.: google analytics - a cool tool

How many people visit your web site or blog? Sure, you can put in a hit counter and have a look but it won't tell you much more than you were visited x number of times. If you are into web or blog development, or have site, take a good look at Google Analytics. It's a hit counter that provides you a wealth of information on not only how many hits you had, but also how many pages were visited, bounce rates, time spent on each page and, very importantly, where your hits came from. There is a dashboard to view your results (the map shown below is extracted from our dashboard). All this information is for FREE. If you do proceed with Google Analytics, you need to paste in a bit of their code to each of your pages so they can provide the analytics. Here's the link:

click here to go to Google Analytics

.: is bing bling?

When the beta version of Bing was first released we were a bit disappointed with the results. Google was about three times more successful in finding the information that we searched for. In the months since, Bing has definitely improved, possibly as its bots have had more time to search around. The link below will provide you with a tool to make your own mind up.

compare bing to Google

.: free 3D buttons

The above buttons are developed by Rightforu Pty Ltd and you are welcome to copy them and use them in your web or blog site. This even applies to commercial sites. The rectangular buttons are all 200 pixels wide by 33 pixels high. The round buttons are 33 by 33 pixels. Copy them directly from this page by right clicking on the button you would like, then saving as a jpg file. Just remember that file pathing is case sensitive on the web. That is, if you call a file TEST.JPG and refer to it as test.jpg in your html code, you will see it on your pc but the picture will not appear on the web. These buttons are all developed with a small white background. You can change the white to your web/blog color background with a simple program like Paint. Similarly, text can be typed onto the buttons with Paint. Don't forget to keep a blank button as a backup as this page changes quite frequently.

.: keeping computers and laptops clean

Never use cleaning solvents of any kind as they can damage the finish of your computer. To clean dust off screens, a static cloth works well. To remove stubborn dirt on screens, use a very lightly water dampened cloth and then dry with a static cloth. A vacuum cleaner fitted with a brush head is useful for sucking dirt and crumbs out of keyboards. Before you clean a computer make sure its power source (be it a socket or battery backup) is turned off. A small air-compressor, the type used for airbrushing, and fitted with a water vapour collector is extremely useful for clearing dust from both keyboards and tight corners. Do not blow dust into the computer through the fan. If there is a lot of dust near the fan, it's probably time to call in a technician as thick dust on the fan indicates the computer needs to be opened up and cleaned. Unless you are a qualified technician, don't go there as you can receive a severe electric shock.

.: the most common causes of computer failure

There is nothing worse than calling in a technician to fix your computer when the fault is the wall outlet being switched off or the power lead unplugged. And, yes, the technicians do make a buck from everytime this happens. Lots of bucks. Although seemingly obvious, loose and unplugged leads are a common cause of failures. If your monitor is not working, check leads are tightly plugged in and power is on both from the outlet and on the monitor itself. Barcode scanners are particularly prone to their lead becoming loose.

.: how relevant are meta tags in today's internet environment?

Meta Tags are key words/phrases put in the source code of web pages for search engines to find. Or, at least, they were. Apparently Google is no longer using Meta Tags (other than Title tag) in determining where they put your web page in their searches. The description tag is definitely relevant but there are reports that Google are not placing much emphasis on the keywords tag. We recommend that you keep using Meta Tags as many other search engines do use them. If you want to look at the source code of a web page, go to your internet tools options and look for a menu option entitled "View Source Code". Viewing the source code (this is a look see facility, not access to a web site's code) will give you some insight into how they are developed and, while you're at it, have a look for the Meta Tag section. It's usually up near the top.

.: tips for SciPhone i68+

With the advent of the iPhone, a Chinese "version" has been produced called the SciPhone. It uses a different operating system to the iPhone, but will accept Java. Although slim, it isn't quite as thin as an iPhone. The one I bought cost US$94 (including postage) on ebay. Cheap, but also no where near the quality of an iPhone. It will pretty much work anywhere in the world having GSM 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz. I believe that Shenzen Bluelans Communication Co may produce the original Sciphone but copies are rampant. I am almost certain that the phone I have is a copy, despite it carrying Sciphone branding internally. It claims many features, not all of which work or are present. Don't dismiss it too quickly though.