Operation: Muscle Armor

Finally, I'm proud to announce the opening of my new project blog called Muscle Armor! It's a blog dedicated to informing readers on health and nutrition, so it's gonna be pretty useful for my readers out there that are thinking about getting in shape, but may not know how or where to begin.

I think the blog looks pretty good. The ads are not intrusive, but they do grab the readers attention, because they're on the side of the blog posts, with a "Tried and True" sidebar to the far left. That is a list of the supplements I've used in the past and have found them to be pretty effective. The items on the side of the blog post are new releases, courtesy of Bodybuilding.com.

The template is a 5-column one remade from the Minima template. It's unique, but I dunno, one critic suggested I use the 3-column instead, so it doesn't look too overwhelming. Eh, maybe I'll keep it. Fuggetaboutem xD.

So check it out! Maybe you'll find something useful to aid you in your fight against obesity! o_O

Firefox 3 Review

I just downloaded Mozilla's new Firefox 3, and I gotta say... it's friggin awesome! I still have IE7 for my Windows Updates, but I think I'm gonna set Firefox as my primary web browser. There are a couple things I don't like about it, but there are more positives than negatives for Firefox 3, in my opinion.

The positives: There are a TON of add-ons and plugins! You can pretty much trick your browser out with all the latest gadgets and skins and really make it look nice. Also, there are a TON of short keys to make browsing convenient. Like if you want to go to the previous page, simply hit the backspace button -- no ctrl+b or whatever. If you want to Google something up, just type it in the address bar and it searches for you. For me, when I hit "y" on the address bar, it goes straight to my e-mail with Yahoo. Bookmarking is also convenient. If you want to bookmark something, just click the star on the right of the address bar and it's done. If you click the star again, you can edit the settings for your bookmarked page, like adding a keyword for it or saving it to a folder. There are plenty of options available for Firefox 3.

A couple downsides though: It takes alot of memory. And obviously, the more add-ons you add, the more space it takes. So you may want to just get the ones you need. I did a test with Firefox 3 and IE7 to compare how much memory the web browsers use. I went to two pages for both and I used Windows Task Master to compare the two, and Firefox took up almost 80,000 k while IE7 took up only 12,000 k memory. So if you have a slow computer, you may lag a little bit with Firefox.

I pretty much tricked out my Firefox browser the first 5 minutes I downloaded it xD. I got a new skin (which I might uninstall), an add-on called Tab Mix Plus (very useful), and this feature that allows me to zoom in on my tabbed webpages. I'm about to add a couple more add-ons to it soon. One thing I noticed about Firefox is that it's actually kinda fun to mess around with.

So if you don't have Firefox 3 yet, you really need to check it out. This is my first time using it, and I gotta say I'm hooked! There's a Youtube video by jimmyrcom that gives a better tutorial about Firefox 3, here's the link.

I still have IE7, but it's not really working for me, atleast not as good as Firefox is. Some features here in Blogger actually don't work with IE7 (for me anyways), and it's only now that I notice the difference. Some of the differences I've noticed while blogging is that here I have to highlight the text to make a link, while in IE7 I couldn't do that. I also didn't notice I had a spell checker here. It didn't work for IE7. Also a couple times with IE7 I couldn't right click if I'm online for a certain period of time. I have to either close the browser or restart the computer. Hope it's not a virus, but I don't have the same problem with Firefox.

So, to me, Firefox whoops IE7 any day!

Too Many Widgets Make a Bad Blog

That's just my opinion. There are alot of bloggers out there that have the Adsense program, and to drive traffic, they'll submit their blogs to ALOT of blog directories. That's fine. It's just that plus all the widgets they use that, to me, make a uninteresting blog.

I say this because I've seen alot of blogs out there, and for some reason they all look the same. Most have the Feedjit widget, they have the Recent Visitors widget, they have a huge list of blog directories, and every nook and cranny is filled with ads.

I'm not a professional blogger. But as a reader, I like to be able to read your content before the next full moon. My laptop is not that fast, so if you have a million things going on for your blog, it takes awhile for it to load. If it does take too long to load, I usually hit the back button to find another blog to look at.

Ok, this is a sample of what I do when I run into one of these blogs. I go to the site, wait a couple seconds for the top part to load, and I start scrolling down to read the content. I actually don't pay any attention to the sidebars. Sometimes I read the content when all of a sudden, a context link appears (the kind from Kontera, with the double underlining). So I try to scroll down some more, but the page is laggy. Finally I say "fuggetaboutit" and I go back to the site where I found the blog to pick another. Here's an example of a blog with too much stuff: http://www.myadsense-gold.blogspot.com/. I'm sure he won't mind, since he hasn't made a new post since January (not criticizing his blog...well maybe xD).

So here's a tip from an amateur blogger to getting return visitors: Don't cram your sidebars with flashy widgets, as this may deter visitors from actually reading your content. I've seen blogs with two or three widgets that do the same thing, like the recent visitors and stat counter widgets. Try to stick to one -- that's all you really need. As for the Adsense, try not to stick em in every nook and cranny of your blog. A few well placed ads will be as efficient, if not more so.

In my opinion, when it comes to blogging, less is more.

New Projects

Finally, a new post xD! Been kinda busy, so today I finally get a chance to relax and do some blogging. I'm still workin on the layout of this template (don't like that search feature), but besides that everything is back in order.

I've come across a couple affiliate programs I'm interested in working with. The first one can be found at bodybuilidng.com, and it looks like a good opportunity to get additional income. The second is clickbank.com. This one I may or may not work with, just because I've seen some of the ads they use, and to me, they're just not that enticing. But I dunno, I might try it out.

But yeah, like the title says, I'm about to start a couple new projects involving these affiliate programs. It's gonna be about fitness, and it'll contain tips and reviews etc on how to get in shape for the summer. I might make a second one with my mom about Thai food, and the ingredients used in making it, because I see alot of variations in Thai style cooking so my second project will be about authentic Thai cuisine (with the help of my mom... I can't cook xD).

Hopefully these two projects will be succesful! Wish me luck!

Template Change

Haven't found the template I'm even 60% satisfied with. This one looks cool, I guess. It's got the tabbed labeling I'm looking for, but the sidebars are too small. My Cnet widget is all the way down at the bottom! Not cool!

So if you happen to be checkin my blog out and it keeps changin... sorry for the inconvenience! Hopefully I'll find the right look for my blog!

I'm just @_@ right now...

Finding A New Web Browser: It's Easier Said Then Done

Now, I'm not an expert in this subject. But I do use a computer (obviously xD), and right now I'm looking for a browser that's faster than my current one. I'm currently using IE7 (Internet Explorer 7). It's alot nicer than the previous version, with it's tabbed browsing and newer icons, but it still has some problems. Plus I hear IE7 has alot of security issues, which is probably why it's updated with like a bunch of programs at once!

I was checkin out Firefox, and alot of people say it's better than IE7. Some say IE7 is better than Firefox. I asked, "What's the difference?"

Well, they pretty much have the same features. Both have tabbed browsing, the RSS feeds button thang, and some add-ons if you feel you need it. Only with Firefox, people are saying its alot safer when browsing the internet.

I was just about to download Firefox when I thought I'd do more research. People say you can use both browsers without problems. I was a little skeptical. So I Googled up the question, "Can I use Firefox and IE7 both?", and got some answers. Unfortunately, it wasn't a good answer.

It was an old post, but it's about security issues that can be found when using both browsers. Because it was published about a year ago, I'm not sure if the problem has been fixed or not. It says basically that they both work fine as stand-alone products, but not together. I want to use Firefox, but I might need IE7 or the Windows Updates. Eh, I dunno... I might just go to Safari...

Here is the site you can go to for the news post: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9741435-7.html

RE: Hip Hop Is Not Music It's A Philosophy Of Crime

In an effort to promote my blog and gain traffic, I went to http://www.fuelmyblog.com/, and their "Blog of the Day" was http://bloggingtoblame.blogspot.com/, a blog that's about... what else? Blaming. And the most recent post is about blaming hip hop for, in his/her opinion, it's negative contribution to society.

While this is not an attempt to discredit this blogger's opinion, this post did inspire me to write a reply about it. I'll start by asking this: What is every human's true goal in life? In my opinion, our goal as humans is to live in comfort, without hassles. We strive to make as much money as possible before we retire so in the end, we can possibly live comfortably, which is why we work so hard to get to that point.

Hip hop is inspired by people who endure excessive hardship. A blend of hatred and poverty for so many years has left many people to think that living life comfortably is not possible, and this is expressed in their music. Like every other genre of music, hip hop is a product of it's environment, inspired by the people who lived in this kind of atmosphere.

But even so, hip hop started out as a cultural movement in the 1907's, primarily by African Americans, as a way to overcome the oppression they faced in New York at that time... and this genre of music eventually spread throughout the world.

One of the reasons it's so popular today is because the listener can relate to the messages expressed through hip hop. The message of being able to become successful in the face of hatred and prejudice inspires the listener to find motivation, even when it seemingly could not be found. To overcome adversities despite the negativity around them. This may be why those born into wealth cannot understand the concept of hip hop.

But nobody is perfect. Granted, there is a current trend in hip hop today that would suggest that the message is to engage in illegal activities, but the message is still the same. Even so, there are still those who support hip hop, but in a positive manner, by addressing the issues that are causing hip hop to become so corrupt, and even making suggestions that may inspire the listener to make a positive change in their lives, to be active in their communities and to change the environment hip hop was born in. Because we all would like to live comfortable lives, without the hassle, without the stress.

Also, if junk brain food results in junk behavior, by who's hand did the food come from? Who's the one to blame? (Read the original post if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

An Idea!

Today I was looking around at some sites when I came across this affiliate program type deal at cnet.com. If you notice that widget over to the right side, that's one of the things I picked up from that site. Not only does it look kewl, it's also pretty useful for all the techno-geeks out there (just kidding xD)!

In the affiliate program, they require you to confirm your e-mail address. So I go to my e-mail (at Yahoo) and I click. It brings me to the "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" page. As visually stunning and informative as it is... this is not my e-mail page. I refresh and try again...nothing. Double-you tee eff?

I have another e-mail address that's supposed to be my mom's, but she has no idea how to access it -- or even type an e-mail for that matter. Funny thing is, she knows how to play the casino game just fine xD! So in the meantime, I use her e-mail address, but rarely.

While I was in total awe of the Internet Explorer page, I came up with an idea for accessing your e-mail (if it hasn't been thought up already). You know that OpenID thing? You can access your account from one site, and you automatically login to an affiliate site? I think that's what it does, atleast for Google/Blogger. Someone should come up with a small file program or widget you can download to your computer that can access ALL your e-mails from one source, making it easy and convenient. Sort of like RSS Feeds on blogs, but for your e-mail. And of course, using state-of-the-art security technology, or something close to that, to make sure no one goes hacking into e-mails.

If I was a programmer, I'd already make this program and find a way to place advertisements on it to make it a free download. But that's just me. If this kind of program is already available, please let me know, and I'ma snatch it up. If you're a widget programmer or something, I advise you... MAKE IT FOR ME please! xD

Template problems

For bloggers, templates are what makes blogs stand out from one another. Unique colors, designs, and the content itself gives the blog real value to the reader, and also to the author as well.

If you don't know much about HTML (like me), you might be a little picky about the template you choose. Even if you find the one you like, it might not work as well with Blogger as you hoped it would. Like when I placed that pic up there above my header; at first the text kind of ran into each other and made it look messy. I had to edit out the caption for my header pic to solve the problem. No biggie.

On the other hand, my other blog has a special feature that makes it unique to most templates. Called the Neo Template (developed by Ramani, of Hackosphere.blogspot.com), this uses some kind of AJAX coding (I think) to enable the user to view recent posts without loading, which makes it convenient for the reader.

Well, I was updating the blog, and I re-organized some of the page elements to make the "Recent Post" even with the post. When I checked it out...the links were missing! I can't change the post!

I'm trying to fix it right now, but I have almost ZERO knowledge of HTML. I'm about to e-mail Ramani about it, and hopefully he can fix it or give me tips. Hopefully.

If there are any readers out there that know what I'm talking about, and maybe you know how to fix this problem, please... leave a comment! Any advice is more than welcome at this point!

For a blog that's supposed to inform my readers, I'm pretty clueless right now xD!

My Introduction

Hello, and welcome to Thaigertidbits.blogspot.com! This blog is just sort of an extention of my other blog at http://www.thaigerblog.blogspot.com/, because I sometimes make posts that are irrelevant to the main subject -- which is an online game called Endless Online (I know! I'ma nerd xD). The main topic of discussion here? Anything! Everything! Whatever I feel like putting on this blog!

My first few posts I'm just gonna forward here from my other blog. And from there -- the fun begins!

I'm planning to write mostly about my opinions and/or thoughts about a topic I find interesting on the web. My current interests are: fitness/exercise, business/economics, music, movies, games,and other things. So you can expect most of the posts to be about those subjects. But who knows? I may even make a post about politics!

So check back here once in a while...you may be surprised at what you find!