Tuesday

I am in Manchester to today visiting their high school.  Please ensure your FINAL copies of your folders are saved correctly to the UDrive.

Please complete the following activities today.  Each activity has a corresponding blog question that should be answered in separate blog posts.  If you do not finish in class then you have homework.

You MUST include link to the topic in your blog entry.  It should be formatted correctly! If needed then a video should be embedded to your blog.  Create blog entries that people will want to read.  Tell a story!

I will try to approve your blogs during the day, but I'm not sure I will be able to check.

Answer 5 of the 6 questions.

1. Draw A Stickman.  Do the new story (you did the first one in January).  Why does this work?  How does it keep you on the page?

2. Read this: Facebook/Twitter Shoulder-surfing.  Are you prepared to have a college interviewer have you log in to your Twitter or Facebook page?  What you write on the internet or text is there for ever.  Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is public.

3. Watch this video about green men.  Would you do that?

4. Watch this video about an escalator.  Do you know people who are like that?  Someone who just will not walk up the escalator?

5. Should students wear pajamas and slippers to school?  Are they sloppy/lazy or are they just being comfortable?  Take a side.  Where is NOT ok to wear pajamas and slippers?

6. Do teens who text 100's of times per day have a need for attention?  Or do they have a lot to say and people are listening?  Take a side.

LET US STOP BEING SELFISH

Saturday, 10 March 2012 22:53

In a public transport going to Gwanda lately I overheard two gentlemen celebrating  the misfortunes of the people of Matabeleland South. I sat still and cocked my ears as their grand plan unfolded. “Another two weeks without rains, these wilting crops will be completely dry and these guys will be so hungry that they will accept a mere 50kg bag of maizemeal for a steer’’. The other one said, “Maize meal is now cheaper in Zambia, we better make a plan to import as much in order to cash in on this drought.’’ I went back in time, to pick the best proverb to describe this merciless situation, “Kakara kununa kudya kamwe’’, indeed each man for himself, indoda iyazibonela. There is no doubt that the spirit of Cain rules the roost, we need massive casting power to rid ourselves of the evil in our midst. Ideally, I should be talking about price, quality, grades etc, but reality beckons: daylight robbery. I represent the voice of all the Abels in the wilderness who cannot be heard shouting, murder!! murder!! Very little technical issues can be understood during the next 12 months utill the next “harvest’’. People will not be using their heads, but their tummies to make decisions. I call on local leadership to zero in on the impending drought in order to develop mechanisms to stop the marauding profit seekers. They will not stop until they devour the little remains of the peasantry’s asset base. No wonder after a lifetime of hard labour we have empty purses, seemingly content to banquet upon sour goat’s milk in the middle of God’s given treasures. At the onset of the rain season, I questioned the sincerity of Government in issuing seed and fertiliser packs to drier parts of the country instead of giving these farmers heifers, steers, construct dams, restore boreholes and sink some more. People spend precious time tilling unproductive land, when available literature screams no!! Surely, there are educated people in Government who know more than I do. The question is why let people suffer year after year as if it is some form of punishment. Some people even wonder why I wonder. The only way people can sell their livestock well is when they are not under unbearable pressure. That is why farmers are reduced to price takers at the livestock auction markets and abattoirs. There is no bidding but begging. When hungry you need food, when thirsty you need water, so it follows that when you want freedom you need power, indeed as frightening as it may be, ultimate control of our circumstances is all we want. Ironically, power is in the people’s hands and they unconsciously trade it for bondage every time they surrender their animals to unscrupulous buyers. Birds were afraid of owls for a very long time thinking they had horns until the day the truth was uncovered. It is about that time farmers stop playing prodigal and assume their princely role. This is a warning short to my friends in the public transport that their days are numbered. There is a rumbling and mumbling within the farming community signalling the beginning of the end of this daylight robbery. I can predict that very soon farmers will be taking control of the livestock value chain instead of the other way round. Feedback Firstly, thank you for your articles they are informative and educative. An advert appeared in the Sunday News, 5 February 2012, Business section. The cattle ownership scheme is promising members a benefit of cattle per year from as little as $35 a month. My questions are based on the following observations. Simple calculation means that it adds up to $420 per year which I feel is not enough to buy a heifer, yet they are promising two beasts per year. After a period of five years which is the running period of the contract, a member will get 10 cattle. It has no option of a lesser term. The problem with such schemes regardless of the language used, is after a while members start complaining of not getting what they would have been promised at times losing their money altogether. Pyramid schemes that once animated people come to mind, only a few benefitted to woodwink the public to join yet responsible authorities stood aloof as it unfolded. I stand to be corrected, if my observations are misplaced. What’s your view Masuku? I am very happy to see you take time to analyse these adverts, many people have been victims, but I can assure you that I am inviting a bank that is offering a cattle ownership scheme to be part of discussions on 31 March. Be there to ask as many questions and I am sure you will emerge an informed man. I will also be able to tell the truth to fellow Zimbabweans in this column about the cattle ownership scheme. Hi, do you have any material you can spare on cattle rearing/fattening on a commercial scale? Anything; be it on paper or soft copy  — I am currently looking into the feasibility of such a project. — Darlington Siziba. We have Matopos Research Station, a Government institution, 30km along Kezi road. They have done so much work, local and relevant cattle breeding, feed resources and veld management. Their emphasis is on local conditions and local breeds, something you may struggle to get from exotic books. It will be interesting to get it from the horse’s mouth about what they can do. Afternoon, I hope you will be able to assist me with information on fish farming, pond construction, fish feeds, harvesting and marketing. May you refer me to organisations, individuals who can assist. I would like to venture into bream farming but it seems there is no local information. Well, I have managed to get some infor from the net but, I think I also need local information where I can get inputs to make my business venture into reality. — Precious Nyathi, pnyathi@zimra.co.zw. I would like to invite fellow fish farmers, agricultural colleges and extension workers to help Precious realise her dreams of being a fish farmer. My principle has worked well for me, you get what you give; therefore, strive to give more to get more. Be generous with information. FEEDBACK: Email:muhle.masuku@gmail.com or 0712938659.

Add Facebook Like Button Below Post Titles

This Facebook Like button allow users to Like your post and share it to their Facebook friends. If you want to add the Facebook Like Button below your blogger post title, then follow these steps:

Adding Facebook Like Button Below Post Titles

Step 1. Go To Blogger Dashboard > Template > Edit HTML (click on Proceed if needed)

Screenshot 

Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and search - using CTRL + F keys - for this piece of code:

<data:post.body/>

Note: you might find it more than 3 times, stop to the 2nd one (or 3rd one in case it wont show up after applying the code from step 3)

Step 3.  Just above it, paste this code:

<p><iframe allowTransparency='true' expr:src='&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=&quot; + data:post.url + &quot;&amp;layout=button_count&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=100&amp; action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light&quot;' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='border:none; overflow:hidden; width:100px; height:20px;'/></p>

Screenshot

Step 4.  Save your template and you are done!

For any questions you may have, please leave a comment below!

Auto Read More with thumbnail for Blogger/Blogspot Posts

This hack will summarize content and show only summary in Home page, Archives Page and Label Page using Automatic Read More simple script in your template. Using automatic read more on your blog will make your blog load faster by showing few post instead of the full post on the homepage.
Automatic read more for blogger posts can be done by inputting some code into your blog templates.

How to install Automatic Read More Hack for Blogger

There are two options you can choose from:

1. Auto readmore for all the posts:

Step 1. Find (CRTL + F) this code:

<data:post.body/>

Step 2. And replace with this:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;item&quot;'>
 <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
  <div>
   <b:if cond='data:post.thumbnailUrl'>
    <img class='post-thumbnail' expr:alt='data:post.title' expr:src='data:post.thumbnailUrl' width='72px' height='72px'/>
   </b:if>
   <data:post.snippet/>
  </div>
  <div class='jump-link'>
   <a expr:href='data:post.url' expr:title='data:post.title'><data:post.jumpText/></a>
  </div>
 <b:else/>
  <data:post.body/>
 </b:if>
<b:else/>
 <data:post.body/>
</b:if>

2. Read more only for older posts (your latest post will appear normal):

Find (CTRL + F) and replace <data:post.body/> with:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;item&quot;'>
 <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
  <b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
   <b:if cond='data:post.isFirstPost == &quot;true&quot;'>
    <data:post.body/>
     <b:if cond='data:post.hasJumpLink'>
      <div class='jump-link'>
       <a expr:href='data:post.url + &quot;#more&quot;' expr:title='data:post.title'><data:post.jumpText/></a> 
      </div>
     </b:if>
   <b:else/>
    <div>
     <b:if cond='data:post.thumbnailUrl'>
      <img class='post-thumbnail' expr:alt='data:post.title' expr:src='data:post.thumbnailUrl' width='72px' height='72px'/>
     </b:if>
     <data:post.snippet/>
    </div>
    <div class='jump-link'>
     <a expr:href='data:post.url' expr:title='data:post.title'><data:post.jumpText/></a>
    </div>
   </b:if>
  <b:else/>
   <div>
    <b:if cond='data:post.thumbnailUrl'>
     <img class='post-thumbnail' expr:alt='data:post.title' expr:src='data:post.thumbnailUrl' width='72px' height='72px'/>
    </b:if>
    <data:post.snippet/>
   </div>
   <div class='jump-link'>
    <a expr:href='data:post.url' expr:title='data:post.title'><data:post.jumpText/></a>
   </div>
  </b:if>
 <b:else/>
  <data:post.body/>
 </b:if>
<b:else/>
 <data:post.body/>
</b:if>

Settings:

A. If you want the thumbnail to appear on the left:

Step 1. Find (CTRL + F) the following piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 2. Just above it, paste this code:

.post-thumbnail{float:left;margin-right:20px}

B. If you want the thumbnail to appear on the right,

Paste above ]]></b:skin> this code:

.post-thumbnail{float:right;margin-left:20px}

Click Preview and if it works, click Save Template.

That's it, enjoy!

Google Analytics Team Descends On #SESNY

SES New York is one of the most anticipated annual events for the online marketing industry. This year the Google Analytics team will be well-represented, sharing the latest trends, best practices and thinking on measurement and related topics. There’s a lot happening so we wanted to make things easier for Google Analytics fans who will be at SES by outlining our participation.

If you are going to be in attendance, be sure to visit our sessions summarized below:

Business Optimization in a Digital Age 

Tuesday, March 20 from 9:00-10:00am 

We were promised that Marketing one day would become rocket science. Well, we are almost there! Search continues to become more complicated, and more exciting. Then there's Social and Email and Display and Video and... so many more things. It is hard to understand how to do one thing right, much less try to do all of them right. In his exciting keynote Avinash will share his unique perspective on balancing multiple media channels, leveraging super awesome metrics, grounding your digital existence in driving economic value, and leveraging the Clear Line of Sight model to ensure you are optimizing across all four of the most important business drivers (come to the keynote to learn which four!).

Keynote Speaker:

Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist, Google

Social Media as a Performance Channel with Google Analytics

Tuesday, March 20 from 11:00-12:00pm

Social media has changed the way we shop and interact with brands, but marketers still lack a clear way to measure how their social investments lead to more sales. According to MarketingSherpa, only 20% of CMOs think social media marketing produces measurable ROI, while 62% consider it to be a promising tactic that will eventually yield ROI.

The good news is that better measurement can help marketers make smarter decisions about their investments in social. Vanity counters, such as friend counts and reshares, can be augmented with bottom line metrics like conversions and purchases, allowing marketers to measure true social ROI of each campaign and compare the effectiveness with other channels.

Join Phil Mui, Group Product Manager and Ilya Grigorik, Lead Engineer to learn how to tie the influence of the social web to the metrics you care about using in Google Analytics.

Speakers:

Phil Mui, Group Product Manager, Google Analytics

Ilya Grigorik, Lead Engineer, Google Analytics

We hope to see you at the event.

For those who can't make it, be sure to follow the #SESNY hashtag on Google+ and Twitter to stay up to date.

- The Google Analytics team

Adsense Ad Code Converter

This tool automatically converts javascript ad code into the correct format so you can embed it directly into your new xml Blogger template. It’s perfect for converting AdSense, AdBrite, Chitika or any other javascript ad code you may have.

Instructions: paste your Adsense code in the empty box and then press on the "Convert" button.

How to put Adsense ads on Blogger/Blogspot

If you want to earn money from your site/blog, Google Adsense is the most popular service to monetize your blog or website content. When implemented, Adsense will display targeted Google ads on your blog and they can generate revenue on either a per-click or per-impression basis.
Of course, to display ads on your site, you should first Sign Up to Google Adsense program.


Before adding your ads, keep in mind that Adsense allows only up to 3 ad units, 3 link units and 2 search boxes per page.

In this tutorial i will show you the three ways you can add Adsense ads to your blog.

1. Adsense Gadget

Use this method to add ad unit as a widget, in places outside the blog post area. You can position it by simply dragging it in Page Elements, just like any other widget. To add the Adsense Gadget, go to:

1. Blogger Dashboard >> Design >> Page Elements >> click on the "Add a Gadget" link
2. From the pop-up window, select AdSense Gadget:

3. Configure ad format and colors.
4. Click Save and you're done.

2. Inline Ads

This will display an ad unit at the end of each post. To show ads between posts:

1. Go to Design > Page Elements and click the Edit link in Blog Posts gadget box.

2. Check the "Show Ads Between Posts" box.

3. Configure ad frequency, ad format, and colors. Live preview is provided beneath the settings.
4. Click Save.

3. Adsense code

The most notable benefits of using this method are:

• You can place ad anywhere in your blog
• You can add the code anywhere in your blog template - in your post content or page.
• To find out which format perform the best, custom channels will help you to track the performance of specific groups of ad units.
• You can choose types other than ad unit i.e. link unit, search box.

To create an ad unit:
1. Go to Google Adsense website.
2. Click on My ads tab, go to Ad units and then press on the "New ad unit" button.

3. Choose your ad type, choose format and colors and assign channels.
4. When you have finished editing, click on the Save and get code >> button and copy the code provided.

To add an ad unit to your blog, you have the following options:

• Paste the code in a HTML/Javascript gadget
• Paste the code in a blog post or page, or
• Paste the code direct in your template. (if you choose this option, first you should convert adsense ad code)

If you have any more questions, leave a comment below.