The one drag about shopping online is that there is no instant gratification.  You have to wait and wait for your product to arrive (unless it's a digital download - but we're talking about physical products here). 

Why am I so effusive in my praise of Amazon Prime? I've had it for a couple years but it really hit me last night when I was placing an order for the office.  I ordered an iMac, Epson Photo Scanner and an Adobe CS3 Upgrade. The primary reason that I ordered from Amazon was a) the cheap - free - shipping and b) lack of tax.  As I got to the final step of the checkout I decided to see how much it would be for next day shipping (to have these items on Monday).  I expected it to be significant since I was after all having a computer (heavy) and scanner (large) shipped.  But, low and behold it was only $11.00 more! I was amazed.  I guess I shouldn't have been - had I actually read the Amazon Prime details I would have been aware of the minimal cost to overnight these items.

What's the catch? Well, there is an annual fee of $79.00 for the Amazon Prime membership but if you do a lot of shopping at Amazon.com then you will more than make up for it over the course of a year - plus you're one step closer to Instant Gratification. 

Amazon Prime is not available on items sold through the Amazon Marketplace.  Here is the exact definition of what is excluded from Amazon Prime: "Eligible products will be designated on the product page, in the order pipeline, or at check-out. Generally, most items eligible for Super Saver Shipping are also eligible for Amazon Prime Shipping benefits. The program is limited to products sold by Amazon.com and by third-party merchants participating in the Fulfillment by Amazon program. Gift certificates are not eligible for expedited shipping under Amazon Prime. Some Amazon.com products are excluded, including, for example, oversize or heavy items, items regulated as hazardous materials, and other items with special shipping characteristics. Products sold by third parties, such as Target, or through third-party areas, such as Amazon Marketplace, are NOT eligible."

Of course, I brazenly installed the new OS without doing any kind of backup (BIG MISTAKE) - if I'd have done a backup I wouldn't be writing this article right now.

The Install Process 

The install process that I chose was a standard Upgrade (at one point I also chose to Archive and Install). The install begins as normal with an estimated completion time of 2 hours 30 minutes.  After a couple of hours I return to the computer to find the display is black so I hit the keyboard to wake it and then a big exclamation mark is displayed indicating that the install failed.  The first time that this happened, I thought "No big deal, let's try it again." After the third time I decided it was time to see if I could recover the files on the Mac.

The Recovery Process

I was unable to restart the Mac from the Hard Drive in 10.4 (it was not an option in the Startup Disk menu included with the Installation Disc). I started to panic here. I've lost my wife's files before. It's not a pretty site. I calmed myself and decided to try to start the computer in Firewire disk mode (Tutorial - Using Firewire Disk Mode on Your Mac). It worked! I then connected a firewire cable from the unresponsive iMac to my PowerBook and viola, the seemingly dead drive (with all of my wife's files no longer locked inside) sprang to life.

Next, I had to find my wife's User Folder - they were found in a folder called 'Previous Systems,' in a directory with the date and time of my first install attempt.  View the window and path.

Once I found her User Folder, I simply started copying all of her files - Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Library (Mail and Widgets) over to the hard drive on my PowerBook (we'll see if I can actually use the Library files once I get the new OS installed on the iMac - I hope so).

Final Thoughts 

I believe the above process worked because I started with a standard upgrade as the install (as opposed to an archive and install). I'm not sure how successful this recovery process would have been had I performed a different install initially. The moral of the story is that you should always back up prior to doing an install of a new OS. I have one more installation to do tomorrow on a work computer and we'll see if I take my own advice.

If only Time Machine could actually take me forward in time so that I could have done a backup prior to installing  the new OS.

To begin, I must admit that I am an unabashed fan of Apple products, and have been since working on my high school newspaper way back in 1992 - 1993. I've used MacOS X since day 1 (all the way back to the first release of the beta version of MacOS X) and feel that I have some insight into the evolution of an OS that is now in its sixth iteration. Below I've listed my first impressions of what I feel is 'The Good', 'The Bad' and 'The Ugly' of MacOS X Leopard.

Screen Sharing: In our office we have been using a piece of software from Devon Technologies called Desktop Transporter to share screens for the purpose of training and some general use and maintenance. Now that MacOS 10.5 has screen sharing built-in, that is one piece of software that I can dump from my system, although I can't get the $30 back that I spent on it. Screen Sharing in 10.5 works as I'd expect it to - although I'd like for the ability to copy items directly to the clipboard without having to use the 'Get Clipboard' and 'Send Clipboard' buttons.

Quick Look: This is one of those shortcuts that after using it a couple times you wonder how you ever lived without it. I love the fact that you can arrow up and down through a series of files after activating Quick Look. I'll never have to hit apple - I to check the size of a folder again.

Spotlight: The refinements to Spotlight are great. Applications now top the list - making Spotlight a better application launcher than it was before - slight delays in the returning of results made Spotlight an imperfect application launcher.  Also (I read this in David Pogue's NY Times Column) Spotlight can be used as a simple calculator. Try it. Hit the apple key and the space bar to launch Spotlight and type in 2+2.  The result is right there at the top of the list. Looking for the definition of a word? It's right there also. Just type in the word and you get the part of speech as well as the beginning of the definition. Click on it and the dictionary is launched. Genius.

Other potentially 'Good' items that I haven't had time to try: Time Machine. I feel like this is going to be great. Back to my Mac. I have a .mac account and am really excited about trying this.  Mail. The new notes and to do items seem like a good idea. Spaces.  I have to use this in my work environment to get a feel for whether or not this is going to be the huge time saver / convenience that I think it will.  I love expose and this seems like Expose on Steroids.

So far, in limited use, those are the improvements that have really caught my attention. I'm sure that as time passes the list will grow.

The Bad

Stacks: I'm just not falling in love with Stacks.  I guess I'm just used to clicking on a folder in the Doc and having it open. I wish there was an option to turn stacks off so that the folder simply opened in the Finder. Having to hold in the apple key while clicking on a stack is an acceptable solution - I just wish I could make it automatic.

Cover Flow for the Finder: I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of Cover Flow in iTunes. I feel like it takes up a lot of space and this is magnified in the Finder since I typically don't use Finder windows that take up the entire screen. A better combination for me is to use the column view with Quick Look. The only use of Cover Flow that I feel works is on the iPhone. There is something about using your finger to flip through your music that just feels right.

The Dock: I don't like the look of the new Dock. I feel like it takes up more room when items are magnified and there is too much drop shadow going on behind the apps in the dock. It's like when I first got Photoshop and could apply a drop shadow to anything I wanted - I went drop shadow crazy and put it on everything. Too Much. I also don't really love how the name of each program is displayed over every app. Unnecessary. If it's worthy of being in the Dock then I should be able to identify it by sight.  I can see where this would be a big help to a beginner or switcher - but I'd like to turn it off.

The Ugly (purely aesthetic): When you interact with the OS every day you tend to get used to how it looks. Leopard deviates from what I'm used to and so this section may need to be appended at some point as I get used to what I'm seeing on screen but below are my gut reactions as to what I feel are aesthetic issues in MacOS 10.5.

Translucent Menu Bar: I don't like it. From a usability standpoint having a translucent menu bar seems to devalue the importance of the menu bar. Once a menu item is clicked on it obviously becomes more apparent but I feel like new users are going to undervalue the importance of the menu bar. Maybe it's just me?

New Folders: I don't love them. The fact that I notice them at all means that something is off.

Mail: I don't like the overall dark look of mail.  The buttons don't work for me - actually I didn't like them in the previous version of mail either.

Translucent Menu's: I can take these or leave them. I don't like the idea of being able to almost see through the menu but I don't hate it. The same goes for the rounded corners on the menus. I don't love them but I'm sure I'll learn to ignore them (at the very least).

Fortunately, a search provided a fast and easy solution to my problem.

Installation of the plugin was a breeze. Simply download the plugin (download here), drag the MotV365.phoneplugin to ~/Library/PhonePlugins (I actually had to create that directory) and then add the device through iSync. NOTE: The PhonePlugins directory should be created in the main Library on your Hard Drive, not the user Library that is found under your username (see image below). If the plugin does not work, verify that you have created the PhonePlugins directory in the correct location.

The actual image that iSync displays for the phone is not accurate (see below) but iSync will now allow you to sync all of your contacts and calendars.

That's all there is to it. You are now ready to start syncing! 

With the launch of the iPhone, mobile web browsing is going to be taken to a whole new level and you, as a web developer need to be sure that sites you develop render properly when viewed not only on the desktop but also on handheld devices like the iPhone (and other mobile phones). 

About iPhoney [from the Marketcircle website]:

iPhoney is a 1.4MB download 

In some brief testing, everything seems to work pretty well (hard to tell how accurate the iPhoney is without an actual iPhone to compare it to) but I did notice that a few of the Web Apps for iPhone (a pretty good list of web apps here at iLounge) did look a bit wonky.

All of the links are clickable and as you would expect you can view the page in horizontal or vertical mode to truly simulate viewing your site as an iPhone user might. You can turn on / off Zoom To Fit which simulates viewing the site by tapping or pinching.

With all of the hype surrounding the iPhone, I'm sure this open-source project will gain momentum in the coming weeks. 

iPhoney simulating gBradhopkins.com vertical mode with Zoom to Fit turned off.

iPhoney simulating gBradhopkins.com in horizontal mode with Zoom to Fit turned off.

A web search for resources about adding this code will turn up a lot of results. The easiest that I've found is at Webmaster-Affiliates.net. They have created a free resource that allows you to input a few bits of information and generate the code with one click. Webmaster-Affiliates.net Set as Homepage Link.

If you would prefer to create a button that allows a user to add your link to their favorites (bookmarks), Webmaster-Affiliates.net also has you covered there (Webmaster-Affiliates.net Create a Bookmark Link).

Tools like this make it easier for your visitors to return to your website. One caveat is that these tools do not function in all browsers so you may want to test them before deploying them to see how they will work.

A quick glance at my AWR Keyword Report (AWR - Advanced Web Ranking - discussed in a previous SEO Wednesday) shows that the keywords that I would like to be ranked for are; ask how to, ask me, computer how to, computer tutorials, mac tutorials, pc tutorials, quicktime tips, and web design tips. The report also indicates that the only keywords that I actually rank in the top 20 for are gbradhopkins and mac tutorials. Currently gbradhopkins.com ranks around #17 in the major search engines for mac tutorials while none of the other keywords are in the top twenty.

Instead of using a paid keyword service as recommended by highrankings.com, I'm going to look at two tools to find out which keywords people are using.

The first tool is the Overture Keyword Selector Tool. The intended purpose of this Overture tool is to allow you to search for selected keywords, and find related keywords and their popularity to guide you when bidding on keywords when advertising with Overture.
It also works as a nifty tool to research keyword popularity.

Keyword Search: PC Tutorials 391 total searches done at Overture in October 2005 for the keyword PC Tutorials and related keywords like pc anywhere tutorial, pc repair tutorial, etc. An alternative search for computer tutorial reveals that there we over 3000 searches for the top three related keywords; computer tutorial (2030), computer security help and tutorial (679), and free computer tutorial (494). This indicates that computer tutorials would be a better keyword to optimize for, as opposed to PC Tutorials.

The other tool we are going to look at is the Google AdWords Keyword Tool that you can use after signing up for an account with Google AdWords. The great thing about this tool is that you can put in a URL and analyze the page for keywords related to the content of the page. Below is a sample search that I did for gbradhopkins.com.

By selecting Keyword Popularity from the Show Columns drop down menu, you can see the search volume for each keyword. If you plan on advertising the site in AdWords, the tool also shows the Advertiser Competition for each keyword.

Once you have decided on the relevant keywords for your website, you need to begin creating content based on the keywords that you have selected. The more content you can create for each keyword, the more relevant your site becomes in the eyes of search engines.

Next week we are going to look at designing and categorizing your site architecture and navigation based
on your keyword research.

A: Ah, the iPod Video. It's amazing. It, along with the iPod Nano, is the IT item that people want to see under their Christmas Tree this holiday season. It sounds like Kenny may have recently bought an iPod and was then burned by the release of the new iPod (with Video). (How do you decide when to take the plunge for a new piece of technology? But, I digress…)Unfortunately, there is no way to watch video on a pre-5G (5th Generation) iPod.

Q2: I am trying to make a video using either Intervideo Creator, Photo Story 3 or Movie Maker, but I cannot use any of the MP3 music I downloaded because it says it is copyrighted. How can I get songs for my movies? Thank you so much!!!!! (Diana)

A: There are two answers to this question. First, visit a site like RoyaltyFreeMusic.com where you will pay $99 for a completely LEGAL music / audio track for your home movie (or any other type of project). The alternative is to scour the internet and / or file sharing networks for audio tracks that you can use in your home movie (NOT LEGAL). Another alternative is to import music from a CD that you already own and use it. This is especially useful if it's a simple home movie project that is not going to be displayed to the general public.

Q3: I want to add album art easily to my iTunes, and I saw that Clutter could do that. Unfortunately, I use Windows. Any comparable programs? Thanks. (Rina)

A: Not being a Windows user myself, I can't give a definitive answer to this question. I can say that one program that people seem to like, according to comments and blog posts, is iTunes Art Importer which was designed to automate the process of importing album art into iTunes for Windows.

Q: I want to make audio CD from Audio Tape. Please advise me how can I convert my favourite songs from Audio Tape to CD. (Thakor Rana)

A: Importing (ie. digitizing) tapes or records is as much a problem of equipment as it is anything else. If you have the right equipment, the process is a breeze. If not, it's like walking against a stiff wind. Fortunately, PlaylistMag has written a nice tutorial discussing how to digitize your audio.

Last Q: Who Dey? (me)

A: I don't get it. Who Dey? I have seen the family on the Amazing Race from Cincinnatti, OH, wearing shirts that say Who Dey and then I recently saw fans at the Bengals games with big foam #1 fingers that say Who Dey? What does it mean? Apparently, it is pronounced like "Who They" (substitute the TH with the D when saying) and is a battle cry from the 1988 Cincinnati Bengals that went to the Super Bowl. ("Who-Dey, Who-Dey, Who-Dey think gonna beat dem Bengals!" the players shouted, resurrecting the chant that was a staple of celebrations during Cincinnati's 1988 run to Super Bowl XXIII. - Cincinnati Post).

Well, that solves that! Hopefully this was as informative for you as it was time consuming for me! Feel free to submit your own question via the AskMe form and I'll answer it as soon as possible.

In this short entry I'll give you a look at some of the screenshots from my gBradhopkins.com sitemap account.

From the Google Sitemaps Help File: "Google Sitemaps is an easy way for you to help improve your coverage in the Google index. It's a collaborative crawling system that enables you to communicate directly with Google to keep us informed of all your web pages, and when you make changes to these pages.

Better crawl coverage to help people find more of your web pages.
Fresher search results.
A smarter crawl because you can provide specific information about all your web pages, such as when a page was last modified or how frequently a page change."

Here are some screenshots from my Google Sitemaps account.

This is a view of the Google Sitemaps Overview screen. This gives you a look at all of the sitemaps that you've added, whether they have been verified or not and whether or not they have errors.

Google Sitemaps Query Stats page, shows some of the keywords and phrases that people use to find your site in Google.com.

Google Sitemaps Crawl Stats page, provides distribution information for pages that have been crawled.

Google Sitemaps Page Analysis Stats, provides information on how the Googlebot sees your site.

Google Sitemap Index Stats shows you how your site is indexed in the Google search engine (sites similar to yours, sites that link to yours, the current cache of your page in the index, etc.).

Google Sitemaps Errors shows which pages they tried to crawl (found either through links from your Sitemaps or from other pages) but couldn't access and gives a description of the error and possibly how to fix it.

While the Sitemaps project purports to have no bearing on your search engine placement (or rank), it sure can't hurt.

Want to add a sitemap of your site to the Google Sitemaps project? Check out this sponsor: Firebrand Media Google Sitemap Submission

Related gBradhopkins.com Articles:
Monitor your Google Page Rank
Ways to Build Website Traffic [SEO Wednesday]

This week, even though it is two days late, we'll look at tip number two, "Optimize your site for your target audience, not for the search engines."

I found that while www.gbradhopkins.com is not ranked for any of my keywords, gbradhopkins.com ranks in the top 20 on five search engines for the keyphrase "mac tutorials." View full gbradhopkins.com AWR report.

Highrankings.com Tip #2: Optimize your site for your target audience, not for the search
engines.

Basically, you need to figure out who your target audience is and what are they looking for. One way to do this is to search for websites that are in your same space (area, field or business). What are they talking about. Monitor these sites for an extended period of time (only as long as you want to remain competitive - forever). By monitoring the other sites in your space, you can get ideas on what makes a good site (as far as rankings are concerned) and how you can create / modify your site to meet the needs of your potential visitors. (Note - I'm looking at this from the perspective of an informational site. Your needs may differ if you are creating a business site). In a nutshell, make sure your site give users what they are looking for and eventually you will be ranked (provided you continue following the tips and advice that is being provided here and in other areas) and start generating that traffic that you crave.

Also, make sure that your information is easily accessible. I prefer clean sites that focus on the content (or purpose of the site). What does your target market prefer? You need to know, so that you can develop a site that appeals to them (not just you).

It's also important to have some idea of how people are getting to your site, rather, what they are looking for that is getting them to your site. This only works if you are currently generating some traffic from search engines or other referrers. A referrer is simply the site that led someone to your site. One way to figure out how visitors are getting to your site is to use a counter like SiteMeter. It provides the referrer and a wealth of other information about how people are getting to your site. Read this tutorial on how to add SiteMeter to your website.

In recap, learn your audience and develop your site around their needs and desires. That's the first (or second) step to a healthy website.

Still no takers on my Special Offer from last week. This is valuable search engine information that I am providing free!

Special Offer: If you would like me to check your rank with AWR, use the AskMe Form or the comments box below to provide your URL and keywords that you would like checked and I'll check the major search engines for you and will provide a report to you (if you provide email address).

Have a comment or question? Post it below! Want a free search engine rank report?

This can help you monitor the importance of your website (as far as Google is concerned) and let others know what your site rank is.

(View other gbradhopkins.com web design tutorials)

I'm using a program called Advanced Web Ranking by Caphyon Software to check the position of my website for various keywords. Using this program I can judge not only where my site ranks, but also how competitive the space, that I'm attempting to optimize my site for, is.

For example, by using AWR, I can tell that there are roughly 8 million results for the keywords "windows tutorials" and 429,000 results for "quicktime tutorials." This gives me a ballpark idea of how much competition there is.

The keywords that I picked for my site are the keywords that I think are related to the site. They are web design tips, mac tips, mac tutorials, pc tips, ask me, computer how to, mac, quicktime tutorials, windows tutorials, web design tutorials and gbradhopkins. Like I said, those are the keywords that I think are related to the site. In future SEO Wednesday articles we will look at some Keyword Density Analyzers to see if the keywords that I think are related to the site is reflected in the content of the site.

Here is a link to the Keyword Overview Report generated by AWR. View Report. A quick look at the report reveals that I have really no rankings at all for any of my keywords beyond "mac tutorials" in DMOZ and "gbradhopkins" in all of the search engines. The good news is that the site is at least listed in each of the engines. Its a start.

If your site is not listed in any of the search engines then I would suggest that you submit the site to Google, and suggest it to the DMOZ directory. That's where you would start.

Now, on to the HighRankings.com list.

1. Do not purchase a new domain unless you have to. My site has been running at gbradhopkins.com for some time so this does not necessarily apply to my situation. But, I did run the website on my .Mac server and a copy of the site remains there at this time. If you are starting fresh, then you have no choice but be patient. When it comes to SEO you have to be patient. The HighRankings.com list indicates that the wait is 9 - 12 months before your website shows up for the keywords that you want.

At this point I'm going to stop for this post. Next week we'll continue with our list and see if we've made any progress on our Search Engine Rankings.

I've decided to upload my AWR report to the server after each update for all to view. gBradhopkins.com Advanced Web Ranking Report

Special Offer: If you would like me to check your rank with AWR, use the AskMe Form or the comments box below to provide your URL and keywords that you would like checked and I'll check the major search engines for you and will provide a report to you (if you provide email address).

First, insert the DVD that you would like to rip for use on the iPod. In this example I am ripping Arrested Development Season 2, Disc 3 DVD.

Upon insertion of the disc, the Apple DVD player will launch and we'll subsequently quit that. Next, we'll open HandBrake and click on Open DVD from the file menu. We will then select the Detected Volume and click Open. HandBrake will then scan the various chapters of the disc (see images below).

We will now have to select the Title that contains the video that we want to rip. On the Arrested Development disc, I would rip the first six chapters in the Title Menu. On a full length movie we would have to look at the Duration to find the video that we want to rip (see images below). [On a full length movie we will know that the video is the correct video to rip because it will have the longest duration. ]

Next, we'll adjust the video settings to rip the video in the format that is required for the iPod. There are primarily three settings that will need to be adjusted. (1) Average bitrate, (2) 2-Pass Encoding and (3) Picture settings. Set Average bitrate to 400, select the check box for 2-Pass Encoding and in the Picture settings adjust the size of the image down to 320 x 176 (see images below).

Finally, adjust the Destination settings. Here we will change the File (name) and the location that the file will be saved to by typing in a name (make sure to add or keep the .mp4 file extension) and selecting browse to select the destination (see images below).

Now, hit Rip and HandBrake will begin ripping the video (see image below). Each 22 minute episode of Arrested Development took roughly 30 minutes to rip.

Once the file has been ripped, drag it into iTunes (version 6 or higher), connect your iPod and do a sync. The file should now be available for viewing on your iPod.

Setting up the Queue in HandBrake

If you are going to be ripping multiple chapters of a DVD then you will want to set up the queue. Setting up the queue is simple as long as you remember that you have to adjust the settings for each Title (Chapter) of the DVD that you want to rip.

In a nutshell, adjust the settings for the first Title that you want to add to the queue according to the steps above, and then click on Add to queue. Now, make the adjustments for the next Title that you want to rip and click Add to queue and continue for all Titles that you want to rip. NOTE - Picture settings and File name MUST be changed for each Title that you want to add to the queue.

Once you have added all of the Titles to the queue click Rip and HandBrake will begin Ripping the video.

In this column, which I hope will run every Wednesday, I will use tips, tools and techniques that I find on the web to optimize this website and increase traffic. In addition to optimizing this site, we will also dispell myths, highlight tools, websites and resources for those looking to optimize their website for the major search engines.

"Short for search engine optimization, the process of increasing the amount of visitors to a Web site by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. The higher a Web site ranks in the results of a search, the greater the chance that that site will be visited by a user. It is common practice for Internet users to not click through pages and pages of search results, so where a site ranks in a search is essential for directing more traffic toward the site.

SEO helps to ensure that a site is accessible to a search engine and improves the chances that the site will be found by the search engine." (source Webopedia.com)

To judge whether or not we are making any progress, we have to know where we are currently. All of the following stats apply to the traffic received by gbradhopkins.com during the year 2005.

Traffic Stats
53% of traffic comes from Google.com
2.49% comes from Yahoo!
1.25% comes from MSN Search

11% of visitors used the Search Phrase "Quicktime Pro 7"
3.6% used the Search Phrase "rotate movies"
3.6% used the Search Phrase "connecting two macs via firewire"

37.3% of visitors are using Safari or Netscape 6 or 7
35.69% of users are using Internet Explorer 6
47% of visitors are using the MacOS
42% of visitors are using WinXP

That's a smattering of the stats, that I feel will help us decide whether or not our SEO effors are successful. A tool that I will be using is to track my progress throughtout is Advanced Web Ranking 4.1 by Caphyon Software. This software, which you can demo for free for 30 days allows you to track your search engine ranking over time for various keywords.

The methods that will guide my actions will come from various resources. I am going to start with the ten suggestions in the article Ten tips to the Top of the Search Engines found on the HighRankings.com forum.

Next week, we'll start tackling that list on the HighRankings.com forum. In the mean time, why not try this with your website? We can compare notes and hopefully increase traffic to all of our sites. Until next week, feel free to comment below.

Want to be notified when this site is updated? Submit your email address via the AskMe form and I will sign you up. You will then be notified when a new article is added to the site. And, your email will never be used for the purposes of SPAM.