Archive for September, 2010
How to study for Google Adwords Certification
Sep 27th
I just recently started looking into some various certifications. The Google AdWords Certification is one that I was asked to take and I’ve been gearing up for it.
I’m quite familiar with Adsense, having used it for quite some time and also reading up on ad networks over the years. (If anyone is wondering, no, I’ve not made very much of anything off of Adsense ads yet…. it began and continues as an experiment for me)
Last year I also started a Google AdWords campaign as another experiment. It was a great little exercise to try and analyze the keywords and watch the data come in on impressions and what sites my ads were being shown on. I was a little surprised to see that some of my ads actually showed up on a few websites that I frequently read.
Now AdWords is something that I will be using on a more regular basis as a bit more of a skill and less as an “experiment”.
At first I had no idea where to look for the material but soon after discovered the Guides that Google has online.
If anyone wants to study for this exam, just follow the link for the Google AdWords Certification Program Learning Center .
A bit of stuff to read. I’m not through yet but I’m getting there.
For the certification, one must pass the fundamental exam plus one of the other 3 exams.
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Why are my youtube views not being counted?
Sep 21st
I did a little research for someone this morning and it seems to be an all together common problem.
Here is a thread where someone from YouTube tries to explain the “problem” or “bug” a wee bit.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/youtube/thread?tid=17f0843c4bab76e8&hl=en
There’s also an interesting reply found here:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/youtube/thread?tid=591ee67d1b5d756e&hl=en
Basically, it looks like somehow the number of views may get inflated and somewhere in their system, which I will assume is nowhere near simplistic, it begins calculating in a more refined way what is a view and what is not.
Say if you have a 3 minute video and someone glances at it for 10 seconds….. does that constitute a view or not?
I haven’t looked for information on YouTube’s counter freeze, but so far some of the information just seems a bit vague.
Here’s a page that “kind of” explains what constitutes a view.
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en-uk&answer=154414
That last article does also mention that they do identify irregular playbacks (spam) and that those numbers are removed from the count. What I suspect happens is that behind the scenes, the system subtracts those irregular playbacks but that it won’t subtract them from the visible counter on the video’s page.
That’s only what I suspect.
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How to capture a screen shot in Mac OSx
Sep 14th
In the spirit of my last blog post… I’m writing this one too, in part, because I simply don’t use the shortcuts often enough to actually remember them.
I’m not going to list all the commands here, I’ll list those I use the most.
1. How do you capture the entire screen?
Just press the Command + Shift + 3. A .png image will automatically be saved to your desktop. Nice and handy.
2. How do you capture a portion of the screen?
Again, simple…. press Command + Shift + 4. You’ll now be able to select a section of the screen with the mouse. And just like the first, a .png image will be saved to your desktop.
There are some more variations to screen shots and the Mac here.
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Reloading your Mac’s hosts file
Sep 14th
This is something that I need to do from time to time. And I thought I would post it here so it would be a bit easier for me to remember the command…. since I don’t do it everyday, I always tend to look up syntax.
I often move sites from a server to another or need to have something running on an internal network and using the hosts file is a great little tool for me to run tests.
So to refresh your Mac’s hosts file, you would do something like this:
sudo niload -v -m hosts . < /etc/hosts
The command prompt may very well prompt you for password (just so you know).
I’ll also credit a website that I’ve stumbled on a couple of times when I’ve looked up the command’s syntax…
Holy Shmoly! – how to update /etc/hosts
- EDIT -
Should also note that this applies to older versions of Mac OS X, like Tiger (10.4).
On more recent versions, you only need to edit the host file. Make sure you clear your browser’s cache!
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CBC Archives: Introducing the Macintosh, 1984
Sep 4th
I had to post this. Been watching some of the CBC Archives on YouTube, I like spending time on YouTube occasionally.
Found this great video on the introduction of the Macintosh. A GUI computer!!
I remember doing all the text based commands to start up early generation computer games, word processing programs and all that. I had an old Tandy 1000 years back when I was a kid.
Here’s an introduction to the Macintosh, a GUI interface, a mouse…. easy as pie.
Enjoy!
