But now back to the actual reason I’ve started this post: presenting my first impressions about my Nokia N97 Mini after the first 10 days of (intense) use. I have to mention that I’ve looked over on the Internet quite a bit before making my decision on a touchscreen smartphone with full QWERTY keyboard and a somewhat slim profile. I’m not a big fan of virtual keyboards so the right choice for me definitely is the hardware QWERTY.

This is the Garnet N97 Mini

After much reading, comparing and deals checking I come to the conclusion that the N97 Mini is the one to get, especially because I was already familiar with it.

First impressions

Now, once I got it I can say that it’s exactly what I expected: a solid built sliding QWERTY smartphone with two problems mentioned all over the web, awful sunlight screen readability and short battery life. I’m not quite the ‘outside camper’ type of guy so I can live with the first problem and regarding battery life I can proudly say that it gets me through a day with really heavy use.

In time I expect battery life to increase to 1.5 days or even 2 with moderate use, but then again why buy a fully packed device if you don’t intend to use all its features, right?

The keyboard

Having covered the battery life point let’s now move on other matters like the hardware keyboard. Comparing it to the one found on the E71 I have mixed feelings, mainly because the keys are larger ensuring better accuracy but are harder to press, so I think I’m averaging about the same speed on both keyboard. On the fingers fatigue issue I can tell you that I find harder to press the keys on the middle of each row as my fingers are stretched almost to maximum while on the E71 I press harder the keys on the bottom row(s).

Overall performance

Strangely enough, Nokia has chosen for N97 Mini a CPU that is slower than the one found in recent E-series devices like the E72, E52 and E55 who have smaller screens so less pixels to move around. In those conditions is no wonder that apps start slower and some programs like Nokia Maps tend to kneel down the CPU during intensive tasks. Even so I wouldn’t call the Nokia N97 Mini a slow smartphone and all the merit goes to the very efficient Symbian OS.

The OS

Here’s where I have mixed feelings, not like the first time I’ve played with the 5800 XpressMusic, as the OS has evolved a lot since then, but there are still a lot of inconsistencies while navigating through menus and you are required to tap once or double tap the screen.

In a few days you’ll get used to this behavior but you’ll be a little frustrated at first. Also worth mentioning that the Ovi Store is quite unpopulated with apps, but you’ll still find some interesting free pieces of software like Opera Mini, Fring, Sports Tracker, Qik and other titles that are also found in the built in ROM of the device.

All in all I quite like the Nokia N97 Mini even after 10 days of use and recommend it as a true smartphone that will get thing like updating your status on your favorite social site, reading emails and browsing the web quite nice while listening to your favorite tunes with the excellent wired headset included  in the package by Nokia.

Tip: You can buy the Nokia N97 Mini from Amazon for 446$, unlocked

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1. It’s confusing to use, unlike other Gmail products. Facebook had that effect on me at first but it went away with time. Hope the same happens with Buzz
2. It’s another Google program. I’m already worried about my dependence of Big G and wonder if their ‘do no evil’ saying won’t lose the ‘no’ word at some point
3. It looks like Google doesn’t have a strategy for their social media hub (as all their services will probably try and integrate into Buzz at some time). They don’t get that the center/focus point in social media is the person and his relationships. In Buzz is hard to add new friends, catalog them in categories, import contacts and such. There are no complex choices like you get in Facebook (sorry for bringing this up again, but Buzz is meant to compete with them after all)

I believe those three things will put a lot of users away from Buzz once the first buzz wears off. I’m afraid Google Buzz will become another Wave, but only time will tell if I’m right.

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WordPress rich text editor shortcuts

Now, it you want to learn the WordPress rich text editor keyboard shortcuts all you have to do is press the help button (on the second row on buttons in the Visual window). In the popup window that appears go to the hot-keys tab where the list of available shortcuts are displayed. There are two categories of shortcuts:

Shortcuts that are combination of CTRL + Letter:

Shortcuts that are combination of ALT + SHIFT + Letter:

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What is a CMS?

That’s a legitimate question for beginners so let’s see it from a webmaster point of view. A CMS is a software platform (piece of software) that once installed on a website allows you to manage content on that site: publish content, edit it, delete it, move it. A more complex CMS allows for customization of the way content is presented to the user and add functions like comments, social media sharing, user accounts, forum etc. Other functionality can be added via plugins.

What makes wordpress suitable for your website?

Let’s see now the reasons wordpress is the best choice now for building a blog or a content site.

• It’s in constant development and evolves with any new version adding more functionality (see here how wordpress evolved). Also bugs are quickly solved by a dedicated development team
• Everyone uses WordPress so you get support easy because there are a lot of experts in WordPress. A lot of plugins are available to extend its functionality
• Easy to manage content because of the refined interface which allows for mass moderation of comments, bulk edit and such
• Customizable templates which are easy to modify if you know HTML and PHP. Also wordpress core files are left unmodified so upgrades are always easy, especially since automatic update was introduced. Also by using advanced wordpress functions you can make your site look like a magazine with ease.
• A lot of plugins to make your website a shopping site, download center or online publication. Your imagination is the limit here.
• Advanced post editing allows for text formatting and media inserts (pictures, movies, slideshows etc). Most of the media can be edited (basic actions) from the wordpress admin

These I believe are the most important motives to use wordpress or switch to it if you want to build your business online for cheap. If you think I’ve missed something let me know.

WordPress can be downloaded for FREE here

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I didn’t attend CES this year but the good ol’ RSS reader made sure I didn’t miss a thing, so in this post I’ll try and make a list of the digital trends I foresee ahead in the years to come.

Phone concept

What will we buy in the next years?

Touch tablets: by far touch tablets (slate type, MID or convertibles) will see a huge growth and thing will really get out of control once we’ll see the Apple tablet at work in a few months. There’s only one obstacle to overtake and that’s customized software to take advantage of the new input method.

3D displays for home use: I’ve seen Avatar last year and was amazed by the technology, not so much by the script of the movie. It’s only natural for such a technology to hit home HDTVs and even camcorders a few moments later. Gaming industry had received it last year but it’s nothing like IMAX and it’s not mainstream yet.

Pico projectors: that’s a hard sell this time but as technology will evolve in price and quality there’s no reason not to believe we’ll find pico projectors in every cell phone or laptop/tablet device. It’s so convenient to see a movie or a presentation on a 20-30 inch display.

Watch phones: those James Bond style gadgets will definitely benefit from miniaturization and we might see them as the perfect accessory that will display only notifications and allow for basic phone functionality in conjunction to a master device that will be accessed only in important moments. Wearing a watch phone won’t make you James Bond but you’ll still be respected by some

eReaders: even if in today’s world people don’t read too much books thanks to all multimedia distractions around us, but Amazon with its Kindle eReader apparently paved the way for a comeback and other manufacturers are following them, announcing very interesting eBook readers prototypes at CES, adding on features and increasing competition, which is always a good thing for consumers.

Smartbooks: this is very interesting as I wouldn’t believe last year that there will be something smaller, cheaper and easier to use that netbooks in the laptops niche but it seems manufacturers and marketing departments managed to squeeze a new type of gadget right between MIDs and netbooks. Smartbooks are simpler netbooks in terms of capabilities (they offer basic features like Internet access, multimedia player, widgets etc) in a smaller package powered by latest gen smartphone hardware (think Qualcomm’s SnapDragon 1GHz CPU) and customized OSes based on Android and various Linux distributions.

For now those are the trends I see taking off in the near future but feel free to add yours in the comment box below. As a personal curiosity I don’t understand why there are no trends for women, like pink bluetooth headset, pink laptops and such.

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What went wrong?

Right on target

Let’s sit down a little and analyze the situation above to see what went wrong and what prevented you from getting hard cash.

First the story you heard was simplified too much. How can you expect a 5-6 years period to be resumed in a 10 minute interview without loosing some big clue. Also after that you are also over simplifying the story by omitting clues that bother you like ‘I’ve worked hard for the first few years’ and you do that because you said to yourself ‘I’m smarter and I won’t need to work as much to achieve success’ but that’s wrong and you know it now.

Secondly, you try and copy the exact idea, replicate the same steps, which is also wrong because the situation has changed and it’s time to tweak things a bit. Plus the first man that landed the Moon appears in history books, not the second guy. Try and get your own idea and start putting some work hours.

Then there are factors like different environment that makes some moves obsolete. Try and identify what changed and see what you can do to take advantage. Me too doesn’t always work.

And probably, the most important factor is the fact you’re not ready to give 100% for the first years to achieve success. It’s a bad trade as you can secure your future in just a few years of hard work, followed by calmer periods after that if you play your cards right.

Listen to yourself

I don’t agree with people saying things like ‘if you didn’t get on the right path when you are young there’s no way you can be successful when you’re older’. There are plenty of stories out there to back up my belief but that doesn’t means the clock is not ticking, so get out there and get something done seriously. The pie is big enough for everyone. Don’t fall in the 9% who failed or the 90% who haven’t even tried.

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All those lead to tablet PCs unsuccessful debut but starting last year there’s raising interest in bringing back tablets from the dead as hardware evolved, software too and starting prices seem to fall to ‘normal’ values. If you don’t believe in the touchscreen tablet growing trend just take a look at new releases from CES and you’ll see I’m true.

Now everything is OK once problems are solved, right? I believe not as one of the biggest issue, never addressed before is ‘why would I need one and what should I do with it once I get it?’.

That’s the biggest problem touch screen tablets have to solve: getting an answer to this question thus answering consumer’s need for a problem to be solved, if there’s such  a problem to begin with.

A touchscreen tablet

Where are tablets needed?

A good post rising a question wouldn’t be complete without trying to get an answer so I’ll tell you what my solution to the touch tablet/slate dilemma is.

Long gone is the time when computers were not personal as in more than one person used one and user accounts (boundaries) had to be set. When was the last time when you’ve lend your computer/laptop more than a few minutes to a friend? I bet you don’t recall or never did it.

Now back to tablets, they don’t have to be marketed as another personal device as users already have a desktop, laptop, netbook and netbook. Why on Earth would they need another ‘fully functional’ computer (well, not quite ‘full’ as you’ll need a port replicator to have all connections on a touch tablet). Manufacturers should present them as an alternate means to have fun with friends or family by sharing pictures, watch movies together, order stuff online, share an agenda and such. The models with mobile laptop stands included are especially suitable for family use as all you need is to lay it down on the table in the middle of the living room and start the fun.

Television sets were never ‘personal’, nor should touch tablets. They should be something a bunch of people share. What do you think, am I right?

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I can’t imagine right now how anyone with a backpack full of everyday gadgets you typically use can get bored in a normal situation. Now you have Youtube clips, emails to read, statuses to update on Facebook and Twitter, articles to write on your blog, TV shows to watch online on Hulu and other services. Not to mention online flash games like Farmville that’s more addictive than World of Warcraft for many users. Ebook readers are also an option to spend time without getting bored.

In today’s era there so much things to do if you have an Internet connection. You can only get bored if you want to do so. Even if you’re restricted to only a smartphone with an Internet connection it’s enough to browse the web, listen to some music, take notes or write posts you’ll publish later, answer to emails and socialize with your friends. You can also get trapped easily into a scary paradox: you’re connected to everyone but you can’t physically interact with them. This is a problem modern society has to solve as boredom in teenagers was steadily replaced by lack of interaction between them.

What do you think? Did you get bored while reading this post or do you have something to say?

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Every plugin or extension I’ve used for Chrome and Firefox to manage sessions means I have to make a few clicks to save each session and another bunch of clicks to open that session later into a separate browser window. Plus the latest window I close will get opened next time when I start that particular browser. So if I close last the windows with my daily tabs I loose the browsing session with the occasional tabs I need for a short period of time.

It’s a mess I reckon and even if I daily use Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Opera I can’t manage to browse the web the way I like and automatically keep separate browsing windows for the websites I visit.

The sollution

After thinking about this particular problem I’ve found a partial sollution to help me open special windows with the tabs I use the most. It’s partial because it doesn’t work exactly like I want and it works for Firefox and Chrome only, or at least I haven’t found how to use it on other browsers. The steps needed areas follows:

1 – In Windows Vista/7 open Start Menu and type the name of the browser. Drag the launch icon on desktop and rename it so that it will describe the session you will open once double clicked. In Windows XP you’ll have to browse to Start Menu – Programs and manually find the shortcut

Start menu search

2 – Right click on it and open Properties. Here browse to the Shortcut tab and edit the Target field by adding after the last “ the websites you wish to open (without http://) and separated by spaces. Remember that you can’t open 10-20 tabs as the target field has a limited char allowance.

Editing the shortcut parameters

3 – Repeat this step as many times as you like. It also applies to Chrome. In IE it doesn’t seem to work as the browser will try and open a single windows with the address consisting of the string (including spaces) that you enter in the target field after the last “. Or if you prefer, in IE this trick only works with one URL.

How to use it on a daily basis?

Always remember to open a new browser window for Firefox or Chrome and then double click the shortcut. If you don’t do this you’ll end up with the tabs being opened in the first browser window. If you know another trick to help me manage multiple sessions for the same browser please let me know in the comments below and I’ll try and update this article.

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A FPS game

Recently it stroke me one thing: most of the current PC and console games lack mirrors of any kind (except auto simulators). If you’re in a FPS game made 10 years ago or one made this year there’s no difference: you can’t watch yourself in the mirror no matter what.

I know this is not a problem with computer hardware like it was many years ago when CPU performance was not enough to render a mirror image. I believe it has something to do with the psychological part of the game: by removing the option to watch yourself in the mirror the game producer doesn’t impose a certain style and lets you imagine how you look, allowing you to define your own style, which affects the way you play the game.

Leaving less to the imagination means a more framed game where there are limited things you can do. I don’t see any other reason for this. Do you? If you’re into games a lot you can try some of the best free games around the web, free of charge, of course.

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It’s natural to believe things will change in the future, as technology evolved a lot and will evolve even further. Already researchers are working on new ways to control a computer. One of the latest achievements is the gestural interface where you move your hand in front of the display that then reads your movements and translates them in commands that move for example objects on screen.

The practical applications are unlimited and the ease of use is also a big point here. Researchers say that gestural interfaces could be implemented on all kinds of devices, including cellphones. Imagine that your cellphone could vibrate, not just ring when it ‘sees’ you’re not paying attention. It could also change your theme according to your modd and so on. You could shut down the computer with only one gesture, you could draw letters in the air and so on.

Of course those types of user inputs could work in conjunctions as for example typing is faster on a keyboard or speech can be used when writing long texts, the you’ll switch back when you’re done. Things we’ve seen in movies like Minority Report could mean reality, not science fiction in a few years, but the ultimate step, if you ask me, is the direct interface with the human brain.

The human brain is the ultimate computer. It’s the one that controls our body, so it seems natural to me to link if to our computers. Cyborgs could be just around the corner but not like the ones you see in movies, of course. The speed of thought is greater than any other gesture you might do to give a command. Do you agree or think this is too sci-fi?

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Even if what I said above is true there are options for finding good freelance writers on specialized forums. They’re not cheap but if you play your cards right the outcome can exceed expectations.

The question

Freelance Writing

I thing this situation makes people ask themselves the following question: is it better to write content as freelancer or build your own websites and monetize them? I don’t have the right answer, but I can make a list of pros and cons of doing so. The decision is ultimately yours.

So with no further talk here’s my take on making money by writing content: writing content as a freelancer means getting paid per article so your productivity is proportional with the money you earn. On the other hand you get a steady cash flow from the first months when you start writing. If you’re fine with this go ahead.

Building a website needs some additional skills. Promoting it needs other skills so your initial costs are higher (more details on how to do those things can be found on ehow.com). Couple this with the fact that money won’t start flowing in the first months (or years) and you get a picture of why people choose the first option.

But those are not your only two choices. You could take the middle road which means starting off with writing articles to get some money you’ll later invest in building your own website(s). Once you get some money from your own business you can start making the switch at your own pace.

If you are curretly employed and can’t leave the 9 to 5 race then you better prepare to do some extra work. Explain this to your family and prepare them for a 1-2 years period of time when you’ll be, let’s say, unavailable.

It’s important to realize that things won’t change for themselves. You’ll have to work hard to accomplish success online, but the satisfaction is worth it. After all this translates to a simple question: are you willing to trade a few years of your life for a good life or you like to crawl gently through life from one paycheck to another.

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But waiting is not always the best solution, at least when it comes to incompatible software and I’m going to show you a little trick that might save you from upgrading to a new version (which sometimes can only be done by paying a certain amount of money). No, I’m not talking about XP Mode for Windows 7, which means installing Windows XP in a virtual machine and running program from there.

Using Windows 7 compatibility mode

For those of you who don’t know Windows 7, as previous Windows versions did that allow a program to be executed in an environment similar to a previous version of Windows, which can be  selected by you. Accessing it is pretty simple: right click on a file or shortcut that you wish to execute and select Properties. From here go to Compatibility tab and check “Run this program in compatibility mode for” and select a previous Windows version for the drop down list below. Hit Apply and double click that file/shortcut again. If it still doesn’t work then select another compatibility mode. If none of them work then you might try XP Mode or wait for a compatible version to be released.

You can also choose to run the program with Administrator privileges or enforce the settings to all user running that particular program. Note: this trick also applies to installer programs, not just already installed software. Remember that running a program in compatibility mode doesn’t mean it will not affect your computer, for example best registry cleaners have released update versions that support Windows 7 but older models might just ruin your installation.

Windows 7 compatibility mode selector

If you encounter problems let me know and I’ll try and help you. Also if there’s other software problem you’ve encountered drop a comment below and I’ll try and help you.

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What WP-Optimize does

There are a few action you can perform with WP-Optimize and those actions are:

• remove post revisions: in the latest WordPress versions almost all changes you make to posts are saved so you can later revert to any of those revisions if something happens
• clean marked Spam comments: it’s pretty self explanatory and cleans a serious portion of the database if selected
• clean unapproved comments: what’s the point of keeping them, right?
• optimize database tables: this is one of the most important functions as greatly reduces your database tables size using MySQL commands, so it’s pretty safe

WP-Optimize options page

How do you install and use WP-Optimize

Installation is easy. Download the plugin from here. Copy it to your Plugins directory on server, activate from admin and that’s it.

To use it go to the Dashboard tab in admin on the left sidebar and select WP-Optimize. Here you select one or more of the four options and hit go. Wait a few seconds and you’ll see a report showing how much space you’ve freed.

WP-Optimize provisionary report

Important: always backup your database before optimizing in. If things go wrong you have to be covered.

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I’ll try and present the pros and cons of each one of those keyboards, leaving you to decide which one is right for you depending on budget, brand and features.

Logitech G19 gaming keyboard

Logitech G19 – 160$

This is the most expensive of the bunch, and it’s easy to understand why: Logitech G19 features an LCD screen panel that shows game stats, system information, VOIP communication data, video playback, without leaving the game plus it can display RSS feeds, Youtube videos while using the computer for office work.

All keys have illuminated backlight, which can be adjusted in intensity and color (yeap, you head that right). The Logitech G19 comes with twelve programmable buttons using the delivered software and can be set to perform up to 36 commands or macros. G19 acts also like an USB hub with two ports, so it’s convenient to use for MP3 files transfer to/from your music player or transfer images from your digital camera.

The nice Razer Tarantula

Razer Tarantula – 77$

Gaming keyboards design usually appeals to just a few people, people that like flashy designs, this being a reason why some prefer a more ‘standard’ keyboard instead of a gaming one. That’s not the case with Razer Tarantula, which features a pretty stylish design and very comfortable keys (something gaming keyboads usually lack). There are only 10 dedicated macro key, which are illuminated (the rest of the keys aren’t).

On the gaming features, the Razer Tarantula keyboard prouds itself with 1000Hz ultrapolling / 1ms response time and Anti-ghosting capability for up to 10 keys, meaning you’ll make the best of the multi key Mortal Combat combo moves.

Microsoft Sidewinder X6

Microsoft Sidewinder X6 – 58$

What strikes you first when looking at the Microsoft Sidewinder X6 gaming keyboard is the detachable keypad that can be placed on the left or right side of the main keyboard. The number of programmable keys is very high: 30, leaving room for a lot of macros and combos. Also there’s two color backlighting for late night game raids.

I personally love the design Microsoft did for Sidewinder X6, making for a perfect companion of the Sidewinder X5 gaming mouse, which resembles cyberpunk fictional era. Price is also very competitive compared with the other gaming keyboards on the market.

Ideazon Merc Stealth

Ideazon Merc Stealth – 75$

This is keyboard in the category much more gaming that office, as it’s not the most comfortable to use in a work environment, but that’s not the purpose of Ideazon’s Merc Stealth, a keyboard with a dedicated left side programmable 34 gaming keys WASD pad with an ergonomic layout. 125 predefined mapping layouts can be used in popular games, but you can add/edit those profiles later.

All keys are backlit, with three colors to choose from: red, blue, purple. The dedicated gaming keys are rubberized, adding for more comfort during prolonged play hours. If you decide to puchase the Ideazon Merc Stealth make sure you have enough desktop space, as the gaming keyboard is pretty wide, thanks to the added gaming keypad.

Saitek Cyborg

Saitek Cyborg – 77$

This keyboard has a cyberpunk design with multiple straight angles, multi color backlighting and 12 programmable keys on the left side. Cyborg mode disables Windows keys during gaming, and with one push switches back to “normal” mode. The SST software is responsible for keys programming.

All surfaces are coated with special hard wearing substances which ensure the Saitek Cyborg outlasts you to maturity, when you’ll probably ditch late night gaming sessions.

Logitech G15

Logitech G15 – 69$

The Logitech G15 has almost all the advantages of the G19 except the price, and to be fair the LCD screen is monochrome, so no fancy Linux running a color screen you’re not using all the time, but this will shave off about 100$ so I think is worth it.

You also don’t get the multi colored keys backlight: you’re stuck with orange all the time. The rest is unchanged, from the multi macro keys, to Windows keys inhibitor (so you don’t launch the start menu during intense gamemplay) to multimedia control keys for your favorite media player. The Logitech G15 is one of the most balanced options when it comes to gaming keyboards.

Razer Lycosa Mirror

Razer Lycosa Mirror – 67$

Razer Lycosa’s Mirror name comes from the high gloss mirror finished Hyperesponse keys with slim cap structure. Like a respectable gaming keyboard the Razer Lycosa Mirror features also backlight illumination for keys, plus a set of fully customizable keys via included software and up to 10 switchable software profiles.

If you’re out of USB ports for your peripherals don’t sweat and use the included USB extension port. For in game communications the two microphone and headphones jack surely will help a lot. Those annoying Windows Keys can also be deactivated while in a game. So here you have it: nothing missing and a great price for a modern looking gaming keyboard.

Microsoft Reclusa

Microsoft Reclusa – 55$

I have to admit that the Microsoft Reclusa gaming keyboard is one of the most oddly shaped keyboard I’ve come upon, but that’s not the point. All that matters is what it can do, given the very affordable price.

So let’s start with the features of the Microsoft Reclusa: 12 fully programmable keys, including two 360 degrees jog-dials (just like a console controller) and two bumper buttons. The Wrist pad is here, but can be removed if you please. Two USB ports make sure you don’t run out of ports for your peripherals. Let’s face it, besides the shape Microsoft Reclusa has it all.

Other gaming keyboards

Those I think are the most important gaming keyboards on the market, which will help you get better during multiplayer combat, but I wish to mention other keyboard too, in case you’re taste and needs are a little different from what I’ve shown you above.

• Logitech Gaming Keyboard G110
• Razer Arctosa
• Wolfking Timberwolf
• Saitek PK24 Eclipse III Wired Keyboard

If you have any other models that you think should be included in this article please feel free to tell me and I’ll update the article as soon as possible.

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Impressions of the Nokia N900 and new Maemo platform

Design wise, the N900 is a pretty minimalistic “brick” with few hardware buttons to press and a lot of virtual ones to use. Unfortunately I miss hardware buttons for things like Answer and Hang up.  The interface might seem completely screwed up for people who are used to Symbian S60, but in an hour or two you’ll be already acquainted with it as it’s pretty intuitive.

What you’ll find after a few hours of playing with it is there’s not a lot of software to mess with. The Maemo 5 OS is pretty new and you can’t find too much applications for it, and the ones you do find have few settings so probably they won’t do what they were supposed to. Maemo Ovi Store says “it’s coming” and Nokia PC Suite can only copy files on in. The new Ovi Suite can’t even see the N900.

Maemo is like an immature funny child

I wonder why Nokia launched the N900 without a few hundred applications and after making some cleaning in its own backyard (the PC suite support comes into my mind now). Thankfully the hardware construction is great, nothing to complain here: the sliding screen mechanism is great, keyboard is nice, even if it only has 3 rows.

The best part: web browser

This is maybe why you should buy the N900: it has a Mozilla based browser that shows even flash content and complex websites without a glitch (only the resolution is the real problem as you’ll never see on a mobile device desktop like pixels). I could even post from the WordPress admin interface with pictures uploads and such but only the low screen resolution (for a computer) kept me from trying again as you really have to be patient.

What’s not to like about the Nokia N900

Price: it’s now 800 $ on Amazon (Update: price just went down to 499$), without subsidy. Screen interface only works in landscape mode, so you’ll only use it with two hands, with the keyboard slide open. There’s no office documents suite editor (just a trial reader version) and that’s childish on a 800 $ device. There’s no multi touch, so not really a tablet PC and MID competitor. WiFi connections stay open till you shut them down or go out of range, so it’s worse than Symbian and affects battery life  a lot.

And the biggest issue I have with the N900 is battery life, or the lack of it to be fair. Doing everything you would normally do on a Internet Tablet might get you from dusk till dawn, but I haven’t managed that. It’s ridiculous. Plus the body of the N900 is on the massive side, so why on earth Nokia didn’t put a larger battery it’s beyond my understanding.

Conclusion

I would wait for next year’s Nokia Maemo 6 high end device (N910 or whatever it will be called). It might solve the software problems of the N900 and I hope it will get cheaper, but there’s no telling if this will happen in 2010. I surely hope it does as the N900 is a pretty interesting device, which I wouldn’t mind getting as a present.

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Pros and Cons of Nokia E72

So, I’ve got to play with it for a few hours plus gathered some input from my friend and now can make a list of the things I like about it and what not. Here it is:

• it’s speedier than the E71 thanks to the 60% increase in CPU frequency and that shows especially when loading Ovi maps and Opera Mini
• digital camera is better but still not great
• S60 v3.2 with Feature Pack 2 adds some nice menu animations but no core functionality changes here
• body seems to be worse build than the E71, especially the back cover and shortcut keys (you can see some LEDs lit between them because they’re too spaced one from another)
• battery life is a smaller than the E71, but the CPU speed increase is worth it
• the plastic parts of the keyboard seem cheap, but it might be a matter of taste

Nokia E72, black-silver model

Per total I can say I’m cured as I don’t intend to upgrade from my E71 anymore. For me the E72 looses where it predecessor won many fights: build quality and I don’t understand why, as the starting price was similar o the previous model when it arrived. I just hope Nokia does something about this and this problem doesn’t affect my favorite, the N900 Internet tablet.

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First, to be clear, for the next trick to work you need a valid Gmail address. Why is that? Because Gmail is the only webmail service which allows you to spell your email address by using a point between any of the letters and numbers (any other characters are not allowed in a gmail username) that make up your account name. What that means? johndoe@gmail.com equals john.doe@gmail.com, or jo.hn.doe@gmail.com or whatever combination you like. Any email sent to any of those aliases (I can’t find another better name for them) will arrive in your initial johndoe@gmail.com Inbox.

Simple, isn’t it?

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The fears people have about switching to 64 bit software

First I believe it’s best to make a short list of things people say about 64 bit software, things that more often are not true and put the stoppers on 64 bit mass adoption. Some of those fears crossed through my mind of course before deciding what version to install.

• drivers are immature or don’t exist at all, so you’ll have problem with your PC components, especially exotic models
• there are a lot of application compatibilities and for sure some of your favorite software will not work
• games run slower and require more memory

Those I think are the most important stoppers for those who have to choose between 32 bit and a 64 bit OS.

My experience with Windows 7 64 bit version

Let’s take it from beginning and presenting a little bit my hardware configuration. I own a desktop with components which are about an year and something old, so pretty new hardware: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, Gigabyte motherboard with P45 chipset, 4 GB DDR 2 SDRAM, 1000 GB Seagate hard drive and nVidia GeForce GTX 275.

Installation went without any problems, the only hardware not recognized, therefore not working, was my integrated Realtek sound card but installing the pack from Gigabyte’s website (or Realtek’s) solved this little problem. So no problems with drivers, but that was my case. Always check if the components you put into your computer have 64 bit drivers before switching to a 64 bit OS.

System properties says I'm running a 64 bit OS

From performance point of view I’ve played the first days the same games I did on the 32 bit installation of Windows 7 RC1: Modern Warfare 2 (a beautiful game) and NFS Shift. Both games ran smoothly without any issues of compatibility. I didn’t felt any difference from 32 bit to 64 bit, but if it were it would be measurable, not distinguishable.

Now let’s get to application compatibility. I didn’t had any problems with my own favorite apps, but I found some small issues with my Gainward utility app (for the VGA card) which seemed not to remember settings I made, and I did recall it worked in the other install, but this is one minor annoyance.

About memory consumption, it’s nice to boot and see there’s 3 Gigs of free RAM, as a 64 Windows 7 (Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate) can work with a maximum of 192 GB, while Windows 7 32 bit is limited to 3.25 GB so before this last install I’ve always lost 750 MB RAM (and imagine my first computer had 4 MB RAM). So I didn’t feel any difference in used memory.

In general I don’t feel any performance difference between 32 bit and 64 bit Windows 7, plus stability is great, and that’s important for me as I’m running an overclocked system.

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First screen of the Intelligence section

This section of Analytics (placed under the Dashboard in the upper left menu) displays in the first page your site traffic by days and the number of alerts for each day. Once you click on a day it displays the main events that took place that day. All automatic alerts can be seen here, so you have to check out this section from time to time, but you can also create automatic alerts that you can receive via email, to notify you about events that happened today/this week/this month.

Creating a custom alert

As with all Google products and features the Intelligence reports area is still in beta and is awaiting your input. I consider it useful, but I would like for now to be able to set up some notifications also for Automatic alerts, which seem pretty well made as they register any anomaly (sudden change in your website trafic), compared to past evolution.

Sugestions for custom alerts

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I like them both but I can’t stop and think that sometimes I like the way my desktop feels, even if I can’t move it with me or use it from my bed, it consumes more power plus it has a worse keyboard than a notebook.

There are a lot of advantages of using a laptop. Sales figures seem to confirm this, but there are a lot of things that would make me choose my desktop over a laptop if I had to make this choice. Fortunately I don’t but that doesn’t means some people don’t have to.

This is a 20 pounds 20 inch desktop replacement

There is of course a compromise that can be made and that is to buy a desktop replacement, a device somewhere in between a laptop and a desktop. In this post I’ll try and make a list of reasons someone would be better of choosing a desktop replacement laptop over a regular laptop.

Why would you choose a desktop replacement laptop?

Before judging the people walking around with a 10 pounds brick you should consider the reasons they got to make this choice, and I’m not including here motives like “the company gave me no choice, what’s what I got the first day I showed up for work”. So, let’s see the list:

• you need to move and thus can’t rely on a desktop
• you need a lot of horsepower for let’s say CAM/CAD, Photoshop, audio/video conversion
• a high resolution screen is a must for you
• you need a powerful discrete graphics card (I’m not thinking games, but hat will do too)
• you don’t care about battery life too much
• carrying around 10-12 pounds of gear doesn’t bother you

Now I would like to hear your take on this matter. Are you for or against desktop replacement laptops? Leave a comment below about how you feel.

PS. My current favorite desktop replacement is the ASUS G51J with a Core i7 CPU. It’s pretty cheap at 1500 $.

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In this post I’m going to show you how you can use Firefox to search directly on its address bar using any of the search engines you’ve configured for this browser.

How to configure search providers for Firefox

Selecting a search provider to use

This is good to know before we start into the advanced stuff. Just press the down arrow right of the icon of the current search provider used in Firefox search box. It displays the list of current search engines plus a link to “Manage Search Engines”. In the windows that opens next you see the detailed list of current search engines with options like move up, move down, remove and “get more search engines”. Pressing the latter link opens a new Firefox Tab with a list of search engines to choose from. From here things are pretty self explanatory.

How to search a specific search engine using the Firefox address bar

Advanced options for search engines in Firefox

Here’s the smart part: go back to “Manage Search Engines” and select each of the search engines you want to be able to use from the address bar and select Edit Keyword. I’ve set up a different letter for Google (g), Yahoo (y), Wikipedia (w) and IMDB (i), but you can select anything you want.

After you’re done just enter the following combination in the address bar and you’re done: “shortcut keyword”. For example in my case:

• typing “g make a website” searches on google using the “make a website” keywords
• typing “i inglorious bastards” opens up an IMDB page with the search results from “inglorious bastards”

It’s easier now to search whichever search engine you’re using with no additional clicks. If you want to use only the keyboard the shortcut for positioning the cursor in the address bar field is ALT+D. Hope you liked this short post!

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Google custom search is still in beta

In this post I’ll treat the case of integrating the Google Custom search engine in WordPress, the most used free software platform for blogging.

What do you need?

• A blog running a self hosted version of WordPress. Sorry guy, but no wordpress.com domains.
• An HTML editor (I use Notepad ++)
• FTP client (I use FileZilla)
• An AdSense account
• Some time and a few HTML/CSS knowledge

Steps required to integrate custom search in WordPress

First, you have to sign in to your Google AdSense account and create a new ad slot for the custom search results ads: Adsense Setup – AdSense for Search. Once you get here select “Single page” to have all options on one page. I’ll explain to you what every field means:

• Search type: specifies where to search, the Internet or only your site
• Selected sites: put here every site URL you wish to search, one per each line
• Optional Keywords: if there’ any word combination you wish to add to the string of chars the used inputs in the Custom Search field here’s the place to mention them
• Site language: self explanatory, is the language your blog uses
• Your site encoding: go to your blog, right click on a free space, select “View Source” and look for “charset”. Select in the Adsense drop down list the encoding your website uses
• Country or territory for Google domain: to better list localized search results Google needs to know the region of your website’s visitors, where most of them come from
• Custom channel: give a name to the ad channel to better track its results in your Adsense reports
• Safe Search: specify if you want adult content to be omitted from displayed results
• Look and Feel: choose from a few themes available for the search box
• Text Box Length: specify the size of the search box as it will appear on your site
• Opening of search results page: here you’ll specify how the search results page will look like. Options are in the same page, in new windows (easiest to implement), or in a dedicated page on your site. For the last option you have to create a page on your blog (page, not post) and give it a name that you’ll specify in this Adsense wizard. Mine is called “search”, so the URL is http://www.johnpopes.com/search. Also enter the width of the search results area so that it will fit your theme layout.
• Ad location: where should google display ads on your search results page. Depending on what you choose the aforementioned Width of the results area has a bigger minimum value.
• The Palettes: here you’ll change the colors of the search results. Every change is reflected in a sample box on the left.
• Agree with the special terms
• Enter a name for this particular search unit and hit “Submit and Get Code”

The long Adsense setup wizard (click for large image)

Now you’re presented with two codes (if you chose to display results in the same page or in another page on your blog, not in a new window. Now the input box code goes in your theme. Mine was searchform.php. The second one goes into the page template (here is more info on how to create a WordPress page template) I’ve created starting with page.php and replaced the part with the_content(). Use this template when creating the page that will you’re your results (see the “Opening of search results page” step). Remember that those file names in your WordPress theme may be different, but also look for the code that displays your normal search box and create a new template for pages, where you replace the content with the provided code by Adsense.

Custom search results on my blog

If you want to change the look of the Custom Search you have to log back in Google Adsense and hit Adsense Setup – Manage Ads and Edit on your Custom Search module. That’s it. If you get stuck at one step or need more clarification don’t hesitate to post a comment below and I’ll help you.

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The goal of this post is not to tell you what I did and did not all this years but to make a list of the reasons I believe things are not better for me and why probably many others have failed before me and will fail after me.

Why people fail online and what has to be done to accomplish success

• Read less and practice more – don’t make the mistake of thinking you have to read first tons of books and then get to work trying to deploy everything you’ve learned. Try and balance the time spent reading with the actual practice hours
• Have a goal (or more goals for short/medium/long term) -  If this goal is measurable it’s even better as you always know where you’re at compared to your dreams. No goal means no focus which translates in working in vain.
• Don’t give up – results don’t show over night, always focus on doing everything needed to build a strong business that will always stand the test of time and will get you a decent and constant amount of money.
• Work hard – this is very important as only hard work will give results, but also work smart as efforts without brains are no good and don’t guarantee success
• Know your niches – if you get into a new niche make sure you did research about it to ensure better exploitation. It’s best to spend more time researching then wondering what went wrong and why you failed.
• Make friends with same interests – the best ideas come when you talk with people having the same problems like you. Don’t fear your secrets will help others as it’s best to be part of a group: there’s more chance you will get up helped by the current.
• Monitor your business – even if things are fine keep an eye on everything vital to your business as once things get broken it’s hard to get them on track. It’s like confidence, which is earned hard but gets lost easily.

There are I think the problems and mistakes people do very often, all which translates in bad results or no results at all. Do you have anything else to add to the list? Feel free to share.

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All Google needs to put every piece of data to a special profile is cross-referencing. They’ve already started to do that with the new Dashboard and by starting I mean displaying that data, as the gathering process surely started a while ago.

A theoretical example of what might happen to you

Imagine this scenario: you’re building a business online and heavily rely on Google services. All those services have Terms and Condition, which once broken will almost sure deny you access to that service, or even worse (here’s the evil part) access to other Google services.

Imagine that one day, because you placed too much Adsense units on your blog’s pages or placed them too close to post pictures of used any other practice that breaks their rules you get your Adsense account blocked and all your income is lost (or a significant part of it). This is not fiction as it happened to many people. Maybe you’re innocent, maybe not, but one thing is certain: contacting Google support might not help you at all as billions others are contacting them on many topics. If they respond and help you in a few weeks you may be already out of business.

Now, for those with bad intentions like selling links, buying reviews, black hat SEO and other wrong tactics be sure you can get caught by Big G if they start cross-referencing data about you. If you speak by email for a link sale and the other person uses Gmail or forwards email to Gmail (as I so for example) then Google might find out what you’re doing.

Imagine that you want to build a network of sites and link to/from them. If Google knows they’re all your websites the value of a single link is lowered automatically. And you can’t just create 100 Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools accounts without Google knowing they’re all yours. You don’t have that many IPs and supposed you create those accounts, once you log in from the same 2-3 IPs you’re busted.

And examples can go on and on, but the reality is the same: if Google wants to catch you, it will, but that maybe is not such a bad deal for the rest of us, the good guys.

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