21 April 2014

Windows XP Security Risks: They’re Real And Heading Your Way In 2014



windows-xp-security-risks

With plenty of press coverage about the impending end of support for Windows XP, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s all just hype. But without security updates, the aging operating system becomes a Trojan horse in your home or business. How Unsafe Is XP, Really? Let’s be honest – Windows XP isn’t going to cut you, set fire to your house or kidnap you. However, it could be indirectly responsible for deleting your important data, hacking your bank account or holding your computer to ransom. There has been a lot of talk over the past few months about Microsoft...


Read the full article: Windows XP Security Risks: They’re Real And Heading Your Way In 2014



5 Essential Online Script Libraries For Wannabe Screenwriters



Script

The best way to learn screenwriting is to read scripts – as many as possible, by many writers in many genres and dealing with many mediums. Screenwriting is the art of telling stories, and every single one of us has been touched by a story. It’s no wonder a lot of people want to turn their hand to screenwriting. To get started, all you need is a software like CeltX (check out our guide) and inspiration. The best way of learning isn’t going on a college course, as odd as that sounds: instead, the Internet can educate you and entertain...


Read the full article: 5 Essential Online Script Libraries For Wannabe Screenwriters



General Mills Facebook Fail, Nearby Friends Ads, Oculus Rift Grandmother [Tech News Digest]



epic-fail-ink-stamp

Today in Tech News Digest, General Mills backtracks, DPLA expands, Facebook targets ads, videophones celebrate birthday, HTC speculates on optical zoom, Google Trends emails, and Oculus Rift proves its worth. General Mills Apologizes Over ToS Debacle TIL General Mills had to take the word “strawberry” off packages for Strawberry Fruit Roll Ups because they don’t contain strawberries. — Adam Clark Estes (@adamclarkestes) April 17, 2014 General Mills has backtracked on its revised Terms of Service which appeared to prohibit customers from suing the company after enjoying any kind of interaction. General Mills apologized, reverted to its old terms, and suggested...


Read the full article: General Mills Facebook Fail, Nearby Friends Ads, Oculus Rift Grandmother [Tech News Digest]



How to Track When People Print Web Pages on your Site



You have made your website printer-friendly but you are not too sure if people are actually printing any of web pages. And if they are, you would probably like to know how frequently they print pages from your site and what kind of content is printed more often.


There are multiple ways to print a web page.


You may use the File->Print menu in the browser or press the Ctrl+P keyboard shortcut (or Command+P on a Mac) to send the current web page to the printer. Some web pages have a dedicated PRINT button on the page itself that internally executes the window.print() method to print the document.


We therefore need a solution that can track and capture the print action on a web page irrespective of the method that was originally used to send that page to the printer. That’s where Google Analytics will help.


Track Printed Web Pages with Google Analytics


What we need to do is add an invisible 1×1 tracking image — similar to the one we used for Gmail read receipts — – to the printed version of our web pages. Now when a site visitor prints a web page, through any route, the Analytics tracking image will download on their computer and print action will be recorded into your Google Analytics.


The implementation is really easy. Simply copy-paste this code above the closing </body> tag in your website template. If you are on WordPress, you can paste the code in your footer.php file. Do remember to replace UA-1234-56 with your actual Google Analytics Profile ID.



<script>

var googleAccountID = "UA-1234-56";

function s4() {
return Math.floor((1 + Math.random()) * 0x10000).toString(16).substring(1);
}

function guid() {
return s4() + s4() + '-' + s4() + '-' + s4() + '-' + s4() + '-' + s4() + s4() + s4();
}

(function(){

var GIF = "http://ift.tt/1i6zkJc; +
"&ec=print&tid=" + googleAccountID + "&cid=" + guid() +
"&z=" + (Math.round((new Date()).getTime() / 1000)).toString() +
"&ea=" + encodeURIComponent(document.title) +
"&el=" + encodeURIComponent(document.location.pathname);

var rule = "body:after{content:url(" + GIF + ")}";
var head = document.head || document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0];
var css = document.createElement('style');

if (css && head) {

css.setAttribute("type", "text/css");
css.setAttribute("media", "print");

if (css.styleSheet) { // For IE
css.styleSheet.cssText = rule;
} else {
css.appendChild(document.createTextNode(rule));
}

head.appendChild(css);

/* Written by Amit Agarwal - labnol.org */
}

})();

</script>

Once you have added the tracking JavaScript code to your web pages, log in to your Google Analytics dashboard, go to Real Time –> Events and choose Print for the event category. Alternatively, for old reports, you should go to Behavior -> Events report.


Also see: QR codes for Printed Pages


How Print Tracking with Analytics Works?


The above JavaScript code adds the following CSS rule to your web page. It append the Google Analytics tracking image to the page but the rule is only trigger when the print stylesheet is active.



<style type="text/css" media="print">
body:after {
content:url(GOOGLE_ANALYTICS_TRACKING_IMAGE);
}
</style>

Some PDF writing programs also use the Print stylesheet when saving web pages to PDFs and thus, the same tracking code will work in those cases as well.




This story, How to Track When People Print Web Pages on your Site, was originally published at Digital Inspiration on 21/04/2014 under Google Analytics, Print, Internet

How To Directly Upgrade Windows 8 To Windows 8.1 Update



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About two weeks ago, Microsoft officially announced and released Windows 8.1 Update to the public. Windows 8.1 Update is a free update available to all PC users running Windows 8.1 RTM and is an effort to make the tiled Windows operating system easier for desktop and laptop users. Ability to run Windows Store apps in […]

Need Help Songwriting? Try These 4 Tools For Inspiration



song-writing

Sometimes the songs just spill out of you. Other times, you sit there staring at a blank notebook until 4AM, wondering if you’ll ever write a song that isn’t complete crap. Songwriting can be fun but it isn’t easy. If you’re feeling stuck and need a bit of help, these tools and apps may help you get your muse back. Songwriter101 (Website) There are many songwriting websites out there and we’ve covered a few of them before. However, there’s one that deserves special mention for all of the great content that it has produced over the years. It’s called Songwriter101...


Read the full article: Need Help Songwriting? Try These 4 Tools For Inspiration



Need Help Songwriting? Try These 4 Tools For Inspiration



song-writing

Sometimes the songs just spill out of you. Other times, you sit there staring at a blank notebook until 4AM, wondering if you’ll ever write a song that isn’t complete crap. Songwriting can be fun but it isn’t easy. If you’re feeling stuck and need a bit of help, these tools and apps may help you get your muse back. Songwriter101 (Website) There are many songwriting websites out there and we’ve covered a few of them before. However, there’s one that deserves special mention for all of the great content that it has produced over the years. It’s called Songwriter101...


Read the full article: Need Help Songwriting? Try These 4 Tools For Inspiration