Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Pink Side of Technology: ProPakistani

8:51 PM

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The Pink Side of Technology: ProPakistani

The Pink Side of Technology

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 08:30 PM PST

The Pink Side of Technology is a post from: ProPakistani

Valentines Day The Pink Side of Technology

Obsessed. That's one word that pretty much defines people when the 14^th of February comes around.

It seemed like Cupid itself had painted the country in red this year. It seemed like every shop had dangling hearts and a "Valentines" theme. Huge underground parties were planned with, let's just say, morally questionable stuff on the agenda.

Hosts on popular TV shows were wearing red. I'll give you one try as to what the topic of the day was. Yeah. You guessed it.

Cars were filled with heart shaped balloons. Universities were a swarm of red clothed ladies and black laden guys.

I don't remember Valentines Day being such a big deal even 5 years back. So what has changed? What has contributed to the exponential rise of its popularity?

I believe it's a combination of many things. But most of all, technology.

It has played a big part in the rise in popularity of Valentines Day. Countless targeted advertisements spring up near the 14^th. Mobile companies reduce their call rates and slash prices on texts as well as introduce new packages just for this occasion.

This ease of communication, while being good, has got our youth hooked.

You no longer have to search for the perfect gift; you can just browse online, select it, and get it delivered. All in a few clicks from the comfort of your home.

Restaurants have special deals for couples and so on. The thing is, we have been led to believe that Valentines is "the" day for everything romantic.

How much you care about someone is judged according to how special you make this day.

So basically, if you take part, you're contributing to its popularity. And if you don't take part, you're risking the wrath of your significant other. Both hands tied one might say.

Valentines is not just an occasion anymore, it's a phenomenon. It is the second most profitable time of the year for the card companies. Flower and chocolate sales suddenly spike too. Shop keepers and vendors take full advantage of this popularity and increase prices of items that can be given as gifts etc.

A gentleman came up to my car and tried to sell me a rose for a hundred rupees, would you believe it?

I've never been much of a fan of Valentines Day, mostly because how it has commercialized love. Also I can't stand is how smug everyone with a date becomes on this day. The "I'm in a relationship and you're not" routine single people have to endure makes me want to puke honestly.

Personally, I don't see the value of a gift given on this day. Buying something of your own accord is much better than being compelled to buy something because it is expected. The worst thing is that, an notion that if we don't declare our love on Valentines Day then we don't love our partner, has been hardwired into us. I won't even begin to explain how wrong that is.

In my opinion, a dire need to stem the fervor with which this day is celebrated is required. Agreed love should be celebrated, but with a little less red and a bit more moderation.

Note: The sarcasm in the article has nothing to do with the fact that the author was single on Valentines Day this year.

9:15 AM

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Have you ever run a test on one of your ad units, and wished you could more easily compare performance from before and after the test? If you've created and saved an ad unit in your account, you'll now find an easy way to do this in your ad units report.

Start by visiting the Performance Reports tab and choosing the ad units report (you'll find it in the navigation bar under "Entire account by day").
Search for the name of an ad unit you've updated and select it.
Open the date range box and set a window of dates before your test -- for example, two weeks.
Check the box marked "compare to other dates" and include a similar window of dates after you made the change to your ad unit.

In the graph, you'll then see the performance of your ad unit for both date ranges. You can still toggle the metrics shown on the graph using the radio buttons so you can compare CTR, RPM and other metrics that are relevant to you.

Try it now! Navigate to the new interface and click on the Performance Reports tab, and then ad unit report.

Posted by Vincent Zanotti - AdSense Engineer

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 2/16/2011 09:15:00 AM

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5:31 AM

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Computer Tips From A Computer Guy

Save Documents Directly to Windows Live SkyDrive using MS Word 2010

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 04:23 AM PST

Microsoft has made a lot of noise of late about the benefits of moving to the "cloud," but hasn't really done much in the way of showing users just exactly how to do so.

One of the ways is by using Windows Live SkyDrive, which in reality is nothing more than an online storage facility that Microsoft has made available for free to anyone who signs up for a Windows Live account; which is also free – see another post Windows Live SkyDrive – 500 MB of secure online storage from Microsoft.

To save a document you've created in Word 2010 to the SkyDrive, use Word's Backstage Area via File:

Click on it to reveal the backstage area:

Look down past the usual menu choices to where it says Save & Send; when you click on that, you'll get:

Next, click on Save to Web. If you're not logged into Windows Live, you'll get this screen:

Before you can proceed any further, you'll first have to click on the Sign In icon and log into Windows Live.

Once you're logged in to Windows Live, you'll get this screen instead:

One the right side of the screen notice where it shows you two options: Personal Folders and Shared Folders.

Personal Folders are the kind of folders on SkyDrive that only you can see (when you're logged in to Windows Live)

Shared Folders are the kind that you share either with people you designate, or with everyone.

Highlight the option that says Personal Folders then click the Save As Icon.

You should get the Save As screen.

Click the Save button, and your file will be saved to the SkyDrive.

Note: You'll likely notice when you get to the Save As screen that the path for the location of the file to be saved is a web address.

If you don't have a Windows Live account, you'll need to go to your browser, then go to the Windows Live Account page and create yourself an account.

Once you've done that, you can try saving again as in the first circumstance.

To verify that your file on SkyDrive was indeed saved, go to the Windows SkyDrive Office Page (click the Office menu choice at the top of the screen after logging in.)

You should see the document under the heading: Recent Documents on SkyDrive.

To keep your SkyDrive tidy, it's best if you set up folders before saving files from Word. Also, if you wish to save files to a shared folder, you should set those up from inside Windows Live SkyDrive as well, before you post from Word. That way you can specify which folder you wish to save the file to.

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Save Documents Directly to Windows Live SkyDrive using MS Word 2010

Export Delicious Bookmarks to an XML File

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 03:16 AM PST

Yahoo! made many Del.icio.us lovers upset a couple weeks ago when they announced an end to the service was in sight, then just as quickly announced that Delicious would continue for the indefinite future. Obviously, Delicious users need to back up their bookmarks, just in case Yahoo! changes their minds again and pulls the plug on the bookmark service.

Delicious XML Exporter is a quick and easy way to back up your bookmarks.

From the Delicious XML Exporter homepage, click the big, green Authorize button.

Next, click the Agree button on the page that appears.

Within seconds, Delicious XML Exporter will generate an XML file containing your bookmarks and popup a window asking where on your computer to save the file. Choose a place, and click Save.

If you try to open the XML file, it will look like complete gibberish, but that is ok—it is supposed to look that way.

The trick is simply to find another place to store the bookmarks by uploading the file. This can be done many places, including WordPress, Evernote, and Scuttle.

In our test, the XML file generated loaded easily into Scuttle. We hoped to be able to load the file straight into our Chrome browser, but it would not import. While straight HTML may be more useful for backing up bookmarks, this XML exporter is at least a quick fix for those worried about losing their bookmarks.

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Export Delicious Bookmarks to an XML File