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+1 button coming to Google AdWords

June 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Today, Google announced that in a few weeks, they will be rolling out a new button on your ads allowing users to recommend your ads. It seems like it is going to be something like Facebook’s “like” button, except for ads. Here is basically how it works according to Google:

If you want to add your own +1 button today, go here. If you would like to see all the details about the +1 button, Google has provided a help area here.

Filed Under: Commentary

Best iPhone app for WHM Admins

June 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the struggles with managing your own server is that users can call 24/7 with requests for password resets, bandwidth increases and a host of other issues.  Remote management tools are a necessity to ensure responsiveness as well as convenience.

In this article, we introduce the “best” app for managing Linux servers equippled with WHM/Cpanel.screen shots 004

Hands-down, iwebmanager provides the best interface to WHM.  It is built onn WHM’s API and enables management of almost all options.  We are using it seemlessly across three different servers and find elements of the user interface superior to the actual WHM web based application.

The screen to the right  shows the initial log-in which I’ve configured with an optional password.

Once logged in, you have access to whatever servers you previously configured.  Selecting a server provides an easy to navigate series of menus that provide faster access to specific commands that the cumbersome web counterpart.

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Filed Under: Server Admin Tagged With: , ,

Conan O’Brien Slams Final Cut Pro X

June 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Take a look…

 

Filed Under: Commentary

The best free iPhone (and iPad) Apps that could save you money

June 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

AdeptPlus uses many apps from the app store on iTunes. Recently, I was on the app store and noticed that some businesses are selling apps for a few dollars when you can actually get them for free. There are also many other apps that serve as powerful tools. Here are a few of our favorites…

Dropbox for iPhone and iPad

We use Dropbox all the time to deliver files to our customers that are too large for email. Accounts are free, and you can get 2gb of free space when you sign up. They also have affordable packages if you want more space.

Skype for iPhone

Communication is a very important part of our business (and every business). Since we are constantly working with our customers, we need tools to help us communicate details about the project with our customers. Skype helps us use video chat anywhere we are. One thing that we like about Skype over Facetime is that you don’t need a wifi connection to chat. It currently is not available for the iPad, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Skype rolled out an iPad application sometime this year.

Harvest for iPhone

We’ve used Harvest in the past many times to keep track of our project financial details, such as the number of hours we’ve spent on a project. With Harvest, you can also create and track invoices and create financial reports. Harvest used to be free, but now they do have a monthly fee if you don’t already have an account.

Flashlight for iPhone and iPad

Flashlight is a handy app that allows you to, well, turn your device into a flash light. It can be very helpful since you usually have your phone on you more than a flash light. On the app store, there are a few other similar apps, but they sell for $0.99. Save your money and just buy this app.

What are your favorite free apps?

Filed Under: Commentary

Google creates voice searching

June 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Being in the website business, we at AdeptPlus do a lot of SEO for our customers. Perhaps the website that is opened most commonly on our computers is the Google homepage. Today, I opened up Google Chrome which took me to my homepage, which is google.com. If you are logged in, this new button shows up.

If you click on the speak button, a small box appears.

I’m not really sure how much I will use this feature, considering that simply typing is much faster. It is another neat (nearly) hands-free feature that Google released.

Filed Under: Commentary, Just for Fun, Technology Tagged With: ,

Final Cut Pro X – “Everything just changed in post”…for the worse

June 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Today, Apple (finally) released their new update for Final Cut Pro. Here at AdeptPlus, we’ve been using the Final Cut Studio for as long as we have been editing media. However, with Apple’s new update which is showing what they want to target in the future when it comes to post, we are having thoughts of switching. Here’s why:

1) Goodbye, useful features – In the new FCP X, there are a list of features that we had in FCP7, but are gone now. Features like multicam viewing/editing, exporting videos in specific formats and sizes (now, you must do that in compressor), and FCP X only exports low-resolution JPG files.

2) RED Native Support - A huge chunk of the media we edit comes from RED cameras. Most of those files are .r3d files. Now, the new FCP X does not have redcode native support. So basically, forget about editing anything shot on your RED camera if you get FCP X.

3) Where’d you go, Color and Soundtrack Pro? From what it looks like, Apple just threw in some of the features of Color and Soundtrack Pro right into the new Final Cut. We have heard rumors that Apple is redoing Color right now, however. We do know that the new Final Cut does not have all the features that Color and Soundtrack Pro had. Imagine combining three different software programs into one.

Not to say that FCP X doesn’t have some awesome features, but it seems like these would give us enough reasons to drive us away. I suppose we will wait a couple of weeks to see if Apple can sort this out (and if Steve Jobs will reply to our email). If not, we will definitely keep Adobe’s Premiere Pro in mind.

What are your thoughts?

———-

Update (June 21st, 10:47pm CST):

According to MacRumors.com, Phillip Hodgetts posted on his blog about some of these common questions. Here are a few of them:

• “Multicam will come in a future release, when Apple decide[s] how best to implement it within the new application and architecture.”
• “As of Version 1 and today’s release there is no direct import capability for [Final Cut Pro 6/7] projects. My understanding is that there will be an Apple-provided utility for importing XML from older projects to Final Cut Pro X.”
• “the Apple folk made it abundantly clear that the ecosystem was very important to them, and that there will be a new, and much improved, replacement for the current XML workflow.”

Check out his blog post for more in-depth Q&As.

Filed Under: Commentary, Software, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Growing Importance of Social Media for Small Businesses

June 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment

At one time, Google was run by algorithm purists who emphasized automated search results based on incoming links and a variety of other signals over socially derived rankings.  One consequence of this thinking was the company put insufficient investment in Orkut, the Facebook competitor that could have been early to the game rather than a distant competitor that is popular (only) in Brazil and India (and even in these countries it is losing market share).

However, the value of social interactions and recommendations from those we know is beginning to drive our use of the web.  We recognize that a website link, sent to us by a trusted friend or that is popular with local peer group, has greater value than one that was found from an ad hoc Google search.

As it plays catch-up, Google is shifting its strategy in a number of remarkable ways and complementing algorithms with relevance rankings mined from user interactions.

One of the latest steps in this rapidly evolving pursuit is the purchase by Google of PostRank for Social Media Analytics.  Why?

PostRank’s analytics data is used by publishers and advertisers to determine, respectively, the popularity of content and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. — PCWorld

Conversations about businesses and brands are happening in real-time and driving purchase decisions.  A social media strategy for both small and large business is critical.  This is particularly important for those local small business owners who rely on new customer contacts from traditional (yellow pages) and web search inquiries – both of which will decrease in popularity as consumers increasingly rely on social interactions.

Filed Under: Social Networking

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