Publication: Internet Tutor
Seven Success Tips | |
Subscribe FREE to Internet Tutor by clicking here.
THE INTERNET TUTOR
June 22, 2006
------------------------------------------------------------
This week...
- Webmaster Tip: Seven Success Tips
- Surfin' the Web: GreenBiz.com
- Software Spotlight: PC Pandora
- The Oddball Wall: Sweetness
- Computer Tip: Add Notes to Files
I was going to interview a streetcar conductor for this
issue, but his train of thought kept derailing. So then
I thought I'd interview a ballerina, but that proved tutu
difficult. So I talked to the cleaner at a lumber mill,
but he saw dust and got board. After that I decided to
interview myself...
Simon: Hello me, if you could interview anyone in the world,
who would it be?
Simon: Apparently me.
Simon: I agree, I'm very interesting.
Simon: Not only that but I wouldn't ask me any embarrassing
questions, like, why am I doing this?
Simon: Right. ...so why am I doing this?
Simon: Because the oil baron was too crude, the yardstick
manufacturer didn't measure up, the propane salesman
was totally gassed, the lifeguard was all wet, and
the politician was two-faced, so I'm saving that one
for television.
------------------------------------------------------------
"Absolutely Priceless" - Rolling Stone
"Freshly Irreverent" - The New York Times
"Pertinent, Personal, Outrageous" - Playboy
Before Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and George Carlin there
was LENNY BRUCE. To this day he is considered to be
America's most controversial comedian.
In this brilliant DVD you'll see Lenny in what would be his
second-to-last performance. Historic and still timely today,
it's a no-holds-barred performance that includes some of
his famous stand-up bits including prison riot with Dutch,
the warden, Father Flotski and more. It's the ONLY full-
length unedited film of Lenny.
See why critics hail this as THE Lenny Bruce performance to
own. Get it today and SAVE $5.00 by visiting:
Rare Lenny Bruce Complete Performance DVD
------------------------------------------------------------
WEBMASTER TIP - Seven Success Tips
Note: In code examples I add a period after each left arrow
bracket so the code can be viewed in all e-mail programs.
If you copy and paste, be sure to remove the periods or it
won't work.
Question: I've seen so much long-winded advice on building
web sites my head is spinning. Can you offer a short list of
the most important considerations for building a successful
web site?
Simon Says: How success is defined depends on your goals for
the site, and hence, the considerations can differ from site
to site. I will give you what I consider to be the very
basics, things that should be common to anyone interested in
having a quality web site regardless of what the goal for
the site is. That doesn't guarantee success, though.
1) The most important thing is quality content. The second
most important thing is original quality content. Your
content must be informative, entertaining, useful, or in
some other way worth your visitor's time.
2) Intuitive and consistent navigation. People must be able
to get around your site with ease. No page should be more
than two or three clicks away from your home page. If you
choose to use contrived link names, provide a description of
what's on the page that follows, don't make them guess. A
well organized site takes advanced planning, don't skip the
boring details because you're in a hurry to get started.
3) A pleasing appearance helps set the mood before any words
have been read. The color scheme should be appealing without
being loud. There should be good contrast between the text
and background color (or image if you must). Graphics should
be used to complement the content, and should never dominate
it unless the site is about graphics.
4) Keep your file sizes down to avoid slow load time. Like-
wise, use a quality host that can serve up pages with the
response time visitors demand today. Optimize your graphics,
and keep the page length to 4-5 screen lengths or less.
5) Make your web site HTML compliant so it can be viewed in
all browsers. Avoid using cutting edge technology or any
technology that requires the user to download a plugin to
view it correctly.
6) Utilize white space. White space is the "blank areas" of
a web page. It's the extra line between paragraphs, the
margin on the edges, etc. White space is a rest place for
the eyes. Newspapers are designed with narrow columns
because it make it easier for the eyes to go from line to
line as people read, so keep your lines of text to an easy
to read length.
Use plenty of paragraphs as well. A paragraph that never
seems to end usually gets skipped unless the content is
exceptionally compelling. Using headings and sub-headings
also adds white space and allows your visitors to skim the
page to determine if the content is of interest.
7) Be honest and ethical, don't exaggerate and avoid hype.
Credibility is key to success online. Those who blow their
credibility by excess hype and obvious exaggeration are
dooming their efforts from the start.
My cousin has an ebook with 30 web site success tips, as
well as dozens of other cool tips and tools. You can check
it out here:
http://www.boogiejack.com/Almost7.html
------------------------------------------------------------
------- Are You A Diabetic? --------
Now is your chance to save hundreds of dollars per year on
diabetic supplies. Approximately 1 in 5 people who fill out
this survey will be contacted about saving money on their
supplies. Will you be one of them? Additionally, you will get
a free subscription to the Diabetic Digest, a bi-monthly,
cutting edge e-zine offering the latest information and
research on the cure for this disease. Visit:
Diabetic Survey
------------------------------------------------------------
SURFIN' THE WEB - GreenBiz.com
Because traditional energy sources like oil and coal harm
the environment, many people are looking into green energy.
Green energy comes from the sun, wind, water, the burning
of organic matter, and the heat of the Earth.
The idea is to leave behind as small of an ecological foot-
print as possible to help keep the earth's ecology in good
condition. Many think it may be too late, but it's never
too late to learn more, and in doing so, perhaps you'll
learn to be more earth friendly as well.
The GreenBiz.com Toolbox provides excellent overviews on
topics like alternative energy, recycling, energy efficiency,
water conservation, green building, environmentally friendly
cleaning products and more.
The rest of the site is informative as well, offering a
plethora of resources for those concerned about this big,
blue planet we ride through space on.
http://www.greenbiz.com/
------------------------------------------------------------
GopherCentral's Question of the Week:
Is the war in Iraq going well?
Please share your opinion, visit: The Question of the Week
------------------------------------------------------------
SOFTWARE SPOTLIGHT - PC Pandora
Wonder what your kids are doing online? What kind of sites
they visit? Who they're talking with? Who might have some-
thing bad in mind for them? According to Family Safe Media,
the largest group of viewers of adult content is children
between the ages of 12 and 17. It doesn't even have to be
intentional, 40,000 expired domains were bought by adult
sites to hijack unsuspecting visitors to their site.
Federal authorities believe that at least 500,000 to 750,000
predators are on-line on a daily basis, constantly combing
through blog sites, crawling around in Internet chat rooms
and on-line dating services, pretending to be someone and
something they're not.
Detective Keith Ackerman estimates that one in five
children who use internet chat rooms have been approached
by ped0philes. One in five!
If you can't watch your child every minute he or she is
online, you need to take measures to make sure they are
safe. It's your responsibility. PC Pandora automatically
records screen content, keystrokes, running programs,
web sites visited, emails, chats, MSN messenger, Yahoo
messenger, AOL messenger, ICQ and more...allowing you to
review your child's activities and safeguard your precious
ones.
It also can be used to block access to dangerous web sites.
You owe it to your child to keep them safe. You can do it
secretly with PC Pandora, or better yet in my mind, inform
them that you will be monitoring their online activity for
their own safety so they aren't even tempted to explore
danger zones.
http://snipurl.com/findout
Note: I do not provide support for the featured software.
Contact the software vendor for support. No warranty is
made or implied as to the usefulness or appropriateness of
featured software.
------------------------------------------------------------
John Cleese - Wine For The Confused...
Join John Cleese as he tours through California's
wine country for a thoroughly entertaining, informative
and ALWAYS amusing look at the world of winemaking.
Not only will you have a great time, you'll discover:
- How to find wines that taste good to you
- How to make sure you get the best value
- How to keep and serve wine at home
Includes DVD Extras and more. Plus, we'll save you
$5.00 on John's jolly-good-time of a DVD. Just $14.99
for over 90 minutes. To get more info or order, visit:
John Cleese - Wine For The Confused DVD
------------------------------------------------------------
THE ODDBALL WALL - Sweetness
On this day in 1847, the doughnut was invented. Isn't that
sweet! Speaking of sweet, today's quiz is about all things
sweet.
1) The band Sweet had a Top Ten hit in 1973 with this song.
a. Little Willy b. Ballroom Blitz c. Fox on the Run
2) Which of the following sweet schools is a real college?
a. Sweet Briar College
b. Sweet Street College
c. Sweet William College of Horticulture
3) Which of the following is a worldwide organization of
women singers committed to advancing the musical art form
of barbershop harmony?
a. Sweet Sisters of Harmony
b. Sweet Adelines
c. Sweet World Voices
4) Cotton Candy was introduced at the St. Louis Worlds Fair
in 1904 by William Morrison and John Wharton. What did they
originally call their sugary confection?
a. Fairy Floss b. Candy Spider Webs c. Angel Hair
5) What American song has the line "Sweet Land of Liberty"
in it?
a. America the Beautiful b. God Bless America c. America
6) The sweetgum tree is known by several names. Which of the
following is NOT one of the names for the sweetgum tree?
a. star-leaved gum b. alligator-wood c. rubber tree
7) This Grammy Award-winning African American female a
cappella ensemble was formed in 1973.
a. Sweet Soul Singers
b. Sweet Sisters of Song
c. Sweet Honey in the Rock
8) Which of the following is a real US city?
a. Sweet Home, Oregon
b. Sweet Home, Alabama
c. Sweet Apple, Connecticut
And now for a sticky sweet question that won't give you
cavities...
9) How many gallons of tree sap does it take to make one
gallon of maple syrup?
a. 20 gallons b. 40 gallons c. 60 gallons
Answers below, here's the scoring:
9 correct: Perfection!
7-8 correct: Outstanding
5-6 correct: Very Good
2-4 correct: Fairly Fair
0-1 correct: Turn the TV off
Answers:
1) b. Ballroom Blitz (Willy - 1972; Fox - 1975)
2) a. Sweet Briar College
3) b. Sweet Adelines
4) a. Fairy Floss
5) c. America
6) c. rubber tree
7) c. Sweet Honey in the Rock
8) a. Sweet Home, Oregon
9) b. 40 gallons
------------------------------------------------------------
COMPUTER TIPS - Add Notes to Files
Windows has a little known feature that allows you to add
notes to various files. For example, you might have a picture
of your family reunion that includes relatives you seldom
see. In 10 years will you remember all their names, or what
year the reunion occurred? By adding a note to your pic you
could fill in those details.
How about that text you copied from a web site into a text
file? You could add the URL where you found it and the
author's name, etc.
Here's all you have to do to add notes to files:
1) Open Windows Explorer and locate the file you want to
annotate.
2) Right-click the file and choose Properties.
3) In Windows XP, select the Summary tab. In older versions,
select the Custom tab.
4) Type in your comments in the Comments box. You can also
add a Title, Subject, Author, and Keywords to aid in system
searches.
5) Click Apply.
Note: if the text boxes are blanked out, uncheck the "read
only" file attribute on General tab and click Apply. Close
the Properties dialog and reopen it and the text boxes
should be ready for your input.
Note II: there's also a category text box, but that's always
blanked out on my system. I haven't tried very hard to clear
it so I could enter text, but there's probably a way if you
want to try to find it.
Disclaimer: Advice in this column is presented as infor-
mational and is true to the best of my knowledge. Any
decisions to follow this advice is your responsibility. Your
computer, your choice.
------------------------------------------------------------
Until next week, ponder these words of Coleman Cox: Now that
it's all over, what did you really do yesterday that's worth
mentioning?
Have an interesting day, Simon
Questions? Comments? Email me at: tutor@gophercentral.com
-------------------------------------------------------------
To view recent issues please visit: Internet Tutor Archives
_____________________________________________________________
END OF THE INTERNET TUTOR
Copyright 2006 by NextEra Media. All rights reserved.
 E-Mail this issue
Subscribe FREE to Internet Tutor by clicking here.
|