If you are taking on a project that consists of many repetitive or medial tasks, you may want to consider crowdsourcing as a method to achieve a cost-effective solution. ShortTask.com can find you people that can complete your work and get your project done quickly and efficiently.
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Fed up with your current web host? Did you blindly sign up for a year long contract on a host that you only joined because it was cheap? Next time you need web hosting to host a domain for yourself or a client, visit Web Hosting Geeks to make an informed decision based on exhaustive research, user reviews and expert 3rd party advice.
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iMacros is a Firefox add-on from iOpus which allows you to record and edit macros as you visit and interact with a web page. These scripts can be used for link building to visit web sites that generate an indexable web page based on a domain name.
No, this isn’t my opinion, but it is the opinion of some figures of authority that believe what a web developer does is simply cut and pasting content from a Word document.
Here are some things that company-level web developer knows that the average person may not be aware of.
Web developers know that just because something looks pixel perfect in one browser may look like a train wreck in another. Fixing these quirks usually involves fine tuning the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) so that all the required browsers see what is needed for the site to display correctly. IE6 is the bane of existence and few web developers will disagree. Here is a perfect list of reasons from a fellow developer, Ryan Farley:
CSS Frameworks like 960, BluePrint, and Baseline do help with to eliminate cross-browser compatibility issues, but once you start adding in your own styles, it is quite possible to use a tag or attribute that doesn’t behave perfectly in all browsers.
When someone tells a web developer that they want a web site, the web developer is expecting elaboration. “OK, what kind of site do you want?” That is usually the preceding question if no explanation is given. Once the requestor tells the developer what they want, the developer begins to imagine all the elements that will be required to create what the requestor is envisioning.
Full site construction may consist of a the usage of a database, a web programming language or two, the site architecture on how pages and elements are organized throughout the site, and deployment of the site.
There are more aspects of creating a web site that is more than a few static pages linked together, but those are the main points.
If web sites are more than a pamphlet site, odds are they are database driven. The most popular and preferred is the open source database, MySQL. Many sites also run a MS SQL (Microsoft SQL) database for data storage and retrieval.
Once you have a database, you need to know how to connect to it, and then you need to integrate it with your selected programming language(s) to pass data in and out. A web developer should know the basic syntax of CRUD (create, read, update, and delete) functionality to manipulate data to consume on the web site.
A web developer typically has the ability use a logical process to diagnose issues if any of the aforementioned elements decide to misbehave. By diagnose, I don’t mean to be able to fix all things that can go wrong, at least know how to ask for help. There are many communities of developers willing to answer a relevant question. It saves a lot of time and chatter when you ask a precise question of the community. An example would be a post on as forum that says, “Why am I not getting form email.” A better post would explain the environment and problem such as; “I’m running ColdFusion and my page processes without error and I am not getting the form email.” That gives the users in the forum a better understanding of what you are trying to do and will often solicit a more accurate answer.
Sometimes instead of reinventing the wheel, it is easier and more efficient to use a 3rd party service or product. A web developer may be tasked with the installation and configuration of a shopping cart, discussion forum, or a social media platform. There are countless widgets and/or services that can be tied to a web site to create a better user experience or help increase online sales.
Customers/clients are often looking for more than just words on a page. They may request a tabbed layout with interactive tabs, a user registration area, or even secured sections of the web site. A web developer should be able to create these elements or be able to integrate a solution.
Not critical, but once a web developer understands how search engines see a website and what they like, it changes perception to see the web site in the users’ eyes as well as the search engine spiders’. A great example is content. Content is King. Search engine robots, or bots, like unique content. Also, they like well-formed pages, as in web pages with a minimal number of validation errors. Fresh content keeps the bots coming back more frequently and can lead to a more relevant ranking for your sites pages and can translate into more sales or visitors.
Yes, there are web designers that can code as well as they can design and vice-versa, but we know they are few and far between. In my own experience, I make it work, and they make it pretty. Personally, I don’t have an eye for color or the inspiration to create spectacular designs from scratch. I feel, in a good development environment, the web designer compliments the developer. So, I am eternally grateful when my application looks and acts wonderfully.
The HTML specification has been around since late 1999 and it has been remained, for the most part, unchanged as a basic markup language. True, you can create a web site with just using the basic tags and that is it. However if you want robust, user-friendly, interactive web site, a web developer may be someone to rely on to achieve the visitors and sales goals you want.
So, I got this “build your own sushi” package last week and decided to combine the best of both worlds. I give the you… Bacon Sushi.
The package I bought was Annie Chun’s Rice Express Sushi Wraps Sticky White Rice
The rice was really sticky, so I was able to form the bacon sushi rather easily. You can see in the picture, I added a bit of sharp cheddar cheese to a few. The nori you get in the package is about 2 inches by 3 inches, so I was able to make 12 Hosomaki-style pieces. I ran out of rice before I ran out of nori.
Honestly, they bacon sushi looked a hell of a lot better than it tasted. The combination of the nori and bacon didn’t compliment each other in the slightest and the addition of cheese on the few pieces didn’t help. It was a good experience to make my own sushi, but I don’t know if I’ll do it again with the beloved medium of bacon. There is a time and place for bacon, and sushi is not it.
Last week, I picked up the Blackberry Storm (9530) because my contract was up and I wanted to be more connected with clients and friends when I wasn’t sitting at a laptop or computer.
Once I got the Storm, I started looking around for mobile versions and applications of services and features I regularly use. I have downloaded over 30 applications, but have since become removed all but a select few. Here are 11 free apps to help you expand the capabilities of the BlackBerry Storm. (more…)
New to Twitter and looking to expand your Twittersphere? Even if you are a seasoned tweeter, then you need to be added to these directories so others may find you. These active directories are all different ways of associating people with similar interests or geography using the developer-friendly Twitter API.
Created by Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com. A nice clean directory that associates Twitter users by self-proclaimed tags. To get listed you can click the “Add yourself” link on the home page or tweet the following from your account: @wefollow #tag1 #tag2 #tag3. Provide three tags that are relevant to your interests and you all set.
Type: General | PR: 7 | Alexa: 6,462
A rapidly growing directory of Twittering businesses. Their registration form allows you add three related tags and a business email. You can also drop a link to your business’s blog and store.
Type: Business | PR: 4 | Alexa: 42,177
Hashtags is the zeitgeist of the Twitter world. Popular has tags are listed from the last six hours with a drill-down to see those tweets containing the hashtags. To appear in this directory, simply preface keywords in your tweets with a pound sign(#). An example would be as follows: Looks like the #blackhawks got skunked on over time.
Type: General | PR: 6 | Alexa: 26,428
This is another directory that takes advantage of adding listings based on tweets to their own account. Tweet the following and replace your geographic information and tags: @geofollow your city, your State Your Zip #tag1 #tag2 #tag3.
Type: Geographic | PR: 0 | Alexa: 93,415
This directory relies on user-associated tags as well as tweets hashtagged with the keywords. A good place to find people and conversations relevant to your interests.
Type: General | PR: 4 | Alexa: 247,971
Twitterectory has the look and feel of a typical link directory site that has been modified for Twitter statistics. Additional URLs can be dropped when signing up for inclusion.
Type: General | PR: 2 | Alexa: 2,001,158
This popular directory groups tweeple by interests. Choose a category and add your Twitter URL, name, and comments which can include additional links.
Type: General | PR: 5 | Alexa: 48,086
TwitR is essentially a clone of the WeFollow directory. However, it is still another opportunity find followers and tweets on desired topics.
Type: General | PR: 0 | Alexa: 167,084
Tweetworks takes the Twitter microblogging platform and uses it as a discussion forum. Discussions are public and private on a wide range of topics. Tweets are all listed with the discussion for easy reading.
Type: General | PR: 4 | Alexa: 92,594
Loaded Web is three directories in one. Login with your Twitter ID and add yourself by providing your city and state. Then, you can also add your blog. The directory displays your information based on a category in a city and as a regional listing.
Type: Geographic | PR: 5 | Alexa: 41,854
Add your Twitter ID and a detailed description to be included in this link directory type of site.
Type: General | PR: 3 | Alexa: 1,963,910
Getting listing on Localtweeps is easy. All you have to do is provide your zip code through a form on their site which is made into a tweet. Search by zip code, city, and state. There are also popular city and state lists.
Type: Geographic | PR: 0 | Alexa: 69,947
Write a tweet with your city name to be automatically include in this directory. ChirpCity displays the most recent tweets with mentions of a city name. This site relies on city name and not zip code like some others.
Type: Geographic | PR: 5 | Alexa: 311,821
This is a Twitter client for the BlackBerry that allows you to see everyone who is tweeting near you. Your location is based on the cell tower instead of GPS hardware integrated GPS(Thanks, @robrowald for the update).
Type: Geographic | PR: 0 | Alexa: 184,188
These sites look at your existing followers and determines who those tweeple are following and you are not.
If you enjoyed this list, be sure to follow me @jasonbartholme. If I have left any out, then please let me know below.
Cisco ccent classes have started by testking which also cover the most of the exam topics for ccdp and ccip exam.
There is a relatively simple exploit going on in my PHP Link Directory, phpLD, script that has gotten significantly more popular in the last two months. I don’t intend to open the floodgates to shady link builders, but hope to bring attention to the script creators to find a way to remedy the problem within the application.
Take one part regular expressions, one part ColdFusion and one part Fark.com and you can see all the pics posted on the story comments minus all the comments.
I have been trying to hone my RegEx skills to use for good and a little bit of evil, so I decided to challenge myself. I read Fark.com almost daily and love the pictures that people post along with comments about the particular story. During my lunch break, I only have a limited amount of time to browse without a content filter, so I end up skimming the comment pages for the funny/interesting pics.
If one aspect of your link building is submitting your site to link directories, then you should try this to save tons of time. I take advantage of the bookmarking feature in Firefox 3. It takes your long list of potential directories and makes smaller, more manageable batches. Time is also saved because you can open the contents of those smaller batches with a single mouse click.
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