Showing posts with label How-Tos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label How-Tos. Show all posts
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Add Bigrock Domain to Blogspot Blogs
10:04 PM
Khyati
You recently purchased your domain from Bigrock.in and now you want to redirect your Blogspot Blog to your recently purchased domain. This task is pretty easy when you purchased your domain from GoDaddy or Google Blogspot. For a newbie like me it was a tough task to understand How to redirect my Blogspot Blog to Bigrock.in. Finally with a little bit of Googling I got this done.
So I thought of featuring this tutorial on "Adding a custom "BIGROCK" domain to Blogspot / Blogger Blogs."
To begin with, you should purchase your domain from bigrock.in. As soon as you purchase domain from Bigrock.in you will receive a confirmation mail from Bigrock with subject : "Completed: Registration of yourdomainname.com for X years". Here yourdomainname.com is the domain name you recently purchased and X years is number of years for which you purchased your domains.
Note: Click on image to enlarge it
In this Email you will find following topic:
Managing your Domain Name
You can manage your Domain Name by logging into your Control Panel
Step 1. Login to your account using this link.
Step 2. Click on "Domains" (from navigation - menu) and then click on "List All Orders".
A list showing all your domains will be displayed.
Step 3. Click on the domain.
Step 4. Click on the DNS tab (found on the top navigation - menu) and then on "Manage DNS". We will have to make changes in the DNS settings.
Step 5. Click on CNAME Records and then on "ADD CNAME RECORD"
We will now add two CNAME records one with the www prefix and the other without the www prefix. Why this is important is explained with an example.
Suppose you have registered yourdomain.com.
Adding two CNAME records would allow us to point both http://www.yourdomain.com and http://yourdomain.com to your blogspot blog. Thus even if someone does not type in the www prefix, he would be able to access your blog.
Step 6. Adding the CNAME Record
1. With the WWW prefix
For Host Name type "www"
For Value type in "ghs.google.com" (within the space provided for typing in a fully qualified domain name) and then click on Add Record and you record would be saved.
2. Next we have create another record without the www prefix
Again click on Add CNAME record.
For Host Name enter nothing
For Value type "ghs.google.com" and click on Add Record
Step 7. The final step is link the domain to your blogspot blog. Go to your blogger dashboard and click on More Options -> Settings. Step 8. On Basic tabe we can find Publishing settings. Next Click on "Add a custom domain" and then "Switch to advanced settings"
Here enter your domain with www prefix as http://www.yourdomain.com and hit the save button. On Publishing settings select Redirect yourdomain.com to www.yourdomain.com.
WE ARE READY TO RUMBLE NOW!
NOTE: It would take some time (upto 48 hours but usually lot less than that) for the domain settings to propagate across the internet.
So I thought of featuring this tutorial on "Adding a custom "BIGROCK" domain to Blogspot / Blogger Blogs."
To begin with, you should purchase your domain from bigrock.in. As soon as you purchase domain from Bigrock.in you will receive a confirmation mail from Bigrock with subject : "Completed: Registration of yourdomainname.com for X years". Here yourdomainname.com is the domain name you recently purchased and X years is number of years for which you purchased your domains.
Note: Click on image to enlarge it
In this Email you will find following topic:
Managing your Domain Name
You can manage your Domain Name by logging into your Control Panel
Step 1. Login to your account using this link.
Step 2. Click on "Domains" (from navigation - menu) and then click on "List All Orders".
A list showing all your domains will be displayed.
Step 3. Click on the domain.
Step 4. Click on the DNS tab (found on the top navigation - menu) and then on "Manage DNS". We will have to make changes in the DNS settings.
Step 5. Click on CNAME Records and then on "ADD CNAME RECORD"
We will now add two CNAME records one with the www prefix and the other without the www prefix. Why this is important is explained with an example.
Suppose you have registered yourdomain.com.
Adding two CNAME records would allow us to point both http://www.yourdomain.com and http://yourdomain.com to your blogspot blog. Thus even if someone does not type in the www prefix, he would be able to access your blog.
Step 6. Adding the CNAME Record
1. With the WWW prefix
For Host Name type "www"
For Value type in "ghs.google.com" (within the space provided for typing in a fully qualified domain name) and then click on Add Record and you record would be saved.
2. Next we have create another record without the www prefix
Again click on Add CNAME record.
For Host Name enter nothing
For Value type "ghs.google.com" and click on Add Record
Step 7. The final step is link the domain to your blogspot blog. Go to your blogger dashboard and click on More Options -> Settings. Step 8. On Basic tabe we can find Publishing settings. Next Click on "Add a custom domain" and then "Switch to advanced settings"
Here enter your domain with www prefix as http://www.yourdomain.com and hit the save button. On Publishing settings select Redirect yourdomain.com to www.yourdomain.com.
WE ARE READY TO RUMBLE NOW!
NOTE: It would take some time (upto 48 hours but usually lot less than that) for the domain settings to propagate across the internet.
Posted in: How-TosTuesday, October 25, 2011
IE7 Internet Explorer hangs on opening New Tab or Browser
I have seen many of the people searching for IE7 Internet Explorer 7.0 hangs while opening a new page or new tab or new browser.
Some of the symptoms are :
When I have a few IE7 windows open, I am often getting one browser page that will hang, lock up, not respond at all when I "Open in New Window" or "Open in New Tab" - it doesn't discriminate as I can have 2 or up to 10 tabs/browsers open on any of thousands of websites I visit.
It can happen at any time. I can have 2 or more tab browsers open or 2 or more separate browsers open and at any time when I "Open in New Window" or "Open in New Tab" - no particular number at all. Then the hang occurs.
I therefore am stuck with a hang that can cause all of the open IE windows/browsers to crash or I manage to close the window if I am quick enough before all IE windows crash at once. Many times I cannot close the hanging browser and can only work with the current browsers that are open only.
Once this happens I also lose the RIGHT CLICK function on the mouse
Therfore, I have learnt that it is a good idea to then close down all IE browsers altogether and start fresh
Once I do this I regain the RIGHT CLICK function on the mouse again and the browsers work as normal till the next hang
Solution:
It has been noticed that this problem occurs after KB943729 was installed.
To fix it we should disable "Windows Live" plug-ins (Tools->Internet Options->Programs(Tab)->Manage Add Ons).
Once you disable this addon. It should look like below:
Some of the symptoms are :
When I have a few IE7 windows open, I am often getting one browser page that will hang, lock up, not respond at all when I "Open in New Window" or "Open in New Tab" - it doesn't discriminate as I can have 2 or up to 10 tabs/browsers open on any of thousands of websites I visit.
It can happen at any time. I can have 2 or more tab browsers open or 2 or more separate browsers open and at any time when I "Open in New Window" or "Open in New Tab" - no particular number at all. Then the hang occurs.
I therefore am stuck with a hang that can cause all of the open IE windows/browsers to crash or I manage to close the window if I am quick enough before all IE windows crash at once. Many times I cannot close the hanging browser and can only work with the current browsers that are open only.
Once this happens I also lose the RIGHT CLICK function on the mouse
Therfore, I have learnt that it is a good idea to then close down all IE browsers altogether and start fresh
Once I do this I regain the RIGHT CLICK function on the mouse again and the browsers work as normal till the next hang
Solution:
It has been noticed that this problem occurs after KB943729 was installed.
To fix it we should disable "Windows Live" plug-ins (Tools->Internet Options->Programs(Tab)->Manage Add Ons).
Once you disable this addon. It should look like below:
Posted in: How-TosMonday, August 8, 2011
Add Fancy "Share This" Social Bookmarking Widget to blogger
Here’s a cool new social bookmarking widget for your blog, with on-hover animation effect. By adding social networking icons to your blog you will definitely boost your blog’s traffic.
To see live demo : Demo 1
Step 1: Firstly, Log in to Blogger. Now go to “Design” and then click on “Edit HTML” tab.Then download the present template as a backup.
Then Click on “Expand Widget Templates” checkbox. ____________________________________________
STEP 2: Now find [CTRL+F] this code:
Step 3: Now find (CTRL+F) this in the template;
Courtesy: themeblogger-noi
To see live demo : Demo 1
Step 1: Firstly, Log in to Blogger. Now go to “Design” and then click on “Edit HTML” tab.Then download the present template as a backup.
Then Click on “Expand Widget Templates” checkbox. ____________________________________________
STEP 2: Now find [CTRL+F] this code:
]]></b:skin>
___________________________________________JUST ABOVE/BEFORE THIS CODE, paste the following code:
/* Fancy SocialBookmark*/
#sharebox{
height:48px;
width:400px;
margin:0;
padding:5px 0;
}
ul.sharebox { margin:0px; padding:0px; list-style:none; position:relative; display:block;}
ul.sharebox li { float:left; margin:0 0 0 0px; padding:0px; position:absolute;}
ul.sharebox li a { margin:0 0 0 -24px; display:block;}
ul.sharebox li a:hover { margin:0 0 0 -8px; }
ul.sharebox li img { border:none;}_____________________________________________________Step 3: Now find (CTRL+F) this in the template;
</head>
______________________________________________________
And immediately ABOVE/BEFORE that paste this code
<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
(function($){
$.fn.sharebox = function(){
var element = this;
$(element).find("li").each(function(i){
$(this).css("z-index", 12- i);
if (i>0)
$(this).css("left", i * 24 + 100);
});
}
})(jQuery);
</script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
$(document).ready(function(){
$("#sharebox").sharebox();
});
</script>__________________________________________________________
Step 4: Now find (CTRL+F) this in the template
<data:post.body/>
___________________________________________________________
And BELOW/AFTER that, paste this code:
<ul class='sharebox' id='sharebox'> <li><img alt='Share this' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileoSbNGlAG8bxZhL0bvkf8TzyWYyc4a0FtxggDYnZ4VeLSGLbToGriJTn-UgFZnDRV6zTedfN3i6xHZSUAwOYhRgPtB1s2N4tEZwQCYzrgS38wkyBJTUxfyGFIqi4r9CyIUEOiyWNkFI/s400/sharethis.png'/></li> <li><a expr:href='" http://digg.com/submit?url=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Digg' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCq4HyZDExxdeRwgZXs2pZKIkEzaUDnPhzNlgzaduHR-ena7Jldf7nhfOBAFt-0BBzuL4hwr7RByBI_hbMlMb6v4WfL_eWV9IlrKUFBlmKCmW00mo61KFxeDIXweTNPxDhkv6tWq9vp2w/s400/digg_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='" http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to StumbleUpon' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlq8S247u5rWHQy69brmI5Mj6ytASqoeludb80C4v4L5D9IoyqHee2qXtE_jTRZ3AkRFSTZNEUrPwTiwGWiwmFX6sWJBWjpTHiCtoFU3IcfGxVF76PV_S_EZa7ZF6vKDKhKGVranXGE74/s400/sumbleupon_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='"http://del.icio.us/post?url=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Delicious' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdbobXnJB6-01GJScRAVSvMPa9crIHGhOmlztuN37LRGoAk7RFHGUwWiYmhXZex6_sIuohCs1WlTIdiQFVB71Q9tjAxavzqOnEfxLM2HDz4QBFxsSMXigIy1iETDHJaAAKWOrEqz9Wd8/s400/delicious_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='" http://technorati.com/faves?add=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Technorati' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggHMriCFyw2jvP47cRyH2IK4fnCbYJ5DTHFQtECSRy-hkRTTbEgr_0R5A6tVx-zyscSSrIEEIrXhNjqyHE8fdtpr9db2V2Ex36ujUAsKkrH8tV8_jIHSOlZ-76uLvJg5HeGC6JaUFAiJo/s400/technorati_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='" http://www.reddit.com/submit?url=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Reddit' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhXlDUb__T0L2IYJxQhvxVPUN0GL-eqpZr9VVs0uPG7oKT2pIe5_3TP82aKws14Gi46PTFZRJrS-Co2dFltUx3I5AHrqw3Aj3ax4C1i3P352-Lx7yg84K_CNR0YN5JfMo2WMu-g8Movbc/s400/reddit_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='" http://www.mixx.com/submit?page_url=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Mixx' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1Hp6X3wWpgcxyIHd7I6Iy7x6g7cZNHvtXNCyltlJLYw3QgxOhv7VUOu9TisiGRAGX1FA4JPL_9-fv5h_IDv9AETeVz-NbO3Fxfv7VXUzSiLPHcK-7bSDir7t8NVXmZd54WR_JCevqo0/s400/mixx_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='"http://twitter.com/home/?status=Chk Out-" + data:post.title + " " + data:post.url' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Twitter' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg86e5TMENgq9P5a1xT9n-XWEGe6EUzDIeTissISk31guAhh0_Qt4eLAx_snotDYTiPDDEyg1iWBJMFKo-t7gEAnMGATkln8y-7x141qNclWFJZEAg0fc9bSpjZRgCowhpqlt1hHvYLMLc/s400/twitter_boxed_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='" http://www.furl.net/storeIt.jsp?u=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Furl' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj96YYiMOJNgiv6VF7JR-4WhEc15AXYCOv56Gwnfjx0FydenDU5MIwtDxScZXv6eni1w8sKD3nSFsDKG-CSHVM-HgGiBC_ak86qGtZU9xi_m4h1iUrTFyjyd_WzWEizsyTQQEpGDDYhNnI/s400/furl_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='"http://www.designfloat.com/submit.php?url=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Design Float' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyDfIAVuxbUAOqqH1Ezi1rVQr5HCqJ9QS63nBfa5kBXE3tN3Wn3bDx-XX6St5e4WhV_7x90ymdt4vyjfSAt-44wx2V1l3yuSh6QuvzafNnc7Wez2lpyuRbkkRV7rEjpjKXkY9vTu-mkcI/s400/designfloat_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='"http://www.blinklist.com/index.php?Action=Blink/addblink.php&Description=&Url=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Blinklist' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlJ_Jt4uTKRFzuXUr9W-6cNKJhetwZZG8vsYp_NGPTYHGU_gtX_KGOvy0mT-S57hXwnX15eQTJ5MCwzcIVuae0vaif9bcGYOdX4HrkHKwnmfM8khqmbodR2WmIKUx6C_EcCMt58DKBEE/s400/blinklist_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='"http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/" + data:post.url' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Yahoo Buzz' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqbtc7RNWrq6W7zrlMvBokoBltshUf2JR7bn9wYoBa1qfXykK2V62InQdtUCybWfNnDgTdK_hqyhgbzvbYCTr8-nVlpnPy2yH9k97A0WFxmJVn2NeIE1m47fmklPQA3wNtVFSFbRJB4e8/s400/yahoo_48.png'/></a></li> <li><a expr:href='"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=edit&output=popup&bkmk=" + data:post.url + "&title=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img alt='Sumbit to Google Bookmarks' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWAZL4HBROX51iNIBmV0-VA_iw2yWWQjWDu0IgnKvWGs1pMVzO5HiEHxTPduPt3yoMjDdOtpTF04Xx7H8nkhnWEEMNNhBrz_JI6_roReU6a8Q5U_dRhG_NEosdQHc9QZU37lZEodpErE/s400/google_48.png'/></a></li> </ul>
______________________________________________
Step 5: Now save the template.
Courtesy: themeblogger-noi
Posted in: How-Tos16 Must to Know LCD/LED TV Related Terminologies
Old CRT TVs are out of date box in this world. It has been found that more than 60% of the world population is using LCD/LED TVs these days and remaining are opting to upgrade their Old TV boxes. Recently one of my friend went to purchase LCD/LED TV and boggled up with some of the technical words. So before buying LCD/LED TV we should be aware of couple of terms. One of the critical thing is LCD and LED categorizing.
Many of the people still thinks LED TV is far better than LCD TV. So let us start from this point. An LED TV is nothing but an LCD which uses LED back-lighting. TV manufactures has hyped this topic and advertise this sort of display as LED display. This not true LED display but is often called so. The basic difference between the two is that an LED TV uses light emitting diodes for the backlighting, where as an LCD uses fluorescent lamps as backlights. There are two types of LED TV backlighting Edge lit and full array.
1. Screen Size
Length of TV diagonally measured.
2. Aspect Ratio
Ratio of the TV width compared to height. e.g. 16:9
3. Resolution
More number of pixels = the greater the picture quality. e.g. 1920(H) x 1080(V)
The primary difference between Full HD and HD Ready TVs is resolution. Resolution of a Full HD TV is double of that of a HD Ready TV.
Resolution of Standard Definition (Conventional) TVs is 720 H x 480 V = less than 1 million pixels.
Resolution of HD Ready TVs is 1366 H x 768 V = 1 million pixels
Resolution of Full HD TVs is 1920 H x 1080 V = 2 million pixels.
* H = number of Horizontal pixels, V = number of vertical pixels
This animation demonstrates the interline twitter effect. On the left are two progressive scan images. Center are two interlaced images. Right are two images with line doublers. Top are original resolution, bottom are with anti-aliasing. The two interlaced images use half the bandwidth of the progressive one. The interlaced scan (right) precisely duplicates the pixels of the progressive image (left), but interlace causes details to twitter. A line doubler operating in "bob" (interpolation) mode would produce the images at far right. Real interlaced video blurs such details to prevent twitter, as seen in the bottom row, but such softening (or anti-aliasing) comes at the cost of resolution. But even the best line doubler could never restore the bottom center image to the full resolution of the progressive image. Note – Because the frame rate has been slowed down by a factor of 3, you will notice additional flicker in simulated interlaced portions of this image.
4. Dynamic Contrast Ratio
The difference between the brightest whites and darkest blacks a TV can show. e.g. 1,000,000:1
5. Viewing Angle
The max viewable angle when viewing left to right. LCD/LED TV which offers closer to 180* are better.
6. Edge lit LED
Refers to the placements of LEDs along the edges of an LCD display. Due to such arrangements the edges might appear to be brighter than the rest of the picture. Edge lit panels are slimmer in dimensions but can also cause bleeding of light around the edges.
7. Full Array
Refers to arrangement of LEDs which are placed in a full matrix or array, this gives constant and flat back-lighting.
8. Bleeding
LCDs block out redundant light coming from their backlit source, bleeding happens when the back-light behind the LCD surface is not 100% blocked. This results some areas to appear lighter than the rest especially on a dark or black background. Fact is that, almost all LCDs suffer some amount of bleeding.
9. Response Time
Latency or response rate means how quickly the screen can refresh a video image. It basically means the rate at which the LCD can display moving images. It is generally measured in milli seconds (ms) and you should look for TVs with faster response time.
10. Refresh Rate
The number of times your LCD screen refreshes itself per second is known as refresh rate giving you clear, uninterrupted image. Generally the refresh rate is measured in Hertz(Hz). A refresh rate of 120 or 240 Hz refers to the number of times a frame is drawn each second.
11. Ambilight
Philips is an Inventor of Ambilight, refers to the ambient light which is generated corresponding to the video content currently being played on the screen. This effect gives you a feel of a much larger and immersive TV screen.
12. Ghosting
Appearance of a false image on the screen refers to ghosting. This generally happens when a previous image displayed on the screen can still be seen.
13. Bezel
A bezel refers to the outside edges of a Liquid crystal display screen or any screen for that matter.
14. 1080i and 1080p displays
Video mode displaying 1080 lines of vertical resolution is written in shorthand as 1080p, the ‘p’ stands for progressive scan where as on the other hand a 1080i display is shown in 16:9 aspect ratio which gives a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Here the i stands for interlaced.
15. Progressive scan
Also known as non-interlaced scanning is a method of displaying or transmitting a video images in which all the lines of each frames are drawn in a sequence.
16. Interlaced video
This form of transmitting or storing moving images scans only the odd lines, then the even lines of each frame are drawn alternately.
So, these are the common LCD/LED terms used by the manufacturers. The Ghosting, bleeding are problems that commonly seen in displays. I hope this article will be helpful for the next visit to a TV shop. Have a Happy Weekend.
Posted in: How-TosMonday, July 25, 2011
How to use CSS to display rating stars in Blogger, Blogspot
Rating stars are widely used in Blogger blog posts. Everyone will be Reviewing some or the other things using Blogger. But I have never come across any of the posts which will describe how to use CSS to display rating stars in Blogger. Hence, I am writing this post to describe how to display rating stars in Blogger.
Rating stars are star like images that indicates the rating of an item. The more stars, the better is the product. Usually we find a scale of 0 to 5 stars, and most often these are in increments of half-stars of even full-stars only.
In this tutorial we’ll discuss how we can "use CSS to display the stars" in a very elegant manner. It even allows to show any rating very clearly, so you’d be able to distinguish a rating of 3.8 from a rating of 4.2!
5 star rating system in action:
Before starting, lets have a look here at this system in action. Look at the reviews posted for Bollywood Movies on this posts. We have inserted Star rating after describing each reviews.
How to use it in Blogger Template:
The stars are constructed out of only two images. A bright
, and a faint star: 
.
The html for these stars is very simple – one DIV inside another:
The style attribute for the inner DIV is what determines how many stars are displayed. A rating of 100% corresponds to 5 full stars. A rating of 40% corresponds to 2 stars, a rating of 42% corresponds to a little more than 2 stars, and so on.
So, you have to use above code in your blog posts as it is. But remember you should not write this on different lines, else Blogger blog post will show Bright and fainted images on different lines.
The class on the outer DIV allows us to apply CSS. The CSS used is as follows:
1. To place this code, Goto Design -> Edit HTML -> Expand Widget Template.
2. Backup your template.
3. Search for <style>
4. Place above code before this tag.
The first rule-set applies to the outer DIV. It defines the width for the entire set of stars. The width determines how many stars will be visible. In our case, we have stars that are 11 pixels wide and we want 5 of them – hence 55 pixels wide. The faint star image is set as the background image.
The second rule-set applies to the inner DIV. The height needs to be the height of your star image. The bright star image is set as the background image.
This all combines to create our example:
You can think of it as two layered boxes. The lower one is filled with the faint stars and takes up the entire width. The upper one contains the bright stars and it’s width is what conveys the bar’s meaning.
Did this tutorial solved your problem? Is it Pretty simple? Write in your comments to keep this blog alive and share your experiences too.
You can ask your questions in Comments.
Rating stars are star like images that indicates the rating of an item. The more stars, the better is the product. Usually we find a scale of 0 to 5 stars, and most often these are in increments of half-stars of even full-stars only.
In this tutorial we’ll discuss how we can "use CSS to display the stars" in a very elegant manner. It even allows to show any rating very clearly, so you’d be able to distinguish a rating of 3.8 from a rating of 4.2!
5 star rating system in action:
Before starting, lets have a look here at this system in action. Look at the reviews posted for Bollywood Movies on this posts. We have inserted Star rating after describing each reviews.
How to use it in Blogger Template:
The stars are constructed out of only two images. A bright
, and a faint star: .The html for these stars is very simple – one DIV inside another:
<div class="rating_bar">
<div style="width:51%"></div>
</div>
The style attribute for the inner DIV is what determines how many stars are displayed. A rating of 100% corresponds to 5 full stars. A rating of 40% corresponds to 2 stars, a rating of 42% corresponds to a little more than 2 stars, and so on.
So, you have to use above code in your blog posts as it is. But remember you should not write this on different lines, else Blogger blog post will show Bright and fainted images on different lines.
The class on the outer DIV allows us to apply CSS. The CSS used is as follows:
.rating_bar {
width: 55px;
background: url(/img/star_x_grey.gif) 0 0 repeat-x;
}
.rating_bar div {
height: 12px;
background: url(/img/star_x_orange.gif) 0 0 repeat-x;
}
1. To place this code, Goto Design -> Edit HTML -> Expand Widget Template.
2. Backup your template.
3. Search for <style>
4. Place above code before this tag.
The first rule-set applies to the outer DIV. It defines the width for the entire set of stars. The width determines how many stars will be visible. In our case, we have stars that are 11 pixels wide and we want 5 of them – hence 55 pixels wide. The faint star image is set as the background image.
The second rule-set applies to the inner DIV. The height needs to be the height of your star image. The bright star image is set as the background image.
This all combines to create our example:
You can think of it as two layered boxes. The lower one is filled with the faint stars and takes up the entire width. The upper one contains the bright stars and it’s width is what conveys the bar’s meaning.
Did this tutorial solved your problem? Is it Pretty simple? Write in your comments to keep this blog alive and share your experiences too.
You can ask your questions in Comments.
Posted in: How-TosThursday, July 7, 2011
Facebook VideoCalling Feature Reviewed
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced last week that the company had planned to “…launch something awesome” this week. Finally we know what he meant by saying this. Facebook has unveiled a new feature that allows you to make video calls right from your browser, just like Google+ does It with its Hangout feature. It was in news that something was cooking between Facebook and Skype, and now we know what that was.
The new video calling feature has been made possible with the partnership between FB and Skype. Now, don’t worry because you don’t need to install Skype but a small add-in will do the job of integrating Skype video calling feature within your browser. On the hardware front, you need a webcam, a headset or speakers and a microphone. Off course this is what a basic hardware need to do any video calling.
How To Set-UP?
Open http://www.facebook.com/videocalling.
You will be directed to the main page which has a video explaining the feature.
Get Started button on the left of the screen will let you start the feature.
A chat window will pop up on the right hand side, listing all your online Facebook contacts.
Click on one of them to proceed.
If this method does not suit you, Try out this alternate method:
You can start the chat directly from your online friend's profile by clicking on the Call button located on the right hand side of the screen near the top.
After chat window is open, click on the camera icon to initiate a video call.
For first time users Set up Video Calling?
Dialogue is necessary. Click on Set Up to continue.
When prompted, install plug-in. This will help you integrate with Skype video calling feature.
Once the installation is complete, the call is made automatically.
If your friend does not have this plugin he will be prompted to install the same. After he finishes installing the plug-in, the call gets connected.
As the feature is still in Beta stages please don’t expect smooth ride. You can expect few roadblocks before finally getting connected.
But finally when it once it works, you are going to get addicted to it. Your friends can be seen in a large video window, while a smaller thumbnail of your video feed can be seen near a corner of this window, which is similar to the Skype video chat window. The overall quality is satisfactory, but not that good as Skype. Audio quality is as good as Skype.
The new video calling feature has been made possible with the partnership between FB and Skype. Now, don’t worry because you don’t need to install Skype but a small add-in will do the job of integrating Skype video calling feature within your browser. On the hardware front, you need a webcam, a headset or speakers and a microphone. Off course this is what a basic hardware need to do any video calling.
How To Set-UP?
Open http://www.facebook.com/videocalling.
You will be directed to the main page which has a video explaining the feature.
Get Started button on the left of the screen will let you start the feature.
A chat window will pop up on the right hand side, listing all your online Facebook contacts.
Click on one of them to proceed.
If this method does not suit you, Try out this alternate method:
You can start the chat directly from your online friend's profile by clicking on the Call button located on the right hand side of the screen near the top.
After chat window is open, click on the camera icon to initiate a video call.
For first time users Set up Video Calling?
Dialogue is necessary. Click on Set Up to continue.
When prompted, install plug-in. This will help you integrate with Skype video calling feature.
Once the installation is complete, the call is made automatically.
If your friend does not have this plugin he will be prompted to install the same. After he finishes installing the plug-in, the call gets connected.
As the feature is still in Beta stages please don’t expect smooth ride. You can expect few roadblocks before finally getting connected.
But finally when it once it works, you are going to get addicted to it. Your friends can be seen in a large video window, while a smaller thumbnail of your video feed can be seen near a corner of this window, which is similar to the Skype video chat window. The overall quality is satisfactory, but not that good as Skype. Audio quality is as good as Skype.
Posted in: How-TosMonday, July 4, 2011
Is your Point and Shoot Camera HDyed or 3Dyed Yet? Demystify PS Cameras
This quick buying guide on Point and Shoot Camera is intended for end users who want to purchase new Point and Shoot camera. Confused customers who have little or no knowledge on how to buy Point and Shoot camera. Most of these consumers have very well used their mobile phones cameras and they want to discover photography world. It is very easy to say that the cameras on mobile phones don’t really provide same kind of performance and functionality as a digital camera would. And hence the demands of Point and Shoot Cameras are increasing in market. Where there is demand, there are competent players. What is Megapixles? Are Megapixels more important in camera? More Megapixels you have the better is the camera. These are some of the myths and questions related to Point and Shoot cameras. I hope this quick guide will clear most of your doubts related to Point and Shoot Cameras.
Megapixel Myth!
“I have 10 MP camera so my camera is more better then your 7 MP camera.” This is the dumbest claims new Point and Shoot Camera users will claim. It’s not the case, that higher the resolution higher the camera power. Point and shoot cameras resolution will depend on a very tiny size sensor. This sensor has certain limitations, beyond a certain point you aren’t getting any more details from it.
Point to remember in Layman Language: Megapixels are used to determine how much big picture you want to print. If you want to take out a poster with 10 x 10 sizes, then even 7 Megapixel camera will also do the same job as your 14 megapixel camera. So don’t go out hunting for a 14 MP point and shoot camera.
Optical Zoom is more important than Digital Zoom!
Most of the companies will advertise their camera at lower price with 14 MP resolution. The thing they don’t publicize is, camera’s Optical zoom capability. Cheapest cameras today come with a 3x or 4x optical zoom lens.
Optimum Recommended Optical Zoom is 6x. This zoom level is sufficient for Indoor as well as outdoor photography.
Digital zoom is accomplished electronically, with no adjustment of the camera’s optic. Hence, it is recommended to avoid digital zoom. If you use Digital zoom in your pictures, this will only help deteriorate your image quality.
Finally, if you want to become wildlife photographer, then larger optical zoom lens camera is recommended. Again, this will empty your pockets a few bucks more. Utrazoom or Superzoom optical zoom cameras range anywhere between 12x to 30x. The quality of zoom lens may not be excellent, but they can serve your purpose.
Manual focus are meant for Serious Photographers
Manual focus camera is one in which the operator has to adjust the focus of the lens by hand. So, many of our new passionate photographer colleagues who are newly exploring Digital Photography may not be interested in this Manual focus stuff. But, If you’re a slightly more serious photographer and want to experiment with your camera, look for cameras that have a manual focus option. All DSLR cameras and the recently introduced micro four-third cameras come with a manual focus feature.
Aperture priority (Av) and shutter priority (Pv):
Aperture priority and Shutter Priority modes allow some more control over your camera. They are handy when you’re clicking fast action shots or shooting in low-light areas. While camera manufacturers very proudly display all sorts of colour profiles and shooting modes, very little emphasis is given to the aperture and shutter priority modes.
Photos look different in Laptop or PC? Camera Display size will minimize this problem:
Camera’s Display Size and Resolution are two key factors to keep in mind. A camera with a large screen is a great thing to have to view photos while shooting. This will ensure, what you see is what you get. Many shaking blurs are not visible if camera display is small or low resolution. But when we see it in a bigger screen of our PC, they will be visible clearly. The higher the density, the better it’s bound to be. This is not to say that all high resolution displays are excellent, but it’s an easy way to filter out the good screens from the bad.
HD (High Definition) Video recording is NexGen capability
Introduction of HDTV and 3DTV have pushed Camera manufacturing companies and Users to introduce and use these video advancements respectively. Now a day, camera manufacturers are providing HD resolution recording on almost all point and shoot cameras. Look out for cameras that have a minimum of 720p video recording facility. Make sure that the recording frame rate is a minimum of 24fps. Well this video quality isn’t directly comparable to a good HD camcorder, but it’s still good to have feature.
Camera Build Quality and Aesthetics
Build quality and aesthetics of the camera are important factors to inspect while buying. Look for a camera that comes with a solid build.
The Zoom button is the busiest button in your camera after some of the buttons like directional keys. Loose Zoom triggers and buttons means that you’re likely to visit service center after few months down the line. It would be always suggested to visit a mall or a camera showroom and try to get hands on feel of the product, before you finally buy it.
Exclusive Touchscreen and 3D features?
Touchscreen and 3D features are really needed to have? Some of the manufacturers have tried focusing their efforts on such newer features.
Touchscreen: For features such as touchscreen you should inspect the interface and the touch functionality. They have to be flawless, to be practical.
3D: Although a neat feature to have, but I prefer to wait a while till the technology matures. There are very few users using 3D TVs and so the only ones viewing the images you shoot will be you. Since 3D technology is still in its early stages, you’re very likely to end up with an average quality camera with hell lots of bugs.
FREE!!! Most attractive words for Consumers
To make offers more attractive and competent, manufacturers bundle lots of freebies with the product. Look out for offers where free memory cards, carry pouches and tripods are bundled with the cameras. Of course, be careful and make sure that you’re not being overcharged for those freebies. If a bundled memory card is of 8GB capacity and higher, it might be a good freebie to have. Otherwise, 4GB SD cards are really cheap and are worth no more than Rs. 400 in the market. Cheap pouches are also available for that much.
If you keep all these points in mind I think it will be hard to go wrong with your next camera purchase.
Please comment on this article, as your comments will try to improve our quality of articles. Also, do let us know if you want to know more about cameras. And if you like it, dont forget to share below
Megapixel Myth!
“I have 10 MP camera so my camera is more better then your 7 MP camera.” This is the dumbest claims new Point and Shoot Camera users will claim. It’s not the case, that higher the resolution higher the camera power. Point and shoot cameras resolution will depend on a very tiny size sensor. This sensor has certain limitations, beyond a certain point you aren’t getting any more details from it.
Point to remember in Layman Language: Megapixels are used to determine how much big picture you want to print. If you want to take out a poster with 10 x 10 sizes, then even 7 Megapixel camera will also do the same job as your 14 megapixel camera. So don’t go out hunting for a 14 MP point and shoot camera.
Optical Zoom is more important than Digital Zoom!
Most of the companies will advertise their camera at lower price with 14 MP resolution. The thing they don’t publicize is, camera’s Optical zoom capability. Cheapest cameras today come with a 3x or 4x optical zoom lens.
Optimum Recommended Optical Zoom is 6x. This zoom level is sufficient for Indoor as well as outdoor photography.
Digital zoom is accomplished electronically, with no adjustment of the camera’s optic. Hence, it is recommended to avoid digital zoom. If you use Digital zoom in your pictures, this will only help deteriorate your image quality.
Finally, if you want to become wildlife photographer, then larger optical zoom lens camera is recommended. Again, this will empty your pockets a few bucks more. Utrazoom or Superzoom optical zoom cameras range anywhere between 12x to 30x. The quality of zoom lens may not be excellent, but they can serve your purpose.
Manual focus are meant for Serious Photographers
Manual focus camera is one in which the operator has to adjust the focus of the lens by hand. So, many of our new passionate photographer colleagues who are newly exploring Digital Photography may not be interested in this Manual focus stuff. But, If you’re a slightly more serious photographer and want to experiment with your camera, look for cameras that have a manual focus option. All DSLR cameras and the recently introduced micro four-third cameras come with a manual focus feature.
Aperture priority (Av) and shutter priority (Pv):
Aperture priority and Shutter Priority modes allow some more control over your camera. They are handy when you’re clicking fast action shots or shooting in low-light areas. While camera manufacturers very proudly display all sorts of colour profiles and shooting modes, very little emphasis is given to the aperture and shutter priority modes.
Photos look different in Laptop or PC? Camera Display size will minimize this problem:
Camera’s Display Size and Resolution are two key factors to keep in mind. A camera with a large screen is a great thing to have to view photos while shooting. This will ensure, what you see is what you get. Many shaking blurs are not visible if camera display is small or low resolution. But when we see it in a bigger screen of our PC, they will be visible clearly. The higher the density, the better it’s bound to be. This is not to say that all high resolution displays are excellent, but it’s an easy way to filter out the good screens from the bad.
HD (High Definition) Video recording is NexGen capability
Introduction of HDTV and 3DTV have pushed Camera manufacturing companies and Users to introduce and use these video advancements respectively. Now a day, camera manufacturers are providing HD resolution recording on almost all point and shoot cameras. Look out for cameras that have a minimum of 720p video recording facility. Make sure that the recording frame rate is a minimum of 24fps. Well this video quality isn’t directly comparable to a good HD camcorder, but it’s still good to have feature.
Camera Build Quality and Aesthetics
Build quality and aesthetics of the camera are important factors to inspect while buying. Look for a camera that comes with a solid build.
The Zoom button is the busiest button in your camera after some of the buttons like directional keys. Loose Zoom triggers and buttons means that you’re likely to visit service center after few months down the line. It would be always suggested to visit a mall or a camera showroom and try to get hands on feel of the product, before you finally buy it.
Exclusive Touchscreen and 3D features?
Touchscreen and 3D features are really needed to have? Some of the manufacturers have tried focusing their efforts on such newer features.
Touchscreen: For features such as touchscreen you should inspect the interface and the touch functionality. They have to be flawless, to be practical.
3D: Although a neat feature to have, but I prefer to wait a while till the technology matures. There are very few users using 3D TVs and so the only ones viewing the images you shoot will be you. Since 3D technology is still in its early stages, you’re very likely to end up with an average quality camera with hell lots of bugs.
FREE!!! Most attractive words for Consumers
To make offers more attractive and competent, manufacturers bundle lots of freebies with the product. Look out for offers where free memory cards, carry pouches and tripods are bundled with the cameras. Of course, be careful and make sure that you’re not being overcharged for those freebies. If a bundled memory card is of 8GB capacity and higher, it might be a good freebie to have. Otherwise, 4GB SD cards are really cheap and are worth no more than Rs. 400 in the market. Cheap pouches are also available for that much.
If you keep all these points in mind I think it will be hard to go wrong with your next camera purchase.
Please comment on this article, as your comments will try to improve our quality of articles. Also, do let us know if you want to know more about cameras. And if you like it, dont forget to share below
Posted in: How-TosThursday, June 30, 2011
Hiding Hard Drive
Looking to keep your data safe from prying eyes? Here's a simple process showing you how to hide an entire drive on your Windows PC.
When it comes to hide tons of data on your computer software such as folder lockers, encryption utilities and others do a decent job, but they are cotly and traceable. We will show you a easy to use trick to hide your data from other. This trick will work against casual snoopers but a skilled spy can easily smell it!! So beware before using it. A separate partition is all you need to have for storage of your data.
Step 1:
Create an and format an additional partition. For Windows Vista and 7 users there is an easy way out here. They can use the Shrink Space option from the Disk Management Utility to create a new volume without repartitioning the hard drive. For Windows XP or older users they can even use third party partition manager utilities to create a new partition. If you already have an additional partition or drive, then you can skip this part. Once you have created the partition, format it and transfer all your data to this new drive.
Step 1
Step 2:
To prevent showing up of your precious or sensitive data in Windows Explorer you need to start the Group Policy Editor utility. To do this follow below steps:
1. Click ‘Start | Run’
2. type ‘Gpedit.msc’ and press [Enter].
Here scroll down to ‘User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Explorer’ on the left pane.
Double-click on the ‘Hide these specified drives in My Computer’ on the right pane.
In next window, select ‘Enabled’ and choose the ‘D’ drive from the drop down list under ‘Options’. Apply the settings and exit.
Step 2
The drive letter ‘D’ is now hidden from Windows Explorer.
Step 3:
How to access this drive in future? Very simple, all you need is to enter ‘D:’ in the ‘Start | Run’ dialog box nor in the address bar of Windows Explorer. Your drive will be accessible for your work since only you know it exists.
Step 3
Note: This is not a fool-proof method and the hidden drive can even be targeted by viruses. Also, remember that this is not an encrypted partition. The lists of recently opened files in each program can also expose the hidden drive's existence. Utilities like Ccleaner or Window Washer will help you wipe out these tracks.
When it comes to hide tons of data on your computer software such as folder lockers, encryption utilities and others do a decent job, but they are cotly and traceable. We will show you a easy to use trick to hide your data from other. This trick will work against casual snoopers but a skilled spy can easily smell it!! So beware before using it. A separate partition is all you need to have for storage of your data.
Step 1:
Create an and format an additional partition. For Windows Vista and 7 users there is an easy way out here. They can use the Shrink Space option from the Disk Management Utility to create a new volume without repartitioning the hard drive. For Windows XP or older users they can even use third party partition manager utilities to create a new partition. If you already have an additional partition or drive, then you can skip this part. Once you have created the partition, format it and transfer all your data to this new drive.
Step 1
Step 2:
To prevent showing up of your precious or sensitive data in Windows Explorer you need to start the Group Policy Editor utility. To do this follow below steps:
1. Click ‘Start | Run’
2. type ‘Gpedit.msc’ and press [Enter].
Here scroll down to ‘User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Explorer’ on the left pane.
Double-click on the ‘Hide these specified drives in My Computer’ on the right pane.
In next window, select ‘Enabled’ and choose the ‘D’ drive from the drop down list under ‘Options’. Apply the settings and exit.
Step 2
The drive letter ‘D’ is now hidden from Windows Explorer.
Step 3:
How to access this drive in future? Very simple, all you need is to enter ‘D:’ in the ‘Start | Run’ dialog box nor in the address bar of Windows Explorer. Your drive will be accessible for your work since only you know it exists.
Step 3
Note: This is not a fool-proof method and the hidden drive can even be targeted by viruses. Also, remember that this is not an encrypted partition. The lists of recently opened files in each program can also expose the hidden drive's existence. Utilities like Ccleaner or Window Washer will help you wipe out these tracks.
Posted in: How-Tos