tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22301394368063543032024-02-20T10:58:56.503+02:00richelectronRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-2018321638568656072019-05-04T18:41:00.000+02:002019-05-04T18:44:58.760+02:00Voting abroad at South Africa House, London in the 2019 national elections<div dir="ltr">
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I voted from abroad in the 2019 South African national elections and the experience was a real privilege. It was so great to be one of the people who care enough about South Africa to take part in the elections, even when I was not on home soil. Apparently about 10 000 people indicated their intention to vote at South Africa house in London and knowing that up front was quite daunting. It seemed like a heck of a lot of people to have voting at a single location, even with extended voting hours. But the number of people voting was a non-issue. The whole process was organized superbly and ran as close to perfect as can be expected - I commend the IEC for their execution on the day and they also did a really good job of helping me get my ducks in a row to vote from London.</div>
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I arrived at South Africa house just after 2pm and there was quite a queue, but I wasn't totally sure how long it actually was because it was wrapped back on itself and then went around the corner. I tried to survey the scene but then dutifully joined the queue. All the expected characters were there, those singing songs about the ANC, those trying to influence last minute votes for the DA and a most welcome entrepreneurial chap handing out Jumbo biltong samples from the South African shop.</div>
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I took some snaps as the queue progressed and sent a few WhatsApp updates to family back home. It was a spring day in London, the weather could have been a lot worse but it was blowing a chilly reminder of the differences between England and South Africa down my neck. Before I knew it I was around the corner and inside South Africa house. I took some cheeky snaps of the Pierneefs from the upstairs gallery and then got into trouble for trying to take more from up close. I put my phone away like a good citizen and applied myself to the task at hand.<br />
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I was done before 3pm, so it had taken me less than an hour to be done with voting since I had joined the queue - A very pleasant surprise. I had some time to stand back and take in the atmosphere before I decided how to spend the rest of my afternoon. The hardest part was getting myself to London from Norwich, standing in the queue and voting was a breeze. I hope that it is a similar experience for everyone voting from within South Africa's borders. God Bless South Africa.<br />
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Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0South Africa House, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, London WC2N 5DP, UK51.5082871 -0.126692499999990125.986252599999997 -41.435286499999989 77.0303216 41.181901500000009tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-5858302174392559222019-03-27T23:35:00.001+02:002019-03-28T18:36:44.207+02:00Block badly targeted Spotify advertsSpotify is a great service and I especially love it when I am on
premium and I don't have to deal with adverts, it's a guilty pleasure. Unfortunately I am not able to be on premium all the time, but
even without premium, Spotify is a great service and the occasional
advert or two is a price that I am happy to pay for the awesome
privilege of music on demand. <br />
<br />
However,
I do wish that I could opt out of certain adverts. Most recently there
has been an ad campaign for 'Pet Sematary' and I really don't need that
in my life - certainly not more than once a day! I got in touch with
Spotify on Twitter and they said they would 'mention it to their ad
people' ... It would be really great if they could provide granular
control over adverts, I wouldn't have to put up with Pet Sematary/Horror
adverts and the advertiser wouldn't have to pay for a badly targeted
advert. That's a win win situation for everyone! <br />
<br />
I am
hopeful that a long term solution for this problem will arrive soon,
but in the mean time I present to you my temporary hack or 'mute your PC
sound for 30 seconds'. I already use 'AutoHotkey' to create custom
keyboard shortcuts and so I added the following entry to automatically
mute my PC sound for 30 seconds when I press 'Ctrl + Alt + a':<br />
<br />
!^a::<br />
Send {Volume_Mute}<br />
Sleep 30000<br />
Send {Volume_Mute}<br />
Return<br />
<br />
Now
I don't have to put up with the Pet Sematary advert raising my stress
levels while I am already dealing with enough stress in my work day and I am still supporting Spotify by listening to all of their other adverts! Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-78247924516169093972018-03-10T18:13:00.000+02:002019-10-01T15:17:57.501+02:00Yet another Norwich City Parking websiteThe fine people of Norwich probably don't need <a href="http://parkingcanary.co.uk/index.php" target="_blank">yet another web page that displays live parking space data for all the major car parks in the City</a>.<br />
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I have always been half interested in putting up my own page that does exactly this. But there were so many others that were doing a good enough job that I never bothered to get around to it. I think the original page that I (and my mother-in-law) were routinely using was on the ihop2.info domain (or something). But then that disappeared and I had to find a substitute. The search for a replacement did just enough to pique my interest as to where the parking data actually comes from (It's an xml feed from data.gov.uk that's updated every 5 mins, probably the same data that's used to put the parking data up on the boards in the city?). Once I knew this, I just had to put my own offering together. So yes, there is now indeed another web page that displays live parking data for Norwich City car parks, courtesy of me (it's a pleasure).<br />
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I put it up because I can, but also because I wanted to fine tune the way that the parking data is displayed to be most useful. So my site places an emphasis on the number of parking spaces that are actually free in each car park and doesn't clutter the display with total capacity or other unnecessary information. I have included sorting functionality so that the car parks with the most free spaces display towards the top of the list. I also compare current car park capacity versus the previous data received which enables me to determine how busy the car parks currently are - So I have added a note when a car park is filling up. There are maps for each car park location and recent activity so that you can see how many cars have left a car park since the data was last updated which adds some sense of what's actually going on in the City I think.<br />
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In addition to car park data I also display the date and time of the next home game for the Canaries at Carrow Road (Yellows!). This notice serves as support and a warning that the City will probably get busier around the time that the match is played.<br />
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Anyway, please check it out if you are interested and tell your friends about it too if you find it helpul: <a href="http://parkingcanary.co.uk/">parkingcanary.co.uk</a><br />
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<br />Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-11672741648262668032017-01-22T21:34:00.002+02:002023-07-21T17:10:09.169+02:00Uber Taxi equivalent in Norwich City, UKI am new in Norwich and wasn't entirely surprised to find that Uber is not available in the area. I could see lots of evidence of well established taxi companies, but I was sad at the thought of perhaps not getting the same convenient Uber experience, but that was only until I tried out ABC Taxis.<br />
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ABC Taxis has a really neat smart phone app (available for both Apple and Android) that let's you request a pick up from your specified location, provides a fare estimate, let's you pay by card and tracks your taxi - The whole experience is very much like Uber.
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My first trip with ABC taxis went like clockwork - from booking through the app to being picked up on time, I was safely delivered to my destination in a Toyota Prius by a friendly driver with 10 years experience and paid for the trip without handling any cash or cards. Based on that I can recommend the service as professional and reliable and I will be using them again. Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-82333766696898732912017-01-21T15:47:00.002+02:002023-07-21T17:10:22.236+02:00BBC Sport App notifications for AndroidI had trouble getting the push notifications from the BBC Sport App working on my Huawei Ascend Mate 7 smartphone (running Android Marshmallow). I wanted to be notified about Sports results for specific teams but I was not receiving the alerts unless the BBC Sport App was actually running which was a pain because I tried to leave it open and running in the background but I kept on closing it by accident or forgetting to open it in the first place.<br />
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I am not sure if this is a quirk of my specific phone model or of the BBC Sport App itself (I haven't tried it with any other handsets) but fortunately there is a simple fix... Instead of trying to leave the BBC Sport App running in the background, simply add a BBC Sport App widget to your home screen. The widget will have the same effect as keeping the App running all the time and the notifications will be more reliable.<br />
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I think the generic approach of using an App's widget (where a widget is available) could solve similar notification problems for other apps, apart from the BBC Sport App. But if you are having trouble with push notifications on your Android phone, you should check out the '<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.firstrowria.pushnotificationtester" target="_blank">Push Notification Tester</a>' App - It runs push notification diagnostics for you to help with troubleshooting.Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-32507843024495882922016-11-02T00:41:00.001+02:002023-07-21T17:10:52.968+02:00Pin to taskbar from SD card on Windows 10You will most likely need to use a micro SD card for additional storage if you purchase a low end Windows 10 netbook like the Asus E200HA, Lenovo Ideapad 100S, Acer Cloudbook or HP stream. Apart from the fact that an SD card will be slower than the internal MMC netbook drive, there is another caveat that you should be aware of...<br />
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Windows 10 won't let you pin anything that's saved on removable storage (ie. your SD card) to the taskbar! This means that by default you will not be able to create taskbar shortcuts to any programs that you install to the SD card.<br />
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The good news is that there is a work around! What you need to do is mount your SD card in a directory on drive C instead of it having its own removable drive letter assignment (as drive D or anything else).<br />
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Here's how you do this:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Backup all data that is currently on your SD card</li>
<li>Create a new, empty folder at C:\sdcard (or similar on drive C)</li>
<li>Open control Panel</li>
<li>Open Administrative Tools</li>
<li>Open Computer Management</li>
<li>Select Disk Management</li>
<li>Right click your removable SD card drive and select 'Change Drive Letter and Paths'</li>
<li>Remove any drive letter assignment for your SD card</li>
<li>Select 'Add' and then choose 'Mount in the following empty NTFS folder'</li>
<li>Browse to your C:\sdcard directory, select OK and then the only path to your SD card should be C:\sdcard as shown in the dialog below ...</li>
</ol>
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Now if you install to and open programs from your SD card at the C:\sdcard path, you should be able to 'Pin to 'taskbar'.</div>
<br />Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-92155177516752333942016-06-19T19:09:00.002+02:002021-08-16T09:05:30.317+02:00In defense of Science and Christianity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">[10 minute read]</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Science is the study of the natural world, using a self correcting process known as the scientific method to guide us towards truth, through repeated experiment and observation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Christianity is faith in Jesus Christ, God the Son, who was sent to earth, died a sinless death and rose again to pay the price for the sins of humanity, so that all who believe in Him would be saved.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By definition, science and Christianity are not at odds with each other. So why should we have to choose between them? Perhaps because of conflicting views on creation, evolution or the age of the earth?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The current scientific view is that the universe began 14 billion years ago in an event known as the big bang. The earth is 4.5 billion years old. Life on earth has been evolving for 4 billion years and modern humans have been around for the last 200 thousand years or so.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Christian view, according to the Bible, is that God created the universe, the earth and all life, each producing offspring of its same kind. God created humans in His own image - He gave them a spirit and granted them authority over, and responsibility for, the earth. The Bible does not say how long ago any of this happened, though it does describe the creation process as taking place over six ‘days’ in Genesis 1 and then in a single ‘day’ in Genesis 2.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">These views sound different, but I find myself defending both the scientific view when talking to Christians and the Christian view, when talking to people who are not Christians.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I defend the Christian view because the God of the Bible is real to me and I believe that He is the creator of the universe and everything in it. God created all forms and characteristics of life and He specially created humans in His image with a plan set apart from the animals. I am not concerned with dates because the Bible does not give specifics in this regard. Biblical creation is described once over six ‘days’ and again over a single ‘day’ in the very next chapter, so that these time periods are clearly not referring to literal days. The important message in the Biblical creation account is that God is the creator and humans have a special place in His creation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I defend the scientific view because there is accessible and convincing evidence, that there was a big bang 14 billion years ago, the earth is 4.5 billion years old, life on earth has been around for 4 billion years and has been subject to changes and adaptations (evolution) during this time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I defend both the Christian and scientific viewpoints because God could have created the universe 14 billion years ago through the process of the big bang. He could have made the earth 4.5 billion years ago and He could have created the first single celled life. God could have used single cells, with the built in ability to adapt and change, as the building blocks of life to create adaptable, multi-cellular life forms like animals and humans. God could have taken the exact amount of time and used any process He chose (including evolution) to create everything. If science ever truly uncovers all the specifics of how it happened, then we'll properly understand how God did it. As the creator of the universe, God is behind all that we study and discover in the natural world. Science is not a threat to Christianity because true Christian faith is based on Jesus Christ and on the Cross. It’s not about the details of the big bang, evolution, or the age of the earth. Science and Christianity are not at odds with each other.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The elephant in the room is the atheist view, which is the lack of belief in gods and supernatural beings. This view has a tendency to present itself as scientific and claims to hold the intellectual high ground over any God based belief. But science is limited to the study of the natural world, which means it’s an inadequate tool for exploring the existence of God or other supernatural beings. If you were unimpressed when I mixed scientific and Christian views, you should be equally unimpressed by science mixed with atheism. Science mixed with something else is no longer science and the argument really comes down to Christian faith versus atheist lack of faith - neither can be scientifically justified. You may have heard someone say, “I'm a man of science, I don't believe in God". However, this statement misrepresents men (and women) of science and it would be more correctly phrased as either, “I'm a man of science, I can not test the existence of any supernatural being”, or, “I'm an atheist, I don’t believe in God".</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If supernatural belief could indeed be explained away by simply applying the scientific method, then no scientist (or any other smart person) would be a Christian believer. But there are many scientists who have made substantial contributions to both science and the Christian faith (not to be confused with ‘Christian Science’ or ‘Scientology’). You might recognise the names of Blaise Pascal, Leonhard Euler, Michael Faraday, Gregor Mendel or Lord Kelvin and there are many </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christians_in_science_and_technology" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">more examples of scientists who are Christian</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, including numerous Nobel prize winners across various scientific disciplines. In spite of what many atheists would like you to believe, science and atheism do not necessarily go together and there are good reasons to consider Christianity.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In terms of the number and accuracy of copies, the Christian Bible is the best preserved manuscript in history. Archeological evidence has unearthed people and places that are described in the Bible. In addition, more than 300 Biblical prophecies about the Messiah were fulfilled through the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is a coherent story of God’s plan to save humanity that flows through the pages of the Bible, written by many authors over 1500 years - I think these points build a genuine argument for the supernatural inspiration of the Bible and I hope it would make you curious enough to at least </span><a href="https://www.bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">read the gospel of John</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Most of Jesus’ disciples were martyred and none of them chose to save their lives by denying their faith in the Messiah, whom they had seen die on the Cross, appear again in His resurrected body and ascend to heaven - Surely none of them would have been prepared to be tortured, or die for a story that wasn’t true. The resurrected Jesus appeared to 500 people other than His disciples. The man who became the apostle Paul was heading up the execution of Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, until Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus and he was dramatically converted - Paul became the instigator of spreading Christianity, instead of wiping it out in its infancy. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Christianity is the largest religious group in the world today, so perhaps you know some Christians and I hope that you have experienced the fruit of Christianity through their lives, but odds are they aren’t perfect. The matter of perfection is where Christianity is especially different from other religions - Thanks to God’s plan of salvation through Jesus, who paid the ultimate price by dying for your sins, you do not need to be perfect to approach the God of the Bible. If you sincerely look for Him, He promises that you will find Him and He will take you as you are.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Revelation 3:20</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">John 3:16</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Further Reading</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><ul id="docs-internal-guid-3ba60589-7fff-ac4c-7ac4-74ae3ff2f03b" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Can a smart person believe in God?, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Michael Guillen</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">John Lennox</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Creation and Time: A Biblical and Scientific Perspective on the Creation-Date Controversy, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Hugh Ross</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The Creator on the Cross: Science in the Light of Christ and Him Crucified, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Mike L Anderson</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Mere Christianity, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">C.S. Lewis</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Michael J. Behe</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">God and Stephen Hawking: Whose Design Is It Anyway?, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">John Lennox</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Jesus in the Present Tense, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Warren W. Wiersbe</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Heaven is for Real, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Todd Burpo</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The Biblical Archaeology Society</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">A Short History of Nearly Everything, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Bill Bryson</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">A Brief History of Time, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Stephen Hawking</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The Science of Discworld, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">God's Not Dead: Evidence for God in an Age of Uncertainty, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Rice Broocks</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Einstein's Universe</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">, Nigel Calder</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The Case for Easter, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Lee Strobel</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Bible.com</span></p></li></ul><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-5895068565509953802016-03-27T23:01:00.002+02:002023-07-21T17:11:48.535+02:00Chances of winning Vodacom MillionairesTo win on Vodacom Millionaires, you need to get at least a 6 letter match on a string that you SMS through to 32082 to enter the weekly draw.
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This means that your chances of getting a prize winning match are as follows:
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6 letter match: 1 in 30,078,114<br />
7 letter match: 1 in 1,142,968,332<br />
8 letter match: 1 in 65,720,679,090<br />
9 letter match: 1 in 7,623,598,774,440<br />
<i>(Odds calculated using http://www.csgnetwork.com/oddscalc.html)</i><br />
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In other words, there is a 1 in 7.6 million million chance of actually winning the million! Though you can of course improve your chances ever so slightly by entering more than once (the first 2 entries are free, additional entries cost R1 each).
<br /><br />
The draw has been running for more than 10 years now and I have been collecting the winning letters for the last 6 years or so. I've grouped the winning letters by single appearances and double appearances over this 6 year period to highlight patterns and frequencies and I try to update this with the latest letters each week:
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<a href="http://ehtime.co.za/vodacom-millionaires-winning-letters">View the grouped Vodacom Millionaires winning letter data by clicking here</a>
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Statistically speaking, previous winning letters should have no bearing on the winning letters that are drawn for a week but we don't know the exact methods that Vodacom uses to choose the winning letters. Perhaps this data can inspire the next 9 letters you pick, but I think the patterns are interesting if nothing else.
Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-59786877259190588942016-02-06T18:35:00.001+02:002023-07-21T17:12:00.609+02:00Check your Vodacom voicemail from a land line (or Skype out)I recently traveled abroad and switched my Vodacom number over to SMS roaming (by texting 'roamon' to 123 before I left SA). SMS roaming is a handy way to maintain some contact with South Africa without the risks of roaming charges (though it does still cost R2.75 per SMS you send). So you can receive and send SMS, but it means that when anyone phones your SA number they inevitably don't get through to you and leave a voice message, which you get notified about by SMS.<br />
<br />
Vodacom repeatedly let me know by promotional SMS that all I needed to do was phone +27 82 121 0000 from a land line and then follow the prompts to retrieve my voicemail. However, I found that this number does not work at all, from either a UK land line or using Skype out... Fail.<br />
<br />
I contacted Vodacom customer care via email who were very helpful and talked me through the first option, but they also let me have another number that I could try: +27 82 14 (followed by the last 9 digits of your cell phone number). But, alas, this number didn't work from a UK land line or using Skype out either (I mention both because strangely, I had different results on Skype versus the landline?!). Fail.<br />
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I abandoned those ideas, played about a bit and discovered that there is actually a way to get your Vodacom voicemail while you are overseas (or from any phone that is not your own cellular phone).<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Here's how to do it...</b><br />
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1. Dial your own Vodacom Number (including country code) from any phone that can make international calls ie. +27 82 XXXXXXX<br />
2. Press 1 while your voicemail 'leave a message after the beep' greeting is playing<br />
3. Enter your 4 digit voicemail password (1111 by default or as set by you) <br />
4. Listen to and manage all your voicemail messages as usual<br />
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You are welcome!Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-80969599379432026102015-04-06T13:46:00.001+02:002015-04-06T13:51:42.955+02:00Here are some reasons why I don't like Apple ...<ol>
<li>Lack of Plug and Play because there is just no getting anything done without iTunes (You can't even charge an iPhone reliably via USB on a Windows machine without some kind of minimal/hacked iTunes install - seriously, people have put together <a href="http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/92459/iphone-not-charging-in-windows-driver-without-itunes">actual tutorials on how to do this</a>).</li>
<li>On iTunes - Can anyone argue that this is not a slow and bloated piece of crapware? Why is version 12 for Windows a 145 Mb download? Why does it need 400Mb of free hard drive space? Why does it install multiple (and random) system services like 'Bonjour' that I don't need, without asking me? And why do I need iTunes installed just to charge my device? iTunes is Windows malware created by Apple - One of the surest ways to get a Windows PC running like new is to remove all traces of iTunes.</li>
<li>Why is it even called iTunes? Shouldn't it be called iEverything? Because it's required to manage your music, backup your phone, upgrade your phone, charge your phone, break your computer, etc etc ... </li>
<li>Non-compliance with industry standards like Micro USB for the sake of 'innovation' and the creation of 'new markets' where they can dupe people into purchasing R400 cables / clunky adapters that can only be used with Apple devices.</li>
<li>Apple tries to lock everyone in. Even if I actually wanted to own an iPhone, why should I need a MacBook to get the best iPhone experience? And why do all of my friends need Apple devices to view any pictures I try to share with them on iCloud?</li>
<li>Apple wants to tie me up and force me to do everything their way and charge me a premium for the 'privilege'.</li>
<li>The most worrying part is that Apple has convinced so many people that the Apple way is the best way without question, I feel like I owe it to humanity to be one of the few who resists the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_distortion_field">Apple reality distortion field</a> (Don't worry, I really don't see myself as a martyr).</li>
</ol>
Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-82965085981894339252014-09-28T10:10:00.001+02:002014-09-28T12:20:46.739+02:00Teach your neighbours' noisy dogs to stop barking<p dir="ltr">As long as there are neighbours, there are neighbours with noisy dogs. While my opinions on people who make no effort to control their pets' noise are probably best not discussed here, there is a humane way to take this matter into your own hands...</p>
<p dir="ltr">I had been woken by incessant barking at 3am one too many times, did some research and came across several products designed to help manage noisy dogs. While some of them are designed for your own pets - like collars that emit high frequency sound or sprays of water triggered by barking (neighbours take note!); Others are designed to help control other dogs in the immediate neighbourhood. There is a siren that is camouflaged as a bird house that emits high frequency noise, triggered by barking that you can mount alongside your noisy neighbours' garden. I was not about to spend ZAR1000 (~$100) on a gimmick that I wasn't sure was going to solve the problem though.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Based on these existing products I came up with a cheap, make shift solution, using an old Nokia cell phone...</p>
<p dir="ltr">All you need to do is  <a href="http://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/">set a high pitched frequency as the tone</a> for incoming messages and set the volume to maximum. The idea is that now when your neighbours' dogs get into a barking frenzy, you simply send an SMS message to your old Nokia cellphone (a 'please call me' works great) and it  triggers the high pitched ring tone, discouraging your neighbours' dogs from barking. It's simple but it actually works.</p>
<p dir="ltr">I use a 2 second long, 8000 hz ring tone on a Nokia 5000D and this seems to be quite effective in training my neighbours' border collies to stop barking incessantly (different frequencies may work better for other breeds of dog?). I popped the phone into a tupperware to keep it protected from sun and rain and I need to charge it about once a week but it works great!</p>
<p dir="ltr">I don't trigger the tone every time I hear my neighbours' dogs bark - I save it for those times when they enter a torturous trance of looped barking. Sometimes I do need to trigger the tone two or three times, but it always works to break the barking cycle and certainly beats getting out of bed at 3am. It has also helped to make the barking episodes far less frequent which I think suggests an element of learning on the dogs' side. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Some peace and quiet at last :)</p>
Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-34583051903024835852013-07-23T17:48:00.001+02:002014-05-07T19:16:31.605+02:00Asus EeePC 4G Surf revival<i>Update: Consider running the x86 port of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) on your Asus EeePC 4G Surf. <a href="http://www.android-x86.org/download">Download the android-x86-4.0-RC2-eeepc.iso here</a> and follow the instructions for installation.You won't believe how slick it will make your old EeePC!</i><br />
<br />
I recently dug out my old EeePC from the back of my closet and tweaked it to better than new. The improvement is mostly thanks to a fresh installation of <a href="http://zorin-os.com/lite.html" target="_blank">Zorin-OS 7 lite</a> which I think is a totally awesome Linux distro for this netbook. It's a shame that Asus didn't use something more like Zorin-OS with the initial 2007 release of the EeePC, but it's only been around since 2009. I never imagined I could be running Chrome 28 on my EeePC and I easily re-installed Frozen Bubble and Extreme Tux Racer from the Ubuntu repositories - It's so much easier to install software than it was using Xandros and everything is up to date!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NiTKrJ6crvA/Ue6kl1Sn6fI/AAAAAAAAD3c/iW3eetr2F6s/s1600/zorin-os-7-lite-eeepc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NiTKrJ6crvA/Ue6kl1Sn6fI/AAAAAAAAD3c/iW3eetr2F6s/s1600/zorin-os-7-lite-eeepc.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
During my investigations into upgrading the OS, I also came across suggestions that the EeePC uses standard laptop RAM (DDR2), this was a nice find as I had a spare 1GB DDR2 laptop module lying around. It was no mean feat to get to the RAM slot as the white version of the EeePC doesn't have a door underneath (apparently the black one does). I'm not going to document the full process (you can watch a video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrKXEg2_Vos" target="_blank">here</a>), but I can confirm that if you carefully dismantle a white 4G Surf, you will find a standard laptop RAM slot on the back side of the motherboard. It was worth the effort as my 1GB module is working great and more RAM is always better!<br />
<br />
I deleted all the factory drive partitions during installation (<a href="http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/" target="_blank">from a USB stick</a>) and assigned the full internal 4GB drive to Zorin-OS. In the spirit of putting redundant hardware to work I slapped in an old 1GB SD card as well and set this up as the swap partition. I've got a full 1.3GB of free space on my 4G now which I didn't even dream of previously and while the 4G Surf remains well past its use by date I think I have actually made mine fairly useful again.Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-46427646281298562622013-01-22T10:35:00.003+02:002013-01-24T20:32:28.966+02:00Vodacom LTE/4G performance during every day mobile useI conducted a few ‘every day’ type tests to pit Vodacom LTE / 4G against Vodacom HSDPA / 3G because <a href="http://richelectron.blogspot.com/2012/12/vodacom-4g-lte-speed-network-performance.html">LTE was up to 46% faster than HSDPA on the Vodacom network</a> in my initial speedtest.net results. However, I wanted to see how this speed difference translated to typical real world use such as browsing, downloading apps, using apps, and watching videos.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SQuLtcwy72o/UP5OnmLKgkI/AAAAAAAADK0/Sn1_ccIKvCs/s1600/lte-wcdma-s3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SQuLtcwy72o/UP5OnmLKgkI/AAAAAAAADK0/Sn1_ccIKvCs/s1600/lte-wcdma-s3.jpg" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b>Internet Browsing </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I set my Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE to load the desktop version of Facebook.com and then refreshed a bunch of times using both Vodacom LTE and Vodacom HSDPA while keeping track of the time it took for the Vodacom page to finish loading…. The fastest load time I clocked on Vodacom LTE was 17 seconds, while the fastest load time I clocked on Vodacom HSDPA was 20 seconds.<br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pCvhjv2jlSw/UP5Onne365I/AAAAAAAADK4/CCa0aXj-0A0/s1600/facebook-vodacom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pCvhjv2jlSw/UP5Onne365I/AAAAAAAADK4/CCa0aXj-0A0/s1600/facebook-vodacom.jpg" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b>Twitter</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I could not tell the difference between Vodacom LTE and Vodacom HSDPA when I was using Twitter as timelines refresh and new tweets are loaded very close to instantaneously on both technologies.<br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9V0WzZvqTXg/UP5OobzfFkI/AAAAAAAADLE/z7RF5VW_6Co/s1600/twitter-vodacom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9V0WzZvqTXg/UP5OobzfFkI/AAAAAAAADLE/z7RF5VW_6Co/s1600/twitter-vodacom.jpg" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b>YouTube</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was able to watch YouTube videos in HD using both Vodacom LTE and Vodacom HSDPA without any stuttering and the time it took for videos to start playing was short on both as well.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1_9Ixsqmf8o/UP5OoqdPN0I/AAAAAAAADLQ/O0Eox1qgvqE/s1600/youtube-vodacom.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1_9Ixsqmf8o/UP5OoqdPN0I/AAAAAAAADLQ/O0Eox1qgvqE/s1600/youtube-vodacom.jpg" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<b>Downloading Apps</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It took 22 seconds from the time I clicked ‘Accept & Download’ on the Skype app in the Google play store to the time that Skype had finished installing on Vodacom LTE. The fastest download and install time I could achieve for Skype on Vodacom HSDPA was 24 seconds.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NId5_FIQKL8/UP5Ongx8E-I/AAAAAAAADK8/YxsKB-gE3Bs/s1600/skype-google-play.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NId5_FIQKL8/UP5Ongx8E-I/AAAAAAAADK8/YxsKB-gE3Bs/s1600/skype-google-play.jpg" /></a> </div>
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</div>
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<br />
<b>Final verdict</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The faster speeds on offer by Vodacom LTE do translate into increased performance in real world usage scenarios, however the performance of Vodacom HSDPA is already superb and the difference between LTE and HSDPA may go unnoticed in average every day use on a mobile device (apart from the fact that <a href="http://gigaom.com/2012/02/17/why-lte-sucks-your-battery-that-is/" target="_blank">LTE may drain the battery faster than HSDPA</a>). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Power users who routinely download large chunks of data should notice a marked performance difference between the 2 technologies as LTE gets more of a chance to ‘stretch its legs’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another area where LTE performance should outshine HSDPA more readily is in scenarios where the connection is being shared by more than just one user / device.<br />
<br />
Both HSDPA and LTE performance depend greatly on signal strength and you can <a href="http://www.vodacom.co.za/personal/internet/coveragemaps" target="_blank">check Vodacom coverage in your area here</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div>
Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-73130822584326903492012-10-27T15:04:00.001+02:002012-10-27T15:11:58.652+02:00Change your name in Vodacom Please Call MesAt it's simplest, you can send a Vodacom Please Call me by dialing *140*vodacomnumber# to send a free SMS message to a Vodacom Subscriber who hopefully has some airtime to get in touch with you.<br />
<br />
<b>You can customize your Please Call Me settings by dialing *140#</b><br />
<br />
A USSD menu will pop up with the following options:<br />
<ol>
<li>Block/Unblock Call Me Messages</li>
<li>Send Recharge Me</li>
<li>Send Call Me</li>
<li>Change Name</li>
<li>Disable/Enable Adverts </li>
</ol>
The option to change your name will let you change your own, custom 10 character name / message once a day and the Disable/Enable Advert option will stop you from receiving adverts in Vodacom Please Call Mes that are sent to you. You can also block Vodacom Please Call Me messages entirely by selecting option 1.Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-43191191436721396602012-05-24T14:37:00.000+02:002012-05-24T14:51:38.341+02:00How I made a global Joomla! website compliant with EU cookie legislation<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">I have seen a lot of solutions to make UK Joomla! websites compliant with the new EU cookies laws that come into effect on 26<sup>th</sup> May 2012 (2 days time as I write this). But I have not come across any solutions for global Joomla! websites, where not all visitors are from the EU, so the cookie opt in requirements do not apply to all visitors. Here’s how to target cookie opt-in at just EU visitors, without affecting visitors from else where.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ol>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Do a cookie audit of your site to figure out what cookies are set and which of them are not essential to the functioning of your website – Tabulate all your findings to describe all cookies that are set by name, lifetime and description in your privacy policy. (Joomla sets an initial session cookie, and another to keep track of authenticated sessions when users login – I judged these 2 as essential). Work from the ico.gov.uk privacy policy if you need a guide.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Install the ‘<a href="http://www.metamodpro.com/" target="_blank">MetaMod</a>’ Joomla! module – This is a really powerful and versatile module for user experience customization, but I used it specifically for its ability to display modules to visitors based on their location (determined by IP address) in this instance.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Create a ‘Cookie opt-in’ form module that sets a ‘CookiesAccepted’ cookie (for 2 years) and reloads the current page when users 'opt in'.</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-GB">Identify modules that are setting non-essential cookies and replace them with MetaMod modules that only load content when ‘The user is not from the EU OR the CookiesAccepted cookie has been set'. Otherwise you should insert a message to explain that ‘This content can not be loaded, unless you accept cookies from this site…’. Common examples include: Analytics, Twitter, YouTube and DISQUS*. </span></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">e.g. where $optinCountries is an array including all 27 EU countries..</span></div>
<div class="codeview">
$optinCountries = array('AT','BE','BG','CY','CZ','DK','EE','FI','FR','DE','GR','HU','IE','IT','LV','LT','LU','MT','NL','PL','PT','RO','SK','SI','ES','SE','GB');<br />
<br />
if (!(in_array($fromCountryId, $optinCountries)) || isset($_COOKIE['CookiesAccepted'])) {<br />
//full cookie loading code goes here<br />
} else {//you need to accept cookies message}<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">5. Using another MetaMod module, set the
Cookie opt-in form module to <b>load for EU users (27 country codes) who have not
opted in to accept cookies from your site</b> (the ‘CookiesAccepted’ cookie is not
set yet).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB">Now when an EU visitor hits your site: The cookie opt-in will display as long as they
do not accept cookies from your site. If they accept cookies then the correct
functionality will display in the MetaMod modules and the opt-in form will disappear.
Your Joomla! site will be compliant with EU cookie legislation without
affecting non-EU visitors!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>*DISQUS is a Joomla! plugin, not a module
but it can be toggled (hacked) to be compliant using the same logic as shown
the example above. </i></span></span></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-12838514911731091692011-10-07T12:57:00.002+02:002023-07-21T17:16:04.582+02:00GEMP (Medicine) at Wits - How to not get accepted<i> June 2017 Update: "Based on general comments I have received over the years I would like to explicitly state the point of this article up front: <b>Don't let anyone tell you that you can just keep going through the motions, ticking boxes and that you will eventually get into medicine by trying for long enough (or for having enough passion) - There is a high chance that things will not work out and you will probably be left at least a little bitter about the outcome.</b> In addition to this, I would like to draw specific attention to the fact that I do not make any reference to race in this post or any of my comments related to this post."</i><br />
<br />
<i>Johannesburg, South Africa</i> <b></b><br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>First attempt</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Start by nurturing a passion to become a doctor for as long as you can remember</li>
<li>Add a natural aptitude for science and technology </li>
<li>Participate (and perform well) in sport (first team rugby), cultural activities (play the piano from age 7) and academics at school (and be a prefect) </li>
<li>Get a basic first aid certificate </li>
<li>Donate spare time to volunteer work in hospitals and clinics</li>
<li>Complete an IEB matric at a Jo'burg private school with results that are good enough to be offered a place in electrical engineering (where the academic entry requirements are higher than for medicine) </li>
<li>Apply for entry into first year medicine at Wits Medical School (2001)</li>
</ul>
<b>Second attempt </b><br />
<ul>
<li>Complete a Bachelor of Science degree in human anatomy and physiology at the University of the Witwatersrand</li>
<li>Make special arrangements to complete a <a href="http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/CPRAndECC/HealthcareTraining/BasicLifeSupportBLS/Basic-Life-Support-BLS_UCM_001281_SubHomePage.jsp" target="_blank">basic life support (BLS) training course from the American Heart Association</a> (this course is run for qualified healthcare professionals) - Get higher test results than qualified healthcare professionals who are on the course with you </li>
<li>Continue volunteer work at a christian primary healthcare clinic</li>
<li>Make rural hospital visits with an old (practicing) professor of surgery </li>
<li>Apply for entry into the Graduate Entry Medical Programme (GEMP) at Wits Medical School with a respected surgeon as your referee (2004) </li>
</ul>
<b>Third attempt</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Accept an offer to join the experimental physiology honours class at Wits Medical School</li>
<li>Contribute to the medical research community by collecting cardiovascular data that is <a href="http://ajpheart.physiology.org/content/292/4/H1898.full.pdf" target="_blank">published in the American Journal of Physiology</a></li>
<li>Help second year medical students in physiology lab tutorials (one of whom didn't know what diarrhoea is and another who was repeating second year medicine for the 3rd time - painful, but true stories) </li>
<li>Apply for entry into GEMP at Wits Medical School again, this time with an <a href="http://evaluation.nrf.ac.za/Content/Documents/Rating/ratingcategories_2005.pdf" target="_blank">A rated</a> physiology Professor as your referee (2005)</li>
<li>Get excited when you are short listed for an interview</li>
<li>Mention that you want to "help people" during the interview</li>
<li>Have the dean of student affairs warp your answers and talk over you for the remainder of the 'interview'</li>
</ul>
<b>Move on </b><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/richardmckechnie" target="_blank">Reinvent yourself</a></li>
<li>Get on with life in a completely different field, continue to "help people" in other ways and don't feel too bad that the only thing you've really sucked at so far (in spite of a rather wasted medical background), is getting in to study medicine at Wits Medical School...</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lKjR2xNv8Tw/To4M1vKTYWI/AAAAAAAABPQ/38L6txh1Kcs/s320/wits-medical-school-campus-johannesburg-south-africa.jpg" width="320" /></div>
<br />Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com481tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-80623469977431141152011-07-31T13:39:00.005+02:002011-08-29T08:38:43.471+02:00Jebo R338 Tank with Comet GoldfishSo I've decided to try something different and swop out my usual tropical fish for a few goldfish - 3 comet goldfish to be precise. I'm using my current <a href="http://richelectron.blogspot.com/2007/06/jebo-r338-aquarium.html">Jebo R338 setup</a>, minus the heater and I've added an air pump with an airstone for a nice bubble effect. I haven't needed to modify anything else and the new goldfish seem to manage just fine with the current created by the powerhead.
<br />
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KnbcgGortVo/TjVA4vy4VcI/AAAAAAAABFY/W1w-vPd_XNg/s1600/Johannesburg-20110710-00112.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KnbcgGortVo/TjVA4vy4VcI/AAAAAAAABFY/W1w-vPd_XNg/s400/Johannesburg-20110710-00112.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635481852370769346" border="0" /></a>The Jebo R338 actually makes for a superb, low maintenance goldfish setup. I'm really enjoying the brilliant (goldy) red of the comet goldfish and they have more presence than <a href="http://richelectron.blogspot.com/2007/06/jebo-r338-aquarium-fish-stock.html">tropical fish I have had in this tank before</a>. They are also very active little chaps, so a lot of fun to watch!
<br />
<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4IhQ1obiM4/TjVA5b1QX4I/AAAAAAAABFg/sItkgJyVlNI/s1600/Johannesburg-20110710-00117.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4IhQ1obiM4/TjVA5b1QX4I/AAAAAAAABFg/sItkgJyVlNI/s400/Johannesburg-20110710-00117.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635481864191893378" border="0" /></a>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-9637462259525466472011-07-26T15:31:00.010+02:002011-08-04T17:22:41.648+02:00Latest blog post title in email signaturesI put a PHP image script together that reads the latest title from any RSS feed and creates a .gif image that contains this title. So the image can be placed anywhere once off and it will automatically update with the latest RSS feed title as new content is published. The image could be embedded in an html email signature for instance and the title of your most recent blog post will automatically be appended to all your outgoing email. I'm sure there are other uses for this code as well - It requires PHP and cURL and can be tweaked to accommodate different requirements, just be sure to go through the code and update your RSS feed URL (line 18), copy the font(s) you would like to use (lines 39,40) to the same directory as the script and perhaps change the text colours ~line 90 and anything else as you need to.<br /><br />Embed the image with this image tag:<br /><div class="codeview"><br /><img src="http://yoursite.com/latest-blog-post-rss-image.php" alt="http://yoursite.com/blog" border="0" /><br /></div><br />Include a link to the front page of your blog to make the title clickable:<br /><div class="codeview"><br /><a href="http://yoursite.com/blog"><img src="http://yoursite.com/latest-blog-post-rss-image.php" alt="http://yoursite.com/blog" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Here is the code for latest-blog-post-rss-image.php<br /><div class="codeview"><br /><?php<br /><br />//Parse text block for value near search defined by offset and length / end tag<br />function parse($block,$search,$offset,$length,$endtag="") {<br />$start = strpos($block,$search) + $offset;<br />$end = $start + $length;<br />$value = substr($block, $start, $end - $start );<br />if ($endtag != "") {<br /> $value = substr($value,0,strpos($value,$endtag)-(strlen($endtag)));<br />}<br />if ($start == 0) {<br /> $value = "";<br />}<br />return $value;<br />}<br /><br />//RSS feed to get title from<br />$rss = "http://yoursite.com/rss.xml";<br /><br />//read the RSS feed using cURL<br />$ch = curl_init();<br /> curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, FALSE);<br /> curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);<br /> curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);<br /> curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $rss);<br /> $result = curl_exec ($ch);<br /> curl_close($ch);<br /><br />//extract the first (and latest blog title)<br />$title = parse($result,"<item>",0,300,"<link>");<br /><br />//trim the title and extract html tags<br />$title = strip_tags($title);<br />$title = trim($title);<br /><br />//set image fonts and positioning<br />$size = 7.5;<br />$labelsize = 7.5;<br />$font = 'arialbd.ttf';<br />$labelfont = 'arial.ttf';<br />$x = -1;<br />$y = 10;<br />$angle = 0;<br />$label = "Latest blog post: ";<br /><br />//Get an array of rss title words to facilitate word wrap<br />$words = explode(" ",$title);<br /><br />//Force the image to word wrap around this approximate length (pixels)<br />$labellength = imagettfbbox($labelsize, 0, $labelfont, $label);<br />$maxlength = 350 - $labellength[4];<br />$line1length = $labellength;<br />$line1 = "";<br />$line2 = "";<br /><br />foreach ($words as $word) {<br />if ($line1length[4] < $maxlength) {<br />$line1 .= $word . " ";<br />$nextword = $line1 . $word;<br />$line1length = imagettfbbox($size, 0,$font, $nextword);<br />} else {$line2 .= $word . " ";}<br />}<br />$line1 = trim($line1);<br />$line2 = trim($line2);<br /><br />//determine image dimensions based on rss title length and including the label text<br />$line1length = imagettfbbox($size, 0, $font, $line1);<br />$line2length = imagettfbbox($size, 0, $font, $line2);<br /><br />$totallength = $labellength[4] + $line1length[4];<br /><br />//Set the image height for 1 line or 2 lines<br />if ($line2 == "") {<br /> $height = 12;<br />} else $height = 24;<br /><br />//set canvas dimensions (based on blog post length) and height<br /> $gif = imagecreatetruecolor($totallength+1, $height);<br /><br />//set background colour to white<br /> $white = imagecolorallocate($gif, 255, 255, 255);<br /><br />//fill image with white background and set as transparent<br />imagefill($gif, 0,0, $white);<br />imagecolortransparent($gif, $white);<br /><br />//Print rss title onto image if it's not blank for some reason...<br />if ($title != "") {<br /><br />//set text colors R,G,B<br />$text_color = imagecolorallocate($gif, 255, 149, 6);<br />$label_color = imagecolorallocate($gif, 0, 5, 85);<br /><br />//Print blog post label into image<br />ImageTTFText($gif, $labelsize, $angle, $x, $y, $label_color, $labelfont, $label);<br /><br />//Print blog post line 1 title into image<br />ImageTTFText($gif, $size, $angle, $x+$labellength[4], $y, $text_color, $font, $line1);<br /><br />//print link underline<br /> ImageLine($gif, $totallength, $y+1,$labellength[4]-1,$y+1, $text_color ); <br /> <br /> if ($line2 != "") { <br /> <br /> //Print blog post line 2 title into image<br /> ImageTTFText($gif, $size, $angle, $x+1, $y+12, $text_color, $font, $line2); <br /> <br /> //print link underline<br /> ImageLine($gif, 0, $y+13,$line2length[4],$y+13, $text_color );<br /> <br /> <br /> }<br />}<br /><br />//output blog post title image<br /> header("Content-type: image/gif");<br /> imagegif($gif);<br />imagedestroy($gif);<br />?><br /></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-74637791727922696512011-04-14T17:02:00.012+02:002011-04-14T17:22:20.758+02:00Send HTML email with an attachment from PHPIt took me a painfully long time to find a PHP script that could send multi-part email (with plain text / fancy HTML body content) and an attachment that actually worked! But I have adapted this excellent <a href="http://www.webcheatsheet.com/php/send_email_text_html_attachment.php#attachment">script</a> to suit my needs (excluding output buffering). So reposting it mostly for my own reference... hopefully it can help some other poor sods out too.<br /><br /><div class="codeview"><br /><?php<br /><br />$htmlbody = "This is an <b>html</b> message";<br />$textmessage = "This is a plain text message";<br /><br />//Set Recipient Address<br />$to = "recipient@domain.com";<br /><br />//Set Email Subject<br />$subject = "HTML email with attachment";<br /><br />//define the from \ reply to headers<br />$headers = "From: yourname@domain.com\r\nReply-To: yourname@domain.com";<br /><br />//create a unique boundary string to delimit different parts of the email (plain text, html, file attachment)<br />$random_hash = md5(date('r', time()));<br /><br />//add boundary string and mime type specification<br />$headers .= "\r\nContent-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary=\"PHP-mixed-".$random_hash."\"";<br /><br />//read the atachment file contents into a string,<br />//encode it with MIME base64,<br />//and split it into smaller chunks for sending<br />$attachment = chunk_split(base64_encode(file_get_contents('attachment.zip')));<br /><br />//define the body of the message.<br />$message = "--PHP-mixed-$random_hash\r\n"<br />."Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=\"PHP-alt-$random_hash\"\r\n\r\n";<br />$message .= "--PHP-alt-$random_hash\r\n"<br />."Content-Type: text/plain; charset=\"iso-8859-1\"\r\n"<br />."Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit\r\n\r\n";<br /><br />//Insert the plain text message.<br />$message .= strip_tags($textmessage);<br />$message .= "\r\n\r\n--PHP-alt-$random_hash\r\n"<br />."Content-Type: text/html; charset=\"iso-8859-1\r\n"<br />."Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit\r\n\r\n";<br /><br />//Insert the html message.<br />$message .= $htmlbody;<br />$message .="\r\n\r\n--PHP-alt-$random_hash--\r\n\r\n";<br /><br />//include attachment<br />$message .= "--PHP-mixed-$random_hash\r\n"<br />."Content-Type: application/zip; name=\"attachment.zip\"\r\n"<br />."Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64\r\n"<br />."Content-Disposition: attachment\r\n\r\n";<br />$message .= $attachment;<br />$message .= "/r/n--PHP-mixed-$random_hash--";<br /><br />//send the email<br />$mail = mail( $to, $subject , $message, $headers );<br /><br />if ($mail) {<br />echo "Mail sent!";<br />} else "Mail not sent!";<br /><br />?><br /></div>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-40328717634733099182011-03-22T22:07:00.000+02:002014-12-01T09:38:10.013+02:00Home made mouse trap for a live catchWe had a little guest move into the kitchen the other night. A house mouse was living up in the base of the fridge and my first thought was poison, but after chatting with my wife, I decided to try something more humane.<br />
<br />
This home made setup requires:<br />
<ul>
<li>A plastic bucket or bin that is about 50cm deep</li>
<li>kebab stick (or similar)</li>
<li>Paper</li>
<li>and peanuts (the bait)</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a1mOglHlE70/TYm_xAH9muI/AAAAAAAAAoM/zW-OzrAXRXk/s1600/home-made-high-tech-mouse-trap.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a1mOglHlE70/TYm_xAH9muI/AAAAAAAAAoM/zW-OzrAXRXk/s400/home-made-high-tech-mouse-trap.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587207661297703650" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 341px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Set the trap for a live catch:</span><br />
Suspend the paper over the bin using the kebab stick as precariously as possible. Then place a few peanuts on the paper at the side furthest from approach. Make sure there is no other food around to cause distraction and then vacate the area.<br />
<br />
We decided to use peanuts and raisins since the little chap had already exposed his desires by chewing at the bag while it was on the counter the night before. I set the trap at the edge of a stool in the kitchen so that the mouse would have access to the top of the bin. He must have been hungry because I saw him scouting the kitchen while we were still up and the light was even on. But it didn't take long before we heard a small crash and the mouse was caught!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0eRHprbGdr4/TYm_xUe0RmI/AAAAAAAAAoU/r6QDXh2LOkM/s1600/mouse-trap-live-catch.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0eRHprbGdr4/TYm_xUe0RmI/AAAAAAAAAoU/r6QDXh2LOkM/s400/mouse-trap-live-catch.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587207666762270306" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 325px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>I relocated the little fella to the back garden where he dashed into the safety of the bushes. I know there's a chance he'll be back for more peanuts but we'll see I guess...Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-61830552730260245372010-08-31T11:43:00.000+02:002010-10-08T16:21:25.182+02:00Geographic target and your website Rankings (Google Webmaster Tools)<a href="http://www.webmasterworld.com/search_engine_promotion/4131926.htm">I have been wondering</a> about how the “geographic target” setting (under site configuration, settings) in <a href="http://www.google.com/webmasters">Google Webmaster Tools</a> might affect a website’s search engine rankings (if at all) for a good nine months now. And I have finally reached the conclusion that <span style="font-weight: bold;">the</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">“geographic target” can influence Google SERPS quite drastically</span>. <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Keyword Ranking Graph from </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/THzPD6knnYI/AAAAAAAAAiU/JUqH1eCawZA/s1600/geographic-target-seo-serp-ranking.png"></a><a href="http://www.sheerseo.com/"><span style="font-size:85%;">sheerseo.com</span></a><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/THzPD6knnYI/AAAAAAAAAiU/JUqH1eCawZA/s400/geographic-target-seo-serp-ranking.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511507710164049282" border="0" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I was working on Search Engine Optimisation for a company that wanted to perform well in the US rankings (Google.com) and so I set the “geographic target” to “United States” on December 8<sup>th</sup> (1). By the 21<sup>st</sup> of December I had seen a massive general improvement across my keyword set for this website in the Google.com rankings. We had also just completed a very aggressive back link building campaign so it was impossible to isolate a clear cause and effect.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">However, on the January 29<sup>th</sup> (2) I was instructed by a company director to remove the US reference from the Google SERPS. Google was appending "(us)" to results from this website and the director was concerned that leads from non-US regions would not click through. So, I removed the “geographic target” setting for this website from Google Webmaster Tools.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">By early Feb, rankings for the keywords in my set had plummeted on Google.com. I suspected that the drop was caused by the “geographic target” change but there were other confounding factors (we lost links from a high authority site through down time on their side). On explaining the situation to the directors I was instructed not to revert the “geographic target” setting.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I continued with every day SEO but on the 11<sup>th</sup> of August (3) I “secretly” reset the “geographic target” back to “<st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>”. By the 30<sup>th</sup> of August the Google.com rankings were way up again! Fortunately, it seems that Google is not appending "(us)" to the results any more, so I should be able to keep my secret ;) I certainly don’t want to fiddle with the “geographic target” again, even though it would be an interesting exercise to challenge these "findings".<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">Note: “geographic target” can not (does not need to) be set for country specific domains such as .co.za .fr etc</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal">Log data from Google Webmaster Tools<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/THzPEL796EI/AAAAAAAAAic/mWqXE4w6fCY/s1600/google-webmaster-tools-geographic-target.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/THzPEL796EI/AAAAAAAAAic/mWqXE4w6fCY/s400/google-webmaster-tools-geographic-target.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511507714825381954" border="0" /></a></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-88466906741631766242010-08-19T10:31:00.017+02:002010-10-03T21:19:03.292+02:00Edit your Blogspot / Blogger Post Title Tag for Search Engine TrafficIt has always bugged me that my Blogspot title tags took the format of "richelectron: Blog Post Title" because this is not best practice in terms of SEO. Most relevant keywords should be grouped more towards the left of a title tag for best results to generate traffic from search engines. This means that Blogspot blogs are optimized more for their blog name rather than their individual post title keywords by default. i.e. A better title tag for this blog post in terms of SEO would be "Edit your Blogspot / Blogger Post Title Tag for Search Engine Traffic | richelectron" which is exactly what I have changed it to, and here is how to do it:<br /><ul><li>Login to your Blogspot dashboard</li><li>Click the Design tab, followd by "Edit HTML"</li><li>Click Download Full Template (as a backup)</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/TGzyhso_gHI/AAAAAAAAAh0/DeGtV5270Tg/s1600/edit-blogspot-html.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 187px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/TGzyhso_gHI/AAAAAAAAAh0/DeGtV5270Tg/s400/edit-blogspot-html.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507043105099972722" border="0" /></a><ul><li>Delete the following line from your template code<br /><br /><div class="codeview"><title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title></div></li></ul><ul><li>And replace it with this:<br /><br /><div class="codeview"><b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "index"'> <title><data:blog.title/></title> <b:else/> <title><data:blog.pageName/> | <data:blog.title/></title> </b:if><br /></div></li></ul>Click "SAVE TEMPLATE", followed by "View Blog" and you will notice that your blog post titles use a new format that should help to improve your search engine traffic.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/TGzyh_JhO7I/AAAAAAAAAh8/0jcwIDaMDwg/s1600/blogspot-blogger-title-tag-seo.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 73px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/TGzyh_JhO7I/AAAAAAAAAh8/0jcwIDaMDwg/s400/blogspot-blogger-title-tag-seo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507043110068239282" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">p.s. Isn't it interesting that Blogspot is owned by Google and yet the blog post title tags are not optimized for search engines by default? Have you ever noticed that Blogspot posts do not have a meta description tag either?</span>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-52354060545088396722010-07-19T15:01:00.010+02:002010-07-19T15:56:54.688+02:00SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a great way to get people to your websiteSearch Engine Optimisation (SEO) refers to techniques that make it easy for search engines to find, understand and rank your web content. SEO is important because of the massive market exposure it can reward you with. More than 14 Billion search queries are processed by search engines on a monthly basis compared to a paltry 285 million monthly TV viewers. SEO has been shown to be the most effective online marketing tactic for generating conversions for business.<br /><br />Search engines work by searching a copy of the web – pages are collected, categorized and ranked for relevance and quality. Several criteria and signals (“the algorithm”) determine which pages should be displayed in the results for what keywords. SEO aims to enhance the signals ‘sent’ by an optimised page to increase relevance in search engines so that it will be positioned highly in the search results. Google dominates the search engine market with a share of 70% while the last 30% is largely made up by Bing and Yahoo! (Yahoo! will soon be powered by Bing ).<br /><br />You can also pay directly to advertise your website along side the organic (non-paid) search results for chosen keywords, but organic results get more click throughs than paid results do.<br /><br />The very basics of getting your website to perform well in the search engines:<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style="">Content</b> must be visible to search engines (i.e. plain text based – not Javascript or Flash based)</li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style="">Content</b> must be added often</li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style="">Content</b> must be organised into a logical layout</li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style="">Content</b> must contain relevant keywords in the body and links</li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><b style="">Content</b> must have lots of relevant pages linking to it</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Monitor and record your SEO efforts</li></ul>You can see a central role is played by good content, the rest of SEO is about keywords and links…<br /><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Valuable Keywords that will drive traffic</b><br /><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You need to understand how your customer is thinking in order to be able to understand the sorts of search queries they may use to find your website so that you can target these keywords and focus your efforts on keywords that have business value.</p>Ideas to determine good keywords:<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Brainstorm around the solutions you provide </li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Brainstorm around your customer’s needs</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Interview customers</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Review keywords that are currently generating traffic</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Speak to sales about the words that prospects use</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Speak to customer service about the words that clients use</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Review competitors content</li></ul>Now you need to analyse the keywords that you have identified to help you understand what phrases are popular and worth focussing on. You can use the <a href="https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000&ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS#search.none">Google Keyword tool</a>, or <a href="http://www.google.com/insights/search/#">Google Insights for search</a>. Also visit <a href="http://www.semrush.com/">SEMrush.com</a> to analyse your competitors domains for more keyword ideas. Sort your keywords by popularity, competition and relevance in each of your website categories.<br /><p class="MsoNormal">Now that you have identified valuable keywords you are ready to insert them into strategic positions to optimise your pages. The following elements of each page need to contain your keywords:</p><ul><li>Title tag</li><li>Headings</li><li>Paragraph titles</li><li>Keywords in body copy</li><li>Anchor text in links</li><li>URL<br /></li><li>Image alt text </li><li>Meta description tag<br /></li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The title tag carries a particularly heavy weighting and your most important keywords should be included close to the left of the title with a maximum length of 65 – 68 characters. Each page should have a unique title tag and description and should that is relevant to search engines (to rank well) and appealing to humans (to secure click throughs).<br /><br />Do not over optimize though, each page and each element of each page should focus on only 1 or 2 keywords.<br /><br /><b style="">Make your website visible to search engines</b><br /><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Your website must be easy for search engines to find and index and provide them with motivation to keep coming back.</p>Simple guidelines to a “search engine friendly” website:<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Use plain text links for your navigation (NOT <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ajax</st1:place></st1:city> or Flash)</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Link keyword phrases between pages</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Build lots of high quality inbound links</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Build HTML & <a href="http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/">XML site maps</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Avoid complex URLS & session ids<br /></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Avoid Multiple URLS with the same content</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Redirect old URLs to new URLS using a <a href="http://www.webconfs.com/how-to-redirect-a-webpage.php">301 redirect</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Structure your content using a general top down to specifics hierarchy</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Use the <a href="http://www.robotstxt.org/">robots.txt</a> file to exclude pages you don’t want listed in the search engines</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Include “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadcrumb_%28navigation%29">breadcrumb</a>” navigation</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Make use of the “<a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/02/specify-your-canonical.html">Canonical tag</a>” to avoid duplicate content issues</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Link consistently site wide – choose between example.com or <a href="http://www.example.com/">www.example.com</a></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Monitor your 404 logs for pages that are not found and redirect them using 301</li></ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Push your site to the first page by getting links</b><br /><b style=""> <o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Links generate traffic and infer meaning based on the “anchor” text used in the link. A text link that contains <a href="http://richelectron.blogspot.com/2010/07/seo-search-engine-optimisation-is-great.html">valuable keywords</a> is good. Links that say “<a href="http://richelectron.blogspot.com/2010/07/seo-search-engine-optimisation-is-great.html">Click here</a>” aren’t as good. The more links there are to your page with a specific keyword, the better your page will rank for that keyword. However, not all links should contain exactly the same text or the search engines will be on to you. Variety will prevent your links from looking contrived. Links from websites that already rank well in the search engines but internal links from other pages within your website are also important<br /><br />Link code can also contain a “nofollow” attribute <span style="font-weight: bold;">rel=”nofollow”</span> whereby search engines will not recognize the link.</p>Blogs are great way to generate new content that can be pushed into social media networks to gain awareness and get the community to link to your great content. You can also use tools such as <a href="http://www.seomoz.org/linkscape">Linkscape</a> to determine who is linking to your competitors but not linking to you.<a style=""></a><p class="MsoNormal">Other ideas for link building include profile pages, article submissions, unpaid directories and paid directories, but you can be quite creative about how you get links. After all, as long as you want to be competitive in the search engines, you need to be building and acquiring back links.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">Monitor your SEO efforts</b><br /><b style=""><o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p> <p style="font-style: italic;" class="MsoNormal">“If it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed. If it can’t be measured, it’s not worth doing. Etc. etc…”</p>Take benchmark measurements so that you have a reference point and then set goals for yourself and monitor your progress so that you can change tack as required. <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Some parameters to keep an eye on include:</p><ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc"><li>Number of pages indexed</li><li class="MsoNormal" style=""><a href="http://www.google.com/webmasters">Google Webmaster Tools</a> Reports</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Your website rankings (Geographic location and Google domain will influence results)</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Inbound links: quantity, quality</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Keyword referrals from search</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Referring websites (Link traffic)</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Social media traffic</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="">Conversions</li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You can make use of<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.google.com/analytics">Google Analytics</a> or <a href="http://www.getclicky.com/">Clicky</a> to track your analytics and <a href="http://www.sheerseo.com/">sheerseo.com</a> generates excellent ranking reports and keeps track of your ranking history.<a href="http://www.seoserp.com/web_tools/google_pagerank_checker/google_serp_report.asp"> Page Rank Checker</a> also offers free ranking reports for several Google domains.</p><span style="font-style: italic;">Homework for HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification Exam </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.inboundmarketing.com/university/seo-crash-course-to-get-found-gf102">Class 2: SEO Crash Course to Get Found (GF102)</a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"></p>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-82946184305980721432010-05-28T12:31:00.011+02:002010-05-28T13:21:49.063+02:00Custom segments may not be what you are looking for in Google AnalyticsLet me say right up front that Custom segments show <span style="font-weight: bold;">session data sets and not single pageload data</span> in Google Analytics.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How not to do it:</span><br />Hypothetically speaking you may want to setup a quick reference to display just your blog post traffic (excluding the blog homepage and archive pages). So you might think that you could setup the following custom segment to show pages containing "/blog/":<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cS531ptI/AAAAAAAAAgY/KtCUnCRchLY/s1600/google-analytics-custom-segment.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 231px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cS531ptI/AAAAAAAAAgY/KtCUnCRchLY/s400/google-analytics-custom-segment.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476267520492414674" border="0" /></a>But then draw the conclusion that "custom segments are broken in Google Analytics" when you are presented with the following results (note the inclusion of the /index.php and other non-/blog/ related pages).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cTJLutII/AAAAAAAAAgg/tQ7QQpbFonw/s1600/results.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cTJLutII/AAAAAAAAAgg/tQ7QQpbFonw/s400/results.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476267524602377346" border="0" /></a>The reason for this unexpected behavior is that this custom segment will display <span style="font-weight: bold;">all </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">page loads from sessions that include any blog visits</span> (in this case) - Providing you with a general traffic pattern for blog visitors which may not be exactly what you are looking for.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How to do it:</span><br />If you want clean page load data that only contains your blog post pages then you should make use of the "advanced filter". Often easily over looked - it is just to the right of the simple filter at the bottom of the page.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cTaLxowI/AAAAAAAAAgo/vB0JgTqK3Ow/s1600/advanced-filter.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 46px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cTaLxowI/AAAAAAAAAgo/vB0JgTqK3Ow/s400/advanced-filter.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476267529165972226" border="0" /></a>The advanced filter allows conditional filtering which enables you to setup a highly customised data set.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cTmgyRFI/AAAAAAAAAgw/fKZGT7CgD2E/s1600/settings.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 354px; height: 225px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cTmgyRFI/AAAAAAAAAgw/fKZGT7CgD2E/s400/settings.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476267532475319378" border="0" /></a>Now you can include blog related content and exclude additional pages as required to create a precise custom data set. This makes it simple to extract the exact data that you are looking for.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cT5mSUiI/AAAAAAAAAg4/wSnqcsdF7wc/s1600/correct-results.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 185px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S_-cT5mSUiI/AAAAAAAAAg4/wSnqcsdF7wc/s400/correct-results.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476267537598665250" border="0" /></a>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2230139436806354303.post-34692600729459369482010-01-18T22:00:00.010+02:002010-08-20T09:14:28.398+02:00Looking after your Siamese Fighter (betta)‘Snoopy’, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betta">Siamese fighter or betta</a> was my very first exposure to tropical fish, probably more than 10 years ago. I purchased him out of one of those shameful setups where they showcase the attractive colours of several betta on the shelf top, each in their own tot glass worth of water. While this issue is not the central focus of my post I would like to encourage anyone who is considering a betta purchase to rescue one of these poor chaps from a similar scenario. Sure, betta can survive the harsh conditions of small volumes of water and lack of heating but they will be much happier in a proper aquarium setup. Betta are hardy little buggers and this makes them fairly easy to care for, it doesn’t mean that they warrant less care than any other tropical fish.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S1XgSOuiIhI/AAAAAAAAAb4/fIxpTNr7BV8/s1600-h/siamese-fighter-betta-blue-02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S1XgSOuiIhI/AAAAAAAAAb4/fIxpTNr7BV8/s400/siamese-fighter-betta-blue-02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428491529660539410" border="0" /></a><br />I was recently presented with the opportunity of a fresh aquarium setup and embraced the chance to revisit my betta days. I diligently prepared with some fresh betta research (I had Google and the www this time after all) and was quickly reminded of the same old betta FAQs:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Betta FAQ 1: Can I cycle my tank with a betta?</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Betta FAQ 2: Can I keep other fish with my betta?</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Betta FAQ 3: What should I feed my betta?</span><br /><br />… which I hope to contribute to with my experience and hopefully shed some light on now.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question 1: Can I cycle my tank with a betta?</span><br /><br />The short answer is yes, you can. I popped my new betta, ‘Blue’ as the first fish into his new home (my trusty <a href="http://richelectron.blogspot.com/2007/06/jebo-r338-aquarium.html">JEBO R338</a>) and he was happy from the word go. I just ran the tank for a good two weeks (until the water cleared) before introducing Blue and then fed him just once a day for the first month or so.<br /><br />The long answer is that cycling a tank with fish can be very stressful for the fish, so water changes and careful monitoring are a must! Overfeeding is never good, but you must take special care not to introduce excess food into the tank during the tank cycle. There is also unfortunately no guarantee that any fish will make it through a tank cycle alive.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S1XgSJvqq1I/AAAAAAAAAcA/y9hEU_TOsx8/s1600-h/siamese-fighter-betta-blue-03.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S1XgSJvqq1I/AAAAAAAAAcA/y9hEU_TOsx8/s400/siamese-fighter-betta-blue-03.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428491528323115858" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question 2: Can I keep other fish with my betta?</span><br /><br />The short answer is yes again. However, you should stick to these guidelines.<br /><br />Do not keep brightly coloured fish with your Betta. I would peg it at a 90% chance that he will chase them and injure them, even if he doesn’t harass them all the time. If you must have other fish in addition to your betta, rather add fairly plain (non-agressive) fish or fish that do not generally stick to the same parts of the tank that he does.<br /><br />I followed the ‘advice’ of an arbitrary forum post that I found on the internet and tried to house a school of Cardinals with my betta. He paid no attention to the new school at first, but a few days later I noticed that 2 had disappeared, and then I spotted one without an eye… Blue had been ‘hunting’ them during the night. I quickly rescued the survivors to the fish tank at work where they now live happily with a bunch of harmless Platies.<br /><br />Having said that, Blue never bugged the Corydoras, Otocinclus cat (they were never in his way) or Ghost glass cat fish that I placed with him in the end (I don’t think he could see them for their transparency). So you just need to exercise some care when placing additional fish with your betta and consider question 3 at the same time.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S1XgRzjYs3I/AAAAAAAAAbw/grE1ztrO1y4/s1600-h/cardinals-school-fish.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S1XgRzjYs3I/AAAAAAAAAbw/grE1ztrO1y4/s400/cardinals-school-fish.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428491522366026610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Question 3: What should I feed my betta?</span><br /><br />Most local fish shops will happily sell you just a box of ordinary fish flakes when you purchase a betta, with not an ounce of further advice. But you need to know that betta have temperamental digestive tracts and they get ‘clogged up’ if they are fed on fish flakes alone. You should vary your betta’s diet to include flakes, pellets and blood worms to stop problems from developing. As a side note, if your betta does become constipated, you can fast him for a day or two and then try and get him to eat some of the inside of a cooked pea (he won’t be able to digest the pea skin, you need to remove it), this will help to clear his system.<br /><br />The question of feeding should also be elaborated on to include “How much should I feed my betta?”. Betta are greedy little fellas and they will over eat quite happily in the classic, clichéd fish way (and then beg for more). Your betta’s food intake should be monitored strictly by feeding him only as much as he can consume in about a minute, twice a day and even just once a day some days. Excess food should always be removed.<br /><br />I need to highlight how this feeding issue now links back to question 2 – because betta are greedy little fish (and top feeders), they will often gobble up most food as it enters the tank. This makes it difficult to make sure that other fish in the tank are actually getting enough food without over feeding your betta. You could find yourself (as I did) regretting that you added additional fish to your tank - Blue unfortunately manged to eat himself sick and passed away. Looking back I would have to recommend that betta are kept in solitude to prevent over eating. Though you may find that you could keep some bottom feeders (such as corydoras) along with your betta quite happily as long as you fed them specially formulated bottom feeder food that your betta will not be able to just gobble as easily (this theory is untested).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S1XgRbOZhgI/AAAAAAAAAbo/XbKAaW3A0WY/s1600-h/siamese-fighter-betta-blue-01.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/S1XgRbOZhgI/AAAAAAAAAbo/XbKAaW3A0WY/s400/siamese-fighter-betta-blue-01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428491515835549186" border="0" /></a><br />However, I’m sure that there are exceptions to these rules as there always are – share them in the comments if you know of any :)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_P1i6yJdGZlE/RmtaJLDMMoI/AAAAAAAAACI/n0ubqESt4j8/s400/postbreak.png"><br /></a>Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06279795296738146730noreply@blogger.com0