New Technology Reviews!.: Videos

10 Essential First Steps When Starting A WordPress Blog

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<img alt="how to start your own blog" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/54ed8ba65eatured.jpg.jpg" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/54ed8ba65eatured.jpg.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />Having created quite a few blogs, I’d like to think that I have a good system down for those essential first steps, and I hope it can be of use to you too. By following these you’ll get a good head start in the world of blogging and hopefully an influx of traffic to give you the motivation to carry on. If you’ve already started, think of this as a checklist as I’m sure there’s a few you haven’t done yet.<br />
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1. Good Quality Content Is Always The Best Tactic</h2>
I can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing people announce their blog when it has less than 5 posts on it and/or consists of nothing more than YouTube videos and re-posted pictures with a one-sentence commentary. If that’s all you have to say, get a Twitter account or use Tumblr.<br />
Make sure you have, <em>at the very least</em>, <strong>10 quality posts</strong>, but aim for around 30 ideally. By “<em>quality</em>“, I mean 400 words or more of your own original content. Never copy content from elsewhere, like these mountains of autoblogs do with our MakeUseOf content…<br />
<img alt="how to start your own blog" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ced5871aaflogged.png.png" height="460" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ced5871aaflogged.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="500" /><br />
Keep your articles focused, grammatically correct and spell checked. If you speak like a <em>valley-girl</em> or have a tendency to write in <em>txtspk</em>, do your best to hide it and take remedial English classes – no one wants to read that, even your best friends.<br />
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2. Get A Domain</h2>
Spend a whole $10 on a unique, short as you can, relevant domain name – even if you’re hosting your blog on a free WordPress.com or Blogger account. Get this right from the beginning and you will save yourself a world of hurt later.<br />
Don’t be tempted to make up a “cool” domain unless you have a rock-solid web service and a VC investment to the tune of a million dollars to market it; and absolutely don’t get a free domain like <em>.cc</em><br />
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3. Establish A Good Permalink Structure</h2>
Don’t promote your blog if your URLs still look like <em>mydomain.com/blog?id=1324</em>. Take a minute to go the permalink options in your WordPress settings. Something like <em>mydomain.com/my-article</em> is great.<br />
You might also want to consider installing an SEO slugs type plugin, which reduces the length of your permalink URLs by removing common words such as <strong>a, the, or</strong>. Shorter URLs are better.<br />
<img alt="start a blog" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/c0d7e7767aalinks.png.png" height="231" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/c0d7e7767aalinks.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="580" /><br />
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4. Change The Tagline</h2>
It’s just embarrassing to find a blog that still has “<em>Just another WordPress blog</em>” in the title or on the theme. You can change it from <em>Settings -> General</em> to something more relevant to your site. Apart from the fact that many themes feature the tagline prominently in the header, it’s also often used in the meta-titles of your homepage and therefore shown to everyone who finds your site through Google.<br />
<img alt="start a blog" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/c422416685nother.png.png" height="211" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/c422416685nother.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="580" /><br />
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5. Set Up Google Analytics</h2>
Google Analytics is a free traffic report for your website. But what’s the point of installing Analytics if you don’t actually have any traffic yet?<br />
Well firstly, motivation. If you have accurate feedback that shows a clear, progressive growth in traffic then you are far less likely to give up. Don’t wait until you <em>think</em> you have some traffic – get real feedback, right now.<br />
<img alt="start a blog" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/f8ff9d5c40lytics.png.png" height="374" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/f8ff9d5c40lytics.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="486" /><br />
The second reason – to find out exactly what’s popular on your blog; exactly which keywords bring in the most traffic; and make adjustments based on this. Try not to get too caught up in the numbers game yet, but if you find people are coming to your page for a particular topic and leaving quickly, perhaps try to write another post on that topic that’s more in-depth or targeted more specifically.<br />
My favourite plugin in this area is Analyticator, as it connects to your Analytics account and lets you choose the profile from a drop down list, avoiding the need to copy and paste any fiddly codes. If you have no idea how to read all your Analytics data yet, just start collecting it anyway and I’ll go over the major features in a later article.<br />
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6. Google Sitemaps Plugin</h2>
This isn’t essential, but as far I’m concerned any helping hand you can give Google to index your blog is a good thing. Get a sitemap generator such as this, set it up correctly to automatically generate whenever you post something, and you’re halfway sorted.<br />
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7. Webmaster Tools</h2>
This is a useful, free set of tools from Google. It has a number of functions, one of which involves submitting sitemaps to be indexed. It also keeps a track of 404 errors, and alerts you to malware security issues and even if WordPress updates are available. You could get by without it, but it’s a nice tool to have under your belt.<br />
<img alt="start a wordpress blog" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/7857408ccdtools.png.png" height="259" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/7857408ccdtools.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="580" /><br />
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8. SEO Friendly Images</h2>
The power of image search should absolutely not be underestimated. Put simply, this plugin will add ALT and TITLE tags to your images. You can do this using the WordPress image uploader, but I don’t know many people who actually bother to do that – so this plugin does it automatically. By adding these to your image tags, you may find a huge influx of traffic from Google Image search.<br />
<img alt="how to start your own blog" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/62003af077plugin.png.png" height="435" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/62003af077plugin.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="446" /><br />
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9. Join A Forum</h2>
Find a forum related to your particular topic and establish a presence there. Introduce yourself, make some good quality comments or advice on other threads, help some people out. After that, change your signature to include a link to your website, and repeat. This should give you a small trickle of visitors.<br />
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10. Social Networks</h2>
Be sure to announce your articles on your own social networks – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and StumbleUpon – but don’t fall into the trap of promoting absolutely everything you write. Pick one or two of your best posts to promote, and you’ll be far more likely to get a good response and not piss people off in the process.<br />
Done all that? Awesome, you should start seeing results soon. Got any other essential first steps orWordPress plugins you always install? Let us know in the comments!<br />
<small>Image credit: Shutterstock</small><br />
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10 Essential First Steps When Starting A WordPress Blog

Having created quite a few blogs, I’d like to think that I have a good system down for those essential first steps, and I hope it can be o...

Google Videos App Hacked to allow root users to stream movies

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<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="157" mce_src="http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/411/googlevideos540x262.png" src="http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/411/googlevideos540x262.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" title="google videos" width="324" />This has been discussed more than a few times since we first found out the Google Videos App would not allow rooted users to watch rental movies on their devices. For more details on that you can check this story out. Just yesterday Google updated the video app to allow streaming and playback of rented movies on FroYo and Gingerbread devices too. We have good news for those rooted users though.</div>
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The developers over at SDX have been hard at work, we can now use a modded version of the app where they have removed the root check so all devices will be able to enjoy movie playback. This version should also work with all supported devices running Android 2.2 and above so those on older Android are also in luck.</div>
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As always make sure to backup or save the previous version just to be safe, otherwise uninstall and install the new modded APK and you are good to go. For the few not wanting to use the modded APK and have rooted devices and rented movies didn’t play, you can also go to the YouTube app and watch them through “rentals” in YouTube as Google has yet to implement the root check into it — just a tip! Head on to the source for more details.</div>
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Google Videos App Hacked to allow root users to stream movies

This has been discussed more than a few times since we first found out the Google Videos App would not allow rooted users to watch renta...

Google Search Experience Optimized for Tablets

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<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="202" mce_src="http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/6/screenshot20110729at123x.png" src="http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/6/screenshot20110729at123x.png" style="border-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px auto 12px; max-width: 640px;" title="Screen Shot 2011-07-29 at 12.31.09 PM" width="324" />Today Google’s Mobile Division have announced improvements made to their Android and iOS tablet-specific experience for search on the web. As part of their efforts to continue to evolve the way Google’s search engine and overall Google experience functions, they’ve simplified the layout of search results and increased the size of page contents like test, buttons and other touch targets to make it easier and more enjoyable to use Google specifically on your Android or iOS tablet. These changes are specific to the tablet experience, making one again a specific effort to make each platform as strong as the next on the part of Google for their main web presence.</div>
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Search buttons located below the search box now provide access to specific types of results like everyone’s favorite: Images, the always forgotten Videos, Places so you know where you wanna go, Shopping so you know where you’re about to shop, and more. One tap of the regular blue search button opens basic results, one tap of a search button under the search box narrows results to your wanted category.</div>
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Specifically in the Images category, once again everyone’s favorite place to go, continuous scroll has been added and/or optimized depending on if your tablet was able to make it work before, image previews have been enlarged, and all image thumbnails you should be seeing loading quicker now with the upgrade. This improved search experience will be rolling out over the coming days across 36 languages on both Android 3.1+ tablets and the iPad.</div>
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You can, of course, test to see if the improvements are applied in your area by heading to<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.google.com/" mce_href="http://www.google.com/" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia,'Bitstream Charter',serif; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">http://www.google.com/</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>– if the changes are there, come back and tell us what you think! If the changes haven’t arrive for you yet, come back and tell us all about it!</div>
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Google Search Experience Optimized for Tablets

Today Google’s Mobile Division have announced improvements made to their Android and iOS tablet-specific experience for search on the web...

Google refines search experience for big-fingered tablet owners

Google refines search experience for big-fingered tablet owners

Having trouble selecting those tiny links with your big, ol' digits on that swanked-out slab? Don't you worry, Google's jus...

Notion Ink releases more Eden UI videos for Adam

<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Notion Ink Adam tablet 1 e1293825476390 Notion Ink releases more Eden UI videos for Adam" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-185613" height="285" src="http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/821/notioninkadamtablet1e12.jpg" title="Notion-Ink-Adam-tablet-1" width="400" /></div>From what we’ve seen so far of the Notion Ink Adam – be it the impressive hardware, or the not so impressive UI – it’s clear that the team has been hard at work making this tablet a reality. It my have taken a lot of potential buyers causing a ruckus about the lack of video of the Adam, Notion Ink has been putting up videos almost daily, showcasing what it believes is the product to beat.<br />
The Eden UI is very simple and easy to use judging by the videos, but we’re wondering if it will be for everyone. While you do actually see the homescreen in one the videos below, the Adam seems to surround its whole UI around multitasking. That’s not a bad thing, but it looks as if it may be a big mess in real life. While Notion Ink has chosen light colors for Eden for better visibility, I really wish you could theme the UI, as the white and red just look plain bad.<br />
Nonetheless, the Adam as a whole seems to be rather impressive any way you spin it. The software may not be for everyone, but that is what home replacements are for. The hardware usually pleases anyone who reads the spec sheet and if I was patient enough, I may have bought one of these things if their site could have handled the pre-orders.<br />
Before we can officially stop calling the tablet vaporware, we’re going to need to see some actual units shipping. With rumblings that the first set of tablets have already been pushed back on the ship date, is anyone regretting their purchase? Notion Ink had a great idea but we’ve yet to really see if they’ve been able to deliver the goods.<br />
Either way, I can’t wait see this thing at CES and be able to get some real hands on  time with it. Until then, we’ll have to make do with these videos.<br />
[Via:<a href="http://notionink.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"> NotionInkBlog</a>]

Notion Ink releases more Eden UI videos for Adam

From what we’ve seen so far of the Notion Ink Adam – be it the impressive hardware, or the not so impressive UI – it’s clear that the team h...

Sponsored: The fastest way to title your videos

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/advertorial/pinnacle2010/adv2/titling.01-200-200.jpg"> <br /><P><EM>This is a sponsored article in association with</EM> <a href="http://uk.sitestat.com/future/email-marketing/s?techradar.pinnacle-advertorial.pinnacle-studiohpadv2.link&ns_type=clickout&ns_url=http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/uk/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/" rel="nofollow">Pinnacle Studio 14</A></P><br /><P>They're so easy to take for granted but they're also a vital element of any video production. Are we talking about the camera you use, the lighting or the transitions you put in?</P><br /><P>Naturally, they're all vital, but a thing that are often overlooked are titles. It's all too easy in the mad rush of physically capturing video and editing it together to forget that titles are a vital element of creating videos.</P><br /><P>From the simple opening step of telling people what the production is called, to the credits for anyone involved, adding text in one form or another is an essential step.</P><br /><P>Previously we've <a href="">taken a look at the features of Pinnacle Studio 14</A> and what makes it easier to use and faster than previous versions. We're now going to take an in-depth look at the Titler and Motion Titler features of Pinnacle Studio 14. You can also try out these features yourself by <a href="http://uk.sitestat.com/future/email-marketing/s?techradar.pinnacle-advertorial.pinnacle-studiotrialadv2.link&ns_type=clickout&ns_url=http://pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Pinnacle+Studio+Ultimate+version+14+Trial?code=studio14trial&cmpid=PN-SL-S14-1" rel="nofollow">grabbing the free trial</A>.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Adding titles</STRONG></P><br /><P>From any titling application you'd expect the ability to add text on its own or overlay your existing video, and to be able to set the font and colour to be anything you like. It also helps if you can add type-effects to improve legibility at distance and on SD displays such as a drop shadow and outlines. </P><br /><P>Pinnacle Studio 14 can do all of those plus a whole lot more. It works in three seamless ways: the Overlay Track under the main Video track timeline enables you to drag-and-drop multiple titles and effects, the Titles section of the One-Page Album stores preset titles and finally you can customise presets and create your own titles from scratch using the Title Editor.</P><br /><P>Pinnacle Studio 14 also provides a number of really useful creative tools. The first is its ability to include photos and other images within the Overlay track. This makes it easy to add a company logo or a standard background for name-tags or other captions. As these exist as part of the Overlay track any effects or movement applied to the title also affects the image.</P><br /><P><img alt="Flying titles" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/advertorial/pinnacle2010/adv2/titling.02-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG></P><br /><P><STRONG>FLYING IN:</STRONG><EM>By applying transitions to your Overlay track it's easy to have titles flying in and out of the scene</EM></P><br /><P>You can also add a little life to your titles. In the classic Title Editor it's possible to add Roll and Crawl to objects. This lets you create text that scrolls on to the screen and off the other side. Besides all of these it's still possible to apply transitions, alpha effects and other fancy effects to the Overlay track. So you can use an Alpha Magic transition to make the title fade into view and then a Holllywood FX effect to have it fly off the screen afterwards.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Motion Titler</STRONG></P><br /><P>Even with the standard Title Editor it's possible to have titles swooping in and out of scenes in a matter of a few clicks. To take titles to the next level Pinnacle Studio 14 Ultimate and Ultimate Collection add the Motion Titler Editor. This gives you almost limitless control over individual text and object's position, fade and movement in a multi-layered editor. Think of it as a complete video editor but for moving text.</P><br /><P>With Motion Titler you're also able to create up to eight layers each of which can move and have motion effects applied to it separately from the other layers. This enables you to add individual character to different onscreen text or apply emphasis to text when required.</P><br /><P><STRONG><img alt="Combination titles" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/advertorial/pinnacle2010/adv2/titling.03-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG><BR></STRONG></P><br /><P><STRONG>COMBO: </STRONG><EM>A combination of Motion Titler and custom effects makes titles come alive</EM></P><br /><P>Beyond animating text onscreen you can also add static photographs to the background or a video clip, this last option becomes doubly creative when you use footage with an alpha channel as it enables you to use an eye-catching highlight such as shooting stars to emphasise the appearance of text. Tying this into the theme of the video is a striking combination.</P>

Sponsored: The fastest way to title your videos

This is a sponsored article in association with Pinnacle Studio 14 They're so easy to take for granted but they're also a vital el...