Chrome 21 Adds New Drag-and-Drop Tricks

 interface, Tech News  663 Responses »
Jul 252012
 

Drag and drop a folder of files and you’re out of luck. Currently browsers just ignore folders dropped into them. Chrome, however, recently added folder support to its bag of drag-and-drop tricks. You’ll need to be using Chrome 21 or better (currently in the dev channel).

If you’d like to see how the new folder parsing works, HTML5Rocks has a quick little tutorial on how you can add support for folders to your web app.

The JavaScript required to support folders consists of an extra loop to tunnel through folders and get to “Entry” objects. That’s a slightly different syntax than what you might have seen if you’ve read tutorials on the File API in the past — using “Entry” instead of “File”. There are two new properties as well — .isFile and .isDirectory.

MORE:  Chrome 21 Adds New Drag-and-Drop Tricks | Webmonkey | Wired.com.

 

Op-ed: Verizon willfully driving DSL users into the arms of cable

 Internet News, Law, Tech News  416 Responses »
Jul 252012
 

Verizon has numerous reasons for wanting its DSL services to die off, including the fact that newer LTE technology is cheaper to deploy in rural areas and easier to keep upgraded. But one of the driving forces is that Verizon is eager to eliminate unions from the equation, given that Verizon Wireless is non-union. None of this is theory; in fact, it has been made very clear by Verizon executives.

“Every place we have FiOS, we are going to kill the copper,” Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam recently told attendees of an investor conference. “We are going to just take it out of service. Areas that are more rural and more sparsely populated, we have got LTE built that will handle all of those services and so we are going to cut the copper off there.”

In other words, Verizon will cut off copper in FiOS markets first (which makes sense given the lower maintenance costs of fiber). They’ll then leave users in DSL-only markets un-upgraded, forcing them to buy a costly landline so that remaining on Verizon DSL becomes less attractive. Those customers will flee to the same cable companies with which Verizon just signed a massive new partnership, with Verizon planning to sell those users more expensive LTE connections later. Verizon will continue to “compete” in FiOS areas for now, if you call winking and nodding when it’s time to raise prices competition.

Rural areas could see the biggest impact from the shift, as Verizon pulls DSL and instead sells those users LTE services at a high price point ($15 per gigabyte overages). Verizon then hopes to sell those users cap-gobbling video services via its upcoming Redbox streaming video joint venture. Expect there to be plenty of gaps where rural users suddenly lose landline and DSL connectivity but can’t get LTE. With Verizon and AT&T having killed off regulatory oversight in most states, you can expect nothing to be done about it—despite both companies having been given billions in subsidies over the years to get those users online.

via Op-ed: Verizon willfully driving DSL users into the arms of cable | Ars Technica.

 

3 lousy branded YouTube channels

 Internet News, Marketing, Your Brand  439 Responses »
Jul 242012
 

Now, there are three data points that are publicly available for developing a lousy scale for YouTube brand channels: video views, subscribers, and uploaded videos.

I quickly decided against using “video views.” This seems like a more appropriate metric for comparing individual YouTube videos.

“Subscribers” is a more appropriate metric for comparing YouTube channels. Users subscribe to channels to receive updates and stay informed when something new occurs. Subscribers are consistently more engaged with a brand’s content and watch a brand’s videos on a regular basis.

VidStatsX provides a list of the top 2,000 most-subscribed YouTube channels. It also provides lists of the top 100 most-subscribed YouTube channels in 16 categories.

But, some YouTube brand channels were launched earlier than others, giving them a head start in adding subscribers. And is a channel lousy simply because it hasn’t made it to one of these lists yet?

On May 20, 2012, the YouTube Blog said there were “tens of millions of channels on YouTube.” So, even if a YouTube brand channel doesn’t make it to bottom of the top 100 most-subscribed YouTube channel’s list in its category, it might still be pretty good.

This is where “uploaded videos” factors into the lousy scale.

A very good YouTube brand channel should be able to generate more subscribers per uploaded video than other channels in its category. This means that a really bad — or lousy — channel would be one that has generated fewer subscribers per uploaded video than its competitors.

This methodology lets you calculate the equivalent of the batting average for a YouTube brand channel.

A pretty lousy branded YouTube channel in the auto and vehicle category

To take my new lousy scale out for a test drive, I started in YouTube’s automotive category. To my surprise, here’s what I found:

 Brand  Subscribers  Videos  Subscribers/Video

Audi Deutschland  95,173  893  106.6

Chevrolet  81,799  1,321  61.9

Mercedes-Benz  72,126  112  644.0

Ford  68,966  347  198.7

Honda  68,018  289  235.4

Cadillac  43,762  198  221.0

Hyundai USA  40,256  333  120.9

Toyota Deutschland  39,651  214  185.3

Volkswagen USA  36,535  211  173.2

Buick  2,059  434  4.7

Based on this data, Buick’s branded YouTube channel is pretty lousy. It has the lowest number of subscribers per video in the autos and vehicles category. By comparison, the Mercedes-Benz channel has generated 137 times more subscribers per video.

MORE:  3 lousy branded YouTube channels

 

A few page tab apps begin to recover losses following removal of default landing tab: here’s why

 interface, Internet News, Your Brand  429 Responses »
Jul 242012
 

There are a few things going on here. Page owners who thought tab apps were eliminated completely with Timeline have realized this isn’t the case and begun adding apps to their pages again. Users are becoming accustomed to the new layout and learning where to find additional content through apps. Page owners are adapting and employing better strategies to support the tab apps they implement. And clever developers are taking steps to help page owners understand best practices for apps on Timeline. Pages and developers that haven’t changed their approach have seen their numbers bottom out, as in the first graph above.

The key difference since Timeline is that now page owners have to actively promote their tab applications, whereas previously the app was the first thing new visitors saw when they came to the page. Woobox’s DeCarlo says he immediately recognized this and when Timeline launched, Woobox added a feature to give page owners a short shareable URL with a customizable image, headline and summary that would appear when the link was posted to Facebook.

Thunderpenny, another page app developer that is seeing an increase in users, has a new Tips & Tricks section that explains what page owners should do now that the default landing tab option is gone. For example, the developer recommends changing the links on a company’s website to lead to a specific tab rather than the main page. It also recommends giving the app prime placement among other tabs and using the new “pin post” option to prominently feature a status update that links to the tab.

MORE:  A few page tab apps begin to recover losses following removal of default landing tab: here’s why.

 

How to buy hosting

 Internet News, Web Design  475 Responses »
Jul 242012
 

Whether you’re buying for the first time or pricing for a new project, Karl Hodge shares his checklist that will help you choose the right hosting

This article first appeared in issue 229 of .net magazine – the world’s best-selling magazine for web designers and developers.

When you buy hosting, you’re entering into a contract that is going to last for quite a while. That’s why it’s important to get it right. We spoke to hosting expert Jacob Colton, director of Catalyst2, and asked him what elements every customer needs to take into account. Whether you’re new to hosting contracts or an old hand who hasn’t shopped around in a while, Jacob’s advice should help you make a better choice.

“There needs to be an understanding of disk space,” Colton told us, “At least an order of magnitude. Are they building a five page brochure site with 10 images, in which case 20MB of disk space will more than suffice, or is it going to be an ecommerce site with 10,000 products, each having 10 images?”

MORE:  How to buy hosting | Opinion | .net magazine.

 

How To Embed Youtube Videos With Autoplay And Volume Off

 interface, Web Design  408 Responses »
Jul 232012
 

It’s nice to have something happen when visitors arrive at your webpage. Videos and music are nice, but you can’t control the volume the user’s speakers will be set to, and custom applications can end up being too loud and startle users while sending them frantically looking for volume controls, or quickly clicking away.

An embedded Youtube video provides a familiar experience to the user, and has several features that make it fit nicely almost anywhere.

Below is the script you will need to embed your video or playlist. This code starts the video with the volume muted, and hides the controls until the user mouses over the video frame. Note: this will not work properly if you test it from your desktop. Once uploaded toy our site, it should work fine.

 

This embeds a playlist:

<script src=”http://www.google.com/jsapi”></script>
<script src=”http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/swfobject/2.1/swfobject.js”></script>
<div id=”ytapiplayer”>You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.</div>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
google.load(“swfobject”, “2.1”);
function onYouTubePlayerReady(playerId) {
ytplayer = document.getElementById(“myytplayer”);
ytplayer.playVideo();
ytplayer.mute();
}
var params = { allowScriptAccess: “always” };
var atts = { id: “myytplayer” };

swfobject.embedSWF(“http://www.youtube.com/v/mOLp4doE51Q&list=PL
86C090F73345FED6&feature=plpp_play_all?
enablejsapi=1&playerapiid=ytplayer&allowFullScreen=true&version=3&loop=1&autohide=1″,
 “ytapiplayer”, “100%”, “380”, “8”, null, null, params, atts)

</script>

To embed a single video, just change the bold part to the normal Youtube video URL:

swfobject.embedSWF(“http://www.youtube.com/v/mOLp4doE51Q?enablejsapi=1&playerapiid=ytplayer&allowFullScreen=true&version=3&loop=1&autohide=1″,
“ytapiplayer”, “100%”, “380”, “8”, null, null, params, atts)

 

Here are some links that may be helpful:

This post and a better representation of the code are available here.

YouTube Embedded Players and Player Parameters

YouTube JavaScript Player API Reference

 

 

How to avoid being lost in the digital crowd

 Marketing, Your Brand  239 Responses »
Jul 232012
 

While search engine marketing and optimization are critical elements of marketers’ branding efforts through Google, other sites, such as Google+ and Twitter, offer additional branding opportunities. In particular, Facebook provides the best example of the benefits of building brand identity within a destination site.

The outreaching brand

On Facebook, marketers were quick to launch branded pages linking to their own websites. The traffic to their Facebook pages quickly took off. However, consumers don’t always want to leave the Facebook site to click out to individual business websites — in many cases, they are happier to interact with the brand in the Facebook environment. The key was to bring the brand to the consumer.

Today, successful brands go where consumers congregate rather than wait for consumers to come to them. This requires building up an extensive brand presence within consolidated sites — in essence, syndicating the brand experience on digital properties outside of their business’s own domain. Brands such as Coca-Cola, Disney, and Starbucks have been successful in creating powerful brand destinations within Facebook, with ever-growing fan bases of more than 20 million each.

MORE:  How to avoid being lost in the digital crowd

 

16 lesser-known marketing blogs you should read

 Internet News, Marketing  129 Responses »
Jul 232012
 

It’s a big internet. There’s always something new going on, and there’s always something new you need to understand. So what is the essential reading list for people who want to make sense of the digital world? That’s what you’re going to find in this article. And while you might already be familiar with some of these blogs, there are almost certainly others that you haven’t come across before.

Of course, this list isn’t comprehensive. In fact, it’s a starting point. That’s where you come in, dear reader. I know you have a few of your own blogs that are go-to sources for information. All I ask is that you be so kind as to share your essential reading list with the rest of the community in the comments section.

Tech and business
I’m sure you know the usual suspects in this category, such as The WSJ’s All Things Digital blog, TechCrunch, The NY Times Bits Blog, and PaidContent. But the truth is that good tech news and business analysis doesn’t have to come from a major media company. In fact, some of the best information comes directly from the trenches.e best information comes directly from the trenches.

MORE:  16 lesser-known marketing blogs you should read

 

Facebook adds new duplicate page finder tool for admins to report unofficial pages

 Internet News, Your Brand  298 Responses »
Jul 172012
 

Some Facebook page owners are seeing a new “Report Duplicates” module that allows them to search for pages related to their own and report those that are unofficial. Facebook will review the duplicates and then recategorize them as community pages that link back to the official fan page.

 

MORE:  Facebook adds new duplicate page finder tool for admins to report unofficial pages.

 

Less than 10 percent of traffic to Facebook pages comes from outside Facebook.com

 Internet News, Marketing  268 Responses »
Jul 172012
 

About 5 to 10 percent of traffic to Facebook pages comes from external sources rather than from within Facebook, according to data from PageLever.

The Facebook analytics company looked at 500 Facebook pages each with more than 100,000 fans and found that the average of 7.56 percent of traffic to pages came from external referrals between March 2011 and February 2012.

 

MORE: Less than 10 percent of traffic to Facebook pages comes from outside Facebook.com.

 

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