YouTube has finally decided to put down the limited edition toolbar that was being used for sharing videos with our friends in real time and checking what our friends are watching now. This feature was rolled out to only few YouTube users and it was treated as a fail feature.
Users who tried this toolbar say that this feature did not make any difference to their YouTube usage. So after the failure of this feature, YouTube has removed it. According to the Google employees
The Realtime Toolbar was recently retired and is no longer an available feature on YouTube.
We were excited to release and experiment with Real-time and it has inspired us for new features on YouTube in the future. We look forward to introducing many new features in the coming months.
Removal of this feature doesn’t surprise anyone, most of YouTube users are still not aware that any real time sharing toolbar was present on YouTube. Removal of this toolbar makes a sense that YouTube has something better in the store. You Tube recently changed its homepage design too and also announced in official forum that they are developing many new great features like the closed captions feature which was covered a while ago by us. Hope to see them soon and we expect that they will make a big difference.
What do you think about it? Let us know through your comments
In previous article about twitter I have explained about the Importance of Twitter Search with a case study. In this article I am going to frame the list of 5 Web Sites that are offering us to post more than 140 Characters in Twitter. Isn’t it great to post more than 140 characters in Twitter.
Normally, we are allowed to post just 140 characters, So we need to minimize our content as much as possible such that it should be understandable and also should reach our readers as well as our friends. It’s bit tough job to frame the text within 140 characters, right!
So I have Listed the 5 web services that helps you to post more than 140 characters in your Twitter tweet box.
Maxi Tweet
Twuit
XL Tweet
Tiny Paste
Twitter Contd
Maxi Tweet: Feel free to use maxitweet as much as you like – for business, re-tweeting, information sharing and fun. You are allowed to enter upto 200 characters in the Tweet box at Twitter. Using Code XX5: tweet up to 500 characters – in code.
Twuit: Twuit.com provides you the provision to enter more 140 characters to Twitter, no text limit. The long message will be divided into 2 or more short tweets. You can also convert the tweet into any language, because this service provides you with the Language Translator tool.
XL Tweet : Post the tweet then XLTweet will tweet the first 120 chars, create a bit.ly short URL, then save the rest on your own XLTweet page. In order to integrate this tweet with Twitter you need to enter your Twitter Username and password.
Tiny Paste : TinyPaste is almost similar like TinyURL. TinyURL able to turn the long URL into short one, where-as TinyPaste is able to turn long text into an URL. You can also earn money with this, if you connect this account with your paypal account than, you will earn 0.005$ for every unique visit.
Twitter Contd : Twitter Contd gives you more than 140 characters. You can post upto 1250 characters, upload photos to TwitPic, Shorten URLs, Top Current Twitter Trends in Flash Tag Cloud.
Many people have been using their PC’s or Gadgets to meet their daily needs. However it is bit difficult to have Gadgets to meet our each and every need. For example consider a reminder, every Mobile is now loaded with reminders but initially people used to note this on the walls or papers etc, but after the evolution of Mobiles many are using the Mobile phones onely.
Reminder though few Gadgets that were existing in the market which were manufactured to only fulfill the reminder purpose. As technology is coping up every-day, people were expecting to have more loaded in a single product.
I have collected the 5 Web Applications that will help you a lot by making their impact and also they will save lot of time for you. Lets Check them out
Itumz
Amplify
Charts
Snipi
Backupify
Itumz: Itumz is a very powerful web application tool that lets you to make lists, access them from browser, and also share them with all your friends. You can make lists that help you to organize your schedule. Just create your to-do list with this and you can access it from any where in the Globe. It even supports mobile version.
Amplify : Amplify is a free service for engaging and makes it easy to spark conversation about web-pages, paragraphs, images, videos or origianl ideas that make people think. It just helps you to share everything that you read on the web with your Twitter as well as Facebook friends.
Charts : Create your Own charts using this application, find new Music or Radiostations, watch the Videos of your favorite Artist or band. You can get Top-Tracks, Music, Videos and Charts from FM4. It is one of the world’s largest music Catalogue.
Snipi : Drag and drop products, photos and videos from anywhere on the web using Snipi. It is a quite useful tools that your can just drag and drop the interesting things on the Internet. Capture products, photos, videos of any webpage, colloct and organize your online friends, and also share your interests.
Backupify : It provides you the automatic backups, archiving and also you can export all your social meadia data. In case of any hacking or data base crashing this is the tools that matters.
Adobe Photoshop, the term that doesn’t require any introduction for itself, being the Number 1 tool for designing, editing, composition, blending etc. But just imagine the cost of Photoshop Cs3, it would be approx 625-650$. After buying it, you need to install it and then you will be permitted to access. But 650$, is this amount affordable for everyone?
Surely, its bit tough and paining task to buy a Software that’s only meant for designing, editing. But 650$ will not be matter if your are the expert with that tool and also if you are a designer who keeps on working on it, as many professionals were making lots of money with it. Of-course its being the No1 in the Business though, if you are having the alternatives for it, which were available freely in the market definitely everyone will opt the free one’s though there may be loaded with minimal features when compared to the Photoshop.
I have collected the 5 Online Tools that which can be considered as Alternatives for Photoshop for editing you Photos.
FlauntR is a free online photo editor with photo editing features similar to photoshop. Store and share your photos online, create slideshows and printing. Visit thispagefor what does this offers. FlauntR is a slick new tool that is almost everything what you want in a photo editor.
Splashup is the only full-featured, free range, image editor online. Create new images, edit existing images and manipulate layers with filters, layer effects and brushes almost every feature of Photoshop will be available in this Online tool. This is the home page of Splashup. You are also given provision to use Splashup Light which is lighter version and is compatible of running on any computer as well as your mobile PC’s.
Pixlr is a free online photo editor. Manage your images in your browser, Edit, adjust and filter your images. No registration needed, its absolutely free. View the direct application here.
PicMagick is an online photo editor that enables you to make ordinary photos look wonderful within a few clicks. It will surprise you how fabulous your photos can be and how easily this can be done. View the direct application here.
Pixer.us is a great online photo editing tool which is free and easy to use. Pixer.us safety info and online photo editing, editing photos online, digital photo processing suggestions.
Do you know of any other similar alternatives for Photoshop? Do let us know through your comments.
Working online can mean people like me can end up spending anywhere from 8-10 hours online everyday as a minimum. But being online does not mean I do not have some for of recreation as someone said ‘All work and not play makes Jack a dull boy’. Here work would be blogging and Jack would be me. There is one thing that I love doing is sharing music and videos and interesting links with friends on Facebook and Twitter.
Here I came across Feeder fm which a online service which just about plays any song you search for and allows you to share it with your Twitter and Facebook contacts.
I could sign-in using my Facebook credentials. Then all I had to do was look up music with the search box.
I could search with Artist Name or Song Name. When you click on a result you can play it and then share it online with your Facebook and Twitter contacts.
Then from a list select which friend you want to share the song with and click on Feed. (see image below)
So now I can share a song I like with a friend from Facebook or Twitter. This is quite a lot of fun and I guess my friends can expect a lot of musical content from me. 😛
Go ahead and try out Feeder.fm and tell us what do you think about this service? Do drop in your comments.
A long while ago I wrote about a service which mixes Google trend results with Bing Search results. I guess these tools can be used by SEO experts along with people who are just interesting in knowing what the world is following. There are many ways to get what are the hot trends on Google, Bing and Twitter.
At times I felt it was a waste of time looking up trends for clues for new material for DW. I agree if you are a blogger then looking up trends cannot give you ideas for new posts but looking up trends can once a day can give you directions to look up interesting things. You never know when something clicks and you have something new to blog about. 😉
This is where I came across Trends Buzz and have made it my browser’s start page.
Trends Buzz displays on its homepage top 10 Trending topics from many sources. These sources are Google Hot Trends, Yahoo Buzz Movers, Twitter Trending Topics, New York Times, Search.com, Alexa hot topics, Wordtracker and Bing xRank.
The good thing is its not just a list of top trending topics but on clicking on anyone of them it takes you to a page which has a summary of sorts on how that topic has been covered on the net which includes links to blogs which have covered the topic.
Unfortunately the trends are real time and change every time you load the website. There are no archives but in their blog they claim that an archive will be made available very soon.
Do check out Trends Buzz and drop in your comments on what you think about it? I sure would like to know. 🙂
How-To Websites, these are the websites that are making you job quite easier. After the evolution of these Web services, our work became easier by just simply sitting in-front of our computer and simply search for what we want to know without any hesitation, rather than roaming to others for asking about it.
They were providing information on various aspects like Tutorials, Online Education, General Services, Health Care, Fashion, Photography, Hardware Guidance and many more. These services were serving us by providing the information from simple works like “How to Fold a T-Shirt like a Pro” to mighty tutorials.
Thus these Websites are becoming a part of our life, which are helping us to meet our requirements. I have created a list of “Top 5 How-To Site”. Check all of them. They might useful to you at any time in your life.
eHow
How To Do Things.com
WonderHow-To
How Stuff Works
Instructables
Bonus : How-To Geek
eHow : You can know about how-to do everything at eHow which provides step-step instructions. Expert village is another Online tutorial website with over 1,30,000 video tutorials is merged with eHow now. You will find various How-To tips on Arts & Entertainment, Business, Computers, Travel, Child, Health, Education, Internet, Holidays etc. What not it gives you the information about everything and anything.
How-To Do Things.com : You can learn how-to do about almost anything. You will find thousands of how-to helpful articles. To have additional benefits and enjoy those services you should register. This site will provide you various how-to’s on Automotive, Business, Careers, Computers&Internet, Hobbies, Holidays, Travel, Health Care Tips and many more.
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Wonder How-To : You can find how-to videos that helps you to meet your requirements. This is one of the best service available. It is not only a simple website, it is a search-engine and directory for how-to websites. You can also share your own How-to videos here. You are always welcome to share. You will find various How-To tips on Arts & Crafts, Alcohol, Beauty&Style, Computer&Programming, Dating Tips, Food, Gambling and lot more.
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How Stuff Works : It is a colorful illustration website that which deals with the information related to earth science, engine workshops, many more technology devices workshop. This is the world of heaven for engineers, students etc. This is simply a device workshop. You can find information about Automotive, Engine, Gadgets, Hardware. But this website also provides you the information related to general categories.
Instructables : It is the biggest how-to and DIY community where users make and share inspiring information, tutorials, projects etc. It is a user created and sharing how-to website where you can upload or share various projects.
(Bonus)How-To Geek : This is the ultimate Tech how-to website. You will find many Windows, Linux, Mac, PC troubleshooting, Internet tips and many more.
So share your how to site which you recommend for every one?
Google recently announced that they are taking over Picnik a website which allows online editing and formatting of images. The first reaction was why does Google want to do this when they already have Picassa. Picassa is actually not a online image editor but installed on the computer. I thought I would look at Picnik and share with readers what I liked about it.
Picassa web albums is a Google product and its main competitor is Flickr. I am sure many amongst you must have used Flickr a lot more than Picassa web albums.
One key factor for Flickr being a hit amongst people uploading pictures online is there is no need for installing any application on the computer for editing the images.
If you have decent internet speed; one would be tempted to just upload images and edit them with a good editor available online.
That is what Picnik is for Flickr. It is the image editor for Flickr. I wonder what will Google do with Picnik as now it owns the image editing service for Yahoo’s Flickr.
About Picnik
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Picnik is a pretty good image editor and it is quite handy if you want to do some basic editing of images.
There is no need for registering or signing-up. You can directly edit images from Flickr, Picassa, Facebook, MySpace, Photobucket and more.
I could also edit an image directly from my hard drive of which I took a screen shot for giving you a better idea of its features.
It supports Resizing, Cropping, Rotate, setting exposure of a image, colors and sharpening images. It’s Red-Eye correction tool is also very satisfactory which is a must for any online photo storage service.
I liked the speed with which it worked and that is something I guess a very strong selling point for Picnik.
Screenshot of using Picnik Editor…
So do you think but taking over Picnik, Google has threatened Yahoo’s Flickr? Will Google’s Picassa web albums get better integration than Flickr is getting with Picnik? I think with this buy, Google is tying up loose ends for Chromium OS. If ever we have a Chromium Netbook; services like Picnik will be quite vital. What do you think? Do drop in your comments.
In a recent announcement, PayPal cleared the air saying that it is not ‘Import/Export Code’, but a ‘Purpose code’ that Indians need to specify while withdrawing money from PayPal account to local bank account!
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Complete list of purpose code is here but its not clear yet that which purpose code we need to use exactly! This is the reason to start this discussion here.
Purpose codes bloggers/freelancers need to consider
PayPal also made it clear that freelancers need to use one code out of P0801/P0802/P0803 and bloggers need to use one code out of P0805/P0806. For logo design (and related banner/graphics design IMHO) purpose code P1007 should be used. For SEO services and affiliate programs, there are still no clear guidelines. There are some questions that are not clear yet and creating confusion as discussed below…
Confusion #1 – Most Freelancers provide services that are mix of software consulting and data management/processing/consulting services
Whereas, our blogger to wordpress migration service will fall under data management or processing service because we are “migrating (processing)” data not developing any codes. Going in depth, we developed a wordpress plugin to facilitate migration service but the payment we get from our client is not for the codes but for the data-migration service. We are actually charging for our time, not codes!
Confusion #2 – Whether bloggers should use P0805 or P0806 or P0802?
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By nature of job bloggers are freelance journalist (#P0805). But most bloggers make money from ads sold on their blog which is like newspaper (#P0806).
Most bloggers grow with traffic and ad-rates mostly depends on traffic and quality of reader-base. Whereas a typical freelance journalist makes money through royalties – more like selling articles to newspaper or other media agencies. This is more like paid-blogging job on rtBlogs network!
Added to above confusion, many bloggers makes money from freelancing services on their blog which may fall under purpose code P0802 0r even P0803!
Confusion #3 – What about SEO-services and Affiliate Marketers
There is no clear mention of SEO experts and affiliate marketers. India have many freelance SEO experts and almost every professional blogger is selling something on his blog under some affiliate program. As a matter of fact, we also make considerable money from affiliate marketing! So which code we should use guys!
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There are 2 purpose codes seems near match and they are – P1006 and P1007.
For affiliates marketers, P1007 seems the best as it mentions payment for marketing services.
For SEO guys, I am in dilemma. SEO guys can also be considered as marketers as most big SEO campaign involve indirect marketing efforts in terms of paid-reviews/sponsored posts. But overall description of SEO job is more suited to purpose code P1006. As SEO efforts most of the time used to give a brand long-term exposure.
Workarounds… (What I will be doing!)
After much brainstorming here is the plan we will be executing. Please note that this is our opinion and our workaround. Farhad Irani, in PayPal’s official post made it clear that if you are not sure about which purpose code to use, you better contact PayPal customer support.
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First thing to note is that while selecting a purpose code, keep in mind that its your bank to whom you may need to justify your “purpose”. For justification you will be needing proofs like print-outs of PayPal transaction details page as well as other goods/receipts.
Next fact to consider is PayPal don’t charge any fees on withdrawal of Rs. 7000/- or more. So you may go unnoticed by making multiple withdrawals of moderate amounts.
Now while breaking one-big transaction into many small transactions, do not simply use mathematical division. Rather you should try grouping transactions by purpose-code!
So personally, I will do following…
Code P0802 – All payments for wordpress theme/plugin and customization work backup work
Code P0803 – All payments for blogger to wordpress migration, apache to nginx migration, wordpress backup-recovery services, etc
Code P0806 – All payments from advertising i.e. BuySellAds, Kontera, Infolinks, etc
Code P1007 – All payments for affiliate marketing i.e. payments form Dreamhost, hostgator, etc and payments for logo-design, graphics design services
Only SEO is missing from above list. But as of now we are providing SEO services only as part of some bigger project.
Apart from this Indian guest/paid-bloggers who receives payment via PayPal, technically should use purpose code P0805. But if you (paid-blogger) and sender (blog-network/media agency) both resides in India, you should always use NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer). It works faster, keeps you away from legal issues related to cross-border transactions and also you get more money by saving in currency conversation charges.
With this purpose code facility, PayPal will resume withdrawal to local banks in India starting from March 3, 2010 (that is tomorrow afternoon in India).
Let us know which purpose code you are planning to use and why? Also if you happen to get any helpful response related to purpose code from PayPal guys, please share with us.
Since a couple of weeks there has been chaos among Paypal users as it paused withdrawal option from Paypal to Indian bank accounts which was one of the most loved and used service among Freelancers, bloggers and service providers to receive money from outside the country.
But earlier this week, in one of its official blog, Farhad Irani posted that they will be resuming bank withdrawal option to Indian users if they provide with ‘Export code’ while withdrawing funds, which many people misunderstood as ‘Import Export Code’ (One needs to apply to govt. of India for IEC). But a few hours ago, Farhad cleared that its not ‘IEC’ that one needs and its just ‘Purpose code’ that would solve your purpose!
An Indian Paypal user simply need to put the purpose code depending on the category they receive funds on their Paypal! (For ex. you need to use code ‘P0805’ if you are a blogger/freelancer/journalist). Guess this news would definitely be relief for many Indian bloggers and freelancers.
Paypal purpose code for different categories:
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Code
Category
Description
Who should be using it
P0101 / P0104
Export of Goods
Value of export bills negotiated / purchased/discounted etc. (covered under GR/PP/SOFTEX/EC copy of shipping bills etc.)
eBay merchants, jewelers, sellers of collectibles and other such products through eBay and your own websites / catalogues globally.
Please note: Cross border shipment of goods and services for which you file GR / PP / SOFTEX / EC forms only should be processed with this code. Use P101 if Deutsche Bank is your banker and P0104 if you bank with any other bank
If you have any questions, please check with your bank to help you with the same.
P0301
Travel , Hospitality and Tours
Purchases towards travel (Includes purchases of foreign TCs, currency notes etc over the counter, by hotels, hospitals, Emporiums, Educational institutions etc. as well as amount received by TT/SWIFT transfers or debit to Non-Resident account).
Online Travel Agents, Airlines, Railways, Buses, Taxicab Services, Hotels, B&Bs and other travel / tourism related sales through PayPal
P0801
P0802
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P0803
Information Technology
Computer Information Services. Hardware / Software / Data Processing consultancy/implementation
If you are an independent / freelance coder / hardware consultant or data processing service provider, or a small business providing such services for websites globally, please use these codes.
For all IT related consulting services where you know you do not need to file a SOFTEX form, please use the appropriate code. 801 for hardware consulting, 802 for software consulting and 803 for data management and processing consulting services
P0805
P0806
Content and Journalism
News Agency and Subscription services
If you are a freelance journalist / blogger / news aggregator please use this purpose code for withdrawals.
If you are a newspaper or an online news aggregator for websites overseas, please use the appropriate code from these two. 805 if you a freelance journalist, and 806 if you are a newspaper / aggregator
P0902
Licensing of creative works
Receipts for use, through licensing arrangements, of produced originals or prototypes (such as manuscripts and films)
Artists, designers, other creative service providers where the principal revenue mode is license fees, please use this code.
If you produce creative works which you license out for entities overseas, licensing revenues may be classified under this purpose code
P1004
Other services
Legal Services
If you are providing outsourced law related services
P1005
Accounting, auditing, book keeping and tax consulting services
For accounting consulting and accounting services
P1006
Business and management consultancy and public relations services
Management / brand consulting and management services can be exported with this purpose code
P1007
Advertising, trade fair, market research and public opinion polling services
Marketing/ brand consulting / logo design / event management services can be exported with this purpose code
P1008
Research & Development services
If you are an outsourced research and development services provider based in India, receipts can be inwarded through this purpose code
P1009
Architectural, engineering and other technical services
Any other technical services such as eTutoring, education and other services you render over the internet via web conferencing tools or similar channels, please use this code for your withdrawals
YouTube has finally decided to put down the limited edition toolbar that was being used for sharing videos with our friends in real time and checking what our friends are watching now. This feature was rolled out to only few YouTube users and it was treated as a fail feature.
Removal of this feature doesn’t surprise anyone, most of YouTube users are still not aware that any real time sharing toolbar was present on YouTube. Removal of this toolbar makes a sense that YouTube has something better in the store. You Tube recently changed its homepage design too and also announced in official forum that they are developing many new great features like the closed captions feature which was covered a while ago by us. Hope to see them soon and we expect that they will make a big difference.
Since a couple of weeks there has been chaos among Paypal users as it paused withdrawal option from Paypal to Indian bank accounts which was one of the most loved and used service among Freelancers, bloggers and service providers to receive money from outside the country.