Tumblr Bookmarklet for WordPress Blogs; Post Stuff Quickly

Tumblr is probably the easiest and fastest way to publish blog posts online - select anything on the current web page (be it text, video or pictures) and they will be on your Tumblelog almost instantly via the Tumblr Instant Post Bookmarklet.

Unfortunately, that quick posting bookmarklet can only be used for publishing on Tumblr.com - there's no way to integrate Tumblr with your existing WordPress or Blogger Blog.

However, here's some good news for WordPress bloggers - there's a new Tumblr inspired bookmarklet for WordPress that allows you to quickly post photos, videos and blocks of text from web pages to your WordPress blog just like Tumblr. See Screenshot:

You install the Tumblr Quick Post plugin like any other WordPress plugin and it will provide you a bookmarklet that you can add to the browser toolbar.

When you click the Quickpost bookmarklet from any web site, a new window will pop up. The URL of the page you're on, linked with the title of the page, will automatically be transferred to the editor in that window. You can do almost everything you do with the default editor of WordPress and create a new post for your blog.

The only issue is that if you tumblelog a photo on the web, this Quick Post plugin will hotlink to that image - that's different behavior from Tumblr where a copy of the image is uploaded to your Tumblr account.

QuickPost | Developer Home

Google Warez Search Engine

It takes lot of effort for websites to rank high in Google web search results - you require lot of incoming links, unique content, good reputation and sometimes a decent PageRank as well.

However, warez sites (that illegally distribute pirated software) seem to have discovered a way to trick Google.

Do a search for "adobe cs3 master collection" on Google.com and you'll be so much surprised to know that five out the top ten results on the first page are linking to underground sites. (enlarge the screenshot)

Other than Amazon and CNET, none of the reputable websites that review Adobe software in detail (like PC World, PC Magazine, Photoshop User or Adobe Labs) have managed to score a place on the first page of Google courtesy these warez websites.

And Adobe Creative Suite 3 is probably one of the best selling software - you can easily guess that by looking at the density of Adsense Ads on the search page.

Google may not be the next Baidu but they quickly need to get rid of this spam which is dangerous both for the general visitors and the software companies.

Related: Downloads Adobe CS3 Wallpapers

Record Skype Calls and SkypeCasts with Skype Recorder

Skype Recorder is a simple tool for recording podcast interviews, skypecasts and voice calls made through Skype as MP3 or Windows Media audio files.

Skype Recorder will start the recording by itself as soon as you start talking on Skype. Once the conversation is over, Skype Recorder will encode the audio recording to your preferred audio format.

It has an in-built audio player, so you can replay your Skype recording immediately and decide whether you want to keep it or just delete it.

Skype Recorder is Windows only and costs ~$14 but you can have it for free in the next 24 hours via GiveAway website here.

Our favorite pick is still Pamela Skype Recorder though the free version will let you record Skype and SkypeOut phone calls upto 15 minutes.

Record Skype Calls - This has more details options for recording skype audio and video conversations.

Add A Picture To Your LinkedIn Profile; Help People Recognize You

Your work colleagues, old classmates and friends will now have no problems finding you on LinkedIn even if there exist a dozen profiles with the same name as yours.

Starting tomorrow, LinkedIn members will be able to upload a photograph to their profiles. You can control if the photos become visible in your public profile page or just your approved connections can see the picture. Thanks Adam.

Click here to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Fix for Excel 2007 Calculation Error

If you are an Excel 2007 user, try this:

Type =77.1*850 in any cell and press Enter. Excel 2007 would return a value of 100,000 instead of 65,535.
Any combination of numbers that should calculate to 65535 will show 100000 in Excel 2007.

Excel Team says the issue is actually not in the calculation itself (the result of the calculation stored in Excel’s memory is correct), but only in the result that is shown in the sheet. 

Said another way, =850*77.1 will display an incorrect value, but if you then multiply the result by 2, you will get the correct answer (i.e. if A1 contains “=850*77.1”, and A2 contains “=A1*2”, A2 will return the correct answer of 131,070).

I am not sure if that's correct because when I type =B1+1 in the cell C1, I get 100001 and not 65536 as per the official explanation.

Anyway, David Gainer confirmed that this bug was introduced in the Excel 2007 version and a fix for the calculation issue would be available on Microsoft Download Center very soon. It's already under testing.

Fix Blogger Sitemap XML Warnings Inside Google Webmaster

Though you can easily redirect Blogger Feeds to FeedBurner now, this has a side effect - you will see some warnings when you submit the Sitemaps file (xxx.blogspot.com/atom.xml) to Google Webmaster Tools. (see screenshot)

The following Sitemap warning messages are shown in the Google WebMaster Tools control when using Blogger feeds with FeedBurner:

Line: 2 Invalid XML: too many tags - Too many tags describing this tag.
Line: 2 Incorrect namespace - Your Sitemap or Sitemap index file doesn't properly declare the namespace.

It's like a catch 22 situation - you submit the blogger generated atom.xml file to Google Sitemaps but it's redirected to the FeedBurner feed and that causes invalid XML errors.

Fortunately there's a simple fix - just delete the existing sitemap and submit a new web sitemap that has the following URL:

http://xxx.blogspot.com/atom.xml?redirect=false [replace xxx with your blog name]

The secret redirect parameter in blogger feeds will offer you the best of both worlds. You XML Feeds will still be redirected to FeedBurner but for Google Sitemaps, the redirection won't happen at all.

Here's the webmaster console with the new sitemap URL - no warnings anymore though the feed format has changed from RSS to ATOM (that should not bother you).

You can find solutions to most of your FeedBurner problems in our FeedBurner FAQ Guide.

[Fix] Microsoft Office Contacting Server For Information

When you try to copy paste some text from a web page to a Word 2007 document, the application freezes for few seconds and the message in status bar says "Contacting the server for Information. Press ESC to cancel."

This annoying behavior, also present in Outlook 2007 and other Office programs, mostly occurs when the clipboard has HTML formatted content (like when you copy content from a website to the clipboard).

Would anyone know how to get rid of this permanent? Which server is Office 2007 trying to connect when you working in a local environment outside any network.

One of the possible solutions is to do a "Paste Special" (click the down pointing arrow near the Paste Icon) and select "Unformatted Text" instead of the default "HTML format". Or you could have the Scrubber running in the tray that auto converts clipboard text in plain format.

Favorite Microsoft Office Command - Format Painter

Closed An IE Browser Tab By Mistake? Get It Back Easily

If you accidentally close a tab in Firefox, you can easily retrieve it by pressing Ctrl+Shift+T.

If you do the same mistake in Opera, Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Z will help you reopen the most recently closed tab. Or click the Trash icon near the toolbar to see a list of closed tabs arranged in reverse chronological order.

Coming to Internet Explorer, there's no inbuilt feature to restore closed tabs but there's a free add-in called IE7 Open Last Closed Tab that makes your IE 7 behave just like Firefox or Opera.

You can click Alt+X in IE and it will open up the most recently closed tab - the add-in is worth installing because you never know when you may need it. Available at Download.com

Related: Recover Websites if IE Hangs | Add IE 7 Quick Tabs in Firefox

A Convenient Case For All Your Memory Cards

If you carry multiple Flash memory cards of different formats, the Elecom card reader is a perfect thing for you.

Elecom MR-C12 series has numerous slots for housing a variety of Flash memory cards that may be from your mobile phone, PDA, digital camera or other devices.

As in the figure, the card reader attaches to the computer via USB port so you don't have to worry about slipping the SD Card in the Compact Flash slot or vice versa.

More details on Elecom website. It's currently available only in Japan but others can grab the Kingston MobileLite which is similar though not so sleek as the Elecom thing. Thanks GBM.

Winners of Screencasting Software Give Away!

Thank you everyone who participated in the software giveaway! - We received 112 responses and deciding the winners was no easy job.

Here’s the list of five winners in no particular order - each of them gets a full licensed version of ALLCapture 2.0 screencasting software from Balesio.

Congratulations and do stay tuned for more such events in the future.

Announcing Winners of Screencasting Software Give Away!

Automatically Download Satellite Images from Google Maps

Google Maps Image Downloader is a Windows-only tool that lets you auto download satellite images from Google Maps between two locations anywhere in the world.

To use Google Maps Image Downloader, you will first need to specify the latitude and longitude of the two locations on the Google Map, then specify the zoom level and click download.

The software also comes with an image stitching tool that will create a large panorama or a wallpaper by stitching these individual tile images of Google Maps.

See how to find the latitude and longitude of any location on Google Map.

The free version of Google Images Downloader is limited to a maximum zoom level of 13 so you'll probably miss the high resolution satellite imagery of Google Maps.

Invest $25 bucks only if you're sure that Google Maps Image Downloader isn't violating any of Google Maps policies especially the one that says - "you may not use Google Maps in a manner which gives you or any other person access to mass downloads or bulk feeds of numerical latitude and longitude coordinates."

Update: The creator has removed the tool.

Embed Flickr Photostreams in Web Pages as a Flash Slideshow

Want to display Flicks photos in web pages as a Flash slideshow? Look no further than PictoBrowser.

Here's a sample Flickr Photo slideshow generated just using PictoBrowser - all the pictures are displayed as thumbnail images in the lower navigation bar, you can also read the descriptions of individual images by hovering the mouse over the thumbnail.

To get started, you type your (or someone else's) Flickr user name and then select the tags or photo sets that you would like to embed in web pages. The default dimensions of the Flash slideshow is 500x580 but you are free to customize that as in the case above.

It's so good and impressive that Yahoo! should consider making PictoBrowser a native feature of Flickr. For geeks, there's another method for creating Flickr Slideshows.

Related: Flickr Photo URLs Demystified

Say Cheese - This Sony Digital Camera Clicks Only Smiling Faces

Say Cheese else the new Sony cameras won't capture your photographs.

These affordable Cyber-shot DSC-T Series cameras have a special "Smile Shutter" mode that can recognize facial expressions like smiles, grin or a hearty laugh.

If there are several subjects in the frame, you can specify the smiling face that you want to take as the main subject - or let the Smile Shutter choose the main subject and take the picture.

The 8-megapixel, DSC-T70 and DSC-T200 Cyber-shot cameras won't lets you click until the selected subject smiles. Watch video.

Related: Lose Weight With HP Digital Camera

Amanda Congdon - The Perfect Match for Mobuzz TV

Amanda Congdon, the famous vlogger who joined ABC News after her split with Rocketboom, is now moving out of ABC as well.

There are two versions of the story - some say that Amanda has been let go by ABCNews.com while Amanda says that she herself decided not to continue at ABC as she is taking up a new digital project after her ABC contract expires.

The excellent MobuzzTV, an English video blog similar to RocketBoom, are also looking for an anchor ever since the departure of Karina Stenquist. Susan Hickey then stepped in but for a very brief period. The most recent episodes were anchored by Anil De Mello who is infact the producer of the show.

[Imagine Andrew Baron acting in Rocketboom while Joanne Colan is away]

Am not sure about the latest assignment of Amanda but MobuzzTV looks like a perfect place for her. The show is massively popular (Alexa says that MobuzzTV has a higher reach on the web than RocketBoom) and the format is quite similar to what Amanda has been doing for years - it's a short 2-3 minute tech video produced daily.

Password Protect Hyperlinks Before You Share Them Via Email

A lot of companies read emails sent by their employees. If you are also worried that someone in your office may be secretly reading your email messages, here's something you can do to at least prevent the email snoopers at work from visiting links (URLs) that you share in your emails - use a password.

HideLinks is an online service that helps you password protect any web URL easily. You type in the URL and a password - HideLinks will then generate a new wrapper URL that you can pass in the email message.

The email recipients (or the snooper) will have to type the same password in order to visit the actual website.

Just make sure you don't put the password in the same email message as that will defeat the whole purpose.

HideLinks hidelinks.com can also be used to shorten the length of hyperlinks similar to TinyURL or URLTea.com.

Create Videos from Photos and Screen Captures - QlipBoard

QlipBoard is free application that lets you create movies from photos and screenshot images. The interesting part is that QlipBoard has an in-built screen capture feature and voice recorder.

The images (or screen captures) appear in the timeline of QlipBoard (like most other video editors) so you just have to drag-n-drop to change the position of any image frame in the timeline. Further, you can easily record voice narrations, annotate or add text to images.

And all your pen highlighter movements over the screenshot are recorded as part of the movie itself - so as you speak and move the cursor pen over the image, the exact movements are captured by Qlip Board.

You may think of QlipBoard as a blend of Microsoft Photostory ^# and SnagIt. The free version of QlipBoad is supported by advertising.

Overall, the software interface is not very intuitive but the application is still useful for creating screencast movies, photo slide shows or for annotating images.

Get QlipBoard at www.qlipmedia.com [Thanks Murali at Hindu]

Related: Turns Boring Video Clips & Still Pictures into Movies

When You Click An Adsense Ad On Your Own Website by Mistake

What is the first thing you would do if you accidentally clicked your own Adsense ads that are displayed on your website?

As an honest Adsense publisher, you are likely to send an email to Google Adsense support with the URL of the web page where you clicked your own ads and probably the reason (like the mouse was so sluggish).

Yes, it's important that you don't click your own Google Ads else there's an element of risk that Google may disable your Adsense account but do not get too worried if the click was made due to an error.

Here's a standard response from Adsense support when publishers make honest confessions:

Thanks for letting us know about the clicks on your ads. We appreciate your honesty and your efforts to keep your account in good standing.

Although publishers are not permitted to click on their own ads for any reason, we do understand that accidental clicks may occur, so we don't require that you contact us every time you click on your ads.

It further says - If you were clicking your ads out of interest or to see who was advertising on your site, we suggest the AdSense preview tool as an alternative. This tool will allow you to check the destination of ads on your page without the risk of generating invalid clicks.

AdSense Publisher support team also says - "Because we closely monitor all account activity using engineering systems and thorough human analysis, chances are we've already detected your clicks on your ads and discounted them. While these clicks still show in your reports, we filter out their associated earnings so that advertisers aren't charged."

Is Your Computer Connecting To Websites Without Your Knowledge

If you are worried that some hidden or unknown programs on your Windows PC are secretly making connections to websites in the background, you can use a simple DOS command to detect and prevent such suspicious activity:

1. Open the Windows Start Menu and search for Command Prompt. Right-click and choose "Run as Administrator". Alternatively, you can cmd in your Windows Run box to quickly open the command prompt.

2. The command prompt will by default open itself in the Windows System directory. Use the cd command to switch to the root directory

c:\windows\sytem32> cd \

3. Now type "netstat -b 5 > activity.txt" and press enter. After say 2 minutes, press Ctrl+C.

4. Type "activity.txt" on the command line to open the log file in notepad (or your default text editor)

Which Programs are Connecting to the Internet?

The file activity.txt will have a log of all processes (or Windows programs) that made a connection to the Internet in the last two minutes. It will also show which process connected to which website during this time.

And not just the web browsers (like iexplore.exe or chrome.exe), the log will also show your IM clients, download managers, email programs or any software that requires a net connection.

Scroll though the activity.txt file and look for any process names or website addresses that you are not aware of. If you track one, open Windows task manager (or Process Explorer) to find the location of the executable on your computer and close it.

Microsoft Releases Office 2003 SP3; Slipstream Your Installer CD

Microsoft today released Service Pack 3 for Microsoft Office 2003 (link).

The service pack includes all patches and updates released for Microsoft Office 2003 since SP2. Some notable changes include:

1. Office 2003 programs can no longer open or save certain file formats like PPT created in PowerPoint 97 or before.

2. The Fast Save setting in Microsoft Office Word has been removed.

Here's a guide to slipstream SP2 into your Office 2003 installation CD - the procedure to slipstream SP3 into Office 2003 should be similar though the file names will be different. [the installer is Office2003SP3-kb923618-FullFile-enu.exe]

No new feature is introduced in Office 2003 SP3 expect that it now lets you install add-ins in Microsoft Office Access 2003 on a Windows Vista-based computer.

Once your Office 2003 files are successfully patch with SP3, the version numbers of major executables like Excel.exe, WinWord.exe, PowerPoint.exe should say 11.0.8169.0 while that of Msaccess.exe will be 11.0.8166.0.

Get an International Phone Number With FAX and Voicemail

pfingo is a new service that provides a personal phone number for you to make (or receive) phone calls from a PC (or Wi-Fi enabled mobile phone) to any landline or mobile phone number in the world.

See: How to Get a Local US Phone Number

You just have to install a small software called pfingoTALK softphone onto your computer or mobile phone.

Other than talk, the pfingoTALK client lets you send or receive SMS message using the computer, the voicemails reach you as .WAV files in email and you can also send and receive faxes from the computer.If there're any missed calls, you will be notified via email and an SMS.

pfingo provides a Singapore based number (3-series), but if you have clients or friends in UK, US or Australia, you can get a fixed-line number of that country and friends can therefore reach you at local rates without paying international charges.

While the subscription charges are around 60 cents per month, you can use it for 6 months without paying any fee.You get a free number and can accept incoming calls from any other number in the world. You can also make unlimited outgoing calls to other pfingoTALK numbers for free.

Also see: How to Use Google Voice Outside US