Simok33

Website Performance – Simok33′s SEO Tip

Simok33 — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:08:06 +0000

A great looking website isn’t everything. If your site loads slow you probably loose a potential costumer. Just put yourself in the shoe of your visitor, think how you react if you visit a site that needs ages to load. Right, you probably will close the browser and try to get the item from a different source. That being said, speed is also a ranking factor if you want to see your site on a top position in Google.

So how can you increase the speed of your website?
One important “trick” is to have images in the right format and size. You definitely want to have high quality images for your printed brochure, but a small images for your website. Unfortunately just reducing the dimensions / size of an image isn’t enough. You need to make sure that the image itself isn’t big.

Example: If you have an image in the size 2560×1440, upload this to your website and reduce it to the size you like, your image will still be a couple MegaByte (MB). But an image on a website should be just a few KiloByte (KB).

Also important is that the code of your site is nice, clean and slim. Try to have your code in order, so that it is easier for the browser to load.

Don’t forget to have more pages, don’t try to get everything you do or sell on just one single page. I still see website owners doing that. Make more pages and link them with buttons, banner and text links, so that certain information can be loaded individual.

The company which is hosting your website is hosting many other domains and websites from other costumers on the same server, this can slow down your site. Talk to your host or switch to another web hosting company.

Be careful with flash animation or videos. Those media are important to have explain certain things more visual, but make sure those tools are optimized and not everywhere on the site.

I hope this tips were useful for you and I would be more than happy if you would leave a comment.

Thanks

The Blackout Day, a SOPA & PIPA story

Simok33 — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:07:39 +0000

Many may have noticed that sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit as well as Google (US) have blacked out their sites today to protest against a bill called SOPA. Now you may think: “What do I care, I am not living in the US” and you may think that the SOPA does not effect you at all. Well think again, because if this bill passes, it could easily be copied in other countries as well. More likely is that the US will try to force other countries to join them in the fight against the terror, excuse me I meant of course piracy.

I know that there are lots of people who are more qualified and can better explain why and how bad SOPA is, but I personally find it ridiculous if I hear that SOPA basically can shut down a website like YouTube if one of their users is uploading a video of his / her kid who is singing a popular song which (s)he taped and uploaded on his / her channel. What? Honestly?

I can understand that the movie and music industry is concerned about piracy, but please keep your pants on. First of all movies and music also got copied back in the 80′s via tape recorder and VCR’s, so this isn’t new and second it is not easy to believe that the movie and music industry is suffering because of piracy, if you see the millions of dollars they receive for one appearance in a movie or on stage.

Don’t get me wrong I think it is great if someone achieves great things in life and lives in a big house, but I hope you can agree that it does look a bit “funny” if these people, who have it all, try to stamp on our little world… wide web, where we can be the “hero” for our audience.

Happy New Year – Have a good 2012

Simok33 — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:20:42 +0000

I would like to wish all of you a Happy New Year

Higher ranking in search engines – Simok33′s SEO Tips

Simok33 — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:28:14 +0000

If you have a website, you want your website to be rank higher in search results. If your site does show up high in the list of Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other search engine, you want people to click on your link. To attract more people you need a good title, meta description and tags.

Here are some tips:

Use a short, but clever title that is related to the content of your site
Make sure that your meta description is not to long and more important attractive to your target group
Support your content / site with Keywords related to the article the visitor will find after clicking on the link
Try to have at least 10 Keywords for each post
Do not use to many Keywords, around 20 is more than enough

I hope this tips were useful for you and if they are please leave a comment

INTERNeX Internship Promo Special 2012 (Netherlands)

Simok33 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:56:08 +0000

Today I would like to mention a great special the company INTERNeX International Exchange has on their website. The special offer is only for students from the Netherlands who would like to do an internship in Canada. I have the promo text in English and in Dutch to read for you below.

I added as well the new Profile picture of the INTERNeX Facebook Page, if you click on the image you will get right to the Facebook Page from INTERNeX that you will find at http://www.facebook.com/INTERNeX and if you are going to Facebook anyways, please don’t forget to follow my page as well that you will find here:

http://www.facebook.com/Simok33

But please take a look at the Promo of INTERNeX International Exchange by reading the rest of this post or by following this link.

INTERNSHIP CANADA PROMOTION 2012
ONLY for citizens of the Netherlands: 30% DISCOUNT if you apply before February 1st, 2012

Ever thought of experiencing Canada’s vast wilderness, cosmopolitan urban centres and our diverse, friendly people… well now is the chance to do it AND gain professional work experience in your area of study!

APPLY NOW for an INTERNeX internship program starting any time in 2012 and receive a 30% discount on your program fees. Permits for this program run out early in the year, so even if you are thinking of coming later in the year you will need to start the application process NOW.

If you are studying in any of the following areas and require an INTERNSHIP FOR UNIVERSITY CREDIT, contact us to find out what internship options you may have:

Public Relations / Communications

Marketing

Event Management

Mechanical Engineering

Mechatronic / Electronic Engineering

Business Administration

Travel & Tourism

Sports & Recreation Management

INTERNeX will assist you with the whole process including:

Guaranteed internship placement based on yours and your university’s specific requirements

Accommodation assistance; either the NTERNeX internhouse, homestay, hostel or finding your own apartment

Full pre- and post-arrival orientation on working and living in Canada

Sign up now to be entered to win a FREE ALL EXPENSE TRIP TO WHISTLER!

Internship Program fees:

NORMAL PRICE:                   880.00 €
REGISTRATION:                   180.00 €
TOTAL FEE:                        1,070.00 €

DISCOUNTED PRICE:       615.00 € (-30% of normal fee)
REGISTRATION:                180.00 €
TOTAL FEE:                         795.00 €

In addition you will need to consider the following expenses (all approximate):

Airfare: €800-900

Accommodation: €400-650 per month

Transportation on location (bus): €60-80 per month

Travel/Medical Insurance (if you are not already covered): €30-80 per month

Food and Drink expenses: €400-1200 per month

PLEASE NOTE: Living expenses in Canada are between 30-50% more expensive than the Netherlands.

And here the text in Dutch:

Stage in CANADA PROMOTIE 2012

ALLEEN voor inwoners van Nederland, 30% korting als je je voor 1 Februari 2012 inschrijft!   Heb jij altijd al gedroomd van een stage in Canada? Een GEWELDIGE stage, werkervaring op doen, nieuwe mensen leren kennen, de prachtige omgeving van Canada ontdekken, je engels verbeteren, en ervaren hoe vriendelijk de mensen in Canada zijn? Maak nu je droom waar!

Schrijf je nu in voor het INTERNeX stage programma, begin JOU stage in 2012 en ontvang maarliefst 30% korting! Voor dit programma heb je een werk vergunning nodig, en deze werk vergunningen zijn snel op, aangezien er per jaar maar een bepaald aantal beschikbaar zijn. Wanneer je jou stage later in 2012 wilt beginnen, is het belangrijk om je NU al aan te melden voor het programma, om zeker te zijn van jou plek in Canada!

Ben je aan het studeren, en je moet een stage doen voor jou HBO/MBO/ Universiteit , laat het ons weten, zodat we precies kunnen vertellen wat wij jou kunnen aanbieden.
Wij bieden stages aan in de volgende sectoren:

Communicatie / Public Relations

Marketing

Event Management

Machine Bouw

Elektronische Techniek

Administratie

Reizen / Tourisme

Sport / Recreatie Management

INTERNeX zal je helpen bij alles wat je moet regelen voor een buitenlandse stage zoals:

Een gegarandeerde stage; gebaseerd op jouw intresses en eisen van je school

helpen bij het vinden van geschikte accommodatie, er zijn verschillende opties:

INTERNeX studentenhuis in Vancouver

Homestay, woon samen met een canadese familie en ervaar de canadese cultuur

Hostel, of we helpen jij bij het zoeken van een eigen kamer/appartement

Een welkom Orientatie bij aankomst, zodat met een goede start kunt beginnen

Doorgaande service, je kunt altijd naar de INTERNeX office komen als vragen hebt of advies wilt

Schrijf je NU in! En maak kans op een GEWELDIGE TRIP NAAR WHISTLER!

Kosten voor dit programma:

Normale Prijs:                             880.00 €
Regristratie :                                180.00 €
Totale Kosten:                          1,070.00 €

Promotie Prijs:                            615.00 €       -30% korting
Regristratie:                                 180.00 €
Prijs als je je nu inschrijft :       795.00 €

Let op: Canada is een duur land, je moet er van uit gaan dat het leven in Canada ongeveer 30% -50% duurder is dan in Nederland. Hieronder staan een aantal prijzen om je een idee te geven van de prijzen in Canada.

Vliegticket: 875,- heen vlucht en terug vlucht

Accommodatie: 400,- tot 650,- per maand

Openbaar Vervoer: 60,- tot 80,- per maand

Reisverzekering: Verschilt per verzekering maar is ongeveer 35,- tot 70,- per maand

Eten en drinken: 350,- tot 1000,- verschilt per persoon

Schrijf je Nu in!

iOS 5.0.1 Update

Simok33 — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:35:10 +0000

This was the first time I updated my iPhone via the internet, without having a computer attached to it. I admit that I was a bit nervous, since this was the first time I did it. So I plugged my phone to my Mac to have a backup, just in case. Well and than I started the update. Without any problems my iPhone 3GS downloaded the update from the Apple server, installed it and did a restart, just as if it would be connected to a computer. But without any cable? Well not really. Apple did recommend to connect the device to a power source during the update to secure that nothing goes wrong. But to be honest the update wasn’t big, so I would have probably been fine if I would have not connected my two year old iPhone 3GS to a power source.

Please find here what the changes are:

Fixes bugs affecting battery life
Adds Multitask Gesture for original iPad
Resolves bugs with Documents in the Cloud
Improves voice recognition for Australian users using dictation

Something that I would like to recommend to Apple is to notify the user about those updates. I only knew that I needed to update my iPhone because I connected it to my Mac. Don’t know if there are any notifications I didn’t noticed. It is possible that I was “lucky” and got the update notification from iTunes when I connected my iPhone to my Mac and admit I didn’t gave the iPhone not enough time to inform me about this update, but in case there are no notification I would say that Apple need to do that otherwise we don’t know when a new version will be available, right

What do you think? How did you experienced your update? Didi you updated your iPhone, iPod or iPad to the IOS 5.0.1 version already? Please leave a comment.

Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011

Simok33 — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 06:01:09 +0000

I never had the privilege to meet Steve Jobs, but I think that he truly changed the world. I saw many other posts, watched some YouTube Videos and read Facebook updates and this are the two quotes that, in my opinion, comes the closest to say good bye to a brilliant man.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Apple Inc., 1997

Steve changed the World, not just with the products we enjoy today. I wish Apple will continue being brilliant, different and will surprise us also in the future with great innovations, a future unfortunately without a Steve Jobs.

My deepest condolences goes to his family. His wife and kids. I am very sorry for your lost.

The UBB Deception

Simok33 — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 05:06:02 +0000

This is an interesting video I found on YouTube. It is about UBB and what you as user should know about it. Please watch the video and if you want sign the petition at http://stopthemeter.ca/

Thank you

iPhone 5 release date October 4th, 2011?

Simok33 — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:34:09 +0000

Apple was presenting last June the new stuff they were working on. One was, at the time, the new OS Lion. I was writing about the new OS and also wrote a little “first impression” post, which you can find here. But Apple also announced some more cool things, like the new iOS 5, a system called iCloud and this was leading, in my opinion, to many speculation about the iPhone 5 release date as well as the new MacBook Pro design changes. I was reading many articles, comments and rumours about the two devices. Some were just fantasy, some had great and logical arguments but all of them were nothing but rumours. I liked the story about an Apple employee who lost his new iPhone 5 in a coffee shop and also the debates on various forums when the new MacBook Pro will come. Maybe late 2011, early 2012 or maybe summer 2012?

Apple never announced on their website when the new devices will be released, but you can find the announcements for iCloud and iOS 5 for this coming fall. Without mentioning the iPhone 5 or the new MacBook Pro they gave us a lot of room to speculate and talk about. Taking the MacBook from the market, I mean the white one, the model many new users picked as their first Mac, was in my opinion just one more drop in the rumour pool. The Apple marketing machinery works like a charm. They don’t need a lot of expensive advertisements, we, the fanboys, are the best marketing vehicle they can get and we do the marketing for them for free

But let me come back to the latest rumor. This morning I was reading an article about the next Apple event, which apparently will be on the 4th October 2011, with the motto “Let’s talk iPhone”. The speculation that Apple could announce or even release the new iPhone 5 on this date are exploding in the net. But let us be cool here. “Let’s talk iPhone” can also mean that they will finally release iOS 5 and iCloud, as they mentioned in June and on their website.

In my opinion, the “Let’s talk iPhone” event will of course show us the new features Apple was planing such as iOS 5 and iCloud, but do I think they will release the iPhone 5?

Possible, but even if they do not release the phone, they will at least tell us when to expect the new device. Maybe soon we will see on the Apple website an announcement that says: “iPhone 5, the world’s most advanced smart phone, coming next …” And you shouldn’t be angry about it, Apple never mentioned when exactly they are going to release the new iPhone 5, but they did announce iCloud and iOS 5.

What I think they might do is releasing the iPhone 5 in October or November 2011, soon enough to hit the holiday season. But to be honest, I wouldn’t be too surprised if they would release the iPhone 5 in spring 2012. Apple needs to have something new, one more trick they can pull out of their hat. The white rabbit, if you want. If they release everything at once, how can they impress us in the near future?

Especially now, after Steve Jobs is no longer CEO and Tim Cook is now running the show, Apple might need the white rabbit to impress us. Not that I think Tim Cook is not a good CEO for Apple, but he isn’t a Steve Jobs either and we do know that Steve liked to impress us with Apple’s Magic, by pulling one rabbit after the next out of his hat. But we can also go a different direction by saying Tim is announcing the iPhone 5, the new MacBook Pro as well as iOS 5 plus iCloud to start his first event as CEO of Apple with a Big Bang.

The only way to find out is to wait what the October will bring

Stop Online Spying on Your Private Life

Simok33 — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 01:24:31 +0000

Dear readers, I know It’s been a while since I posted something on my Blog and I would like to apologize for that with this video a friend posted on his Facebook wall. I was in the last two month very busy with many important projects and couldn’t find the time to post something on my Blog, but I collected many great things and will post them soon. I have some new SEO Tips, some interesting SCAM and SPAM Emails as well as a story about an IT Training provider who is bothering me since June 2011 by calling me every two weeks, just to get the same answer from me… “Not interested”

The video I’ve posted today was made to inform you about something the government is trying to do. Please read what I have found at http://stopspying.ca/

The government is trying to ram through an anti-Internet set of electronic surveillance laws that will invade your privacy and cost you money. The plan is to force every phone and Internet provider to surrender our personal information to “authorities” without a warrant.

This bizarre legislation will create Internet surveillance that is:

Warrantless: A range of “authorities” will have the ability to invade the private lives of law-abiding Canadians and our families using wired Internet and mobile devices, without a warrant or any justification.

Invasive and Dangerous: The laws leave our personal and financial information less secure and more susceptible to cybercrime.

Costly: Internet services providers may be forced to install millions of dollars worth of spying technology and the cost will be passed down to YOU.

If enough of us speak out now the government will have no choice but to stop this mandatory online spying scheme. Sign the petition now, and forward it to everyone you know →

Please watch the video and be so kind to sign the petition. Thank you

I say: We don’t need an online Stasi or Gestapo that is spying on us.

What do you think?