcu urna sed metus. Ut egestas. Donec eget tellus. Sed non elit ac pede adipiscing interdum. Etiam at erat eget erat pharetra vestibulum. </p> <div id="generated">Generated 1 paragraph, 64 words, 447 bytes of <a href="http://www.lipsum.com/" title="Lorem Ipsum">Lorem Ipsum</a></div></blockquote><div id="generated"><a href="http://www.lipsum.com/" title="Lorem Ipsum"></a></div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-66951893226958130082008-11-13T20:42:00.000-08:002008-11-27T09:22:54.739-08:00How to Add a Recent Comments List<div style="text-align: justify;">Sometimes, reading the comments of a blog is half the fun, because you can follow the dialogue between the blogger and the commentators. Even better, I like to get into the mix and have a friendly discussion. That is why I prefer blogs that have a conspicuous <i>Recent Comments</i> list. Such a list is good for both the blogger and commentator because they can both keep track of the most recent discussions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you have a Blogger account and you want to have a <i>Recent Comments</i> list too, just go to <a href="http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2007/08/create-your-oen-recent-comments-widgets.html#comment-form">Blogger Buster</a>. You'll see there a box which asks ask for the heading, your blog address, the summary size, etc. Fill in the necessary info in the box. Click <i>apply</i>, and then click <i>Add widget to my blog</i>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You will then be directed to another page. Just choose the blog account, then click <i>Add widget</i>. It will then direct you to the layouts page. You'll then see the <i>Recent Comments</i> gadget in your blog.<br />
Mine was placed at the top right side of my layout by default. Just place the <i>Recent Comments</i> gadget to wherever you want it to be and <i>voilà! </i>You now have your own <i>Recent Comments</i> list.<i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-3544745049252426362008-11-12T10:40:00.000-08:002008-11-12T10:40:00.649-08:00The Interactive Mirror<div style="text-align: justify;">How cool is that? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dAI9mF_cBu0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dAI9mF_cBu0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But in reality, it's just one of those toys where you really enjoy playing with for about 30 minutes and never play with again. Much like the <a href="http://temploradermatologica.blogspot.com/2008/11/elmo-live.html">Elmo Live</a> toy, or the <a href="http://asimo.honda.com/">ASIMO robot</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The mirror has a big potential though. It can be a huge advertising tool in the future.We'll see.</div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-77999623380688527042008-11-11T16:53:00.000-08:002008-11-11T16:53:00.928-08:00My BlogMad is Now Working!<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I finally got <a href="http://www.blogmad.net/">BlogMad</a> to work. I joined about three weeks ago and added my blogs and immediately thereafter. But <a href="http://inspectorflix.blogspot.com/2008/10/frustrating-blogmad.html">I hit a snag</a> because I couldn't get my blogs to be activated. I put in the link in my blogs and emailed BlogMad about my problem to no avail. I tried again yesterday, with a different tack (I used the RPC method) and now my blogs are activated. I can immediately feel the effect of BlogMad. So all's well. <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-16978716520348004512008-11-10T16:44:00.000-08:002008-11-10T16:51:32.698-08:00Tracking Your Website with StatCounter<div style="text-align: justify;">Aside from <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">Google Analytics</a>, another web tracker that I use is <a href="http://www.statcounter.com/" id="jo:3" title="Statcounter">Statcounter</a>. What is StatCounter? It is like a stripped down version of Google Analytics. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">StatCounter is ideal for those who want to track their blogs or small websites. If you don't need complicated stats or conversion trackers, then StatCounter is for you. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is much much simpler than Google Analytics, but it still gets the job done. But what I like about it most is that it churns out real-time results, unlike in GA wherein there is a one-day delay in the release of the tracking stats. I also like its <i>visitor paths</i> feature because it tracks the location of the visitor, as well as the pages that he accessed. Aside from these, there are many other features of StatCounter, which are listed <a href="http://www.statcounter.com/features/" id="zlxz" title="here">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The downside is that a free StatCounter account will only have a log size of 500. If you want more capacity, you have to pay a monthly fee. But I personally don't have problem with this, since I have a Google Analytics acccount anyway, and I use StatCounter mainly for the real-time report.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you are have a Blogger account, <a href="http://blog.statcounter.com/2008/09/statcounter-on-bloggerblogspot/" id="xh_-" title="here">here</a> is the step-by-step process of installing Statcounter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-84738691525863161452008-11-07T10:50:00.000-08:002008-11-10T16:52:25.594-08:00What's New with Google Analytics<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">Google Analytics</a> is a tracker which collect information about the visitors of your website or blog. GA shows you how people found your site, how they explored it, and how you can enhance their visitor experience. Improve your website return on investment, increase conversions, and make more money on the web.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I only noticed it about three days ago, but GA has a new look to it. I checked the <a href="http://analytics.blogspot.com/2008/10/more-enterprise-class-features-added-to.html">Google Analytics blog</a>, and here are the new features: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><b><span style="font-size: 130%;">Advanced Segmentation</span> </b>enables you to isolate and analyze subsets of your traffic. It is true on-the-fly segmentation of visits so that you can create powerful filters with a few mouse-clicks.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><b>Custom Reports</b></span> are reports you create, save, and edit to give you a specific view of your data. You can choose the information and metrics you want to see, organized in the way you want to see it, by using a drag and drop interface to populate an Analytics report.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%;"><b>Motion Charts</b></span> add sophisticated multi-dimensional analysis to most Analytics reports.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold;">The New Account Management Dashboard</span> makes it easier for you to manage and monitor your account by providing simpler navigation between accounts and profiles and displaying a dashboard of key performance metrics upfront upon login.</blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you haven't signed up for GA yet, but are interested, you can <a href="http://www.mahalo.com/How_to_use_google_analytics_for_beginners">click here</a> for a step-by-step process of setting up you GA account. Once signed up, you may be a little intimidated by all the figures and stats on the screen. Don't worry. You can go <a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-to-use-google-analytics-what.html">here</a> for more info - it has a very instructive video for beginners.</div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5490619017184058504.post-74907432733970060102008-11-04T05:38:00.000-08:002008-11-04T05:38:00.491-08:00NBA Fantasy Update<div style="text-align: justify;">As predicted, the <a href="http://www.nba.com/fantasy/">NBA fantasy website</a> screwed up. I joined two leagues in the NBA website for good measure. And now, both leagues are lying dormant as of this writing. The drafts were did not take place, leaving the managers of both leagues dumbfounded. Next year, I'll definitely stick with <a href="http://basketball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/nba">Yahoo</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">New Orleans phenom <a href="http://www.sneakerfiles.com/2008/11/02/on-court-chris-paul-wearing-white-carolina-blue-air-jordan-six-rings/">Chris Paul</a> is having another fantastic start, with phenomenal assist numbers and great across-the-board numbers. Philadelphia's <a href="http://slamonline.com/online/nba/2008/10/brand-new/">Elton Brand</a>, ranked 6th-10th in pre-draft rankings, is struggling with his shooting percentages and turnovers. He clearly has not fully recovered from last year's injury. Among the rookies, Miami's <a href="http://theshiver.com/2008/11/michael-beasley-discovers-internet-disaster-ensues/#comment-103">Michael Beasley</a> and Chicago's <a href="http://joshqpublic.com/blog2/2008/11/02/derrick-rose-air-to-the-throne/">Derrick Rose</a> post impressive numbers. Although Beasley will probably have better numbers at year-end because of the volatile guard situation in Chicago.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a somewhat related news, the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122568132809392427.html">Wall Street Journal reports</a> that <a href="http://www.josephabboud.com/">Joseph Abboud</a> will be providing the 30 NBA head coaches with suits, sport coats, dress slacks and ties. Methinks that Joseph Abboud is taking advantage of the fact that NBA coaches unlike other sports coaches, wear suits. Good for the clothing line if the coach wearing the suit is suave like <a href="http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_celebrity/2008/08/pat-riley-loves.html">Pat Riley</a>. But if it's the likes of <a href="http://sneakerboxx.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/ron-jeremy-stan-van-gundy/">Stan Van Gundy</a>, forget it.</div>P.L.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17876556986824622594noreply@blogger.com2