#website-related software updated

[icore-singapore]

What Maintenance Is Required For a Website?

Website maintenance involves a wide variety of tasks that can include everything from optimizing visuals for faster load speeds to ensuring content is free from grammatical errors. It also includes updating software, plugins and content management systems to reduce security risks.

An out-of-date website is a hacker’s playground and they can easily steal customer information or tarnish your brand image. Outdated software can also slow down site performance which leads to customer frustration and lower sales.

Updating Content

Updating content is one of the most important aspects of website maintenance. This involves regularly updating and refreshing textual and multimedia content on a website to keep it relevant, interesting and engaging for users. This can include product descriptions, blog posts and news sections. Performing regular updates to your website’s content can help keep it fresh, improve user experience and generate more leads.

Upgrading content is also an opportunity to incorporate new keywords and search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. This can help you to maintain or even boost your site’s SEO ranking.

However, deciding how much work is required for each piece of content will depend on how out-of-date it is. If your content hasn’t changed since it was first published, you may only need to refresh the information and add new links. On the other hand, if your content is full of outdated statistics and is failing to provide helpful solutions to your audience’s problems, then it’s time for a complete overhaul.

As well as improving the overall look and feel of your website, updating content can also help to ensure that your website is mobile responsive. This is an essential part of web maintenance as it ensures that your website is compatible with all devices and can be easily viewed by people on the go.

Other aspects of content maintenance involve updating the software and plugins used on a website. Keeping these updated can prevent security threats from exploiting vulnerabilities in out-of-date software and plugins. Additionally, updating your site’s software can improve its performance and speed.

Similarly, making sure that all of the images on your website are working and up to date is also important. Broken or irrelevant images can ruin the overall appearance of your website, and lead to a poor user experience.

Finally, it’s important to update any contact details and business information on your website, as these can change over time. This is particularly important for ecommerce websites, where customers can be looking at the latest stock or promotional offers. It’s also a good idea to review and update any downloadable documents on your website, such as brochures or white papers, to make sure that they are still accurate and up-to-date.

Regular Updates

Depending on the website’s purpose, updates can include new features, design tweaks, content changes or software updates. These updates are important for maintaining the site’s integrity, avoiding security risks and providing a positive user experience. In addition, web maintenance should include monitoring and reviewing performance metrics to help identify opportunities for future growth.

One of the most crucial components of website maintenance is keeping critical software, such as the CMS, plugins and themes up to date. This is necessary to ensure compatibility with current browsers and avoid security vulnerabilities. Websites should also be tested to see if they are responsive across devices and browsers, as this is increasingly becoming a requirement for search engine rankings.

Another key aspect of website maintenance is making regular backups. This helps to protect websites from data loss due to unexpected events, such as malware or server crashes. It is also important to regularly test backups to make sure they are working correctly.

The scope of website updates will vary, but some of the most common include:

Content updates can involve a variety of tasks, from updating blog posts to adding product information. It is important to keep these updates fresh and relevant, as outdated content can turn away potential customers. Additionally, it is important to update website navigation to reflect any changes in business practices or services.

It is also a good idea to incorporate user feedback and analytics into website updates. This will allow you to track the effectiveness of your website and make improvements based on what is working. Finally, it is important to regularly review legal compliance, such as privacy policies, terms of service and accessibility standards, to ensure they are up to date.

Performing these updates on a regular basis will help to improve the usability of your website and ensure that it remains relevant in the eyes of search engines. In addition, it will also improve the overall user experience and increase the likelihood of converting visitors into customers. By following these simple tips, you can avoid the most common mistakes that many businesses make when it comes to website maintenance.

Security Updates

When it comes to security, website maintenance includes implementing software patches for any vulnerabilities that might exist in your website’s systems. These updates are released by developers to eliminate bugs and glitches in the system, protecting it from hacker attacks that could potentially compromise sensitive information or lead to downtimes of your site.

In addition to preventing cyber-attacks, updating your software can also improve the speed and performance of your website. By incorporating these changes, you can provide visitors with a better experience and help boost your search engine rankings.

Similarly, it is important to regularly update your content, including keywords, internal links and summaries. This will ensure that your content remains relevant and attractive to potential customers.

As a part of the process, it’s also a good idea to check that all of your website software is up to date, including your content management system, plugins and themes. This is because many of these features are released as updates to address bugs and glitches, improve functionality, and add new features.

Regularly checking for broken links is another essential part of website maintenance. Having a broken link can frustrate users and prevent them from finding what they are looking for. In addition, it can affect your search engine ranking, as Google considers broken links a bad user experience.

Creating a schedule for routine tasks is one of the best ways to ensure that your website is updated on a regular basis. It should include regular backups, scanning for security vulnerabilities and making sure that all software is up to date. These activities should be done weekly or monthly, depending on the needs of your business.

Whether you’re running an informational site or a retail store, it’s essential to implement a website maintenance plan that will keep your business on track and protect your online reputation. With cybercrime at an all-time high, it’s crucial to implement these measures and maintain the integrity of your website. By implementing these strategies, you’ll be able to attract more customers and build trust with them. Moreover, you’ll be able to meet the legal requirements for data protection and customer privacy.

Maintenance Plan

A website maintenance plan is vital for businesses that want to ensure their digital product is up-to-date, secure and functional at all times. The plan may include regular content updates, performance optimization, advanced security services, user experience enhancements and more. When choosing a web maintenance provider, it is important to evaluate the cost structure and flexibility of their plans. This includes assessing whether they offer hourly rates, fixed monthly retainer plans and more. It is also important to determine how well the provider communicates with clients regarding updates and issues that arise during the maintenance process.

A maintenance plan should also address ongoing marketing strategies to increase visibility and traffic to the site. This may involve implementing SEO best practices, monitoring analytics data and optimizing content for specific keywords to improve search engine rankings. It should also address usability and design changes to make the site more appealing to visitors.

When choosing a maintenance provider, it is important to consider their level of expertise and the type of website you have. For example, a WordPress website requires different maintenance than an e-commerce site or a membership portal. Additionally, it is important to determine if the provider offers services that are scalable. This will help ensure that your website can accommodate growth and expansion as your business grows.

Another key aspect of a maintenance plan is software updates. It is critical to keep all website-related software updated to prevent hackers from exploiting outdated software. Keeping software up-to-date will also improve the speed and functionality of your site.

Finally, it is essential to perform regular backups of your website. This will ensure that if a disaster occurs, you can recover your data quickly and minimize downtime. Also, it is a good idea to review the uptime statistics of your hosting provider regularly to make sure your website is always available to users. This is particularly important for sites that handle sensitive information or operate in regulated industries.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Free or Cheap Mandarin Chinese Learning Resources Because You Can't Let John Cena One Up You Again

I will update this list as I learn of any more useful ones. If you want general language learning resources check out this other post. This list is Mandarin specific. Find lists for other specific languages here.

For the purposes of this list "free" means something that is either totally free or has a useful free tier. "Cheap" is a subscription under $10USD a month, a software license or lifetime membership purchase under $100USD, or a book under $30USD. If you want to suggest a resource for this list please suggest ones in that price range that are of decent quality and not AI generated.

WEBSITES

Dong Chinese - A website with lessons, a pinyin guide, a dictionary, and various videos and practice tests. With a free account you're only allowed to do one lesson every 12 hours. To do as many lessons as quickly as you want it costs $10 a month or $80 a year.

Domino Chinese - A paid website with video based lessons from absolute beginner to college level. They claim they can get you ready to get a job in China. They offer a free trial and after that it's $5 a month or pay what you can if you want to support their company.

Chinese Education Center - This is an organization that gives information to students interested in studying abroad in China. They have free text based lessons for beginners on vocab, grammar, and handwriting.

Pleco Dictionary App - This is a very popular dictionary app on both iOS and Android. It has a basic dictionary available for free but other features can be purchased individually or in bundles. A full bundle that has what most people would want is about $30 but there are more expensive options with more features.

MIT OpenCourseWare Chinese 1 2 3 4 5 6 - These are actual archived online courses from MIT available for free. You will likely need to download them onto your computer.

Learn Chinese Web Application From Cambridge University - This is a free downloadable file with Mandarin lessons in a PC application. There's a different program for beginner and intermediate.

Learn Chinese Everyday - A free word a day website. Every day the website posts a different word with pronunciation, stroke order, and example sentences. There's also an archive of free downloadable worksheets related to previous words featured on the website.

Chinese Boost - A free website and blog with beginner lessons and articles about tips and various resources to try.

Chinese Forums - An old fashioned forum website for people learning Chinese to share resources and ask questions. It's still active as of when I'm making this list.

Du Chinese - A free website and an app with lessons and reading and listening practice with dual transcripts in both Chinese characters and pinyin. They also have an English language blog with tips, lessons, and information on Chinese culture.

YOUTUBE CHANNELS

Chinese For Us - A channel that provides free video lessons for beginners. The channel is mostly in English.

Herbin Mandarin - A channel with a variety of lessons for beginners. The channel hasn't uploaded in a while but there's a fairly large archive of lessons to watch. The channel is mainly in English.

Mandarin Blueprint - This channel is by a couple of guys who also run a paid website. However on their YouTube channel there's a lot of free videos with tips about how to go about learning Chinese, pronunciation and writing tips, and things of that nature. The channel is mainly in English.

Blabla Chinese - A comprehensible input channel with content about a variety of topics for beginner to intermediate. The video descriptions are in English but the videos themselves are all in Mandarin.

Lazy Chinese - A channel aimed at intermediate learners with videos on general topics, grammar, and culture. They also have a podcast. The channel has English descriptions but the videos are all in Mandarin.

Easy Mandarin - A channel associated with the easy languages network that interviews people on the street in Taiwan about everyday topics. The channel has on screen subtitles in traditional characters, pinyin, and English.

StickynoteChinese - A relatively new channel but it already has a decent amount of videos. Jun makes videos about culture and personal vlogs in Mandarin. The channel is aimed at learners from beginner to upper intermediate.

Story Learning Chinese With Annie - A comprehensible input channel almost entirely in Mandarin. The host teaches through stories and also makes videos about useful vocabulary words and cultural topics. It appears to be aimed at beginner to intermediate learners.

LinguaFlow Chinese - Another relatively new channel but they seem to be making new videos regularly. The channel is aimed at beginner to intermediate learners and teaches and provides listening practice with video games. The channel is mostly in Mandarin.

Lala Chinese - A channel with tips on grammar and pronunciation with the occasional vlog for listening practice, aimed at upper beginner to upper intermediate learners. Some videos are all in Mandarin while others use a mix of English and Mandarin. Most videos have dual language subtitles onscreen.

Grace Mandarin Chinese - A channel with general information on the nitty gritty of grammar, pronunciation, common mistakes, slang, and useful phrases for different levels of learners. Most videos are in English but some videos are fully in Mandarin.

READING PRACTICE

HSK Reading - A free website with articles sorted into beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Every article has comprehension questions. You can also mouse over individual characters and see the pinyin and possible translations. The website is in a mix of English and Mandarin.

chinesegradedreader.com - A free website with free short readings up to HSK level 3 or upper intermediate. Each article has an explaination at the beginning of key vocabulary words in English and you can mouse over individual characters to get translations.

Mandarin Companion - This company sells books that are translated and simplified versions of classic novels as well as a few originals for absolute beginners. They are available in both traditional and simplified Chinese. Their levels don't appear to be aligned with any HSK curriculum but even their most advanced books don't have more than 500 individual characters according to them so they're likely mostly for beginners to advanced beginners. New paperbacks seem to usually be $14 but cheaper used copies, digital copies, and audiobooks are also available. The website is in English.

Graded Chinese Readers - Not to be confused with chinese graded reader, this is a website with information on different graded readers by different authors and different companies. The website tells you what the book is about, what level it's for, whether or not it uses traditional or simplified characters, and gives you a link to where you can buy it on amazon. They seem to have links to books all the way from HSK 1 or beginner to HSK 6 or college level. A lot of the books seem to be under $10 but as they're all from different companies your mileage and availability may vary. The website is in English.

Mandarin Bean - A website with free articles about Chinese culture and different short stories. Articles are sorted by HSK level from 1 to 6. The website also lets you switch between traditional or simplified characters and turn the pinyin on or off. It also lets you mouse over characters to get a translation. They have a relatively expensive paid tier that gives you access to video lessons and HSK practice tests and lesson notes but all articles and basic features on the site are available on the free tier without an account. The website is in a mix of Mandarin and English.

Mandarin Daily News - This is a daily newspaper from Taiwan made for children so the articles are simpler, have illustrations and pictures, and use easier characters. As it's for native speaker kids in Taiwan, the site is completely in traditional Chinese.

New Tong Wen Tang for Chrome or Firefox - This is a free browser extension that can convert traditional characters to simplified characters or vice versa without a need to copy and paste things into a separate website.

PODCASTS

Melnyks Chinese - A podcast for more traditional audio Mandarin Chinese lessons for English speakers. The link I gave is to their website but they're also available on most podcatcher apps.

Chinese Track - Another podcast aimed at learning Mandarin but this one goes a bit higher into lower intermediate levels.

Dimsum Mandarin - An older podcast archive of 30 episodes of dialogues aimed at beginner to upper beginner learners.

Dashu Mandarin - A podcast run by three Chinese teachers aimed at intermediate learners that discusses culture topics and gives tips for Mandarin learners. There are also male teachers on the podcast which I'm told is relatively rare for Mandarin material aimed at learners and could help if you're struggling to understand more masculine speaking patterns.

Learning Chinese Through Stories - A storytelling podcast mostly aimed at intermediate learners but they do have some episodes aimed at beginner or advanced learners. They have various paid tiers for extra episodes and learning material on their patreon but there's still a large amount of episodes available for free.

Haike Mandarin - A conversational podcast in Taiwanese Mandarin for intermediate learners. Every episode discusses a different everyday topic. The episode descriptions and titles are entirely in traditional Chinese characters. The hosts provide free transcripts and other materials related to the episodes on their blog.

Learn Chinese With Ju - A vocabulary building podcast aimed at intermediate learners. The podcast episodes are short at around 4-6 minutes and the host speaks about a variety of topics in a mix of English and Mandarin.

xiaoyuzhou fm - An iOS app for native speakers to listen to podcasts. I’m told it has a number of interactive features. If you have an android device you’ll likely have to do some finagling with third party apps to get this one working. As this app is for native speakers, the app is entirely in simplified Chinese.

Apple Podcast directories for Taiwan and China - Podcast pages directed towards users in those countries/regions.

SELF STUDY TEXTBOOKS AND DICTIONARIES

Learning Chinese Characters - This series is sorted by HSK levels and each volume in the series is around $11. Used and digital copies can also be found for cheaper.

HSK Standard Course Textbooks - These are textbooks designed around official Chinese government affiliated HSK tests including all of the simplified characters, grammar, vocab, and cultural knowledge necessary to pass each test. There are six books in total and the books prices range wildly depending on the level and the seller, going for as cheap as $14 to as expensive as $60 though as these are pretty common textbooks, used copies and cheaper online shops can be found with a little digging. The one I have linked to here is the HSK 1 textbook. Some textbook sellers will also bundle them with a workbook, some will not.

Chinese Made Easy for Kids - Although this series is aimed at children, I'm told that it's also very useful for adult beginners. There's a large number of textbooks and workbooks at various levels. The site I linked to is aimed at people placing orders in Hong Kong but the individual pages also have links to various other websites you can buy them from in other countries. The books range from $20-$35 but I include them because some of them are cheaper and they seem really easy to find used copies of.

Reading and Writing Chinese - This book contains guides on all 2300 characters in the HSK texts as of 2013. Although it is slightly outdated, it's still useful for self study and is usually less than $20 new. Used copies are also easy to find.

Basic Chinese by Mcgraw Hill - This book also fuctions as a workbook so good quality used copies can be difficult to find. The book is usually $20 but it also often goes on sale on Amazon and they also sell a cheaper digital copy.

Chinese Grammar: A beginner's guide to basic structures - This book goes over beginner level grammar concepts and can usually be found for less than $20 in print or as low as $2 for a digital copy.

Collins Mandarin Chinese Visual Dictionary - A bilingual English/Mandarin visual dictionary that comes with a link to online audio files. A new copy goes for about $14 but used and digital versions are available.

Merriam-Webster's Chinese to English Dictionary - In general Merriam Websters usually has the cheapest decent quality multilingual dictionaries out there, including for Mandarin Chinese. New editions usually go for around $8 each while older editions are usually even cheaper.

(at the end of the list here I will say I had a difficult time finding tv series specifically made for learners of Mandarin Chinese so if you know of any that are made for teenage or adult learners or are kids shows that would be interesting to adults and are free to watch without a subscription please let me know and I will add them to the list. There's a lot of Mandarin language TV that's easy to find but what I'm specifically interested in for these lists are free to watch series made for learners and/or easy to understand kids shows originally made in the target language that are free and easy to access worldwide)

[vintage-tech]

useful information: How to get a USB Blu-Ray player to work on your computer

Not a post about vintage technology, just an explanation of what you think might be simple to do but isn't: There are Blu-Ray players that plug into your computer by USB, and you discover that just plugging it in doesn't make it work* in the same manner that CD-RWs or DVD-RWs are automatically recognised and function. You will see "BR Drive" in My Computer and the name of whatever movie you have inserted, but that's as far as you're able to go.

*There is software you can buy to make a Blu-Ray (internal or external) function, sure, and if an internal came with your computer it's likely already installed -- but if you're like me you don't have that software, you're cheap and won't pay for software, and you want to use what you have installed already or find free solutions.

Looking in the Blu-Ray drive's package, there's not a lot of info about what you're supposed to do. The above no-name Blu-Ray player cost $40 from a popular website; name-brand ones can set you back $120 or so. Looking around online for those instructions, I never saw the whole set of directions in one place, I had to cobble them together from 2 or 3 sites. And so here I share that list. To keep out of trouble, I'm not linking any files -- Google will help you.

Get VLC, the free video player available for pretty much any operating system. Thing is, it doesn't come with the internals to make it work with Blu-Ray even if when you go to the Play Media menu there is a radio button for selecting Blu-Ray.

Get MakeMKV, a decoder for reading Blu-Ray disks. This had been totally free during the beta testing period but it's come out and has a month or two trial period you can work in.

Get Java if you don't already have it. Reason for this is, the menu systems on Blu-Ray disks uses this... technically it's not required, however it does mean you don't have options such as special features, language and sound changes, or scene selection if you don't have Java installed; insert a disk, it can only play the movie.

Get the file libaacs.dll online so you have AACS decoding. I am told it hasn't been updated in awhile so there may be disks produced after 2013 that won't work right, but you won't know until you try.

There's a set of keys you will also want to have so that the player knows how to work with specific disks, and so do a search online for the "FindVUK Online Database". There will be a regularly-updated keydb.cfg archive file on that page to pick up.

Got those three programs installed and the other two files obtained? Okay, here are your instructions for assembly...

In VLC: go to Tools, Prefs, click "show all"… under the Input/Codecs heading is Access Modules then Blu-Ray: Select your region, A through C. You can change this if you need to for foreign disks. Next related action: go to My Computer and C:, click into Program Files and VLC, and this is where you copy the libaacs.dll file to.

In MakeMKV: click View, then Preferences, and under Integration - add VLC.

Confirm that Java is set up to work with VLC by going to the computer's Control Panel, going to System Properties, and into Environment Variables. Click System Variables, and click New to create this key if it doesn't already exist: … Name: Java … Value: [the location of the Java 'jre#.##' folder... use Browse to find it in C:\Program Files\Java]

Let's go back into My Computer and C:, this time go to Program Data, and then do a right-click in the window and select New and Folder. Rename this folder "aacs" (without the quotes), and then you click into it and copy the keydb.cfg file here.

REBOOT.

And now you should be able to recognise Blu-Ray disks in your player and play them. Three troubleshooting notes to offer in VLC:

"Disk corrupt" -- this means MakeMKV has not decoded and parsed the disk yet, or that you don't have the libaacs.dll in place so that it can decode the disk. ...After checking the VLC folder for the DLL to make sure, launch MakeMKV, then go to File, Play Disk, and select the Blu-Ray drive. Now it will grind a bit and figure out the disk's contents.

A note appears when a movie starts saying there will be no menus, but the movie plays fine -- Java isn't running. ...Invoke Java by going to the Java Settings in Start: Programs. You don't have to change anything here, so Exit, then eject the disk and put it back in to see if the movie's menu now appears.

Buffering between chapters, making the movie pause for a few seconds? There is a setting for this but I need to find that info page again for where that is. (If you find it, tell me where it is!)

I don't claim to know a lot but if you have any questions I might have some answers or suggestions. So far I've watched "Office Space" and Disney's "Coco" without any issues beside occasional buffering.

[jolaunay]

A Farewell to Unicorns...

If you have been following me long enough, you probably know that about a year ago I have started a crazy cross-stitch project, see post here . I have posted updates here n there throughout 2023 with the tag #ladyandtheunicornproject . As every crafter & artist would know, when you embark on such a journey, it keeps lingering in the back of your mind every damn day that you don't work on it. I didn't touch it in months, then I finally found the energy to get back to it. This is the progress I made in a year, a little shy of 1.5 pages out of a 60-page pattern:

It just felt hopeless, the amount of confetti in this pattern is insane. And most of the time, it didn't even look like it made much difference. Then it kinda dawned on me; is this pattern the product of a pattern mill?

What it is a "pattern mill" you might ask... Some cross-stitch pattern shops on etsy simply use photos of artwork and convert them to cross-stitch patterns using free websites. They don't credit the artist, they don't pay a dime for the software, yet they profit from their work. The end result usually does not translate well to cross-stitch; lots of confetti, the project is unmanageable, kills the joy of crafting and when you're finished, it looks like a pixelated photo taken with an early 2000s phone camera.

After further research, I was convinced that my pattern is also from a pattern mill - considering the amount of money I spent on this project, it felt like a punch in the gut. My family will never have generational wealth & afford a vacation home on Rhode Island coast because of this fucking project! But hey, c'est la vie! You live and you learn... See related posts here & here

Sometimes, you just gotta know when to say "enough of this bullshit", cut your losses and walk away from a situation. For that reason, there's no point in working on this project anymore and making it my "Sagrada de Familia". So, I came up with an idea to finish it in an alternative way:

"Unfinished paintings are more admired than the finished because the artist's actual thoughts are left visible." This is a quote from Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, some important guy who lived during the Ancient Roman times. I think it is a fitting quote because it represents my vision of saying "fuck this" and not having the fallacy of the sunk costs. Finished it, framed it and now displaying it in my library room in front of another tapestry from the Unicorn series.

It gives me closure rather than disappointment for a project that I started with such high hopes & excitement. If I just put it in a bag and threw it to the bottom of a closet, it'd make me feel guilty. But this still makes me feel accomplished, because it honors the hours of effort I put into it. It turned into a nice little conversation piece with a story. I still love cross-stitching and will work on better patterns in the future. There's already enough to dread about in life. Unfortunate experiences shouldn't take the joy out of pleasant activities!

[olderthannetfic]

Since you've mentioned that you use Scrivener as a word processing software, I have a bit of a weird-ish question. I have looked at the programme and it seems incredibly useful, and then I looked at the pricetag and- gulp.

I currently use Word which costs 5 euros per year thanks to university, but am thinking about switching to another programme that isn't related to my uni as I feel too paranoid about my smutty fanfic ideas being looked at by my uni and them disapproving of my writing. XD (Word keeps marking "fuck" with a squiggly line and suggesting I choose another word to avoid offending my readers, but if canon doesn't give Barclay some holographic MMF action taking place during "A Fistful of Datas" and turning both his holographic partners into holographic Data and therefore inducing maximum tension and insecurity due to feelings in poor sandwiched Barclay whenever he meets actual Data after that, I will have to write it myself! :P )

According to the website where one can buy a Scrivener license, one pays for the current version of it and will have to buy later versions anew if I haven't misunderstood. You seem to have used it for quite a while, and I haven't managed to find out when the different versions came out. I know the current one is 3, but I am unsure how much time passed between 1 and 2 and 2 and 3, and am unsure whether it's a good idea to buy a license now or whether it would be wiser to wait if it's likely that another version might be released in the near future (that is within one year for example) because then I might wait a little while with my purchase, heh. It probably sounds quite stingy but I am solely getting it for my tiny and too seldom indulged hobby of writing fanfic, and currently have to kinda sorta pay more attention to my wallet and where its contents go, so to say, which is why I'm hesitant.

The question basically is: As a (probable?) long-time user, do you think it's likely a new version of Scrivener will be released within the next year or so or do you think it's likely the current version will be tha latest to purchase for a longer while than 1-2 years?

I hope this rambly mess makes sense, haven't really slept for quite some time, so I am sorry if this is terribly incomprehensible. Sorry for the weird stingy question. Have a nice day and I hope you have slept and will sleep better than I currently do, heh!

--

I've only used it for like three years.

A quick google suggests that Scrivener 2 was released in 2010. 3 was released in 2017 basically to keep up with OS changes.

(IDK what you searched, but this isn't hard to find, dude.)

Scrivener is a fairly... old-fashioned style of software, I guess I'd call it. Some dude wrote himself a program to write his own novel and then people liked it. Some other guy decided to port it to Windows.

They update approximately never. When they do, recent buyers of the old one upgrade for free and everybody else gets like half off. The trial period is 30 days of actual use. The current retail license for 3 is only like sixty bucks. It's a commercial product, but... not like you've been trained to expect by your average modern software that wants to nickle and dime you at every turn.

Do you need Scrivener? Well, no. Not unless you want customizable high-level ebook output formatting and fancy features like that. You could just use some other free option if you just want to type stories in something that isn't Word. But Scrivener is priced extremely low for what it is.

[kyokosasagawa]

I started writing "4 srs" this month and I like how free and accessible writing is, so I'm recommending free software I've experimented with that might help people who want to get into the hobby!

“Specifically Created for Writing Stories”

-------------------------------

Manuskript – Story organizer / word processor. Has an outliner and index card function, along with distraction free mode. Lets you switch between different templates such as a non-fiction mode or a short story.

Bibisco – Novel writing software that includes writing goals, world-building, distraction free mode, and a timeline.

“I Just Want to Write”

---------------------------

LibreOffice – Microsoft 365 alternative, but free! LibreOffice Writer is what I wrote this tumblr post in before I posted it. Also if you copy & paste the text into the Rich Text Editor on AO3, it seems that it actually converts it properly. Nice! No need for scripts.

Note-Taking

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Zim Wiki - note taking application that is very, very lightweight (1.1mb). It functions with a tree structure, so I’d personally recommend it for world-building and character bios. There are built-in plugins that also turn it into a good software for task management (it even has a article on how to use it for GTD) and journalling. See also: CherryTree (2mb), which is a more outdated-looking app, but functions similarly.

Obsidian MD – The Big Boy. markdown note editor that has been adopted by personal knowledge management fans---if it doesn’t do something you want it to do, just look in the community plugins to see if someone has already done it. Some unique non-word processing related usages I’ve found is the ability to create a table of contents dashboard, a image gallery for images, embedding youtube videos and timestamping notes, so forth.

Logseq – A bullet point based markdown note editor that also has PDF annotations, Zotero integration, flashcard creation, and whiteboards. Best used for outlining projects due to the bullet point structure.

Joplin – A modern app comparable to Zim Wiki, it’s basically just a note-taking software that uses folders and tags to sort easier. Looks prettier than Zim Wiki and Cherry Tree

Notion – An online-only website that allows usage of different database types. Free for personal use. Note: I dislike the AI updates that have been making the app lag more. I prefer the others on this list.

Mind Maps

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Freeplane – So much goddamn features, including a ton of add-ons. Looks somewhat ugly, but it works for anyone willing to spend a while learning how to use it.

Mermaid – Text-based diagram creator. Can be used in apps like Joplin, Notion, and Obsidian.

Obsidian’s Canvas – A core plugin for Obsidian, it deserves its own mention in that it allows you to create embedded notes of the mindmap nodes. Thus, if you want to create a 20-page long note and have it minimized to the size of a penny on the mindmap, you could.

Other Things That Might Be Of Interest

Syncthing - A free software that allows you to sync between two or more computers. Have a desktop but also laze around on a laptop in bed, coming up with ideas?? This is your buddy if you don't want to use a online software.

[meanbossart]

Asks about VaM, art advice, and miscellaneous stuffs

HI! Real quick please refrain from referring to Sad Sack as S/S for the uh... Obviously reasons LOL We call it "sads" for short!

If what you're asking for are recommendations for a website to host that kind of thing, Neocities, Twitter, Itchio and as you mentioned AO3 are all perfectly good options! Patreon too (depending on how gnarly you're planning on getting) but I'd suggest keeping that as a secondary host option because I don't think it lends itself super well for getting your work circulating. I believe Bluesky allows that kind of thing too, but I'm not too sure since I don't use it.

Now, If you're asking about public reaction rather than guidelines, anywhere you go you might find people that don't jive with the work you do 🤷 just be upfront about the type of content you're making right off the bat to avoid having anyone stumble upon it by accident to the best of your abilities, otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much. I know we're constantly exposed to examples of overwhelming harassment and "dogpilling" happening to others but... Truth be told, most of us won't ever get to the size/internet level of fame where we experience that. I think the threat is a little bit... Overstated, nowadays. Not to mention that most of the time people are getting harassment for things that have nothing to do with their work, and rather relating to their behavior and attitudes. Play smart, be responsible, and be honest! Whatever comes next is in god's hands LOL

Thank you for the ask! Not sure I was of much help 😅 but frankly when you're just starting out it's best to focus on getting the work done first and just throwing it out there, wherever it may be. You can worry about technicalities like that later!

I GOT YOU MAN the full sketch is now up on my patreon!

YES AND YES WHETHER IT BE STORIES OR ART OF DU DROW AND YOUR CHARACTERS SLAMMING PINTS TOGETHER BE MY GUEST PLEASE

I love seeing everyone's take on my weirdo so much, anything is honestly welcomed!

AW DUDE thank you so much! Especially for suffering through the mammoth of a story that ANE turned into - writing has never been my strongest point so I'm always shocked to hear from people that enjoy it 🥲

About the booze question, honestly I'm not picky at all, I usually go by price and by that I mean whatever is cheapest LOL but I prefer a dry white as far as types go.

You only have to pay for it once! You get a code that unlocks the software and all of it's features and you're free to cancel your subscription after that. At some point the code might change or there might be an update that requires subscribing again - but that seems like a very rare occurrence so I wouldn't worry about it.

OH NO I HAVE DEFINITELY TRACED MY OWN REFERENCE BEFORE, but not entire poses! When something is challenging I'll make a point of drawing it out the usual way.

I can remember a couple of instances from Nick and mine's comic where I traced pictures I took of myself, just as a time saving measure. Again like I said in the post, there are several ways to employ tracing your own material that is perfectly acceptable. I have also traced bare-bones 3D backgrounds that I made for the same reasons.

I know you specifically asked about tracing when something's complicated, but I still wanted to be upfront to demystify the practice under different circumstances. The rule of thumb is to never use it when you know it would be inhibiting your skill development!

Happy to hear you wanted to pick up the skill! I definitely understand the urge too LOL since playing BG3 and becoming so invested in the stories and characters my art has improved a ton, simply from forcing me out of my usual style and making me want to capture different moods and scenarios - finding something you're passionate to draw is, frankly a great damn start.

I replied to a bunch of asks asking for pointers and advice a while back, one of the questions was very similar to yours and I still stand behind the advice I gave then. Hopefully you can find something helpful here! https://meanbossart.tumblr.com/post/740543514692173824/some-art-advice-asks-ive-been-meaning-to-reply

HMMM I don't usually think of myself as the best teacher/tutorial guy, but funnily enough I can think of a few things about this topic that I could elaborate on lol. If I do that in the near future, I'll put it up on my patreon (for free as with everything else.)

If there are any specific things about it that you (and anyone else who would be interested in it, for that matter) find challenging and would like for me to focus on, let me know!

---

That's all for now folks, and as usual thank you so much to everyone who's left a nice compliment, word of encouragement or funny tidbit in my inbox as well! I can't reply to you all individually, but I see and read all the messages I get c:

HAVE A LOVELY REST OF YOUR WEEK

[444namesplus]

Abl Abov Absenc Absolut Abus Accurat Achiev Acquir Activ Acut Adequat Advanc Advers Advic Advis Advocat Agre Aliv Allianc Alon Announc Anyon Anywher Appl Argu Aris Arriv Articl Asid Assum Attitud Audienc Avenu Averag Awar Balanc Bas Battl Becam Becaus Becom Befor Believ Besid Blam Blu Bon Bottl Bridg Brok Cabl Cam Capabl Captur Car Cas Castl Caus Centr Chanc Chang Charg Charli Choic Choos Chos Circl Climat Clos Closur Cod Coffe Collaps Colleg Com Combin Commerc Compar Compet Complet Compris Conclud Concret Continu Convinc Cor Coupl Cours Coverag Creat Creativ Crim Cultur Cycl Damag Danc Dat Databas Deadlin Debat Decad Decid Declin Decreas Defenc Defin Degre Describ Desir Despit Devic Dialogu Diseas Disput Distanc Divers Don Doubl Driv Drov Duk Eas Edg Eligibl Els Emerg Empir Employe Enabl Engag Engin Enhanc Ensur Entir Entranc Envelop Escap Estat Estimat Evaluat Everyon Evidenc Examin Exampl Exchang Exercis Expens Explor Exposur Extrem

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[alondrasthoughts]

Blog Post (Due 02/13/2025)

How can we apply the digital divide theory to today’s education system? 

The digital divide theory refers to the gap between the haves and the have-nots in relation to access to the internet and digital technology (Everett, 2002, pp. 130). Using this idea, we can apply it to today’s education system by looking at which communities lack the proper resources like technology to educate children properly. This theory recognizes that there is a gap between those who have access and those who do not. Highlighting this problem helps unfold the fact that each school offers a different amount of access to technology. There are some schools who may afford it and others who do not. This is important when talking about allocation of funding because each child should receive an equal number of resources to succeed.   

How does biases affect the development of new technology? 

As new technology is consistently being produced it’s important to understand what goes behind its creation. Technology codes are a tool to facilitate and are filled with biased information that can take years and long process to erase and update (Benjamin, pp.23-24). These codes are the bases for creating technology and the creator’s own biases can affect the development of them. When a person is creating an app, website, or software in general they have vision for the said technology. If the person has certain biases the structure will reflect this and be created around it. When thinking about how technology should be created it’s important for the creators to not include their biases and if they do an investigation should be held. This is to protect the users from any harm that could have caused the modern technology to their lives in any aspect. If there’s no regulation serious harm can be produced, and difficult consequences follow.  

How can the emergence of recent technology contribute to the biases that exist today? 

In today’s world, there’s a lot of biases across the board and technology can be a tool to promote and spread such biases. “Tech advances (...) could not exist without data produced through histories of exclusion and discrimination” (Benjamin, pp. 30). The data used to create technology have roots of being biased and is used to this day to create technology. If we want to live in a world where race, gender, sexuality, etc. is not a problem when accessing basic things such as the internet, then the data collection needs to be updated. If we are using old data for current day use, we need to make sure it fits today’s climax. This would create better environments for everyone and create a precedent for “cleaner” technology where there’s no exclusion or discrimination at its foundation.  

How can intersectionality frames potentially help companies? 

Intersectionality allows us to see things in an institution and help unfold a person’s identities (Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw, 2019). A company can use the frames of intersectionality to get a better scope of their target market. A person is not defined but just one identity, they have multiple ones that shape who they are. Understanding the overlap of identities can get companies to view their marketing in a different light. This can open the door for their target market to widen more if done correctly and appropriately.  

[riverofdragons]

I have this tinfoil hat theory that the death of customization made people technologically illiterate.

Back when customization was big, it wasn't exactly user friendly. Sure, there were default themes for a lot of places, but if you wanted to truly customize something, you had to learn HTML and image editing.

Not to mention that when PCs were new-ish, the fact that it wasn't just a black screen with green text, but a blank slate that you could put any program with any function on was also novel. Even that degree of customizability was unheard of beforehand. We knew it came with a promise of infinite possibilities, and so if you wanted your PC to do something, you knew that you had to learn how to get it to do it. That was just how it is.

If we wanted a program from the internet, we either got it as an exe file or a zip/rar file. We learnt that there's a free program that can unzip compressed files. Today, ads are the norm, but back then, we learnt that if we see ads, they're most likely a virus and we need to block them with an anti-virus software or a browser extension. Everyone and their mother knew how to torrent and crack programs. They knew it could be done somehow and so they learnt how to do it.

Now, all you can customize are your posts and pfps and banners, and if you're lucky, you can choose between dark or light mode, but that's it. We've been needing to put up with shittier and shittier website updates that slowly but surely took out every morsel of customizability and I think by 2016-ish we just gave in. Of course, OS' followed suit along with everything else, seeing the success of the first things that were sleek and minimalist (I suspect that it was Windows 8 and the Windows Phone as much of a trainwreck as they were at the time or maybe Apple).

And now everything is homogenized. Nowadays I keep meeting so many people who have no idea about 95% of their PCs' functions. They don't know that they can install an adblocker or how to unzip zip files or even that they don't have to put up with Microsoft's bullshit and they can just get rid of the tiles and Xbox-related functions if they don't need it. They've been conditioned to think that customization is at best minimal on any given platform and so they won't even try it.

I often hear that all they do on their PCs is check social media (the same things they can do on their phones as well).

It's genuinely making me sad.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Free or Cheap Spanish Learning Resources So You Can Run at Windmills in Fluent Spanish

I will update this list as I learn of any more useful ones. If you want general language learning resources check out this other post. This list is Spanish specific. Find lists for other specific languages here.

For the purposes of this list "free" means something that is either totally free or has a useful free tier. "Cheap" is a subscription under $10USD a month, a software license or lifetime membership purchase under $100USD, or a book under $30USD. If you want to suggest a resource for this list please suggest ones in that price range that are of decent quality and not AI generated.

WEBSITES

Dreaming Spanish - A website that is also a YouTube Channel. This is a comprehensible input site with videos about a variety of subjects with multiple hosts from multiple countries. It has content for learners from absolute beginner to lower advanced. It lets you sort videos by dialect, subject, length, etc. The free version has a lot of content. The paid version is $9 a month and has many more videos and allows you to track your listening hours. The website is in English but all videos are entirely in Spanish.

Lawless Spanish - A free website with resources to learn Spanish relating to grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. The website also has worksheets, charts, an AI chatbot, and reviews of different learning resources. The website is in English.

Spanish Boom - A free website with beginner lessons and free readings with audio and visual aids. They're also associated with a service called Esidioma that provides paid courses with tutor help for around $23 and also sells books. Prices are in Euros but they also sell to people outside of Europe. The website is available in multiple languages.

studyspanish.com - A website with free verb drills and grammar lessons. It's commonly used by high school Spanish students. They also have a blog that hasn't updated in a while but there is an archive to read through. They have a paid tier with access to their podcasts, vocab lessons, and their Spanish learning app which is $10 a month or $120 for a lifetime membership. The website is in English.

Speaking Latino - A website marketed at Spanish teachers but it's in English and has guides to colloquial Spanish and slang in a lot of different countries and a free blog with tips on sounding like a local in different countries. It has a paid tier but that's mostly useful for Spanish teachers. They also sell slang dictionaries for various countries that are usually less than $10.

UT Austin Spanish Proficiency Exercises - A bunch of free grammar, vocab, and pronunciation guides for various tasks you should be able to do in Spanish at various levels from one of my alma maters, the University of Texas at Austin. It's got videos of people from different countries pronouncing things. The podcast links often don't work for some reason but the grammar, vocab, and video links should work fine. The website is in English.

SpanishDict - A free dictionary website and app with a search feature that also has curated vocabulary lists on various topics and articles. They have a paid tier at $13 a month with a writing coach and subscriber only curated lists and articles. Personally I don't think their paid tier is all that special but it's up to you. The website is in English.

BBC Bitesize Spanish - Bitesize is a free study resource for kids and is sorted by level. It has articles aimed at little kids as well as secondary school aged teens studying for their exams or planning to study abroad. The website is in English and available worldwide, not just in the UK.

YOUTUBE CHANNELS

Hola Spanish - A channel by a woman named Brenda from Argentina who makes videos about grammar, pronunciation, culture, media, and general Spanish tips for upper beginner to advanced learners. The channel is almost entirely in Spanish with occasional vocabulary words translated into English onscreen. There are subtitles in Spanish onscreen but sometimes they randomly disappear.

Butterfly Spanish - A channel with free lessons from beginner to lower intermediate. The host also makes videos about useful phrases and listening practice videos. The channel is mostly in English.

Spanish After Hours - A comprehensible input channel for beginner to intermediate learners with vlogs, history, Spanish tips, and news. The descriptions and video titles are in English but the videos are all in Spanish. The channel host is from Spain.

Easy Spanish - A channel part of the easy languages network that makes a combination of videos with useful phrases and terms for beginners and interviews on the street with locals. They have teams in both Barcelona and Mexico City and there are dual language subtitles in Spanish and English onscreen. The hosts also have a podcast for intermediate to advanced learners.

My Daily Spanish - A catchall channel that has lessons, discussions of grammar, culture topics, vlogs, vocabulary, and other various things. The host is from Spain and also makes a lot of YouTube shorts. She mostly speaks in Spanish but occasionally uses English or has English translations onscreen.

Spansh Boost with Martin and Spanish Boost with Mila - These channels are run by a couple from Argentina who also work as tutors on italki. They often appear on each other's channels and both have their own podcasts and vlogs and general content videos that they make discussing their lives, giving tips, and discussing culture. Mila also makes a lot of videos playing the sims.

Spanish Boost Gaming - Run by Martin from Spanish Boost, this is a lets play channel in clear and easy to understand Spanish. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish and a few other languages as well and it's an actual let's play channel. He plays a variety of video games, makes jokes, and says cuss words and everything.

Mextalki - A channel run by a couple of guys from Mexico city that has listening practice, podcasts, street interviews, and Mexican Spanish specific lessons. Some videos have dual language subtitles onscreen while others do not. The channel is majority in Spanish but in a few lesson videos or portions of videos they will speak in English a bit.

Espanol Con Juan - A channel that teaches Spanish in Spanish from upper beginner to upper intermediate. Juan has grammar lessons, vocabulary lessons, and videos about culture. He is from Spain and the channel is entirely in Spanish. He also has a podcast for more advanced learners.

READING PRACTICE

Vikidia - A wikipedia type website specifically made for kids. The articles are short and written in more simple easy to understand Spanish. The website is in Spanish and made for native speaker kids.

Spanish graded readers by Olly Richards - Spanish has short stories and dialogues for beginner and intermediate, books in easy Spanish on world war 1, world war 2, western philosophy, and climate change. There's also dialogue books specific to Mexican Spanish and Spanish used on social media. The books usually go from $5-$20 new depending on how old they are and whether or not you bought a digital copy. These are really easy to find at used bookstores for cheap though, especially in the US.

Conatilteg Digital - This is a mobile app that provides digital versions of the free textbooks for children provided by the Mexican Ministry of Education both historic and current. The link I provided is for iOS but the app is also available on android and the app is available in multiple countries and not just Mexico. The app is entirely in Spanish and categorized by grade from preschool to secondary school so it's a resource appropriate for all levels and may be enjoyable for any kids you know that are learning Spanish. You can also view their browser website here. (also entirely in Spanish)

Hola Que Pasa - A free website with news articles for learners from beginner to intermediate difficulty. They also provide audio and have the news articles available in podcast form. Every article has certain phrases highlighted that you can hover over and get and English translation of. The website is in a mix of English and Spanish.

Spanish in Levels - A world news website in Spanish for learners. The articles are separated into three different levels and the website is in a mix of English and Spanish. Each article also has audio.

PODCASTS

Spanish for False Beginners - An unscripted podcast about various topics hosted by a guy from the UK and a guy from Spain. The podcast is aimed at people who find beginner content to be boring but still find intermediate content to be too difficult. English is very rarely used.

Uforia/Univision - Uforia is a free app aimed at native speakers in the US and has Spanish language radio, music, and podcasts. Univision in general is also useful if you like American and international news and programming in Spanish.

Radio National de Espana - Another site for native speakers, this is Spanish National Radio. They have a variety of free podcasts and radio programs.

Spanish Obsessed - This is a series of lessons in podcast form for learners from absolute beginner to advanced.

Storylearning Spanish Podcast - This podcast tells different short stories in Spanish and is aimed at upper beginner to lower intermediate learners.

Radio Ambulante - A Spanish language podcast from NPR that's similar to something like This American Life that tells stories from around Latin America. Although it's aimed at native speakers, the language used is clear and understandable and transcripts are available. They're also aware that a lot of intermediate and advanced learners use them for listening practice and they have developed a free app that helps with comprehension and vocabulary when listening to their podcast.

SELF STUDY TEXTBOOKS

Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish - A self study textbook written in the late 80s that still mostly holds up for beginner to upper beginner Spanish. A paperback edition of the textbook is about $25 and used copies and ebooks are also usually available wherever you like to buy books. It's also half off on Amazon pretty often.

Complete Spanish step-by-step by Mcgraw Hill - This is a complete version of the McGraw Hill budget option, the spanish step by step series that focuses on the most frequently used words and grammar. It's $25 new but the individual books in the series usually cost less than $10 and used versions and ebooks are available.

Complete Spanish Grammar from Mcgraw Hill - This is a workbook as well as a textbook that usually costs around $20. The complete Spanish all in one version of the book costs about $40. Used versions of these books can be difficult to find because people tend to write all over them but ebook versions are available. You can also find their beginner workbook for around $18.

Practical Spanish Grammar - This book is usually around $25 but because it's not a workbook it's fairly easy to find used copies. An advanced grammar textbook is also available.

SERIES FOR LEARNERS AND KIDS SHOWS

Destinos - This is a series of over 50 episodes of a telenovela made for Spanish learners. The plot revolves around a group of siblings searching around the world for their long lost half sibling they just learned that they had so the series includes a lot of different Spanish dialects.

Extra Spanish - A 13 episode sitcom made to show in Spanish classrooms that revolves around a group of friends in Spain and a student that just moved there.

Dora la Expladora - Yeah if you remember Dora the Explorer from your preschool days it also unsurprisingly exists in Spanish. You can watch clips and some full episodes on YouTube and buy full seasons for around $8 each on Amazon.

PBS Kids in Spanish - A few PBS Kids shows like Cyberchase and Daniel Tiger have been dubbed into Spanish. The link I've given goes to a place to buy them on Amazon Prime but if you go digging on their YouTube channel or the PBS Kids website you also might be able to find them for free. They don't always make it easy to find though.

Plaza Sésamo - The Spanish language localization of Sesame Street for Mexican audiences with its own unique characters. The YouTube channel has a huge amount of content on it and often has episodes streaming live.

[deardarlinggames]

Devblog 6

Hi! A few critical updates. After my mother left, the laptop I was using went kaput. After a week of troubleshooting, updating, cleaning, finding, and transferring, I am now back to fully functional - with a bit of a catch.

I’m typing this on browser, on an iPad that no longer gets updates, and all of my notes will need to be typed on my iPhone 7, which stopped getting updates six months ago. Both, however, can access everything I need on browser. Everything else will go back to a paper-based system.

This will work until I can save enough for an actual desktop, and make my games and other software. I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised by the capabilities of IOS, but only time will tell.

So, a few minor setbacks. Next, I want to unofficially announce what I’m working on. The post got deleted when the computer crashed. Boo.

Elys: A tiny mouse against the world. Fight lobsters, befriend lizards, dismantle a secret society! A visual novel RPG with original compositions, unique art, fun sound effects, and several optional mini games and puzzles.

Websites/freecodeacademy: A cat website that after completing, I’m going to update and put on my website. After updating, it’ll be a page about my cats, fun facts and care tips, and each cat has their own mini game related o their favorite things. I am also deciding how I want my professional website to look, and if I want it to be the same as my neocities website.

[techempaths]

7 Best Digital Marketing Tools For Marketers

Digital marketing is extremely important to build your online presence and reach more audiences. Several agencies offer digital marketing services but today, innumerable best digital marketing tools are available to get the work done without paying to any agent. Though you can also opt for some of the best digital marketing services if you have a big budget.

List of the 7 best Digital Marketing tools for growth.

HubSpot

HubSpot has many tools that you can use at any stage to grow your business.

Under its free plan, it offers various features. You can set up popup forms, web forms, and live chat software for capturing leads. You can also send email marketing campaigns, analyse site visitors’ behaviour, and pipe all of your data into the free CRM.

The paid plans are amazing as things get sophisticated in them with advanced marketing automation. It is like an all-in-one solution starting from managing your social media and content to connecting with your leads and tracking emails.

HubSpot tool has several benefits such as growing your traffic, converting leads, providing ROI for inbound marketing campaigns, shortening deal cycles, and increasing close rates. You can do almost every digital marketing task with the help of this tool.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is like the gold standard for website analytics. These days it is hard to perform as a digital marketer if you do not possess any level of Google Analytics expertise.

Firstly, Google Analytics can show you several useful pieces of information related to your website like who is visiting your website, from where are they arriving, and on which pages they stay the most. Moreover, you can set up many goals to track conversions, track events to learn about user engagement, and build an improved e-commerce setup.

If you’re thinking of investing in online advertisements and marketing, you will need to know how it is performing so that you can improve over time. Google Analytics is the best place to get that information without costing you anything. Yes, you heard that right, it is totally free!!

You can easily add Google Analytics to your website as well as integrate it with other systems. It allows you to see the status and performance of both paid and organic marketing efforts.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs, a comprehensive SEO tool that can help you boost your website traffic. They have around 150 million keyword data in the U.S.

Ahrefs is a great tool for competitive analysis through which you can easily see who is connecting to your competitors, their top pages, and much more. You can see their content rankings and, by using the Content Gap tool, you can identify key weaknesses of your content too.

Its Top Pages tool allows you to see which pages receive the most traffic, and also the amount of traffic that goes to your competitors’ sites.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of the most popular SEO and digital marketing tools that help you simplify your strategy and gain the most benefits. If you are trying very hard to reach customers on social media and are still unsuccessful, Hootsuite can be your perfect partner. You can schedule posts, track engagements, and build a following through this tool.

The main reason behind its immense popularity is its ability to support several social platforms in one place. It can help you create, upload, and track posts, and monitor performance metrics while keeping an eye on relevant trending topics too.

It offers a 30-day free trial and after that monthly plans ranging from $30 to $600 based on the connected social networks and number of users.

Yoast

Yoast is an extremely SEO and digital marketing tool. It is a plugin that works with Gutenberg and Classic editor in WordPress. It helps you optimize your content to increase its visibility over search engines.

Yost plugin is free for WordPress but it also offers paid plans that depend on the number of sites you need to monitor. It gets updated constantly every two weeks to reflect Google’s algorithm, thus keeping you updated on your SEO. It helps you choose focus keywords, cornerstone content, individual content URLs, internal links, and backlinks. It also evaluates the page’s readability and provides it with a Flesch Reading Ease score.

Slack

Slack is one of the most favored communication services available in business nowadays. It functions in channels labeled for certain information so that business conversations do not get distracted or disconnected by tangents. It facilitates conversation and focuses on collaboration between teams and employees.

It is an excellent tool for digital networking and meeting others in the same space, along with giving you the freedom to enter or leave channels as required.

Proof

Proof connects to your CRM “Customer Relationship Management” or website and uses social proofs to boost conversions on your website. They implement social proof messaging (for example “Right now, 25 people are viewing this post”), reviews, and videos directed towards targeted customers after they visit your site. It is super easy to install as you just need to copy their pixels and paste them to your site.

Proof has two notification features- Live Visitor Count and Hot Streak that enhance customers’ perceptions of your brand and allows prospects to take a look at others’ feedback too. Additionally, 

You can easily identify your visitors and analyze their journey throughout your site. This will help in optimizing your site design to gain more conversions.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is a necessity for businesses and there is not a single reason to ignore it in this modern world of digitization. All 7 digital marketing tools are extremely popular and can help your business grow without any hassle.

[digitaldetoxworld]

Boosting Brand Image: Effective Online Reputation Management Tactics

 In today’s virtual age, an individual's or corporation’s reputation may be made or marred in moments. Online reputation management (ORM) has emerged as a critical method to shape public perceptions, safeguard credibility, and maintain a favorable image within the virtual area. This guide dives deep into the concept of ORM, its significance, techniques, equipment, and best practices.

What is Online Reputation Management?

Online Reputation Management (ORM) is the process of monitoring and influencing how your business or brand is perceived online. It involves a variety of strategies to neutralize negative sentiments and promote positive ones, ultimately shaping the online conversation around your brand.

ORM combines public relations, digital marketing, and SEO (search engine optimization) strategies to preserve or improve a good online presence.

Why is ORM Important?

First Impressions Matter

A majority of humans now turn to the net before making choices. Whether it’s a product purchase, task software, or partnership, online data regularly forms the first effect.

Impact on Business Success

Businesses thrive on acceptance as true. Positive critiques, excessive ratings, and clean online recognition can extensively grow customer acquisition and retention quotes. 

Career Advancement

For people, especially specialists and public figures, an online reputation can make or wreck professional possibilities. Recruiters and employers regularly evaluate applicants' online presence before hiring.

Crisis Management

In the digital global, statistics spread unexpectedly. A single negative incident can spiral right into a complete-blown disaster if now not controlled effectively. ORM mitigates such risks and forestalls long-term damage.

Building Credibility

Strong online recognition reinforces trust among stakeholders, whether they’re clients, customers, or followers. Transparency and responsiveness are regularly visible as markers of reliability.

Key Components of Online Reputation Management

Monitoring

Constantly song online mentions opinions, and discussions about your brand or call.

Tools like Google Alerts, Mention, and Hootsuite can automate this manner.

Regular audits of search results, social media platforms, and evaluation websites provide valuable insights.

Engagement

Respond to both wonderful and terrible comments directly and professionally.

Show appreciation for compliments and address court cases with answers.

Engaging with the target audience fosters loyalty and acceptance as true.

Content Management

Publish amazing, high-quality content material to dominate search engine consequences.

Maintain energetic blogs, social media money owed, and websites with up-to-date information.

Address inaccuracies or outdated content material promptly.

Review Management

Encourage glad customers to go away with fantastic critiques.

Address poor critiques constructively and in a well-mannered way.

Use structures like Yelp, Google My Business, and Trustpilot to collect and showcase comments.

Crisis Management

Have a clear action plan to address surprising reputation challenges.

Transparency, responsibility, and swift responses are essential in managing crises.

Employ expert PR or ORM offerings for complicated conditions.

Effective Strategies for ORM

Proactive Approach

Don’t anticipate troubles to get up; continually nurture a fantastic online presence.

Build a strong foundation of favorable content material and interactions.

Search engine marketing for Reputation Management

Optimize fine content with applicable keywords to improve visibility in seeking consequences.

Push down bad content material by using developing greater excessive-ranking, tremendous pages.

Leverage Social Media

Use systems like Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook to interact together with your target market and percentage updates.

Monitor social media mentions and cope with issues in real time.

Transparency and Authenticity

Be sincere and prematurely in all communications.

Acknowledge errors and take duty whilst necessary.

Soliciting Feedback

Actively request evaluations and testimonials from satisfied clients.

Use surveys to apprehend and enhance regions of dissatisfaction.

Professional ORM Services

Consider hiring specialists if dealing with popularity becomes overwhelming.

Agencies focus on restoring and retaining a positive online image.

Tools for Online Reputation Management

Google Alerts

Free tool for monitoring mentions of keywords related to your logo or name.

Hootsuite

Social media management device that tracks mentions and schedules posts.

ReviewTrackers

Helps collect and examine consumer critiques from a couple of structures.

SEMrush

SEO device for monitoring keyword performance and optimizing content material visibility.

Reputation.Com

Comprehensive ORM platform for organizations.

Yext

Helps control commercial enterprise listings and online opinions.

BuzzSumo

Identifies trending content and mentions to apprehend public sentiment.

Case Studies: ORM in Action

Corporate Example:

A well-known airline confronted backlash due to negative customer service captured on video. By apologizing publicly, compensating the purchaser, and enhancing its policies, the airline managed to rebuild its recognition through the years.

Individual Example:

A public parent received negative press over an arguable statement. By issuing a heartfelt apology, undertaking network paintings, and specializing in wonderful initiatives, they gradually shifted public notion.

Best Practices for Online Reputation Management

Stay Vigilant

Regularly screen your online presence to cope with troubles right away.

Be Responsive

Engage along with your audience and address comments constructively.

Focus on Value Creation

Share content that educates, entertains or conjures up your audience.

Maintain Consistency

Ensure messaging aligns with your logo values throughout all systems.

Learn from Mistakes

View complaints as an opportunity for growth and development.

Build Strong Relationships

Cultivate authentic connections with clients, employees, and stakeholders.

Challenges in ORM

Fake Reviews and Trolls

Managing fabricated critiques or malicious feedback calls for careful handling to keep away from escalation.

Rapid Information Spread

Negative incidents can cross viral, necessitating rapid and powerful responses.

High Expectations

Customers count on instant responses, which may strain resources.

Complex Algorithms

Navigating seek engine algorithms and social media guidelines needs expertise.

Future of Online Reputation Management

The importance of ORM will grow because the net will become increasingly vital to regular lifestyles. Key tendencies include:

AI and Automation: Enhanced equipment for monitoring and sentiment analysis.

Video Content: Growing significance of handling video content on systems like YouTube and TikTok.

Personal Branding: Individuals more and more making an investment in expert ORM offerings.

Ethical Considerations: Greater emphasis on authenticity and moral practices.

[vipu14]

Mastering YouTube Marketing Strategies for Maximum Engagement in 2024

As the world’s second-largest search engine and a platform boasting over 2 billion monthly active users, YouTube presents an unparalleled opportunity for businesses to reach and engage with their audience. To harness this potential in 2024, you need to master the latest YouTube marketing strategies. Here’s a guide to help you maximize engagement on YouTube this year.

1. Create High-Quality, Relevant Content

Focus on Value

The foundation of successful YouTube marketing is creating content that provides value to your audience. Whether it’s educational, entertaining, or inspirational, your videos should address your viewers’ needs and interests. Conduct audience research to understand what topics resonate most with your target demographic.

Invest in Production Quality

While you don’t need a Hollywood budget, investing in good equipment and editing software can significantly enhance your video quality. Clear audio, good lighting, and professional editing can make a big difference in viewer retention and engagement.

2. Optimize for YouTube SEO

Keyword Research

Optimize your video titles, descriptions, and tags with relevant keywords. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or TubeBuddy to find popular search terms related to your content. This helps your videos rank higher in YouTube search results and reach a broader audience.

Engaging Thumbnails and Titles

Your video thumbnail and title are crucial for attracting clicks. Create eye-catching thumbnails with bold text and vibrant images. Craft compelling titles that incorporate your main keywords and generate curiosity.

Detailed Descriptions and Tags

Write detailed video descriptions that provide context and include relevant keywords. Use tags to categorize your videos and help YouTube understand your content better. Include links to your website, social media, and other relevant resources.

3. Utilize YouTube Shorts

Embrace Short-Form Content

YouTube Shorts, the platform’s answer to TikTok and Instagram Reels, are short, vertical videos that can help you reach new audiences. Create engaging, bite-sized content that captures attention quickly. Use Shorts to highlight key points from longer videos, share quick tips, or showcase behind-the-scenes moments.

Consistent Posting

Post Shorts consistently to keep your audience engaged and attract new viewers. Regular content updates can help you stay top-of-mind and improve your channel’s visibility.

4. Engage with Your Audience

Respond to Comments

Engaging with your audience in the comment section builds community and loyalty. Respond to comments promptly and thoughtfully. Encourage viewers to leave comments by asking questions or prompting discussions in your video.

Use Community Tab

Leverage YouTube’s Community tab to interact with your subscribers outside of videos. Post polls, updates, and behind-the-scenes content to keep your audience engaged and informed.

Live Streaming

Live streaming allows for real-time interaction with your audience. Host Q&A sessions, webinars, or live events to foster a sense of community and encourage viewer participation.

5. Collaborate with Influencers

Partner with Relevant Creators

Collaborating with influencers and creators in your niche can expand your reach and credibility. Choose partners whose audience aligns with your target demographic and create content that is mutually beneficial.

Cross-Promotions

Engage in cross-promotions where you feature each other’s content or participate in joint projects. This can introduce your channel to new viewers and increase your subscriber base.

6. Analyze and Adjust

Monitor Analytics

Regularly review your YouTube analytics to understand how your videos are performing. Pay attention to metrics like watch time, audience retention, and click-through rates. This data provides insights into what’s working and what needs improvement.

Adapt Your Strategy

Use the insights gained from analytics to refine your content and strategy. Experiment with different formats, posting times, and content types to see what resonates most with your audience.

Conclusion

Mastering YouTube marketing strategies in 2024 requires a blend of high-quality content creation, effective SEO practices, audience engagement, and data-driven adjustments. By focusing on providing value, optimizing for search, leveraging new features like YouTube Shorts, and actively engaging with your audience, you can maximize your reach and engagement on YouTube. Stay adaptable and responsive to trends and viewer preferences, and you’ll be well on your way to YouTube marketing success.

[aceatlife]

Open-source Tools and Scripts for XMLTV Data

XMLTV is a popular format for storing TV listings. It is widely used by media centers, TV guide providers, and software applications to display program schedules. Open-source tools and scripts play a vital role in managing and manipulating XMLTV data, offering flexibility and customization options for users.

In this blog post, we will explore some of the prominent open-source tools and scripts available for working with xmltv examples.

What is XMLTV?

XMLTV is a set of software tools that helps to manage TV listings stored in the XML format. It provides a standard way to describe TV schedules, allowing for easy integration with various applications and services. XMLTV files contain information about program start times, end times, titles, descriptions, and other relevant metadata.

Open-source Tools and Scripts for XMLTV Data

1. EPG Best

EPG Best is an open-source project that provides a set of utilities to obtain, manipulate, and display TV listings. It includes tools for grabbing listings from various sources, customizing the data, and exporting it in different formats. Epg Best offers a flexible and extensible framework for managing XMLTV data.

2. TVHeadend

TVHeadend is an open-source TV streaming server and digital video recorder for Linux. It supports various TV tuner hardware and provides a web interface for managing TV listings. TVHeadend includes built-in support for importing and processing XMLTV data, making it a powerful tool for organizing and streaming TV content.

3. WebGrab+Plus

WebGrab+Plus is a popular open-source tool for grabbing electronic program guide (EPG) data from websites and converting it into XMLTV format. It supports a wide range of sources and provides extensive customization options for configuring channel mappings and data extraction rules. WebGrab+Plus is widely used in conjunction with media center software and IPTV platforms.

4. XMLTV-Perl

XMLTV-Perl is a collection of Perl modules and scripts for processing XMLTV data. It provides a rich set of APIs for parsing, manipulating, and generating XMLTV files. XMLTV-Perl is particularly useful for developers and system administrators who need to work with XMLTV data in their Perl applications or scripts.

5. XMLTV GUI

XMLTV GUI is an open-source graphical user interface for configuring and managing XMLTV grabbers. It simplifies the process of setting up grabber configurations, scheduling updates, and viewing the retrieved TV listings.

XMLTV GUI is a user-friendly tool for users who prefer a visual interface for interacting with XMLTV data.

Open-source tools and scripts for XMLTV data offer a wealth of options for managing and utilizing TV listings in XML format. Whether you are a media enthusiast, a system administrator, or a developer, these tools provide the flexibility and customization needed to work with TV schedules effectively.

By leveraging open-source solutions, users can integrate XMLTV data into their applications, media centers, and services with ease.

Stay tuned with us for more insights into open-source technologies and their applications!

Step-by-Step XMLTV Configuration for Extended Reality

Extended reality (XR) has become an increasingly popular technology, encompassing virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).

One of the key components of creating immersive XR experiences is the use of XMLTV data for integrating live TV listings and scheduling information into XR applications. In this blog post, we will provide a step-by-step guide to configuring XMLTV for extended reality applications.

What is XMLTV?

XMLTV is a set of utilities and libraries for managing TV listings stored in the XML format. It provides a standardized format for TV scheduling information, including program start times, end times, titles, descriptions, and more. This data can be used to populate electronic program guides (EPGs) and other TV-related applications.

Why Use XMLTV for XR?

Integrating XMLTV data into XR applications allows developers to create immersive experiences that incorporate live TV scheduling information. Whether it's displaying real-time TV listings within a virtual environment or overlaying TV show schedules onto the real world in AR, XMLTV can enrich XR experiences by providing users with up-to-date programming information.

Step-by-Step XMLTV Configuration for XR

Step 1: Obtain XMLTV Data

The first step in configuring XMLTV for XR is to obtain the XMLTV data source. There are several sources for XMLTV data, including commercial providers and open-source projects. Choose a reliable source that provides the TV listings and scheduling information relevant to your target audience and region.

Step 2: Install XMLTV Utilities

Once you have obtained the XMLTV data, you will need to install the XMLTV utilities on your development environment. XMLTV provides a set of command-line tools for processing and manipulating TV listings in XML format. These tools will be essential for parsing the XMLTV data and preparing it for integration into your XR application.

Step 3: Parse XMLTV Data

Use the XMLTV utilities to parse the XMLTV data and extract the relevant scheduling information that you want to display in your XR application. This may involve filtering the data based on specific channels, dates, or genres to tailor the TV listings to the needs of your XR experience.

Step 4: Integrate XMLTV Data into XR Application

With the parsed XMLTV data in hand, you can now integrate it into your XR application. Depending on the XR platform you are developing for (e.g., VR headsets, AR glasses), you will need to leverage the platform's development tools and APIs to display the TV listings within the XR environment.

Step 5: Update XMLTV Data

Finally, it's crucial to regularly update the XMLTV data in your XR application to ensure that the TV listings remain current and accurate. Set up a process for fetching and refreshing the XMLTV data at regular intervals to reflect any changes in the TV schedule.

Incorporating XMLTV data into extended reality applications can significantly enhance the immersive and interactive nature of XR experiences. By following the step-by-step guide outlined in this blog post, developers can seamlessly configure XMLTV for XR and create compelling XR applications that seamlessly integrate live TV scheduling information.

Stay tuned for more XR development tips and tutorials!

Visit our xmltv information blog and discover how these advancements are shaping the IPTV landscape and what they mean for viewers and content creators alike. Get ready to understand the exciting innovations that are just around the corner.