JeD Chan.comBlogging | JeD Chan.com

Draw Your Own Favicon

JeD Chan — Sun, 01 May 2011 17:12:28 +0000

You may have already met a number of Favicon Generator sites wherein you can create one by uploading an image; or get one from their galleries. So if you wish to design your own favicon, the normal practice is having it done on a drawing application or graphic designing program such as Adobe. Export to image. Then upload to the generator.

Before we continue, some of you may ask what is a Favicon?

Well, favicon is the term called for the small icon in your browser.

What is it for? Well, I’m not sure if there are other purpose for favicon aside for the site’s “Brand Awareness.”

Moving on..I have been catching up with my blogging these days. And I’ve done a lot of things lately:

Organized files on my StartLogic webhost by moving the WordPress installation to a different folder. - Before it is in the root folder.
Tweaked SEO and theme design using my newly bought Drag and Drop Theme: Headway. – Codes make my nose bleed.
Sorry in advance, but I also put some “clean” ads to somehow support this blog. Thanks for understanding.
Drew my favicon.

What?! Drew your own favicon?!

Yes, apparently there is a site such as Favicon.cc who let’s you draw your own favicon! And here’s my personal icon: thanks to Headway Themes for introducing it to me. ^^

Their drawing tools are pretty simple so it won’t take long for you to get used to it. And as you can see, a greed will guide your project.

Favicon.cc also gives you the option to upload your image, or grab from their gallery, and edit it using their drawing tool. Pretty cool huh? There’s a lot of samples in their library that can serve as an inspiration for your own personal icon.

Happy drawing!

Settled Down With WordPress

JeD Chan — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 19:29:05 +0000

After several months of limbo between Tumblr and WordPress, I finally settled down with WP. My reason is the same as my previous post, that Tumblr is blocked by the Great Firewall of China. Though blogging in Tumblr is easy, fun and have a very warm community, I cannot erase the fact that there are still some percentage of readers in China that MIGHT want to read my useless posts.

In addition to that, as I recently became more hands-on on building our company’s blog, I’m enjoying the freedom of doing whatever I want with the blog. And I think that it would be all worth it because at the end of the day, it is your blog your working on. It’s not Tumblr’s nor WordPress’, it’s yours. – and you decide until when your site lives.

***

On the other note, I’m currently working on something with this blog. I would like to apologize in advance for the down times that may occur. Thank You!

Is Tumblr Still Blocked In China?

JeD Chan — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:55:49 +0000

The reason why I moved our company’s blog from Tumblr to a self-hosted WordPress, it is because our contacts in China cannot view the site since it was blocked by The Great Firewall Of China. I also experienced it first hand when I went there last February. No Tumblr, No Twitter, and I’m pretty sure that there’s no Facebook as well. - Sorry I didn’t check Facebook since I’m not into FB that much.

But I’m beginning to get confused.. For no apparent reason, I tested Tumblr at greatfirewallofchina.org if it will pass. Surprisingly it passed! Check the image below:

Could someone help us verify this? Is Tumblr now permitted in China?

It will somehow feel awkward to have finally moved the blog, and then find out that the old blog is now allowable in China.

Blogging With WordPress Android

JeD Chan — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:21:49 +0000

I just observe that the more time I spend on work, the less time I give to blogging. Again, I would like to terribly apologize about that.

But now with the help of WordPress on Android, I’m hoping that I can somehow manage to post more often. I’m actually using the app to write this post.

The downside that I observed so far about this app is that I couldn’t see what would be the post look like. And another one is I cannot configure, nor tweak, its SEO using the wordpress plug-in installed in the platform.

In any case, I’m really excited to use this app to help me blog. It’s better than nothing I guess..

Sorry but I would like to also take this opportunity to announce that I and Great Wall North EDSA will be participating in Manila International Auto Show tomorrow at World Trade Center in Manila. It’s a grand annual event that car makers are looking forward to each year.

Sorry I still don’t know how to post the link here..might as well google about MIAS for more information.

K.I.S.S. 3 Top Secret Ways To Get Rich

JeD Chan — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:09:08 +0000

Today I attended a blogger event at Victory Center, Promenade, Greenhills, San Juan. It’s a seminar of personal and practical finance for bloggers. It was organized by Carlo Ople of News Media Philippines, and the speaker was Randell Tiongson. – Great guys!

Overall, the seminar was nice and I’ve met a lot of bloggers. I was also surprised that Sonnie Santos of Santos [dot] PH was there – I consider Mr. Santos one of my mentor in blogging.

There were a lot of freebies: GBX T-shirts, food & drinks, back issues of Money Sense magazine, plus GBX gift check for raffle – Too bad I didn’t get it. *sob*

Randell delivered the talk very fun and casual, but very insightful. I could say that my favorite part of his talk was about 3 ways to get rich:

Inherit It.
Marry It.
Spend less than what you earn and invest the difference.

Though you may find these ways kind of humorous, this is actually keys to financial freedom.

K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple, Stupid. A lot of us spend our entire life looking for the secret ingredient or perhaps that magic spell for financial freedom. Little do we know that the secret ingredient is actually “OURSELVES” and the magic spell is actually a little basic mathematical equation:

(Income) – (Expenses) = (Profit/Loss)

e.g.

200 – 100 = 100

100 – 200 = (100)

Just keep it simple, don’t complicate your life.

I really enjoyed and learned a lot from the seminar today. I’m looking forward for more of their bloggers’ event.

I was just saddened that Zorlone and Ceblogger were not able to come due to some trouble. I hope to see you guys next time.

**UPDATE: There will be another blogger event on July 11, again in Greenhills. Organized by Mr. Sonnie.

7 Golden Rules of Social Media

JeD Chan — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 07:38:49 +0000

Here’s a simple yet very valuable information about social media, reblogged from http://100musicalfootsteps.wordpress.com -> check this site out, a lot of interesting stuffs here.

< >

if you use twitter, SU, digg, facebook, flickr, reddit, etc, these principles will have you nodding your head:

1. if you want people to pay attention to you, you have to pay attention to them.

put simply, you must RECIPROCATE. without this, nothing will happen for you. You can add as many friends as you want, spew out as many messages as possible, but people will just ignore you. Social media is about Establishing Relationships. This, first and foremost.

2. no more spam

bad behaviour is punished with a simple block or unfollow. Instant lifelong banishment. Goodbye to the spam of the email days; in social media YOU have control over what you see and what you don’t see. Big difference.

3. good stuff spreads. Fast.

this is like the word-of-mouth effect in the real world, except times 100. even 1000. Good stuff reaches ‘1 person’ they pass it onto 7, then 7 times 7, in a chain that ripples out in MINUTES. Stuff that is GOLD does rise to the top. Fast.

:4. be real

doesn’t matter what social network you’re on, keep it real. People will appreciate this no end. Everyone is sick of reading advertising copy all over the web, show some humor, insanity, goofiness, or insight. Be different, be real. No-one is as boring as a newsreader. INJECT personality. everyone’s got it, just let it show

5. pick your avatar carefully

doesn’t matter if it’s your real face, a cartoon character, a famous portrait, or just a logo, your Avatar says EVERYTHING. It’s the first point of contact, and the first thing that people will associate with you. Even more than your user name. It sums you up … in 90 by 90 pixels. Choose wisely.

6. log on daily

this sounds like a pure no-brainer, but I have come across people that use twitter maybe once a week. BIG NO NO! the web runs at Warp Speed! Like warp 9.9, doesn’t get much faster than that! If you really want to be in a Social Network, you have to be available, and commit something of yourself to it. It doesn’t have to be hours a day (although some people take this route), but a once-a-day checkin is the very minimum. Be active, be involved, be alive.

7. ask questions, and learn

social networks are evolving systems. Everyone has a piece of the puzzle, some individual insight based on their total experience. There’s HEAPS to learn. If someone seems to be doing it better than you, just ask. It’s very flattering when someone says: “how did you do that” … and in most cases, they will share some of their knowledge. It only empowers YOU to ask questions, doesn’t make you look dumb at all. Be humble, and open.

Be More Internet Friendly

JeD Chan — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:52:09 +0000

Ever encountered these things? 8-) They are called “Smileys” or “Emoticons” - Emotion Icons. These emoticons is used to express one’s emotion in text. Putting these on emails, comments, chats, etc. will definitely make them more expressive, and more friendly. I’m one avid fan of emoticons, as a matter of fact, 90% of my comments and chats contains emoticons. However, not only emoticons can help express emotions through text. There’s also CAPITAL LETTERS, Exclamation Point!, (symbols) @%#^&*$((*#, and (direct text) *sob* *huhu* *haha* *zZzZz* *joking*.

Subtle emotions and meanings can be difficult to transmit through text, as well as satire and humor. These may be misinterpreted as sarcasm, rudeness or an insult. Perhaps these are just result of being absent minded or poor structure of phrase, and not intended the way it was perceived. Putting suitable smileys or other emotion text can save them from being misunderstood.

Ex: “Of course not. I’d rather go alone.”

“Of course not! I’d rather go alone. *kidding*”

Expressing emotions should be used sparingly and responsibly. Thus these may also gravitate anger and other unpleasant expressions.

Usage of Emotions:

Capital Letters

Avoid using capital letters if it is not necessary. Capital letters designates SHOUTING and can be considered rude.

Ex: “THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.”

There are times when capital letters are used to emphasize a word. Use underline, asterisk, italic, or bold instead.

Ex: “This is not the way it should be.”

Exclamation Point

Exclamation point really gives that (uhmph!) strong feeling in a particular statement. It can express the feeling of surprise, excitement, or anger. Be careful using this with capital letters for it may intensify the statement and might be misinterpreted as furiousness.

Ex: “THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!”

Others might also put a lot of exclamations that can further intensify the statement.

Ex: “THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!!!”

Smileys/Emoticons

In my opinion, smileys are the simplest and most basic but very effective way to express one’s emotion.

Here are some of the most commonly used smileys:

Though emoticons are very easy to use, remember to use it properly. Putting inappropriate emoticons in a certain situation may be insulting. Remember to be sensitive.

Ex: “Condolence. “

“May you have more birthdays to come. “

“You failed the exam? “

In blogging, try to minimize the usage of emoticons on posts. For some readers may find it somewhat…unprofessional.

Expressing our emotions over the internet can lead us to two things: to have more friends and to not have friends at all. It is just a matter of how you use it to express yourself.

Invite Traffic To Your Blog By Being Inviting

JeD Chan — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:50:44 +0000

What is the first thing you’ll do when someone is going to pay you a visit? Perhaps you’re going to fix yourself, clean your place, make sure everything is in order. I’m sure you don’t want your visitors to see your place is at mess. I believe cleaning your place is the most basic act of courtesy one can show to their guests. This gives them the impression that they are welcome to your place.

The same concept applies on our blog. We should keep our blog clean to make it very inviting to our visitors. You don’t want to spoil a good chance to give a pleasant impression to your readers. Even if your contents are good but your site is cluttered and difficult to read, I don’t think your readers will enjoy your posts that much. Perhaps they’ll just browse through and leave – I am guilty of this. When I visit a blog and felt like it’s a mess, I’ll just look at the latest post’s title. If nothing caught my attention, I’ll hop to another blog. On the other hand, if I find the blog is clean I usually stay there for about 5 minutes and see what it has to offer.

Messy blogs can also degrade the value of your blog’s design. It’s senseless to have a very sleek or very cool blog layout when you don’t know how to clean up your blog! Isn’t it much better to visit a place that is not-so well designed but very well-kept? than a well designed but run-down? To maintain cleanliness in your blog, perhaps you need to set some standards. Here’s mine:

No To Tag Cloud – I don’t put tag clouds. The uneven sizes of the fonts in the cloud looks really messy. Though tag clouds are very useful for navigation. I’m still deciding if I can consider 3D tag clouds.
Minimal Animated/Moving Ads – Animated/moving ads is my least priority. I usually grab the steady ones. If I had no choice, I’ll put animated ads at the bottom of my blog.
Limit Categories – I limit my categories to 10-12. I believe 10-12 can already cover up a lot of topics.
Complement - Whenever I put a widget or an ad, I make sure that the color compliments with my blog design. I also make sure the sizes of those widgets and ads compliments with the location where I’m putting them.
Standard Font – I use Verdana as my standard font. Using only one font can make everything look uniformed and well organized.

Well I hope let’s start cleaning our blogs. Set some standards especially on your ads. Be responsible enough to clean your blog and be more readable in public.

In a line: Clean blogs invites visitors.

Create A Better Internet: The Internet Etiquette

JeD Chan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:35:56 +0000

I’ve been writing about random topics for quite a while, tough this blog is supposed to be in “Self-Improvement” niche. I love to inspire, motivate, and help improve the quality of life by sharing my thoughts and experiences. But now I think I’m into blog improvement, increase traffic & page ranks, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), MMO (Make Money Online) and social medias. It seems like my interests have been shifting back and forth, but I noticed that they have the same bottom line: Improvement. At least I’m still on the “Improvement” track (LOL)

Well, perhaps my ‘main’ interest is to help improve, enhance, upgrade, build or create something of value; and it confirms as I browsed my archives. It seems like I constantly, unconsciously, add the “improvement” ingredient every time I cook a post. I guess “improvement” has been my main ingredient after all.

INTRODUCTION TO INTERNET ETIQUETTE

So much for that very long introduction. All I want to do is introduce you to the Internet Etiquette, and notify you all that I’m going to have a steady stream of posts about it for the mean time. *PEACE*

WHAT IS INTERNET ETIQUETTE?

Internet Etiquette or “Netiquette” refers to the practices that were developed to make the experience of internet users pleasant. There were some rules described by Internet Engineering Task Force or (IETF) in RFC 1855, however due to the evolution of the internet these rules now vary from community to community. Well, ‘netiquette’ is primarily concerned about matters of courtesy over the internet.

So why do I want to tackle Netiquette.. Well internet is a way of life in this age. Even I can’t let a day pass without being on the internet, and a lot of people do as well. Internet is like our second town or world, and of course we want our town to be clean and peaceful. But we must face the fact that some people are abusing the internet by spamming and all that. I think one of the reason is the lack of education regarding do’s and dont’s in the internet. I hope by educating people regarding internet etiquette we can improve or better yet build a better internet for all of us.

As they say “Start in your own home.” For every bloggers, I believe improving the internet starts in your own blog. With that, my netiquette posts will be much focused on blogging. I believe by applying proper netiquette can also have a great effect in your blog. It can build better relationships among bloggers and readers which can improve the quality of your blog’s traffic and readership.

I must admit, this will put a lot of pressure on me. I must practice what I preach. *gulp* Well, let’s all learn in the process.

Let’s help each other create a better internet! Observe proper Netiquette!

I’ll see you on my next posts.

Social Bookmarking Sites That Helps Page Rank

JeD Chan — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:37:40 +0000

Social bookmarking sites has only one purpose – to bookmark; Well at least that’s the ‘main’ role of bookmarking sites. But then it is called “Social” bookmarking, which allows us to share what we are bookmarking. Not only that, these services also helps us organize bookmarks and collaborate with other bookmarkers. As we all know, social bookmarking is a great way to socialize and increase traffic (for bloggers).

But there’s a better news for us bloggers. Social bookmarking does not only help us increase our traffic, but increase our Page Rank as well.

How?

As our pages were tagged and defined by bookmarkers, this will be treated as an external meta data that can give a reasonable amount of benefits to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of our pages. This is so because the information given was done by the public and not by the site owners. Just imagine if there are hundreds or thousands who’s tagging your pages.

Social bookmarking with No-Follow Tags

Yes there are bookmarking sites who uses No-Follow tags to prevent people from spamming and abuse of links. However there are bookmarking services that DO NOT use No-Follow tags.

And here are some of those services:

These sites does not use No-Follow tags, meaning this can help you have more link-juice to your site from backlinks.

Consider these..

Though these services uses No-Follow, they can increase your page ranks by bringing in traffic and good readership: del.icio.us – and my personal favorites: StumbleUpon and Mixx.

Learn More: http://www.searchenginejournal.com