Sep
30
2008
Do the words “Page Slug” make you think of something slimy and unpleasant? Or maybe they sound more like a well deserved jigger of scotch taken to celebrate a finely crafted post? Well… no. “Slug” is actually an old printer’s term. Back in day, when we were drunk with the smell of printer’s ink, a printer’s slug [...]
Tags: page slugs, permalinks, seo
Sep
29
2008
If you are a follower of Naomi Dunford’s IttyBiz (which I most enthusiastically am!), you may have heard about her ebook, SEO School: How to Becoma an SEO Ninja. The original version of the ebook included email support from Naomi, so she limited the number of books sold to the number she legitimately felt she [...]
Tags: ittybiz, naomi dunford, seo school
Sep
28
2008
Blogs, like working dogs, need a job. If a herding or hunting dog doesn’t have a task, they’ll assign themselves one. And it may not be a job you particularly want them to perform. A bright, hyper-responsible shepherd might drag everything you own – including underwear – out onto the lawn in order to keep [...]
Tags: blogs
Sep
27
2008
There’s nothing like a swooping high to low shot to add excitement and professionalism to a video. Hollywood film makers use cranes for these shots – which, of course, are far outside the budget of most independent videographers. Many professional videographers use a less expensive tool known as a jib, but even these can still [...]
Tags: crane, jib, tilt
Sep
27
2008
Do you want to sell more of your self-published books? Then you need to be listed on Amazon. Until recently, that meant you had to use a service like Lightning Source to slip in through the side door via Ingram or you had to pay for the privilege by buying a “distribution package” from one [...]
Tags: amazon, cretespace, self publishing
Sep
26
2008
Adobe Creative Suites 4 is available for pre-order. Thank goodness I dithered for six months trying to decide whether or not I could afford Adobe CS3- and if I could buy it, which version I should buy. Otherwise, I couldn’t look forward to another six or seven more months of vacillation. Instead, I’d have to torment [...]
Tags: adobe, creative suite 4, indesign, photoshop
Sep
22
2008
What’s the truth about plug-ins? Are they the fastest way to cripple a WordPress blog? Or are they the essential ingredient that makes WordPress blogs so useful? The answer – as you probably guessed – is both! A bad plug in can take down your blog. Even a good plug in can go bad and [...]
Tags: plugins, seo, wordpress
Sep
21
2008
Marketers have long known the value of split testing, while normal folks thought only cheerleaders did the splits. Split testing, sometimes called A/B testing, is a technique for presenting the same information in two different ways to determine which is more effective. Unless you are familiar with both statistical analysis and web coding, split testing [...]
Tags: gogle website optimizer, Marketing, split testing
Sep
20
2008
Do you want to look like Pixar without spending millions? Here’s a neat effect you can do for free. You’ve probably seen TV commercials or films where live actors appear to be cartoons. It’s a fun effect, and can even be quite artistic in the right hands. A 2007 Sundance Festival selection, Year of the [...]
Tags: cartoonr, newbluefx, sony movie studio, special effects
Sep
19
2008
Back in the paleolithic era of the internet, all web pages were static. In time, animated GIFs appeared, proliferated, then faded away. Banners flashed, hamsters danced, babies burbled. Some of these innovations were amusing, some annoying – but all were constrained by the limited download speeds of the average user’s modem and the immense size [...]
Tags: embed, flash, Video, You Tube
Sep
18
2008
Would you like to make your Flip camcorder twice as useful without spending a penny? Today you can (tomorrow, it will cost.) Give Away of the Day is featuring Wondershare’s WebVideo Author today. Among other things, it will convert AVI clips into both SWF and FLV. Why is this good news for Flip owners? The [...]
Tags: flash, flip, flv, give away of the day, swf
Sep
16
2008
The secret to better Flip Videos is already on your computer – and you may not even know it! Chances are you already own everything you need to make professional Flip videos. Windows Movie Maker, a powerful yet easy to use video editing program, is included with every copy of Windows XP and Windows Vista. [...]
Tags: cindy shebley, flip, video editing, windows movie maker, You Tube
Sep
15
2008
A fabulous new tool for eBay Education Specialists and other teachers and trainers will hit the market at the end of this month. 3M has announced that the MPro 110 will ship on Sept 30. PopSci has a short review. Unfortunately, except for price, details are still sketchy. The resolution remains a matter of speculation. Lumens? Unknown. [...]
Tags: ebay education specialists, projectors
Sep
13
2008
You are probably familiar with the idea of the the Long Tail by now. Chris Anderson’s book, The Long Tail, not only made the concept famous, but explained it quite clearly. If you’ve read the book, however, you may have been left wondering: what good does this do me? Amazon may make millions by selling [...]
Tags: backlist, information products, long tail
Sep
09
2008
By now, you’ve probably seen or heard about the new Microsoft Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ad. I’ve been asking friends for their opinions, reading blog reviews, and trying to sort out whether this campaign is a disaster or a success. The odd thing is – you can’t tell if the campaign is succeeding, because there is [...]
Tags: advertising, bill gates, microsoft, seinfeld