31 Aug 2007

3D artist impression maps - functional and beautiful

I still remember the hassle I had to go through, finding my way around the university during my first week here. It was extremely frustrating trying to find the designated parking space for students, looking at the map of the university and driving at the same time, not to mention dangerous. In the end, I had to stop and ask around. It was risky as I couldn't just park my car anywhere - the guards here are really quick in clamping your car.

In fact, I often find visitors to the University or attendees of a conference there, walking around looking confused and stopping people to ask for directions. Mind you, the University of Warwick is huge with a number of buildings, faculties, greens, lakes and even canals. It also houses a few historic sculptures and of course the famous Warwick Art Center.

Many places and buildings in the UK have already been benefited by 3D artwork and floorplans especially those buildings with large complicated structures such as hospitals. Apart from engineers, architects and a few other people, no one can actually understand the floor plans that we usually find in buildings.

It would really look impressive if they had 3D artist impression maps around the campus here. That would definitely solve a lot of problems and be helpful for visitors and students alike besides highlighting the beauty of the campus.

30 Aug 2007

Friendster allows you upload loads of photos

Was going through the newsletter from Friendster when I read that profiles now have virtually unlimited photo capacity.

Went over to my profile and read:
You still have room for 972 more public photos!
I guess that's why they added the word virtually. Well! Even though it's not really unlimited, 972 still means a lot of photographs. Right now I have only 28 photos uploaded. That might mean that each user gets to upload 1000 images per profile.

I am going shogging

Have you heard about Shogging? It is made up of the words Shopping and Blogging. This new term is also the name of a brand new and unique comparison shopping engine, that allows customers to Compare, Buy, and blog about the products they're shopping for.

This new concept - the ability to shop and blog (SHOG) within the same user experience, comes from Pepperjam, an internet marketing agency with nearly 10-years of industry experience. Led by President & CEO, Kristopher B. Jones, the company has become one of the fastest growing full-service internet marketing and technology agencies in the US.

Shogging.com is powered by the most cutting-edge tools available , namely AJAX and Python, which integrates e-commerce, search along with the blogging experience. I was listening to exclusive PRWeb Podcast interview with Kristopher. he explains that in traditional e-commerce websites, whenever you write a review you are taken to another page which disrupts the whole shopping experience. In the case of Shogging.com, this does not occur as the customer never leave their unique, individual shopping experience.

After looking at the site, I found that it is one of the best price comparison sites around. It's not surprising as their Merchant Partners include the large online department stores like Wal-Mart, Target and Buy.com, as well as niche e-tailers like Petco, Staples and igourmet. The site mentions that their database lists over 20 million products. Isn't that amazing?

On IRateMyDay.com

The IRateMyDay.com community is fast growing and today D2Soft Technologies Inc.announced that they have now reached 6000 users.

It's always beneficial to have a name that starts with "A". I am listed on the first line of "Most Active" users under their "User Activity" page.

28 Aug 2007

Great planning software for project planner


I have just discovered an awesome project management tools service provider that provides project management software for Mac OS X and Windows. These easy-to-use yet robust tools can connect from the desktop to their hosted project server. They are quite cost effective as well.

Those who are interested in having an effective project management system, may want to see some samples of project plans (over 1000 of them) on their website. These plans are available for free for reuse and extension.

Prevent laptop theft by installing a laptop alarm

The West Midlands Police here in the UK recently warned students to be extra vigilant with their laptops and other hand held devices as their exams drew nearer. Evidently most thefts of electronic devices occur during this time, usually from libraries or other communal areas. Most of the thefts would occur when people left them to go for a coffee or toilet break. Taking your laptop along with you every time you take a leak is not very convenient but sometimes you don't have a choice.



Laptop Alarm 1.13 (only 188KB) just might be the perfect solution. A loud alarm will be emitted from the computer speakers when someone:
- tries to shut off or log off the laptop.
- pulls the AC adapter plug out.
- pulls out your USB mouse.

This will definitely attract a lot of attention is a place like a library.

However a little warning:
Make sure that you don't accidentally trip the alarm yourself as it is extremely loud, especially if you are wearing earphones, as it might damage your ears.

27 Aug 2007

Grow your favorite environmentally friendly news

Do you consider yourself environementally friendly?

Though I am no longer as active an environmentalist as I was during my younger days (now it's mostly limited to email petitions and blogging), I do still take an interest and try to keep myself abreast with latest environmental issues and news. As the Kenyan proverb goes "We have not inherited this land from our ancestors; rather we have borrowed it from our children.".

Well, now I have added another site to my "regularly visited" list. Grow Green News was just launched today. It is a news service from AboutMyPlanet.com and is very similar to Digg - apart from the fact that this site focuses on user submitted green or environmental news.

Like Digg, registered users can vote for stories they find interesting - called "Grow" here. Popular stories that reach a certain growth level it will be promoted to the front page of the site and may eventually be picked up by the main site (www.aboutmyplanet.com).

There are a few other features that differentiates this site. Users can attach both photos and videos to the stories as well. Registered members can also discuss all the stories submitted. The latest discussion appear on the top left corner of the site.

26 Aug 2007

Selling my Domain name

I had someone ask me quite recently whether I would be interested in selling my domain name and my price. I asked him to make an offer but I haven't received a reply as yet.

To tell the truth, I have never considered selling off my domain name. I own and have owned numerous domain names but I have never made money selling one.

Coming back to my blog, it now has a Google PR 2 and Alexa rank of 235,820. Both are improving gradually. It also has a Technorati rank of 24,745 and authority: 194. All the info here are correct as of 26 August 2007. However, I have no idea how much it's worth.

According to Dane Carlson's "How Much Is Your Blog Worth?" applet, my blog adamok.net, is worth $109,520.76.


My blog is worth $109,520.76.
How much is your blog worth?



I don't sincerely think that's it's worth that much and I may sell my domain name, if the right price comes along.

25 Aug 2007

Unlimited Storage with Yahoo! mail



It was Google, which broke away from the rest and offered us a gigantic, never before heard of, 1000 megabytes (1 gigabyte) of free email storage with Gmail (or Google mail).


They were soon followed by Yahoo and later by Hotmail (Now Windows Live Hotmail).

However, whatever they did and how much they upgraded, Gmail was always one up. That is, until recently. Today I noticed that Yahoo! is offering UNLIMITED storage to both new and existing users. More information here.


Can't wait to see how Google and Microsoft are going to respond to that.

23 Aug 2007

Got scammed by Ashwin Khanna

There are a lot of scammers on the net and I just got scammed by one.

If you recall, sometime back I blogged "Write a post and win $2500". I had the feeling that it was a scam but thought, "what the heck, I have nothing to lose".

I had almost forgotten about the contest until I read the post "Ashwin Khanna is a liar and a cheat" on Angel's blog.

Well, Ashwin Khanna has finally revealed the winner - it's HIM.

He announced that a blog with only two posts to be the winner of the contest. Ha ha ha!

I am sure he's now laughing at all of us now - his blog now has a technorati rank of around 7714 and technorati authority of 470, when I last checked.

The only consolation I have now is that I didn't lose any money and I was not the only one but it sure did leave a bad taste in the mouth. I suggest that everyone who had linked to him, remove the link or add a rel="nofollow" tag.

Travel directions website for the UK and US

If you are planning a trip in the near future, I recommend that you plan the travel route way before hand. Don't wait until the last minute and under no circumstances, assume that road signs are sufficient.

I am talking from experience here. I have had a bad experience once when driving to Nottingham. I thought that I knew the way and I remember telling my wife "We won't get lost. They have excellent road signs there." Well we got lost for nearly an hour before our friend came over to their house.

There are several route planners on the web and one of them is Publicroutes.com, which provides convenient travel directions for major cities in the United States and United Kingdom. However, unlike other route planners which give you only driving directions routes, Public Routes gives you the directions for various travel modes, including bus routes, walking times, and subway information or a combination. For example, take a look at Seattle driving directions on their site. You can also get directions if you are driving, walking, by bus or by rail. It's a great idea as sometimes we might want to discover the city by using public transport and walking, instead of driving around. It's a great service because they also provide real time traffic information. So next time you are going on a trip to a city in the US or the UK, don't forget to consult the site beforehand.

Adding images to a post on Blogger

this tutorial is for my cousin Reena and other newbies out there, who just moved up the blogosphere ecosystem from a blog visitor to blogger.

1. Open up 'Create Post' page:



2. You should see the icon of a picture frame as shown here. Click it.



3. This will bring up a pop-up window.
- Make your selection of layout and image size.
- You can either add an image from your computer or from another website. In case of the latter, you have to fill in the url of the image.
After you are done, click upload image.



4. You should see this window, indicating that the image is being uploaded.



5. It's done.



6. The image inside the post in html.



You are done.

You can also add images to your sidebar and to your header as well, but that's another lesson.

21 Aug 2007

What the Thoof?

Not sure about you but I have been hearing a lot of Thoof recently. It is a new online user generated service that carries personalized news and information. It's a great site and quite addictive. There is an unending stream of interesting links as you scroll down the front page.

Something that really intrigued me was their name. I looked up their FAQ but they didn't carry how they came up with the name nor what it means. I couldn't find the meaning anywhere apart from few other bloggers who have come up with some possible meanings.

"Probably they created it out of two words." Maybe 'Tho + Of'. Tho is an old English word that may mean:
  1. (conj.) Though.
  2. (def. art.) The.
  3. (pron. pl.) Those.
  4. (adv.) Then.
None of those go with "of", however. On the other hand, if Tho is the short form of "Thoughts", it does makes sense - 'Thoughts of', after all the entire site is based what you and me think.

Thoof also recently added a new feature - the ThoofRank Badge, which when added to your blog or webpage can show it's level of popularity to readers with common interests. For example, take a look at the ThoofRank badge here. Shows that there is a high level of interest from readers.

19 Aug 2007

Do you want to become an internet millionaire?

I am sure you do want to be one of the so called "dot com moguls" or in my case, a "dot net mogul". I am no exception as well. Ever since I started blogging as a full time profession early this year, I have done quite well and the earnings have eroded the skeptic in me that thought that it was impossible for someone to earn a living via blogging. However, my earnings pale in comparison to what I read and see how much some of the other bloggers are earning. They did have a head start to me. Of course I admit I have been blogging for a long time - since September 2003 to be precise but to gain out of it financially, was never part of it. To me it was simply a hobby, some place where I could rant and share my thoughts. To tell the truth, initially I was a bit biased against people with ads on their blogs.

Leaving the comfort of a job late, moving to the UK and staying at home looking after the kids near the end of last year made me reconsider the whole thing. I now thought "Hey! other people are making money from their blogs. Why can't I?"

I started out by stalking out the web gurus and all those who have made millions over the net. You can see some of the links on my sidebar. I also went and bought some books- both offline as well as online. After all, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. It is better to go with the tried, trusted and proven methods. At that stage I was still skeptical and I even wanted to make fun of all these so called "web gurus" - the reason I started this blog and also the reason for the funny looking logo. However, after I implemented some of their techniques and the money started trickling in, I changed my mind. Their tips did work. In can now that I earn almost the same amount that I used to earn as a government servant in Malaysia. It's not much considering the exchange rate (£1 = RM 7 approx.) and the standard of living here in the UK but just consider this - I am earning the same amount working at home.

I am always on the look out for tips from other web entrepreneurs who have become an internet millionaire. However, along the way I came across a few scams as well. Quite recently I came across Jerry Allen's "The poor man's guide to becoming an internet millionaire. He points out some of the ways people get scammed by people promising to "make you a million dollars" by working at home. His book is a straight forward entrepreneur guide where he shares his personal experiences in Internet marketing, SEO, increasing traffic to your sites, etc. In his book, Jerry discloses his techniques.

If you do join and am not satisfied with the program, you can ask for your money back within 56 days of purchase for a full refund.

I must warn you that becoming a successful netpreneur does not happen overnight. And it involves a lot of hard work and social networking skills. However, we don't have to reinvent the wheel. Just read what other successful web entrepreneurs have gone through and we can learn from their experiences.

Crissy is giving away $50

Crissy who blogs at 'Dear Crissy' is holding a contest, she calls the 50 for $50 Contest!. The rules are very simple. All you have to do is write a 50 words post and put up some links and you stand a chance to win $50.

I really like her simple and neat blog template, with a cool original banner on the top. That's something I have been planning to do for my own blog as well but have been putting off for quite sometime now.

Do check out her photographs as well. Really artistic.

18 Aug 2007

Get rid of your old video conferencing equipment and go high definition


I can still recall the first video conference I had. Though I had read about it, but to experience it first hand was truly amazing. That was about 7 years ago and I the quality was terrible. There would be a lag whenever each side spoke and the videos were like a series of still pictures. As I mentioned earlier, that was several years ago. However, I still find so many companies using substandard and outdated equipment for their video conferencing needs.

At least almost everyone agrees that Video Conferencing can reduce travel costs and save time. It can also help children in remote areas get access to a decent education. The possibilities are endless. However, for certain applications such as telemedicine, only the best will do.

LifeSize is one of the leaders in providing Video Conference Equipment. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Austin, TX, their Video Conferencing Systems are being used all around the World. For example, they were chosen as the high definition video communications provider for Pan Birmingham (United Kingdom) Cancer Network's telemedicine program.

View a demo of the LifeSize Video Conferencing Equipment here.

WAHMs leading the blogging brigade

Blogging is a movement, a phenomenon, a revolution or a combination of all. A good example of something that has resulted in paradigm shifts or the way we think. It has changed and is still in the process of changing how everything works. No institution has remained untouched - families, communities, the press, businesses and even governments. They all had to figure out how to adopt and adapt to this new "thing". A few years ago people used to exchange telephone number. Then it was emails and now it's blog urls. Best of all you don't need to be a very tech savvy person in order to join in this new wave.

In fact, I can say that it has been very empowering to the common people - to you and me. I don't need to write to a newspaper to complain about a bad service or product any more . I can do it right here on my blog. Governments cannot suppress unfavourable news any more. Among the most empowered have been the "Work at home mums" or WAHM. Many creative and talented women who gave up their careers to care for a family (voluntarily or otherwise) have finally found their voice again.

I may be wrong but according to feedback from several lady bloggers, even though it was initially the social networking that motivated them, now it is the opportunity to make money online through their blogs, that has become a stronger motivating force. Of course money has always been a good motivator and with the rise of the importance of consumer generated advertising, money is pouring into this new medium.

Two main reasons make blogs an ideal medium for advertising. First of all, it is consumer generated and as we know word-of-mouth is the best advertising of all. Blogging is an advanced version of the 'word of mouth' transmission of information. Next, it an interactive medium where everyone can participate and discuss - where not only the blogger but visitors to their blogs as well, can voice their opinion (to some extent).

I cannot fully explain why, but women have taken to blogging for money in a big way. Just take a look at the top earners at PayPerPost, all of them are women and almost all are WAHMs. There are some "Work at home dad" bloggers as well (including myself) but we are outnumbered by the ladies.

Some say that it's effectiveness as an advertising medium is not proven as yet. However, many companies are slowly but steadily embracing the fact that consumer generated advertising through blogs may be actually the next big thing. Maybe it already is but people just don't realise it.

17 Aug 2007

Law of Attraction Videos to help improve your life


Everyone wants a better life. Of course, what a better life means, depends on whom you ask. To some it may mean earning more money while to others it may mean a healthier lifestyle. On the other hand to some people it may simply mean having more love. However, reaching this "better life" may not be that easy.

There are of course various self help courses and books that claim to help you succeed. However, most self help courses and books tell you what you need to do. For example they will tell you to Visualize your goals. But for many people, it simply doesn't make sense when they can't even define their personal goals.

The Secret, the critically acclaimed self-help film, which was produced by Prime Time Productions, talks about "The Law of Attraction". Nathan Romano's Law of Attraction home study course, take it further and shows you the best way to transform your life to achieve your desired success.

According to Romano:
here are some things not taught or mentioned in "The Secret" that you must know in order to manifest correctly.


He has come up with an advanced method that eliminates techniques such as Visualizing, Affirmations (and believing them) and other techniques that are not that effective. He does this first of all by helping students to define personally important goals and to ultimately reach them.

Special offer: If you enroll in the course by August 30th, you will receive a free upgrade to Gold membership status.

Nathan guarantees that you will receive a full refund if you do not see results in 6 weeks - no questions asked.

16 Aug 2007

Updating to New Blogger

I finally updated my blog ah ok lah to the new Blogger. Even though I had moved to new Blogger like the rest of the World, I still retained the classic template because 1) It was fast, 2) I couldn't find a new template I liked and 3) I was too lazy.

As mentioned in my post Do follow ah ok lah, I finally found a template I liked, which was modified and tweaked to my heart's content. It looks like my old template but with all the bells, whistles as well as hidden gears. The only drawback is that it loads a few seconds slower.

I know! You are probably asking, "what's the point if the blog still looks the same?"

Well! I have several valid reasons. My motivation to update was not to change the look but rather to take advantage of the features provided by new Blogger and to overcome some drawbacks of using the classic Blogger template.

1. It was impossible to remove the nofollow tags from the comments section if using the classic template.
2. I couldn't put up Text link ads even though my blog had been approved.
3. The introduction of new features like ability to put up polls and videos.
4. The numerous hacks available, some of which I have mentioned in my post - New features in Blogger that we want to see.
5. The ability to drag widgets around on the layout.
6. The ability to change entire look - fonts, backgrounds, etc. just by a few clicks.

If you haven't updated, you should.

14 Aug 2007

iByot - the multi-tasking next generation house robot

Please vote for me on Blog Battle Royale: iRobot Voting Begins. My entry is #15.

As a long time Issac Asimov fan who knows the 3+1 laws of Robotics by heart, I was really excited when I learnt about the PPP Blog Battle Royale.

The challenge:
If you were creating a new robot for the company iRobot what would it do? What would it look like? What would you call it? How would it make your life easier? How would you market it? What makes your robot so special?
So I give you my vision of the next generation robot.

1. What would it do?
The iRobot Roomba robot vacuum was the first generation. This is the generation to come in the future and it will do more than just vacuum the floor.
- It will also wash and then dry carpets,
- Disinfect the air using ionizers,
- Act as a smoke and toxic gas alarm. Will give out a warning whenever it detects toxic gases including smoke via it's advanced artificial nose,
- It will also release natural fragrances into the air on demand. So if you want a little bit of aroma therapy to relax yourself after a tough day at the office. Just say "I am tired. Need some relaxing fragrance" and it will automatically release natural sandalwood fragrance.
- It would record events in high definition video and hifi sound, everything happening before it in the house. Owners would have the option to turn off this feature.
- It would be able to hold semi-intelligent conversations with people using pre-recorded information and it's advanced artificial intelligence developed by the company.
- Of course, it would also be able to fetch a drink from the fridge without spilling it.

2. What would it look like?
Taking some inspiration from the recent Transformers movie, I envisige that my robot will open up into a fantastic looking work of art while working and just curl away into a sphere when it is inactive. However, I wouldn't want it to have human features. That would be weird. I would rather they have a "robotic" inanimate look.
Customers would have the choice to have them in different color combinations and surface patterns. I imagine mine would look like a replica of the earth when inactive. A conversation piece by itself.


3. What would you call it?
Coming up with a name was not easy. My first choice was iBot but found out that there was a company as well as a variety of powered wheelchair with the same name, so I decided on iByot. That's the only one not taken up as yet.

4. How would it make your life easier?
It cleans the floor as well as the air, follows your command and brings you a drink. What more can we ask?

5. How would you market it?
It would be marketed as a eco-friendly, customizable, space saving, advanced transforming robot for the household. Customers would be able to personalize and customize it on it's own special page on the iRobot website.

6. What makes your robot so special?
It's an eco-friendly robot built from recycled plastics and aluminum among other materials. It will also not need to recharge from a power socket. It will recharge itself by a combination of different mechanisms, namely, motion (meaning it will recharge itself while moving) and solar energy. There will be also a wind up feature in case it has been inactive for a while and the sun is not very bright.

It's artificial nose would be almost equal to that of a human and even better to detect toxic gases. Might even save lives. It's voice recognition software will be highly advanced, enabling it to take order of only it's registered masters.

The fact that it would be customized according to the taste of it's owner would be a selling point as everybody wants something unique.

Forgive me if I got a bit carried away but that's my vision.

13 Aug 2007

Fun games for Mac users

One thing you notice about Mac users is that they are fanatically loyal. They proudly go around with a "Think different" or a "iThink, Therefore iMac" sticker on their car windscreen. Don't even think of even trying to point out any negative about Mac machines. However, there is one thing that most grudgingly agree - that computer games for the Mac are too few. Most computer games are targeted at PC users. I guess it just a matter of targeting the majority of computer users - PC users. However, there might be a great niche market for companies who target the Mac users.

For some great mac games go over to midoritech.com. This company is based in Burgundy, France and they have some great quality recreational games. They have taken two all-time popular games that never goes out of style and come out with versions for the Mac, namely and You can download the demos for free. The full version of the mahjong for the Mac OS X costs $19.95 while the the mac solitaire costs $9.95.

Talking about solitaire brings back memories of spending hours on my dad's computer playing the game dragging cards on the screen. It was a great way to pass time or to relax. This game available for download for PCs as well as the Mac OS. The game developers have compiled a collection of all the favorite solitaire games and more.

Midoritech also carries some games for kids and one of them is called 'Ladybugs'. It is aimed at stimulating your child's thinking and color recognition skills and enjoy at the same time. According to the website, they will have more software and games coming your way in the near future.

Sponsored Review

11 Aug 2007

Lisa Reviews reviewed

Lisa, a fellow PayPerPost postie, has asked me to review her brand new blog 'Lisa Reviews'. This is her second blog and will be solely dedicated to reviews.

I like her new template. Would definitely love to have those great looking social bookmarking buttons on my site as well. I wish that the fonts were a little bigger though. Would make it easier to read the fonts on the dark background.

As the blog is fairly new, it is not surprising that the Google page rank is still 0 but the Alexa rankings (367,973) is good for such a new blog. Exchanging links with blogs having higher PR should help.

I had a look at her website source code as well and would suggest putting up a meta description tag and a meta keyword tag as well. For those who are not familiar with HTML, the meta tags are placed between the
 <HEAD> </HEAD>
section of your site's HTML code. They do play an important role in getting your pages indexed by the search engine spiders.

Lisa Reviews is also part of the 'do follow' movement, meaning that it won't hurt to leave comments on her blog. So go over and say "Hi!"

Most popular posts on this blog

Here is the list of the most popular posts on this blog based on the statistics from Google Analytics. Unlike other blogs, here most popular doesn't mean the most commented. These are the posts that have been visited the most.Updated: 7 Sept. 2007

10 Aug 2007

New full service Internet consulting firm

I was going through the site of a Tech consulting firm based here in the Midlands and was shaking my head as I was going through their site. It looked so amateurish, even I could come up with a template like that in less than an hour. And the funny thing was that this so called "professional" company listed web design as one of their services. Going down to their footer I discovered that the site itself was designed by some other web design firm.

It was the total opposite as I was going through the lifeBLUE Media site. It really looks professional. Formerly known as Teneo Design, the company was launched early this year. The firm is a full-service Internet consulting firm and it would be wrong to call it a SEO firm. They offer more than search engine marketing services. However, I can see that their main strength lies in web design and I was really impressed with their portfolio. Their list of clients includes Fortune 500 companies as well as start-ups. Their blog also carries a number of interesting and useful posts on web design and online marketing among others.

9 Aug 2007

I am THE SEO Expert

Yeah! I finally did it.

It has been 5 days since I wrote the post - 'SEO Expert'. I mentioned then, that I was #10 for the search terms 'SEO Expert' on Google.

It was kind of frustrating to find that I was always on the 2nd search results page. That was until today when I suddenly realised that I had been checking their UK site. Changed to Google.com and found out that I am #5 for the search term.



This was achieved using purely White Hat SEO techniques (SEO techniques that conform to search engines' guidelines).

Am I good or what?

8 Aug 2007

New features in Blogger that we want to see

updated: 16 August 2007

I have been a loyal Blogger user since 2003 and have observed the gradual evolution of this popular blogging platform. Now, I can confidently say that it has single handedly brought the web closer to millions around the World.

Most of the extra features were introduced after Google took over Blogger from Pyra Labs in 2003. There was a complete overhaul after the launch of the new Blogger in August 2006. However, looking at Wordpress powered blogs with their numerous plugins, I can't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. So far, I have resisted the temptation to jump.

So what improvement would I like to see on blogger?

After discussions with a few other bloggers using the Blogger platform, I have compiled a short list as given below:

Page Elements:

First of all there are a number of widgets (or Page Elements as Blogger calls them) that I would love to see on Blogger:
  1. Top commentators.
  2. Most popular posts.
  3. Latest comments.
  4. Label cloud.
  5. List of related posts after every post.
  6. List of recent posts.
I already have the last 5 features on my blogs using hacks from various sources:

- Added the "most popular posts" list manually, based on the page statistics provided by Google Analytics.
- For recent comments, I use the simple widget provided by Blogger templates. Also read my post: Popups on my blogs.
- Got the hack for the label cloud from Phydeaux3.
- Got the hack for related posts (that come after every post) comes from Purple Moggy's Blog.
- List of recent posts from the IT Skyline blog.

Blogger allows us to upload pictures but wouldn't it be great if we could link those pictures to another page or site. Unfortunately, right now we can only put up a title and a caption.


I got around this problem by uploading the picture on a post and then using that picture with a desired link on the side bar using Add a Page Element > HTML/JavaScript.

Templates:

A lot of people would also be really happy if they gave us a few 3 column templates along with the generic 2 column ones to choose from even though there are some free sources out there on the net.

Etc.:

One thing that really bugs me is that Blogger doesn't allow me to show html coding inside the post. However, there is a solution. Check out the hack on the Beautiful Beat blog.

BTW, so many people have been asking me on how to put the Digg button on their blogs. So here's the code. Can't remember where I got it from though. If you are the author, please inform me and I will put up an acknowledgment accordingly.

1. Go to your dashboard
2. Choose your blog
3. Open the template
4. Click Edit HTML
5. Expand Widget Templates
6. Find
<p><data:post.body/></p>
in the template
7. Replace it with the following code. Just make sure you save your old template first.
<p>
<!-- DIGG -->
<div style='float:right; margin-left:10px;'>
<script type='text/javascript'>
digg_url = '<data:post.url/>';
</script>
<script src=' http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js' type='text/javascript'/>
</div>
<data:post.body/>
</p>
Are there any other features that you would like to see on blogger?

7 Aug 2007

Human edited high ranked web directory

Besides pinging various search engines regularly, another measure I take in order to boost my blog's PR is by listing them in various directories. However, not just any directory will do.

A lot of directories are free but in return for putting up a link on their site, some of them will send you an unending stream of spam emails to your inbox regularly. Other directories on the other hand might list your site along with sites with objectionable content - including hate and pornography sites. You might want to be listed alongside those site. Finally, to have the maximum benefit, you need to get listed in well established directories with high PR themselves.

One directory that fill the bill, satisfies all the conditions listed above is the Alive Directory. However, before you submit your site, you need to make sure that you fulfill their conditions. This powerful human edited web directory lists only quality, family-friendly, and spam-free web sites.

You have two options of listing your site, namely, as a 'Featured' or 'Regular' listing. The difference between the two options is that Featured listings are highlighted and will appear above the regular listings. Naturally you have to pay a little bit more to get a featured listing. On each category, you have a further option of listing annually or permanently. Compare the various prices before you submit your website/ websites for listing on the directory. Personally I feel that paying a one off payment for their permanent listing might be a better choice in the long run. I am seriously considering the Featured permanent listing (that includes 5 additional links) which costs only $299.95. It will be well worth the investment considering the fact that the Alive Directory has a Google page rank of 6 with Alexa ranking of 16,387.

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5 Aug 2007

SEO Expert

Just ran the search terms on Google for "SEO Expert" to see which sites are in the top 5 positions.

They are as follows:

1. Bradfallon.com
This is the blog of Brad Fallon, CEO of Smart Marketing, Inc. It was started in December 2003.
The site has PR = 5 and Alexa rank = 57,411.
The site is also #1 for coolest "guy on the planet".

2. Seo-expert-services.co.uk
Website of SEO Expert Services, a company which was just started last year. Their principal consultant is David Viney.
The site has PR = 4 and Alexa rank = 288,262.

3. Mrwebguru.com
This is the website of Robert Wright. The site was launched in 2001. The oldest among the top 3 in the list.
The site has PR = 5 and Alexa rank = 469,627.

4. Misterweb.co.uk
Website of Misterweb. Not much info about the people behind the site.
Google PR = 4 and Alexa = 212,276
The site is also #1 for SEO UK.

5. Seoexpert.ws
Website of Kevin S. Kantola. Not much info other than that.
Google PR = 4 and Alexa rank = 1,070,089

In comparison my blog which was launched in February 10 this year, is now #10 on Google for the same search term. The Google PR = 2 and Alexa rank = 292,708. This mean that I have better Alexa rankings than the sites on either #3 and #5 positions.

I will be truly happy when I can break into the elite top 5 positions.

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4 Aug 2007

Marketing help for small businesses

I know of a few business owners who handled the marketing of their businesses themselves instead of hiring someone to do it for them. On being asked "why?", the most common reason was that they wanted to save money. A few did mentioned that it was easier as they understood their own business better than any outsider could. It was not surprising that most failed in their objectives especially when it was related to online marketing.

The reason is very simple. Even though they understood their products and services that they were offering as well as the company's strengths and weaknesses, they did not have the required marketing experience. One good example is a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where my sister used to work. They were really doing well and they decided to create a website (on my sister's advice). However their budget for the entire project was only RM400/ (around US$115). This was really sad considering the fact that they spent almost double on flowers every week. Show how much importance they gave to online marketing.

Take my advice. If you need to market your small business, get the professionals to help you, especially if it involves website design. You may very well want to consider a company that specialises in providing full-service website development and consulting services dedicated to small to medium-sized enterprises.

Money making secrets revealed for FREE

When I first started this blog, making money was not the objective. Rather I wanted to create a parody site of all those so called online marketing gurus, SEO experts and the like. While searching for ideas, I visited a number of sites and I guess I was converted as well. A lot of the money making tips as well as site optimization techniques did work for me as well and learnt a lot. I soon dropped my initial idea and this blog slowly took shape.

Anyway, one of the websites I regularly frequent is 'Profit Index'. Before you groan "Oh No! Not another money making website," you better check out this site to see what makes it different. It's fairly new and fast gaining popularity.

So what is unique about this site?

Well Jason Hill, the owner of the site is revealing all the money making theories and tips touted in various ebooks for FREE on his site one by one. According to him:
I will do this because I can do this, because I am sick of the thousands of bullshit books and other ways to waste your time and money.


The site also has a blog which is updated regularly. However, the link was on the side bar and not on the top menu, where I feel it should be. Noticed that the link to the "Security Index" page on the top menu is not working. There is a lot of great content but the site could do with some brightening up. Some pictures could help. It's a matter of opinion but in my opinion allowing all visitors to comment freely on the articles instead of limiting it to registered members will go a long way in making the site more interactive.

Thank God! he removed the previous "cash" background. The blog looks less cluttered now. There were a lot of surprises on the site and I learnt quite a number of useful stuff. Go on over to the site and read money making secrets for free.

3 Aug 2007

Backup everything online

If you want to avoid the trauma that goes with hardisk failure or having your computer stolen, you better follow the mantra: "Back up every thing, every time, whenever you can".

The most convenient and secure way to do this is by having an online storage system such as those offered by IBackup. Of course there are many other ways and options to backup your files, for example, via offline storage devices such as CDs, flash drives or external hard disk. However, an online backup system may be best as you can access your files anywhere around the world where ever there's internet access. You don't have to worry about your back up storage device being stolen, misplaced or damaged.

One unique feature about the IBackup system is that your files will appear as a mapped drive or a folder on your PC. Thus you can simply drag-and-drop your files to store or work with them.

SEM analysis - FREE

Have a Search Engine Marketing or SEM analysis of your site or blog done for free.

Go over to Apogee Search's Search Engine Optimization page.
Once you submit the completed form, they should contact you within two business days with an analysis of your site.

For your information, Apogee Search is said to be one of the 25 largest Search Engine Marketing firms in the world.

Best place to buy storage media and printer inks

I remember the good old days when we used to save our data on big (by today's standard) 5.25-inch floppy discs. It's amazing how fast technology has changed. Just four years ago, I was the only one in my entire department with a 128MB flash drive. Now almost everybody has one, some with capacities of up to 4 GB space.

If you are looking for a reliable and cheap source of blank CD/ DVD media products, then I recommend Supermediastore.com. This major reseller and wholesaler of blank media products is based in Southern California. It was established in 2002. According to their site, they were rated as the #1 preferred online store to buy good media with excellent selection, excellent pricing and fast shipping by DigitalFAQ.com.

Besides blank CD DVD media, their online store also sells CD DVD packaging case, computer hardware, memory as well as ink and toner cartridges. Talking about ink, they are now offering a weekly special - 30% Off on all printer inks. They are also offering extra 5% savings on Brother ink (OEM as well as compatible) cartridges.

2 Aug 2007

Write a post and win $2500

UPDATE: Was later revealed to be a scam. I have removed the links and advise all of you who linked to him to do the same as well.

Holding competitions are a great way to increase traffic to your site. I have entered a few and even won a t-shirt once. After looking at the results of some competitions and having organized one myself, I can safely conclude that the popularity of a blog contest, which is measured by the number of entrants, is directly proportional to the value of the prize. In other words, the bigger the prize, the higher the number of people entering the competition.

So what do you say when I tell you that one blogger is offering $2500 as the prize and all you have to do is copy and paste the following into your blog:
Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!
Crazy but it's true. It's got to be the mother of all Blog competitions so far. However, I am just wondering how's Ashwin is going to choose the winner because the blog doesn't say anything. Anyway, I am joining in all the same.

I can see that it is definitely attracted a lot of attention as there were 178 responses to his post when I last checked.

FYI, Ashwin Khanna is only 18 year. He's from the UK and just started his blog.

1 Aug 2007

Sharing files online


If you are using a free email service like I do, I am sure that you are aware of the file size limitations for attachments. So forget about sharing those huge multimedia clips with your friend. This can be really frustrating sometimes when you have to send a big file urgently.

Now, you don't have to worry. I have the perfect solution for you and best of all, it's totally free. I am referring to Driveway's web based online file sharing service.

All you have to do is upload the file (up to a maximum of 500 MB for each upload) and then just send over the 'Parkit' links to your friends or anybody you want to share the document with. You can even post the links up on your blog.

The best and unique feature of this service is that we can edit the shared documents directly on the site. Saves you from all the hassle involved in editing, saving and emailing it back. Yes! The service is multi-user capable. In case you don't want others to edit the file, you can create read only links to send large files as well.

I think you will agree with me when I say that this is a great service.

Heroes fan site

I once read about this popular TV show called Heroes on the net and wondering what it was all about. I first time I caught the show, it was actually the fourth episode and that was it - I was hooked. In case you are not aware, Heroes is the NBC science fiction TV series created by Tim Kring, which follow the lives of people who suddenly discover that they have super powers.

I recently got to know about one of the show's fan sites called "The Real Heroes". The blogger who goes by the alias of Rubixcubeman aims to "find real people with real Hero stories".

He is using the Blogger Minima Dark template and even though I am not a fan of dark backgrounds, I realize that it is a matter of choice. Rubixcubeman should definitely customize the template to make it "his own". A slightly bigger font size would be welcome for those with bad eye sight. It would also be nice to have more than one post on the front page so that we could just scroll down to read older posts instead of clicking the links on the side bar.

Unlike other fan sites, the blog has some great original posts. I now make it a point to read what Rubixcubema has written after every episode of Heroes. If you are a fan of Heroes, you should definitely visit this blog.

Rate your day

One way to make your blog stand out from among the thousands on the net is to make it different. That's easy to say but the question is how to make it different. Of course the content and design are important but some bells and whistles can definitely make your visitors sit up and take note. I am talking about Widgets.

One fun Widget I just came across is the 'I Rate My Day' widget. This widget allows you to share your feelings with visitors to you blog.

Click here to read my rating!

Right now they are running the "IRateMyDay Contest!". Winners stand to win a Microsoft Zune media player. Check out their site for more info.