Firefox much faster - meet Firefox 4.0

Last week Microsoft proudly proclaimed that its Internet Explorer 9 web browser had been downloaded over 2.3 million times within 24 hours, however by this morning Mozilla’s Firefox 4 download counter had passed the 4 million mark and Mozilla has just confirmed to The inquirer that over 5 million downloads have been logged within 24 hours!!

Firefox 4.0

For  Firefox lovers, which so long waiting for this fourth-generation Web browser. Since their development, Firefox 4 does not turn up. But the latest version of Mozilla’s browser has been available on the server and available for download.

The first thing that feels different is the user interface-UI Firefox 4. Really feels when you migrate from previous versions, Firefox 3.6. Home button located on the left of the screen, making it easier for you to find the menus before in one lokasi.Fitur Add-Ons Manager also redesigned. Similar but not equal to the Chrome Web Store who can be found in Chrome. If the previous version, you can tamper with the Add-On on different pop-up window, in Firefox 4 You can explore the Add-On in a new tab.

Here, you will be relieved and comfortable with a larger space. Users will be easier to regulate and control the add-on that has been installed at the same time find out if there is a new extension. There is also a Firefox Sync is a basic service, lets you store bookmarks, preferences, and other components are synchronized although in a different computer.

The most important thing to know is: Firefox 4.0 is much faster. Startup time and load Web pages more quickly into the main capital Firefox 4 to compete with the giants of other Web browsers. Mozilla Firefox 4 RC has been available for Windows and Mac.

New User Interface

The first thing experienced Firefox users on the PC will notice is it that it all feels a bit, well, “Chromey”. The tabs now appear on top of the address bar and the traditional “File, Edit,

View….” menus have gone. Mac and Linux users – the new interface is promised, it’s just not available yet.

Instead, Firefox has added a new Firefox dropdown button that gives you access to all the commands you will need. We think this is a good idea – with the web being so multimedia heavy it now makes sense to use as much of a screen’s real estate as possible.

If you do miss the traditional menu setup you can switch this back on by clicking the “Customize” menu from within the Firefox button and checking the “Menu Bar” option. You can also do a quick turn on and off of the menu bar by hitting your Alt button.

The Bookmarks button now appears to the right of the search bar, and your history can be found in the Firefox button. As always with Firefox you can customise, so you can add a dedicated History button to the toolbar if you want to – we like our one right next to the Bookmarks one. They’re old chums you see, we don’t like to see them separated.

The Bookmarks toolbar doesn’t appear as a default like in previous versions of Firefox but, again, you do have the option to turn it on if you are a devout Firefox traditionalist.

HTML5 & WebM

Firefox 4 is moving with the times and supports HMTL5 video using the Google sponsored WebM format (as well as CSS3 support). We tested out what WebM had to offer by opting in to YouTube’s HTML5 beta project.

HD video handled very nicely, no different to Flash really, although our laptops’ CPU was probably pleased to let the GPU do some of the work for once.

You can’t go properly full screen with HTML5 videos just yet though, you can go almost full screen, but the video still appears from within the browser – but this is a HTML5 issue, it isn’t Mozilla’s fault.

New Add-on Manager

Mozilla is talking up its new Add-on Manager, but in reality it is much of a muchness although it now appears in its own tab. (It isn’t quite ready yet either).

Talking of add-ons, be careful if you do make an early switch to Firefox 4 because not all add-ons are currently supported – we couldn’t get the British Dictionary, Clean & Close, Evernote, Firefox Sync or StumbleUpon add-ons to work in the beta release.

Others….
The stop and refresh buttons have been merged into one super button. Well, not exactly super as all it can do is stop and refresh – but it makes sense.

We liked that you can search and switch to open tabs using the Smart Location Bar.

Mozilla is also boasting of a “single tab crash” function whereby if a plug-in takes a page that you’re looking at down – it won’t kill your whole session.

Trouble is, we couldn’t get the damn thing to crash to test this out – which we suppose Mozilla would actually be very happy with.

First Impressions

Firefox 4 seems nippy – maybe not quite Chrome nippy as of yet, but remember, this is only the first beta release so it is bound to get better. Mozilla has promised updates at 2 week intervals.

We like the way Mozilla has revamped the UI – our screen seemed a bit bigger with the extra space on offer and it makes sense to lump all the basic commands into one button rather than wasting half a centimetre with a menu bar that is hardly ever used.

If you do decide to download Firefox 4 in its beta infancy then the nice thing is you can still use your Firefox 3.x build as well – although our Windows 7 machine did get a bit confused when we tried to run them both at the same time.

Dowload for click: Firefox 4.0

Blogging Tips! How to become a blogging master and more efficiently

Blog is a place where you post your thoughts, your ideas, your experiences, your photos and anything that you want to share it with others. The word blog, the short form of web log, is a regularly updated online personal journal or diary.

Here are a few blogging ‘TIPS’ to help you become a blogging master.

•  Post Via-Email
•  Schedule Your Post Publication
•  Keep a List
•  Small Words, Big Finish

Post Via-Email

This option can be turned on in your WordPress blog by going under Settings >> Writing...

What this allows you to do is post to your blog by sending an email that you have set-up. Therefore, if you have an I-Phone or Internet-Enabled cell phone you could pretty much "blog on the spot". Think of this as your own twitter space… instead of tweeting to your twitter micro-blog, you are tweeting to your own blog. The only limitation with this is that you can only post by email to a chosen category.

Schedule Your Post Publication

Ever have one of those nights where you can just keep going and going? (Like when I was in my 20′s) Okay… I meant you could just write on and on, but you don't want to publish them all in one night. Well, WordPress does allow you to schedule your posts, so you can "content drip" your blog.

When adding a new post (or editing a post) you will see a Publish meta-box that allows you to change the publication date from the default immediately to a date/time of your choosing:

This is a great way to make your blog "work" while you are on vacation. So if you know you will be on travel for a month, you could simply pre-write your blog posts and schedule them to publish for that period of absence to make it appear as if you are keeping up with your blog!

Keep a List

I don't know how many times I've told myself, "Hey, I should really blog about that!" when carrying out my daily routines or in talking with people. These are the moments that gives you inspiration and ideas of your next blog post, but if you don't start blogging about it immediately or at least write it down on your "My Next Blog Post List" it will most likely be forgotten.

So, it is a good habit to have a list on you so you can write down your ideas to capture these previous inspirational moments.

For me, since I'm on my computer most of the time, I simply login to my WordPress blog and start a post. Write up a title to remind me what this will be about, and hit "Save Draft" instead of publishing. Then I can come back to these draft posts and finish them up later.

Small Words, Big Finish

Do you know how freakin' difficult it is to write in a way that makes you sound more intellectual than you really are?

Once I tell myself, "Look TJ, don't show off your vocab, because you've got none!” my writer's block tend to just disappear. In fact, if I were to read a blog and the blogger throws out big SAT words and use complex sentence structures, it really turns me off - it makes me feel stupid!

Once I accepted who I am, write the way as how I would talk, words tend to flow better for me.

Try this yourself, and let me know if you have an easier time blogging.

Thanks Author/Adviser Steven Chang

How many people have Silverlight installed?

According to Rich Internet Application Statistics, Silverlight is installed on version 4 (64.40%), version 3 (4.14%) and version 2 (0.40%) of the machines out there.

You can add the RIAStats collection script to your own site, for free. You’ll receive a link to an RIAStats report that’s specific to your own site. Share that link if you like, or keep it private. Use the “RIAStats for your site, free!” button at the bottom of riastats.com.

What kind of numbers are you seeing?
I’d love to hear from anyone with access to similar stats for their own site(s).

Photoshop - Layer Style & Layer Mask Interaction

Photoshop - Layer Style & Layer Mask Interaction

In this "Tutorial" I'm going to show you a neat little trick involving layer styles and the way they relate to layer masks.

Step 1
You know how sometimes you think you’re so damn smart… And then you learn something so basic that it makes you feel silly for thinking you were at all smart in the first place? Well, if you’re a long time PS user like me and you don’t know this trick, be prepared to have that feeling.

I never new about this little gem and just had processes in my workflow to compensate, so I can’t say I ever missed it, but now that I know, I use it all the time!

I’ve setup a simple example below to help me demonstrate. I’ve added a new layer and with the Elliptical Marquee tool created and filled a circular selection which I then applied a few simple Layer Styles to (ie. Drop Shadow, Outer Glow and Bevel & Emboss).

Step 2
Next, I’ll grab the Rectangular Marquee tool and create a selection around the top of the circle. With that selection made I’ll click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette to add a Layer Mask to this layer. The issue we’re going to solve today now becomes evident. As you can see, not only have I masked the circle, but Photoshop has now automatically adjusted all the layer styles to apply only to the unmasked pixels on the stage. Now, sometimes you want this to happen… But sometimes you don’t.

Step 3
Adding a Gradient to the layer mask to create a fading effect compounds the problem as Photoshop struggles to apply Layer Styles to partially transparent pixels causing the bottom of the circle to take on a blackish look due to blending that’s going on with the underlying Drop Shadow.

Step 4
So here’s the Tip:
If we open the Layers Styles dialog for the Circle layer back up by double-clicking on its Layer Style icon, we are by default opened to the Blending Options page. You’ll notice that in the center of the dialog is a section called Advanced Blending and inside that area is a feature called Layer Mask Hides Effects. By default this checkbox is not checked. Notice also that the next unchecked box is for Vector Masks, which makes this tip relevant to both types of masks.

Step 5
If I click on the Layer Mask Hides Effects box, you can see that now the mask is independent of the Layer Styles and is applied to the actual pixels on the layer AND the layer style in exactly the same way.

If you already knew this little tip, shame on you for not sharing it with the rest of us… And if you didn’t and are now having that feeling I mentioned, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone... :)

Common Search Engine Optimization - SEO Mistakes

Common Search Engine Optimization - SEO Mistakes

It's difficult to pinpoint which elements of search engine optimization truly matter as the search based algorithms are completely unknown and kept a secret. However, through years of practice and experimentation there are ways to increase a website's overall search engine ranking through a few commonly known SEO factors.

Due to the wide proliferation of SEO on the web, many people make common mistakes when implementing SEO strategies. In a push to help your rankings, this article will share a few of these common SEO mistakes.

Keywords play a vital role in the overall ranking of a website. Without proper keyword research, even the best content can fail to reach a high level of search engine ranking. Use the common keyword research tools to find the best ones for each piece of content you plan to create and replicate the use of it throughout the page.

Mistake #2: Failing to optimize the title tag and description
The title and description are what gets your content clicks; not only do you need to craft each so they entice users to click through but they will need to be optimized with your keywords in order for them to rank well. Using the same keywords you found through keyword research, include them in your title and description.

Mistake #3: Overstuffing the content with keywords
Due to years of bad practice and false information, many webmasters have stuffed their content with every possible combination of keywords; doing so is bad play and will cause search engines to apply negative "points" to your content which ultimately reduces the overall ranking. In short: don't abuse your keywords.

Mistake #4: Failing to build backlinks to each web page
Despite writing a great piece of content and optimizing your pages for SEO, if you're not building backlinks to each page than you're not going to rank well. Backlinks help search engines determine the usefulness of content on the web; a link from another site is an indicator that yours is worthwhile. Build backlinks to each page from related websites while using related keywords.

Conclusion
It's very common to make a mistake when focusing on SEO; so many factors come into play that it can be a hassle to keep up with them all especially when they're constantly changing. The basics still rule: create great content, optimize your keywords and build backlinks to your site; do these with each content you publish and you can avoid the many SEO mistakes.

Website Redesign - Do It For The Right Reasons

Is your website bringing in new business and generating leads like it used to? Does it reach the right audience? Is it professional looking? If your answer is no to any of these questions, it may be time to take a fresh look and consider a website redesign.

Your company's website was created to increase sales and to generate leads. Over time, the look and feel, as well as content, may have become dated. Often, a website has had content added to it that it was not originally designed for. The result can be an awkward looking and an awkward functioning site.

If you are thinking about an overhaul of your current website, keep in mind that it will need to be for the right reasons. It will also need to be part of a larger strategic marketing plan.

The most important reasons is to generate sales and be found by more prospects/clients - everything else is secondary. Without a prospect finding your site, you are not even getting the opportunity to generate new sales and you are not making money. Being found is easier said than done. It starts with creating a great looking website with an accurate, compelling message that will help generate more leads than your current website. Your visitors need information, as well as a look, that is persuasive.

Next is the underlying code and structure of the website. These are the parts most people never see, but search engines are very interested in. These un-seen parts of the website must be optimized to be successful with Google, Bing and other search engines. The appearance of your webpages needs be supported by carefully researched keywords and key phrases. Search engine success is the difference between a beautiful site that is busy and a beautiful site that nobody sees.

Once you have attracted prospects to your website, converting them into buyers is critical. Your website needs to have the functionality, ease of navigation and great content that people are looking for.

Many times, the content of a website is pretty good. After all, you know your business best and are able to write to your strengths. However, what it often lacks is the impact of a professionally designed website. Your website has to instill trust and confidence in your business or brand. Fair or not, people make decisions based solely upon the appearance of a site, even when your product or service is superior to your competitors.

Nearly 50% of the time, web sales are simply lost. The reason? Your visitor cannot easily find the information, products or services they are looking for. The result? They simply cannot be converted to sales. Don't waste website traffic, and lose sales, due to a lack of sales-ability.

After your site has been professionally redesigned and relaunched, it must be monitored, refined and improved on a regular, on-going basis to continue to capture new prospects. Information must engage visitors or they will leave your website and land on one of your competitors.

If you are considering investing your precious marketing dollars in a website redesign, it should be carefully and professionally crafted from the ground up to be found by your prospects and to convert them into sales. This happens when you have a strategic plan in place from the very beginning.

Remember, business websites are created to generate sales. Today, it is not enough to just have a website. It must be part of your larger strategic marketing plan.