Rewind. What is Third Tuesday Toronto? It’s a meetup.com group with over 3000 members that meet up on the third Tuesday of every month. Originally, it was a take on the Third Thursdays done up in the San Francisco Bay area. The typical format is a presentation by a guest speaker followed by networking. Topics focus on new media marketing and communications, so you’ll see a lot of social media savvy people here.

Today, they had two speakers.

Part 1: Justin Kozuch aka @jkozuch

First up, @jkozoch of @49pixels talked. His thing was inspiring a legacy in digital media. Do you know how many players are in the digital media? Do you even know what digital media is? He is working right now to answer these questions and more because Statscan doesn’t do a good job. Kudos to @jkozoch for taking on this massive elephant of a task.

Your take away from my recap is to take a look @49pixels. It’s part of a huge movement for everyone involved in digital media (ie. digital audio, cell phones, tv, e-books, video games, e-commerce…).

Part 2: Richard Binhammer aka @RichardatDell

Then, the microphone was tossed to the jeans-wearing @RichardatDell. He is one of the champions behind Dell’s social media; he was the guy that everyone came out to hear. A few years ago, he came out to speak at a previous Third Tuesday. This time around, it was sold out with a waitlist of members. Everyone wanted to hear what his take on social media given Dell Hell (super bad customer and technical service) and Dell being one of the first movers in the big, bad, and seemingly scary world of social media a whole four years ago.

While sitting on the stage with his ankles crossed and legs swinging, @RichardatDell told us 13 things that worked for Dell and other people can take away as nuggets.

1) Access for the customers is key. Dell is available 24/7 and in lots of languages.

2) Read all customer reviews to improve ratings beyond a 4 or 5-star rating.

3) Get cozy with 15 haters and 15 lovers of your brand by bringing them together and then talk and listen to them.

4) Fly to the top of social media platforms in China. Dell did this in eight short months.

5) Focus on business-to-business strategies.

6) Wow, this got lost in translations somewhere.

7) What 6) said.

8 ) Train all employees on social media. Dell trained more than 8000 employees.

9) Track daily reports and then pass them along to decision-making employees.

10) Do some ‘idea storm(ing)’ (brain storming) to refresh your product, service, and brand.

11) Lend an ear and hand to the technical side of the product in your idea generation for success.

12) Keep doing more social media every single day.

In the end, it turned out to be 12 points for @RichardatDell.

Ultimately, do I like Dell? Not really, they didn’t allow me to upgrade a laptop order that I got back in 2009. Is this a case of Dell Hell? As for #TTT, I’d go back next month. Next time, I’ll stay to mingle too. After all, I am one of those glasses-wearing (sometimes, contacts-wearing) social media types.

Not in the T.dot and wanting to take in some upcoming events?  Try Third Tuesday meetup.com groups in Vancouver (#3TYVR), Ottawa (#TTO), Calgary (#CTT), or New Brunswick (#TTNB).

What We Are Trying to Achieve

Step 1 – Create the Container

First, we need to create a container for the ads. This way, we’re confident it will fit in our sidebar.

<div id="ad_125_container"></div>

Step 2 – Add the Ad Slots into the Container

What we want to do now is add the ad elements inside the container

<div id="ad_125_container">
     <div class="ad_125">Ad 1</div>
     <div class="ad_125">Ad 2</div>
     <div class="ad_125">Ad 3</div>
     <div class="ad_125">Ad 4</div>
</div> <!-- #ad_125_container -->

Step 3 – Style the Container

We need to tell what the container’s max width will be.

#ad_125_container {
     width: 275px;
     float: left;
}

Step 4 – Style the Ad Slot

We want to give the ad slot a width, a height, border, and margin. The margin will determine the space between each other.

.ad_125 {
	width: 125px;
	height: 125px;
	border: 1px solid #eee;
	margin: 5px;
	float: left;
}

And there you have it! Ad space for advertisers! ]]> http://definemag.com/technology/how-to-create-125x125-ad-slots-for-your-website/feed/ 3 http://definemag.com/technology/how-to-remove-blogger-bar/ http://definemag.com/technology/how-to-remove-blogger-bar/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:45:39 +0000 Michael Tao http://definemag.com/?p=1780 If you have a Blogger/Blogspot account, you know how annoying that top bar can be. It’s orange and ugly. You can easily hide it with some CSS magic.

Step 1 – Modify Your Layout

To modify your layout in Blogger/Blogspot, click on Layout and then click on Edit HTML.

Step 2 – Look for the CSS code

Scroll through your HTML code and look for body

body {
     background:$bgcolor;
     margin:0;
     color:$textcolor;
     font:x-small Georgia Serif;
     font-size/* */:/**/small;
     font-size: /**/small;
     text-align: center;
  }

Step 3 – Hide the Bar with CSS

Place this code above the body and save changes.

#navbar {
     display:none;
     height:0;
     visibility:hidden;
}

#navbar {
     display:none;
     height:0;
     visibility:hidden;
}

body {
     background:$bgcolor;
     margin:0;
     color:$textcolor;
     font:x-small Georgia Serif;
     font-size/* */:/**/small;
     font-size: /**/small;
     text-align: center;
  }

Bam! Blogger bar gone! Enjoy your beautiful looking blog.

Step 1 – Create an Icon

For best result, create a 57×57 px PNG image. Upload the image to your web server.

Step 2 – Link your New Icon

Insert the HTML Link tag between your head tags. They are located at the top of your page: <head></head>

<link rel="apple-touch-icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/images/dm-iphone-itouch.png" >

Step 3 – Browse to your Web site from your iPhone/iTouch

Click on the plus sign at the bottom of the screen

Step 4 – Add to Home Screen

Click on the Add to Home Screen button

Step 5 – Name it and Save it

By default it will take the page title. Once you are happy with the name, press Add

Finished Product!

Virtuoso. Makes you think of a violinist, a pianist, or someone else in the arts. Well, what about online gaming? Billions of people around the world game every day. So much, that by the time they’re 21, they have most likely, logged those 10,000 hours. And according to Malcolm Gladwell, that, by definition, makes them a virtuoso.

Ironically, these 10,000 hours are competing with traditional education, schooling. In fact, the number of hours a person is in school, from 5th to 12th grades, is 10,080. And that’s providing that the individual has perfect attendance. And so, according to Jane McGonigal, these gamers are receiving 2 simultaneous educations.

But so what, right? McGonigal believes that since we have billions of gaming experts, that we must put their “expertise” to use. But wait! What exactly are they experts in? McGonigal discusses the gamer and their desire to achieve the “Epic Win”. She discusses how this mentality, and these people, could help us solve real life world issues.

Check out the entire lecture.

Yeah.

That’s pretty much the premise for one of the largest telecommunications companies on the planet. Nokia makes phones now, and a lot of them, as in 126.9 million phones just this past quarter (Q4 2009, source: Unwired View). I recently succumbed to the pressures of the Internet, found a sale online and bought a Nokia E72. Great, yet another new phone, but hey! At least I now have the chance to review it also.

Lame excuse, but let’s carry on.

“What BlackBerry is that?”

If you see my phone and ask me that, I will beat you down with the full fury of its Finnish all-metal body. And by “beat” I mean “verbally rebuke with politeness”. Of course, no one would ask that if it didn’t look like a BlackBerry, which to the untrained eye, it does. It’s got a screen! A row of buttons underneath! A big keyboard below that! There are no slidey bits, no flips, no nonsense. Just one solid block of heartless corporate communication.

Nokia files this type of design under “full-keyboard messengers,” a line they launched with their Nokia E61 back in 2006. I’ve owned almost every variant and successor of the series, with the exception of the Nokia E63, which I really, really could care less about.

But no matter, what we’re interested in is the E72. Nokia’s come a long way since the E61 came out. The E71 was really the first runaway hit in the series, and to this day, still a hot sell worldwide, despite the release of the E72. The latter, much like its immediate predecessor, is a thin, thin phone. Much of it is made of metal, giving it a solid feel in the hand and the confidence that it can do some serious damage if hurled at someone. Nokia has pretty much taken the E71 and made it better in almost every way. The only exception would be looks, as the E71 is still sleeker, in my opinion, although it lacks the improved 5-megapixel camera, 3.5 mm headphone jack, optical joystick and 600 Mhz processor.

The keyboard is amazing on the E72 and the screen is still one of the best I’ve ever seen on a mobile device. Despite having a measly 320×240 resolution, it displays millions of colours and is easily readable even in direct sunlight. Like the E71, battery life is phenomenal, lasting almost a whole day with my heavy Internet usage, sprinkled with voice here and there.

On the software side of things, the E72 runs S60 3rd Edition FP2. Translated, this means it runs something pretty old. Even then, the new processor makes this phone fly and despite the unwieldy and archaic menu system, you can jump around the phone rather quickly. The optical joystick isn’t quite as good as the one RIM features on their newer BlackBerrys, but unlike most reviewers, I quite like it. GPS is a dream to use also, and with the recent announcement from Nokia that all Ovi Maps premium services are now free, forever, I’ve put away my TomTom. Multi-tasking is something that Nokia’s flagship N97 phone really can’t do, but the E72 will run over 10 programs at a time with ease. Not like you need to, but it just shows how robust it is.

I am running firmware v22.007 on my E72-2, the suffix meaning that this is the North American 3G version (see here for a reminder as to just what that means). The current bugs that I can gather from this firmware are that holding down the “Ctrl” key doesn’t put it into Silent mode as it should and the Camera app sometimes makes the phone blow up. As in crash, not actually explode. Other than that, the E72 is very, very good right now.

“But I Have An iPhone!”

So do I, and guess what? Despite the fantastic UI and fun apps for the iPhones, I still prefer the E72 to it. Texting and emails are a breeze, and support for 10.2 Mbps cellular wireless speeds means that when Rogers finally decides to lift the speed cap, this phone will be one of the fastest around. Make that THE fastest one around, by almost 50%. Nokia is also notorious for releasing phones with lousy to mediocre firmwares at launch. They are also infamous for making them awesome after a few firmware updates, which is something this Nokia user has long since accepted. Despite that fact, the E72 is already a great phone. Fantastic, even. So much so I have to repeat this fact in the last paragraph.

The Bottom Line

If you’re in the market for a new phone and want one that will last you a very, very long time, consider the E72. Physically tough, runs forever, robust messaging. An excellent all-around phone experience, possibly too good, as I can’t seem to put the darned thing down.

iPhone 3GS

Unless you’ve recently emerged from a black hole, you know about the iPhone.  The mother of all smart phones, this phone woke up the public to touch-screens and caused them to ditch their old phones forever. Sorry Razr, we had a good run.

Looks: Easily the most customizable, it’s super easy to find a variety of fantastic face plates to customize your iPhone for every mood.

Size/weight: easily fits into a purse, but perhaps not a clutch.

Price: $299

Battery: 5 hours of talk time

Features: Standard features (music, GPS, bluetooth, wifi, internet browser) and the latest version has video recording capability as well as a video-editing tool.

Apps: 128,000 and counting

Pros: the iPhone is the phone for you if you are keen on using apps.  You know how they say in the commercial that “there’s an app for that”? It most definitely is true.

Cons: No multi-tasking function, no way to expand the built-in memory (although with 32GB, do you really need to?) and no replaceable battery unit means the iPhone is exactly as-is and nothing more.  Rumour has it that too, that the screen is easily scratched.

Blackberry Bold 9700

The Bold is the most popular model of Blackberry and with its latest incarnation, RIM hopes to wrestle for the spot of top dog against its “fruity” competitor.

Looks: Still pretty much the same, with its business-like aesthetic and iconic leather-like backing.

Size/weight: slightly smaller than the iPhone and the lightest of the bunch, the Bold wins in this category

Price: $199

Battery: 6 hours

Features: standard features plus Blackberry Messenger, a Blackberry specific messaging service that allows all BB users to message each other.

Apps: 2000+ via Blackberry app store

Pros: Perfect for professionals or anyone always on the go. Also good for people who like to text a lot, as it has a great QWERTY keyboard. The new Bold has also replaced its trademark track ball for a sleek optical scanner that is fast and easy to use.

Cons: A small app store is a major disadvantage and really decreases this phone’s “cool” factor. The Bold is more functional than pretty and its interface is a bit clunky. The Internet browser is also slow and ugly. Finally, the screen size on the Bold is the smallest of the bunch, which is also a big minus. This phone is like buying a practical no-name briefcase when all you want is a sleek Valentino tote!

These next two devices are new to the smart phone scene, but are already making a splash! If you’re a trendsetter, you might want to pick up one of these just to be ahead of the curve.

Motorola Droid

Looks: Ugly, with sharp rectangular angles, but has the biggest screen of them all.

Price: $199

Battery: 6.4 hours

Size/weight: The clunkiness is exacerbated by its heavy 6oz weight. Considering it’s the same size as the others basically, its heavy weight is a disadvantage since with everything else you’re hauling, who needs a heavy phone?

Features: Besides the standards, the Droid has multi-tasking functionality that allows users to maintain multiple screens of stuff, and since it’s an Android phone it has built-in Google services. Having Google services built-in is a huge plus because it means you can have Google Maps GPS service for free, whereas the other devices charge for GPS service usually. Also the Droid features 3 keyboards: one physical and two virtual!

Apps: 16,000+ via Google Android app store

Pros: Very fast and free services! A great alternative to the previous two.

Cons: QWERTY keyboard has very flat keys making it a bit hard to type on.

LG Eve

Looks: Slick curved design that fits easily in your hand. Features landscape slide-out keyboard. You can also change the phone’s skin, but otherwise there isn’t anything distinguishable about this phone.

Price: $399.99 via Rogers

Size/weight: Average weight and this phone easily fits into your hand. Its narrow shape will let it fit into your teeny clutches.

Features: The Eve has some very intriguing features as it was designed to optimize the social networking experience. Features include integration with Facebook, Twitter, and Bebo, letting users easily access and update their various profiles. As well, your phonebook is synced with other network data and has a really cool photo-tagging feature; as you tag your contacts photos in your phone, Eve will learn who is who and auto-tag future photos! The Eve also has a QWERTY keyboard and photo/video editing software.

Apps: 16,000+ via Google Android app store

Pros: Great integration for social networks, rotational multi-tasking screens, and good sensitivity on touch screen.

Cons: Menus aren’t the most intuitive and it can be tricky trying to figure out how various functions work. The battery life is terrible, meaning you will likely have to charge it almost daily.

I hope you found this guide to be informative and helpful!  Please feel free to share your own experiences with any of these phones!

BarMax CA is the most expensive application featured on iTunes with a $999.99 price tag. This application is aimed towards Law School students preparing to pass the Bar exam. Similar existing applications are available free from BarBari with a catch; the user has to enroll in BarBari’s program, costing between $3000-$4000.

Not only is BarMax CA the most expensive application, but also the largest in terms of size, containing hundreds of pages of texts, as well as hours of audio lectures. To prepare the user for the California bar exam, this application covers multiple choices, essays and a performance test. BarMax promises to save students money while providing them with the same quality of preparation material for the California bar exam.

Like a handful of other applications, BarMax was created out of necessity by Mike Ghaffary while he was preparing for his own bar exam. Though it is tough to justify spending a $1000 with one click, once tapped into the right niche market, BarMax could become the must-have-app for law students in California!

Among the applications developed locally, targeted towards the Olympic attendees, are ChicWalk, iCoin Canada, and Winter Games Grub. ChicWalk introduces local boutiques in form of a GPS-mapped walk, while iCoin Canada introduces new visitors to Canadian money. Winter Games Grub is an application with Games schedules, news, blogs, and even means for the user to submit content.

ChicWalk

As is the case in any city, local boutiques and designers are rarely featured on the mainstream tourism websites and maps. ChicWalk features 9 complete GPS-Mapped walks covering Vancouver’s fashion and design rich neighbourhoods. Covering areas from the West End to South Main, ChicWalk introduces more than 1000 shops to a Vancouver visitor while providing in-store specials and exclusive vendor offers. ChicWalk is the first application of its kind, addressing the needs of the Fashionistas visiting Vancouver.  The application also provides the means to forward the user’s secret wishes to a friend, family member, or spouse. This application is available for purchase on iTunes.

iCoin Canada

Visitors with no previous experience in handling Canadian bills and coins will find this application useful. This application, complete with a graphical interface and sounds, allows the user to figure out which coins or bills to use to pay their balance. By providing the numerical and the picture of the coins, it provides the user with an intuitive interface.

The current balance is saved upon exiting the application and by shaking the phone the balance is cleared. This application is available on iTunes and is featured in two versions, the paid version also features Canadian bills.

Winter Games Grub

No article covering the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games iPhone applications would be complete without mentioning an application that lets you track schedules, read news, and keep up-to-date with daily events.

Winter Games Grub is unique in its approach by combining news from social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to provide a more comprehensive coverage of the games.

It not only lets you keep track of daily events but also provides the means to submit updates and news not covered by mainstream media. This application is available on iTunes for free.

Or for many, a peek into what already is.

Let’s get this straight: It ain’t pretty here. Due to science and witchcraft and alchemy, the total combined number of frequencies for SIM-card phones (GSM/UMTS phones) is ten. Ten. TEN. Does this make any sense to you? Of course not, and that’s why we’re the consumers and not the network techs keeping our BlackBerry-Thumb-Syndrome digits happy.

We’ll finish things off today with a primer on the hardware: the unlocked phones. There are many places where one could get a fancy import phone, but which one to get and what should one look for? Aesthetics are subjective, so don’t ask me if a pink phone with sequins is a better buy than a Hello Kitty phone without sparklies (they do exist…… yeah).

What I can tell you is that first and foremost, check the frequencies. GSMArena.com is a fantastic resource that lists pretty much every SIM-card compatible phone out there. The exceptions to that are most phones from Japan and all Chinese knock-offs. Beware of the latter, always, as you might find yourself buying a Nokla instead of a Nokia from that booth at the Richmond Night Market.

I had mentioned last time that there was once a time people looked for “world phones” or “quad-band phones.” You may also have heard phone geeks throw around the acronym, “NAM.” This stands for North American Market, namely the two unique frequencies that have been used in our fair continent for the better part of the last decade. Without further ado, here are the ten frequencies:

* 850, 1900 Mhz: NAM frequencies;

* 900, 1800, 1900 Mhz: Asia/Euro frequencies;

* 2100 Mhz: Asia/Euro 3G frequency;

* 1700, 2100 Mhz: AWS (Advanced Wireless Services), “new NAM”, if you will.

You’re probably going like, “Hold up, AJ, your math blows. How can there be ten frequencies?” Ah! You didn’t get me there, because for four of those frequencies are broken into 2G and 3G. This means that there is an 850 Mhz 2G and an 850 Mhz 3G.

Case in point, Telus and Bell have 850/1900 Mhz networks, but they are 3G only (purists would argue that it’s 3.5G, but I’m not talking to purists here). My old Nokia 3120 from Rogers is a triband 850/1800/1900 Mhz phone. It will not work on Bell or Telus because it is a 2G phone; they don’t have 2G networks.

Last time, I also mentioned WIND Mobile, new carrier extraordinaire and funny kid in the corner. Despite running on SIM-card tech, WIND utilizes the AWS spectrum for the most part. AWS is new and currently exclusive to T-Mobile USA and WIND Canada, which means there aren’t many phones out there that will work with them.

The bottom line: You want 850/1900 Mhz 3G phones.

Until AWS becomes more prevalent, you don’t want to go for anything else. Choosing an unlocked phone that supports those two frequencies is the better investment, as that ensures you have the greatest choice in terms of carrier and the best possible reception (all things equal).

It’s unlikely that we’ll ever see a penta-band 3G phones. The mess is big enough as is, which means you, dear consumer, need to be educated. It’s also highly unlikely that we would ever see Japanese phones with NAM frequencies, but we’ll go into those another time.

Until next time, keep it classy and mobile, Canada!