New Media Rules » ezine archive

Customize your Browser’s Home Page using iGoogle

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:27:00 +0000

iGoogle is an easy way to create a
personalized homepage that is safe, fast to load and compatible with all
current browsers. You have the ability to add features called Google Gadgets
that display information that will save you time, make you smile and keep you
informed.

With iGoogle you can select unique themes for your
browser’s homepage. Some of the themes are animated depending on weather
conditions and time. (try out the bus theme and wait for a rainy day)

You’ll need register for a free account then sign
in to access your personalized settings. There are no ads displayed on iGoogle
(yah!)

Some useful gadgets are: Driving Directions,
Weather, Calculator, Multi TimeZone Clock. Configure the weather gadget to show
your hometown and your favorite vacation destination for the week before you
leave.

Adding gadgets is as easy as clicking on Add on your iGoogle page, scrolling through the gadgets, or using the
search feature. When you decide on a gadget, click on Add Now. The new
gadget is now displayed on your home page. To configure the gadget to display
the weather in Cancun, click on the little down arrow on the top right of the
gadget and pick the country and city and Save .. Voila!, it’s that
easy.

Some other gadgets are: a To Do List, quick access
to Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, GMail, Cheap Local Gas Prices, and Sports
Scores.

My favorite customization for iGoogle is Artist`s Themes .. every day the banner on the top of the page features another artist. You can pick a favorite, or change every day (my choice)

If you use Google Finance to track your stock
portfolio, you can quickly check your net worth with a gadget on your iGoogle
page.

What are you waiting for? It takes about a half an
hour to set up your first iGoogle page. You can always add or change gadgets any
time. (I know they say 30 seconds, but you’ll want to check out all the gadgets
before you make a decision .. it’s going to take a half an hour, trust me)

Customize your Browser’s Home Page using iGoogle

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:27:00 +0000

With iGoogle you can select unique themes for your
browser’s homepage. Some of the themes are animated depending on weather
conditions and time. (try out the bus theme and wait for a rainy day)

You’ll need register for a free account then sign
in to access your personalized settings. There are no ads displayed on iGoogle
(yah!)

Some other gadgets are: a To Do List, quick access
to Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, GMail, Cheap Local Gas Prices, and Sports
Scores.

My favorite customization for iGoogle is Artist`s Themes .. every day the banner on the top of the page features another artist. You can pick a favorite, or change every day (my choice)

If you use Google Finance to track your stock
portfolio, you can quickly check your net worth with a gadget on your iGoogle
page.

Create Secure Passwords Easily

admin — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:03:00 +0000

Today, strong passwords are
more important than ever, especially if you use banking or e-commerce
sites and if you use wireless Hot Spots, it’s possible for someone to capture your
security information and if you use words in your password, it’s easily hacked.

Any site that involves financial transactions such
as your bank or e-commerce sites and your e-mail account(s) need a unique
password at least 8 characters long that is made up of random numbers and
letters.

Your e-mail account
passwords are important because it’s common for sites ask for an e-mail address
as your userid. When they store the password for their site, they will know
your universal password.

Now you have to remember multiple passwords. Both Firefox and IE7 will remember
passwords for you which is convenient, but poses a security threatif your laptop is stolen. You can put a master
password on the file, and then the browser asks for that master password every
time it’s opened.

One option is Roboform, ($30)
a popular password manager. It will store your passwords securely,
automatically fill in your userid at login pages and can even generate secure
passwords for you.

If you don’t have many
userid/password combinations to remember, you can devise a formula to create
secure passwords you will remember. For instance to create an 8 character
password:

Choose a letter, a number
and then another letter that form the first three character of the password,
then two numbers. These five characters remain the same. The last three
characters identify the site; for example, the first character and then the
last two characters of the site URL.

As an example: the password m2c17mft .. m2c (my 2 cats) then
17 is a number I will remember and mft is the first and last two characters for
www.microsoft.com .

However you create and
remember your passwords, it’s important that they be unique and not easily hacked especially for sites where your
financial information is available.

Free, Easy-to-use Photo Editing Tool

admin — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:17:48 +0000

This is an article I wrote for my ezine "Tips from the Technology Coach" but it’s useful for solo entrepreneurs who need to make a few simple changes to a photo.

There are people that naturally take wonderful photos, the
rest of us need to work a little harder. With digital photography, you now have a
second chance to create amazing photos because photo files can be edited
quickly and easily to add impact.

The three most important rules of photo composition are:

Centre of Interest

What is the a photo of? (this one’s Rocco) Look for ways to give the centre of
interest in your pictures the most visual attention. One way is to select
uncomplicated backgrounds that will not steal attention from your subjects – crop the photo so the subject fills the frame.

The Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Thirds is based on the fact that the human eye
is naturally drawn to a point about two-thirds up a page. Crop your photo so
that the main subject(s) are located around one of the intersection points rather
than in the center of the image.

If the area of interest is land or water, the
horizon line will usually be two-thirds up from the bottom, if it’s sky then
the horizon line will be one-third up from the bottom.

Frame the Subject

Frame the center of interest with objects in the foreground.
This can give a picture the feeling of depth it needs to make it more than just
another snapshot.

Picasa
is a free, safe and easy-to-use photo editing tool which allows you to
apply these rules after the photo is taken. To save the edited photo
click on File/Save As and then give a new name to the photo.

Picasa
will also allow you to make changes to straighten photos, tune the
exposure and colour balance and create basic special effects. And you
can learn to use it in a few minutes. Who needs Photoshop?