Tag: Google

So This Is Happening

For the last seven years I’ve offered a website service wherein I provide a year of hosting, a domain name search, and the latest WordPress installation with theme configuration and initial SEO settings, for $180.00.  That’s super cheap and I believe it is a quick way for a person or business to achieve a web presence without the learning curve of doing it themselves.

I’ve had clients come and go, and those that let the hosting lapse have done so because they don’t see their site appear on Google.  Invariably, the lack of search engine traction is due to a lack of regular content addition.  Now, I do include training on the use of WordPress with my package, along with a discussion on the importance of posting to the site on a regular basis with two to three paragraphs of relevant, truthful, useful information in the blog section.  Without fail, it is that section of their site that remains fallow.  It seems that spending an hour a week adding something to their site is just not a priority.  And that’s a shame as no one would know more about their site subject than the owner, and spending four to five hours a month on self-marketing the business is far more cost effective than paying someone else to do it.

However, it seems that content creation and management is a viable service and one that I can provide.  For as little as $250.00 a month I will research and create content for your website for regular updates and posts.  I can also offer video creation in a range of production values for reasonable rates.  If you have an interest, see my pricing list here.

 

Pandora Chrome Extension

  In a previous post I talked about the Windows Pandora Gadget; I wanted to find a similar way to play Pandora on OSX and came across a solution for cross platform compatibility (using Chrome).


I found a Chrome extension called Anesidora that plays Pandora without the need to have a tab open for Pandora.com and it never plays ads. Anasidora was previously hosted in the Chrome extension store but has been taken down. Once i found a download site i was able to install the extension however, it would not let me log in! The hosted download is a later version that has a simple bug and here is how to fix it:


Edit: I have found a site that hosts a working version thanks to a Facebook friend:
http://chromeunderground.blogspot.com/2011/04/pandora-extension.html


1. Go here and download the extension (using Chrome) http://pandora-extension.googlecode.com/files/Anesidora-1.3.2.crx


2. You’ll get the issue where it won’t let you login. This is because of a bug in version 1.3.2. The Web Store version was up to 1.3.7 I believe and had fixed this issue, but in the 1.3.2 version the bug still exists.

3. To fix it you have to hunt for the file “anesidora.js”
On OSX extensions are located at: ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Extensions
On Linux, extensions are located at: ~/.config/google-chrome/Default/Extensions/
On Windows XP, extensions are located at: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions
And on Windows Vista/7, extensions are located at: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions
For Windows, you may have to ‘Show All Hidden Files’ to see the AppData directory in Vista/7, or Local Settings directory in XP.

This is worth it stick with me!


4. You’ll know you’ve found the right folder when you see the a folder “1.3.2.0”.

5. When you’ve found that folder, open it, and then open the “js” folder, and you’ll see the file “anesidora.js”. Open that with your favorite text editor, and do a search for “v3” (use ctrl+f). There should only be one occurrence. It will say v30 or v31 to start with, but it needs to say v32.

6. Change it to v32, save it, and restart Chrome. You should now be able to login and enjoy the wonderful experience that is Anesidora.

Please comment below if you run into any issues so i can modify my post with more clarity if need be.


Blue Screen of Death

 

  
    


















    One of the most dreaded error messages for a Windows user is the blue screen, or the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) as it is popularly known, which suddenly pops up informing you that something is seriously wrong with Windows. What this screen essentially means is that Windows has crashed and needs to reboot to recover. The most powerful troubleshooting tool out there is Google. Type in the error code you are receiving and try to narrow down the results. Another user has almost certainly come across the same issue you are facing.

 
Problems causing BSOD:
 
The BSODs are generally associated with five problems faced by Windows:
 
-Software or device drivers may have a problem
 
-A hardware device is malfunctioning , or was removed while Windows was running, or does not fully support Windows. On older machines, outdated BIOS information can also cause errors.
 
-Hardware or hard disk errors during installation of Windows.
 
-Corrupted startup files, hardware, and driver software during Windows startup can also be the cause. This type of error will always require troubleshooting before Windows can start up normally.
 
-Intermittent errors that appear randomly. These can be caused by an overheating processor, a defective memory system, a dying or dead hard disk , or faulty software and device drivers.


My take on SSD’s



I’ve been getting asked a lot of questions about SSD’s lately so i figured i would post about my experiences with them: About 4 months ago i put a 60GB OCZ Agility ($110) SSD in my desktop and have absolutely loved it. I put my operating system (Win 7 Pro x64) and programs on this drive and still have 20GB left over. The biggest performance increases are faster boot times (around 20 seconds), programs startup as if they are minimized, and installations are very quick.

After the hard drive failed in my Dell notebook i decided to upgrade to a Corsair SSD based on my experience with the one in my desktop. I use my notebook mainly to take notes in class, browse the web, and check emails so i opted for a small 30GB SSD (Also, because i couldn’t afford a larger capacity). I store all of my data online (mainly dropbox and google docs) so this justified my reasoning behind this decision as well. In the future i plan to replace my optical drive (CD/DVD) with a high capacity hard drive, for a total of two hard drives.

Now, for my recommendation: If you have a machine that you would like to upgrade and have the money, go SSD. The cost of SSD’s is slowly coming down so if you can’t afford it, wait. If you can decrease your dependency on local storage (your hard drive) then you can sacrifice capacity for a cheaper priced SSD. A great program to figure out how much space you are using on your current machine is Treesize free. This will display how much space you are using and where the utilized space is located.