Bloginity first came to Gabfire looking for a theme which could effectively deliver the ocean of articles which would be pouring out of Bloginity each hour. As Bloginity publishes 50 to 75 articles every day, they faced the challenge of finding a theme which could handle such a heavy load efficiently. When Bloginity began looking for themes, they had three major criteria: They wanted something efficient: Fast with minimal bandwidth usage. They wanted something effective: Able to deliver as much content to the reader without confusing him or her as possible. And they wanted something malleable: Something they could tweak and customize. Our answer was Transcript.

“Gabfire’s Transcript was everything we wanted. It was a great foundation. It was a sturdy platform, able to deliver a massive amount of information in a beautiful, intuitive way.” says Benjamin Tse, CBO of Bloginity Networks

Bloginity decided to engage in a massive project to take Transcript to a whole new level. They pulled out the gloves, popped open the hood and got down and dirty with Transcript’s code.

“We left no PHP file untouched, no CSS line unedited. We completely restructured the homepage, added new parameters to the back-end, changed the ad areas, completely revamped the style sheets and constructed a brand new navigation bar. However, we kept the existing framework of Transcript’s powerful back-end ad and content management platform.”

“We were able to simply modify the front-end to our desired aesthetic while still keeping the functionality of Transcript’s versatile control panels.”

“Throughout the entire process, however, we were repeatedly struck by the cleanliness and conciseness of the Transcript code. The code was immaculate. No gratuitous HTML, PHP, or CSS, no inconsistencies, not even a single extra space.” said Bejamin.

Daniel Haim, CEO of Bloginity Networks said

“This incredible attention to detail allowed us at Bloginity to have very few problems in customizing the theme according to our needs. It was a dream. In fact, it was almost as if the theme was made with customization in mind.”

In short, as someone who has completely gutted and re-formed the Transcript theme from the inside out, I can say with much respect and awe that Gabfire themes are indeed of the highest quality and efficiency from the inside out. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Transcript. If you’re looking for a powerful theme for your online magazine or newspaper, I urge you to try Gabfire Themes. Don’t be a fool.

The software in question is called the Ubuntu, presently available in version 9.10. This is an operating system built by a team of expert developers, and it contains basically all the applications you need on a computer. No stone is left unturned where this operating system is concerned.

This is an operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution, and it is aptly named after the South African ideology which means “humanity towards others”. The name is quite fitting for this free and open source software, which allows users the same kind of flexibility and accessibility as available with other more seasoned operating systems like Microsoft. Because it is open source, users have the option to install it wherever they want without any hassle and they also have the option of tailoring it to suit their particular needs.

Ubuntu is probably one of the most stable operating systems to date, and provides ease of installation for users. Applications commonly found on this operating system are a web browser, office suites, media applications, instant messaging and others. And of course, this operating system is able to accommodate standard office suites like Microsoft office.

This operating system has become so popular that many of the computer vendors are now offering PCs with the total package already installed. This listing includes Dell, Tesco and OP3, to name a few. And as time passes, there are newer releases of the operating system with newer features that compare quite impressively to existing foundation operating systems that have years of experience on the market.

Today, open source software is the route that many people are taking to achieve the usability and accessibility of software applications and operating systems without the expense that is usually attached to the foundation applications. If you are looking to have the functionality of a Windows operating system and accompanying applications, but want to bypass the expense, try open source software Ubuntu for a true high-tech experience.

Sheri McLeish, a Forrester analyst also notes that Chrome is unable to compete with the other browsers.

Also, Chrome doesn’t exist for Mac OS and Linux users, two camps that contains technology enthusiasts. And apparently, large enterprises closed their doors to Chrome because of lack of features from their IT Departments.

There are, also some hindrances, Chrome has to fix aside from these two issues. This pertains to some, which consumers who don’t know about browsers. Also, questions like “do consumers really need another browser and would they offer new features that are better than other existing browsers?” are left unanswered.

Google had caused more trouble because Chrome cannot even work well in Google though they owned it because they did not inform their webmasters beforehand that they will adapt to their sites. McLeish is not very happy with the response that Chrome has got from the mass.

Should Google still want to pursue this project considering that their top competitors are continuing to soar high and improved?

IDC analyst Al Hilwa thinks that Google should stay in the game and not give up as well because a lot of marketing and research went into the planning of Chrome.

According to Brian Rakowski, a Google group product manager in the Chrome team, thinks that even though there is a lot of work to be done with regards to this project, the team is looking forward to the fun. He also adds that throughout history browsers take time to make it big and thinks that Chrome has done pretty well in a short span.

Google plans on offering searchers the ability to be able to see what Google music has to offer in their search results. Google also adds that one of the top 10 search terms of all time are the words “music” and “lyrics”. Google’s vice president of search, Marissa Mayer claims that most of the Google users love music and are mainly looking for music to download.

It can’t be denied that music is one the most searched terms in any search engine. This is because people love music, and they will find ways to get its lyrics. That is why Google wants to enter in to the online music market, which will cater to millions of music lovers. Currently, Apple still covers a wide area of online music market with around 70% of worldwide sales. Some European firms like Spotify begin to attain popularity.

More than 2 million users in the UK and more than 6 million across Europe now are using the free music-streaming service, which was, launched last year, 2008. That is why Google wants to enter into this kind of service. This is because most people now are searching and downloading different genres of music, which will satisfy them. Google’s new collaboration hopes to compete with the success of these services. Google is now offering a variety of free downloads of licensed tracks in China. They said that they are trying to look for potential partners in some other countries to get some new and varied music. Well, this could be a great shift with, regards to the improvement of Google. There will surely be a lot of new users that will subscribe to these new services especially to those music lovers and trendsetters. Google is making a lot of dynamic and competitive ways to maintain their image as one of the most used search engine nowadays.

The myStarbucks application has a slew of features that include finding the nearest Starbucks store (one could also search using amenities), or to remember yours or your friend’s favorite flavor. The Starbucks card, on the other hand, lets people pay at Starbucks outlets using a barcode that appears/generates on their mobile screens.

With myStarbucks app, one could store the recipe of his/her favorite concoction and share it with others. For those who do not know what to drink, they can use the flavor selector to pick a coffee based on the different flavors available. One could also see the nutritional information for each concoction in the list.

The other app is the Starbucks card mobile app, which is now being tested at selected outlets in Cupertino, San Jose, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale in California and in Seattle. It works basically like a regular Starbucks card, wherein one buys credit to use it against orders in Starbucks outlets. That is, when someone wants to buy coffee, they just need to turn on the app, which in turn generates a barcode, if there is sufficient credit in the customer account. The store will then scan the barcode, before processing the order. Subsequently, the $ value of the selected drink will be subtracted from purchased credit.

Gmail lets Internet users write/send e-mail messages, archive documents/emails, chat online, and store contact lists.

Clarifying on the issue, Google Inc has posted a note stating that all e-mail service was working by 11 a.m. ET, and the problems have only caused email to slow down a bit, and it did not crash as some news reports had claimed. The company in its report further stated that “A problem with Google Contacts caused many Gmail users to experience slowness and degraded service for about an hour today.” “We’re sorry for the inconvenience. As usual, we’ll provide an incident report on the Google Apps Status Dashboard, where we also gave ongoing status updates as this issue progressed.”

As with the previous cases of Gmail outage, the current episode has also triggered an animated discussion/debate in the online community, especially among those who rely heavily on Gmail for their professional as well as daily personal communication. But this time around, fortunately, the outage was short lived, and before most of its users could knew about it, Gmail was able to put its defense back in place, inside an hour or so since the outage occurred. Perhaps, these days, Google Inc has become well versed in damage control management as well!

The new theme utilizes the prime real estate optimally, ‘about us’ section, space for linking to your products, and exclusive customizable sections categorizing your products in the context of today’s hot platforms/gadgets. Further, a text to let your customer’s signup for your newsletters, and a testimony slot where the testimonies will appear, makes your website power packed and useful in one stroke. Finally, you can have the theme in a multitude of colors, to exactly suit your business identity.

THEME FEATURES

• Translation template
• Integrated comprehensive theme settings page to tweak layout through admin dashboard.
• 5 colors schemes
• A nice ajax slider for featured section
• Search engine optimized

Options page and Widget Map

• Widget Map Screenshot
• Theme Setting page Screenshot

Demo and Purchase page

So, for the common man, how faster is the new OS after the upgrade? Well, to get a measure of the new upgrade, a 9 GB email application that used to take around 15 seconds earlier will open now in Snow Leopard in less than three seconds. The new upgrade will also improve start up and shutdown times, alongside saving a whole bunch of disk space, to the tune of 7 GB, post installation. But there is a catch; in the new upgrade, Apple changed the way it calculates the space on hard disk (i.e. from base 2 to base 10), a move that will inflate the true hard-disk-space-saved figure.

The new upgrade comes with a whole set of bells and whistles. Apart from it being a 64-bit OS, Apple has also introduced a new technology called OpenCL that lets applications harness the number-crunching power of modern graphics cards. The application Grand Central Dispatch lets users create applications that could exploit the computational powers of current generation processors. The Finder, Mac’s IE, is user friendly and robust. Further, accessibility to visually impaired uses has improved, so are some other features in already existing applications. Also, since Apple had licensed Microsoft’s Exchange server technology, Mac users can now seamlessly integrate Mail, iCal and Address Book, the built in organizational tools on the Mac, with Microsoft mail system.

On the downside, there are some glitches reported in Parallels, the application that lets Mac users run Windows, plus few compatibility issues with other softwares. Otherwise, the snow leopard gives the much needed boost to Apple Mac OS against Windows.

The update that is only available in a DVD, and not for download, is priced $29 in US and £25 in the UK. For users of the old Intel-based Mac, running on Tiger OS, the new updates could set them back by $169 (£129 in the UK). The package comes packed with other applications among others iWork, the Apple’s version of Microsoft Office, Quicktime player, and an antivirus.

Even though the public response for the new offering from Apple was relatively muted, computer experts’ points out that the new OS is better tweaked and thinner in terms of disk space it takes post installation. The new version also comes better interfaced to accommodate softwares’ of third-party developers than its predecessor.

But have you ever thought about the flip side of the coin?

Think about it – nothing in this world is perfect… Not even the best marketing and promotion techniques out there – including article syndication. A closer and critical look at this promotion and marketing method will reveal its flaws that you must understand if you are planning to add this in your arsenal.

But first, let’s have a recap of the good side of article syndication

Be The Expert In Your Field
Once you become the Go-To guy,  so to speak, when it comes to dating, marketing, or whatever niche or market you are serving, whatever you say has more weight and receives more attention and respect from your readers.

And there is no better way to establish yourself as the expert or the authority in your field than to create truckloads of targeted and very informative articles that are spread through article directories, newsletters, etc.

More Visitors
A friend of mine once told me that every article you write serves as a salesman who refers people to your website ‘round the clock, everyday of the week, and they don’t complain or answer back.

I couldn’t have said it better!

Assuming that you have written a byline that’s good enough to pique your reader’s interests and SEO’d it with the right anchor texts and links, you can expect that the more articles you write and syndicate through the internet, the more visitors your website will get.

Truckloads Of Backlinks
In the eyes of the major search engines, offsite optimization weighs more than onsite optimization. And offsite optimization is all about building quality and relevant links pointing back to your website.

I can’t think of a better way to build backlinks than to publish and syndicate high quality and relevant articles all over the net – through relevant forums, article directories, blogs, etc. link them back to your website and have them indexed by the search engines.

Alright, we know those benefits all too well. This time, let’s check out the UGLY side of article syndication -

Your Content Gets Old
This affects you even more if you are serving a niche that changes or updates very fast – say computers, mobile phones, etc. Your content could easily be rendered obsolete. And you have no choice but to replace them with the latest articles focusing on the latest developments on the niche… or else, you run the risk of your website getting sidetracked by other sites that can keep up with the pace.

Unauthorized Changes
Like you, there are people within the market that you’re serving who’re always looking for something to write and syndicate about. However, instead of researching for raw facts and figures to base their articles from, they’ve found an easier but not-so-ethical way to do it.

And that is to take your article, rewrite it, and replace your links with their links. It seems like you’ve written for these guys for FREE!

Spam!

Let’s say you gave someone a license to republish your article provided that everything – the title, content, and links remain intact. That’s great news, that means your article gets more exposure. Nothing could go wrong, right? Wrong, there is a possibility that your article to be used used in spam newsletters, article directories, etc. Your organization and your website will be associated with spam without you knowing it! As well, duplicate content on two different URL’s can easily be penalized by search engines.