Every Photosphere Tells a Good Story

Heard of photospheres? While the term may be new to you, you’ve probably seen them in Google Street views. They are basically 360 degree views, comprised of images that are stitched together (known as “photostitching”) enabling users to freely look up, down and all around to view the entire scene. Ideal for outdoor captures, photospheres …

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Fix Broken Thumbnails on Facebook

Some time ago, I tried to post a link on Facebook and noticed that the thumbnail did not display in the post. After a little digging, I discovered a neat little debugger tool that worked. Simply visit http://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug and enter your URL of your link and hit the ‘Debug” button. This forces Facebook to spider …

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Ready for your 5-second Masterpiece? YouTube’s Fan Finder can get you fans for free

Looking to give your YouTube channel a boost for free? YouTube has answered the call with their latest advertising platform, aptly titled Fan Finder. Basically, owners upload their videos to their channel and can transform their video into a TrueVideo ad, the 5-second overlay ad on the video. From there, the viewer has the option …

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Hshtags.com Gets an A for Effort

We all know about hashtags, as they have become an integral part of every touch point with users. From TV commercials and print ads to social campaigns and sporting events, they are everywhere and continue to evolve. For most users, the process of finding the right hashtag for the right initiative can sometimes be a …

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Should I update WordPress? 5 Things You Should Do Before Hitting that Update Button

Depending on the context, the word “update” has many meanings in different spaces. For some, it represents a newer and improved version, while for others it means progress and things are moving forward in the right direction. When it comes to WordPress, they will issue updates about 8-10 times a year, leaving many wondering if …

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iPhone Not Starting Up: CPR for a Dead iPhone

In a panic, my son informed me that his iPhone 4S was dead after many failed attempts to start it. This was followed by a reference to replacing it w/ the latest model. Before making that journey to the Apple store for a new phone, we decided to run some additional diagnostics. From this experience, …

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Behind Google’s Knowledge Graph & How it Impacts Your SEO

Have you noticed that neat little sidebar on your search engine results page? This can be attributed to Google’s recent launch of their Knowledge Graph. This has stirred both concern and interest from end users and organizations. It also redefines SEO, and forces organizations to evaluate external sources, such as Wikipedia and Google+, as they …

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Visualize the Latest Google Trends

I love Google Trends as it’s a real-time snapshot of the outside world. From sports and entertainment to science and politics, it’s all there. Recently, Google rolled out a new way to illustrate trending searches in real time. It’s a great way to see the top searches on Google. Here it is in action: What …

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Facebook Ratings System

This is one of those Facebook updates that slipped under the radar as there was very little chatter about it. Facebook recently rolled out their ratings system for pages enabling fans to rate a page on a 1-5 scale: 1 star: Really don’t like it. 2 stars: Don’t like it. 3 stars: Like some things …

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Camera Slideshow: Best jQuery slideshow

For many years, I have used Camera slideshow, an open source jQuery slideshow application, made by Pixedelic.com. Easy to use with much room for customization and integration, it is one of the best slideshow applications out there. I have used it primarily for WordPress builds, but it can also be dropped into a site with …

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Is my site up and running? Top 3 Tools to Monitor Your Site

“Server is not responding” is the one system-error message that can drive most site owners to hit the panic button and put them in a frenzy tailspin to find answers behind a downed server. Luckily, there are many tools to help monitor your hosted server and identify the health of your site. For many years, …

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