Come Christmas - and everything turns delightful ! That’s the beauty of the season.

This Christmas we have a “cat and dog” tale spreading around - singing around rather.
It’s the Jingle Cats and Dogs I’m talking about.

Well, It’s the traditional Christmas songs in a new role - they don’t come anymore in those boring “waaw waaw” sounds but “woof woofs” and “meaaow meaaows” rather. Yep you guessed it right, the songs are sung by cats and dogs (digitally mixed that is.)

It’s the hot favorite around so you got to check it.

The Jingle cats albums have been around since 1994 and is produced by Mike Spalla(A Composer and Audio Engineer).
The whole idea came up to him when his cat’s “meow” once accidentally got recorded on the sound editing software.

He uses a sampler to record and simulate the “meows” into musical notes, and it all came out into the Jingle cats and Dogs album.

See the video here
Download the Jingle cats iTunes here

Photo courtesy - www.jinglecats.com- No rights reserved.

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10 things to keep in mind before selecting a theme

- Decide on the category/mood of your blog.
See what type of blog you’ve got already. And select a theme from the appropriate category(many template stores have this).
You would see an appealing theme in the theme selector but you wouldn’t want to apply a heavy artistic theme to a technology blog.

- See if you have a theme that will feature/support all the blocks your existing blog has.
i.e - Blogrolls, Technorati, Links etc.
If they don’t have these blocks, then see if there is space in the template so that you can incorporate it manually.

- See if the theme designer has a copyright license and has specified in the instructions on his site that the links to his blog(mostly in the footer) be maintained. If so, carefully study them. If you don’t want to link back to him, then better select another designer who is okay not linking to him.

- See if the designer has put in unwanted codes into the template, like affiliate links, redirection pages or even Google AdSense ads! They will not benefit you or even may harm you - so better stay away from them. You can find this out by comparing the source code with that of your existing blog.

- Test the skin on different screen sizes(800×600, 1-24×768….1280×1024 etc) and see how it looks, it’s better if you can strike a balance between all the sizes, and not stick to a theme because it works well on 1024×768, it may look ugly on another one.

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Okay, so you’ve shifted to blogger beta from the old blogger > then there’s bad news for you.
If you are planning to move to a new domain with a wordpress installation then, things are going to be even more troublesome.
Wordpress has a Import feature already that helps you import all your posts from blogger to wordpress in a matter of click. But it still is waiting for an upgrade that allows you to move from blogger beta. As of now, if you try the import feature on wordpress, it does not login to the blogger beta account.
There are a few suggestions made on the web that will help you do it - some stupid some partly working and some grunchy.

The simplest one is here.
- Goto your blogger beta blog, take the RSS feed(no body has explained how) and save it as an XML document. Now goto to wordpress import function, then select the “Import from RSS” option and browse select the XML file - Upload!
Although it may show that import successfull - It didn’t work for me the 12th time even.

Now the hard one (as on webbleyou.com)
This one is a bit tricky and tests your patience - i would give you an award for the “Most patient blogger” if you successfully did this.

The sad thing is that google doesn’t allow you to switch back to old blogger from blogger beta, so if you’ve been blogging since the last few years,bad luck!

So i warn all the professional bloggers around - If you are planning to move to a new domain with a professional wordpress installation, the keep away from the blogger beta - It’s a TRAP by Google and most likely you may disagree to Darren Rowse!

Cheers!

——————-

UPDATE

After a few days from this post i found the real working script that imports your blogger beta posts,comments with url and images to wordpress.

Check it here

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Just a strange (rather intriguing) ad that i came across on Google’s sponsored links.

It is actually an ad by Timesjobs.com but the title goes like labnol.blogspot.com
And it took me to this site on clicking.

I’m not sure if Amit is involved in this but even if he is, it should still be bizarre!

Check out the snapshot.

Just search for labnol.blogspot on google and you may be lucky to get it another time(it doesn’t appear every time though!) Andthe ad takes you to this page - http://203.199.76.54/timesjobsmay/landing_google.htm

Way to go Amit.

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Seems like Orkut is going places! (Brazil and India still?)

The most popular social networking application of Google - Orkut sure is going places.

Today’s regional (malayalam) daily Mathrubhumi came out with a supplement on Orkut, explaining why is it popular and some interesting facts about it.

According to the report -

The interesting thing about orkut is that “It enables you to find your old schoool mates and lost buddies in seconds” and is almost authentic unlike Yahoo Messenger(which is the next preferred online socializing application).

The authenticity factor on Orkut is more appealing than any other application -And i do not know why?

Many of my friends(the fairer sex) who hesitate to upload pictures or give details on yahoo messenger or similar application is already on orkut. Wicked stuff!

And, finding old school mates/old romance, is the most preferred actrivity on orkut.

To help ease your orkut use like scrapping, there is a cool blog around - Inside Orkut
You can find virtually most of what you always wanted to make your orkutting easier.

Meanwhile, happy reading - for those non-mallus, i’m afraid there is very little that i can do..

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Google has it’s Click-to-call ads trial feature running at the moment(it’s been there for a while actually).

According to which you can advertise just like AdWords - and call the interested “client” !

It works like this.

- You advertise your “product” just like in AdWords,
- And if a potential client is interested in your ad, he clicks the ad.
- He’s prompted to give his phone number to Google.
- Google calls up the client.
- Google also call you up and connect the both parties.

The interesting part is that you don’t have to call the “client” but Google will call the client once he enters his number by clicking the ad - and connect the line to you!

Here’s how Google puts it.

Web users click your ad and enter their phone number. We call them instantly and put them on the line with your business or call center. You pay only when a call is made, at the price you set — no long distance or other phone charges.

This is particularly useful when you require to actually get to contact the client - get to know him up close and give him the “product” - whatever that is.

I’m wondering as to whether Google will take care of any call from anywhere or it’s limited to a territory. If it’s the former, this is a pretty cool business model if you ask me.

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Many of you might have heard about a2zadsense, or rather might have visited or seen the ad on many blogs and websites that are about adsense tips.I’ve seen it on almost all blogs i visit, many of them were about adsense and tweaks.

They promised me something like - 499 Content Rich Adsense Web Sites containing more than 2,09000 web pages for Rs. 499/-

So basically they are trying to tell that once you buy their package, you will become a millionaire if you copy all those websites content into yuir blog/site. - Okay fair enough!

I visited their website and saw that they are offering FREE bonuses this season -
Bonus #1 Adsense Cash Machine
Bonus #2 Collection of 6 Latest Adsense E-books by world class authors
Bonus #3 Traffic Hurricane
Bonus #4 Webmaster’s ToolKit
Bonus #5 Now Indians can open a US Bank Account, Guaranteed!
Bonus #6 Make money just by leaving your computer online

Now, there’s no doubt that this is yet another MFA strategy in the making. All those junk “websites” and all those “pirated - junk softwares” offered at Rs.499.

But if you look at the marketing point of view, these guys are doing really awesome!
- They build a niche market.
- The “wanna be rich through adsense” Indians.
- They have used the right weapon to market - AdWords.
- They have the right cost - Rs.499 and Pay on Delivery.
- They have targeted their audience very well - geo target Indian visitors on all adsense related websites.

Now out of curiosity i decided to buy the product and spend 499 Rs on it. And, this is what i got.(See pics)

4 tech-com CD’s with no labels whatsoever, numbered 1,23 and 4. In every CD i could find almost the same stuff - zipped website templates.
I guess they have downloaded all websites using HTTracker or some similar software and have zipped it all together in categories like Baby,Flowers,Pregnancy etc.

So if you like to make an MFA website with any of those topics - go ahead. You dont know about any copyrights what so ever.

And yes, there were some softwares to help me build my “AdSense Empire” - softwares like AdSense Cash Machine - that searches ezinearticles for a topic of your interest.

Then, you have a pop-up generator program - a traffic generator program - etc . Basically everything tha will help you get a ban from AdSense.

I recommend that you stay away frm this sort of MFA programs. Getting rich overnight on AdSense in absolutely not possible, All it take is patience and long term continuos quality deliverance. Ask Amit if you have a doubt.

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Well, GAS(Google AdSense) is the most popular and the most abused AdNetwork on the planet.
Simply because you have a few people who earn millions on it and you have millions of people who earn a few pennies on it.

Many a times, it’s abused as the Nazi,Criminals and Thieves. Just because there are lot of people who get their accounts banned for some reason or the other(or no reasons at all), and the entire money they made is washed away. Well, in my opinion this is because of some mistakes from the publisher’s side., which many aren’t either aware of or aren’t bothered about simply.

Once you have done a mistake, then Google takes the role of the Nazi, quite happily. This is the reason why it is mostly abused by the banned publishers.

Here are a list of things that will help you not to get banned and help you not face the Nazi face of google.

I assume that you have already read the “how to cheat google” and leave your blogs link right at the signature, then you are done!

6 - Do not ask your friends via messenger/email to click on your ads.
T his may seem incredible but Google keeps track of the ip ranges from where click is generated, and if found that they are all from the same range of ips - then they’ll raise red flags on your account!

7 - Do not ask your subscribers/visitors to click on the ads through email.
They may be too honest and while trying to help you, may give you a few repetitive clicks. This will put your account on alert!

8 - Do not tweak your blog in such a way that it almost looks like the ad itself.
Sometimes, the “blending technique” is used to the extreme that Google finds your blog as na MFA(Made For AdSense).

9 - Do not believe in all those “AdSense Empire,Get rich overnight,Make your website a cash cow” strategies and e-books(Man, if they knew how to do it, then they wouldn’t be selling the book to you.)

10 - Do not use click monkeys or any other click generator program - they simply don’t work.

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Just a little something - By Anita Bora is yet another top ranked influential blogs from India.(According to Blogstreet.com)

As commonly seen in many content based blogs, little importance is given to monetising the blog in this case too. Anita who has written about almost everything in this blog has attempted monetising it by introducing some Google AdSense referral buttons, and a few ads. It seems as though she is more interested in the referral buttons rather than the contextual ads as the buttons are seen more in number than the ads.

If you see the blog, you will notice that there is a small rectangle ad in the right hand panel(apart from the referral buttons) and this one is the only text ad you will see on the blog.

Total number of Ads
Three referral buttons(125×125), One small rectangle(125×40), One horizontal image ad, One vertical Skyscraper Image ad.

The 120×40 small rectangle.

google_ad_client = “MASKED MASKED MASKED”;
google_ad_width = 120;
google_ad_height = 240;
google_ad_format = “120×240_as”;
google_ad_type = “text_image”;
google_ad_channel =”";
google_color_border = “660000″;
google_color_bg = “7D2626″;
google_color_link = “FFFFFF”;
google_color_url = “DAA520″;
google_color_text = “BDB76B”;

If you take a closer look at it, you’ll see that the background colour of the ad(7D2626) is not matching with that of the blog background(A97043).
Also, the text/link colour(BDB76B) does not match with that of document(ffe7d1). I suggest that both the text and the link colour be the same so that viewers don’t get a chance to distinguish between the url and the text.

The font type used in this template is the Georgia, ‘Times New Roman’, Times, serif family. I strongly suggest that this be changed to Arial family so that they match with the ads.
Also, the ad stands boxed out with a border, the border colour too should be matching the bgcolour in order to blend well.

Property Comparison
Background colour Does not match
Font Type Does not macth
Font colour Does not match
Font size NA
Title colour Yes
Link colour Does not match
Text colour Does not mtach
Background/boxed Boxed
Placement Right hand panel,Above the fold.
Number of ads Maximum - Three

Unfortunately there is no use of the AdLink unit seen at all. Instead there is a google search bar at the right hand panel which unfortunately sticks out. In my opinion this search bar needs to be some where towards the top fold.

It’s my guess that Anita has a liking for Image ads rather than text ads.This in my opinion is a mistake. Because unless you are running a children’s website image ads are an absolute No-No. Simply because they always shout at the visitors that “Hey You! I’m an Advertisement, Don’t come near me”, especially with an Ad-Allergic community, this could prove almost fatal.

In my opinion Anita should take away both the image ads(one on the right hand side and the one on the bottom) and instead, use rectangle text ads at the beginning of the post. So at they really blend with the post.

But if Anita thinks that this will harm the reading pleasure of the viewer’s then she atleast pull the image ad from the extreme bottom to just above that foot note.Because a foot note is suppose to be a foot note and nothing comes below it.

All she got to do is cut the google ads code from the end of the script to right beneath the !– begin footer — code.

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India Uncut is the number 1 influential blog in India - by Mr.Amit Varma.
Though being the best in quality, regarding the monetization point of view, Amit’s blog isn’t the best you can find. Here are some suggestions from me to Amit.

This is his Adsese code - pubid masked.

google_ad_client = “MASKEDMASKEDMASKED”;
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = “160×600_as”;
google_ad_type = “text_image”;
google_ad_channel =”7780443499″;
google_color_border = “eaecd7″;
google_color_bg = “eaecd7″;
google_color_link = “336699″;
google_color_text = “333333″;
google_color_url = “CCCCCC”;
Property Comparison
Background colour Yes, matches the webpage bg. (eaecd7)
Font type Does not match, Uses Times New Roman on the webpage
Font size NA
Title colour Does not match,Uses BLUE(336699) on ads while titles are BLACK on webpage
Link colour Does not match,Uses GREY(CCCCCC) on ads while links are WHITE,BLUE on webpage
Text colour Yes,matches the webpage.(000000)
Background/boxed Not boxed,blended well
Placement 1 used,2 remaining
Visibility Above the fold Number of ads 1 vertical skyscraper(160×600)

AdLink unit Not Used
Placement NA
Background image NA
Category Match NA

Amit of India Uncut seems to be not very much interested in the monetization part of his blog.He’s got an adorable blog with quality articles but a wrongly tweaked AdSense code.

Firstly, surprising to see that only a vertical skyscraper has been used(on the right hand panel). According to the GAS TOS, 2 more ad blocks are possible on a webpage.

I would recommend Amit to place two small rectangles at the beginning/end of the posting area. This can be achieved by pasting the adsense code before the BEGIN POST AREA part of the code. Though the adsense code repeats with each post, It will render only twice and therefore, totally three adsense code visible on the webpage.

This sort of placement, mixed at the end of post, will help much as it will give the viewers a break and prompt them to click on the ads if found interesting and related to the article they just read.

My guess is that Amit simply neglected this placement since he thought that this may take away the readers pleasure. Fair enough!

The Vertical Skyscraper on the right hand panel

Though this is the only ad block seen on the blog, this one too doesnt seem to be tweaked just fine.

The background colour is blended well, and with no borders on it blends well with the page. But the text used in the blog is “Times New Roman” while the text in the ad is “Arial” - Amit needs to change his blog’s font to Arial to match the ads.

The links/text in the ads too are not blended with that of the blog completely . While in the blog, we have white links with an orange “on hover” property on the links in the right hand panel and blue links through out the blog, the links/heading on the ads are neither orange nor white but blue. This is disastrous if you ask me. If all the links in the blog were blue,this would have made some sense.

The visibility of the skyscraper is good - it sticks always above the fold.

Another interesting factor in Amit’s blog is that in the template, the left had panel, with the links on, has a dark background making it difficult to read the links. This in a way, may make the visitors turn their attention on his blog entries rather than the links, and also let the visitors click on the clearly visible ads on the right.I’m unsure if this is a deliberate strategy, but it works at some point of time, if not always.
Overall, Amit has done a good judjement by placing only one skyscraper at the right hand panel - above the fold and deliberately avoiding ads in between posts. BUt in my opinion this ad block needs to be tweaked further for maximum CTR.

I hope this is of interest to all.
All the best to you Amit.

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