Monthly Archives: February 2011

46 posts

Google Algorithm Change Affects Content farms

Google has recently made a change to it’s search algorithm which is said to lower search results returned from content farm websites.

The change is so far said to have affected 12% Of US Google search Results.

Sistrix a German SEO company has posted an article detailing changes.

“During this week, Google announced a significant algorithm-update which aims to increase quality in Google’s search results. Domains containing low-quality content are supposed to be found less often, high-quality pages are to achieve better rankings. At the moment this update is active in the US-Index, more countries are about to follow.”

More info at: http://www.quora.com/SEO/Which-websites-dropped-the-most-in-the-Google-algorithm-change-of-February-2011

Google Announce Availability of Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

Google has announced global availability of Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office, which was launched as beta in 2010.

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office brings collaborative multi-person editing to the familiar Microsoft® Office experience. You can share, backup, and simultaneously edit Microsoft Word, PowerPoint®, and Excel® documents with coworkers.

The plug-in syncs to Google’s cloud so that multiple people can make changes to the same file. A Cloud Connect toolbar is displayed in Microsoft Office that allows users to sync their version of the file with an online version in Google Docs.

Requirements:
Windows XP with .NET Framework 2.0, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
Microsoft Office 2003, Office 2007, or Office 2010

Google Cloud Connect is not available for Mac OS X

More info: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudconnect

Google Chrome Background Apps

Google Chrome Background Apps is a feature that allows web apps to run without seeing them.

“Apps and extensions that use the new “background” feature can continue to run in the background—even if the user closes down all of Chrome’s windows. “Background apps” will continue to run until Chrome exits. The next time Chrome starts up, any background windows that were previously running will also be re-launched. These windows are not going to be visible but they will be able to perform tasks like checking for server-side changes and pre-emptively loading content into local storage.

One way you can use background windows is to preload content and data so that they are immediately available when the user opens your app. You could also issue HTML5 notifications to alert the user when important events occur—for example, a friend wants to initiate a chat session. There are plenty of possibilities here, and we look forward to seeing what you’ll do.”

More info: http://blog.chromium.org/2011/02/amping-up-chromes-background-feature.html

Sample app on the Chrome Web Store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/biecdmomngcfnkjelkbfjijebfednkno#

Xinhua launches Panguso.com Search Engine

Panguso.com, will combine the strengths of Xinhua, a leading news agency and content provider, and China Mobile which has the latest network technologies, said Panguso, a joint venture of Xinhua and China Mobile, in a press release.

“The operation of Panguso is an important move by Xinhua and China Mobile to extend our cooperation in cyberspace,” said Li Congjun, president of Xinhua News Agency, at the opening ceremony.

The search engine is expected to contribute to the development of new media in China and better serve Chinese netizens, Li said.

China now has about 457 million Internet users

SimpleViewer Customizable Image Gallery

SimpleViewer is a free, customizable image gallery that allows you to display your images on any web page in a professional and intuitive way. supports Universal Playback and can be viewed on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android.

SimpleViewer is avaiable as a free download to use on websites or in a premium versions with advanced customization options, no branding, unlimited images.

Features:
Universal Playback. Displays on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android.
Intuitive image navigation and Smart image pre-loading.
Resizable interface and Fullscreen mode.
Automatic International Language Support.
Optional right-click to open image in a new window.
Load images locally or from Flickr.
svBuilder desktop app for easy gallery building.

More info: www.simpleviewer.net/simpleviewer/

Windows 7 Service Pack One Announced

Windows 7 SP1 is now available for download available from Microsoft’s download Website, or via Windows Update,

Microsoft says Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is an update that does the following:

Helps keep PCs supported.
Provides ongoing improvement to the operating system, by including previous updates delivered over Windows Update as well as continuing incremental updates to the Windows 7 platform based on customer and partner feedback.
Makes it easy for organizations to deploy a single set of updates.

You need to uninstall any pre-releases of SP1 before installing

Download: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/downloads/service-packs

Huawei Offer Free London Underground Cellular Coverage

China’s Huawei are offered to pick up a £50 million bill for equipment to line London’s sprawling subway system with mobile phone reception, a package it says it’s extending as a gift from Olympic host nation to another (London will host the 2012 Summer Olympics, reports Engadget.

The new system would enable emails and calls while on the tube.

Huawei said it would make its money back over time through maintenance contracts.

Full story: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/21/huawei-offers-to-build-out-london-underground-cellular-coverage/

Social Networking Site For Bloggers Announced

With the increasing demand for social interaction and engagement in the blogging community, so too has the demand increased for sites to accommodate this interaction. Facebook, MySpace, and other social media / networking sites have by all means covered the territory for social interaction, sharing, and generally keeping in touch with friends and family. Blog Interact was developed as a platform for this form of engagement between bloggers.

By sharing post “excerpts” and commenting and casting votes on what registered users deem to be “popular posts”, bloggers are able to get a feel for what other blogger’s perspective is on a particular subject or category. Comments can be made on-site, or a simple casting of a vote can be made.

Unlike some other similar sites, Blog Interact will be a more all-inclusive site, covering an enormously wide range of categories and topics. From every form of media, to science and technology, to politics, there is sure to be a category for inclusion of posts by bloggers all over the world.

Registered users will also be able to follow other registered users, whether they are in their particular niche or not. Group creation will be available, furthering the availability for bloggers to interact and engage with each other. Users can follow each other, send instant messages, photo share, video stream, and much more.

Additionally, users will be able to depart the site by taking with them their own customized “interact” buttons for their blogsite. These will be available in various forms and in the java script language, with one simple line of code. This can easily be added to your custom side-bar voting widget, right alongside Twitter, Google Buzz, and Facebook.

Mid Carolina Freelance would like to give a special thanks to the web designer / developer of the site, Michal Wilkosinski. Michal is a U.K. based web programmer and site developer with super skills. He is the owner of StudioMW, and we highly recommend utilizing his services for your next web development ideas.

We strongly encourage all bloggers,writers, and readers looking for the best available content on the web to get involved in Blog Interact. Registration is free, and all links back to your site or the site you are posting from are “do follow”. The site will prove to be a powerful tool for bloggers, writers, and readers to promote themselves and drive more traffic to their site. All aboard!

Mid Carolina Freelance is the umbrella company and owner of numerous popular websites. We specialize in several aspects of internet marketing, including SEO/SEM, writing, and much more. We are product distributors and mobile app developers as well.

midcarolinafreelance.com

Nokia Gives Developers Free Windows Phones

Nokia will be giving away one E7 smartphone and one Nokia-made Windows Phone to each developer in Launchpad, it’s program for mobile app developers and waive its tech support charges for developers for the next three months, according to SlashGear.

Launchpad is Nokia’s mobile app development program, usually priced at €300 annually but currently free for the first year. Membership is available – on an approved application basis – for individuals and companies, and regularly includes early access to APIs and SDKs, promotions in the Ovi Store and invitations to training events.

More: http://www.slashgear.com/nokia-giving-developers-free-e7-and-free-wp7-device-18134435/

Twitter Suspends Popular Mobile Apps

Twitter has shut down popular mobile apps such as UberTwitter, UberCurrent, and twidroyd, writes Tony Bradley on PCWorld.

“The Twitterverse is abuzz with news that Twitter suspended popular mobile apps such as UberTwitter, UberCurrent, and twidroyd today. The services had not recently changed anything about the functionality or behavior of the apps, which leads one to wonder why Twitter suddenly decided to shut them down.”

Full article: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/220156/twitter_cracks_down_on_popular_mobile_apps.html

Twitter support said:” We have suspended UberTwitter and twidroyd for violating our policies.

Every day, we suspend hundreds of applications that are in violation of our policies. Generally, these apps are used by a small number of users. We are taking the unusual step of sharing this with you because today’s suspension may affect a larger number of users.

We are committed to helping you continue to use Twitter during the disruption of these applications.”

UberMedia responded that it had made the “very small” changes requested by Twitter, which include changing the name of “UberTwitter” to “UberSocial.

Microsoft Bans Its Self From App Store

Microsoft has accidentally banned its own licenses from the App Store according to Techdirt.

Microsoft got itself in some hot water lately, when some people realized that the rules for Microsoft’s phone app store appeared to ban certain types of open source software. The specific claim was that it said certain types of licenses were to be excluded. Among the excluded:
“Excluded License” means any license requiring, as a condition of use, modification and/or distribution of the software subject to the license, that the software or other software combined and/or distributed with it be (i) disclosed or distributed in source code form; (ii) licensed for the purpose of making derivative works; or (iii) redistributable at no charge.
The only problem? This appears to cover a few of Microsoft’s own licenses. As Simon Phipps points out, both Microsoft’s Reciprocal License and its Public License appear to violate those terms.

Full article; http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20110218/12280313166/microsoft-accidentally-bans-its-own-license-app-store.shtml

Drupal 7 Web Content Management Review

Jim Rapoza has posted a review ” Drupal 7 Simplifies Web Content Management” on Informationweek which is worth reading for those thinking of using Drupal 7 to power a website.

The article covers: More Intuitive Interface – Better Module Management – Improved Theme Technology.

Drupal, which uses the standard GNU general public license (GPL) open source license, can be downloaded from Drupal.org

Full post: http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/reviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229218676&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

Drupal 7 Video

Drupal 7 Marketing Video from Lullabot on Vimeo.