I have always wanted to add a Media Player to my entertainment system. It all started when I bought the Samsung Blu-ray, which enabled me to plug in a USB with a media file to be played via the Blu-ray.
Having seen media players before and knowing how they work it was the prompt that was needed to start my investigations. I recently upgraded my AV Receiver to enable the use of HDMI for inputs and outputs and was keen to get a media player that had HDMI incorporated.
My purchase is the Western Digital HD TV Live, this media player displays photo’s on the TV, playback music and video files, it also has the ability to connect to the internet. The internet function wasn’t something I was looking for, but at the place of purchase the internet enabled player was on special and was substantially cheaper than the non internet version.
The media player needs of course, storage. An one terabyte external hard is connected via a USB, the WD TV live has 2 USB’s so there will be no need to worry about space. I don’t use any compression on the movie files as I prefer quality to saving space, the average movie uses about 5 GB of space, so on a terabyte HDD that is about 200 movies. If I need more space then 2 & 4 TB external hard drives are an option.
The software that I use to back up my DVD’s to the hard drive are DVD Decrypter to take it from the DVD and store in a folder on the hard drive as DVD (vob) files. Then I use Avidemux to take the multiple DVD (vob) files and make a single mpeg file. I prefer not to have any compression so the quality of the movie remains the same, Avidemux performs this task well.
I have watched both hi definition and standard definition movies via the WD TV Live and am pleased with the sound and picture quality.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Hardware and Software Requirements for Making Websites.
Hardware and Software Requirements for Making Websites.
A little while ago my old laptop needed replacing, it was over 3 years old and the battery had a 10 minute charge life and the charger was needing to be replaced. A quick visit to ebay and for less than $500 Australian a new Toshiba laptop was delivered.
About the same time I visited a friend who had spent over $1,500 on a laptop from a large electrical retailer. My friend mainly uses the laptop to check emails and create simple word documents, I was thinking that maybe a $1,500 laptop was extravagant to their needs.
As a web page designer and article writer I feel that my $500 laptop completes my tasks with complete ease.
Most visitors to my MakingWebsiteBlog are beginning their learning path, my blog covers information in regards to content, domain names, web hosting and SEO. I though why shouldn’t computer hardware and software be covered to, after all it is what is use to browse, compose and submit our work.
As you can see I don’t think bigger is better, the $500 laptop has Vista as the operating system, 2GB of ram, 160GB of Hard Drive and the CPU is a Celeron 2.2Ghz. The tasks that this laptop needs to undertake are, web browsing of course, simple picture editing (cropping, resizing and compressing for the web), text editing and when I just want to be slack, my favourite game.
Now you know what hardware I use for my web design, I will now run through the list of my essential software;
- Web browsers – IE8, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari. So I can check that the page views ok across a variety of platforms.
- Gimp – For my picture editing.
- Dreamweaver MX 2004 – Mainly used in text editing mode, and I like the site manager.
- Xampp – Xampp creates a server on my PC so I can create a full working page so it can be tested before I upload.
- Fireftp – A Firefox plugin to transfer files.
- And the last an most used software is windows notepad – I am using it now as I am writing this article. My Blog and EzineArticles have a feature where I can copy and paste text in to the “new post” form.
The above are my choices for hardware and software, some of you may like to use a desktop machine and would prefer to use a graphical interface to create your pages. I would like to know, and I assume that some the readers of my blog would be interested what you use. Please take time to comment, and share with us your hardware and software that you use to make your websites.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Making Websites - 6 Figure Incomes from a Website, a get rich quick story?
Making Websites - 6 Figure Incomes from a Website, a get rich quick story?
6 figure income from a website, does it really happen? Of course it does, all you need to do is to follow these 3 easy steps and you will be on your way to financial freedom never needing to work again.
I am wondering, how many of these website owners are actually earning their cited 6 figure income?
I guess I am or can be very cynical when it comes to get rich quick stories/schemes, I believe a website should have credibility that has been created over a period of time. The websites that promote financial freedom all have the same feel and design, like they have all come from the same template.
Yes I do earn an income from my websites, and if you include the cents it is a 6 figure income. My style is to create websites that I have an interest in, something I enjoy doing. I focus on getting a good ranking on the search engines, provide quality advice and content, and getting visitors to my site.
Once I have accomplished these items I explore methods of making an income from the site. To be able to sell a product I find it easier to endorse if I believe in the product.
In most cases I will use affiliate marketing to produce an income from my new site. Affiliate marketing is being paid for a lead, referral or click to a merchants website by means of a commission, a set referral fee or cents per click.
When you are deciding on your path of earning an income from the web, will you go with the template style website that will provide you with riches beyond your dreams, or will you go building a reputable presence on the web?
6 figure income from a website, does it really happen? Of course it does, all you need to do is to follow these 3 easy steps and you will be on your way to financial freedom never needing to work again.
- Select a niche product
- Market the niche product
- Build a rapport with your customer
I am wondering, how many of these website owners are actually earning their cited 6 figure income?
I guess I am or can be very cynical when it comes to get rich quick stories/schemes, I believe a website should have credibility that has been created over a period of time. The websites that promote financial freedom all have the same feel and design, like they have all come from the same template.
Yes I do earn an income from my websites, and if you include the cents it is a 6 figure income. My style is to create websites that I have an interest in, something I enjoy doing. I focus on getting a good ranking on the search engines, provide quality advice and content, and getting visitors to my site.
Once I have accomplished these items I explore methods of making an income from the site. To be able to sell a product I find it easier to endorse if I believe in the product.
In most cases I will use affiliate marketing to produce an income from my new site. Affiliate marketing is being paid for a lead, referral or click to a merchants website by means of a commission, a set referral fee or cents per click.
When you are deciding on your path of earning an income from the web, will you go with the template style website that will provide you with riches beyond your dreams, or will you go building a reputable presence on the web?
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Top 10 Womens Perfumes for 2010
Discover the top 10 perfumes for women in 2010? Discover the information that is needed to find the best perfume, whether for yourself or as a special gift for a loved one. Don't buy perfume till you read the top 10 for 2010.
With so many different fragrances out there, finding the best can be difficult. However, even with this, there are many people who would agree that each of these top 10 perfumes for women in 2010.
- At number 1, the Lovely Perfume, from Sex and the City's Sarah Jessica Parker.
We have seen many celebrities with fragrances, and often they are OK, remember the OK point, but this is a perfume that has nice scent. This is a fragrance that is both sexy, sassy and sensual, Lovely is a women's scent with notes of fresh mandarin, bergamot, rosewood, lavender, martini and orchid, which is a good combination.
If you are looking for a flirty, feminine womens scent in a stunningly stylish bottle, Lovely is a great option. Price wise, it is fantastic, and at such a low price, it is amazing that you get such high quality. A great day time fragrance. - At 2, we are including the Armani Code Pour Femme. This is a top selling fragrance, and is slightly more expensive than Lovely. It is a fragrance that is sure to leave a lasting impression on the wearer. It has a nice bottle, and the fragrance has notes of interesting ingredients, such as orange, ginger, sandalwood, and even honey! It is truly a sexy and sophisticated perfume, perfect for mom or sister.
- They say that diamonds are forever, and they truly are! At 3, we place the Armani Diamonds. This is truly a sensual and alluring aroma. If you are glamorous, you need this!
- Number 4, Calvin Klein's Euphoria holds the position. This is a fragrance that makes all the difference, and is truly luxurious and a stunningly versatile scent.
- At position 5, we have the popular Calvin Klein Eternity. This is a nice fragrance, which is better for the mature lady. Try this amazing combination of wild potent flowers, and delicate fruit.
- Diesel's Fuel for Life takes the number 6 position. This has a nice bottle, and is also a powerfully pretty perfume. A perfect Christmas present for the woman in her 20's.
- Vera Wang Flower Princess holds the 7th on the top 10. This is a nice bright pink heart-shaped bottle, and looks great on any dresser. This is a sweet and fruity floral fragrance.
- Elle Perfume is at 8, and Yves St Laurent's latest women's scent, 'Elle'. If you have a best friend, this is the fragrance to get them.
- 9th, we have Opium Perfume, and again, this is made by Yves St Laurent. This has been best seller since 1977, and is a favourite for many.
- Kenzo Flower Perfume hits 10th spot, and is a great Japanese item. It delivers as a strong and pure fragrance, that you will remember. It is an all round winner.
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Sunday, March 14, 2010
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Saturday, March 13, 2010
Making Websites - SEO Practices – Comments on Blogs
Making Websites - SEO Practices – Comments on Blogs
I have been creating web pages for some time and have spent considerable time researching SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) techniques, and as the owner of several blogs have always wondered about one of the techniques.
Quoted from the results of a recent Google search on “SEO Blog Comments”:
Before you make a comment, place yourself in the webmasters shoes and ask. How will a comment of “Nice site” or “That is a valid point” followed by a link to a site selling “Viagra” enhance their their Blog? The answer is, quite simply, it will not.
As a webmaster, one of my blogs is for my accounting practice, and any comments like the preceding one will always be treated as spam and deleted. Most webmasters, myself included, have spent considerable amount of time on their blog, writing posts and promoting their site. We appreciate comments on topic and in fact encourage it, and if a URL is added to the comment then that to must be on topic and very relevant to the comment.
I guess the last thing I would be doing is to denigrate my site with a “Nice site” comment and a link to sell Viagra. To give you an idea of the success rate, of the 3500 comments posted only 11 comments have been approve and are displayed on my blog, the remainder are all “Nice site” comments.
The time and effort you put in making a comment on another blog will be matched by the time and effort of the Blogs owner.
I have been creating web pages for some time and have spent considerable time researching SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) techniques, and as the owner of several blogs have always wondered about one of the techniques.
Quoted from the results of a recent Google search on “SEO Blog Comments”:
“By taking the time to comment on blogs, even one or two comments per day can lead to extremely positive results such as reputation building, expert positioning, and the building of inbound links, even if said blogs use the no follow attribute in their comment fields (and if they do not, all the better).”
The above has some valid points, and as long as the comments are on topic and are well thought responses then I guess you may have a positive moderation and your comment allowed.Before you make a comment, place yourself in the webmasters shoes and ask. How will a comment of “Nice site” or “That is a valid point” followed by a link to a site selling “Viagra” enhance their their Blog? The answer is, quite simply, it will not.
As a webmaster, one of my blogs is for my accounting practice, and any comments like the preceding one will always be treated as spam and deleted. Most webmasters, myself included, have spent considerable amount of time on their blog, writing posts and promoting their site. We appreciate comments on topic and in fact encourage it, and if a URL is added to the comment then that to must be on topic and very relevant to the comment.
I guess the last thing I would be doing is to denigrate my site with a “Nice site” comment and a link to sell Viagra. To give you an idea of the success rate, of the 3500 comments posted only 11 comments have been approve and are displayed on my blog, the remainder are all “Nice site” comments.
The time and effort you put in making a comment on another blog will be matched by the time and effort of the Blogs owner.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Highland Accounting Services - Delays to tax returns lodge in January 2010
Highland Accounting Services - Delays to tax returns lodge in January 2010
The Australian Taxation Office replaced its software in January, and because of this any tax returns lodged were not going to be processed till February 1st.
I contacted the ATO on Monday and was informed that the software update didn’t go as planned and that instead of the 1st being the start of processing the lodged tax returns, it would now be February 15th.
So those who lodged the tax returns throughout January and the start of February, your 14 day processing time as suggested by the ATO started on the 15th.
Your tax returns should be appearing about March 1st.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Making Websites 404 Error Pages Make them work for you.
Making Websites - 404 Error Pages Make them work for you.
404 error pages, we all know what they are, right. I will refresh your memory, a 404 error occurs when your server is reached by a user, but the page the user is looking for, can not be found. This may happen for a variety of reasons;
Stop making your 404 error page the exit page to your website. Create a 404 webpage that replaces the default error page. How I created my 404 page on my websites is to make the error page in the same format as any other page on my site, and then place the error information where the content would go.
If you do not want to create your page as above, make sure that you have;
To get your new 404 error page up and running, first create in your favourite html editor and then upload.In cPanel you first need to logged in, click on the error page icon at the bottom of the configuration page, click on the “404 (not found)” link and then copy and paste your html into the text box. Save the information and it is completed.
To view the updated page live, browse to a page that you don’t have on your site and the new error page should be displayed.
If you have any ideas that have worked for you, please add to the comment box below.
http://www.makingwebsitesblog.com/?p=171
404 error pages, we all know what they are, right. I will refresh your memory, a 404 error occurs when your server is reached by a user, but the page the user is looking for, can not be found. This may happen for a variety of reasons;
- A typo by the user, by simply missing the “l” in “html” will result in the 404 error,
- An external link to a moved/deleted page,
- An internal link to a moved/deleted page.
Stop making your 404 error page the exit page to your website. Create a 404 webpage that replaces the default error page. How I created my 404 page on my websites is to make the error page in the same format as any other page on my site, and then place the error information where the content would go.
If you do not want to create your page as above, make sure that you have;
- A link to your website as big and as clear as possible so the user will prows to your site,
- Make sure your page is less than 512 kilobytes, as windows explorer may display a default 404 page.
- If applicable have a search box so the user can type what they are looking for and be directed to the correct page.
- If applicable a drop down menu so the user can browse to the page of interest.
- If your site is small, maybe a sitemap showing all your pages.
- An apology for not have the page there, eg “We apologise for the inconvenience, please browse to the home page www.yourwebsite.com”.
To get your new 404 error page up and running, first create in your favourite html editor and then upload.In cPanel you first need to logged in, click on the error page icon at the bottom of the configuration page, click on the “404 (not found)” link and then copy and paste your html into the text box. Save the information and it is completed.
To view the updated page live, browse to a page that you don’t have on your site and the new error page should be displayed.
If you have any ideas that have worked for you, please add to the comment box below.
http://www.makingwebsitesblog.com/?p=171
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Web Hosting - Facts and Figures
I have been comparing web hosting packages lately, mainly as research for a websites I am working on so my visitors will know which hosting package will suit them.
One of the web hosting packages I examined has 10 GB of webspace and 300 GB of transfer per month for a reasonable fee of $US 4.99 per month, so what do all these figures mean?
I will attempt to put into perspective for you. The page that you are reading now has an approximate file size of 140,000 bytes. As you can see this page consists mainly of text with a few small graphics, a typical blog page. A page with graphics, photos and flash media will of course be larger in size than a page consisting mainly of text.
So how does this web page of 140,000 bytes fit in to the 10 Giga-Bytes of web space and 300 Giga-Bytes of transfer per month?
The web space and transfers also includes any databases that you may have, as well as the sending, receiving and storing of emails. The calculations and estimates will only include the storage and transfers of web pages. As you will see in the following calculations, these extras, are merely incidental
First off I will look at the webspace. The 10 GB of webspace means that 76,000 pages can be hosted at the file size of 140,000 bytes, that is a huge amount of information, I would seriously doubt that any one person would be able to create that much data.
Now for the transfer of data from your web site, 300 GB how many page views does that equate to. This blog page as mentioned before is 140,000 bytes of data which equals 1 page view so the 300 GB will give this page over 23 million page views per month.
For $US 4.99 per month you can host 76,000 pages and have over 23 million page views per month, as a comparison www.debian.org has over 20 million pages views per month.
Assuming the above is still not enough, then for $US 14.99 per month at the same web hosting service you can recieve unlimited web space and transfers.
One of the web hosting packages I examined has 10 GB of webspace and 300 GB of transfer per month for a reasonable fee of $US 4.99 per month, so what do all these figures mean?
I will attempt to put into perspective for you. The page that you are reading now has an approximate file size of 140,000 bytes. As you can see this page consists mainly of text with a few small graphics, a typical blog page. A page with graphics, photos and flash media will of course be larger in size than a page consisting mainly of text.
So how does this web page of 140,000 bytes fit in to the 10 Giga-Bytes of web space and 300 Giga-Bytes of transfer per month?
The web space and transfers also includes any databases that you may have, as well as the sending, receiving and storing of emails. The calculations and estimates will only include the storage and transfers of web pages. As you will see in the following calculations, these extras, are merely incidental
First off I will look at the webspace. The 10 GB of webspace means that 76,000 pages can be hosted at the file size of 140,000 bytes, that is a huge amount of information, I would seriously doubt that any one person would be able to create that much data.
Now for the transfer of data from your web site, 300 GB how many page views does that equate to. This blog page as mentioned before is 140,000 bytes of data which equals 1 page view so the 300 GB will give this page over 23 million page views per month.
For $US 4.99 per month you can host 76,000 pages and have over 23 million page views per month, as a comparison www.debian.org has over 20 million pages views per month.
Assuming the above is still not enough, then for $US 14.99 per month at the same web hosting service you can recieve unlimited web space and transfers.
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