10 Reasons to Prefer Feedblitz Email over Feedburner Email

Feedburner, being a comprehensive service which includes both Feed Burning and Email Subscription Options along with Tracking and Analysis, is the most preffered service by bloggers. Presently, Feedburner is a Google owned add-free facility with built-in integration with Blogger and other Google products. On the contrary, Feedblitz is a dedicated Email Delivery agent, which is add-supported but free.

Most bloggers fail to realize the advantages of a dedicated Email Subscription Service. We listed out 10 advantages that Feedblitz Email Service have, over Feedburner Email Service, and the article got published at Quick Online Tips, which is a popular technology blog, publishing breaking technology news, blogging tips, computer software and Web 2.0. I would like to share the article in here for the benefit of MC! Readers.

Find out Why Feedblitz is much better than Feedburner Email by clicking here. You will also find solution if you insist on using Feedburner on your Blog for Burning Feeds.

Related Feedblitz Stuff: 

• Adding a Email Subscription Service To Your Blog
• Unique Subscription Options in Feedblitz

Send SMS to any Mobile Right From Your Inbox

160by2 provides an Email to SMS facility which let you send SMS to any mobile number within India right from your Email client, thereby saving you from the trouble of a separate pageload and login. 160by2 will deliver the message in packets of 80 characters (each SMS will contain 80 characters of the message) and the delivery is almost instant. We tested this facility and we received the SMS within 30 seconds. You will also get an Email from 160by2 that confirms the delivery of your SMS.

Before you can start sending Email SMS's, you will need a 160by2 account. Signup is free and will not take more than 5 minutes. During signup, you have to provide the Email id from which you are planning to send SMS.

To Send SMS via your Email, the message has to be formatted as described below.

• The recipient should be recipient’s mobile number, followed by @160by2.com so that it reads <receiver mobile number>@160by2.com. For example: If the recipient is 9995394558 then the recipient Email address in your Email program must look like 9995394558@160by2.com
• The Subject line must be your username of 160by2 or your mobile number that you used to signup with 160by2. If the Email address and the username or mobile number does not match, an Email from 160by2 will report the failure of delivery. 

The greatest advantage of this service is that the SMS can be sent irrespective of the email program you use. So even if your employer blocks all email services except the company email, you can signup with 160by2 with the company email and then send SMS to all your friends.

Related:

• Send Free SMS via GPRS 
• Get Free Useful SMS Updates From MyToday.com 
• GupShup Lets You Send Group SMS Free of Cost
  

Feedblitz has some Unique Subscription Options

We had been using Feedblitz email delivery service even before Million Clues! was born went live. But it’s only recently that we noticed some unique subscription options available with Feedblitz, which are hard to be found elsewhere, including Feedburner. In addition to regular email, Feedblitz can send content updates to Twitter, Skype and Instant Messengers like AOL Messenger, Microsoft Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger (see image)

Regardless the method of subscription, each one needs verification, so you can be assured against spammers. If email delivery is chosen, a confirmation link is sent to the email address provided for validating the user. Every other service has its own kind of verification to ensure that the user is the valid owner of the email address provided. For instance, when Yahoo! Messenger is chosen, the user is asked to add a friend with the name ‘FeedBlitz.Alerts’ and send a instant message with content ‘OK 124738’ to this friend.

So if you do not check your email regularly, then you can choose any one of these alternatives to subscribe to a blog. This is another reason to use Feedblitz Email Service rather than Feedburner Email.

You may also like to read:

• How to add an Email Subscription Service in your Blog / Website
• Why should I use an Email Subscription Service?
• Must read for Newbie Bloggers
• Chekout our whole New Domain
  

Best Blogging Practices and Search Engine Optimization

I got a chance to guest post on VitaminCM. And this was my first post there. I did a lot of research into making this one and thought I should share it in here too.

The article is targetted at both Fresh and Pro Bloggers. It discusses the best ways to gain more audience from Search Engines and the best practices that can bring your Blog into the lime light.

Read the Post at VitaminCM

The Complete Internet Pack: Must Haves For Safer, Faster and Efficient Browsing

Internet offers a wide range of services that spans between emails, chat, video calls, downloads, information and stuffs like that. A successful Netizen (a netizen is someone who uses internet) needs a whole array of tools to aid his path through the internet. Such tools will help him to get things done faster and makes browsing a pleasure.

Nomatter what kind of connection is yours, or how often you connect, there are some 'Must Haves' for every one. Infact, those with slower connection need them more.

The Must Haves can be classified into:

• Web Browsers and Browser Essentials
• Download and Upload Managers
• Security Tools
• Networking and Connectivity Tools
• Feed Readers
• Offline Essentials

Everything discussed in here are freewares and most of them have versions compatible with Linux and Mac.

Web Browsers
The Internet Explorer on Windows is a good Browser, but there better browsers which are much faster and safer than the Internet Explorer. And a good Browser is the primary Must Have for every Netizen.

• Mozilla Firefox recently Launched Firefox 3 series in beta. Firefox is fast, fully customizable and is the most recommended Browser for everyone. If you are a developer, Firefox offers lots of tools that might get your job done. Firefox supports plug-ins which can be downloaded online.
• Opera is another recommened browser. Its the best competitor to Firefox and is well suited for both Geeks and Newbies. Both Firefox and Opera supports tabbed browsing.
• Apple Safari is yet another cool Browser. Its from apple so it has got to look damn. Ranks three in comparison with the others, but consider this one if you are a normal internet user who wish to get rid of Internet Explorer. Safari supports tabbed browsing too.
  

Browser Essentials
Quality websites uses Java, Some Flash and Stuffs like that. You might end up in pages with cross marks all over, just because you dont have some softwares installed on your system. Here are some Must Haves

• JAVA Support - Websites with built in Java Applets need Java Runtime Support. Dowload this file and install. To know if you have JAVA right now, Open Contol Panel and Check whether you are having a Java Button there.
• Adobe Flash Player - Websites with embedded Flash Videos needs Flash Player. Dowload it here
  

Download and Upload Managers
Downloading is one of the most Important job done online. Every Browser has its own Download Manager. But a dedicated Download Manager improves Download Speed and can keep track of all the downloads irrespective of the browser. Download Managers usually have Resume Support, which means that you can pause a download and complete it later. Download Managers usually have a integrated Upload Manager too.

• Free Download Manager is the recommended Download Manager. We have been using it for years and it has been a Faithful Friend always. Download the Latest Version here
  
• uTorrent (read as mue-Torrent) is a Torrent Downloader. FDM also supports Torrent, but if you wish to have a dedicated Torrent Downloader, uTorrent is recommended.

Security Tools
Internet is the home to countless Hackers and Spammers. So Internet Security is a major concern. Basically you need protection from Viruses. You also need to monitor how your computer connects to the internet.

• AVG Antivirus Free is a free and effective Antivirus solution. AVG brings you regular updates so you can be sure that you are protected always. This is a highly recommended Must Have.
• Comodo Firewall Pro is an award winning Free Firewall. It lets you control the way each and every program on your system runs. If you are low on system resources, just install Comodo instead of a Antivirus, since Comodo can partly function as a Antivirus.

Networking and Connectivity Tools
Socializing with Friends and Relatives need a Chat client or a Video Conferencing tool or a Net Phone. The good thing is that, all these facilities are available in a single application, so you dont need to go in search of many.

• Yahoo! Messenger is one such tool which converges all facilites and is a Must Have. With Yahoo! Messenger, you can chat, talk, share pictures, view Webcams and even host a Web Conference.
• Though Yahoo! Messenger has everything within it, you might consider using Google Talk or Skype for connecting with friends in a purticular network.

Feed Readers
Readers are Softwares that bring website content direcly to you, right at the time the website is updated, so that you dont have to keep checking your favorite webpages for updates. Feed Readers work with Websites and Blogs that have RSS support. There are many online Feed Readers, which require no download, but the advantage of a offline Feed Reader is that you can read your Feeds offline.

• Feed Demon is highly recommended for Offline Feed Reading. It is light, Easy and Efficient. There are tons of other Feed Readers available, but Feed Demon is a Must Have if you have the habit of reading Blogs and Websites.
• Google Reader is a online tool that does the same job. This need no download and you can start using it right away, if you have a google Account. Signing up is a easy job.

Offline Essentials
There are some tools that everyone might need, to handle the files that are downloaded from the Internet. For instance, Data is transferred online mainly as zip files, so you need a decompressor to open such files.

• PowerZip can handle most common Compression formats. Its free, light and userfriendly. The interface might look bit old, but it gets the job done.
• Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed for handling pdf files. Must Have because you will find pdf everywhere on the web.

The above mentioned Tools are just the Essentials. They will save your day in most of the cases. But if you have some specific requirements, you should consider downloading tools for them. The Right Tools For the Right Job is the thumb rule.

Search Blogs Manually and Get Faster Add-free Results

The Blogger Navbar Has a Search Box in it, which delivers good search results. These Search results are faster than any other searche Engines and comes with no advertisments. The Navbar looks awkward on pages and most bloggers do not like it. Hiding the navbar doesn't violate the TOS so it is hidden on a large number of blogs (including MC!).

Bloggers use the Adsence for Search or the Google Custom Search Engine to add a search Service to their Blog. Both these Services are good but they come with Sponsored Links. If you wish to use the Navbar Search, which is much accurate (in comparison with Custom Search Engine) and Add-free use add ' search?q=Search Keyword ' (without quotes) to the end of the blospot blog address on the address bar, replacing Search Keyword with the Keyword that you wish to Search for.

Examples:
1. To search for Google related posts on Million Clues! add search?q=Google so that the Address bar reads : http://millionclues.blogspot.com/search?q=Google ( see image) (we have used our site as an example and this works on all sites)
2. Search for Free Offers by adding search?q=Free so that the address bar points to: http://millionclues.blogspot.com/search?q=Free

Options:
1. If your Keyword contains multiple words, use + instead of white spaces. Like, if you wish to search for Google Search use search?q=Google+Search (http://millionclues.blogspot.com/search?q=Google+Search).
This Search shows all articles that contain the words Google and Search.

2. To Search for Posts that contain exactly Google Search, then add double quotes as in search?q="Google+Search" (http://millionclues.blogspot.com/search?q="Google+Search")

Add-on! :
Try this tweak on other websites (non-blogger sites) and it might work. We tried this on Labnol and it worked.

Blogger Just added a New Page Element: Subscription Links

Blogger today added a new Page Element called 'Subscription Links'. This will allow bloggers to add a feed subscrition service to their blog. Once the Subscription Links are added a new Page Element will appear on the blog (see image). Readers can subscribe to both Posts and Comments via popular feed readers.

The Links are neatly arranged into a drop down box (see image). This element looks good especially when the background is white. Another plus is that both RSS and Atom feeds are available.

For the counter side, Blogger has just added a few online readers in this element. Even the most popular Desktop Feed Readers and missing. Meanwhile, FeedBurner gives a wide range of options which includes both online and Desktop feed readers. Also this element cannot be customised i.e. you cannot select the readers of your choice. Only thing that can be modified is the title (which is ' Subscribe to ' here). The New element also showed problems when placed towards the end of the page.

So the new Element holds good for those blogs without a FeedBurner Link. But for those blogs that already features FeedBurner, there is no point in shifting to this.

New Uses for an Old SMPS: Extra Cooling at No extra Cost

The power supply of your personal computer, SMPS (Stands for Switched Mode Power Supply), is the unit responsible for delivering regulated DC Supply to the silicon inside. This unit protects the computer from power surges. An SMPS gets blown out very soon in our country due to the common power surges and irregular power supply.

Recently we had to replace our SMPS for the same reason. This had happened earlier. This time instead of giving the SMPS to the vendor we kept it with us, out of curiosity. Working into the old chap, we soon found out that the cooling fan inside it was intact.

The Broken SMPS:

The Cooling Fan:

The fan is rated at 12 volts. This guide will tell you exactly how to place the fan into your cabinet. The power supply for the fan can be taken from the working SMPS in your computer. You have to know a little about SMPS outputs (if you do not know already), and here is what you need.
SMPS gives output as 12v, 5v and 3.3 volt. Your fan needs 12v (rating will be marked on the fan). The standard output connectors and its output powers are given below. The images are self-explanatory. The required 12 volt output can be taken from one +12v and one ground. Clean the old fan and place it on the cabinet using screws. Most cabinets ought to have a spare fan hole. Our fan was marked with the direction of rotation and direction of airflow. If they are not marked connect to fan to a +12v DC supply and find the direction of airflow. Make sure that you place the fan on the cabinet in such a way that its sucks air from inside to the outside. This will keep the dust out (Thanks Mathews).

The fan will have a +ve wire (usually red) and negative wire (usually black). Identify the +12v of the SMPS output and connect the red wire to it. Connect the black wire to the ground connection. We used cello-tape to make these connections. Turn on the SMPS and make sure that the direction of rotation and airflow are correct.

Now its time to close your cabinet. Congratulations!

Do Not Share Your Half-Baked Blog / Website

It is said that ' The first impression is the best impression ' . You may not trust this in your own life but when it comes to the internet, the first impression is always the best. And you have only one chance to make the first impression.


I am telling you this from my personal experince. When I started blogging, I told my friends right from the start. But at that time I did not have many articles in here. So they were not really interested. Then I had to work really hard to persuade them to look into my blog again. If I had waited till today, then I would be having lots of readers. So this is what I learnt...

If you are a new blogger or the owner of a new website do not tell your friends that you have a blog or a website. Wait till you are sure that your blog is ready. And be sure that you are targetting your readers. Make sure that the best articles are on the homepage. Thats where you have to give an idea of what your blog is about. Else they will back out.

And For the newest bloggers here is another tip... Be focussed. That was one more of my mistake . I was not really focussed. Target your readers rather than your self. And if you are writing about lot of topics be sure to label it and display the labels on the home page.
And if you are planning to advertise, wait till you have enough loyal readers. Else every one will think that you are blogging for money alone. Thanks to Nigel for this grand tip. Once your blog gets into the stream, then you can monetise it.

One more thing. The first thing that you should add to your blog should be the subscription option. Then even the first reader will have a chance to keep track of your posts. Remember the golden rule " First Impressions can be made only once "

b.

Old Bloggers! Its Time to Upgrade To The New Blogger

Are you an old blogger still using the age old blogger..? I was one untill yesterday. I had not upgraded to the new blogger cuz i was afraid of losing the templete design. And I kept searching the net for better blog templetes but none of them worked with the old blogger. So I decided to change and As you see in here, I feel much much better. I wish I had done this some 6 months back.

With the new blogger you can edit and update template very easily. You have lots of xml templates on the internet to choose from. So you can make your blog look realy good. If you are still using the old blogger templates, just select the ' Pick New Template ' Link on the Templates area of your Blogger dashboard. And you will be asked to upgrade. Go ahead and upgrade and unlock a whole new world.

You can find cool templates at www.finalsense.com or www.pimp-my-profile.com . Just search for that on Google and you find a lot more for yourself.

Its Time to change yaar !
b.

Secret Spaces on Your Computer : The System Volume Information area

There is a secret space of your computer where no search engine can reach. That is the system volume information area. Type ' C:\system volume information ' into the address bar ( ofcourse without the quotes ) and your reach there.

 

Actually its not very secret. Some third party browsers like the browser of Nero, can reach these areas. But files stores in the sytem volume information area are not listed in the searhces done on the computer. So it offers a minimal security. If you dont have any folder protection utilities then you can try this.

And one important thing : The system volume information area is cleared when you clean up the disk or when you delete the restore points. So make sure that you are not storing files on the root directory which usually users clear at regular intervals.

b.

Emergency FlashLight In Your Nokia SmartPhone

I have seen a software which when installed on your phone, keeps the display on for infinite time or till the battery dies out, so that you can use your phone as a flashlight for emergency purposes.

Here are some ways to keep the display on without any such softwares:

* The key combination to lock the keypad is to be used. Its a combination of 2 keys, first one is the left selelctor key ( In Nokia7610 ) followed by the '*' key. Press the first key followed by * and do not release the * key. Now the display stays on untill you release the * key.
Make sure that the background on your standby mode is of light colours so that you will get more light.

* One another method is to record a video of something white at some place where there is amble light. Usually Smartphones keep the display on while a video is being played. Now play the recorded video and the display stays on.

Tested on Nokia 7610 and must work with similar phones.
Wishing you a Happy and Prosperous 2008.
Good Luck!
b.

How To Send Text Messages Via Bluetooth

The Bluetooth functionality of mobile phones enables us to send files between bluetooth enabled devices. But usually bluetooth enabled phones do not have an in built feature with which we can send text messages via bluetooth to another bluetooth device in the vicinity. To do this usually we have to install some third party software.

There is another simple way to do this. This works on Nokia Smartphones. You can use the Notes application that comes pre-installed on the phone. Just type the message as a note and then press Options > Send > via Bluetooth. This sends the text as a message. To forward text messages that you have recieved, first copy that message to a note and then do the same as mentioned above.

I know that this is not a very handy option. But this is the only way out. Else you can find third party softwares that can even chat via text messages [ using Bluetooth ] .

b.

Make Motion Blurred Backgrounds On Your Cam - Photography Trick

See the above image. See its background. It is blurred but I didnt use any editing software to make this effect.

I kept the camera in my hand [ the cam was pointing to me..] and pressed the shutter while I was in motion. To get similar effect do the same. Take your picture revolve with the camera facing you. Make sure that the there is no relative motion between you and the camera. Also take care of your facial expressions. Look as if you are standing still. Use lower ISO values and slower shutter speeds to get better results.

Experiment this one many times with different camera settings to get good results. I had to take 12 snaps to get one right.

Good Luck!
b.

Related Posts :
* Make A Person Disappear In To Thin Air Using Your Video Camera
* Create Fantastic Effects with Your Digital Camera - Photography Trick
* Some Exilim Hacks.. For Casio Exilim EZ-30 and Related Camera's

Create Your Own Customised Search Engine In Google Style...

If you have ever visted Google.com You should have really admired the look and feel of the webpage and ofcourse the Google logo. Google.com 'weighs' just 13kb and is among the fastest loading pages on the web.

If you would like to see your own Search Engine with a logo that is as cool as the Google Logo, visit http://www.goglogo.com. This is another crazy website on the web.

To create your own search engine you dont need to know anything. There is nothing like a registration or any kind of fees. All you have to do is enter the name for the logo and then press the ' Create My Search Page ' Button on Goglogo.com

Its really creative and worth visiting...

b.

 

Shortcut to Select the First Boot Device For Your Computer

What do you do If you have to boot from a CD? Usually you restart your computer and your keep tapping F2 or the Delete Key to Enter the Setup of the BIOS and you change your Boot device to CD-ROM ..right..? And after that you have to change it back to your Hard Disk to boot from Hard Disk again.

One of my friends, Jeril taught me a rahter simple way. While you restart your computer press F8 instead of F2. Then You will get a quick menu asking for the boot device. All you have to do is to select the boot device from the list aned press enter. Your System boots form the selected device for that session. It automatically resets the boot device selection to the earlier value. i.e You dont have to change it back again.

He demonstated that on a AMD based PC and did not work for me. Instead F10 worked in place of F8 on my Pentium-4 based PC.

b.

Draw Hearts In Your Orkut Scraps... See this tip

If you are a bit crazy 'bout Orkut then here is something for you.
To draw hearts in Orkut use this in your scrap...

&#9829

To color your hearts use the color tag like this...

[red] &#9829 [/red]    

Replace the color tag [red] with a colour of your choice. The Colours available are...
aqua, blue, fuchsia, gold, gray, green, lime, maroon, navy, olive, orange, pink, purple, red,silver, teal, violet, yellow.

Related Posts :
* Formatting In Orkut : Add Creativity to your Scraps
* MillionClues in Orkut
* Frauds in Orkut

b.

Create Fantastic Effects with Your Digital Camera - Photography Trick

See the image above. This is not a software edited image. I caught this one on my Digital Camera [ Casio Exilim EZ-30 ]. Here is how to do that.

Most Digital Cameras have a Night Shoot mode for taking images in low light conditions. That mode will have slow shutter speed and low ISO value. Keep that setting. If you cant find such a mode use the menu to change to ISO to ISO 50.

The image above was taken at night while travelling in a car. To get such effects move the camera very fast while the sutter is being pressed. Like point the cam to the neon lights on the street and shoot while you are in a moving vehicle.

Experiment with various ISO modes to see the change. This is like a play with colours, so keep playing.

Good Luck!

b.

Related Posts :

* Make A Person Disappear In To Thin Air Using Your Video Camera

* Some Exilim Hacks.. For Casio Exilim EZ-30 and Related Camera's

Some Exilim Hacks.. For Casio Exilim EZ-30 and Related Camera's

While experimenting with my Digital Camera Casio Exilim EZ-30. I found the following things. It must work with Exilim EZ-40. I am not sure of the case with other cams in the same series but its worth a try... Here we go...

* Holding the 'DISP' button pressed swith on the camera [ Record mode]. The camera lens does not zoom out and the camera starts with the voice recorder. This can be useful when you wish to record a audio clip using the camera. As the lens does not zoom out, there is some savings in the battery.
Remember to keep holding the 'DISP' button untill the camera unit is on to get this result.

* Switch on the camera keeping the 'MENU' button pressed. Before the camera Switches on the LCD Screen shows the version of the software installed on your camera. This works in both Record and Play modes.
As in the other case remember to keep pressing the 'MENU' button till the camera unit is on.

* This works in the Play mode only. In the Play mode, when and image is being displayed press the 'SET' key and the shutter [ Half-Shutter ]. Then the image will get inverted. This can be useful when you wish to show someone the image conveniently. There is no need to press the shutter button fully. Half shutter will do. Press the half shutter again to return to the normal state.

b.

Establish Paired Devices and Make Connections Without Confirmation On Your Mobile

Every time a bluetooth connection is to be made, a request is made into the recievers phone. This can be very irritating if large number of files have to sent one by one. Instead you can establish the other device as a paired device [ and you become the pair for the second device ]. The process to Establish pair device in Nokia 7610 is discussed here. It must work on other phones too...

* In your Nokia phone go to connectivity and take Bluetooth.
* Press right arrow to enter the 'Paired devices' section.
* Select Options and choose ' New paired device ' . Then the phone searches for devices in its surroundings. The Bluetooth in the second device must be turned on so as to be detected by the first one.
* From the list that appears select the second device.
* The Mobile asks for a passcode. Key in some number. Now a request is sent to the second device. When the second device asks for the passcode enter the same code as entered in the first.
* Now the devices are paired. It will appear in the paired devices list.
* Choose this device and press options.
* From the options menu select ' Set as authorised ' and press ' yes '.

Now data can be sent to your phone without your confirmation. If you have to send data to the second device that one must make you authorised.

Note that fully authorised pairing can be risky. As files will be sent without your knowledge your device becomes open to virus attacks from the second one. Authorise only if you are sure that its safe.

b.