gBradhopkins.com

Fuller, Full-Screen For Web Video

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:16:52 -0500

Occasionally I'll watch Sunday night NFL games on the NBCSports.com website. The NBCSports.com video player allows you to watch video full-screen. The problem is that even when watching full-screen, you've got wasted space to allow for the different camera angles that they offer.

NFL on NBC Video Player Window - Full-screen

Here's two ways to increase the size of full-screen video using a built-in MacOS X shortcut.

Not Seeing any Google Custom Search Engine Results in Analytics? Here's the Fix!

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:22:15 -0500

I'm a big fan of Google Analytics and use it on most all of the sites that I build. I recently installed a Google Custom Search Engine (CSE) to a site of mine and was hoping to use Google Analytics to track the searches that were performed on the site in the Google CSE.

The problem is that after a couple days, there were still no results. It was off to the Google CSE Discussion Group to search for the answer - and I found it.

Recovering Individual Files from Plesk Backup

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:29:45 -0500

If you host your website on a server that runs Plesk as the Control Panel, and you actually make back-ups of your server, then at some point you are probably going to want to access the files located on the Plesk generated back-up.

With some free software, it's easier than you think.

Why I Love Amazon (Prime)

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 10:51:41 -0500

I love Amazon Prime.

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).

MacOS 10.5 Install - Crash, Burn, Recovery

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 06:28:30 -0500

Yesterday I wrote an article about my first impressions of MacOS 10.5 'Leopard'. Today, I have a slightly different perspective as for the first time ever, I've had a failure when installing a version of MacOS X.
In this article I'll provide a way for you to (hopefully) recover the files that are on your system in the event that the same thing happens to you.

MacOS 10.5 'Leopard' First Impressions

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:32:04 -0500

I received my copy of MacOS 10.5 'Leopard' yesterday via FedEx and promptly installed it on 3 of 5 computers that I have at home and in the office (a PowerBook G4, iMac (Intel) and a PowerMac Dual Processor G5). I also began an install on an iMac G5 which failed on the first installation attempt (and is currently in the process of installing - 2nd attempt). I thought I'd share my impressions of the new OS X (one - because I want to get in the habit of writing more and two - because I was hoping to get some feedback from other users).

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.

Plugin Adds Support for Motorola V365 in iSync

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:02:43 -0500

The great thing about the internet is that if you have a problem, you can usually find a solution to that problem. The problem I had was that my wife got a new Motorola V365 cell phone and we needed to transfer all of her contacts to the new phone and I thought iSync (via Bluetooth) would be the easiest way to do it. WRONG!

iSync would not recognize the V365 (actually, it did recognize it - it just wouldn't support it).

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

MovableType Blogging is Possible From the iPhone

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:13:37 -0500

One thing I wondered about in the weeks prior to the release of the iPhone was whether or not blogging through MovableType would be possible or not. Well, now that I have my iPhone I can confirm that it is possible. The experience is not that bad actually. And I'm sure that it will ultimately lead to my becoming a better typer on the iPhone keyboard.

iPhoney Simulates iPhone Web Browsing

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:33:38 -0500

In a previous post (Why test your website in different browsers?) I talked about the importance of testing your website in a variety of browsers to ensure that it will be rendered properly no matter what browser a visitor to your site is using.

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).

Add a 'Set as Homepage' link to your website

Fri, 09 Dec 2005 11:16:09 -0500

Someone recently asked me how to add a 'Set as Homepage' link to their website. If you are unfamiliar with these types of links, they are links which you can click on to set the current page as your homepage. It simplifies the process for changing the homepage (see previous tutorial on setting homepage in Internet Explorer) that you have set in your browser. In this tutorial for website designers I'll show you how you can add a link like this to your website.

Research your Keywords [SEO Wed. Vol. 4]

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 13:47:27 -0500

In the fourth entry of SEO Wednesday, we will look at researching the keywords that our target audience would use when searching. By knowing the keywords that our audience will use when they search, we can generate content for those keywords, making our site more relevant, hopefully moving it one step closer to the top of the SERP (search engine results page).

AskMe: Answers to recent Questions

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 15:28:23 -0500

Occasionally, readers use the AskMe form to get answers to computer questions that they can't seem to find anywhere else. Today I'm going to share those questions and answers along with a few questions of my own!

Google Sitemaps Gets New Interface & Stats

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 08:28:42 -0500

Google sitemaps, which I've recently discovered and enjoyed playing with has implemented a new interface and new stats this week. It is well worth checking out.

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

Optimize your site for your audience [SEO Wed. Vol. 3]

Fri, 18 Nov 2005 07:07:47 -0500

In last week's SEO Wednesday (Getting Search Engine Rank), we discussed how you could use a program like Advanced Web Ranking to find out your current search engine rank for various keywords on various search engines. We also looked at tip number one of our highrankings.com top 10, which was "Do not purchase a new domain unless you have to."

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."

Monitor your Google Page Rank

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 16:19:01 -0500

Most website owners (and anyone who uses the Google Toolbar with their browser) has heard of Google Page Rank. but how do you monitor it (or show it off)? In today's gBradhopkins.com Web Design Tutorial (Web Design Tutorial Archive) I'm going to show you how to add a small bit of code to your web page that will display your Google Page Rank for all the world to see.