iPhone 5 launching with 3.95-inch display

With each new Apple product launch, there's typically one feature that gets the most attention in the rumor mill. This time around, it's the iPhone 5's display.

According to Apple blog 9to5Mac, citing sources, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company is currently testing at its headquarters two iPhones - only one of which will be released -- boasting larger displays. And although rumors have suggested the device will come with a true 4-inch screen, 9to5Mac claims it'll actually boast a 3.95-inch display.

The new iPhone's screen will be just as wide as that of its predecessor, 9to5Mac claims, but will be slightly taller, allowing Apple to add 176 pixels. The new resolution on the iPhone will be 640x1,136, according to the blog. Apple's current Retina Display on the iPhone 4S features a 640 x 960 resolution.

Although Apple hasn't confirmed it'll even launch a new iPhone, let alone what size screen such a device might have, the rumor mill has been saying for months now that the device will come with a larger display.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported Apple is buying 4-inch screens for its next handset. Earlier this month, Apple-focused site iLounge made the same claim 9to5Mac has, saying that the iPhone 5 will have a taller screen measuring about 4 inches.

The larger screen should help Apple make some customizations to iOS 6, according to 9to5Mac. The blog claims Apple is currently considering adding a fifth row of icons to the operating system's home screen, thanks to the additional screen real estate. It might also change the look and feel of built-in applications to accommodate the taller display.

One other tidbit from the 9to5Mac story: its sources say Apple's next iPhone will, in fact, come with the long-rumored smaller Dock connector.

Intel-inside Lenovo K800 phone coming

The second Intel-based phone to launch.

Lenovo is expected to announce its K800 smartphone in China, according to a source familiar with Lenovo's plans - the second phone powered by Intel silicon.

In addition to the 1.6GHz Atom processor, the K800 boasts a 4.5-inch 720x1280 IPS display, 1.3MP/8MP front-rear cameras, Intel wireless display technology for steaming video to a compatible HDTV, and an Android 2.3.7-based operating system.

Other features include HDMI-out, near-field communication (NFC), and Intel wireless display technology for steaming video to a compatible HDTV.

Lenovo's phone will run on China Unicom's network. The phone supports HSPA+.  The K800 follows the first Intel phone, the Lava Xolo 900 launched in India last month.

Smartphones running on Intel processors from Orange, Motorola, and ZTE are also due in the coming weeks and months.

Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is trying to refocus its chip design and manufacturing efforts on smaller devices like smartphones and tablets, markets where it has been virtually absent.

Pricing is unknown.

Download Official Men In Black 3 Game For iOS And Android

Gameloft is a power releaser of some of the most epic titles for mobile devices, and has pulled out another of its trump cards with the release of Men In Black 3 for iOS and Android. Will Smith and Tommy-Lee Jones are back to their old tricks after a long hiatus, defending the world from alien invasion, and this accompanying title looks to be an absolute must for any fans of the black-suited duo.

Whenever a sequel is released after a long while, it naturally generates a lot of media interest, and the third installment to the Men In Black series is no exception to the rule. After the success of the first two, the third chapter has an apt springboard to become another box-office smash, and the release of a game to the App and Google Play Stores will certainly do promotion the world of good.

Although bringing back a dormant franchise can often seem like an obvious attempt at eking a few more dollars from the consumer pocket, the critics have been rather kind to the latest effort. With Rotten Tomatoes offering a 63% rating, the consensus seems to be that it is more than watchable, and although its follows a similar motif to the first two as you would expect, it is said to try really hard to offer some novelty.

Agents J and K (Smith and Jones) are once again Earth’s last line of defense, and in the mobile title, you are given the responsibility of running the MiB agency, using various weapons and gadgets in protecting humanity from a new kind of threat. In your role as the coordinator, you’ll need to train your agents, assigning them to specific missions in a real tactical battle, and as well as the arsenal of weaponry, you’ll need to build different rooms in order to enhance the efficiency of your agency.

You’ll be travelling in time between 1969 and 2012 New York, fighting the alien scum in iconic areas from Times Square to Central park, and with a sleuth of different aliens to contend with, it’s your job to provide your squadron with the correct weapons and equipment in order to reign supreme.

It’s free to download from the App Store and Google Play Store – depending on your poison – and you can also interact with your friends – offering them a helping hand or getting them on board your own missions, for which you will be duly rewarded.

Whether the world was crying out for a third Men In Black is debatable, but curiosity will likely get the better of us, and I would wager that having seen the first two, most would want to see where the story ends.

Download from here:

• Download Men In Black 3 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch [iTunes link]
• Download Men In Black 3 for Android [Google Play link]

Facebook To Buy Out Opera And Create Its Own Browser

Facebook’s IPO just a week ago has been surrounded by controversy ever since, with the consensus being that the social network was grossly over-valued, while CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also been accused of not being wholly transparent with the numbers.

Despite the mini-saga post IPO, reports suggest Facebook is already gearing up for its next major acquisition. Having only last month purchased Instagram for a billion dollars, trusted sources of Pocket-lint suggest the company is poised to buy out the Opera browser for its own.

Given Facebook’s  prowess on the web – second only to Google as the most visited domain – the move makes a great deal of sense, and the browser would certainly provide the optimal experience for the 900 million (and counting) strong army of Facebook users. Moreover, it would allow Facebook to compete with some of the other prominent tech companies – joining the ranks of Apple and Google – both of whom have their own, very popular browsers.

Having used Opera Mini on both Android and iOS, the mobile app is fairly well suited to Zuck’s social company. Why? Well, for lack of a more eloquent phrase, it sucks – just like most of Facebook’s mobile apps continue to do. Still, with 168 million consumers using the Mini version – as well as 270 million using the desktop iteration, it provides a decent springboard for Facebook to get its foot in the door in the browser wars.

Opera – while not as prominent as the likes of Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer, has a decent enough following to cause a stir – especially with the Facebook gravy train behind it. Building a new browser from scratch would make little sense from Facebook’s point of view, since the first year on the stock market will be a crucial one, and the quicker the company can be monetized from all angles, the better.

With Yahoo! having also launched its own effort recently, this isn’t just an acquisition Facebook will be making because it wants to. Such a buy is needed, and it will be intriguing to see how this one pans out.

Neither Facebook nor Opera were in the mood to pass comment on the matter, and it’s likely we’ll only learn of a deal once it has been done.

Dell Developing Apps for Windows Phone 7 is Easier Than Android

CEO of PC manufacturer Dell Michael Dell, while speaking at an event in Hong Kong, has said that it was easier to develop for Windows Phone 7 than it was for Google Android.

From Reuters:

Speaking at an event in Hong Kong, Michael Dell also said that he had received feedback from developers that it was easier to develop smartphone software using Microsoft’s Windows operating system than Google’s popular free Android system.

Thank you stating the obvious, Mr. Dell. Windows Phone 7 is easier to develop for. Fragmentation, especially of the OEM software variety (HTC Sense / Blur / Stock Android), is proving to be a serious headache for Android developers. And fragmentation is exactly what WP7 is tackling very efficiently.

There is a minimum hardware specs requirement that manufacturers have to meet if they want WP7 on their handset and this means that if a developer gets an app to run on those minimum specs, it will run on every other WP7 phone. iOS does this very effectively as well.

Smartphones with Intel Inside

Now amazing technology that drives some of the world’s fastest computers is now enhancing your smartphone experience. Whether you’re watching an HD video in the park, or playing a game while waiting for a flight, smartphones with Intel Inside® give you the power you need to do amazing things anywhere.

Lightning fast processor

Finally your smartphone can keep up with you. The advanced Intel® processor inside these smartphones enables fast web browsing, super-responsive apps, and effortless multi-tasking so that enjoying the things you love to do has never been easier.

Stunning 8MP camera

Now you can snap as many pictures as you want as fast as you want—up to10 pictures a second to be exact. The advanced HD camera also delivers stunning 1080p image and video quality in all kinds of conditions. And the advanced imaging software gives you more accurate facial recognition, zero shutter lag, low-light enhancement, and high dynamic resolution capabilities.

HD videos

Your fun and entertainment needs have been brought to your smartphone, all in brilliant 1080p. It’s easy to create and share superb HD-quality video. And playback is super smooth so your phone becomes a personal theater you can take with you anywhere.

Jaw dropping graphics

Let the jaw dropping graphics of the smartphone with Intel Inside® take you away.  Get sucked in by the incredibly crisp visuals for games and videos. Smartphones with Intel Inside® can also bring you 3D video for a rich, immersive online experience. 

A powerful phone with a powerful OS

Smartphones with Intel Inside run on the Android OS, giving you access to hundreds of thousands of apps available to download in the Android Market.

Client vs. Designer

Sometimes, the client/designer relationship is like an age-old matchup reminiscent of Ali vs. Frazier. Eagles vs. Cowboys. Yankees vs. Red Sox. Except in this game, the battle isn’t on the playing field — it’s in the boardroom, on the telephone, in an email. And this isn’t a game reliant on physical strength or technique; it’s about wits, expertise and political posturing. And unfortunately, there’s one team that wins 99% of the time. You guessed it: the client.

Yes, us "clients" — we’re the old-fashioned bloodsucking types who like to tear apart your work and sap out every inch of creativity from it until we’ve got something that meets our goals and, most importantly, is aesthetically pleasing to our wives. There’s many of our ilk out there who don’t care one bit about your usability expertise and Photoshop prowess. Unfortunately, our attitude often means that the work (and the designer) are bound to suffer.

Build a Relationship and Set the Stage

Take the time and build a relationship off payroll. You’ll win more work, and you’ll have set the stage for better dialogue when the going gets tough and the project gets going.

Wait a Sec – The Client’s Opinion Matters?

The client’s opinion matters. Take the time to listen early on, and they’ll listen to you later when your life’s work is on the line.

Time for the Planning Phase the Client Never Understands

Establish your client-side champion and get them involved whenever possible. Before you know it, you’ll be watching them fighting your battles for you. (And please, for god’s sake, make the client know that they are actually buying off on something important when they approve your wireframes!)

The Great Design Debate
Back up your aesthetic choices with fact and theory – clients will have a much harder time arguing with you. And when push comes to shove, a little compromise never hurt anyone. You want to do work for this client again, don’t you?


Project Complete! But Still Work to Be Done
Where does this whole article leave us? What’s that final big lesson we’re trying to communicate? The relationships is everything. The more you do to encourage and maintain a dialogue, the better the work in your portfolio, the more money in the door, and the less nerves and stress generated during each and every project.

Protect your relationship at all costs – you’re protecting your work and your business in the process.

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Best Online SEO Optimization Tools

The purpose of Search Engine Optimization is to bring more traffic on your web site.In the world of today there are different tools available which help you out in order to bring more traffic on your web site.With the help of Search engine optimization tools your site can easily be ranked in search engines. Following is a list of tools given which helps in SEO and getting your web site ranked in Search Engines.

1. Google Keyword Tool :

Google Keyword is free tool for helping advertisers are searching for online and the related words that they are also using in their searches, the basics of the Google Keyword Tool will be outlined. The keyword tool will tell you the various keywords that Google will pick up when searching that site with a search engine spider. This can be a helpful way to find out the keywords of any website and how Google will see that website’s contents

2. Meta Tag Generator:

This tool is very useful for those who are new in Search engine optimization. Meta tags are considered as the most important factor by search engines. This tool helps out in ensuring that your meta tag is correctly made or not?

3. Check Server Headers:

This tool Check server headers and verify HTTP (Hyper text transfer code). Basically there are seven HTTP status codes named, 200 OK, 301 Moved permanently, 302 Found, 304 Not Modified, 404 Not Found and 410 Gone. These seven codes are primarily interested from search engine marketing and indexing perspective.

4. Domain Age Checker:

In search engine optimization domain age of your website is indeed the most important factor. Older domains always get some edge by search engines, infect in SEO work on the principle old is gold. This tool will help you out in order to find exact age of your domain. You can also use this tool in order to know about your competitors or if you are interested in purchasing of some domain.

5. Keyword Suggestions for Google:

Keywords are the basic building blocks of SEO. This keyword Suggestion tool will help you out in order to choose such keywords which are most popular and similar to your selected key term. Usage of this tool is so simple. What you need to do is simply enter the key term and then this tool will query information via different Google searches and provide you detail analysis against that keyword.

6. Robots.txt Generator :

This tool is capable to generate robot.txt file for your web site. The purpose of robot.txt file is this that it can hide such directories or files which you don’t want to show to search engine spider. The purpose of this tool is to generate a basic text file you, which you can change according to your demand. This tool is ideal if you want to hide your some directories and files from robots of search engines.

7. URL Rewriting Tool :

This tool helps you out in conversion of dynamic URLs into static looking html URLs. Static URLs are usually considered better than Dynamic URLs because of many reasons. In search engines static URLS are mostly ranked better than dynamic ones. Search engines needs lots of time in order to index the content of dynamic pages whereas indexing done quickly ion static pages. For end users point of view static URLs looked friendlier.

8. Back Link Checker:

This tool provides you details of page rank of your back links by counting them. The use of this tools is so simple. What you need to do is simply put URL of your site plus Google APIKey. In case you do not have any API key, then you can find it out at www.google.com/apis. They are completely free and so easy to get.

9. Number of pages indexed:

This is a very important tool which provides you information about how many pages of your site has been indexed by the search engines till now. So you can get the idea that which pages are indexed and which ones are still left. This tool is made in such a way that it can support all major search engines including Google, Ask, AltaVista, Yahoo, MSN, Alltheweb, Hotbot and so on.

10. Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool:

This tool is very specially designed for the researchers Adwords. This tool provide good and quick idea about the organic search and competition. It can shows results in the form of a graph. So you can get an idea about what you want to target. This tool also give information about all sort of Adword stuff like ad prices etc.

Flash Moto CMS

FlashMoto CMS is a balanced combination of a quality Flash website design and a powerful CMS for Flash that provides tons of features and options to manage the website without even touching the code. Flash CMS templates from FlashMoto CMS are a perfect solution especially for the non-technical users who want to have a professional SEO-friendly Flash website and easily update it with new text and images, add different features, etc.

In the collection of FlashMoto ready-made designs you will find: business templates, portfolio and interior design templates, café & restaurant templates, some abstract and all-purpose designs. Most of the Flash CMS templates are equipped with the striking photo galleries based on Paperviosion 3D, Flip Book and other technologies. Of course, it’s better to see once than to hear hundred times. So, today we want to bring to your attention a collection of stunning skillfully created Flash websites based on FlashMoto CMS templates.

Choose Best Web Hosting

When it comes to websites, the biggest decision you are required to take is which web hosting company should you host your website on. Selecting the right hosting company for your website is a must; otherwise the consequences can be really bad. One of the worst consequences is that all your work might be lost. So now the question is how you can choose the best for your website from the plethora of hosting companies present out there and how would you know which ones are the best as all them claim to be the best!

The following are some questions you should always ask yourself before selecting any hosting company, so that you won’t waste your money, time and hardwork.

What Does This Website Reviews?

• Hosting & Domains
• Uptime and Web Hosting

How Hosting Companies Rated?

• Better Business Bureau Rating
• Reliability
• Server Speed
• Customer Service
• Cost

You should always be clear in mind what services you want, so you can tell your hosting company your requirements and get services according to that. You should always clear details like deadline to finish the works related to building the website, minimum storage space, bandwidth and SMTP mail services etc.

Always keep in mind all these tips before buying a hosting service provider. This will make sure you get the best service which will play a big role in your success on the web.

The One-Trillion-Bits-Per-Second Chip by IBM

The high data loads of the future--and even the present--require that optical communications platforms continue to get faster, leaner, and cheaper. At the Optical Fiber Communication Conference in Los Angeles today, IBM will report on a prototype optical chip it has developed that has hit a significant milestone in optical data transfer: one terabit--that’s one trillion bits--per second.

That’s like downloading 500 HD movies at once, a speed matching the bandwidth consumed by 100,000 users at today’s average high-speed Web rates. It’s important to note that this a parallel optics chip technology, not a long-range fiber optic serial communications technology, so it’s not going to instantaneously boost the speed at which data traverses the oceans. But between computers on a local network (between different servers in a data center, for instance) this technology could provide some pretty searing speeds.

The chip itself gets its name from the fact that there are 48 tiny holes bored through a standard silicon CMOS chip that connects on the back side with 24 receiver and 24 transmitter channels. These channels allow a whole lot of data to move through the chip in both directions simultaneously, allowing for these terabit-per-second transfer speeds.

What’s more, in proper IBM fashion the chip isn’t some kind of behind-the-glass prototype never destined for commercial production. The company claims it achieves these record data speeds with excellent power efficiency--that a 100-watt light bulb could power 20 of the optical modules. They are also constructed from off-the-shelf, commercially available components. But there’s no word yet on when, exactly, this manufacturer-friendly optical device might begin taking advantage of those economies of scale and deliver the next-generation of cloud computing and data center technologies. 

Live-streamed Hajj on YouTube

YouTube and the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information are joining hands to provide a live-stream of the world's largest annual human assembly, Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

"Millions of people from around the world will be able to experience and comment on the event by tuning in via video," the Google-owned video-sharing site said in a blog post.

The live-stream from Mecca is located at youtube.com/hajjlive. YouTube said it was being produced in cooperation with the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information.

Web Based Operating System for Mobiles

The Firefox maker Mozilla announced its plan to create a new web-based operating system for mobile and tablet platform.

According to Mozilla researcher Andreas Gal, the project named Boot to Gecko (B2G) will be a complete standalone operating system for the open web. The aim behind the new project is that the company wants to make sure that developers can build Web apps like HTML 5 apps that are similar to native web apps.


"We will do this work in the open, we will release the source in real-time, we will take all successful additions to an appropriate standards group, and we will track changes that come out of that process. We aren't trying to have these native-grade apps just run on Firefox, we're trying to have them run on the web," Gal said.

Development:

• New web APIs: build prototype APIs for exposing device and OS capabilities to content (Telephony, SMS, Camera, USB, Bluetooth, NFC, etc.)
• Privilege model: making sure that these new capabilities are safely exposed to pages and applications
• Booting: prototype a low-level substrate for an Android-compatible device;
• Applications: choose and port or build apps to prove out and prioritize the power of the system.
  

How to Impress your Clients

If your business relationships are going to work, your clients have to like you. If they feel comfortable with you, you’ll be on solid ground; a good rapport reduces the likelihood that you’ll get into difficult client situations. When you invest in a relationship any relationship the value of that relationship increases and it becomes more likely to bear fruit. So, once you’ve found awesome clients who are fond of you and your work, go the extra mile to ensure their loyalty and esteem. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Don’t Neglect Them

No one likes to feel forgotten. Your clients want to know they can rely on you, now and in the future. Sometimes we forget to stay in touch with clients,

Be in touch with your clients a couple of times per year at least, regardless of the type of work you did for them. Holidays provide a good opportunity to show customers that you remember them, and you can combine a couple of work-related matters with a friendly "best wishes" email or phone call. Ask about their current projects and whether they have needs or problems. You can advertise your services.

Occasionally contacting your clients will remind them that you’re still active and available, but above all, it will make them feel that you enjoyed working for them — enough to send a greeting and to touch base.

2. Predict Their Needs

Working online makes one aware of what clients need to enhance their web presence. You can suggest marketing ideas that a customer couldn’t think of on their own: if you’re creating a website for someone, ask whether they’d like a newsletter or a mailing list, too. If you think their business will grow, propose adding an e-commerce service. If you’re designing a new logo for someone and you notice that their website looks unprofessional, let them know that redesigning it could help — and that you can do it for them. They’ll see that you take their advertising strategy seriously, and a thoughtful response will speak to your professionalism and experience.

3. Follow Their Activity

Sticking to your client’s work schedule will help you to both keep in touch with them and predict their future needs — so it’s tied to the two practices we just went over. 

Track your client’s business activity indirectly via social networks, for example or directly by contacting them and asking about their progress. A combination of the two is optimal; it’s accommodating and not intrusive. Also check the overall activity of the market sector your client operates in; get a general idea of current trends so that you can contribute to business conversations.

4. Don’t Make Them Wait

Ever been disappointed when you were expecting, say, an important package that had a specific date of when it would arrive? That’s how your clients feel when they send you a request (an update, question or suggestion) and you reply a few days later. Sometimes we slack a little after delivering the goods, especially if we’re the ones maintaining a website.

If someone sends an update to be posted on the website, upload it within 48 hours — that’s the general rule. A similar rule exists for customers who face technical difficulties: if a client contacts you by phone more than once within a few hours, it means they are going through what they consider to be an emergency, and you should get in touch with them as soon as possible.

5. Grant Them Privileges

Awesome clients should be rewarded for their cooperation and constructive criticism. If you’re interested in establishing long-term relationships, inform your clients of the ongoing benefits that come from collaborating with you.

Offer discounts to those who choose your services a second time.

Be understanding and flexible with your pricing and payment methods for clients who have always been punctual with payments and trusting of your ideas.

Offer freebies to customers who have stayed with you for a long period of time — perhaps a new banner, a website enhancement (like a new design for the photo gallery) or a free domain name renewal for the new year (it’s timely and low-cost).

Let them know they’re at the top of your list and that you cater to their needs first. Appreciating good customers will benefit your relationships, build trust and serve as a marketing gesture.

If you can’t handle your disappointment or channel it appropriately, you’ll miss opportunities for collaboration. You’re allowed to be a little cautious, but remember that the client has to trust you and your skills first; don’t be afraid to show off your best attributes and client-management tactics.

Find Good Clients

Thousands of service buyers complain of poor quality work from freelancers and design agencies every year; often to the point that reputations are ruined and the design industry as a whole suffers. From disappearing service providers to fly-by-night scam artists, the online world is packed with opportunities for things to go wrong, and it’s really not surprising that so many online and offline entrepreneurs have a bad impression of freelancers and one-off designers.

The good news is that, with enough planning and marketing direction, you don’t have to work for clients that are frustrating and difficult.

Here are some strategies that will help you refine your freelancing business and personal marketing to the point where you’re choosing clients; not them choosing you.

Get your planning book out, file a new page for marketing, and incorporate these tactics into your new client acquisition strategy.

1.  Search by Yourself

Searching for great clients can take time, but the satisfaction that comes from a low-maintenance client base is fantastic.

It’s one thing to put up an advertisement on a popular website, and another altogether to respond to someone else’s. While it’s typically unwise to respond to advertisements for service work – primarily since you’re often forced to work on the clients terms for payment and scheduling – it’s occasionally a great strategy for picking out clients and saving yourself the hassle of having to say "no".

Most webmaster forums will feature a website that’s packed with design-related jobs, and although wages are typically pretty low, they’re often a good place to start building up your portfolio and acquiring clients on your terms. If you’re catering to a higher-end market, a number of local directories and design-related websites typically offer job leads or other design contracts.

2.  Create a Great Web Presence

Without directions and instructions, how are your clients going to find you?

You’ve built a website, done some basic SEO work, and now you’re stuck waiting for clients to come to you. The only problem: they aren’t coming.

A basic website is just that – a basic website, and it’s unlikely to attract any valuable clients to your business. While people may stumble across is from a bizarre and unrelated search result, it’s very unlikely that you’ll gain any valuable clients without your own client-driven and well-marketed website.

3.  Ask Your Current Clients for Referrals

Sometimes a single phone call from a client is enough to land a major contract.

This is the type of situation where you have to look at the advantages you have, not the potential disadvantages that only having a small stack of clients causes. Contact your best clients with an honest and important email, asking them if they know of anyone else that would be interested in working with you.

This situation can be taken to extremes, sometimes with very profitable effects. Want to really encourage your clients to get their friends working with you? Create an affiliate or referral program for your design agency, and convince past clients to bring in new ones for a small commission, discount on their next order, or special bonus. Incentives go a long way online, and sometimes something as minor as a free blog theme could bring in a new major client.

4.  Email Approach

Local clients will often like to meet in person, so get your suit and tie ready.

It’s surprising how effective an email marketing campaign can be for service business owners.

Relax, there’s no need to spam anyone, but targeting individual businesses and community companies with the offer of design services can be quite worthwhile. Many businesses want to be online, but simply don’t know how to move their business there. As a designer, you can approach them with a deal in mind, limiting their barrier to entry and maximizing your local business profits.

5.  Partnership With Others

Sometimes even the unlikeliest of partnerships can work in your favor.

There are going to be times in your life when scheduling gets completely out of control. Clients will stack up, website design requirements will tally well off the page, and work will become a major headache for you. Then again, there will also be times when clients simply aren’t contacting you, leaving you completely free of work, and unfortunately, free of income.

Realize that every service business experiences these changes from time to time, and while many don’t adapt, many others do.

Promote Your Work Through Internet

Promoting our products and services can be a time consuming and daunting task. A lot of us get tangled up in online self promotion without realising the value in collaboration more often with other people through the web. It can be a wise way to expand your network, pool resources and save time, money and work.

The internet has opened up a range of exciting possibilities for gaining value through mutually beneficial arrangements or simply interacting with others in promoting your work effectively and ultimately landing more clients.

Here are some ways you can do this:

1. Joint Blogs/Sites

A successful blog requires regular and outstanding content to be in for a chance of attracting many visitors. Particularly for those lacking in time, it is worth considering setting up a site with one or more suitable other people. With others working on the same platform, it is now possible to build up posts quicker, combine skills and resources, and promote everyone’s work through a single site.

2. Contacts on Social Media Sites

Social media allows people to build up substantial networks of people who we’d want to know about our work. With sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, it has become possible to link up with potential clients, fans, as well as key influencers and even celebrities in your industry. It’s best to add new people to these networks with appropriate personal messages.

3. Content Exchanging

Getting material on someone else’s website can be a great way of having fresh new people seeing your name on the internet. You can agree to put an article or a guest post on another site in return for content for your own, or even agree to swap decent comments with someone else with a site or blog relating to yours.

4. Exchanging Links

A straightforward but useful promotional tactic is in agreeing to place a link on your site to someone’s work who has done the same for you on their site. People do click on links featured on or recommended by sites and by having many of your web links on key sites around the web, this will benefit your exposure.

Your Web Design Says About You

Font and color choices in a website say certain things about the owner of the site. Though colors and symbols may have different meanings in other cultures, this only reaffirms the notion that design choices do affect the perception of the user, which in turn affects the message attempting to be conveyed.

Here is an infographic that delves into the meanings of fonts and colors in the context of web design:

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Freelance Guidelines

The lifestyle of a freelancer can be very hectic at times. You have to juggle multiple projects and meetings with clients all to make sure your bills are paid. And the only way you’re going to keep ahead is by managing your money properly!

Freelancers don’t often consider the payment process as something to analyze and work out. It is considered an afterthought that you’ll assume payment since the client is happy to work with you. But sadly this is not always the case, and project work can go south very quickly leaving you dry on next month’s rent. In this guide I want to share just a few tips for managing payments and getting your money on time.

Discuss Terms

The only reason you’re working on such a project is to earn money in the first place. You need to make sure you are compensated properly for all your effort. Things can get hairy if you jump right into the work and start discussing funds at a later date. It’s all too easy for the client to lowball your estimate and with much of the work already done, you may feel inclined to just accept it.

Never sell yourself short and never start on any work before clarifying your payments. Even working on some of the most interesting project ideas will not be enough to keep you going. The initial motivation will pass and you’ll want to have an idea in the back of your mind for just how much you’re working.

Use Contracts

Consider your best method of payment either hourly or set per project. Generally you can only choose one, unless you go back for additional work and switch between these two methods. But you should include either the total expected project compensation or your hourly wage and ensure this clause is clearly visible to both parties.

Don’t be afraid to work with your client so you both are signing a contract you can agree with. Always keep a local copy for yourself to look back on in case of issues down the road. Text in print is your best argument against a client who is unwilling to pay. Or even after payment is sent and they come back to you expecting free touch-up work you can refer them to the project contract.

Keep Yourself on Schedule

Based on the amount of work needed you will have to adjust your schedule accordingly. If you think it’ll take 1-2 weeks for a project to be complete it is safer to write in 3 weeks. This gives you some padding just in case you get caught up in other drama. It also looks much better to finish a project early than underestimate the timing and fall behind.

Getting onto a schedule is imperative to keep you and your client on the same page. This may require weekly meetings or phone conversations to touch base on the progress so far. Keep a close professional relationship and be sure to respect your client’s opinion on project details. Ultimately you are in this for a paycheck and cannot get too invested.

Keep Emotions at Bay

It can be difficult removing yourself from a project. Especially if you pour hours and hours of hard work into a design idea. But when you are a freelancer you need to keep your emotions in check and try to limit yourself. I often find myself heavily invested in smaller projects where I’ll get caught up on smaller details.

This can result in re-designing areas of the template which are just fine to begin with. Logos, buttons, banners, marketing e-mails, and other seemingly important page elements are all included based on your project needs. Don’t let this turn into a huge waste of your time! Designers have to invest a bit of their emotional energy, but too much and you’ll find yourself burnt out with little-to-no motivation left.

How to add Videos in HTML5

HTML5 has entered our lives for good and it is changing the way we are embedding media on our web pages. Two of the new greatest features are the <video> elements. No more do we have to resort to Flash to serve videos to our visitors. The new solutions HTML5 has to offer are really tempting but enough with the introductory words. Let’s see what <video> do.

<video>

As with the <audio> element, the syntax is the same with the <video> element.

<video controls>
    <source src="video-file.mp4" type="video/mp4"/>
    <source src="video-file.ogv" type="video/ogg"/>
<p>Fallback message - Your browser does not support the video element.</p>
</video>

Again, we have to use multiple sources and different file types and encodings of the same video file to support all the compatible browsers. You can read more about file types and browser support on the W3Schools HTML5 Video page.

height/width

The autoplay, loop and preload attributes of the audio element work the same way in the video element too. Apart from those, we have some other video specific attributes such as the height and width. They work the same way they do for the img element.

<video controls height="480" width="640">
    <source src="video-file.mp4" type="video/mp4"/>
    <source src="video-file.ogv" type="video/ogg"/>
<p>Fallback message - Your browser does not support the video element.</p>
</video>

poster

When our video is not playing, we can use the poster attribute to link to a thumbnail image to display instead of just displaying the first frame of the video.

<video controls poster="video-thumbnail.jpg">
    <source src="video-file.mp4" type="video/mp4"/>
    <source src="video-file.ogv" type="video/ogg"/>
<p>Fallback message - Your browser does not support the video element.</p>
</video>

fallback

Browser support is good considering this is a new feature but of course there are older browsers that we need to take care of. To do so there is only one good and efficient solution, to use a Flash as a fallback. A great plugin to help with browser support for both the audio and video elements is html5media.

How to add Audios in HTML5

HTML5 has entered our lives for good and it is changing the way we are embedding media on our web pages. Two of the new greatest features are the <audio> elements. No more do we have to resort to Flash to serve audio to our visitors. The new solutions HTML5 has to offer are really tempting but enough with the introductory words. Let’s see what <audio> do.

<audio>

The tag’s name by itself says it all. With the new <audio> element we can quickly and easily add audio to our webpages. In its simplest form, it works pretty much the same as the <img> element so we just need to use the src attribute to link to our audio file.

<audio src="audio-file.mp3">
</audio>

It is really that simple. We can even add a fallback message or another fallback solution (Flash player) in case the visitor’s browser doesn’t support the new audio element.

<audio src="audio-file.mp3">
    <p>Fallback message - Your browser does not support the audio element.</p>
</audio>

autoplay

With difference the most annoying option. Who amongst us hasn’t stumbled upon a web page that started playing music and you were looking for that one tab that had to close? If we want to be that annoying we can use the autoplay option on our audio element. Please use with caution.

<audio src="audio-file.mp3" autoplay>
</audio>

Notice that autoplay is a boolean attribute, so no need to type autoplay=”true”.

loop

Another pretty self-explanatory boolean attribute. The audio file loops for ever.

<audio src="audio-file.mp3" loop>
</audio>

preload

Preload allows the browser to start buffering our audio file without having the visitor hit the play button first. That way, when the visitor hits tha play button, he can enjoy a smooth playback without loading times. Again, we have to be cautious when we use preload because might not want to buffer data that the visitor might not use.

So preload can take three values, “auto”, “none” and “metadata”. We are extremely interested only about the first too though.

<audio src="audio-file.mp3" preload="auto">
</audio>

Keep in mind that Safari by default has the preload to “auto” so if we want to disable it, we have to use preload=”none”

controls

With the use of controls, we enable the visitor to use the native controls each browser provides for the playback of the audio file. Of course we are able to use our own control buttons with a bit of Javascript but that is a subject for another article.

<audio src="audio-file.mp3" controls>
</audio>

filetypes

Unfortunately, not everything is as easy as it looks. The problem with audio (and video) filetypes is that the HTML5 specs do not restrict the browsers to support certain filetypes so each browser supports his own filetypes and encodings for his own reasons. What we have to do is, look ahead and provide the same audio file in different filetypes and encodings for it to be compatible with each browser that supports the audio element. More on audio filetypes and encodings on the W3Schools HTML5 Audio page.

To add multiple sources we will use the <source> tag.

<audio controls>
     <source src="audio-file.ogg" type="audio/ogg" />
      <source src="audio-file.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" />
</audio>

With those two filetypes we have covered all the compatible browsers. Let’s move on to <video> now.