Oct 30
How-To Guides David
firefox, privacy
If you need to ensure your privacy, here is an extension that (after you’ve added it’s little red X button to your toolbar) will close the tab you are currently on, AND delete all related cookies and history entries. It’s called Close n Forget. I affectionately think of it as the pr0n button.
I think this is a little better than the privacy mode of IE8 and Incognito mode of Chrome, because it works retro-actively and you don’t have to have some special mode running to use it.
One caveat, I’ve found in my testing of it that it will leave one entry in your history, just linking to the root (i.e. www.site.com) of the site you were on. Although one trip to the “Awesome Bar” with your Delete key will fix that.
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Oct 28
How-To Guides David
blog, css, customization, hosting, icons, images, php, posts, related, site, skin, theme, thumbnails, wordpress, yarrp
Retain your visitors by using related post thumbnails!
A while ago I was doing some research into how I could better design the layout of my blog to encourage new visitors to read more posts, rather than just bouncing away (i.e. leaving after reading one post).
I already used a plug-in called YARRP (Yet Another Related Posts Plug-in), to show a list of posts that were similar to the one the reader was looking at. Although I found this blog post describing how you could customise your related posts layout to include thumbnail images for each post.
Depending on your PHP & CSS skills, the customisation could either take you 20 minutes to implement, or a whole evening. It also depends on what formatting problems your theme has would would need working around. In my case, I think it took me five hours, on and off. My CSS skills were a little rusy, and my theme had an issue which made different posts have different issues. So it took a lot of systematic experimentation to mess around with CSS margins to make sure everything stayed where it was supposed to be!
Note that you need to be self-hosting to be able to do this one.
You’ll be able to see the results of my implementation of this at the bottom of the page, and it I have noticed an objective benefit in having done this. According to Google Analytics, comparing the month before and the month after making this change, my bounce rate fell by 4.4%, my page views per visit ratio increased by 3.4%, and my average time per visit went up by 25%.
Doing this hasn’t gained me more visitors, but that’s not the point. From where ever they come, this layout change is designed to make your visitors stick around and see more of your work. Going by the above results, it really does seem to work.
So, all that’s left to say is thanks to Zach at buildinternet.com for posting about this, as it’s been a good help to me.
References:
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Oct 26
Reviews David
9.10, cannonical, cd, distribution, download, gnome, installer, karmic, koala, linux, live, livecd, open, operating, source, system, ubuntu
As the winter draws in, it’s time for wrap up warm with some open source goodness, as the October 29th release date of Ubuntu’s latest version, Karmic Koala, draws near. So, let’s take a look at what’s new!
Running the installer from the Live CD is the same user-friendly set up that Ubuntu always has. Although in addition to drive encryption that came in with the last version, there is now an added option to format your hard drive with the new Ext4 file system, a new version of Linux’s native file format.
Once the installer gets running, you get to watch a presentation of screens telling you all the key features of the operating system. This something Windows has had for years, and is a great idea to educate new users on just what they can do with Ubuntu.
Ubuntu's new informative installer
Once you’re into the Ubuntu desktop, everything will be familiar if you’ve used previous versions. Although, you can see straight away a fresh set of icons have been used, and the default wallpaper is much brighter than previous versions.
Browsing the applications and system menus gives you a view of the key new features to Karmic.
The default IM application has been switched from the long-standing Pidgin, to a new but very similar application called Empathy. I expect few users will really notice the difference here.
Ubuntu's new IM client, Empathy
In the applications menu, you will find the “Ubuntu Software Center”. Desktop Linux distributions have long had software to deliver applications to you. Ubuntu’s has been the “Synaptic Package Manager”. Although Software Centre gives you a far more user friendly interface. The distinction of having a single section named “Free software” hints at Cannonical’s long term goals of being able to deliver commercial software to the Ubuntu desktop. This is a boon for developers. Until now, Linux’s repository method of delivering software has been a mixed blessing for them. The aspiration of new developers is to get their work into as many repositories as possible. However, commercial developers have shied away from this because Linux repositories have offered little opportunity for generating an income.
The Ubuntu Software Center
Confusingly, there is another existing application called “Add/Remove Applications” alongside the Synaptic Package Manager in the System/Administration menu. This appears to offer the same software set as Synatpic does, although again with a better user interface, including popularity ratings.
Ubuntu's Add/Remove Applications window
Finally, we have the addition of “Ubuntu One”, Cannonical’s other embryonic software as a service. Ubuntu One is a Dropbox like service (utilising Amazon S3), available to all Ubuntu users. For free, everyone gets 2GB of storage, but this can be expanded to 50GB for $10 (US) a month, although I couldn’t find where you are meant to authenticate your account. You can also access your files via the web and share specific files and folders with specific individuals. The eventual aim is that you will be able to synchronise all of your application settings across multiple Ubuntu computers. This is a promising service, but from my own research I have yet to find any information about privacy and encryption, which are essential to me for any on-line storage service. On the other hand, the Cannonical deserve kudos for finding innovative ways to generate more income from their desktop operating system.
Ubuntu's "Ubuntu One" cloud storage running.
You can find more screen shots at my Ubuntu 9.10 Flickr gallery.
If all of this has caught your interest, then go Get Ubuntu!
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Oct 23
How-To Guides David
autorun, windows
If you want to have some programs run automatically from your USB thumb drive (only do with programs you trust). There here’s a link to a little application that will help you, by writing the Autorun.inf file for you. Handy if you knew that Autorun.inf was the file you needed to do this, but were afraid of doing a little script hacking.
http://lifehacker.com/387709/usb-autorunner-quick+launches-thumb-drive-apps
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Oct 21
Mobile News David
bluetooth, free, linux, mobile, nokia, open, phone, s60, series 60, source, symbian, ubuntu, unix, usb
S60 & Linux
I have had another article published on AllAboutSymbian.com. This time I wrote about how to maintain connectivity between your phone and computer after switching from Windows to Linux.
This is based on my own experience after switching exclusively to Ubuntu Linux, and having spent time working out how to still support my mobile phone.
Topics covered include: how to back up files, transfer photos, synchronise your music and connect to the internet via your phone.
If you’d like to read it, here’s the link:
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