What is SEO?

Do you know John Chow, Darren Rowse or the 13-year-old blogger Carl Ocab? Anyway, if you’re going to ready their blogs, they keep on talking about SEO, traffic or page rank. What are they talking about anyway?

When you started creating your own blog, there are general purposes in doing so. Perhaps, you just wanna vent out whatever is in your mind or you wanted to kill the boring time you have and blogging is the answer for all of those moments. Or, you really wanted to earn lots of money, with simple ideas and internet. This is really sounds fun! But this is easier said than done. I’m not discouraging each and every one of you. Making money online needs a lot of patience, creativity and SEO.

SEO or the Search Engine Optimization is a method or process of improving and optimizing the ranking of a website in search engine results. There are many free online web tools that webmasters can use to find out more information about their sites. Now, I’m going to introduce them all.

With millions of pages of search results for any given keyword, webmasters would want to have their website appear among the first couple of search result listings. The higher the position or ranking, the greater the likelihood that internet users will visit your site. Example, if you google “Make Money Online”, the first site that will appear is Make Money Online with GatherSuccess. That’s what the SEO will going to do for our own blog.

Search Engine and Blog Directories

Do you remember the Yellow Pages? Well, I think nowadays, we don’t use these anymore because of Internet. Here’s in Singapore, it launched the Internet Yellow Pages (Singapore). But, in the Internet world, or in the Blogging world I should say, Web Directories, Blog Directoris and Search Engines are the Internet Yellow Pages.Although the major Search Engines will crawl your website even without any action on your part, it will be much faster if you could proactively provide them your site information.

Here are the sites wherein you can submit your Blogger Sitemap:
1. Yahoo!
2. MSN and Ask.com
3. Google Webmaster
4. Blog Directories
5. Search Engines
6. RSS Feeds and Pings
7. Blog Traffic Exchange

On my next posts, I will discuss on how to submit your Sitemap to the aforementioned Search Engines.

Digg Your Blogger Now

We usually see the Digg image/icon (on the left corner of this post) at beginning or at the end of every post. We often see numbers on it and we just let it be and didn’t ask what this is for.

Digg is a social news website made for bloggers like us, to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet world. How it works? If you have a good story, the readers will simply submit links and stories, or vote or comment on the articles. This will definitely help your site to be noticed, to be famous and definitely earn a lot of cash, eventually.


First Things First

1) Your Blogger account or site should be set to save Post Pages. These are archived blog posts published to their own web page, which mean that each post have unique URL. This is a common requirement by Digg for reader’s posts to be submitted.

How? Dashboard -->Settings -->Archiving -->Enable Post Pages -->Yes

2) The code reads the URL of each blog page and this will be the URL used for submission of the story to Digg.

How? Before you inserted anything on your Template, please copy or Download Template that you’re currently using. This is one of the necessary steps to do whenever you want to change the template. With a backup, you can easily restore the template to the prior state if needed.

Let’s Get Started

Click the box next to “Expand Widget Templates”. Scroll about two-thirds down the template to look for the code that reads:

<p><data:post.body/></p>

If you want the button to show at the top right corner of your post, replace the above code with this.

<div style="'float:right;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><script type="'text/javascript'"><br /><br /><br /><br />digg_url="<data:post.url/>";<br /><br /><br /><br /></script><br /><br /><br /><br /><script src="'http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js'" type="'text/javascript'/"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><data:post.body/></p>textarea></p><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>

This is how it looks like:

If you would like the button to appear at the end of your post, replace with this following code instead.

<p><data:post.body/></p><br /><br /><br /><div style="'float:right;"><br /><br /><br /><script type="'text/javascript'"><br /><br /><br />digg_url="<data:post.url/>";<br /><br /><br /></script><br /><br /><br /><script src="'http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js'" type="'text/javascript'/"><br /><br /><br /></div>textarea></p><br /><br /><br /></div>

And here it goes like this:

This might not be effective to use. Else, place Digg at the upper left corner of the post, similar to what I did.

<div style="'float:left;"><br /><br /><br /><script type="'text/javascript'"><br /><br /><br />digg_url="<data:post.url/>";<br /><br /><br /></script><br /><br /><br /><script src="'http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js'" type="'text/javascript'/"><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><p><data:post.body/></p>textarea></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>

The outcome is like this:

Blend your Digg on your Post

You can also change the background color of the button to blend with your site. For example, a code like this:

<div style="'float:right;"><br /><br /><br /><script type="'text/javascript'"><br /><br /><br />digg_url="<data:post.url/>";<br /><br /><br />digg_bgcolor="#FFFFFF";<br /><br /><br />digg_skin="compact";<br /><br /><br /></script><br /><br /><br /><script src="'http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js'" type="'text/javascript'/"><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><p><data:post.body/></p>textarea></p><br /><br /><br /></div>

Here's how it looks like:

You can insert the color code of your choice into the letters (FFFFFF). For the example above, I used the white background with a color code of #FFFFFF.

Hope this helps. If you would like to Digg this article, click the Digg button.

Be the Judge on the iPhone 3G Ad

You might be in depth thinking on what is the difference between the old iPhone launched last 2007 and the iPhone 3G, that I currently possess Aside from the fact that 3G that supports faster internet browsing and Assisted GPS, comes with a 16 GB memory and lighter by 1 oz, I can’t think of any difference here. So, I search on Youtube, if there’s a visual representation that will convince me that buying an iPhone 3G is better than anything else.

So, I came across this Ad about an invisible shield. All along, I thought this was a main difference. Crap. I’m not watching carefully. Luckily, I didn’t try on my phone then.

But the big question is, is this for real? If you want, you can try it first.

Introduction to iPhone

Everyone’s craze is over this new baby of technology. We’ve been hooked up on the advanced technology the world could offer. Just think about this, on the palm of your hand, you can send emails, you can search the web, you can play your favorite Youtube-music video, you can compile all the music you want, and you can make a call. How amazing is that?

Personally, I love this new thingamajig I have. It offers more than you need. When the iPhone 3G came out in the market last year, I didn’t think twice but buy it.

iPhone is a smartphone produced, designed and distributed by Apple Inc. This is touch-screen flush and literally uses fingertips to navigate everything. It has virtual keyboard. Cool. Virtual, if I can remember correctly was used in animated cartoons or by Fighting Rangers when I was a kid.

The general functions of an iPhone are camera phone (like a Nokia with text messaging and visual voicemail), Internet (like a Blackberry), portable Media Player (like an iPod) and many applications (like a PSP). No wonder this was named by Time Magazine as the “Invention of the year” in 2007.

Well, my review or introduction on iPhone is a little arbitrary. However, choosing this phone is still dependent on what functionalities you like to be, including the budget of course.

Some Facts about iPhone:

Relesed Date: June 29, 2007
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Storage Capacity: 4, 8 or 16 GB
Memory: 128 MB
Camera: 2.0 Megapixel
Weight: 135 g (4.8 oz)
Display: 480 x 320 px 3.5 in (89 mm)

What is Exposure?

In photography, we commonly hear about shutter, focus, ISO and Aperture. These are actually talking about Exposure. Exposure is often than not, misunderstood or taken for granted. Exposure, according to wikipedia, ” is the total amount of light allowed to fall on the photographic medium during the process of taking a photograph. Exposure is measured in lux seconds, and can be computed from exposure value (EV) and scene luminance over a specified area.” This is a little wordy. But, this only means the capability of your camera to capture the subject or object behind it.

The main players:

Aperture - the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken

ISO - the measure of a camera sensor’s sensitivity to light

Shutter Speed - the amount of time that the shutter is open

These three go hand-in-hand to be able to attain best results right after your clicking-fingertips on your camera. Or maybe not hand-in-hand, but should be understood all together before you start as a hobbyist, an enthusiast, or a PRO in photography.

Withering Flower

(Picture from Andreas Solberg)

Imagine a flower that is in some way withered because of too much sun with less water on it.
Different flowers have different needs. Like water lilies, they can live in water, which means full amount of water will help them survive. But, normally, to take care of a plant or a flower, needs three elements, sunlight, soil and water. With regard to how much or how less we should give to the plants or flowers, it is really dependent on the nature of the flower. Say for example sunlight, some flowers grow faster when fully exposed to sunlight and some are not. This is like an ISO rating. The sensitivity to light.

Shutter speed is like the length of time you put the flower out in the sun. The longer you spend in the sun the increased chances of the flower to wither.

Aperture is like amount of water you put on the pot that will help the flower to grow or prevent to wither. When you put water, the roots secrete this and help to protect it to fight the sunlight exposure.

Does this make any sense?

Another Example to explain these three main players.

Eyes with a Sunglasses

Imagine your camera is like your eyes wearing a sunglasses one sunny day.
Aperture is the shade of the sunglasses you’re wearing. The dimmer the shade, the less light you’ll get.

Shutter Speed is the amount of time you’re wearing your sunglasses. The longer you're wearing them, the longer you can tolerate the sunlight.

Now let’s say you don’t have a 20-20 vision and not wearing any contact lenses while wearing your sunglasses. You eyes become desensitized to the light that comes in (similar to low ISO)
Now let’s say you want to see clearly the sand castle on a sunny beach. Instead of sunglass, you’re wearing your eyeglass or contact lenses. (increase the ISO). You can see the sand castle clearly coz you’re not wearing a shaded sunglasses. (increase aperture). You wanted to make another sand castle similar on what you’re seeing and you’ve been staring on it like hours to perfectly do the same thing. (decrease shutter speed).

Top Ten Charice’s Performances in You tube

I followed Charice’s career, nothing else, but in You Tube. I was kept updated by the uploads done here and she’s really amazing. How does thi 15-year-old (now at 16) has a powerful voice you can ever imagined?

#10 If I were you – First, I love the song and Second, Charice Nailed it.



#9 I will survive – Star King. Although this was not the song that caught Ellen Degeneres’ attention, but on the same show itself, I really loved her version of “I will survive”. She performed like there are no tomorrow (sounds like Paula Abdul). The funniest things on this video are the Korean’s reactions.



#8 On Ellen Degeneres Show – still was definitely the start of Charice’s success. It wooed each American audience. She’s really amazing. I keep on saying this.



#7On Paul O’Grady Show --I have nothing. OMG. I am totally speechless. Just try this, close your eyes, here this song, can you now distinguish who’s singing?



#6 On Oprah Show – My Heart Will Go On. I love this song. I remember the Titanic Days. I watched this movie like 100 times. I even learned the flute version of this song. Charice, once again, remarkably interpreted the song. I love it. I love it. I love it.



#5 Good Morning America – I will survive. David Forster is really an outstanding composer, musician and discoverer. I loved the arrangement of this song and as expected, great performance from Charice.



#4 At Las Vegas – with David Foster and friends. To be able to perform is a Grand. To be with David Foster and Friends are more than a blessing. Let’s just put on this way, you’re going to be lined up with Michael Buble, Josh Groban and Andrei Bocelli.




#3 With Celine Dion at Madison Square Garden – I think, this video showed two things. Charice is lucky and Celine is humble. It really takes humility and kindness for a big star such as Celine Dion, to lend a hand and grab a child’s hands towards success and stardom. Thanks Celine for giving the floor to Charice.


#2 With Arnel Pineda – Alright, I’m just proud. But, you can have the best of both worlds. Imagine, two Filipinos – conquering the American Music Industry. I can’t wait that Grammy’s will be part or will come parallel with our OPM. Haha. Just dreaming. Arnel Pineda is a Filipino Rock Singer who’s now a The Journey’s Lead Singer. The Journey is famous for songs like “Open Arms” and “Faithfully.”




#1 With Sarah Geronimo – Well, call me bias but I love them both. Sarah Geronimo is like a bigger version of Charice. Honestly, Sarah is better and Charice is luckier. Regardless of who is who, Filipino audience wanted to put rivalry between these two girls. Why not just love them both? Sarah and Charice’s stories of success as so much the same. They both experienced mishaps, striving for survival and now great success. FYI: Sarah is the host at the Little Big Star wherein Charice was one of the finalists. Charice idolizes Sarah.

Top Ten Best Things of Being a Pinoy

I always say this, I love Top Ten! Why? Coz these are very specific, very constructive-in a good way and concise.

Now, since I’m Proud to be Pinoy, I will give you the Top Ten Best Things of Being a Pinoy.

#10. OPM – I love OPM. Nothing beats the golden days of Filipino Music. There are countless revivals and we still love ‘em. Who will forget, “Bakit ba Ganyan?”, “Sanay’s Wala Nang Wakas”, “Paalam Na” and many more. They are the true songs of the Pinoys’ Heart

#9 Street Foods – Samalamig, Isaw, Adidas, Helmet, Dugo, One-Day Old and famous Balot. Although some countries, like China for example has a different delicacies which are enormously semi-edible, I think. But, I bow my head with the Pinoy-style street food. Cheap. Appetizing. Yummy.

#8 Karaoke/Videoke – Filipinos are born to be singers. If not, we’ll still try so hard to be one. Who in their homes don’t have a Magic Sing, or a simple CD player with Lyrics on it. Our creativity is manifested on how we sing lyrically whenever we are. The frustration has been outgrown since childhood, joining every Glee Club, Choir Group or Singing Contest. I remember those days.

#7 San Miguel Beer – to add with this is the Gin Bilog. I missed these drinks. Gin-Pomelo, Gin-Pineapple or other flavours will do.

#6 Dirty Ice-Cream – They are not really dirty. They are just available on the street and they are a lot creamier, sweeter and affordable. This is like the Ben and Jerry, an economical way.

#5 Extended Family – We, I believe, has the longest generation, staying on one roof. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Titos, Titas, Grandparents, Grandchildren, Godparents and Godchildren are staying in one house. The more the merrier.

#4 People Power – in any catastrophes and misfortunes, these are the times when all Filipinos come together and become one nation. Through people power, we ousted a so-called leader, we surpassed all the calamities, and we challenged all nations that nothing will conquer us no matter what. Everytime I see documentaries about this, I always cry.

#3 Laughter – We love to laugh at ourselves. We love to laugh in times of difficulties. We sometimes are the big laugh. Nonetheless, at least we can still afford to laugh.

#2 Bayanihan – Whenever you are, whoever you’ll be with if you’re a Filipino, and you see a fellow Pinoy, you’ll be friends since then. You count on him or her no matter what. This is tried and tested. Not always but most of the time.

#1 Christmas – This is the most special occasion we have. I cannot afford to celebrate Christmas elsewhere. I have to go back to Pinas. I don’t want to miss, the Carolings, Parol, Big Christmas Tree, Ninong and Ninang, and of course, my Family.

Add Blogger Search Box

It is as easy as 1,2,3 or A,B,C (sounds like the Jackson 5) in adding a search box on your blog. Google Navigation bar at the top of your Blogger blogs has an embedded search box. But if you may want to include a similar box in the main body of your blog (like what I you’re seeing on the top right corner of this blog), or the sidebar. Other than the convenience for users, the added advantage is that unlike Google search box, the search results of this Blogger.com search box appear in the main body of your Blog.

Under Template->Page Elements tab, click “Add a Page Element” at the place where you want your search box to appear. Select “HTML/JavaScript”.There are several HTML codes posted on the net. I tried a few, and found the one that works as follows:-

<p align="left"><br /><br /><form id="searchthis" action="YOUR BLOG URL/search" style="display:inline;" method="get"><br /><br /><strong>NAME OF YOUR BLOG<br/></strong><br /><br /><input id="b-query" maxlength="255" name="q" size="20" type="text"><br /><br /><input id="b-searchbtn" value="Search" type="submit"><br /><br /></form></p>

Don’t copy this whole textbox and paste ‘em without changing those in Bold text. The YOUR BLOG URL is the web address of your blog. You should change also the NAME of YOUR BLOG. In my case, it’s Digital World.

Also, if you want to change the search size, like 30 or more than, you can actually do that. But I think, the standard one is 20, that will perfectly fit on sidebars. Choose what fits your layout.It’s easy right. 1,2,3 or ABC. Searching now!

Charice Pempengco – a Youtube Sensation

A 16-year-old girl once again proves the biggest talent that every Filipinos possesses. It was undeniably amazing on how this girl conquered American audience, and now the whole world. I am personally a fan, since her days with Little Big Star – which unfortunately but fortunate enough to give Charice the courage not to give up, because she really has a talent.

Being an artist or simply a singer in the Philippines is sometimes or always frustrating. This was brought by superficial misjudgment by the Filipino viewers. Oftentimes we’re smart, but most of the time stupid that what we see is what we really can get. On the finals of the show, it was tremendously expected or maybe not that Charice will win. But, they chose Sam Concepcion – who is semi-equally talented and fully-groomed with confidence and total ad package. Anyway, the mishap happened and the future behold with Charice.

As fast as lightning, after two years of loose ends, the booming internet craze helped Charice to prove everyone wrong. With the help of Youtube user, False Voice, who maybe felt disappointed but not discouraged to continue in believing with Charice’s talent, posted all the videos; solo, in comparison or even home video. This was the start of Charice to be an internet sensation. She got a lot of invitations from all over the world, and then after that, by another world until she reached the world of famous singers around the globe.

I reckon when you searched Charice’s name in Youtube, that you have to search her full name to be able to find a good article about her…. Or maybe on the next Google pages. But now, you can simply type in “Charice”, and viola… everything about her, her story, her success, the people around her can now be found.

She reached a very far beyond what we expected. She’s been to different shows, that we normally saw in TV or even not if you don’t have a Sky Cable/Home Cable for that matter. She’s been a guest to Ellen Degeneres Show, Oprah Winfrey Show, and even a guest of Celine Dion at Madison Square Garden. Oh God, you are really so blessed.

On behalf of all the Filipinos, we really are grateful for your talent and representing us on the other side of GOOD WORLD.

Glossary in SLR photography -- part 1

Aperture -- is the diaphragm located in the lens for controlling the amount of light entering the lenses. Aperture sizes are stated as (focal length)/(f-stop value), e.g. f/8, meaning the area of the opening is the current focal length of your lens divided by 8.

ISO -- is the measure of the sensitivity of the film, and the common ISOs are: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and 6400. Each of these is 1 stop away from the next, e.g. ISO200 is double the sensitivity of ISO100. There are other ISO films/settings available in between.

SLR -- Single-lens reflex camera uses an automatic moving mirror system which allows the user to perceive the exactly what will be captured by the digital imaging system
Stop -- A stop in photography term is the measurement of light (measured in EV). +1 stop means that the light is double from the current value. Similarly, -1 stop means half of the light entering your camera. Of course you can have 1/3 stops or 1/2 stops.

Shutter -- in most SLRs is film plane shutter and it is the blade in front of the film plane that controls the amount of light hitting the film. It is normally closed and opens briefly when you press the shutter release button to expose the film. Another type of shutter is diaphragm shutter and it is usually mounted on the lens. A 3rd type of shutter is electronic shutter used in some digicams.

Point-and-Shoot Digicams versus DSLR

The main feature that distinguishes point-and-shoot cameras (a.k.a. digicam) from DSLRs is in the means of viewing the scene. Digicams use a video screen, either an LCD or an Electronic Viewfinder (EVF), or both. DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) by definition have optical viewfinders. However, this main difference is recently been cleared by the new Canon 450d. It has a Live View Shooting now. Another three important functions of DSLRs that a normal point-and-shoot doesn’t have are: ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. These will be discussed on the next posts.

Megapixel doesn’t necessarily go hand-in-hand with both types of cameras. There are digicams with 8 Megapixel chips and DSLRs with 4-6 Megapixel chips. That's where digicams currently top out, while DSLRs go as high as 11 or 14MP.

Normally, the size and weight of the DSLRs are bigger or heavier than a point-and shoot camera. However, some digicams are growing larger (Sony F828) and some DSLRs are getting smaller (Pentax *istD). But the total camera plus lens combination needs to be taken into account, not just the camera body by itself. If you take a typical 8 Megapixel digicam with its 28-200mm f/2.8 lens (35mm equivalent), it might weigh about 1.5 lbs and is able to fit comfortably in a coat pocket.

DSLRs

Plus (+)
· Greater image quality and lower noise at very high ISOs
· Excellent image quality and resolutions, good in making wallpaper
· A wide range of interchangeable lenses
· High quality fast image processing
· Availability of Image Stabilized lenses
· Can use monochrome, natural, portrait and other photo standard
· Different settings which depend on the subject, also can use own creative settings

Deltas (-)
· Most often, bulky and heave
· No real-time histogram
· Shutter and mirror noise when shooting

Point-and-shoot/digicams

Plus (+)
· Smaller in size, lighter in weight and lower bulk – can even fit your pocket
· No shutter noise.
· A wide variety of zoom lenses available
· Availability of macro shooting without using another lenses which is used by DSLRs
· Cheaper in price and affordable in all camera stores
· You can use for your own personal portrait anytime and anywhere you wanted.

Deltas (-)
· Generally, slower auto focus and greater shutter lag than DSLRs
· Low frame rates and almost never achieve a fast rate in RAW mode.
· Most often cannot capture great image with shaky hands.
· Dimmer viewfinder than DSLRs
· Pixels are underrated. It goes with the pricy cameras to achieve a good image quality.

MY POV

For some reasons, I never had a point-and-shoot digital camera. I never even had a film camera. When I decided to buy one, I made sure that it would be a good one. I don’t want to be a beginner, although I am a beginner. It stereotyped my need to capture good quality images. So, for starters, if you don’t have any mood to make use of this as a hobby or whatever, just buy the normal point-and-shoot. However, for those who’ve been dreaming, wanting and living with this hobby, just get out and buy a good DSLR. It is really worth it.