5/13 Digital Inspiration - Technology Blog

Please add updates@feedmyinbox.com to your address book to make sure you receive these messages in the future. Digital Inspiration - Technology Blog Improve Performance of AdSense Link Units on your Site May 12, 2009 at 9:09 am Do you use Google AdSense on your site? Here are two tips to help improve the performance of AdSense Link Units on your site without changing any code. 1. Don’t Reuse Colors When you create an Ad Link unit for your site, the background color of the Ad Link block should match with the color of other navigation elements on your web page. For instance, on my home page, the AdSense Link Unit near the top navigation area has a dark grey background to match the horizontal navigation bar just above the Ad Link unit. A problem with the above approach is that the landing page, which appears when a user clicks the ad link, will also have the same background color and that may not be very pleasing to the eyes of the visitor especially when you are using dark colors for Ad Links. You can however override this default setting such that Google text ads on the target page are displayed using the default color palette (green URL and blue titles). For this, you need to edit your AdSense unit (AdSense Setup -> Manage Ads) and uncheck the setting "Reuse Colors". 2. Use Large Fonts AdSense units with large font sizes tend to perform relatively better. Therefore always consider using 4 links per unit (not 5) because with lesser number of links, AdSense will increase the font size and spacing (or line height) to fill the whole ad space and that may yield better results. Google Ad Link units help you make the most out of limited space so don’t ignore them. And unlike the other text ads, Ad links can sometimes perform well in less visible locations also like the sidebar of your blog or even the footer. Keep experimenting. Best of all, you can make all the above changes directly from the AdSense dashboard without having to edit your site template. Related: Google AdSense Optimization Tips Improve Performance of AdSense Link Units on your Site - Published at Digital Inspiration (RSS) Find the Meaning of any #Hashtag on Twitter May 12, 2009 at 6:21 am Hashtag, in simple English, is any word that begins with a hash (#) symbol. Hash-tags are popular on Twitter because writing space is limited but people can associate their tweets with an event (or product) without having to explain the full context. For instance, a tweet that says “Obama on stage now” might make no sense but if it includes a hash tag like “Obama on stage now #whcd” - it’s relatively easy to guess that the person is probably live-tweeting from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Most #hashtags have pretty obvious meanings (like #teched or #xkcd) but if you are not too sure about the meaning or origin of any particular hashtag, check out tagdef.com. Tagdef is a directory of Twitter hash tags that displays the meaning along with recent tweets that have included that particular #hashtag. If you aren’t happy with the existing definition, you can write your own and others can vote up (or down) your definition. Related: Twitter Guide: Do Interesting Things With Twitter Find the Meaning of any #Hashtag on Twitter - Published at Digital Inspiration (RSS) Word of the Day - Typochondria May 12, 2009 at 3:10 am Typochondria is a state of persistent anxiety among designers that they have selected a wrong typeface or font for their project. “The condition is often paired with optical kerning disorder or the need to constantly adjust and re-adjust the space between letters.” If you know someone who seems to be suffering from this font related disorder, Ellen Lupton has some tips on how to cure typochondira: Don't mix typefaces that are too similar to each other but don't combine those that are too discordant, don't confuse styles and eras, and don't buy poor-quality fonts. Other typography related disorders include: Typophilia - An excessive attachment to and fascination with the shape of letters‚ often to the exclusion of other interests and object choices. Typophobia - The irrational dislike of letterforms‚ often marked by a preference for icons‚ dingbats‚ and— in real fatal cases— bullets and daggers. The fears of the typophobe can often be quieted (but not cured) by steady doses of Helvetica and Times Roman. Typothermia - The promiscuous refusal to make a lifelong commitment to a single typeface —or even to five or six‚ as some doctors recommend. The typothermiac is constantly tempted to test drive "hot" new fonts‚ often without a proper license. Word of the Day - Typochondria - Published at Digital Inspiration (RSS) Hide Your Online Status on Facebook Chat from Select Contacts May 12, 2009 at 1:46 am If you are connected with too many people on Facebook and need to hide your online status on Facebook Chat from certain contacts, here’s some help. Facebook has integrated friends list with Chat and you can also choose which of these list members get to see you online. So you can stay visible to your family members and close friends while the rest of your Facebook friends won’t know if you are logged into Facebook. Earlier you had to completely turn off Facebook chat in order to hide your online status from other contacts. The Facebook chat window has easy sliders so you can easily toggle your online status for any friends list in a click. Related: Put Facebook Chat in Firefox Sidebar Hide Your Online Status on Facebook Chat from Select Contacts - Published at Digital Inspiration (RSS) Just How Much Sugar is Present in your Favorite Foods? May 12, 2009 at 1:18 am You may be adding just a single cube of sugar in your cup of tea or coffee but do you know how may extra sugar cubes are you eating ever day through other foods & drinks?   Check out Sugar Stacks - it’s an interesting site that will help you visualize just how much sugar is present is you favorite foods. For instance, a soda can has some 40g of sugar and that’s equivalent to 10 sugar cubes of 4g each. [via] And here’s another video to illustrate the sugar content in food but here it uses a tablespoon of sugar as reference instead of a sugar cube. Just How Much Sugar is Present in your Favorite Foods? - Published at Digital Inspiration (RSS)   This email was sent to xfeedr@gmail.com.  Create Your Account Don't want to receive this feed any longer? Unsubscribe here.