Add poll to web site
Posted on April 18, 2009
Filed Under Web site utilities | 78 Comments
There are resources and then there are resources. PollDaddy.com provides one of the easiest ways to create and add a poll to your web site.
What I love about Polldaddy.com is the clean and intuitive interface. There are no distracting icons and links (most of which you will probably never click on). You stay focussed to the job at hand, which is creating a poll for your web site. The service offers both free and paid accounts and you would probably go in for the former, right? In addition to polls, you can also create surveys.
Oh, that lil’ girl in pigtails is not a part of the Polldaddy.com logo but does play a part in their branding; which is something I didn’t like - you know, the daddy’s little girl kind of impression one gets when you see her.
Free polls and voting for your web site
The Polldaddy.com free account lets you create unlimited polls with unlimited votes per poll - what more can one ask for? Though there are tons of readymade “skins” to choose from, you can even create your own template using images and colors from your web site. The service also excels in providing “security” for the polls; repeat (read spam) voters are blocked by IP address or cookies. Your polls can have single or multiple choice questions with the ability to have images instead of text as the answer choice! Poll functionality is fully customizable and you can close them after a specified date, randomize answers, hide answers from visitors etc.
How to create a poll for your web site?
Head off to polldaddy.com web site and signup for an account. You can immediately start to create a poll for your web site. Give the poll a name (to identify it), enter the question and the answers, choose from different security options and select a skin (a template). You will then be provided the HTML code that you need to paste on the page at which you want to run the poll.
Polls for Blogger, Typepad, MySpace, Wordpress etc.
The Polldaddy.com web site polls can also be integrated with your blog software and you can put them up quite easily on Blogger, Typepad, Wordpress and even on your MySpace and Hi5 pages.
Create a favicon from a picture
Posted on April 18, 2009
Filed Under Graphics, Web site design | 47 Comments
Chami.com’s FavIcon from Pics lets you create a favicon from a picture. “What is a Favicon?”, I hear you ask. It’s that very small image displayed by browsers in the tabs and favorites/bookmarks list. For example, the image below is a part of an actual snapshot with the Google Favicon as shown on the Chrome web browser.
Why should you have a FavIcon image for your web site?
Favicons are not a requirement; you don’t need a favicon and your web site will work just fine without it. However, it does help in branding. A favicon also assists the user in quickly locating your web site in the multiple tabs they have open and in the favorites list.
Favicons come in two sizes - 16×16 pixels and 32×32 pixels and both, as you would know, are very small images. What people generally do is to take their logo or a part of it and convert it into a favicon. Thus, for example, if you check the tab of this page, you shall see the image for this web site.
Now, the Favicon from Pics service from Chami.com lets you create these small images in less than a minute. Yes, you do need an image to begin with. All you need to do is to upload the picture from your computer and hit the “Generate FavIcon.ico” button. You’ll get the Favicon in a zip file which you can then download.
And yes, there is more… You can create an animated favicon, add scrolling text, change the background color (transparent is recommended), add a border around the favicon and also have one created for the iPhone and iPod Touch devices. [If you have, or seen one of these, you'll know what I'm talking about.]
Put some Favicon love on your web site - uploading the favicon.ico file
Once you get the zip file with the chosen favicons, you simply need to upload the file (or files) to the web site root directory - the one that has the homepage (index.html, index.php etc.). You also need to add the following code to each page. This can be less than a minute’s job if you run a blog or a web site with include files because you then have to change only the header document.
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico">
<link rel="icon" type="image/gif" href="animated_favicon1.gif">
Anyway, the zip file you get from Chami.com also has instructions on how to use the favicons for your web site.
Download old software
Posted on April 18, 2009
Filed Under Software (mostly free) | 80 Comments
“… because newer is not always better” says the Oldversion.com web site. There are about 200 programs available for download for free; and yes, all of these are the older versions.
The programs are helpfully organized into several categories like Graphics, Multimedia, Internet, File Sharing etc. So if you’ve ever pined for your trusted and familiar version, head off to download the old software from oldversion.com. You’ll find most of the popular ones on this web site including some of my favorites:
- Paint Shop Pro
- Winzip
- jetAudio
- Limewire
- PDF Image Extration Wizard
- IrfanView
- Terragen
Want Outlook Express - Get Internet Explorer 6
And for Outlook Express users if you want the email program for your new computer and cannot find it anywhere? Get the Internet Explorer 6 version that had the email program bundled in the download file. I haven’t given this a go but maybe … just maybe, Windows would let you install Outlook Express without messing up the newer version of the browser (if you have it).
Check internet speed
Posted on April 18, 2009
Filed Under Internet Utilities | 33 Comments
Tons of things to do and no time? And to top it all, the net speed is dragging. Here is how you can quickly check the internet speed without the need of downloading and installing an application. All you need is to visit one of the three resources mentioned below, click on a button and get the results!
The Speedtest.net internet speed checking tool is probably the best looking of the three. Seems its Flash based and loads with the map of the world zooming to your location. Click on the small rotating orange pyramid and the wait for the results.
Speakeasy.net test is also Flash based. You choose a server from the list displayed and sit back in anticipation. It checks both the upload and download internet speeds, just like the speedtest.net (above).
Agreed Bandwidthplace.com’s interface is nothing to write home about - just a simple stopwatch image and a large “Start” button - but it doesn’t lack in functionality and does a good job of checkingiInternet speed. And how do I know this/ because all the services I listed here gave me similar results.
If you find the internet speed lacking, contact you Internet Service Provider and point them to these web sites; Heck, take a screenshot and send it to them.
Free online image editor - Pixlr.com
Posted on April 15, 2009
Filed Under Graphics, Photos and pictures | 102 Comments
The free online image editor at Pixlr.com, is a phenomenal application that you should bookmark. Available in different languages, this online image tool has been developed in Flash and has many of the functionalities found in well-known image programs such as Adobe Photoshop.
Create a new image or edit an existing one
When you first start this image program, you shall be given a choice of creating a new image or editing one you have. You can either load a picture from your computer or, if its available online, provide the URL. The program supports the three most popular image formats of the web - GIF, JPG and PNG. Unfortunately, the BMP format is not recognized when one wants to load it from the computer - weird as one can save the image is this format.
What I really liked were the several tools including goodies like the Clone Stamp, Gradient, Burn, Red eye reduction, Dropper (color picker), and the Magic wand for selecting parts of the image. And you can use keyboard shortcuts too!
The filter gallery is not as extensive as one on a full-blown image editor but more than sufficient for basic needs. Layers are well supported including the ability to change the opacity of the layer or locking it to prevent accidental modifications. You can also add affects to the layers such as drop and inner shadows, bevel, outer and inner glows. However, since one can only get the final result as .JPG, .PNG or .BMP, the layer information will be lost when you finally save the image.
Applying affects to photographs - online image editor
Here is a photograph with the crazy Kaleidoscope filter affect.
On the whole, I found this free online image editor a great resource for all who are away from their computer (and from their beloved image editor) and wanted to modify a picture or a photograph - even create one from scratch.
Add slideshow of photographs and pictures on web site or blog
Posted on April 15, 2009
Filed Under Graphics, Photos and pictures | 50 Comments
Ever wanted to add a slideshow of photographs and pictures on your web site? Here is a super easy way especially if you already have a flickr account with some photographs. All you need to do it to provide the URL of your flickr account, the photograph set or picture group and specify the width and height of the slideshow. You will then get the slideshow HTML code that you can paste in your blog or web site. As simple as that!
There are a couple of services, both very similar, that create a slideshow of your flickr photographs in a few seconds.
The first service (Flickr Slideshow) seems better because you can embed the slideshow in Blogger, Forums, WordPress, MySpace, Facebook, Live Journal and more. This site also has a freeware which you can download to your computer to create and embed slideshows of your Flickr photographs. The freeware requires no installation.
Here is the slideshow I created using Flickr Slideshow service.
Flickr, as most of you would know, is a free photo sharing service run by Yahoo! You can upload photographs from your computer or even from your cellphone - I routinely do this through my iPhone.