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YouTube and Universal to launch premium music site

by Admin on April 9, 2009

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Universal Music Group (UMG) and YouTube announced plans on Thursday to launch a music video website featuring artists from the world’s largest music company.

Universal, a subsidiary of France’s Vivendi, and Google, which owns YouTube, said the website, to be called VEVO, would be launched later this year.

Universal and YouTube also said they had renewed an agreement that allows users of YouTube to use music by Universal artists in user-generated videos on the popular video-sharing website. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The two companies said in a statement that they will share advertising revenue on YouTube and VEVO.com, which they described as a “premium online music video hub built for consumers, advertisers and content owners.”

“This content will be exclusively available through VEVO.com and a new VEVO channel through a special VEVO branded embedded player,” they said.

“VEVO will bring the most compelling premium music video content and services to the world’s single largest online video audience,” said Universal chief executive Doug Morris.

“We believe that at launch, VEVO will already have more traffic than any other music video site in the United States and in the world.”

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said the Internet search giant, which will provide the technology for VEVO.com, is “thrilled to be working with UMG in what will surely be an exciting new service for consumers, advertisers, content creators and the music industry at large.”

Music videos are among the most popular content on YouTube, which Google bought for 1.65 billion dollars in October 2006, and Universal’s channel is already the most-watched on the site with more than 3.5 billion views.

Mountain View, California-based Google has been striving for ways to make money on YouTube while avoiding alienating notoriously transient Web users and assuring film and music studios that video copyrights are being respected.

Warner Music Group pulled its videos from YouTube in December after the companies failed to reached agreement on fees but another major label, Sony Music Entertainment, inked a new deal with YouTube this year.

YouTube began blocking certain copyrighted music videos in Britain and Germany earlier this year while new licensing deals are negotiated.

As album sales decline and online piracy bites into their profits, major record labels have been forging new arrangements such as deals with MySpace, Apple’s iTunes and YouTube to generate new revenue streams.

The number of US Internet users watching videos at YouTube hit a new monthly high in January, topping 100 million as it dominated the online video arena, according to comScore.


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Renovation for White House site by Obama

by Admin on January 21, 2009

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The White House of President Barack Obama went online Tuesday with a promise that its slick new website would provide a “window for all Americans into the business of the government.”

In a posting on the blog of whitehouse.gov, Macon Phillips, the White House Director of New Media, said the site “will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.”

“Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov,” Phillips wrote after the website of former president George W. Bush went offline at 12:01 pm (1701 GMT) and was replaced by that of Obama.

Noting that the Internet played a key role in Obama’s November 4 election victory, Phillips said: “WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration’s efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.

“Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration’s online programs will put citizens first,” he added.

Phillips said the White House’s new media efforts would focus on “communication,” “transparency” and “participation.”

He said the site “will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated” and encouraged users to sign up for email updates, a technique Obama’s team used very successfully during his campaign.

“President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise,” Phillips said.

“The President’s executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government,” he added.

Phillips said “citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the Internet will play an important role in that.”

Following through on an Obama campaign promise, he said “we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.”

Phillips also encouraged users to send ideas about improving whitehouse.gov.

Prominently displayed on the homepage of the new website was a message from the Office of Public Liaison and a link to an email form which members of the public can use to send their thoughts to the White House.

Whitehouse.gov was also undergoing some early teething pains on Tuesday.

It noted on the blog that Obama had issued a proclamation moments after taking office calling on Americans to serve one another, but said in another area on the site that he had not yet issued any proclamations.

The website has been widely expected to be the window for what is being touted as a bold experiment in interactive government.

Change.gov, the official website of the Obama transition team, contained such features as the “Citizen’s Briefing Book,” in which users were invited to submit ideas by email and “rate or offer comments on the ideas of others.”

Another feature, “Your Seat at the Table,” called for the proceedings of meetings between the transition team and outside organizations to be published on change.gov and allowed members of the public to comment on them.

Whitehouse.gov also features a detailed look at the new president’s agenda on topics ranging from the economy to energy to the environment and biographies of Obama and his vice president, Joe Biden.

There’s also a slideshow of US presidents beginning with George Washington and a trivia section called “White House 101″ featuring “facts and fun for all ages.”

It also includes links to the websites of other federal agencies and a primer on the role of the legislative and judicial branches of government.


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Windows 7 Beta Available on Microsoft’s site

by Admin on January 11, 2009

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Microsoft Windows 7 beta is available or public download. Microsoft was forced yesterday to halt the download availability of Windows 7 beta code after a rush of Internet traffic crippled its servers.

At approximately noon Pacific time today Microsoft resumed download availability of Windows 7 beta code.

You can download Windows 7 beta code here.

• Windows 7 beta: Official Microsoft page

Microsoft’s complete collection of Windows 7 news, videos, Q&As, and official download information.

• Windows 7 beta TechNet download page

The official download site for Windows 7 via Microsoft’s TechNet Evaluation Center.


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5 Steps to Prepare Your Site For SEO

by Admin on November 17, 2008

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Before starting to use SEO for your site, there are some important steps that must be taken. SEO can provide a very high return on investment – if done correctly. Wasting time and money on SEO has happened to many who have jumped in too quickly. The excitement over seeing high rankings and the perceived sales benefit from them can blind some people from some important preliminary steps. Before retaining SEO services, ask yourself these questions:

1. Have I Done My Keyword Research?

We all want great search engine rankings and traffic to our web site, but will you get highly targeted traffic or visitors who couldn’t care less about your product? Choosing the best keywords and using them effectively in your web site copy is essential in order to maximize the effectiveness of a link building campaign. Services like Keyword Discovery, Wordtracker, and even the Google AdWords Keyword Tool are an SEO’s best friend. They show us the current trends in every industry as well as popular and niche keywords we should be targeting. How can we properly optimize a web site if we don’t know what our potential customers are searching for? An SEO will do this as part of the campaign, but it doesn’t hurt to use some free services ahead of time to help them narrow their research faster.

2. Is My Web Site Content Ready to be Shown to the World?

Have you hastily created copy and added it to your web site just for the sake of “having something up there” for people to see? Have you ensured that the writing is effective and free of mistakes by getting a professional editor or copywriter to analyze it? Have you created specific landing pages for different keywords, making sure that your pages present the best information for visitors? Is the site structure and technology attractive to search engine spiders? You wouldn’t open a physical storefront without doing it right so don’t skimp on your online store.

3. Do I Have a Clue About Web 2.0?

Many people don’t even know what Web 2.0 means let alone how the concept can help their web site. Web 2.0, to put it simply, is the shift towards more social networking and the ability to share information in a collaborative and community-based way. Making use of sites like Del.icio.us, YouTube and Myspace as well as things like blogging, podcasts, wikis and online photo albums are examples of Web 2.0. This shift is from the “old” version of the web where we had web sites acting more like brochures or business cards, with few ways of actually connecting with other users online.

So how can you harness the power of the new Internet to help your business? Work along side your SEO company by updating a blog regularly; create unique content that your competitors don’t have – if you offer something different it can be “linkbait”, which is something that can entice others to link to you; create articles or how-to pieces that can be syndicated on other important sites within your industry; participate in Facebook groups related to your business and share links with others on social bookmarking sites. The possibilities are seemingly endless if you take advantage of the tools that are out there.

4. Have I Installed Analytics Software?

Any reputable SEO company will insist that there be a way to track visitor behavior and statistics. But you can go one step further and install that software before the SEO even begins to get a “before and after” look at SEO efforts. My personal choice is using the free Google Analytics program – it’s easy to install the small piece of code on your site, and once you get used to the online interface, the amount of information available is astounding.

5. Can I Commit Company Resources For the Duration of the SEO Campaign?

I’ve had clients who chose to enter into a contract for SEO services only to find a couple months into it that they don’t have the cash flow necessary to continue the campaign long-term. Employee turnover has also affected SEO if the go-between leaves the company. The disconnect between you and your SEO can stall progress and at worst end up wasting previous efforts. Search engine optimization is an investment, not a quick fix. While it may seem expensive in the first few months, good SEO pays for itself before too long, especially if your sales are on high-priced items like real estate, cruises or vacation tours. The most important thing to remember is backtracking equals a loss in time and profits. Get it right the first time and follow these steps before jumping into search engine optimization.


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Favicon for your Site / Blog

by Admin on November 17, 2008

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Every once in a while when you bookmark a Web page in Internet Explorer / Firefox an interesting thing happens. A strange image appears in your bookmark menu and before the URL in your browser’s address line.

This is a “branded icon” — a special custom graphic that is associated with a particular URL. In this age of aggressive competition for attention, it’s important to use every trick you can to make your URL and bookmark memorable. A branded icon will make your URL stand out from ordinary bookmarks for the majority of Websurfers.

Your icon will appear both in the user’s Favorites list and the History/Address area of the browser. If someone adds a link to your page in his or her Windows Start menu, your icon will show up there, too, as well as on the Desktop, the Quick Launch toolbar, or any other folder or menu. (Wouldn’t that be
nice?)

In order to create icons, upload them to your Web site and make them viewable in your users’ Favorites lists, you must have all of the following: Windows 95 or later, Internet Explorer 5 or later, Icon editing software, FTP access.

Step 1: Creating Your Branded Icon

I’ve found that the easiest way to create a branded icon is to start with a graphics design app like PaintShopPro, Webster2 or RealDrawPro.

Bear in mind that the final browser icon will be 16 x 16 pixels, which is quite small. It will also be square, which limits your creativity somewhat. Your icon will have to look good at this small resolution, so you need to design it accordingly.
In your favorite graphics app, create a 100 x 100 px square. Depending on your design, the square could be one of your site’s colors.

When you have a design you like, reduce it to 16 x 16 px for the acid test. You may have to play around with it to get it to look good that small.

Now export it to a .jpg at the highest quality.

Step 2: Convert To Icon File

There are a number of icon apps in the market but I’ve found the best to be Icon Translator. I like it because you can convert JPEGs, GIFs, or BMPs into icons in seconds. It’s easy to install and use. The learning curve is less than a minute.

There are two icon-naming conventions. One is to name your icon “favicon.ico.” The other is to use unique names for your icons to distinguish them, which is what I do and recommend.

You should save your icon to 32 x 32 so in case people want to add your link in Windows, it will be larger. IE will automatically shrink it to 16 x 16.

Step 3: Add Code to Your Web Page(s)

In order for your icon to associate with your page, you mustadd the following in your tag:

Remember that your icon must have a .ico extension to be recognized.

Step 4: Upload Icon and Encoded Page to Your Server

Normally, the icon goes in your root folder.


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