How to increase CPM at Google Adsense – 7 tips how to earn more 0 comments

Definiton : There are two types of ads to publish on your site using the Adsense program. When I speak of ad types, I am not referring to the different formats and sizes, but that kind of revenue you generate. These can be:

CPC: Ads that generate revenue for each click.

CPM: Ads that generate revenue for every thousand impressions.

geotargetingThen we can show on our site, both CPC ads, or CPM. You may know that revenues generated in each individual? Unfortunately it does not depend on the campaign that has engaged the advertiser. Can you account, then, that regardless of what you pay for the click, if the ratio of your ads are, to a greater extent by the CPC, you should increase your CTR (higher ratio of clicks per impression) to generate more profits.

In contrast, if the ads shown, they are mostly CPM, you have to do to increase your earnings is to have more visits and thus more impressions.

As we said before, as we can not know which ads are CPC or CPM, (although some have their theories), unfortunately we must work on improving two key aspects to make more money with Adsense, increase the CTR (here’s how) and number of impressions. Adsense recommended in both types of display ads, to avoid the narrow segment of advertisers and maximize your earning potential. This will make from your Adsense account.
Example :
* 1,000 impressions
* 30 clicks (CTR = 3%)
* Earnings of $ 6 s (CPC of $ 0.20 per click s)

Now let’s see what can happen to an increase in your CTR:

Case 1

* 1,000 impressions
* 60 clicks (CTR = 6%)
* Earnings of $ 12 s (CPC of $ 0.20 per click s)

After a very good optimization, we improve our CTR doubled from 3% to 6%. Assuming that Google maintained the CPC in $ s or 0.20 cents per click, we could double our profits.

Case 2

* 1,000 impressions
* 60 clicks (CTR = 6%)
* Earnings of $ 6 s (CPC of $ 0.10 per click s)

In this case, we were also able to implement a good job, getting an increase in CTR. Unfortunately under the Google CPC ads to our half, so that despite our work, our profits were stable at $ 6 s. As we saw in the examples, the ideal would be the case 1, where we could maintain the CPC, and after sampling to improve CTR, we increased our earnings.

As we will see later when we explain in another article that is the eCPM and serving, it’s likely that whatever the case 2, which adjusted the price that Google paid for each click and left us with the same earnings, which eCPM is called stability.

How to increase CPM and earnings at Google Adsense ?

My recommendations are:

1) Write unique content and quality.

Content is most important – original content, interesting content, with descriptions, pictures and of course it must be usefull for visitors.

2) Optimize your ads have a high CTR.

Many publishers forget this. Go to Adsense Setup/Channels and try to write channel title and description and help advertisers to choose you. More advertisers, bigger competiiton – more earnings.



3) Choose good banner position

It is essential to know what is the best placement of Google ads on your pages, it depends on which people can click and clicks of your winnings depend, then we could start with the same Google recommends reviewing “Heat maps” that show areas with the highest clicks in different areas of a traditional website, a forum and blogs

4) Choose the best conversion banner size

Rectangle and Square 250×250, 300×250 – they have better conversion – of course if you put in the top place.

5) Works to improve your site to get more hits.

You must change sometimes banners, templates, topic and more – to watch and learn. Than you will impove yourself.

6) Write about a specific topic, you will have specific creative, relevant and best payments that a general theme, which are usually waste and low CPC.
7) Learn in detail your stats, which are the best source of information for accounts that generate higher returns.

Delete blog or change URL: What happens then? 0 comments

Previously, bloggers are strongly advised against deleting blogs and what happens to the blog URL blog URL if you delete the blog. For reasons, see Why you should not delete a blog and what to do if you change the URL of a blog.

However, because Blogger has been informed of spammers grabbing deleted blog URL for spamming purposes, the practice of releasing a blog URL the moment the blog is deleted has been discontinued. Now if any Google Blogger blogger delete his or her blog, the blog URL is no longer released for others to register, but is kept for the original creator to claim back later.

The reason for this post is because of many questions and requests for help related to the above, and rather that repeating the same thing, if I ever get another question related to this, all I need to do is to point them to this post.

The most recent one is about a very fortunate blogger who wanted a particular blogspot URL which had already been registered by someone else who didn't do anything or didn't do much with the blog and the blog had been left neglected. In this particular very rare case, the blogger was able to contact that blog owner who is very cooperative. The blog owner deleted the blog so the intended new owner can claim it. As expected, she could not do so.

However, not all is lost provided the previous owner is willing to cooperate. All she has to do to to contact the previous owner again, requesting him or her to register that deleted blog again, and then invite the intended new owner to become co-author via Dashboard > Settings > Permissions. Once she has accepted the invitation, the cooperative old owner can make her administrator, and then remove himself or herself. Once this is all done, the blog have found a new, loving owner.

Google Account Deleted - What to do 0 comments

Blogger account is associated with a Google account. It is not rare to hear a blogger screaming for help after he deleted his Google account for that deletion will affect the Blogger account. So what should one do if one accidentally deleted the Google account? One should immediately report to Google Account Contact Form. There is a window of about a week to appeal, after which the Google Account will be permanently deleted.

Add Your Blog To Facebook. 0 comments

Facebook is a social networking website. Previously it was used by students of Universities to network. The name of the site derives from paper facebooks showing members of the campus community that US colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff.


This year they launched the Facebook platform allowing developers to create little applications which you can add to your profile. Since it has now become one of the top most visited sites adding your blog to your profile will give it more exposure.


There are several ways you can add your blog to your Facebook profile...........


Firstly you will have to create an account if you do not have one. Anyone can join Facebook. After registering with a valid email address you can join the networks you are interested in to connect with people of similar interests. You can customize your profile to show only what you want and keep the rest private.

PUT BLOG IN PROFILE

Flog your blog on Facebook. To do this go here. Add your blog Feed URLs and set how much of your blog posts you want to display. Save the settings and now your blog posts will be seen by everyone looking at your profile on Facebook.

PUT BLOG LINK IN PROFILE

New applications are being developed everyday. To promote your blog and search for new applications type in the word 'blog' in the search box above the 'Applications' link in the sidebar. Click on the application you want and then click 'Add Application' to set the settings and add it to your profile. There are applications to add a screenshot of your blog as well.

PROMOTE YOUR PROFILE

Put a Facebook badge on your blog to promote your profile. Visitors to your blog can click on it to visit your profile and check out your networks and interests. To do this click on the 'Create a Profile badge' link in the bottom frame of your Facebook profile. You can design your own badge or use any of the templates to show off your photos or your contact information. After customizing your badge copy the code given and paste it in a Html page element in the sidebar.



MAKE YOUR OWN FACEBOOK APPLICATION

Facebook also allows you to create your own applications and distribute them. The startup costs for developers are extremely low, and the potential is high.


To start add the developer application to your Facebook account. Then download the client library of your choice, open your favorite development environment, and you're ready to go.


After you've added the Developer Application and downloaded a client library, use these resources to learn more about building a Facebook application.

* Platform Documentation
* Anatomy of a Facebook App
* Code Samples
* Step-by-step Guide to Creating an Application

Backup your Blog 0 comments

Backup your Beta blog regularly to your PC so as to be prepared for any emergency.....

In Classic Blogger you could use WinHttrack utility from httrack.com to backup your blog. However in beta blogger the present version of this software takes a long time.

Hence to backup beta blogs you can use Scrapbook extension of the Firefox browser. You will need Firefox Browser for this. Download it from here : Firefox Download .
You can download the Scrapbook extension from here
After downloading install it and restart Firefox.



To backup your blog go to your blog by typing its url in the address bar of the browser. Place the mouse anywhere in the browser window. Right click to see the context menu. Choose Capture Page As. You will then have the choice between filing into the Root Folder,into up to five of the most-recently used folders, or of selecting another folder through a dialogue.

TO BACKUP A WHOLE MONTH OF POSTS CLICK ON THE MONTH LINK IN THE ARCHIVES. USE CAPTURE PAGE AS ON THE PAGE WHICH OPENS ALL THAT MONTH'S POSTS.

The Select folder dialogue will also allow you to create anew folder if you require it. You can also choose to download linked files and the depth to which you can download files. You can also choose the folder on your hard disk where the files will be downloaded or make new folders.

You can also capture linked web (HTML) pages to a specified depth from zero to three or set your own depth. When you choose a 'Depth to follow links' option other than zero, ScrapBook generates a list of the files that would be captured. You can then Pause the process and Filter or modify the list.

To capture multiple urls go to Scrapbook--->Scrapbook to open up the Scrapbook sidebar. Then in the sidebar go to Tools---->Capture Multiple URLS. Choose the folder where you wish to save and click Capture.

Presentation in your Blog. 0 comments

You can put a presentation in your blog..........

To do this go to spresent.com and create a presentation online. The interface is fairly intuitive with a toolbar and File menu at the top and a insert Object tab at the side. See image below (Click it to enlarge it).



The files made are stored free at the spresent server.
After making the presentation and saving it click on Publish----->Embed/HTML menu to get the code to paste in your blog like I have done below.
.
You can see it in action here.
You can play it within the blog post itself. See picture. Click on image to enlarge it.



This presentation is made online in Flash.


If you wish to put a Powerpoint presentation in your blog you will have to convert it into Flash using PPT2Flash tool from sameshow.com. Insert the flash in your blog post with an "Object" tag.

You can also upload the Presentation to a freehost like Googlepages and provide the link to it in your blog.


ZOHO SHOW - You can also use http://show.zoho.com to create online presentations. Here you can upload your powerpoint files and then embed the presentation in your blog or site.

How to SEO Your Site in Less Than 60 Minutes 0 comments

By Matt McGee

I’ve been a bad blogger. I’m swamped at work and have been distracted outside of work, and I’ve been trying to get by here on SBS with list links and even some of my best Flickr photos. I can’t remember the last time I posted something helpful / educational. My bad….

Let me take a stab at making things better.

I often get asked to review a web site and give quick feedback on the site’s SEO. The issue: Is the site doing well, or in desperate need of SEO help? To answer those questions, I’ve developed a speedy system to go through a site and take a quick SEO snapshot. I’m going to give that system away here. On a smaller site, this should take about 20 minutes. Even on the biggest sites, it’s never taken me more than an hour.
SEO Your Site in Less Than an Hour

A. Visit the home page, www.domain.com.

1. Does it redirect to some other URL? If so, that’s bad.
2. Review the Page Title. Does it use relevant, primary keywords? Is it formatted correctly?
3. Review site navigation:
* Format — text or image? image map? javascript? drop-downs? Text is best.
* Page URLs — look at URL structure, path names, file names. How long are URLs? How far away from the root are they? Are they separated by dashes or underscores?
* Are keywords used appropriately in text links or image alt tags?
4. Review home page content:
* Adequate and appropriate amount of text?
* Appropriate keyword usage?
* Is there a sitemap?
* Do a “command-A” to find any hidden text.
* Check PageRank via SearchStatus plugin for Firefox
5. View source code:
* Check meta description (length, keyword usage, relevance).
* Check meta keywords (relevance, stuffing).
* Look for anything unusual/spammy (keywords in noscript, H1s in javascript, etc.).
* If javascript or drop-down navigation, make sure it’s crawlable.
* Sometimes cut-and-paste code into Dreamweaver to get better look at code-to-page relationship.

B. Analyze robots.txt file. See what’s being blocked and what’s not. Make sure it’s written correctly.

C. Check for www and non-www domains — i.e., canonicalization issues. Only one should resolve; the other should redirect.

D. Look at the sitemap (if one exists).

1. Check keyword usage in anchor text.
2. How many links?
3. Are all important (category, sub-category, etc.) pages listed?

E. Visit two category/1st-level pages.

Repeat A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5 - this will be quicker since many objects (header, footer, menus) will be the same. In particular, look for unique page text, unique meta tags, correct use of H1s, H2s to structure content.

Check for appropriate PageRank flow. Also look at how they link back to home page. Is index.html or default.php appended on link? Shouldn’t be.

F. Visit two product/2nd-level pages.

Same steps as E.

Also, if the site sells common products, find 2-3 other sites selling same exact items and compare product pages. Are all sites using the same product descriptions? Unique content is best.

G. Do a site:domain.com search in all 3 main engines.

Compare pages indexed between the three. Is pages indexed unusually high or low based on what you saw in the site map and site navigation? This may help identify crawlability issues. Is one engine showing substantially more or less pages than the others? Double-check robots.txt file if needed.

H. Do site:domain.com *** -jdkhfdj search in Google to see supplemental pages.

All sites will have some pages in the supplemental index. Compare this number with overall number of pages indexed. A very high percentage of pages in the supplemental index = not good.

(Note: The above is no longer a way to view supplemental results in Google, and Google has said it no longer distinguishes between a main set of results and a supplemental set.)

I. Use Aaron’s SEO for Firefox extension to look at link counts in Yahoo and MSN. If not in a rush, do the actual link count searches manually on Yahoo Site Explorer and MSN to confirm.

…..END…..

That’s what I do when making a quick SEO site analysis. Important: This is for identifying problems, not fixing them. And it doesn’t replace a real and complete SEO analysis. (There are several shortcomings, for example. Here’s one: Steps E and F assume that all category pages across the site will be the same, and that all product pages will be the same. This is not always the case, so you may miss problems/issues that a real, deeper analysis would reveal.)

To Insert a Banner Link to your blog you must first...............

have a banner ready. You can create your own banner in an image editing program like I have done or go to an online banner generator. To find an online banner generator just type 'free banner generator' in Google's Search Box and hit Enter.

Once you have made a banner upload it to a free host like GooglePages. At present GooglePages offers 100 MB free space for hosting your files. After uploading it copy the Url of the image.

You can even upload the banner picture to Blogger. To do this click on Create Post and click on the Add Image icon in the top frame of the Post Editor.

NOTE :THE ONLY FILE YOU CAN UPLOAD TO BLOGGER IS A IMAGE FILE.

Choose the picture in your PC by browsing to it and upload it to the post. Now click the Edit Html tab in the top frame of the Post Editor. There you will see the code for the picture which will look like this :






You can extract the URL of the picture from the above code like this :

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_J2kVk3AKsXA/RXcetyx4o6I/
AAAAAAAAAAw/khphtkWwAMY/s400/PIC_NAME.jpg


Copy this and use it later. You can now save this post as a draft so that it is not seen by viewers.

Log in to Dashboard of your blog and click on Layout. Click on Edit Html tab next to Page Elements tab below the Template tab. Do not put a check in the Expand Widget templates box. Scroll down in the Edit Template text box till you come to :

Replace the second line above with this line :



Save Template. Click on Page Elements tab. On Page Elements view you will now see a link to Add Page Elements has been added to the Blog Posts section.

CHOOSE TEXT PAGE ELEMENT TO CREATE A PERMANENT MESSAGE ON TOP OF YOUR POSTS.

Click on this link and a popup window will open with 12 choices. Choose the Html/Javascript option. DO NOT choose the picture option because that will only add a banner and not a banner-link. In the content section of the Add Html/Javascript window add the following code :

Your Blog Title

Substitute MYBLOG with name of your blog, URL OF YOUR BANNER AT GOOGLEPAGES with the link of your banner you uploaded to Googlepages in Step 2 and YOUR BLOG TITLE with the title of your blog. Save Changes. Refresh Cache. View Blog.

See the banner I have created at the top of this post.

How to Analyze Site Traffic with Google Analytics 0 comments

To analyze web site traffic with Google Analytics you will.....

first have to add the Analytics code to your blog template. To do this go to Google Analytics and register with your Google account. It is free and has no limitations. On the Analytics Settings page click on '+ Add Website Profile' link in the top frame of the Website Profiles box. This takes you to the ' Create New Website Profile' page.

Paste the URL of your blog/site in the text box under ' Add a Profile for a new domain '. Select the timezone of your country and click on Finish. A new page opens where you are presented with the code to be pasted in your template. Right click in the text box and Select All and then left click in the shaded section and select Copy. Go to Edit Html under Template tab in your blog after logging in to Dashboard and clicking on your blog name. Scroll down in Edit Template text box and paste the code copied from Google Analytics at the very end of the template just before the tag. Save Template Changes. Republish.

Go back to Google Analytics main Settings page and you will find your site/blog listed. Click on the confirm link to confirm that you have added the code to your blog and Google Analytics will start receiving data.

To see the reports go to Google Analytics Settings page click the down arrow in the text box 'Click to select Website Profile' next to 'View Reports' in the orange bar running across the top of the page. Select the blog url for which you want to view reports. The default 'Executive Overview' page of Reports of your site opens. The page is divided into two main parts : A

sidebar and a main column titled Executive Overview. Click the image alongside for a bigger view. The sidebar contains the Dashboards where youcan select the views you want to see, the All Reports section showing optimization for Marketing and for Content and lastlya Date Range section where you can select a date range for which to view reports.

The main column of Executive Overview is divided into four parts. The top left rectangle show Visits and Pageviews for the last week. The top right rectangle show how many visits were by New and how many by Returning visitors as a percentage of the total visits that week. The bottom left recangle shows a Geo Map Overlay showing the international distribution of your visitors that week. The bottom right shows the Visits by Source that week showing the sites your visitors came from.

Some other useful site counters can be found at :

http:/www.statcounter.com
http:/www.clustrmaps.com
http://sitemeter.sitetoolbox.com/
http://awstats.sourceforge.net/......Free

What is the Paging System 1 comments

Paging Systems are wireless communication systems that are designed to send brief messages to a subscriber. It’s a one-way messaging system in which Base Station send messages to all subscribers. The Paging System transmits the message also known as Page, along with Paging System access number, throughout the service area using Base Station, which broadcast the page on a radio link.
Types of Paging Systems

The Paging Systems can be of two types.

* Manual Paging System: In a manual paging system, a message is sent to the paging operator through telephone call by the caller. The message is then delivers to the pager through paging network by the operator.
* Automatic Paging System: In an automatic paging system, the incoming requests are automatically processed by the paging terminal and then this information is delivers to the pager. Automatic Paging Systems are mostly used.

Messages in Paging Systems

One of the following four types of information messages can be delivered in a Paging System.

* Alert Tone Message
* Voice Message
* Digital String Message
* Text String Message

Alert Tone Message: In the alert tone message, a dedicated telephone number is assigned to the receiver, which is also known as Tone Pager. The pager is triggered by dialing the number. To generate tone-type messages, the advantage of tone paging is that it utilizes a small amount of airtime.

Voice Message: In the voice message, a voice message can be transmitted in some tone paging systems after the beep.

Digital String Message: In digital string message, the receiver is a Numeric Pager. The string can be the telephone number of the caller or a coded message. This coded message is generated on request of the caller by the paging center and is decoded by a codebook built into the pager. This type of paging takes less amount of airtime.


Text String Message: In the text string message, the receiver is an Alphanumeric Pager, which has large screen to display the text strings. This type of messaging is becoming more popular than numeric messaging.
Paging System Architecture

The Paging System network consists of six basic elements.

* User Terminal Equipment (Input Devices)
* Paging Terminal
* Operation and Maintenance Center (OMC)
* Base Station Controller (BSC)
* Base Station (BS)
* Pager

User Terminal Equipment (Input Devices): Terminal equipment is used by the caller to send messages. The equipment can be a telephone handset, a computer with modem and a specific input device. A telephone handset is used to generate alert tone or numeric type messages and is delivered through the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN), while alphanumeric messages are generated by the computers and are delivered through the Public Switch Digital Network (PSDN).

Paging Terminal: The messages are sent to the paging terminal through user access interface. A paging terminal can supports 1 million pagers and is connected to a central office of PSTN. The paging terminal also maintains a database of the customer which conations information such as page number, pager code etc.

Operation and Maintenance Center (OMC): The OMC is used for operation, administration and maintenance functions of a paging network. The customer’s database which is stored in terminal paging can be accessed by the OMC to add or delete new customer’s records.

Base Station Controller (BSC): The paging terminal and base stations are connected by the BSC by powering up the base stations. In transmitting mode, the BS consumes the high power and when it is in idle mode it consumes low power.

Base Station (BS): The messages to the pager are broadcasted by the BS over radio links. The BS and its pagers have dedicated paging channels. The messages from the paging terminal to the BS are transmitted by using transmission technologies, which are leased telephone lines and satellite based networks.

Pager: A pager includes four basic elements.

* A Receiver: To receive and demodulate the paging signals, the receiver is tuned to the same radio frequency (RF) as the BS.

* A Decoder: The binary information is decoded by the decoder.

* A Control Logic: The control logic provides control for duplicate messages, locking messages and freeze messages.

* A Display: A display is used to read messages.

Paging Systems have ultra-reliable coverage, high infra structure, high complexity and high hardware cost.

Tips about Fiber Optic 0 comments

Learn more about Fiber Optic

A fiber optic cable consists of tubes of glass or plastic fiber which transmit digital data over longer distances and at higher data rates than other forms of wired and wireless communications. A typical optical fiber consists of a very narrow strand or fiber of glass called the core. This core is surrounded by a concentric layer of the glass called cladding. The diameter of a core is 62.5 microns and the diameter of cladding is about 125 microns. The cladding is coated with insulating material such as plastic jacket.

In twisted-pair cable and coaxial cable, data is transmitted in the form of electric frequencies. So copper wire has to be protected from water and electromagnetic waves. In fiber optic cable, these types of problems are not occurred.

The data transmission speed is very high because fiber-optic cable uses light to transmit data. The data transmission speed is up to billions bits per second. An important characteristic of fiber optic is refraction. Refraction is the characteristic of a material to either pass or reflect light. When light passes through a medium, it bends as it passes from one medium to the other.

The advantages of fiber optic cable are:

* Its transmission capacity is about 26,000 times greater than twisted pair media - up into the gigabits and more reliable (lower data transmission errors).

* It has high level of security and much thinner and lighter than other metal wires.

* Fiber optic not affected by electromagnetic noise for example radios, motors and others cables.

The disadvantage of fiber optic is that the cables are very costly and difficult to install.

Therefore the fiber-optic cable is becoming more popular and replacing all old cable system. Today telephone, banks, and television companies are replacing their existing telephone and coaxial cables with fiber-optic cables.

How to configure Remote Access VPN using ASA? 1 comments

Remote Access VPN (Easy VPN) provides a secure tunnel over the public network to the off-site users. Easy VPN is a proper client-server model, that is why we will try to perform maximum configurations on the sever end and use Cisco VPN client software at user end to establish connection.

Basic steps for Easy VPN Configuration:

1- First configure the ASA interface

* Interface name

* Security level

* IP address

* Enable crypto isakmp on ASA

2- Configure IP pool

* Pool name

* Range of IP addresses to be used in pool

3- Configure user accounts

* Username

* Password

3- First define the ISAKMP Policy.

* Authentication

* Hash

* Encryption

* Group

4- Establish IPsec transform set.

* Esp-des

* Esp-md5-hmac

* Esp-aes

* Asp-sha-hmac

5- Configure tunnel group

* Group name

* Group policies

6- Now apply crypto map on the outside interface.

* Used to verify the outgoing interface traffic

Configuration of ASA

ASA(config)#interface GigabitEthernet 0/1

ASA(config-if)# no shutdown

ASA(config-if)# nameif outside

ASA(config-if)# ip address 20.1.1.50 255.0.0.0

ASA(config-if)#exit



ASA(config)# crypto isakmp enable outside

(To enable crypto isakmp on ASA)

ASA(config)# ip local poolname 30.1.1.1-30.1.1.50

(define IP pool)

ASA(config)# route outside 0 0 20.0.0.0



ASA(config)# username Mark password Cisco

(define username and password)



Now defined the IKE polices on ASA

ASA-(config)#crypto isakmp policy 10

(10 is isakmp policy number)

ASA(config-isakmp)#encryption des

(enable encryption des)

ASA(config-isakmp)#hash md5

(enable algorithm md5 for hashing)

ASA(config-isakmp)#authentication pre-share

(enable Pre-shared method)

ASA(config-isakmp)#group 2

(enable diffie-Helman group 2)

ASA(config-isakmp)#exit

(Exit from crypto isakmp mode)



ASA(config)#crypto ipsec transform-set ts2 esp-des esp-md5-hmac

(Here encryption type is des and hashing technique is md5-hmac)



ASA(config)# crypto dynamic-map dmap 10 set transform-set ts2

(apply the transform set)

ASA(config)#crypto map imap 10 ipsec-isakmp dynamic dmap

(call dynamic-map in crypto map name imap)

ASA(config)# tunnel-group marketing type ipsec-ra

(create a group for marketing department)

ASA(config)# tunnel-group marketing general-attributes

ASA(config-general)# address-pool poolname

ASA(config-general)# exit



ASA(config)# tunnel-group marketing ipsec-attributes

ASA(config-ipsec)# pre-shared-key Cisco

ASA(config-ipsec)# exit

ASA-B(config)# crypto map imap interface outside

(Apply crypto map on outside interface)


Now to verify the secure tunnel, dial connection from user end using Cisco VPN client.

Speed Your File System Up By 40% 0 comments

Every time a file is read from your Linux ext3 partition it writes back a attribute to the file detailing the last access time. There are very few programs that actually use this to operate and it slows everything down.

Disabling atime and diratime on your Linux ext3 file systems can improve disk performance up to 40%!

WARNING: If you are using programs such as tmpwatch, mutt, or mail-notify this configuration change could cause those programs that make specific use of atime not to work.

1. Start a terminal.

2. Switch to root using the “su -” command.

3. Backup your fstab - “cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.old”.

4. Open your /etc/fstab in the editor of your choice (nano, kate or gedit recommended). This can be done by issuing the command “nano /etc/fstab”, “kate /etc/fstab”, or “gedit /etc/fstab”.

5. Locate the partitions that contain your / and /home file systems, as well as any other file system you want to optimize. Examples include /dev/hda2 and /dev/hda3, or /dev/sda2 and /dev/sda3.

6. In the fourth section (just before the two numbers at the end of the line) you will see the options section of the fstab.

7. Enter “,noatime,nodiratime” after the existing options for each partition you wish to optimize.

8. Save the fstab file.

9. Reboot.

Enjoy your newly optimized Linux ext3 file system. And if you don’t believe it is 40% see this

Speed up Firefox without reinstalling 0 comments

You cannot imagine life without Firefox but over time, your favorite browser keeps getting slower and slower.

Not only is it slow, Firefox sometimes hangs for no reason, consumes a large amount of memory and CPU usage can climb to 90% or more when you have multiple tabs open simultaneously.

You have uninstalled most of the extensions and toolbars, deleted all the cookies and internet temporary files, cleared up the file download queue and disabled the background check for software updates but none of this has helped you speed-up Firefox.

Solution: This is a common problem especially if you have been running Firefox for some time - I don’t know why Firefox slows down but here’s a small trick to rejuvenate the aged copy of Firefox without doing a fresh install.

Step 1: Start Firefox and export your bookmarks as a file on your hard-drive (we’ll need them later).



Step 2: Type firefox.exe - P in the Run box of Windows. (see screenshot)

Step 3: Click the Create Profile button without making any modifications to your existing profile (which is normally called “default”)



Now when you Start Firefox in the new profile, you are very likely to be impressed with the speed. You can import the bookmarks that you saved in Step 1. If you have made any changes to the Firefox Dictionary, copy the persdict.dat word list file from the old profile folder to the new one.

Yes, there won’t be any old Firefox add-ons in the new profile but the browser will be extremely quick and won’t hog the CPU - just the way you want Firefox to run on your computer.

How to configure Gmail on Microsoft Outlook 0 comments

The following steps will explain about configuring gmail on Microsoft Outlook. First you have to enable POP for gmail Email ID.

Enabling POP

You can retrieve your Gmail messages with a client or device that supports POP, like Microsoft Outlook or Netscape Mail.

To enable POP in Gmail:

1. Sign in to Gmail.

2. Click Settings at the top of any Gmail page.

3. Click Forwarding and POP/IMAP.

4. Select Enable POP for all mail or Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on.

5. Choose the action you’d like your Gmail messages to take after they are accessed with POP.

6. Configure your POP client* and click Save Changes.

Follow the instructions below to set up POP access in Outlook 2007

To configure Outlook 2007 for your Gmail address:

1. Enable pop , Don’t forget to click Save Changes when you’re done.

2. Open Outlook.

3. Click the Tools menu, and select Account Settings…

4. On the E-mail tab, click New…

5. If you are prompted to Choose E-mail Service, select Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP, or HTTP, and click Next.

6. Fill in all necessary fields to include the following information:Your Name: Enter your name as you would like it to appear in the From: field of outgoing messages.

Email Address: Enter your full Gmail email address (username@gmail.com). Google Apps users, enter your full address in the format username@your_domain.com.

Password: Enter your email password.

Manually configure server settings or additional server types: Leave this option unchecked if you want to automatically configure Outlook 2007. If you want to manually configure Outlook 2007, check this box now. Google Apps users should configure manually as follows.

7. Click Next. If you are configuring Outlook 2007 automatically, you’re done! Just click Finish.

8. If you are configuring Outlook 2007 manually, select Internet E-mail and click Next.

9. Verify your User Information, and enter the following additional information:Server Information

Account Type: POP3

Incoming mail server: pop.gmail.com (Google Apps users, enter the server names provided, don’t add your domain name in these steps)

Outgoing mail server (SMTP): smtp.gmail.com

Logon Information

User Name: Enter your Gmail username (including @gmail.com). Google Apps users, enter your full address in the format username@your_domain.com

Password: Enter your email password.

Require logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA): Leave this option unchecked.

10. Click the More Settings… button, and select the Outgoing Server tab.

11. Check the box next to My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication and select Use same settings as my incoming mail server.

12. Click the Advanced tab, and check the box next to This server requires an encrypted connection (SSL) under Incoming Server (POP3).

13. In the Outgoing server (SMTP) box, enter 587, and select TLS from the drop-down menu next to Use the following type of encrypted connection:

14. Click OK.

15. Click Test Account Settings… After receiving ‘Congratulations! All tests completed successfully’, click Close.

16. Click Next, and then click Finish.

Speed Your File System Up By 40% 0 comments

Every time a file is read from your Linux ext3 partition it writes back a attribute to the file detailing the last access time. There are very few programs that actually use this to operate and it slows everything down.

Disabling atime and diratime on your Linux ext3 file systems can improve disk performance up to 40%!

WARNING: If you are using programs such as tmpwatch, mutt, or mail-notify this configuration change could cause those programs that make specific use of atime not to work.

1. Start a terminal.

2. Switch to root using the “su -” command.

3. Backup your fstab - “cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.old”.

4. Open your /etc/fstab in the editor of your choice (nano, kate or gedit recommended). This can be done by issuing the command “nano /etc/fstab”, “kate /etc/fstab”, or “gedit /etc/fstab”.

5. Locate the partitions that contain your / and /home file systems, as well as any other file system you want to optimize. Examples include /dev/hda2 and /dev/hda3, or /dev/sda2 and /dev/sda3.

6. In the fourth section (just before the two numbers at the end of the line) you will see the options section of the fstab.

7. Enter “,noatime,nodiratime” after the existing options for each partition you wish to optimize.

8. Save the fstab file.

9. Reboot.

Linux, Unix, and variant tips 0 comments

Below is a listing of various tips that can be used with most Linux and Unix. Some of the below tips may list a date next to them for the month and year that they were featured in our monthly tip section.

Access and control different computers on a network.
Quickly search manuals in Linux and Unix
Unix / Linux shortcuts
Create aliases for commands

Access and control different computers on a network

Easily and freely control multiple computers running any number of operating systems from one computer using VNC.

The latest version of VNC can be downloaded directly from their website here.

Quickly search manuals in Linux and Unix

Users who have the manuals installed on their computer can quickly search those manuals by typing:

man -k keyword

This is great for locating a command you may not be able to remember.

* Additional information about the man command can be found here.

Unix / Linux shortcuts

Get the latest Unix/Linux shortcuts by visiting our Unix/Linux shortcut page.

Create aliases for commands

Create an alias for commands frequently forgotten, cause issues or long commands.

For example, you may type edit to edit a file when in Linux or Unix. However, users who may be new to Linux or Unix may not be able to use the edit program or this may cause an error message.

Set the edit command for an easier to use editor such as pico. Below is an example:

alias edit pico

A Quick Way to the C: 0 comments

A Quick Way to the C:

OK, I know there are several ways to view the contents of your hard drive (normally drive "C" ), but here's one I stumbled upon the other day that I thought was kinda cool.

If you have Windows 95/98/ME...

1. First hit your Windows Key and the letter " R ." (The windows key is located between the ALT & CTRL keys - if you don't have a "windows" keyboard, you won't have this key and you'll need to click the Start button, Run to try this.)

2. You should now have the "Run" dialog box sitting in front of you. Now, type in a back slash ( / ):



3. Hit Enter and you should get a window with a list of all the stuff on your C: drive.



Again, there are other ways of getting to your C: drive quickly (like sticking a shortcut on your desktop by dragging the C: drive to it), but this was kinda neat so I thought I would pass it along.

For Windows XP...

1. Hit the Windows key and the letter R .

2. Type " C: " (without the quotation marks) instead of the backslash as stated above.



3. Hit Enter and voila! You should see the contents of your C: drive.

Sure, there are lots of other ways to see what's on your C: drive, but can you think of one that makes you look as cool? That what I thought :-)

Maximize Dial-up Modem Settings 0 comments

Maximize Dial-up Modem Settings

Did you know that by changing a few settings you can make your dial-up modem run better? That's right—you might have a fast modem and a good connection, but you're not getting the best performance. With a few adjustments, you can get faster connection speeds.

NOTE: Since every PC configuration is different, these adjustments might not work for everyone.

With Windows 95, 98 & ME you'll need to open your Control Panel ( Start / Control Panel ). Click "System" then choose "Device Manager". Open up "Ports", highlight your modem port (should be COM2), and choose "Properties" near the bottom. When you click "Port Settings", you will see the modem speed listed under "Bits per second".



With Win XP , just hold down the Alt key and double-click "My Computer" to bring up System Properties. Click the "Hardware" tab, then choose the "Device Manager" button. Scroll down to "Modems" and click the little (—) to show your modem, then double click it.

Selecting the "Modem" tab will allow you to adjust the port speed.



Usually, the Maximum Port Speed is on the highest setting (115,000 bps), but sometimes you will find it on a slower default of 9600 bps. If you have a 56k modem, you can crank it up to the maximum setting without any trouble (in most cases). If you live in a cave and have a 28k modem, then the fastest you can do is 57,600 bps.

Win 9x users should also adjust the "Flow Control" near the bottom. The default for this is usually Xon/Xoff which is the software control—change this to "Hardware" if you want to get the most from your modem. Next, click the "Advanced" button to adjust the Receiver Buffer to its highest setting (all the way to the right). If you run into any problems, just turn this one back to the 2/3 setting.

To check/adjust the Receive-Transmit buffers in XP, click the "Advanced" tab of your modem properties then choose the "Advanced Port Settings" button. Make sure that both are set to their highest settings.



There are many more tweaks that can be done in the registry, but the potential for disaster is too high for the average user. Some folks install dial-up accelerators, which basically tweak these registry settings for you and perform other routines to optimize performance.

Just by changing these few settings, though, you should see better performance.

Keep Files Anonymous 0 comments

Did you know that your name and other personal information may be included in files that you send to others? That's right. Word processors especially put in the author's name and more automatically. If you plan on sending a file to someone else, then you should remove this info.

Right click a file and choose "Properties" (or Alt+double click). If there is a "Summary" tab then click it. Clear your name from the "Author" box.



Next, click the "Advanced" tab and look through any information there and see if you want to delete any of it. If so, click to highlight and delete the information.

If you want to avoid doing this every time you create a Word document you can go to Tools/Options and click the "User Information" tab. The first two fields require an entry. You can use a symbol or a letter, or use the invisible character (Alt+0160)—see the tip on this...



Now you have a bit more anonymity in your documents.

P.S. If the document/file is business related, make sure that this info is not required by your employer.