Archive for June, 2009
Web Design, increase your usability
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
It is easy to make a dorky web page. It’s also easy to make a very nice, clean, professional-looking web page even if you don’t have much design experience. Often the difference, even for beginning designers, is simply a matter of eliminating certain features that are guaranteed to make a page look amateurish. I’ve been going through the list of things that people - designers and non-designers - from around the country have cited as the things that make the difference between a well-designed and a poorly designed web page.
Here’s a list of ten additional design elements that will increase the usability of virtually all sites:
- Place your name and logo on every page and make the logo a link to the home page (except on the home page itself, where the logo should not be a link: never have a link that points right back to the current page).
- Provide search if the site has more than 100 pages.
- Write straightforward and simple headlines and page titles that clearly explain what the page is about and that will make sense when read out-of-context in a search engine results listing.
- Structure the page to facilitate scanning and help users ignore large chunks of the page in a single glance: for example, use grouping and subheadings to break a long list into several smaller units.
- Instead of cramming everything about a product or topic into a single, infinite page, use hypertext to structure the content space into a starting page that provides an overview and several secondary pages that each focus on a specific topic. The goal is to allow users to avoid wasting time on those subtopics that don’t concern them.
- Use product photos, but avoid cluttered and bloated product family pages with lots of photos. Instead have a small photo on each of the individual product pages and link the photo to one or more bigger ones that show as much detail as users need. This varies depending on type of product. Some products may even need zoomable or rotatable photos, but reserve all such advanced features for the secondary pages. The primary product page must be fast and should be limited to a thumbnail shot.
- Use relevance-enhanced image reduction when preparing small photos and images: instead of simply resizing the original image to a tiny and unreadable thumbnail, zoom in on the most relevant detail and use a combination of cropping and resizing.
- Use link titles to provide users with a preview of where each link will take them, before they have clicked on it.
- Ensure that all important pages are accessible for users with disabilities, especially blind users.
- Do the same as everybody else: if most big websites do something in a certain way, then follow along since users will expect things to work the same on your site. Remember Jakob’s Law of the Web User Experience: users spend most of their time on other sites, so that’s where they form their expectations for how the Web works.
Student Diggs Aircon Killed My New Notebook!
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
When my dad told me to take out insurance on my laptop, I have to say that I rolled my eyes at him. Of course, I was eighteen and just getting ready to head off for university, so sad to say, he was getting a lot of eye rolling! I’ve grown up since, but this is one instance where I was pleased right away when it came to making me see sense.
“Look at it this way,” he said persuasively. “You just spent how much on that laptop?”
“A lot,” I was forced to admit reluctantly, already wanting to be up and away.
“Okay and how long would it take you to replace it?”
“A long time,” I sighed. When my dad got that look on his face, I should have known better than to argue; I guess I was just upset at having any of my budget taken up with something that seemed as silly and useless as laptops insurance!
“Look at this,” I muttered at my brother. “Water insurance? I’m not taking it swimming, after all.”
With one thing and another, though, my dad managed to get his way and soon I was heading off to university with my laptop insurance paid off in full. The dorm I moved into was okay, but the air there felt constantly clammy, and you can bet that I got out of there fairly fast.
Before I did, however, I did spend a semester there that showed me how right my dad was and how very glad I was to have my laptop full insured! There was an air conditioning unit that was installed in the ceiling right over my desk, and because it wasn’t falling down on my head, I paid no attention to it, except to complain about it when it wasn’t working.
One day, I went out for the evening and didn’t come back in until late. I figured I’d check my email before turning in, but when I absently reached for my laptop, my hand came away soaking wet! As you may have already guessed, my laptop, situated underneath the air conditioning unit had been right in the way of a leak. Not only were my papers a total loss, it did indeed look like I had taken my laptop swimming!
As I understood it, when I had calmed down enough to get my laptop out of there, water can be just as damaging as anything else. I gave it some time to dry out, but when I tried to power it on, there was just a very sad whirring noise, my laptop was a total loss, and it would have been a very sad semester indeed if I hadn’t had that laptop insurance.
With the insurance money, I managed to get a replacement for my laptop in a matter of days. By the time the new laptop came in, I had already rearranged my room so that my desk was away from the leaking air conditioner!
Mobile entertainment: Ringtones, Realtones and Truetones
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
Downloading new ringtones is fun, but there are hazards that mobile phone users should avoid. Many sites offer free cell phone ringtones to encourage customers to patronize their products. Downloading ringtones on cellphones using Virgin mobile carriers is the same as the other networks. You can download ringtones directly to your phone through WAP or SMS. Download the latest hot Ringtones absolutely free. Whether you’re looking to express yourself or represent your best friend, MilesRingtones.com have exactly what you’re looking for.
Realtone, sometimes called real music ringtone, has now replaced polyphonies. Realtone has now taken over the market making it a growing consumer spending mobile content on music personalization. Realtones have, no doubt, fetched large amount of business for mobile music industrialists. Record labels, for instance, frequently release the tones before the single to enjoy the first-mover advantage in the market, as realtones usually outperform singles.
Polyphonic tones, however, lack the ability to use digitalized audio samples. Polyphonic ringtones allow more than one note to be played at once and also increase the sounds that are available to be played by using the SP-MIDI format. This will increase the range of music that will now be able to be created as a ringtone. Polyphonic ringtones, true MP3 real tones, wallpapers and much more for your cell phone.
Want to pimp your phone with some Nokia ringtones? Truetones often outsell singles. Truetones are mp3 sounds of real things. Like a mowing cat or the mowing of a cow is always funny.
Website creation basics
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
Tim Berners-Lee published what is considered to be the first website in August 1991. Berners-Lee was the first to combine Internet communication (which had been carrying email and the Usenet for decades) with hypertext (which had also been around for decades, but limited to browsing information stored on a single computer, such as interactive CD-ROM design). Websites are written in a markup language called HTML, and early versions of HTML were very basic, only giving a website’s basic structure (headings and paragraphs), and the ability to link using hypertext. This was new and different from existing forms of communication - users could easily navigate to other pages by following hyperlinks from page to page.
As the Web and web design progressed, the markup language changed to become more complex and flexible, giving the ability to add objects like images and tables to a page. Features like tables, which were originally intended to be used to display tabular information, were soon subverted for use as invisible layout devices. With the advent of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), table-based layout is commonly regarded as outdated. Database integration technologies such as server-side scripting and design standards like W3C further changed and enhanced the way the Web is made. As times change, websites are changing the code on the inside and visual design on the outside with ever-evolving programs and utilities.
A web site is a marketing tool but in basis is a collection of information about a particular topic or subject. A web site might be compared to a book, where each page of the book is a web page. Multimedia and diseño web is the key for a success website.
There are many aspects (design concerns) in this process, and due to the rapid development of the Internet, new aspects may emerge. For non-commercial web sites, the goals may vary depending on the desired exposure and response. For typical commercial web sites, the basic aspects of design are:
The content: the substance, and information on the site should be relevant to the site and should target the area of the public that the website is concerned with.
The usability: the site should be user-friendly, with the interface and navigation simple and reliable.
The appearance: the graphics and text should include a single style that flows throughout, to show consistency. The style should be professional, appealing and relevant.
The visibility: the site must also be easy to find via most, if not all, major search engines and advertisement media.
A web site typically consists of text and images. Since a website can be a business, selling and trading on internet is comercio electronico.
Once a web site is completed, it must be published or uploaded in order to be viewable to the public over the internet.
Once published, the web master may use a variety of techniques to increase the traffic that the web site receives. This may include submitting the web site to a search engine posicionamiento google, exchanging links with other web sites, creating affiliations with similar web sites, etc.
Multidisciplinary requirements
Web site design crosses multiple disciplines of information systems, information technology and communication design. The web site is an information system whose components are sometimes classified as front-end and back-end. The observable content (e.g. page layout, user interface, graphics, text, audio) is known as the front-end. The back-end comprises the organization and efficiency of the source code, invisible scripted functions, and the server-side components that process the output from the front-end. Depending on the size of a Web development project, it may be carried out by a multi-skilled individual (sometimes called a web master), or a project manager may oversee collaborative design between group members with specialized skills .
Do You Want to Make Your Horse Happy This Winter?
Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
Some people won’t believe me when I say this but what makes a horse happy in the winter is to be outdoors. Horses were created to have the freedom of outdoors even in the winter. Their coats will grow thicker and their bodies were made to live in colder temperatures. They are quite content with 15F temperatures.
The bonuses of winter turnout are exercise, fresh air, activity instead of boredom and as a result no winter weight gain. Your horse will be so much happier and healthier.
There is a little more work involved on your part but the results will be worth it.
If you don’t already have a shelter in your pasture it would be a good idea to construct one. A shelter is important on cold windy days. Something like a large bus shelter - a roof with 3 sides is the best because it covers every angle the wind can come in except the front.
Make sure that water is always available. When the temperatures dip down ice can form on the water troughs. If this is an ongoing problem where you live then an investment in a water heater or an automatic pasture waterer will do the trick. It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on how much they drink, since although they require water, their thirst drops off in the winter.
It’s essential to remember that horses will require more food during the winter months. This is because it requires more energy to stay warm. Increase the amount of hay. Increase it even more when the temperatures drop further. Since it takes longer to break down, hay endures longer which in turn provides more long term heat.
Supplements are also a high priority in the cold season. A very effective supplement is TAHITIAN NONI® Equine Formula. It supports the equine immune system with superior antioxidant activity as well as promotes proper feed digestion and nutrient absorption. The cold winter air tends to dry out hair and skin but the TAHITIAN NONI® Equine Formula combats this. Check your blankets and see if they will be adequate. Avoid putting on blankets at the beginning of the season so that they can produce a thicker coat. This will protect them later on when the temperatures starts to drop. Tahitian Noni International makes this product and it is called TAHITIAN NONI® Equine Essentials everywhere but in Australia
These are just a few ideas for a safe winter turnout. Your horse is worth it.
As indicated at the bottom of all our web pages, these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please visit our website for details.
Why Choose Single Breakdown Cover?
Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
As everyone soon realizes, there are numerous options available with regards to choosing a suitable car breakdown cover. Of course, while it certainly is important that you have such cover, one should also realize the importance of choosing the right type of cover.
One of the options you have is known as “single breakdown cover” but before you make your decision, it’s crucial that you fully understand what it entails. So, let’s take a closer look at single breakdown cover in order to better understand certain aspects.
Single Breakdown Cover – What You Need to Know
Before you opt for this type of car breakdown cover, it’s imperative that you fully understand it, and also that you’re aware of what all is included. Essentially, single breakdown cover only provides cover for one person, irrespective of whether you are the driver or a passenger. Of course, as you can now see, this is vastly different to family cover or joint cover.
When is Single Breakdown Cover an Ideal Choice?
Well, because single car breakdown cover will cover no one apart from you, it certainly is a great option for those who either live alone, or who don’t have any other drivers in the family. Of course, because this type of cover only covers one person, it’s perhaps the most cost effective cover available providing of course that it meets your needs.
As I’ve already mentioned above, if you have this cover, you’ll still be fully covered even if you’re a passenger in a vehicle, and while you may not think so at first, this can provide you with much needed peace of mind.
The Only Forex Megadriod Review You Need
Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
This Forex Megadroid review takes a close look at the expert advisor software that claims it is “seeing into the immediate future with 95.82% accuracy”. Artificial intelligence is one thing - predicting the future is another. So how does the ‘droid measure up in practice? Can it really foretell the movements of the markets?
How It Works
Developed by John Grace and Albert Perrie from out of 38 years’ combined experience in the forex markets and launched in the spring of 2009, Forex Megadroid uses what is called ‘market adapting intelligence’ to make it flexible enough to achieve a high level of accuracy in a fluctuating market.
The criticism thrown at most automated forex software by many traders is that the robots can only make money if the markets are consistent. The old style of robot that was based on inflexible rules was not able to cope with major changes in the patterns of market fluctuations.
However, the new market adapting intelligence, as you might guess from the name, allows a new generation of forex robots to learn from these changing patterns so that they can adapt to a certain amount of inconsistency in the markets and refine their trading rules to fit. This gives your funds a much better chance of surviving when things become more than usually volatile.
Of course we are not talking about long term predictions. Forex Megadroid’s ‘reverse correlated time and price analysis’ (RCTPA) aims to predict market movements in the next 2 to 4 hours.
Results
At the time of writing, this EA has only been out for about 6 weeks so it is early days, but reports from users on the foreign exchange trading forums are very good. Many people are seeing 90% or more successful trades.
The bot needs to win 5 trades for every loss so a ratio of 90% will make good profits. Keep in mind though that this does not mean always 9 wins followed by 1 loss. You could have a couple of losses in short succession which will eat into gains and could frighten off beginners. Experienced traders know that losses are part of the game and you must be prepared for them.
In terms of percentage gains, users report 10% to 20% increase on live accounts over one month. That is a healthy profit.
Disadvantages
Users report that the Megadroid did not at first make as many trades as they expected. People were only seeing 3-4 trades a week. This meant that unless you wanted to risk large sums, you would not have a chance to make a lot of money in a short time, which many people starting out in forex want to do. So this was frustrating for many users.
However, a slow and steady approach is much more likely to lead to long term growth. If this software teaches beginners to look to the long term instead of trying to make a fortune overnight, it will be doing us all a service. So have patience while your bot is sitting there waiting to trade.
Anyway with the recent release of version 1.1, long gaps between trades do not seem to be so much of an issue and users are reporting up around 10-12 trades a week now.
Javea - An Emerald in The Med
Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
Javea is a coastal town, in the province of Alicante. It sits behind a bay between two rocky headlands, Cabo San Antonio and Cabo La Nao. Surrounded by orange, lemon and olive groves. The town is dominated by the Montgo peak, 753 metres high, declared a Natural Park in 1997. Javea has many aprtments and villas for sale at the moment. ( or as the Spanish would say, Apartamentos en Venta en Javea )
Montgo protects Javea from harsh north winds and it enjoys a micro-climate said to be one of the healthiest in the world. There are more recorded hours of sunshine than anywhere else in Spain making it popular with tourists and ex-pats alike. Which is why there are so many Villas For Sale in Javea ( Chalets en venta en Javea ). There is a population of about 32,000 people which swells to around 100,000 in the summer months.
Javea lies midway between the cities of Alicante and Valencia, which both have international airports and has good road connections to both via the N332 A road or the A7 motorway. There is also a regular bus service to the two cities as well as a daily service to Madrid. The nearest railway station is Gata de Gorgos, a ten minute drive away, with a regular service to Alicante.
Javea can be split into three distinct parts, all with properties for sale ( Propiedades en venta en Javea ):
The Old Town: once a walled and fortified town to protect it from pirates stone crosses now mark the original gates in three locations. In the centre of the town is the impressive church of Sant Bartolome which dates back to the 14th century although some of the structure may go back as far as the 11th century. The church suffered significant damage during the Spanish Civil War and shell and bullet holes can still be seen in some walls today.
There is an indoor market built in 1946 selling fruit, vegetables, meat and locally caught fish.
There is also a local museum, “Museo Historico y Etnografico Municipal J.B.Soler Blasco Javea”, which shows the history of Javea and can be visited between the hours of 10.00-13.00 and 17.00-20.00 and 10.00-13.00 weekends and bank holidays, but it is closed on Mondays.
The Port: popular with tourists due to its bars, restaurants, safe gravel beach and marina. The first jetty was built in 1871 and was important in the export of raisins. When the raisin trade collapsed at the end of the 19th century it became a fishing harbour which is how it remains today. There is also the landmark church “Nuestra Señora de Loreto” built in 1967, in the shape of a fishing boat going through the waves.
The Arenal:a wide beach of white sand with a promenade, bars and restaurants. There is an outdoor craft market during the summer as well as sand artists and street entertainers. There is also a Parador Hotel behind which once stood the “Punta del Arenal” a Roman settlement. On the other end of the bay once stood the Fontana Castle whose canons can still be seen outside the Sant Bartolome church in the old town.
Market day is on Thursday except when it is a bank holiday. There are three local fiestas, San Juan in June, Moors and Christians in July and Nuestra Señora de Loreto in September.
There is a large range of rental centres and shops catering to a wide range of activities including cycling, diving, fishing, golf, horse riding, sailing and hiking.
Drop Shipping Businesses Can Be Started Quickly Without Hassle
Sunday, June 28th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
Ask any web entrepreneur about the most challenging aspect when starting up an ecommerce web site, they will almost always tell you that getting the best product to feature was the hardest issue. It is a fact that many people are making terriffic incomes by offering stuff on the Internet, but where are they getting the merchandise they sell, and how are they getting started?
Drop ship services arrived on the marketing world many years ago even before the onset of the Internet. But since the web shopping revolution, drop shipping is more popular and more important than ever. Drop shipping means that you can sell products, but you do not have to keep them items in stock yourself. You count on a dropship supplier as a partner, who fulfills the orders for you.
The best way to find companies that dropship is to use dropship product lists. There are many such services on the Internet, some good, some not so hot. So how do you discover the best service to use? Simply look to see that the company you are buying from is the actual manufacturer or producer of the item. A drop ship source directory that directs you to a middleman that sells many products from many vendors is generally a middleman. Avoid these types of services, or you’ll be more for less.
After you have found a drop ship source directory that puts you in contact with the real companies of drop ship merchandise that make or produce the products you want to sell, then you can move on and establish relationships with those firms, without using a middleman. Drop shipping is a really good way to get started in e-commerce, just be sure you are dealing direct.
Supreme Toddler Bedding Sets With Unusual Patterns
Sunday, June 28th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off
When you hear parents talking about what kind of kid bedding they use to decorate their nurseries with the latest fashions, Trend Lab is the name you hear first. Nurseries don’t just need the accessories and decorations, but they also require basic baby bedding crib sets. The quality and beauty of Trend Lab’s designs will add an element of superiority to the nursery while still remaining low-cost. They allow girls and boys to each find unique designs that everyone can enjoy.
Trend Lab bedding sets usually include 4 pieces: a quilt, flat sheet, fitted sheet, and pillow case. You will be able to fulfill all your needs with bedding that will ensure your toddler is warm and snuggly. Toddler bedding has various sets and accessories and maybe bought from Trend Lab either as complete set or a stand-alone in vibrant colors and with exciting features such as Blossoms, Cocoa, Hula, Spirograph, Pixie Sticks, and many more. If you want the finest and most modern design bedding for your child’s room Trend Lab is among the most popular. Along with our bedding,be sure to look for matching accessories to complement your style and taste,available with several of Trend Labs designs. Such items include clocks, picture frames, storage containers, window valances, and bags for toys.
For example, the Retro Transportation Toddler Bedding Set is full of beautiful colors such as yellows, greens, and blues. With time spanning patterns including transportation themes such as trucks and planes,the beautiful captured colors won’t be the only thing keeping your toddler entertained for hours. The quilt, flat sheet, fitted sheet, and pillow case set from Trend Lab can be bought online. With accessories to match including Hamper, Clock, Storage bin, Picture frame and Toy bag.
The Paisley park baby bedding design provides equal fun for both girls and boys who are looking for a great activity. Alternating between pink, light pink and green this trend lab set is great for wonderful stripes and colorful patterns. You can tell your child a nice bedtime story with her wrapped in this snuggly Trend Lab. Paisley Park baby bedding set an exciting bedding set with accessories of a clock and picture frame from Trend Lab, may be obtained in complete set of a quilt, flat sheet, fitted sheet, and pillow case. Paisley patterns and stripes create beautiful imagery, allowing her to drift into dreamland.
Trend Lab offers so many designs that you may have a hard time deciding which one is right for your little one. You can save time and money when you can order your trend lab direct on-line. Comparison shopping allows you to find the best deals on quality Trend Lab products. When you are choosing Trend lab, you are purchasing of the safest, popular and unique bedding sets around.