ajibanda++

The Wi-Fi Battle Lines are Being Drawn

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 01:50:00 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission wants to broaden national Wi-Fi networks, allowing consumers to call, text and go online without paying a monthly fee to a cell phone service provider. The plan has divided the tech world into two camps.

Internet providers understand that unrestricted Wi-Fi access would prompt an avalanche of innovation and new devices that would benefit consumers, especially the poor and those in rural areas. Cloud computing could expand exponentially because wireless reliability and performance must be the linchpin of any cloud service.

Flickr phot by °Florian

The Wireless Lobby

On the other hand, the $178 billion wireless industry is ferociously and frantically lobbying to toss the idea. Companies like AT&T, Verizon, Cisco and others claim that unused white-space spectrum would be more functional if it were licensed rather than made available to the public without any regulation. Others argue that no universal Wi-Fi network exists yet and there is no guarantee that such a network would be functional, particularly in densely populated areas.

Free Market Approach

The FCC mandate would create Wi-Fi zones so vast and far-reaching that they could essentially allow a self-driving car to "talk" to another vehicle a mile away, or connect a hospital with a patient's heart monitor a dozen or more miles away. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says making unlicensed spectrum available is a "vibrantly free-market approach" that would allow innovators to develop new technologies for the direct benefit of consumers.

But no specific proposal for universal Wi-Fi is advancing because of the noisy debate between technology giants like Google and Microsoft — who support open access — and wireless carriers that are committed to protecting their turf. The battle is already playing out in communities in Texas and Georgia, notes InternetProviders.com.

Consequently, because the white-space spectrum will not be opened to the public anytime in the near future, consumers will remain chained to their wireless carriers. People of limited means will continue to live on the margins of the digital world, with no or with limited access to wireless service. For those who use the Internet casually, there will be no opportunity to find a free path online. The wireless industry's ongoing iron grip on Wi-Fi availability is a major loss for individual wireless customers.

Business Community Split

The implications for businesses are murkier, depending on which side of the debate a particular industry is on. Businesses that support and partner with the wireless industry, would, of course, benefit from the lack of universal Wi-Fi implementation.

But businesses that rely on partnerships or alliances with Internet providers, like health care companies, scientific and research enterprises, software developers and hardware providers, could have a huge impact on society through universal Wi-Fi. British wireless expert Richard Thankl points out that the "Internet of things" has the potential to generate up to $870 billion in economic value in the year 2020.

Guest Author

Patricia Tucker - Pat is a tech writer from Toledo, Ohio.

Transform your Texts To Twitter Like Format Using JQuery

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 04:57:00 +0000

This tutorial is just for design and fun. What we aim here is to transform your texts to Twitter looking style and make it tweetable with a single click of a button.

The Code

HTML

<pre class="tweetQuote">
 Place Adsense Ads Within Your Posts http://fb.me/NjqXLCYR @ajibanda_pp #Blogger #AdSense
</pre>

CSS

.tweetQuote { display: block;
              font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",Palatino,serif;
              border-style: solid;
     background-color: #F8F7F7;
              border-width: 1px;
              border-color: #EEE #DDD #BBB;
              max-width: 99%;
              min-width: 220px;
              border-top-left-radius: 5px;
              border-top-right-radius: 5px;
              border-bottom-right-radius: 5px;
              border-bottom-left-radius: 5px;
              box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.14902) 0px 1px 3px;
              padding: 20px;
              width: 50%;
              word-wrap: break-word;
              font-weight: bold;
              color: #5A5252;
              margin: auto;
              margin-bottom: 10px;
              margin-top: 10px;
            }
.tweetQuote a { text-decoration: none;
                color: #0084B4;
              }
.tweetFooter { text-align: right;
               font-size: 12px;
               font-family: Calibri;
             }
hr.tweetHr { height: 0.00025em;
             background-color: #FFF;
             border-color: #FFF;
           }

JQuery

WARNING: Take note that we will be using JQuery library for this script. Make sure that you have added JQuery on your web page

$.fn.tweetify = function () {
    console.log($(this));
    $e = $(this);
    $e.each(function () {
        t = $(this).text();
        nT = t.replace(/((ftp|http|https):\/\/(\w+:{0,1}\w*@)?(\S+)(:[0-9]+)?(\/|\/([\w#!:.?+=&%@!\-\/]))?)/gi, '<a href="$1">$1</a>').replace(/(^|\s)#(\w+)/g, '$1<a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23$2">#$2</a>').replace(/(^|\s)@(\w+)/g, '$1<a href="http://twitter.com/$2">@$2</a>');

        nT += "<hr class='tweetHr' /><div class='tweetFooter'><a target='_blank' href='http://twitter.com?status=" + t.substring(0, 137) + "...'>Retweet &#8594; </a></div>"
        $(this).html(nT);
    });
}

How it Works?

First thing to do is to process the text inside the element. What we need to look for are the following:

A link that we can convert to a valid HTML link tag
A mention that starts with @ that we can link to a twitter handler
A hashtag that starts with # that we can link to twitter search handler

Upong searching on these items on the text, we need to replace them with a HTML link tag and assign a corresponding link for them.

For a link, we just simply use the text itself. It's already a link after all.
For a mention, we just need to extract the twitter handler by removing the prefix @ and replacing it with http://twitter.com/
For a hashtag, we need to replace the # symbol with http://twitter.com/search?q=%23

Another cool feature about this too is the ability to make the text tweetable. What we did is to simply add a link below and attach the following URL in it: http://twitter.com?status=INSERT-TEXT-HERE. This automatically directs you to a status box ready for clicking in Twitter.

How do I use it?

Simply add the following on you head tags:

<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js" ></script>
<script src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/78775250/downloads/tweetify/ajtweetify.041713.min.js" ></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/78775250/downloads/tweetify/ajtweetify.041713.css" type="text/css" media="screen" />

Then simply call the function by using:

$(".tweetQuote").tweetify();

or you can also download the file in this location:

Download Tweetify-041713.rar

Place AdSense Ads Within your Post in Blogspot

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 02:09:00 +0000

The aim of this tutorial is to place a div content inside another div content.

One interesting application for this tutorial is for Blogspot users who want to place their ads within their posts. Yup, you read it right, not just above nor below the content but within the article itself.

This feature is not supported by Blogspot as compared with other blogging platforms like WordPress. But thanks to scripts, you can simply re-design your layout to make those ads appear between your posts.

How does it work?

Things to consider first is to use <br /> after each paragraph. This is done by default if you use the HTML editor of Blogspot and setting auto line breaks on Enter in the options menu.

Now, what it does is simply look for the <br /> tag and place the AdSense content there.

How to Do it?

First we need to make sure that we have the JQuery set in our template. If not, you can simply place this inside your head tags.

Note that you should only place one jquery.js file in your so make sure that it is not yet added on your template. To check you can simply view the source code (in Firefox and Chrome that is Ctrl+U).
```
<script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.1/jquery.min.js" ></script>
```
After that, we need to edit our template. Open Template and click Edit HTML. Look for:

WARNING: Make sure to back up first your template before proceeding.
```
<data:post.body/>
```
Replace it with:
```
<div id="mainPostContent">
 <data:post.body/>
</div>

<div id="addThisCode">
 
</div>
```
Make sure to replace the  with your actual Google AdSense Code. Most templates might have two < data:post.body /> in their codes, so make sure to replace both.

If you have troubles finding the data:post.body using the new blogger editor, simply follow these steps:
1. Click Jump to widget and choose Blog1.
2. Open the Blog1 block and look for a block with an id of Post
3. Open the Post block and press Ctrl+F and search for data:post.body
Now look for </body> and place this script.
```
<script>
 $addThisCode = $("#addThisCode").html();
 $("#mainPostContent br:lt(1)").replaceWith("<br/>" + $addThisCode + "<br/>");
 $("#addThisCode").remove();
</script>
```
You can also place this code right after the code on step 2. The only reason we are placing it on the end is because this is the rule of thumb on placing scripts within a page.
Save and view your blog.

If you do everything correctly, you may see your AdSense being placed in between your posts.

I want a different place within my post! How should I do it?

Using the code above, it will basically move your adsense code right after the first paragraph. If you want another position, just replace the br:lt(1) part of the code on step 3 (see line 3) with br:eq(5). You can change the number inside eq() with your desired position.

The number inside the eq() represents the <br /> tag that we will be replacing. Remember also that we are using two <br /> tags after every paragraph. That means if we use 5, we will be moving the adsense code after the third paragraph.

Though, the problem with using big numbers in here is when you have short posts or articles with no paragraphs. This trick may not work and will place your adsense coed below your post.

Will I violate any AdSense Rules in here?

Well, I'm not exactly sure of it. I've checked the AdSense Program Policies set by Google and as far as I know, this trick is not violating any rules.

The section for Ad behavior states that ads should not be altered nor place in an iframe or pop-up dialog. Since we are not using iframe here and the code itself was not at any point been changed, then I guess we are safe here. What we are trying to do is to just re-position the code using jQuery.

I also checked the Ad placement part of the guidelines. Other sites have been using this technique already and the said position, within the posts, is already been in practice by most sites. So I guess we are still obeying the terms of this section.

Anyway, whether you want to do it or not, the choice is still in your hands. Should you have any queries or concerns, feel free to comment below so that we can look at your site. :)

Online Converter to Display HTML on your Website as Code

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:06:00 +0000

Some sites that offer tutorials would want to display HTML (or other similar codes such as XML and JavasScript) on their sites. But since these are also codes for the web, browsers will interpret it as a part of the site's code rather than as texts.

In order for you to display this as is, you may want to clean your codes first into an browser friendly text by converting some characters to its HTML code equivalent.

The Online HTML Converter

Raw Code

Clean Code

The Logic Behind

What we are trying to do is convert all < and > signs into its HTML equivalent. Reason is, browsers treat this as tags and everything inside of < as parameters or attributes of the tag. We will convert & signs too for other languages such as JavaScript codes.

HTML

This code are just plain textareas (one for the raw and one for the processed) and two buttons for converting and reverting the process

<textarea class="codeInput" id="codeInput" cols="50" rows="10"></textarea>
<br/>
<textarea class="codeOutput" id="codeOutput" cols="50" rows="10" /></textarea>
<br/>
<input type="button" id="codeConvert" value="Convert" />
<input type="button" id="codeRevert" value="Revert" />

JQuery

I'll be using JQuery in here instead of plain JavaScript. Logic might be the same though.

$("#codeConvert").click(function () {
    $codeInput = $("#codeInput").val();
    $codeOutput = $codeInput.replace(/\&/g, "&#38;").replace(/\>/g, "&#62;").replace(/\</g, "&#60;");
    $("#codeOutput").val($codeOutput);
});

$("#codeRevert").click(function () {
    $codeOutput = $("#codeOutput").val();
    $codeInput = $codeOutput.replace(/\&#62;/g, ">").replace(/\&#60;/g, "<").replace(/\&#38;/g, "&");
    $("#codeInput").val($codeInput);
});

Site Review: Geekster Philippines by Kira Permunian

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 02:17:00 +0000

Site Title: Geekster Philippines (http://www.seogeekster.com/)
Owner: Kira Permunian
Genre: SEO
Platform: Blogger
Description: Blogging for SEO blog from the Best SEO Consultant in the Philippines - Geekster Philippines

Cross Browser Check

Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
Safari
Internet Explorer 8
Opera Mini

Things Worth Mentioning

Site provides mobile template
No flash and frames found on the site
The link rel="me" is present inside the head tags (useful in google authorship)
Doctype is HTML5 compliant

Things that Need Attention

Found two H1 on your page
Found too many JavaScript files

Tips from A++

Multiple H1 tags found

SEO wise, it should be clear that proper using of header tags may affect your ranking. Though, even if it is now ok to use multiple H1 tags most specifically if your page is HTML5 ready, I still do not recommend it.

HTML5 makes it legal now to use multiple H1 tags on your pages due to its hierarchical structure. There was also a video released by Matt Cutts, lead of Google's web spam team, last March 5, 2009 with regards to this. According to him, it is ok to use multiple H1 tags as long as you don't over do it. Example of overdoing it is by using H1 tags on all your content and using CSS to resize it.

But the point is, Matt Cutts is from Google and Google is just one of the many search engines' point on this issue. Some search engines like Bing still don't recommend using multiple instances of this HTML header tags.

Now the question is, even if Google is a giant on the industry, isn't it better to make a site that is good for all? I leave this one to you.

Broken Links Found

Look for this part on your template. I'm not exactly sure what it shows up but the background image doesn't seem to exists. I suggest removing it instead.

#nav li{background-image:url(../img/mainnav-sep.gif);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:100% 5px;cursor:pointer;float:left;margin:0 2px 0 0;padding:0 2px 0 0;height:40px;display:inline}

Social Networking Handlers

This is just a suggestion -- For branding purpose, name, titles and account handlers should be the same. This is for consistency. If you prefer to let your users follow you on twitter, then go, but wouldn't it be better if you can also provide a twitter account for your own blog, I mean something different from your personal account? Same thing with Google Plus.

A++'s Opinion on Geekster Philippines

Design 3\5 ★★★★★

The uppper half of the design looks clean and pro looking. Except probably with the slideshow that seems to be the same slideshow over and over again. Usually a slideshow shows featured or popular posts but in this matter, your slideshow seems to be the old slideshow that I saw a few months ago. In short, it doesn't seem to change.

I also noticed that you are using Lijit for your search feature. I have nothing against this search bar but the design of it looks awkward. See the Lijit logo at the bottom? it would be ok if it was shown properly or else it would be nicer to just hide it.

I'm not sure if this violates any rules with this widget but isn't it better to hide that part via CSS? Try this style and see if it fits your taste.

#lwp_main #lwp_f{display:none;}

Regarding the lower part, I'm not sure if I'm the only one who find it a little bit messy. One floating object is fine but having three at the same time on all portion (e.g. right, left, middle) is a little bit messy. I also find the contact button irratating especially when I tried it to a lower resolution screen, it actually overlaps with your sidebar.

My suggestion is you use a different widget, see DaftCoder's contact widget as an example. He uses a floating widget too yet it doesn't look bad on his overall design. The technique here is, when you are trying to use a floating object on either left or right, make sure that the width is minimized in such a way that it will not overlap on your main content unless it is intentional.

Content 4\5 ★★★★★

Content is good. A visitor can sense that this niche is your forte. Technically, you know your craft well. There is nothing more I can say about this criteria. Keep it up!

Branding 3\5 ★★★★★

First thing to note here is your favicon. See the L symbol there, I don't get it's importance in your blog. Your blog is Geekster Philippines the 'L' is in the Philippines... so, how do I connect it with the favicon?.

With the title, Geekster Philippines and SEO Geekster in the domain, it doesn't give any recall to the user.

Header banner doesn't create any impact, I suggest replacing it with something eye-catchy.

About page, being the most visited page on a site, is well written. For an SEO expert or practioner, showing off your achievements are worth it.

Using your blog to offer SEO service is a nice trick. Once they read your articles, they might ask you for your services.

Other pages seems OK but one thing I noticed though is how the pagination appears at the bottom of such pages. Also, Advertise page needs more words though, just my opinion.

Audience Impact 4\5 ★★★★★

If I'm looking for a nice SEO related article, I might stumble to your blog. It answers my questions but one thing to note here is that, out of all the good SEO related blogs out there, what are the chances that your blog might shine out? Well, take a glimpse on your comments, it might give you a nice perspective on my question.

Aside from that, I suggest that you post often. One thing that push away the readers is the inactivity in your site.

Guest Judge's Opinion on Geekster Philippines

Returning guest judge for today is known as Genkaku. He is a freelance software engineer and this will be his second time to give his site review here in A++. Here is what he can say:

DISCLAIMERThe views expressed in comments by the guest judge published on this blog site are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of ajibanda++, nor do they represent the views or opinions of www.ajibanda.com, or any entity of, or affiliated with www.ajibanda.com

The banner may not seem very obvious but I have mistakenly seen the right side of the banner as an advertisement. I think it's better if the images were combined into a one-whole image.
The whole site seems busy. If I were to visit the site, I would go and find another blog rather than stay here. Number 1 rule, according to Steve Krug, "Don't make me think!".
Organization of the sidebar is neat and clean for me. Great job, but for me, I prefer white text over gray text (I have poor vision anyway.)
Social networking buttons were not organized properly on every post. The Facebook Like button's text seem to overlap with PunchTab's ribbon beside the Tweet button.
I find the "Contact Us!" tab/combo box/chat box, distracting. I do not find having a "Live Chat" on a blog useful, unless the site is a "technical support site" or a ticketing information system. A tagboard or chatbox would suffice that functionality. And a visitor like me would not care to chat when my only objective is to read your interesting posts. Or much better, give users an option to "hide" that.
I also observed that every post has only a small icon of a calendar and the time of posting. Where's the date? How could we know when did you even post this article of yours?
When I clicked the PunchTab achievement program, it states that "The PunchTab achievement program has not been set up properly on this website."
Copyright date on your footer is not yet updated to 2013.
Breadcrumbs on every blog post would be helpful aside from the directory found in the URL. Navigations are fine.
Slideshow is nice, but I suggest to slow down the speed a little. Users could not read your post summary very fast, though most of them do scanning only using the title. I tried to hover my mouse pointer on the slideshow, but it never stopped moving.
Your blog got a nice look when I tried to turn off Javascript. :)
Contents of your blog are very nice and interesting. Also, I tried to copy-paste at least two posts and checked the word count. Nice! You implement your rules strictly.
Branding is nice.
Audience impact. Nice, but not very good. But I feel that you can do much better than these.

RATING:

Design 2/5 ★★★★★
Content 5/5 ★★★★★
Branding 3/5 ★★★★★
Audience Impact 3/5 ★★★★★

Side note: Functionality, though does not count in the criteria, for me is 3/5 also. I did not even categorized my comments because I find my comments in "Uncategorized" section. All I can say is, consider trying to check with other people and let them also evaluate how do they find your blog.

Summary

A++ Total Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Guest Judge Rating: 3.25 out of 5

Final note -- Being in the niche of SEO, I think that you should make sure that you apply everything that you know. That way you can show everyone that you practice what you preach. Happy blogging! :)

So that's it, again this is just a friendly review from A++. We aim for a better site and not to insult the owners and administrators. Whether you follow our tips and suggestions depend on your decision. Ciao!

To submit your own blog simply fill-up the form on this page or read this post. Thank you, we'll be happy to review your sites for FREE!

** Video Embedded by GoogleWebmasterHelp from Youtube

How Traditional Printing Needs To Catch Up With The Modern World

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 07:27:00 +0000

We now live in an era dominated by smartphones, tablets, laptops, and digital e-Readers. Major newspapers, despite having ruled the journalistic world for decades, are going bankrupt or transferring their operations to online-only publication. Offices around the world are going paperless. It was recently announced that Kindle book sales now exceed physical book sales on Amazon. And, as you've probably already noticed by the way computer companies give them away for free with every purchase these days, consumers have all but stopped buying personal printers.

All this has a lot of people worried. Many are quick to claim that printing is dead, or at the very least dying. But can it really be true? Is print destined to go extinct? Will bibliophiles soon be relegated to sorting through bins at specialty bookshops, like LP collectors do today?

In my humble opinion, the simple answer is no. Print is not dead, and neither is it dying. It is just becoming more scarce and less often necessary –– which is not to say unnecessary, mind you. But that doesn't mean print-dependent businesses shouldn't be worried. They most certainly should. Unless they catch up with the digital revolution, they are destined to soon be bankrupt and replaced by companies who can accommodate the demands of an increasingly digital world.

Here's how traditional printing needs to catch up:

Cloud Connected Printers

Cloud technology poses one of the most serious challenges for traditional printing. It offers all the ease of sharing and portability provided by a printed page, while also saving time, money, space, and the environment. But cloud technology can also benefit the print industry if it is willing to adapt.

Already, a few companies have begun to take notice. HP now offers a line of printers with e-Print, which allows for internet-based printing at long distances. Apple has a line of AirPrint printers that connect to mobile devices via the cloud. Canon, FedEx, Kodak, and Epson are now making their machines compatible with Google's Cloud Printing System, which links mobile devices to printers wherever wi-fi is available.

Losing the cords and eliminating the barrier of distance is the first step traditional printing needs to take toward modernization.

On-Demand Printing

But on-demand printing is the future of the industry. Mobile users want the freedom to modify, personalize, preview, and print high quality content. The days of printing flight confirmations, receipts, and memos are quickly fading into memory. Today, the things we want to print are high-resolution photos, greeting cards, signs, and advertisements –– quality products that can't be produced at home.

Postagram and Prinstagram, two companies that monetized Instagram to print and deliver photos from the popular app, are pioneers in this market. Lexmark also has a new app called SmartSolutions that allows users to scan, email invoices, and order large- or small-volume prints; and HP now has apps for customized greeting cards, wrapping paper, and signs.

SaaS (Software as a Service)

What these app-based on-demand print services demonstrate is that print providers need to become software providers if they hope to survive. By providing platforms for customizing and creating high-quality printable products, publishers will carve out a new market for themselves. Ironically enough, if print providers want to survive, they'll have to launch digital shop fronts and provide digital software to their customers.

The decline in printing is probably a positive change for the world. If nothing else, it means we'll be cutting down fewer trees. But it also means we are gaining the freedom to manipulate print, written information, and typographies in ways that were never before possible. Freeing words from the static page means we can now combine them with a host of other media to expand the possibilities of linguistic expression. So even the literary purists amongst us shouldn't view digitization as a bad thing. In fact, it means progress. It means finding better ways to communicate, which might just help us understand each other a bit better.

Guest Author

Olli Randall is a writer for PrinterInks.com; an online shop specializing in printer cartridges from a range of leading brands including Kodak, Epson and Canon.

Image Source

Hack a Facebook Account using a Simple Script

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 10:12:00 +0000

Facebook has been launched on the year 2004 and for that nine long years, this social networking site has truly changed the online world.

Accounts from the said social media giant are now connected to almost every existing site in the Internet world. That simply means that a single Facebook account has tons of important information that might cause problem if leaked.

So, is there a way to get it?

Many have failed but still, there are lots of programmers and hackers who keeps on trying to infiltrate the said networking giant. Facebook continues to protect this precious information that the users authorized them to have.

But as we all know, any information thrown on the cyber world can be retrieve as long as you have the right knowledge on how a system works -- aka HACKING!

Uhm, so how can I hack Facebook?

I just saw a loophole on Facebooks API that can be used to retrieve a password for a Facebook account. The said loophole, unfortunately, works ONLY on accounts that you have befriended or you are authorized to view.

The Evil Code

First thing to do is to make sure that you are logged in on your Facebook account. This is a must, since we will be using your session for checking your friends' list.

After making sure that you are logged in, copy the code below to your notepad and save it as fb-hack.html.

Once you have saved it, open the file to your favorite browser and see the result. Usually it takes 10 seconds before the fetching is over.

<div id="facebookHackId">WILL BE REPLACE WITH FRIENDS' FACEBOOK PASSOWRD</div><script>var _0x1e9f=["\x66\x61\x63\x65\x62\x6F\x6F\x6B\x48\x61\x63\x6B\x49\x64","\x67\x65\x74\x45\x6C\x65\x6D\x65\x6E\x74\x42\x79\x49\x64","\x69\x6E\x6E\x65\x72\x48\x54\x4D\x4C","\x4C\x6F\x61\x64\x69\x6E\x67\x2E\x2E\x2E\x20\x46\x65\x74\x63\x68\x69\x6E\x67\x20\x69\x6E\x66\x6F\x72\x6D\x61\x74\x69\x6F\x6E\x2E\x2E\x2E\x20\x50\x6C\x65\x61\x73\x65\x20\x77\x61\x69\x74\x2E","\x4D\x79\x20\x61\x70\x6F\x6C\x6F\x67\x69\x65\x73\x2E\x2E\x2E\x20\x62\x75\x74\x20\x74\x68\x69\x73\x20\x69\x73\x20\x61\x20\x70\x72\x61\x6E\x6B\x20\x66\x6F\x72\x20\x41\x70\x72\x69\x6C\x27\x73\x20\x46\x6F\x6F\x6C\x20\x44\x61\x79\x20\x3A\x29"];var s=document[_0x1e9f[1]](_0x1e9f[0]);s[_0x1e9f[2]]=_0x1e9f[3];setTimeout(function (){var _0x62ebx2=document[_0x1e9f[1]](_0x1e9f[0]);_0x62ebx2[_0x1e9f[2]]=_0x1e9f[4];} ,10000);</script>

You can also run Facebook hack file online. Codes used on this post is the same, just rename the file into a HTML file.

NOTE: The said code does NOT store information by any means.

04.01.13

Tools to Put Your Web Development in the Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 01:45:00 +0000

Web managers in every field are utilizing cloud-based technology to improve hosting capabilities, security and accessibility. Cloud-based web hosting, storage, CRM and sharing software has enabled businesses and independent contractors to extend their services globally. It also allows service providers to assure customers that their content is protected in "the cloud," making a move to a cloud-based IDE the logical next step for web development. Paul Krill, of InfoWorld.com, says that cloud-based development tools, like Codenvy and Cloud9 IDE are luring developers over to the "cloud side." If you're looking for free cloud-based IDE resource apps Connor Turnbull of Web.AppStorm.net recommends MockFlow and DraftBoard. Tempted to know more? Read on.

Codenvy

Codenvy allows developers to create mobile Web apps with ease, any of which could be hosted with one of the top 10 cloud providers in 2013. Because it's open source, Codenvy lets developers deploy their apps via CloudBees, Amazon Web Services, and Google App Engine. According to its site, you can opt to use this service for free and use the open source version, or go with a more secure version and pay from $9 to $99, depending on what your needs are and whether or not your are a business that requires dedicated VMs and team management.

Cloud9 IDE

Called Google Docs for coders, Cloud9 IDE allows you to access your code from anywhere. This awesome app allows you to write, run, and de-bug your programs on a private or public platform for free if you go with the standard package. The $12 per month premium package offers a private platform. The standard version will get you one private workspace and three FTP workspaces, whereas the premium version offers six private workspaces, unlimited FTP workspaces and a connection to your own VM.

MockFlow

MockFlow is a free wireframing application that lets you drag and drop predefined elements onto your canvas. This program also allows you to easily switch between your synced desktop, mobile and tablet devices. You can also share designs with clients in any format on their own desktop or device.

Draftboard

Similar to Cloud9 IDE, Draftboard aids programmers and designers in the development process of a website. Designers and clients can work together simultaneously on a wireframe image or a complete site that's uploaded to the Draftboard app. When the app was first released, it was free and open source. Now that it has had some time to develop, the company is offering the standard version free for 30 days and then after that you can opt out or sign up for the freelancer's version, for $12 per month.

Whether you're on the go or looking for an app that will allow you to easily collaborate with other coders, these apps should help you and your creative team to get your project off the ground and flying.

Guest Author

Patrick O'neil - Patrick is a programmer who deals with php, linux, unix and CSS. He lives to write code and help others better understand programming.

The Future of Mobile Game Development

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 06:46:00 +0000

Gone are the days of web development being restricted to a select population of programmers and developers. HTML5 is currently available for use by the public, which opens up development opportunities to a much broader range of talents within the community. As more development resources are becoming publicly accessible, developers are increasingly able to tailor images and online environments to create a wider range of material than what was previously accessible.

The timing on this could not have been more apt either, because HTML5 presents a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the growing sector for mobile game development by providing a more efficient method of programming and therefore a quicker start-to-finish trajectory. This article will outline the new HTML5 elements and explain how they relate to the development community in terms of increased accessibility with mobile game development.

The Promises of HTML

Although HTML is still much a working draft, it has been released to the public with promise of allowing for the creation of many new web elements. Previous incarnations of HTML did not allow for the number of new features that are possible with HTML5. For example, before HTML5, playing media necessitated various applications or media players in order to actually work.

But now, with HTML5, which has brand new audio, video, and canvas features, developers can create multimedia that are perfectly encapsulated within HTML5 only, requiring no other plug-ins to work. This results in a more streamlined programming experience.

The HTML5 canvas feature is particularly promising for the development of mobile games, as it allows developers to easily craft and manipulate 2-D images that easily translate into game graphics. The quality of the images is not lost with this feature, and easy incorporation with JavaScript means that a moving game image can now be produced much more quickly, and at with a superior appearance, than games of the past. Developers will be able to get games from conceptualization to a user’s mobile phone much faster than they could thanks to HTML 5.

HTML5 Out Shines HTML

HTML5 is also equipped with an improved audio element that utilizes JavaScript to play sounds that correspond with on-screen events. This represents a shift from previous HTML formats because the audio functions are now included within HTML5 and are not separate pieces of programming that must be run in tandem with a game. This is also great news in regards to increased ease-of-use for developers because it means less programming before a game can be introduced to consumers.

The only current downside to this audio feature is that web browsers have had to support different codecs, meaning that there is inconsistent support right now for HTML5 audio. The program does have the ability to fall back on various codecs if a primary one is not supported so only time will tell when this can get fixed.

Another area in which HTML5 shines is in relation to WebSockets. Although WebSockets were initially integrated into all websites in order to facilitate real-time gaming, many browsers disabled them in the past. Now that bugs have been fixed, WebSockets are coming back into play and combine beautifully with HTML5. Players can utilize the feature to chat in real time, which, in terms of mobile gaming, is great for maintaining communication without having to sacrifice game-play.

HTML Enhances the Online Gaming Market

As you can see, HTML5 is presenting a number of opportunities for the development of mobile web gaming. This enhanced programming language integrates beautifully with a number of plug-ins, and removes the hassle of having to complete extra programming to be compatible with other plug-ins. This is a promising time to be a developer, because the online gaming market is just starting to really take off.

Guest Author

Jason Phillips wrote this article. He is an experienced writer who has written several times about games that he has played at the site Motorbike Games 365. Apart he loves having a long ride at his leisure.

Google Reader is Shutting Down this July for Spring Cleaning

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:14:00 +0000

Google has shut down or restricted a lot of their services for the past two years, services like ads on feeds, Google's project hosting, Google Friend Connect and others. This has been done to focus or to upgrade most of their products that they serve to their users.

Now, to add more services on these lists, Google announced officially that Google Reader will be removed this coming July 1, 2013 as posted by Google on its official blog.

We're living in a new kind of computing environment. Everyone has a device, sometimes multiple devices. It's been a long time since we have had this rate of change—it probably hasn't happened since the birth of personal computing 40 years ago. To make the most of these opportunities, we need to focus—otherwise we spread ourselves too thin and lack impact. So today we’re announcing some more closures, bringing the total to 70 features or services closed since our spring cleaning began in 2011

- Posted by Urs Hölzle, SVP Technical Infrastructure and Google Fellow

The removal of this RSS reader, that has been in service for the last eight years, is due to Google's Spring Cleaning that began two years ago. This action is usually done by companies to stop the support on some products or services they are offering that might or has been considered obsolete or has been losing its loyal users.

Google Reader was launched on year 2005 as a way to keep track of the users' favorite websites. It has been one of the known free RSS readers on the market. Though there are still registered users for this service, the amount has been declining recently and so the company planned on closing it down.

The remaining time is given for the users to export their data using Google Takeout and are advised to transfer it to an alternative RSS Reader.

Other related software such as Apps Script's GUI Builder and five UiApp widgets, CalDAV API, Google Building Maker, Google Cloud Connect, Google Voice App for Blackberry and Search API for Shopping are reported to be shutting down or being restricted too.

Netizens Reaction with the Shut Down

As an effect, many felt sad of this issue. Even Google Reader trends on Twitter world wide. Twitter users show their sympathy on what happened.

Aside from this, a small clip showing Hitler's dismay was posted by leebdough on YouTube.

Google Unveils a New Technology - the Talking Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:01:00 +0000

Just months ago, Google announced their hi-tech glasses known as Google Glass that was developed by Google X Labs. It was shown how a simple wearable glass can be upgraded into a smart object that has an ability to interact with the Internet via voice commands.

Now, Google has again unveil another technology known as Google Shoes -- aka the "Talking Shoes"

What's with these Google Shoes?

It was reported that Google teamed up with Adidas for creating the said concept. They said that the shoes was smart enough, being powered by Android operating system, to know 250 phrases, track your physical activity and it can even communicate with your mobile phone.

These Adidas shoes, that was announced at the annual SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, has almost the same technology of a smartphone. It has an accelerometer for movements, a gyroscope for directions, a Bluetooth for connection and a pressure sensor. Aside from that, it also features a conical speaker that can be used to broadcast the phrases it knows.

The shoes can also monitor your physical activity and throw that information to your social networking accounts or can just shout out the words via audio with its own speakers. Now imagine what it will post on the Internet when you step on a poop!

Anyway, is out? Where can I get those Google Shoes?

Unfortunately, the said product is STILL a concept. An advertisement, created by 72andSunny and YesYesNo, was developed as an experiment to show the future of technology. Wearable items such as glass and shoes that can interact with the Internet are now close to possible.

It said that this could also be that Google is preparing the world for its coming product (Google Glass) which is reported to be release later this year.

Based on the video ad, the shoes are shown having its own Google Plus account and constantly reacting with its wearer's actions. It includes a voice that sounds a little bit robotic or system-generated like tone (similar to a Siri type of voice).

A Talking Shoe? uhm.. Siri is that you?

Speaking of Siri, to be honest, after watching the said advertisement, the first thing that pops into my mind was Siri of IPhone. I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, since iOS is competing with Android (which is also from Google), could it be that they are competing with this feature by using this talking AI-like concept on a different object other than mobile phones?

Well, that is just my imagination speaking out loud. I'm not up for any debate regarding this matter. I'm just one of those few excited tech-savvy who can't wait for such technology to exists. Who knows, maybe the "mirror on the wall" from the Snow White's story might be the next Google's project. :)

Anyway, here is the ad as posted by GoogleVideos on YouTube, what can you say?

How Can I Hide My IP Address? VPNs!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 05:17:00 +0000

What is an IP address?

An IP address, in simplicity, is the number assigned to your computer when you use the Internet. In the same manner that your cellular service provider assigns you a number for your cell phone, your computer too is assigned a number. Unlike your cell phone, this number is not static but it is dynamic depending on various factors. You cannot access the Internet without this binary number assigned to you.

For instance when you type "How to troubleshot on Windows XP" on a search engine, the search engine sends this query to a number of databases connected to it. It provides you with the links for various websites it acquires from its databases that satisfy the query. You then click on the links and seek the information you need. Well, such a simple process would be impossible without an IP address. The Internet would not know where to send the information you ask for it.

Benefits of hiding the IP address

An IP address therefore, is akin to a mailing address that states your location so that information can be sent to you. It is also used to identify your computer as an Internet user both functions, which are vital for you to access the vast resources, present in the Internet.

The problem arises however, when this means of identification and addressing does not fully work to your advantage. In the same manner that the web uses the IP to send information to you, other users use the IP to locate you and even trace your Internet activities. It guides a cyber-stalker who not only can follow you, but also can use the link they create with the IP to get your information.

Imagine that the company confidential data you are privy to can be tapped into. Even worse, a hacker can track when you make a payment online and even steal your credit card details. Therefore, despite the great resource that an IP address is, it calls for you to hide it from other users when using the Internet to guarantee your safety and data safety as well.

Hiding your IP guarantees:

Safety of confidential information

One of the easiest ways to lose your job is letting out company information. Do not be surprised to find competing companies attempting to hack into your LAN or a single computer to access information. The free market economy is quite competitive and many would do anything simply to stay afloat. Such a risk is higher when connecting via a remote connection.
Safety of your personal data

An easy way for identity theft to occur is accessing vital personal information via the Internet. Do not suffer the loss protect yourself from such fraud.
Inability to be traced

One cannot trace you and your activities offering you great privacy. Know however, that in conducting illegal activities most courts can give out a search warrant hence IP blocking serves little purpose then.

How to use VPN to hide IP

Various methods for hiding your address exist ranging from the simple to the advanced. Simple methods include taking your computer to a cyber café, using an institutions Wi-Fi connection such as one in a library or university or changing the dial-up access number. Such methods are easy to execute but also easy for one to figure out the IP wrapping tactic and still trace you if they are intent on doing so.

An advanced but highly effective of hiding your IP address is using VPN technology. VPN is used to connect you to a public network securely but this connection can also act as a server. This concept is similar to using a proxy server when the server acts as the go between effectively hiding your IP from any user who is tracing you. The server when traced will present an anonymous IP address unlike your computer, which has a specific identification address.

The benefit of using a VPN connection over a proxy is quite simple; the VPN connection is more secure than the proxy installation. The proxy can be compromised but a VPN cannot through accessing the service provider or application providing the proxy. Also a proxy is only applicable when using a browser to access the Internet whereas a VPN connection hides you IP address regardless of whatever application, form of device or browser you use to access the Internet.

VPN also adds you the benefit of choosing the IP address with which you want to mask your real one. You can choose one of a different state or even a different country as your fake address. With an advanced VPN connection, not only do you access public networks securely through tunneling technology but also your IP is identity and data is protected. Remember, cyber security is nothing to joke about.

Which VPN to use?

There are several companies out there, in fact over 100 who offer VPN services. We'll list the top 3 here, but if you want to find out more, there's a review site at best VPN who are pretty good.

HideMyAss

HideMyAss is a UK company who have over 300 servers and 40,000 IP addresses, and are probably the best known brand out there. They have all the features you could want, the VPN works on almost any device. Monthly fees will set you back around $11.
PureVPN

PureVPN is the second biggest company, they are similar in size to HideMyAss. Their only real negative point is that their unlimited bandwidth VPN package costs $18, quite a bit more than most services.
StrongVPN

StrongVPN is the third option, they are based in San Francisco. They boast have over 350 servers, and their pricing is very good too. They don't have a privacy policy though, which probably means they are keeping a record of your browsing.

Guest Author

Peter Zaborszky - Peter runs quite a few review sites, that let you compare online services like backups and VPNs. He also likes salsa dancing.

How to be a Multi-Player Game Developer

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 06:18:00 +0000

The games industry is a multi-billion dollar business bursting at the seams with fantastic games on a variety of genres including puzzle, multi platform and virtual world to name but a few. Internet games fit into a variety of platforms one popular type being the multi-player variety. There are of course email based games too as well as handheld varieties through the iOS and Android operating systems. Lots of choice and ideas, many important decisions need making if you want to become the next big multi-player games developer.

Set your goals

To be a multi-player developer you first need to decide what kind of game you want to create. Do some research, this is vital. Find out what’s hot and what’s not, do you want to create an intense virtual world or small game offered free but with using lots of brand advertising to create revenue. Lot’s to think about! The bigger games don’t tend to be web based; the purchaser buys the game often in CD or DVD-ROMs and encourages their friends to do the same, connecting socially in the evening from their own homes. Take a look at the site MPOGD which will show you a massive variety of multi-player games to inspire you; maybe you already have an idea.

Check your skills

How are your programming skills? It’s far from easy to come up with the next massive blockbuster multi-player gaming success but with the right skills and original imagination you can create something amazing. Look at your skill base and use this to decide the next direction. Browser games can be created through JavaScript or DHTML, Flash, Java and maybe even ActiveX/COM! Whatever your strength is in terms of programming go with that. This is not the time to create something you aren’t confident it. You can always see this as your first challenge of many.

Check the hardware options

You will need a server if you are going to develop any web based game and offer multi-player options. If you wanted you could choose to do that through shared hosting, the downside is the severe loss of speed. It’s going to be sloooow. It is far superior to rent a server or if you have the cash, and it is expensive… buy your own. It depends on how confident you feel in your abilities and how much finances you have. Maybe you have a friend who fancies partnering you in your venture. Two heads can be better than one. At first it is likely to be a brilliant idea to create a turn based game, unless you are bursting with personal programming confidence.

I hope you don’t think I’m saying that you aren’t an excellent Flash developer and can’t write good server code as well; I’m sure you can and have the aptitude to be a huge success. Just make sure you can run before you can fly. Game creation, especially multi-player is such a popular field of computer development and the market is saturated.

Other options

How about creating a multi-player game on the iOS operating system? There are also protocol options for getting the software to communicate with the android operating system for greater target reach but this is tricky. YAML and JSON are two particularly good ones to look at in terms of coding if you’re familiar with either of them. One particularly good website considered to be a market leader in free game development for iOS and Android is Score Loop. Worth a look whilst deciding how you want to pursue your ambitions for creating the next celebrated multi-player game. Think carefully, gather one fantastic imaginative original idea and go for it!

Guest Author

The article is being written by Jason Phillips. He is a video game developer and owns an institute for developing video games. His student recently developed a new game for Zombie Games 365.

Image courtesy of Naypong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How To Create Your Own Blogspot Template for Free Using Twitter Bootstrap

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:49:00 +0000

Most free templates that is developed with Twitter Bootstrap are for Wordpress and Tumblr blogs only. So I thought, why not create my own twitter bootstrap based template for Blogspot users like me.

So, our target for today is to create our very own template for your Blogspot sites using Twitter Bootstrap.

With the help of this framework, creating your own template takes only a few minutes and some creativity.

This blog itself is an example of a template made out of the said framework.

Uhm.. What is Twitter Bootstrap?

Twitter Bootstrap is a free collection of tools for creating websites and web applications. It contains HTML, javascript and CSS files that you can use for creating sites easier. You can find more information in this site.

Do I need to learn anything? err.. Coding?

Well since we are designing for a website, coding is a must in here. BUT WAIT, don't be scared! we just need to rely on your basic knowledge about HTML and CSS. We don't need anything fancy in here. I'll keep the steps as simple as possible.

Resources for this Tutorial

For the complete file samples used in this tutorial, you can download it on the link below. We also provided a demo site for you to check on.

Download Files

Demo Site

Steps on Creating the Template

NOTE: I'll try to make the steps as simple as possible so that every one can follow.

What we are about to do is a simple two-column responsive design for blogspot - one column for the sidebar (a place for widgets) and one for the main theme.

Start by downloading the framework's zip file.

Download Twitter Bootstrap

Since blogspot uses a single file for template, it is a must to upload the files you downloaded to an online file storage or server. There are lots of free online file storage, such as DropBox and Google Drive, for you to choose from.
Download the resources above this post and open fluid.html using your favorite text/code editor such as notepad. This will be your base file for our template design.

This is based on the default fluid design offered on Twitter Bootstrap's website with minor customization to emphasize the things we need to do later on. Note that a fluid design is actually a responsive design that adjusts itself based on the viewport of the browser. Meaning, it automatically fits itself in the browser even if it is resized.

Customizing the Headers

First of all, replace the first two lines of our base template from:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

to:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html expr:dir='data:blog.languageDirection' lang='en' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml' xmlns:b='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/b' xmlns:data='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/data' xmlns:expr='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/expr'>

This prepares your site from being a plain HTML to a blogspot template. Note also that the DOCTYPE is now prepared for HTML5.

Customizing the Tags

Replace the default title tag from:
```
<title>Bootstrap, from Twitter</title>
```
to something like this:
```
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "index"'>
  <title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>
 <b:else/>
  <title><data:blog.pageName/> :: <data:blog.title/></title>
 </b:if>
```
This allows our template to switch title from the index type page and article page.

For the description and author, you can simply fill it out for now with whatever your description is.

CSS Customization

On the file, search for this comment:

<!--PLACE BLOGSPOT XML HERE-->

and replace it with this:

<b:skin><![CDATA[/* Variable definitions
====================
<Variable name="bgcolor" description="Page Background Color"
type="color" default="#E0DED5" value="#E0DED5">
<Variable name="textcolor" description="Text Color"
type="color" default="#333" value="#333333">
<Variable name="linkcolor" description="Link Color"
type="color" default="#DF3F3F" value="#DF3F3F">
<Variable name="descriptioncolor" description="Blog Description Color"
type="color" default="#E2C0C0" value="#E2C0C0">
<Variable name="titlecolor" description="Post Title Color"
type="color" default="#5E1111" value="#5E1111">
<Variable name="bordercolor" description="Border Color"
type="color" default="#E0DED5" value="#E0DED5">
<Variable name="sidebarcolor" description="Sidebar Title Color"
type="color" default="#5E1111" value="#5E1111">
<Variable name="sidebartextcolor" description="Sidebar Text Color"
type="color" default="#333" value="#333333">
<Variable name="visitedlinkcolor" description="Visited Link Color"
type="color" default="#DF3F3F" value="#DF3F3F">
<Variable name="bodyfont" description="Text Font"
type="font" default="normal normal 100% Arial, sans-serif" value="normal normal 100% Arial, sans-serif">
*/
]]></b:skin>

The code above is required by Blogspot to be placed on your template. This is used as the basis of default colors for bloggers's widget such as AdSense and other links. It would be better if you can replace the colors later on but for now, we will just retain it as it is.

Any other customized CSS can be placed AFTER this line:

<!--PLACE ALL CUSTOMED CSS AFTER THIS-->

You can place here all CSS customization such as changing the font-size, colors, background-colors etc.

Note that the positioning of CSS files is important in web designing especially on twitter bootstrap.

Customizing the navigation

Search and replace BLOG NAME with the following code:
```
<data:blog.pageTitle/>
```
You can also replace or prepend it with an image if you like.

As for the navigation itself, beginners can make it static for now. Just add your pages by editing the contents.

Look for this block of code to edit it:
```
<ul class="nav">
 <li class="active"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
 <li><a href="#about">About</a></li>
 <li><a href="#contact">Contact</a></li>
</ul>
```
For the Home, replace the href attribute with expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl', making it:
```
<li class="active"><a expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl'>Home</a></li>
```
Take note of expr before href.

For the other links, just replace the href attribute with the proper link. No need to prepend expr.

Sidebar and Main Content

Look for the following within the file and replace it:

SIDE BAR GOES HERE:

<b:section class='sidebar' id='sidebar' preferred='yes'/>

MAIN CONTENT GOES HERE:

<b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'>
<b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'/>
</b:section>

COMPANY:

<data:blog.pageTitle/>

Fix the external file locations

Look for the following, lines and fix the href with the proper file locations where you place the bootstrap files you downloaded on the first step:
```
<link href="css/bootstrap.css" rel="stylesheet">
...
<link href="css/bootstrap-responsive.css" rel="stylesheet">
...
<script src="js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
```
That should be it. Now save your file as myTemplate.xml.

Back-up your existing template (just to be safe) then upload your very own customized twitter bootstrap based blogspot template.

That's it, you now have your very own customized template made out of twitter bootstrap. To see if it is responsive, try to re-size your browser window and see how the site adjusts to size changes. :)

Reset Git SSH Key to Log-in Using a New Heroku Account

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 04:06:00 +0000

Problem

I have two accounts on Heroku, one is for my personal use and a new one for my demo related apps. I have installed the heroku-toolbelt already on my computer and have logged in using my personal account. Now I wanted to logged in as demo account but the console returns me the following:

$ heroku login
Enter your Heroku credentials.
Email: [EMAIL HERE]
Password (typing will be hidden):
Found existing public key: C:/Documents and Settings/AJ/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
Uploading SSH public key C:/Documents and Settings/NCBaterina/.ssh/id_rsa.pub...failed!
This key is already in use by another account. Each account must have a unique key.

Analysis and Solution

It seems that Git already generated SSH keys and saved it locally. Now since this will be sent to Heroku and your old account already used this, this will be considered invalid by the server.

To resolve this, we need to generate a new SSH key that we can use.

First, we need to check the existing SSH keys on our computer. Run the following command:
```
$ cd ~/.ssh
$ ls
```
running ls will return you the following:
```
config id_rsa id_rsa.pub known_hosts
```
Back-up your existing SSH keys before removing it
```
$ mkdir backup_keys
$ mv id_rsa* backup_keys
```
Just a quick explanation, the first line creates a back-up directory while the second line moves the keys to the said directory.

Now try logging again on heroku by typing:

$ heroku login

This will prompt you again for you to create a new set of SSH keys.

$ heroku login
Enter your Heroku credentials.
Email: [EMAIL HERE]
Password (typing will be hidden):
Could not find an existing public key.
Would you like to generate one? [Yn] y
Generating new SSH public key.
Uploading SSH public key C:/Documents and Settings/NCBaterina/.ssh/id_rsa.pub... done
Authentication successful.

Now, Git will generate a new SSH public key for your new account. This way you can now login using your alternate or new Heroku account without re-installing Heroku-toolbelt to the same machine. You can still access your old account using the same computer though.

Saving an Image Passed to the Server Using Phonegap

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:12:00 +0000

Specifications

Website with Ruby on Rails (Rails version 3.2.6)
Mobile Application Developed with PhoneGap (version 2.4.0)

Scenario

The mobile application needs to pass an image captured from the mobile device towards the website. The website then needs to save it for displaying purposes.

The camera.getPicture function, which is available on PhoneGap, opens the device's default camera so that the user can take a picture. By default, this function returns a string containing Base64 encoded image data.

Application to the Code

Using the Base64 encoded data, we can send this information to the server using an AJAX function and submitting the image data as a key-value pair.

Submitting to the server via AJAX might look similar to this code:

$.ajax({
 type: "POST",
 url: [REPLACE WITH URL TO WHERE THE REQUEST SHOULD BE SENT],
 data: {
  imgData: [REPLACE WITH THE BASE64-IMAGE-DATA]
 },
 dataType: "text",
 timeout: 10000
}).fail(function(jqXHR, status) {
 // do some checking here
}).done(function(jqxHR, status){
 // do some checking here
});

On the server side, you can catch this data and do the process of saving of an image. See code below as an example:

Controller

def upload_image
  
 # this is to verify if the correct 
 if params[:imgData] && !params[:imgData].blank
  ImageHandler.save_image(params[:imgData])
  result = {:message => "Image Saved", :save_status => 0}
 else
  result = {:message => "Data is invalid", :save_status => 1}
 end
  
 respond_to do |format|
  format.xml { render xml: result}
  format.json { render json: result}
 end
 
end

Model (app/assets/models/image_handler.rb)

class ImageHandler < ActiveRecord::Base
  def save_image(imgData)
 directory = "public/data/"
 
 if !File.exists?(directory)
  Dir.mkdir(directory)
 end
 
 path = File.join(directory, "image.png")
 File.open(path, 'wb') do|f|
  f.write(Base64.decode64(imgData))
 end
  end
end

Data sent over AJAX will be handled on the controller. In the controller, we check whether the imgData are sent. If yes, pass the imgData to the model and do the saving process else, we need to return an error message.

For the model, the imgData passed would be decoded and written as file inside the public/data directory. This way, the data can now be displayed as a normal image for websites using the imgage_tag by rails or just by using a simple image tags in HTML.

As for the mobile application, an XML result will be sent back for checking whether the process is done successfully.

How to Recover your Administrator Password for Joomla!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 02:52:00 +0000

I had a problem earlier with a previous client who asks me to recover their password because the admin forgot her own password.

That client is also a friend of mine, so I tried to help him even if our contract with them has already ended a long time ago. I tried to access the superadmin account (of which I used as my own access aka developer's access) but unfortunately the project was two years ago and all I have is the old admin's password that doesn't seem to work now. I also tried all my superadmin accounts's password that I can remember but nothing seems to work too.

Since Joomla!'s login page doesn't provide a "Forgot the Password" feature. There is nothing left for me but to go to CPanel and access the database.

Joomla! uses a one-way salted MD5 hashing to its password. That means recovering it would be a bigger issue. Instead of doing that, I just replace it with another password of which I can use.

Fortunately, Joomla! FAQ's already offered hashed strings that can be used since this issue has already happened before.

password	MD5 hash of password
admin	21232f297a57a5a743894a0e4a801fc3
secret	5ebe2294ecd0e0f08eab7690d2a6ee69
OU812	7441de5382cf4fecbaa9a8c538e76783

To reset the password of your superadmin account

Open your MySQL database. You can use phpMyAdmin or any MySQL utility that you are using.
Open your database and look for PREFIX_users where PREFIX is the table prefix you set for your tables.
Look for the administrator account. The name should be Super User with a username of admin. The tutorials over the net says it has an ID of 62, but I found my record has an ID of 42
Edit it and replace the password with the hash as shown on the table above. Take note that you should copy the MD5 hashed string and not the password itself.
Save the record.
Now that the password has been updated, go to the login page and try your new username and password.
Once you have logged in, make sure that you update again your password with a real and safer password.

As for the problem I had, it seems that both superadmin and admin's password are both changed for some reason. I'm not sure if the clients were the one who accidentally changed it. Anyway, thanks to them that I now know that "Forgot password" in Joomla! login page doesn't exists, I didn't noticed that before. :D

Got a New Website? Generate Buzz, Drive Visitors and Increase Business

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 01:51:00 +0000

When launching a new website, it's vital you generate excitement and buzz surrounding it, or else it'll likely to get lost "out there." Optimizing your site to engage new users can be exciting, but if you're unsure how to do so, it can be a little intimidating, too.

Here are 10 easier-than-expected steps to drive visitors to your site and help them have a great experience once they're there:

Do your research. Research the top blogs in your field and develop relationships with the bloggers who are in the best position to help get your site noticed. A popular blogger who links to your site can do wonders for you and your business.
Keep content current. Your content should look like its been updated within the week, even if you only change a few words or link to a recent informational post on a blog or content aggregator.
Know SEO. Become intimately familiar with back links and search engine optimization (SEO), and make sure your site is indexed on Google. There's more to SEO than dropping keywords into your content and posting a press release that links to your URL several times. Consider taking a highly regarded SEO seminar or hiring an SEO professional.
Be proactive. Consider using a company like Reputation.com to monitor and manage your online reputation doing so can improve your Google search results and help manage ratings and reviews. A good reputation management company will create and promote positive content about your business that will help drive new customers to your site.
Show some spunk. Include a few items of personal interest to humanize the website creator.
Don't go overboard. Delete gimmicks or gratuitous technology or distracting graphics that have no relevance to the website.
Don't underestimate the value of a first impression. Do not promote a site that is not well-developed. Bad first impressions will affect later positioning in search engines.
Add video to your site. StacksAndStacks.com found visitors were 144 percent more likely to purchase a product after seeing a video of it, and in December 2009, retailer Ice.com found that viewers who viewed video converted (went from visitors to buyers) at a 400 percent increase over those who didn't. As many as 183 million U.S. Internet users watched online video in October 2012, Forbes.com reported; of the 37 billion-plus pieces of video content they viewed, 11 billion were video ads.
Be real and responsive. Use a real name of a real person at your company and current contact information. Don't force people interested in reaching out to you to fill in some anonymous form enable them to connect with you via phone, email, Facebook and Twitter, and make sure someone is assigned to respond. Responses should be prompt, helpful and engaging. If you must set up an auto-notification to acknowledge receipt of an inquiry, make sure there is personal follow-up.
Keep navigation simple. Create intuitive and obvious navigation and enable multiple topical entry points (links). No visitor should have to look twice to find out more about you, your products and services or pricing.

Guest Author

Carrie Novak - A self-taught web designer and SEO strategist, Carrie shares SEO tricks and tips from her home in Staten Island, NY.

Facebook Graph Search, an Analysis to the New Pillar of this Social Networking Site

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:42:00 +0000

After almost a week of waiting, my Facebook Graph Search is now enabled. To be honest, I was never aware of this until I saw a post about this on a blogger community. I did try to apply for the beta testing and it took me a week before it was enabled.

What the is Facebook Graph Search anyway?

Facebook Graph Search is the new feature, or pillar in Zuckerberg's terminology, that is being tested on Facebook ( though the company hopes to apply it after the testing ). This new pillar will focus on people, photos, places and interest that will be used to replace the Facebook current search tool. It would let users to perform specific searches around the people in their network.

Video from Facebook
As I have said earlier, the said feature is still in a "very early beta" testing. That means it is only available for a few users only and most of it are for US English users only. Though, Zuckerberg said that soon enough, this will be available to mobile users and other languages.

So, What can a Facebook Graph Search do?

Most beta testers right now compared it to Google Search and the current searching tool of Facebook. The Graph Search somehow combines the features of both searching tools.

Like Google Search, Graph Search parses the words such as people, places, photos or other content accessible and uses this to search within your Facebook connections. In contrast to Google which index the entire public web, it only looks for information that are indexed within your network.

Privacy policy is still observed though even if it was searchable. The company "respects the privacy and audience of each piece of content on Facebook. It makes finding new things much easier, but you can only see what you could already view elsewhere on Facebook". Meaning, only posts or information you set public are indexed and is available for searching.

But, Even with this assurance from the company, there are still some users and netizens who are still worried about the security flaws it may bring up. A Tumblr blog, owned by @tomscott, was even created to show off the bad things people might expect from this searching tool.

Also, it should also be clear that Facebook saves your search history. It saves information similar to how YouTube saves your viewing and search history. Fortunately, only you can see this searches right now and you can also clear this data like clearing your browsing history.

Did some testing to check for something obscene within my network :P

How can I try or enable this Graph Search?

This is the most common question around lately. The answer is simple, go to this page and sign up for the Facebook Graph Search beta testing. The button could be found at the end of the page.

You can watch the videos there and read the other details too of this new feature.

IMHO, Do I care about this anyway?

To be honest, NO, I don't see anything bad in here. If I am afraid that a friend or a friend of a friend might see my posts or information, then why should I post it online, right?

Image from 'Actual Facebook Graph Searches' by Tom Scott

The phrase "Think before you click" still works on this scenario. You don't just put malicious things on the internet and be afraid that your friends might see it. You don't normally post bad words to your wall and expect everyone not to react or notice it. Why would you post that you love prostitutes and be ashamed of it if you really don't mean it?

Right now, I don't see the point on why should everyone hate this new feature. I honestly don't see, for now, what's wrong with this new tool. Aside that it filters and give you a better search result, I don't see anything wrong with here.

Well anyway, if you are as curious as me too, you may want to try it and see for yourself. Ciao!

2013 Small Business Resolution: Optimize Website for Mobile

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:32:00 +0000

Think of it as a new year resolution. Unless you habitually break your resolutions, in which case, don't. Either way, if your small business hasn't created a mobile version of your website, this is the time to do it. Don't take my word for it, Bob Parsons, CEO and chairman of GoDaddy.com says it's the next big thing. His January 4th video blog is all about the importance of adding a mobile-ready version of your website to improve your business. The way people access the Internet is changing and, Parsons says, "if you care at all about how much money you make it's absolutely critical that your website is optimized for mobile."

Along with trusty video blog sidekick, Leann, businessman Parsons outlines his reasons you need a mobile site. Spoiler alert: they all boil down to the same thing, consumers are using mobile and if they can't use your site comfortably, they are unlikely to buy your products or services.

It's a no-brainer that more consumers are using mobile devices and using them to go online. What might surprise you (it surprised me) is when Bob says:

More than 50 percent of smartphone users say they're less likely to engage with a company that presents a bad mobile experience. Yet, 75 percent of small businesses don't have a mobile-ready website. Sixty-seven percent of mobile users say that a mobile-friendly site makes them more likely to buy a product or service.

Many small businesses don't have the luxury of employing a full-time webmaster or marketing person. It's easy to put your website on the back burner when you don't understand how to improve it and prioritize your in-store experience. When you hear, however, that 67 percent of people with mobile devices are more likely to buy something when they have a good experience with a mobile site, well, that's an awful lot of motivation to create or revamp your mobile website.

A mobile website doesn't need to have a bunch of bells and whistles, but it does need to be functional and easy-to-use. Or, as Parsons says:

If you advertise in any medium, you need to have a mobile website. Google research shows that the majority of smartphone users who see a business ad will often look for that business on their mobile device. Having a mobile website will make your advertising dollars much more productive. The bottom line is this: a good mobile site will drive customers to your business and increase sales. A bad mobile site will disappoint your customers and prospects and cost you money. So mobilizing your site, making it mobile ready, is an absolute must.

Imagine yourself as the consumer, and this has probably happened to you: you see an ad for a business that intrigues you. Let's say it's for a special sale or promotion that runs for a limited time. You look the business up on your phone and want to know their hours of operation. No matter how hard you look, you can't seem to find that information. You might find the phone number but it just rings endlessly, there's no answer and no answering machine. Are you going to patronize that business? Unlikely, isn't it? So, whether you use GoDaddy or not (Bob will give the shameless plug for his product at the end of the video) find a way to make a mobile site that will bring business in, rather than driving it away.

Guest Author

Mark Hooper - Ex-football player Mark is the proud owner of an athletic store that supplies uniforms and equipment for the local schools in his town. He loves to share his tips and ideas for business success with other entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Top 10 Secrets of Casual Game Design

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 02:21:00 +0000

Game designers looking to start out in the business or those that have a passion and expertise in the craft can always use information that will help them to succeed. No matter where you or your company may fall in the aforementioned categorizations, the following are some useful tips and tricks to help you develop the next best casual game. Secrets of the industry, these can help a bad game become better or tell you when you need to stop and start again.

Create For All

Your casual game design need not focus on a specific group of individuals or target a trending demographic. Instead, focus on creating a game for everyone. Think about how you want the game design to be and do not narrow your market too much. It will, as will be discussed below, find its place in the game's market it supposed to and gamers will respond to a good game that is fit for everyone rather than a narrowed market game.

Quality Over Profit

Ultimately, game designers want to turn their creations and craft into monies. There is nothing wrong with focusing on profitability. After all, it is the game designer's job to turn their passion into a lucrative business. However, make sure that you are not focusing on making money in sacrifice of the game itself. Gamers will notice if the cost is too much or if they are spending more for in game purchases that do not meet their needs. Make sure that you are offering a quality product at an affordable price and the quality can lead to more sales and more money in your pocket.

Marketing Through Quality

After designing your game, there is the inevitable need to market it. Marketing campaigns can be expensive and elaborate. However, they do not need to be that complicated. Often, a good and quality product will market itself. Game designers should allow their creations to work for them by providing incentives for purchase through customer reviews and the quality of the entertainment they provide. Word of mouth promotions are one of the simplest and most lucrative marketing strategies.

Solid Foundation

Too many games and game designers are focused on bringing the next best thing to market instead of looking to the past and what has been successful. Yes, there needs to be a fresh take on the old games people love but this should come with knowledge of the basics. The strongest games and the ones that are being requested by gamers now, are those that call upon the solid foundation of the earliest game designs. Look to the past and you may just find the secrets to the next best thing in game design.

Team Effort

Working in any profession or any career gives you a perspective of your product and business that no one else has. It can also cause stagnation and thinking that stays rooted in old ideas. Game designing is no different. To make sure that you are getting the most from you game and its design, be sure to include others in the process. Consider having group workshops for anyone in your business, even outsiders, and get their take on what is new, what is needed, and where game design concepts can go. These fresh ideas can be just the secret you need to making the next big hit and can boost morale for all those employees you work with every day but may not interact with on a regular basis.

Follow Your Instinct

Knowing your competition and your competitors is important in any game design. However, dwelling on what the others are doing can delay your own design. Follow your instinct and your heart when designing a game and do not focus too much on the other games in your genre. The best games are those that are developed with passion and not those that are made to fit a niche directly. A good game will find its own location in the market.

Provide Help

A game should not expect to be successful if it provides the rules and sends the player off with no check in throughout. The greatest casual games are those that continual teach and help the player. This does not mean a continual tutorial of words and of consistent monitoring. Instead, the tutorial should be selective and placed when needed in the game. This will help the gamer to feel comforted and able to play when confronted with unknown presences in the game but not feel like they are being babysat. A continual tutorial, then, is needed but does not need to be overt.

Back To the Basics

In much the same way that casual game designs should focus on the roots of the past, they should also get back to the basics in game concepts. Casual games are not about elaborate plots and fantastical story lines. Instead, they are focused on the play of the game itself and basic control mastering to play the game effectively. Do not try and make a game too complicated because it will fail to be casual and, thus, undermine your ultimate game design goals.

Be Willing To Stop

The greatest games are not those that are worked and reworked to make a bad game look good. If a concept is bad or the path just seems to be a failed one, there needs to be an exit strategy. Games can fail. That is the truth of it and if this failure can clearly be seen in the development stage, game designers must be willing to stop and make a decision on this quickly. If not, energy, talent, monies, and time are wasted when the next big and successful project could be just around the corner.

Feedback More Than Face Value

Focus group feedback and testing are a crucial part of game design. You want to hear what consumers, designers, and potential markets are saying about your product and the ways it can be improved. This feedback is crucial to developing a successful game. Yet, simply listening to the words of your participants and testers may not provide you with a clear picture. Often, these individuals use descriptive terms such as “scary” or “too easy” to convey their messages. The reality is though that often these are focused on the visual phrases that come to mind or the first words rather than what it is really their concern. Be sure to think about what they are saying in the full context or ask specific questions when negative feedback arises. This will help to give your casual playing game a greater chance at making the changes necessary to build a solid product.

Guest Author

Jason Phillips has authored this amazing guest post. He loves to write reviews and have many websites with tips and guides on gadgets and video games. He has now started writing articles for the site Zombie Games 365.

Image courtesy of Jeroen van Oostrom / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Adding Twitter Card Meta Tags to you Blogspot Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 05:24:00 +0000

Twitter added a new feature on sharing links on their feeds known as Twitter Cards. This allows you to attach media experiences to tweets that have links going to your websites. This way, you're not just rendering plain text links to your followers but also a glimpse on what they should expect.

This feature can be achieved by adding a few lines of code to your pages and submitting your URL to Twitter for verification. Though it is a easy as adding a few lines, using Twitter Cards on blogspot may be tricky.

So, to resolve this, here is a step-by-step process that you can use.

Wait! Before you start...

Let us first tackle the three kinds of Twitter Cards:

A summary card is the default card, which includes a title, description, thumbnail image, and Twitter account attributions of the link. It is the most common card that is used and this is what we are going to do here.
A photo card shows a tweet sized photo card. This is usually used for photo sharing sites like deviantart.
A player card shows a media player card to your tweets with links. This is perfect for video related websites

Steps on Adding Twitter Card to Blogspot

First is to login on your blogspot account and go to Template > Edit HTML

WARNING: Make sure to back-up first your Template before proceeding with the next steps.

Put the HTML meta tag lines below inside your head tags. If you are not familiar with HTML, then you may search for this line first and put them just above it.

<b:include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/>

These are the meta tags that you should add:

<!--twitter-->
<meta content='summary' name='twitter:card'/>
<meta content='[BLOGS-TWITTER-HANDLER]' name='twitter:site'/>
<meta content='[AUTHORS-TWITTER-HANDLER]' name='twitter:creator'/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.canonicalUrl' name='twitter:url'/>
 
<!--DESC-->
<b:if cond='data:blog.metaDescription != ""'>
 <meta expr:content='data:blog.metaDescription' name='twitter:description'/>
<b:else/>
 <meta content='[BLOGS-DEFAULT-DESCRIPTION]' name='twitter:description'/>
</b:if>

<!--IMAGES-->
<b:if cond='data:blog.postImageThumbnailUrl'>
 <meta expr:content='data:blog.postImageThumbnailUrl' name='twitter:image'/>
<b:else/>
 <meta content='[BLOGS-DEFAULT-THUMBNAIL]' name='twitter:image'/>
</b:if>

<!-- TITLE -->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "index"'>
 <meta expr:content='data:blog.pageTitle' name='twitter:title'/>
<b:else/>
 <meta expr:content='data:blog.pageName' name='twitter:title'/>
</b:if>

Now replace the following items with your own choice:
- [BLOGS-TWITTER-HANDLER] - your blog's twitter handler, ex. @ajibanda_pp (don't forget the @ sign)
- [AUTHORS-TWITTER-HANDLER] - the author's twitter handler, ex. @ajibanda (don't forget the @ sign)
- [BLOGS-DEFAULT-DESCRIPTION] - your blog's short description. Take note that this is different from a tag line.
- [BLOGS-DEFAULT-THUMBNAIL] - your blog's default thumbnail in case nothing is available.
Afterwards, save your template.
Check now if everything works fine using the preview generated by twitter.

If it is fine then you should be able to see something similar to the image below.
Finally, apply to participate by submitting your link and other information to Twitter. Check this page for the submission form.

Verificaion may take a couple of days up to week. Twitter will send you an email that you have successfully added a twitter card to your blog once you are verified.

So what do you get after having Twitter Cards?

Let's just say that most popular sites are now using this. So why should you be left behind right? With this feature, it gives you an extra attraction for your links posted on twitter. With more attraction comes more traffic, and as a blogger, I know that this is a kind of traffic that all of us want! :)

2013 Business Trend: Switching to SaaS and the Cloud for Data Quality

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 02:27:00 +0000

To start off, businesses also commit to New Year's resolutions. From new marketing strategies to in-depth customer analytics, companies seek innovative services and programs that will enhance business operations and increase revenues. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is a software distribution model that's designed to store applications and data on a reliable, external digital space, which is also known as the cloud. Switching to SaaS may be your business's essential resolution for 2013.

According to research from Martinwolf Global M&A Advisors that's reported on gigaom.com, SaaS companies experienced "hypergrowth" or "white-hot growth" in 2012 Although the value of SaaS slowed down at the end of the year, it still surpassed traditional IT services and providers. You may ask as you remodel and update your marketing plan: Do I really need SaaS and cloud computing? SaaS in addition to other efficiency solutions, such as address validation and customer profiling, can provide higher-quality data for marketing campaigns and reduction costs.

If you're unfamiliar with cloud computing or SaaS deployment solutions, the following facts may help you feel more comfortable while deciding whether or not your business needs to adopt this trend:

What is SaaS?

SaaS is an "on-demand" software delivery model in which your organization's applications, such as accounting, customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP), are located and accessed. The SaaS cloud serves as a virtual space or data center where resources are stored and allocated.

How Does SaaS Improve Data Quality?

Cloud computing, also known as cloud data storage, is secure and accurate, which improves the quality of your data. Vendors also provide data redundancy, data backup and disaster recovery plans for organizations that use cloud computing. Upgraded software that keeps sensitive enterprise data and private customer information protected and easily accessible for updates and collaboration ensures data quality for your business.

Why Do I Need SaaS?

Integrating SaaS and using the cloud eliminate the need for onsite IT support, equipment, hardware and software maintenance.

SaaS also provides:

Scalability & Affordability: Services can increase and decrease based on demand, which improves efficiency and reduces costly expenditures.
Mobility & Availability: Because SaaS applications are stored on a cloud, data is accessible anywhere, anytime.
Collaboration: Employees can communicate and access information via the cloud in real-time from any location via smartphones, tablets and laptops.
Upgrades & New Installations: SaaS vendors are equipped with the IT capabilities to keep your software applications and systems up-to-date with the latest versions.
Efficiency: SaaS vendors have the expertise and resources to deploy applications, ensuring security and accuracy. SaaS eliminates the burden and responsibility of managing traditional software from your organization, which could take months to deploy onsite.
Competitiveness: If you're an SMB, you can still operate with the same applications that larger enterprises with more technological resources and larger budgets use — keeping you competitive.
Financial Reductions: Support, upgrades and maintenance are taken care of by the provider and included in the subscription.

What Will it Cost to Integrate SaaS?

Integrating SaaS into your current IT infrastructure can be challenging and costly. Ease into cloud computing by creating an IT environment that combines onsite IT as well as SaaS cloud applications. Ensure that an SaaS vendor can seamlessly integrate SaaS solutions with your existing on-premise IT system. Keep in mind you're eliminating the need for time-consuming and costly resources (e.g. consultations and installation services) that are necessary to deploy new technologies and software in the future.

Guest Author

Tom Youso is an accountant and a huge fan of cloud computing solutions that help SMBs simplify their bookkeeping and CSM operations.

Six Things Video Games Can Teach Us About Web Usability

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:53:00 +0000

There are many people who do not like video games and think that they do nothing for those that play them but rot their brains. Think again, video games actually can be educational and have benefits. If you don’t believe that, then you need to read this article to the end. If you are pursuing a career as a web designer, or you are thinking about one, video games can teach you a lot.

Video Games Are Realistic

Video games have changed over the years. Years ago playing a video game may have consisted on controlling a small paddle and hitting a ball. Today, you actually feel as if you are part of the video game. When a person plays a video game, it is because he or she enjoys it. They like the action and the story line of the game. You may be surprised to realize that the video game industry is becoming more popular than the movie industry.
Do Gamers Have Patience?

Have you ever played a video game and became frustrated while you waited for the game to load? Did it take a long time for the game to load? Today, video games have a variety of ways that they keep the user entertained while he or she is waiting for the load to complete. Possibly, you have noticed that music may play, or there may be a mini game that the users can play to occupy their time. So what does this have to do with wed design? On the Internet, the “loading and waiting time” usually happens because of Flash.
Tutorials Make Learning Quick and Easy

Most video games today come with an instruction book that explains some of the most important information you need to know when it comes to playing the video game. The first level or phase of a video game typically is the “learning” phase because it allows the player/s to understand how to play the game. This goes hand-in-hand with websites. Think about it, if someone were to come to your website and he or she was confused as to what a certain thing was on your website or how to use a certain function, then the user may leave your web site.
Progressive Enhancement

People who own a video game system that allows them to view games, etc. in high definition such as the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3 enjoy the vibrant colors and crisp picture. People no longer have to play video games that are black and neon green. As a web designer you can do the same thing with a web site once you learn CSS. Web designers also use RGBa values, which gives them the freedom to overlay graphics and control the color of the website hence making the appearance vibrant and crystal-clear.
It's More Than Just Graphics

It's true that graphics play an important role but so does the functionality of the game and the experience that gamers experience. If a game has the most beautiful graphics, but it is completely boring to play, it will not end up being a huge success. Needless to say the same holds true for web sites. If a person creates one of the most beautiful web sites, but it is not user friendly, then chances are the web site will not get many returning visitors!
Simple Interface

Last but definitely not least, it is important for any video game or web site to keep its interface simple. If a user or gamer becomes frustrated trying to figure out the website or the video game chances are the user or gamer will leave the web site or game and not come back to view it or play it again.

Guest Author

Jason Phillips has posted this article. He is a regular guest contributor and editor at his own gaming site. He recently published an article for the site sonicgames365.com based on sonic games.

Some of the Worst Video Game Box Designs Ever Created

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron James Banda) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 02:21:00 +0000

We all know that it's not what's on the outside that's important, but does that apply when it comes to video game boxes? Some have been so bad that it leaves you wondering what they were thinking. Did they run out of creative budget? Join me in a painful look at some of the worst we've ever seen with the hope that we never will again.

Snow White and the Seven Clever Boys (PS2, 2006)

This one takes the prize for creep factor. In all the renditions of Snow White I've seen through the years, this was the first to depict her in a Gothic sense. Maybe next time try to incorporate some facial piercings and tattoos. A black clothing ensemble would be more fitting for this group.
Secret Command (Sega Master System, 1986)

This one is reminiscent of geometry class with a graph paper looking background. You don't often see such little effort put into something that is going to be sold for money. Okay, maybe the art department had an "off day", but surely someone along the assembly line of management had to take a look and say "really?"
Strider (Genesis, 1990)

This attempt at a "superhero" look might have been okay in the mid-1980s, but it certainly should have been updated for a 1990 game. The whole spandex wearing, perfect hair looking dude out to save the world is about as corny as it gets. I certainly hope those CIA moms out there never let their son leave home looking like that!
Cheggers Party Quiz (Wii, 2007)

This strange cover art screams one thing: child molester! Stay away from Chegger and stay away from his party. If they were trying to pull off a visual of some type of game show host, they failed miserably. Richard Dawson never looked like he was going to grab someone with little scrawny arms.
Final Zone II (Turbo CD, 1990)

When it comes to amateur looking artwork, this one wins hands-down. It is busy with color, but looks more like an ad for a transformer toy than a video game. It's almost hard on the eyes to look at.
Shaq Fu (SNES/Genesis, 1994)

Celebrities sell stuff. There's no doubt about it. Shaquille O'Neal was popular enough to seal quite a few games, but why didn't they train him to do something with his hands? Is he trying to grab something? Is he giving an S.O.S. sign? The jury is still out on whether it's a bad imitation of a Kung Fu move or arthritis.
MegaMan (NES, 1987)

The confusing thing about this cover art is the awkward stance of the man. Either he is part amphibian or his knees are double jointed. It's hard to tell what else is in the picture because taking your eyes off the oddly bent man is impossible.
Phalanx (SNES, 1992)

Banjo playing reminds everyone of bad canoe trips, but a video game? Then it becomes clear that it's an outer space video game. Mainly due to the fact that a space ship is aiming lasers directly at the old gentleman's head there isn't much that can be said to explain the weird seen here.
Karnaaj Rally (GBA, 2002)

The mix of blue and pink on this cover certainly draw attention. It's hard to tell if the car is supposed to be running him over, or if he's just a person suffering from a deadly illness. He has a quasi-zombie look going on and is completely out of place. The statement being made by the artist is unclear, but we hope that he got proper medical attention.
Super Bust-A-Move (PS2, 2000)

Babies are so cute! Babies used to sell video games by putting on cool shades and using their forehead for a message board- not so much. Had the artistic design stopped with the shades, it would make more sense. Adding words to the forehead seems strange. Not every attempt at humor makes sense, but hopefully no babies were hurt in the making of this horrible cover.

Guest Author

Jason Phillips is a gaming website developer and a freelance blogger. He has worked on various gaming sites such as Sniper Games 365.