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Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs »

Top 50 Canadian Marketing BlogsSince AdAge launched its daily ranking of marketing blogs, there have been over 1,000 marketing blogs added to it. In the spirit of Scott Weisbrod listing the Top 30 Canadian Marketing blogs based on the AdAge rankings, here is a quick update of the current Top 50 Canadian marketing blogs for 2010. I am definitely honoured to be part of such a distinguished list and a big congrats to my fellow bloggers! Don’t forget to grab your badge at the bottom of this post if you are on this list. And for those who want to re-publish the list, raw HTML codes are also below. Scroll down, copy and paste.

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[SOLUTION] CKEditor svc.spellchecker.net Spellchecker in Drupal Causes Malware Warning »

drupal ckeditor warningThis morning, a client noticed a malware warning from Google Chrome when they tried to edit an article in Drupal. It turned out to be a domain (svc.spellchecker.net) from CKEditor (a WYSIWYG editor) was the cause. After some digging around, here are 2 ways to disable CKEditor spell checker from running. Both methods solved the malware warning from Chrome for Drupal 6:

Method 1:

1. Go to /admin/settings/ckeditor
2. Select the profile that you use or go through all of them if you wish:
3. Click on “Advanced options”
4. Set Spell checker: No
5. Click Save
6. Clear cache just in case

Method 2:

1. Go to /admin/settings/ckeditor
2. Select the profile that you use or go through all of them if you wish:
3. Click on “Advanced options”
4. Add “config.scayt_autoStartup = false;” without quotes to “Custom javascript configuration” section
5. Click Save
6. Clear cache just in case

Based on the Chrome warning, spellchecker.net has been notified of the malware warning. Hopefully, there is a fix sooner rather than later so we can enable the spell checker for CKEditor once again.

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DepositPhotos.com – A New Source for Stock Images »

fruits veggies collageAs a long time publisher in the digital realm, it’s always great to be able to shoot images myself that we use in articles, but most of the time, it just makes sense to buy an image. This frees up time so I can concentrate on the creation and publishing of the actual content instead. Over the years, I have been using iStockPhoto.com to purchase images for a publisher client. Recent policy and pricing changes at this royalty-free stock image site has encouraged me to look elsewhere for images.

Before I share my new source of stock images, let me share some thoughts on why we are looking for a supplement to iStockPhoto. When we first joined iStockPhoto, images used to cost about $1 USD / image for the lowest resolution size (which was higher resolution at the time than currently I might add). We mainly publish online so most of our needs are met by choosing the lowest web version. With increasing image prices and decreasing resolution size, it was time for me to find another source for royalty-free images.

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[SOLUTION] How to Tether an iPad 2 to an iPhone (including 3G & 3GS) without Jailbreaking »

tethering ipad 2 to iphone 3g / 3gsMobile carriers that allow internet tethering gave iPhone users the ability to share their mobile internet connection with notebooks and tablets. This is game changing technology and has been proven very useful for users not near a Wifi hotspot or those who choose not to use a free hotspot connection. Currently, not many mobile carriers allow internet tethering so when Apple launched the latest iPhone 4 and recent iOS’s with the new Wifi hotspot feature, it was warmly welcomed as it allowed iPhone 4 users to set up their own mini Wifi hotspots to share internet connectivity. The bad news for 3G and 3GS users was that this Wifi hotspot feature was only available for the iPhone 4. So unless you jailbreak your older iPhone, there is no way for an iPad or iPad 2 to use the mobile internet connection from a 3G or 3GS iPhone…. until today that is. Well, not exactly today, but it is only now that I found out that iOS 4.2.1 has enabled Bluetooth tethering for iPhones (even 3G and 3GS). This means I can now share my 3G mobile internet connection with an iPad without having to jailbreak. This let’s an iPad 2 grab and share the internet connection from my iPhone; although I have not tested this with other devices, I assume this would work with other Bluetooth enabled tablets like the iPad 1 as well. Of course, this only works if your mobile carrier allow your specific data plan to tether. Read on for detailed instructions on how to tether your iPad to your iPhone 3G or 3GS.

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[SOLVED] Opengraph Drupal Module – Fatal error: Call to undefined function mb_substr() »

Facebook, Drupal, Opengraph MetaRecently, because a client’s Facebook Share count disappeared, I decided to replace the Share button with the newer Like button. The Like button works but sometimes, the count was still defaulting to zero even though many users have Liked a specific article. To try and fix this, I wanted to add meta info to each Like button. Meta info will allow posts to Facebook to be associated with a pre-specified image, URL and other article properties. Without this info, sometimes the system picks the correct image but most of the time it does not. I was hoping adding meta info will resolve the zero count issue for the Like button. The solution was to implement Opengraph Tags to add meat info to the Facebook Like button. Essensially, Opengraph tags will tell Facebook’s that a Like button is specifically linked to a particular article along with it’s title, description, image, article type, URL and site name. The site in question is powered by Drupal so I decided to give the Opengraph module a try. The only problem was, during installation, I received a server error like so:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function mb_substr() in path/sites/all/modules/opengraph_meta/opengraph_meta.common.inc on line 127

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[SOLVED] Cisco Linksys E4200 Slow Upload Speed »

Linksys E4200 Upload SpeedsFor those who have waited patiently for the Cisco Linksys E4200 Gigabit, Wireless-N, Dual-Band router to arrive in Canadian retail stores, your wait is over. Cisco officially launched the E4200 on March 27, 2011 in Canada. Before I publish a more detailed article about putting the unit through its paces in a real world environment, here is a quick tweak to speed up slow uploads through the E4200. Setup was easy and most settings can be left at the default level. But one particular setting at default resulted in a slow internet upload speed. The E4200 is currently the highest consumer grade wireless router made by Cisco Linksys so take advantage of the new options available in the latest Linksys firmware. Log in to the unit and under Applications & Games >> QoS ,there is a setting for “Upstream Bandwidth“. Default for this is “Auto“. Linksys has an online UI setup so you can see this setting here. When in Auto mode, I was only getting about 60% (1.6 mbps) of my maximum upload speed. Once I manually set Upstream Bandwidth to 10 mbps, I was able to reach my maximum upload speed of 2.5 mbps. If you are experiencing a slow upload speed with the Linksys E4200, try setting Upstream Bandwidth at 2-3 times your maximum upload speed and you may just speed up slow internet upload speeds.

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Kingston 32GB Class 10 SDHC Cards – SD10/32GB versus SD10/32GBCR »

Kingston 32GB SDHC Class 10 SD10/32GB versus SD10/32GBCRIt came time for me to purchase a new SDHC card and the requirement was that it had to be fast enough to cope with the high demands of dSLR burst-shooting and HD video recording. Given the current price point in Canada, the biggest bang for the buck for a branded SDHC card at this moment is a Kingston 32GB SDHC Class 10 card. For me, this card (including 12% tax) works out to be $2.66 / GB. Kingston is a reputable brand and their memory cards are significantly less expensive than the professional Sandisk Extreme line of memory cards. So after checking a few reviews and speed charts, I decided to buy the Kingston card and noticed Canadian retailers carried 2 SKU’s for this product; SD10/32GB versus SD10/32GBCR. In general, the CR version was about 10-20% lower in cost. Kingston’s website does not show any references for the lower cost CR version. The good news is Kingston support has confirmed that these two versions are identical products. The CR designation is “an international part number which is used for marketing purposes only. There is no physical difference as far as the actual product is concerned.” This was good enough for me. Once I receive card, I will post back about its capabilities for use in a newer dSLR. So if you are considering a Kingston 32GB Class 10 card for your photography and video needs, be sure to check and see if your retailer carries the lower cost SD10/32GBCR version.

***UPDATE***
November 17, 2010
So after receiving the product, I can confirm that although the UPC code says SD10/32GBCR, the actual SD card shows SD10/32GB (just like the image in this post). Looks like these 2 SKU’s are indeed used for the same product. Just find the lower cost version and purchase that one instead.
************

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The New AdSense Interface is Live Now »

New AdSense InterfaceThose of you who utilize Google AdSense to generate revenue are going to love the new AdSense interface. It’s clean, easy-to-use and most importantly, allows you access important information quickly. There are too many new and positive things to discuss here. You should go try it yourself. Just log in to your AdSense account as you normally do. You will be asked to try the new AdSense interface. If you do not get this prompt, there will be a “Try the new AdSense interface” link at the top of your screen after you log in. Happy AdSensing!

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Panasonic HDC-TM700 HD Camcorder Review »

panasonic HDC-TM700 camcorderThis is a review post of Panasonic’s higher end, consumer level HD camcorder, the HDC-TM700 or what most owners just call the TM700. As a detailed write-up has already been published by Camcorderinfo.com, this review will not be getting into the nitty gritty but only discuss issues from a first-hand perspective of using this camera for a few months. Hopefully, anyone considering the purchase of this HD camcorder will find some real world user insights helpful.


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Highly Successful Brand Awareness Campaign of 2010 »

passport mapCompanies often pay top dollar to PR and media agencies for help to gain exposure and increase brand awareness. With so many self-proclaimed social media gurus and experts tweeting and connecting in Facebook, you would think there are more successful campaigns out there. This is just not the case. When a campaign is truly successful, it deserves a nod. So this post is dedicated to a highly successful brand awareness campaign of 2010 – The Anywhere Challenge by Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG).


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How to Output Sound from Speakers and Headset Simultaneously »

speakers and headsetComputers are a wonderful thing but sometimes, the simplest tasks seem to be the most difficult to accomplish. Have you ever been frustrated by repeatedly having to unplug your headset from the front of your computer just so you can hear audio from your speakers? Or are you savvy enough to have used a splitter so that both your headset and speakers output audio simultaneously. I am one to hate spending money on parts when there is absolutely no need to do so. So I am one of those who just plug in and unplug my headset. This workaround became such a chore and annoyance that I finally dug into my Windows 7 sound card setup and figured out how to output audio simultaenously from the speakers and the headset! It sounds like a silly discovery but for those of us who regularly use Gmail calling, Skype and various audio tools like Audacity (for editing our podcasts), this solution finally brought peace and harmony back to computing.

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Fixed: iPhone Duplicate Sent Emails End up in Outlook Inbox »

iPhone duplicate email outlook inboxSince I have been using the iPhone 3G, email has been working perfectly until this morning. I have Outlook set to retrieve email via POP and my iPhone using IMAP. All of a sudden, I am receiving a copy of emails sent via the iPhone in my Outlook Inbox. This issue is definitely common, especially when connecting to a Gmail account using multiple clients such as an iPhone, web browser and Outlook. It is a known issue and well document here:

My problem is a slightly different as it is happening on a non-Gmail account and the problem was non-existent until today. After some digging around, it looks like my iPhone’s setting got changed. Not sure how or why but there is a simple fix. On your iPhone, go to:

    Settings >> Mail, Contacts, Calendars, there is a setting called “Always Bcc Myself”

For some reason, this was set to “on.” I disabled this and all is well again, no more duplicate emails being sent to my Outlook Inbox when I reply to an email from my iPhone. If you are also experiencing this duplicate email issue when sending emails on an iPhone, try this simple fix.

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Canon Vixia HF M31 HD Camcorder Review »

Canon Vixia HF M31 HD CamcorderThis post is a review of Canon’s new mid-range HD camcorder, the Canon Vixia HF M31. As a detailed, technical write up on the pros and cons of this new HD camcorder has been published by Camcorderinfo.com, this review will deal solely with my first-hand experience of having used this video camera for a few weeks. Hopefully, others considering the purchase of an HD camcorder will find this article useful in their research. Note that the HF M31 / HFM31 (32GB internal memory) is part of a series from Canon that includes the HF M30 /HFM30 (8GB internal memory) and HF M300 / HFM300 (SD/SDHC memory card only).



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