Happy New Year!!!

I'm taking the rest of the year off from posting

Pixel Ads are NOT the future of internet advertisements

Pixel Ads - The furture of internet marketing? Don't think so.

The Best

Million Dollar Homepage:
http://milliondollarhomepage.com/

The Rest

Million Pixel Page:
http://www.millionpixelpage.net/

1 Billion Pixels:
http://www.1billionpixels.com/

The most expensive pixels:
http://www.mostexpensivepixels.com/

1 pixel 1 euro:
http://www.1pixel1euro.it/

Dollar pixel:
http://www.dollarpixel.com/

Pixel Ad Mall:
http://www.pixeladmall.com/

Make Your Own

PixelAdRaptor:
http://pxraptor.phpwood.com/Static/About

My hard drive audit

Whats on my primary drive:

174,802 Files in 17,930 Folders

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), what little I know

I have learned a little about SEO over the years and have had some good results with some of my clients websites and my own. I wanted to share a quick run down of some various things I have learned.

Random thoughts:

• Make sure pages are well structured and the code is as clean as possible (XHTML compliant helps with this). Google only reads the data of the page and well structure helps it identify what's important on a page.
• Don't use Flash and expect it to help in anyway. No spider can read the contents of a Flash file and therefore all is ignored.
• Make use of H tags as H1 tags will be read as the most important information on a page in the body (this is below page name, URL, and title).
• The higher up in a page the information the more important / relevant it will appear.
• Don't rely on images to convey important information - Images can't be interpreted by Google. If images are used make sure you have well worded ALT tags and don't make them too long, short and sweet.
• Don’t use links that say Click here or other verb type actions. Use links that are descriptive to where its going and what will be accomplished by clicking the link.
• Try and get yourself into the DMOZ (www.dmoz.org) - this helps you get into lots of other search engines which in turn helps in Google. DMOZ is a open database of websites used by lots of search engines including Google. This also will help you get listed in Google's regional directories.
• Don't over do meta tags. Tags with more than 255 characters or abouts will be ignored. Plus Google does not use these for relevance - they look at content.
• Come up with a list of keywords you want to be found on when search and make sure you page content uses these words. Make sure these words are used in the Title, ALT tags, and H tags (with H1 being important). This is referred to as keyword density, too much will get you penalized, too little and you will not be found - find the balance.
• Get yourself onto any site you can - except links farms where you could end up getting de-listed from Google. Post answers in newsgroups, answers on forums, write articles, start a blog on your website, include a signature with your website where ever you post. Basically get your name and site out there.
• Be consistent in your websites URL. Either use http://YourDomain.com or http://www.YourDomain.com and stick with it. Google sees these as different and you want one to get as much credit as possible for each page.
• Make page names as relevant as possible.
• Don’t make too many changes. It takes time for a change to affect your rankings or search results. Wait a couple months on a main change to take affect and don't be discouraged, it takes time.
• DO NOT use under-handed methods for getting ranked higher like link farms, cloaking or lots of 1pt or text that matches the background color. This is a sure way to get de-listed.

Tools:

Search Engine Placement:
http://www.pagerank.net/search-engine-position-tool/

SEO Resource:
http://www.seomoz.org/

How to rank high at Google:
http://www.apromotionguide.com/google.html

PageRank and Position Search:
http://www.prsearch.net/

(post a comment with your best thoughts on this)

Trade your CD's for an iPod

Trade in your CD's for an iPod:

45 CDs = 512 MB iPod Shuffle
65 CDs = 1 GB iPod Shuffle
85 CDs = 2 GB iPod Nano
110 CDs = 4 GB Nano
130 CDs = 30 GB iPod
175 CDs = 60 GB iPod

Is it worth it? You decide.

(funny thing is this offer is within driving distance from me)

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour

That and others at The Top 10 Craziest Science stuff you didn't know.

(read the comments, some are funny - alot of lamers posting too so be warned)

Website Change Detection services

Blog post of a great review of various website change detection services.

What can be expected from Microsoft in 2006

Full (or as full as this person could come up with) of what's expected from Microsoft in 2006.

Sample:
Money 2007
Windows Live Messenger 8
Digital Image Suite 2007
Office 2006 (12)
Windows Xp Service Pack 3

Link:
http://bink.nu/Article5713.bink

Atari 2600 - most people's first home arcade system

Stella is an emulator (software that simulates or replicates hardware) and comes with all the ROMs (the games) which will bring back alot of memories of the countless hours playing the Atari 2600.

After playing for about 30min I will probably never play again - I will let it stay as a memory. Right now I'm more into MAME32 which is a Multi-Arcade Emulator which brings back all the games you found in the arcade (over 6000 games available).

Stella

Main:
http://stella.sourceforge.net/

MAME32

Main:
http://www.mame.net/

ROMS:
http://www.emucation.com/roms.php?sysname=mame&let=a
http://www.romnation.net/srv/roms/mame.html
http://www.rom-world.com/dl.php?name=MAME

Icons, Screenshots, Cabinets, Backgrounds:
http://www.classicgaming.com/mame32qa/

CLR MAME Pro (ROM Manager):
http://www.clrmame.com/clrmame.htm

Microsoft TV

"Microsoft TV IPTV Edition is an integrated and comprehensive software platform developed specifically to deliver broadcast-quality video and new, integrated TV services over broadband networks."

Link:
http://www.microsoft.com/tv/IPTVEdition.mspx

Viewing and Organizing RAW Images in Windows XP

Whitepaper: Viewing and Organizing RAW Images in Windows XP:

"Often likened to a ‘digital negative,’ a RAW image is the native image format for a growing number of quality digital cameras. RAW images typically contain the original camera sensor data recorded at the time of capture along with camera settings and other information. Using special PC software, photographers can “process” RAW images to vary the exposure, white balance, and other settings long after the image was captured. This creative flexibility and extra level of protection against mistakes are key reasons photographers choose to shoot RAW.

Because of the camera-specific nature of RAW files, they are not supported natively within Microsoft Windows. As a result, photographers shooting RAW have not been able to take advantage of the built-in features provided in Windows XP for viewing, organizing, and printing RAW photos--until now.

This paper discusses how users can view, organize, and print camera RAW images using the Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer Powertoy for Windows XP."

Add a very powerful Calendar system to your website

This has got to be one of the most powerful, and free, calendars you can add to your website.

From the site:
"WebCalendar is a PHP-based calendar application that can be configured as a single-user calendar, a multi-user calendar for groups of users, or as an event calendar viewable by visitors."

Features

• xhtml/css compliance
• Multi-user support
• 29 supported languages: Basque, Bulgarian, Chinese-Big5, Chinese-GB2312, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English-US, Estonian, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Holo-Big5, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese_BR, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Welsh
• Auto-detect user's language preference from browser settings
• View calendars by day, week, month or year
• View another user's calendar
• View one or more users' calendar via layers on top of your own calendar
• Add/Edit/Delete users
• Add/Edit/Delete events
• Repeating events including support for overriding or deleting (exceptions)
• Configurable custom event fields
• User-configurable preferences for colors, 12/24 time format, Sun/Mon week start
• Online help
• Checks for scheduling conflicts
• Email reminders for upcoming events
• Email notifications for new/updated/deleted events
• Export events to iCal, vCal or Palm
• Import from iCal, vCal or Palm
• Optional general access (no login required) to allow calendar to be viewed by people without a login (useful for event calendars)
• Users can make their calendar available publicly to anyone with an iCal-compliant calendar program (such as Apple's iCal, Mozilla Calendar or Sunbird)
• Publishing of free/busy schedules (part of the iCal standard)
• RSS support that puts a user's calendar into RSS (WebCalendar 1.1+)
• User authentication: Web-based, HTTP, LDAP or NIS

Link:
http://www.k5n.us/webcalendar.php

What has Google acquired over the years?

List of some of the companies Google has acquired over the years. Very interesting to see the technologies they have acquired.

Free website templates, logos, and Flash templates

"All website templates are Free, ready-to-use and can be downloaded instantly. Build high-end websites using our free website templates, flash templates, logo templates, website graphics and banner templates."

Link:
http://www.templatesbox.com/index.htm

(I have no affiliation with the website but may use a Logo in a future project)

URL Encoder / Decoder

Cool tool for either encoding or decoding URL's. Used for URL obfuscation.

Windows users, test your website in the Safari browser

One very important thing about developing websites is to make sure it look right in other browsers. For the sites I develop I test in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Netscape. Up until know I have not had the means for testing in Safari browsers.

BrowsrCamp gives me the chance to see what my sites will look like to Safari users.

Link:
http://www.browsrcamp.com/

Small Business help

I have been wanting to make a post of this information for a while but it just seems to get pushed back. Well, I now found a little time to get the information organized to make a post about it.

This is some of the information that I have come across for starting, running, and growing a small business. Nothing fancy, just a list of things.

• E-Myth: This book is a must read for anyone starting a small business (no matter what), running a small business, or just curious about businesses. Don't pass this one up.
• Sales and Marketing @ Entrepreneur.com: A good collection of articles. Check back often and keep ontop of sales and marketing. Don't wait until your in a feast or famine situation with your business.
• Inc.com: Another good resource for companies.
• Small Business Administration: The US goverments website to help small businesses succeed.
• S Corp vs LLC: Most small businesses will become one of these two legal entites. LLC's are easier to setup and maintain but S-Corp's provide much better tax breaks.
• CafePress: Great website for getting some swag for your company (or anything else for that matter). Costs nothing out of pocket and very easy to setup. Check out Veign's shop.
• Nolo: Online resource for do-it-yourself legal stuff.

New Note-It version means more features

A new version of Note-It has been released. This version added some things, fixed some things, and changed some things - how's that for a description?

Whats New in v4.0:

• Added spell checker
• Added 'Autosave on Close' option
• Added keyboard shortcuts
• Added Insert Special menu
• Added hyperlink and URL detection support
• Added ability to make notes any color

Direct Link:
http://www.veign.com/download_app.asp?app=102

2000 frames-per-second movies

These 2000 frames-per-second movies (more) are kinda neat. Actually after the first couple they get a bit boring to watch.

Worst products of 2005

CNET's Top 10 Worst Products of 2005. Also check out PC Magazine's worst products of 2005.

Locate important, but hard to find, 800#'s

Hard to Find 800#'s can make finding 800#'s to large companies easy.

One of those sites that it's nice to know they exist..

Show your talents and Spread the word of Firefox

Mozilla is holding a contest where you "Make an ad for Firefox. Enter it in the Firefox Flicks Ad Contest. Get your work judged by a panel of accomplished film, TV, and advertising pros."

New feed icon for Firefox and IE7

You may or may not have heard that Firefox and IE7 came together to agree on a single icon to use for feeds. Here is a source for the feed icons if you are looking to include them in anything (includes Photoshop and Illustrator files).

Firefox / IE7 Icon:
http://blogs.msdn.com/.../503778.aspx

Feed Icon:
http://www.mattbrett.com/.../the-new-standard-feed-icon/

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

Some online sign generators.

Warning Label Generator:


Church Sign Generator:


Dog Tag Generator:


I Luv... Sign Generator:

Vote for me @ Blog Rankers

Visit this link to vote for this blog on Blog Rankers.

(no registration, just have to click a vote button)

Thanx.

**Does this many anything? Who knows but any exposure I can get will help grow the reader base of this blog**

Do you like the software from Veign

Have you tried any of the many software package developed by Veign? If you have and you like any of them then submit a review at FileForum, blog about them, or just pass them along to anyone you know.

Link200: Link200 will determine the validity of bookmarks or favorites in Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Netscape. Link200 is an easy to use step-through wizard that guides you through the entire process. No longer do you have to worry about going to a favorite or bookmark only to find out the site is no longer valid. Link200 will handle the checking and cleaning.

CfontPro: Cfont Pro lets you view installed system fonts and a special mode where you select a directory, CD, or network drive and preview the fonts. Advanced property window lets you control all aspects of the displayed font. Slideshow feature will autmatically cycle through your fonts. Advanced character map, font magnifier, Preview exporter, plus so much more.

Seeker: Seeker's has a ultra-fast file search engine on top of a powerful file search algorithm. Searching for files or inside of files Seeker can handle it. Seeker not only searches for files or inside files, Seeker lets you replace text inside of files. Regular expression support and command line parameter support makes Seeker a complete search and replace solution. All results from Seeker can be viewed in one of four advanced reporting modes.

Note-It: Enhanced desktop notes that; persist windows sessions, give you control of the look and feel, allow you to save and open notes, provides special notes that provide updated information, drag text to and from any application, and even email the notes or just a selection of the note.

Pixeur: Never be curious about any color you see on your screen. With Pixeur you can easily view the color, RGB, Hex, and Long value of any color you see. Pixeur will also keep a history of all colors you have selected, so going back is as simple as choosing the color from the Color History list.

XSite: XSite will load and parse any webpage into a simple structured view for displaying images, email addresses, and all links. Generate a report with the results to will section out all the links, images, and email addresses. Easily grab all images in a web page by downloading them to a local folder. Export lists out to CSV format which makes it easy to push the information into any database.

Usage Monitor: Usage Monitor lets you set watch limits on processes to know when your process is using too much. Watch limits can be placed on Memory Usage, GDI Objects, and USER Objects. This is a great tool for any developer.

Outlook Attachment Enabler: Control what attachments Outlook has deemed to be unsafe and be free to open any attachment you like. You can also add to the default list of blocked attachment types. Includes the full and complete list of what Outlook will block by default. (Outlook 2000, OutlookXP, Outlook 2003 or greater)

Pibb + Red Vines = Crazy Delicious

Just watch.

Keyboard freeks enjoy

Keyboard shortcuts for Windows

Year in Review: Open Source

I am a big fan of Open Source software and Cnet has posted a Year in Review for Open Source.

If you don't use any Open Source here's a couple to get you started:

PDFCreator: PDFCreator easily creates PDFs from any Windows program. Use it like a printer in Word, StarCalc or any other Windows application.

KeePass Password Safe: KeePass Password Safe is a free, open-source, light-weight and easy-to-use password manager for Windows. You can store your passwords in a highly-encrypted database, which is locked with one master key or key-disk.

Check out SourceForge.net for more.

Another time wasting (addictive) Flash game

Card Tossing Game

Try and beat 111,594

5th Annual Digital Camera Cook-Off

How much digital camera can $300 buy?

Most of the cameras in this range have a 3x optical zoom which in my opinion is just not enough. Far better spending a bit more and going with a camera like: Sony Cybershot DSCH 5.1 (12x Optical zoom) or Canon Powershot S2 (12x Optical zoom).

Link:
http://news.com.com/.../2100-1041_3-5997066.html?tag=fd_carsl

Find those lost files

Restoration is probably one of the easiest file recovery applications I have come across. Just fire it up and let it run.

Oh, and its free too.

R.I.P. IE for Mac

Microsoft will end support for Internet Explorer for Mac on December 31st, 2005

RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer

The Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer provides the ability to view, organize, and print photos captured in RAW image formats from supported Canon and Nikon digital cameras.

If you're not running WinXP that don't bother checking it out....

Yahoo! Answers (beta)

Yahoo! Answers lets you ask a question and get an answer from a real person.

This is what you see after submitting a question:

"You will be notified via email when someone answers your question. Your question will be kept open, accepting answers for 14 days. During the 14 days, please come back and choose the best answer among all the answers posted. Or, you can ask others at Yahoo! Answers to vote on the answers received."

Possibly 14 days to get an answer? Seems like it would be faster just to use Google.

Heres a sample of questions on the main page.
1) How big should my penis be?
2) Who is the best teen porn star?

Yeah. This is going to work well.

Google will help you switch to Gmail

Google will guide you through the process of switching to a Google email (Gmail) account.

Yahoo! Top Searches of 2005

Britney Spears - I would have never guessed. And she was only 4th in 2004.

Link:
http://tools.search.yahoo.com/top2005/

Microsoft Excel 12's Pivot Tables

A very powerful but often under used feature of Excel is Pivot Table's. Will the new features and context menu of Excel 12 solve this?

Even more picture of Windows Vista

Additional Pictures

My original posting of Windows Vista screenshots can be found here and here

One frustrating game

You try and get by level 2 in Hot Air. I have no patients to keep trying.

Looking for help in making video CD's or DVD's

Video Help will help you to make your own VideoCDs, SVCDs or DVDs that can be played on your standalone DVD Player from video sources like DVD, Video, TV, DV, Cam or downloaded movie clips like DivX, MOV, RM, WMV and ASF. They also have extensive lists of Capture Cards, DVD Media, computer DVD Writers, desktop DVD Recorders and desktop DVD Players with features, compatibility information and user comments.

Link200 v3.0 released

A new version of Link200 has been released. This is a major step in the development of this favorite / bookmark cleaning application. This release adds, not only a newly designed interface, but also support for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers.

Download Link:
http://www.veign.com/download_app.asp?app=103

Check it out!

DivX 6.1 release

Easy link to download and install the latest DivX release.

What is DivX?