Ramanisblog

Tag: Mozilla

  • Blogging Thoughts On Hosts Themes Widgets

    I have been receiving emails and in the form of comments, that I write on Blogging, provide some tips.

    Blogging.
    Blogging.

    I do not presume to be a good blogger, but I shall put down some points I have learnt over the past four years, things I have learnt by making mistakes.

    Points I make here may be used as a starter  and there are good bloggers and more technical savvy people are around, one can seek their help.

    Let me reiterate I am a totally ignorant person of Computer and the Internet, let alone the terms like ‘Hosting’ etc.

    Hosting.

    I am writing on WordPress platform, that too in WordPress .com .

    There are others like Bloggers of Google.

    I do have blogs there.

    WordPress,to me, may not look as flashy and rich as Bloggers,I find that very easy to write and the technical problems like texts disappearing, blogs not being visible ,images do not show,Links not displaying properly are very few and far in between.

    And in such cases WordPress attends to them immediately with practically no lead time..

    If they have a problem, they let me know and once they are set right, they inform me again.

    In some cases, they inform me in advance.

    Though Bloggers is very appealing and has a wide variety of formatting, to me it seems, that you have to do it by yourself, and that is too dicey for me.

    But WordPress does every thing for me, I just concentrate on writing.

    And too many options and I am lost as to what to choose in terms of Themes and Design.

    Choosing.com,org,.net.

    I am told there are some technical reasons for the difference but I am assured by WordPress is that your readership will not be affected by choosing any of them.

    Going professional might help in terms of making the site design more appealing and will help one monetize better.

    That is your choice.

    So long as the platform on which you write does not give you headaches in terms of not displaying your posts,  your search results appear on the Internet, your problems are attended to immediately that Hosting should do.

    Be it WordPress or Blogger.

    I have not detailed about the other Hosts as it would beyond the scope of this post.

    Themes.

    This , again , is a question of personal choice.

    If one wants Glitzy you have it..

    But the more Links, Widgets, complicated Designs, the loading time becomes slower and that affects your Readership.

    Keep the Widgets to the essentials to keep the reader engaged, from his stand point, not your own.

    Apart from Meta description, Log in details,Follow,provide Widgets for Categories,Tags, Archives,Recent Posts,Top Posts and anything more is optional.

    If your post is Photography oriented check with the Hosts for tips.

    Too many Links in a Page or even in Home page affects the Loading time of your site.

    The purpose of a Blog is to be read, primarily.

    Make sure it is simple and readable, with reasonably standard fonts and size”do not use fancy stylish fonts, they may appeal to you, not necessarily the reader.

    Avoid high lighting(actually this point should come under ‘Content‘)  or keep it to the minimum and Caps is strict”.No No”

    I started off with DePo Masthead Theme of WordPress(three columns, I like it very much).

    Then as my son told me repeatedly that my Blog looked like a scribbling pad, I switched to WordPress Sunspot Theme.

    It looked very good to me.

    In a week I started receiving suggestions that I change the design to some thing simple and more readable as the color combination was affecting readability.

    Now I am using the Theme ‘Able’

    I received feedback it is good.

    Browsers.

    I have used almost all of them,Google Chrome,Mozilla,Safari et al.

    Google Chrome and Mozilla are very good.

    Mozilla has very rich features in terms of easy sharing tools and convenience in writing .

    But where Google Chrome scores over is that Google Chrome feels light to touch while Mozilla is heavy.(This is the best I can describe this point, I do not what it is.

    So I am with Google Chrome for writing and with Mozilla for sharing.

    More posts on Blogging follow.

     

     

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  • Media Curiously mute on SOPA despite web Blackout

    Save On-line Piracy Act-SOPA- had invited wide protests world-wide and among the communities the protest was not more vociferous anywhere   as in the web.

    protest image against SOPA.
    SOPA Protest.

    Led by such sites like Mozilla ,Google,Wikipedia,Reddit and the like the effect on SOPA seems to be the opposite.

    First came the crash of Megaupload.

    Now it is the turn on of Filesonic.

    The Media especially the Electronic and the Print Media do not seem to be bothered much.

    Could be that the purse strings are controlled by the Publishers.

    Time that the Media professionals did their bit n this assault on Freedom on the Fourth estate.

    This issue is more serious than Murdoch’s Phone hacking.

    ”

    The online world and digital file locker services in particular are still reeling from the Thursdaytakedown of Megaupload and the arrest of the site’s staff. Acting at the behest of U.S. requests/orders, servers around the world were taken offline and those who ran the site were arrested in a case U.S. authorities have deemed the “Mega Conspiracy”.

    This afternoon, Filesonic.com went all but dark:

    Filesonic, one of the Internet’s leading cyberlocker services, has taken some drastic measures following the Megaupload shutdown and arrests last week. In addition to discontinuing its affiliates rewards program and not yet paying accrued money to members, the site has disabled all sharing functionality, leaving users only with access to their own files.

    Filesonic taking this step on its own at least spares users what would could have been the Megaupload-esque eventuality: loss of all their data, even if it was personal and perfectly legal. Megaupload users with legitimate data have been left out in the cold by the U.S. government and look to remain there for the foreseeable future.

    Even though Megaupload was a Hong Kong-based site, that was not enough to spare it the long arm of the law – lobbied and paid for by large “content creators” back stateside. While fear of repercussions has not been listed as the official reasoning for neutering the site – there has as of yet been no official announcement – that seems to be the best theory working at the moment:

    While there has been no official explanation from the site as to why the above actions were taken, all eyes are turned towards events of the last week – the closure of Megaupload and the arrest of its founder and management team.

    Like Megaupload, Filesonic appears to based in Hong Kong and it’s clear that the authorities there already worked with the US government to shut down Kim Dotcom’s operations and seize his assets there. Filesonic is also believed to have some US-based servers.

    Back on the Megaupload front, more details from the 72-page indictment continue to trickle out as it is poured over by tech sites. Feeling a rather lofty sense of self-importance for who they are and what they do, “content creators” were apparently rather upset that the uploading of infringing work wasn’t dealt with as swiftly as child pornography:

    http://www.secondpagemedia.com/jadblog/2012/01/megaupload-fallout-filesonic-kills-sharing-service/

    The Blackout Details.

    ”

    Two new laws proposed by US legislators, the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, have been attracting a very negative reaction from the web community over the past couple of months, which is today culminating in a day of protests. Aiming to curtail copyright infringement on the web by giving the US government unprecedented new powers, both SOPA and PIPA have been rejected as overreaching and unhelpful laws that cannot coexist with a free and open internet.

    The most outspoken protester of the bills today will be Wikipedia, whose English site will be going dark for the full 24 hours on January 18th, starting at midnight ET. It’s also joined by Reddit, which will replace its usual “glorious, user-curated chaos” with a message noting its opposition to SOPA and PIPA, accompanied by links to more information about the bills and suggested ways to express your own dissatisfaction with them. Reddit will not be offering its regular service between the hours of 8AM ET and 8PM ET, which is also when Mozilla will be redirecting the Mozilla.org and Mozilla.com English webpages to a similar “action page” inviting users of its software to voice their concern. The Firefox landing page will also be altered to raise awareness. Finally, Google’s search homepage is partaking in the protest by blacking out the Google logo, voicing the company’s opposition to SOPA, and including a link for more information.”

    http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/18/2715300/sopa-blackout-wikipedia-reddit-mozilla-google-protest

    ‘

    If the only place you get your news is from the Sunday talk shows, you would not have been informed in the slightest today about the political and technological battle over the Stop Online Piracy Act last week. Yes, there was a huge primary yesterday that completely up-ended the Republican contest, but you’d figure a powerful people-powered protest resulting in some of the biggest and most visited websites either blacking out or using their resources to raise awareness of the bill would garner at least a brief discussion today.

    The only exception was Howard Kurtz, who did his due diligence bringing up the conflicts of interest inherent in the media’s coverage of SOPA and how some networks were better at disclosing such conflicts than others. However, Kurtz only brought this up at the tail end of Reliable Sources for about two minutes, so if you weren’t paying close attention, you might have missed it.

    And it’s not just the Sunday shows. On Wednesday, the day of the blackout, none of the primetime shows on MSNBC and Fox News brought up SOPA or the blackout at all except for Rachel Maddow. It’s honestly embarrassing. Yes, it’s awful and/or hilarious how the rest of the Republicans are going after Mitt Romney for being a wealthy venture capitalist. And who knew that Newt Gingrich had marital issues?

    But if your argument defending these hosts is “Oh, well they probably had more important issues to cover!” how is it that Lawrence O’Donnell found time to talk about ModernFamilyFuckGate but not the blackout? I completely agree with his position on profanity, but when in the editorial process did they decide “Internet freedom is good, but ABC primetime programming is just a little better”?

    http://www.mediaite.com/tv/even-after-blackout-protest-the-media-is-still-not-doing-its-job-in-coverage-of-sopa/

     

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  • Microsoft Offers Users Rival Web Browsers

    Millions of web users across Europe are being asked by Microsoft if they want to continue using its Internet Explorer (IE) or change to another browser.
    Web users are given a selection of browsers to choose from
    The move by the US software giant is part of a deal struck with the European Commission to resolve competition concerns.
    Microsoft IE is currently used by around 62% of web users worldwide, followed by Firefox which has a 24% market share, according to Net Applications.
    Starting this week, a pop-up window will prompt users to choose one of 12 different browsers or stay with Internet Explorer.
    The browser choice software will be delivered as part of the Windows Update system which Microsoft usually uses to distribute security patches.

    Internet Explorer dominates market
    Users of Windows XP, Vista or 7 will get it – but users of non-IE browsers such as Opera, Safari, Chrome or Firefox will not see it.
    The software will give the user the prompt “An important choice to make: your browser” leading to a screen with the list of the 12 web browsers available.
    Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari and Internet Explorer will be randomly ordered on the first section.
    Seven less well-known browsers – Avant, Flock, Green Browser, K-meleon, Maxthon, Sleipnir and Slim – will be randomly ordered on the rest of the screen.
    Each listing contains some information on the particular browser and a download button.
    The choice screen will keep appearing until a user has selected their preferred browser.
    Anyone wanting to stick with IE will be prompted to upgrade to Internet Explorer 8.
    It is not yet clear what effect the Microsoft browser choice will have on IE’s large market share.

    Firefox among available browers
    A Microsoft spokesman told Sky News Online: “We are confident that customers want a browser that helps protect their privacy and safeguards them from online threats.
    “And one that provides an easy way for customers to do more of what they want online, things like banking, shopping, social networking and surfing.
    “IE provides exactly this and is the modern browser for today’s modern world.”
    Web commentator James Holland from electricpig.co.uk told Sky News Online that offering people a choice was a “brilliant idea”.
    He said users would be tempted to “try something different” and predicted that by selecting an alternative to IE they would force Microsoft to up its game.
    Hopefully this would “speed Microsoft up in its updates”, he said, adding IE was “a bit buggy and slow”.
    http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Microsoft-Asks-Web-Users-In-Europe-If-They-Want-To-Change-Browsers-Or-Stay-With-Internet-Explorer/Article/201003115563287?lpos=Business_Second_Home_Page_Article_Teaser_Region_5&lid=ARTICLE_15563287_Microsoft_Asks_Web_Users_In_Europe_If_They_Want_To_Change_Browsers_Or_Stay_With_Internet_Explorer