StarMars Online

Translator widget using country flags

StarMars — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:10:11 +0000

If you’re receiving traffic from search engine searches, you’ll notice that not all of your visitors come from English-speaking countries. This is specially true for image searches. One of the most popular pages in my Warcraft blog receives a bulk of its traffic from Google image search. Having a means to translate your blog into the reader’s native language is very handy. It promotes readability and encourages the reader to explore more of your site.

For me, having an on-page translator is necessary. There are many ways of translating your blog but I like using the visible flags the most. They are easily noticeable and recognizable and you can readily tell that it’s a translator. What’s the use of having a translator if the reader can’t even understand its text?

This is the exact code I used on my Warcraft blog. It’s a modification of a widget I found somewhere.

Chinese, Korean, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish translation
images in 24×24 PNG format and hosted by Google on Picasa web albums
background color is transparent
opens in a new window

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Follow me on Twitter

StarMars — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:31:58 +0000

I recently added the official Twitter widget on my sidebar. Twitter is the social network I am most active in so not having it here kinda makes my blog incomplete.

I started using Twitter on October 11, 2008 with my first Tweet “I’m starting my twitter.” At first, I was just curious about how this service worked. It was rapidly growing in popularity back then and I just had to try it.

I use Twitter mainly for short messages. So-called microblogging, these posts are too short for a full blog post. It suits me well because I do not like writing wrong sentences and paragraphs. Oh, I do love one-word tweets.

I love sharing links I find on the web. Twitter is like a bookmark. There are times when I go back to my past tweets to find an interesting link I shared before but have forgotten.

Twitter is my online diary. When I want to remember a particular event, I make a tweet — same purpose as marking a calendar with special events.

Lastly, I do answer the question “What are you doing?”. I may tweet the food I am currently eating, my current mood and the website I am reading.

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20 Rules in any Office

StarMars — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:57:45 +0000

20 Rules In Any Office:

The Boss is always right.
If the Boss is wrong, see rule 1.
Those who work get more work. Others get pay, perks, and promotions.
Ph.D. stands for “Pull Him Down”. The more intelligent, hardworking and committed a person is, the bigger the number of people willing to pull him down.
If you are good, you will get all the work. If you are really good, you will get out of it.
When the Bosses are talking about improving productivity, they are never talking about themselves.
It doesn’t matter what you do. What matters is what you say you’ve done and what you are going to do.
A pat on the back is only a few centimeters away from a kick in the butt.
Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.
The more crap you put up with, the more crap you are going to get.
If at first you don’t succeed, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it…
When you don’t know what to do, walk fast and look worried.
Following the rules will not get the job done.
If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done.
Everything can be filed under “Miscellaneous” .
No matter how much you do, you can never do enough.
You can do any amount of work provided it isn’t the work you are supposed to be doing.
In order to get a promotion, you need not necessarily know your job.
In order to get a promotion, you only need to pretend that you know your job.
The last person that quit or was fired will be held responsible for everything that goes wrong.

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We are the World 25 for Haiti

StarMars — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:37:23 +0000

We are the World 25 for Haiti

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Google’s Super Bowl commercial

StarMars — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:28:49 +0000

This is the commercial of Google that was shown during the Super Bowl last night. It is entitled “Parisian Love” and it tells the story of an American that finds love in Paris.

Following the YouTube video below, I noticed that this was actually posted on November 19, 2009 and is just one of 7 (so far) Search Stories, all made by Google. The channel’s About Me says:

Every search is a quest. Every quest is a story. These videos show that anyone can do anything when paired with the power of search.

Telling stories using Google searches – how unique!

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Manny Villar’s online political ads

StarMars — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:55:22 +0000

Manny Villar is everywhere. With the backing of his business empire, he appears in any form of media. We already know his numerous TV ads on any time slot. His online presence is strong too with the use of social media sites and online advertisements. He is wise to use such media.

These are the online political ads of Manny Villar I have seen so far.

Google Adsense

Facebook

YouTube

Yahoo

All the advertisements above point to Manny Villar’s Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/mannyvillar.

How much has he spent in advertisements and endorsements so far? 2 billion pesos from what I’ve read (could be outdated).

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10 Romantic Valentine’s Day ideas

StarMars — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:05:02 +0000

You can never be too cheesy on Valentine’s Day.

Show your lover your mushy side, your hunger for passion, your weakness to your partner’s affection, your desire for love. After all, it’s Valentine’s Day.

This coming Valentine’s Day, show your partner how much you love him/her with these romantic Valentine’s Day ideas.

Order a pizza and ask to have it cut into a heart shape before it is delivered to your home.
When your partner is sitting at a table or desk, come up behind him/her and give her a back, shoulder and head massage. Finish with a gentle kiss on the cheek.
If you are not with your partner on Valentine’s Day, photograph your hand and send it to your partner through e-mail or celphone with the message: “I miss you. Let’s hold hands.”
Prepare the bathtub before your partner takes a bath. Scatter rose petals across the water and let them float. As your partner enjoys the water, serve champagne and chocolates before joining her.
If it rains on Valentine’s Day, go out in the streets with your partner and walk together. Have fun, jump in puddles and get totally saturated. Kiss her and taste the water on her face while you hold her close. When you get back home, have a hot shower then share a warm drink.
On the midnight of Valentine’s Day, arrange your backyard and organize a picnic. Spread a picnic blanket on the ground and get some snacks, chocolates and champagne. Lie down on the blanket with your partner and gaze up at the stars together.
If your partner has to leave the house on Valentine’s Day, pack a small gift into the corner of her bag.
If your partner has long hair, take the time to brush it using long slow strokes. This is particularly effective after she has had a shower or when she is getting ready for bed.
On the night of Valentine’s Day, go inside your bedroom alone. Lock the door and make sure that your partner is not inside. Leave the key on something easily noticeable with a strip of paper wrapped around it saying: “The Key To My Heart.”
Send your partner a Valentine’s Day card with your personalized message. In large fonts, write “I thought of you today, and it made me smile.”

Remember: it doesn’t have to be Valentine’s Day to be extra-romantic to your lover.

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