Recently while creating an opt-in form I had to incorporate this functionality in my squeeze page. Results that Google threw up, were either too complex or too simple which won’t suffice my need.

So, here, I have written a piece of code which will help me in future and hopefully you too!

This code uses two event handlers onfocus and onblur. The first one comes into the picture when focus is set on a particular object while second one comes into the picture when focus is just removed from an object.

<input onfocus="this.value = (this.value=='First Name')?'' : this.value;"
onblur="this.value = (this.value=='')? 'First Name' : this.value;"
type="text" name="MERGE1" value="First Name" size="0">;

Explanation:

• onfocus checks for the value First Name, if it is present, it clears the field.
• onblur check for the blank value. So say you bring your cursor to a particular field and then moves away from it without entering any value. This is where onblur event would insert the default value again.

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Sometime back while working on excel 2010, it seems by mistake I disabled the option to use “cell drag and drop”. This feature allows you to drag the mouse and copy cells. If this option is disabled, your mouse pointer will never change to move pointer on selecting a particular cell.

Ok, here is what I mean. In the illustration shown below, mouse pointer is getting changed to move pointer as soon as I bring it to the edge of a cell.

There is some info available on the net for Excel 2003 and the earlier versions ie  by going to Tools > Options > Edit and checking "Allow cell drag and drop", you can enable this option but there is no information regarding the same for Excel 2007 and Excel 2010. So how can you enable this option in 2010?

1. Go to File > Options > Advanced > Enable file handle and cell drag-and-drop
2. Check this box.
3. Click OK and you’re done

I wish there was some “mapping file” available from Microsoft for mapping excel 2003 and earlier versions navigation to excel 2007/2010. It could save us a lot of time.

First the problem…

If you are recording on PowerPoint using Camtasia addin and you want to switch back and forth between an application on your desktop and PowerPoint you would first need to stop your PowerPoint recording. Now, it can be a real pain if you have to do this multiple times.

Solution…

While recording in Camtasia, I prefer not to use the built-in PowerPoint Camtasia add-in but a simple PowerPoint trick so that I can seamlessly switch between my PowerPoint and the application I want to demo.

So here is what I do –

1. Under Powerpoint, go to Slide Show > Set Up Slide Show
2. Under Show type radio button group, I would choose “Browsed by an individual (window)”
3. Go into slideshow mode and resize  PowerPoint window the way I would normally do with any other window present on your desktop. I also use this nifty lil tool called Sizer to resize my applications automatically

All Set!

Prerequisites:

1. LAN cards on both the machines – All computers these days have one.
2. RJ45 connectors – You can get one from the market, quite inexpensive.
3. A basic knowledge of computers, just enough to understand the instructions below.

Here is what you can do step by step to connect two computers with each other:

1. Insert Cables: Plug in the cable – having RJ45 ends at both the ends – to the two laptops.
2. Change WORKGROUP: Change the WORKGROUP of one of the machines. Here is how you can do that. Right click on My Computer, select Properties and chose Computer Name tab. Click Change button to change the WORKGROUP name. Make sure it should be exactly as the one on other machine.
3. LAN Properties: Now go to My Network Places > Click on View Network connections > Right click on "Local Area Connections" and select properties.
4. IP Properties: On the next window, scroll down and highlight "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)". Click Properties.
5. Assign static IPs: Now see the screenshot below. For one of the machines, write down the IP address, Subnet Mask and Preferred DNS Server exactly as shown below. For other machine, keep all the other numerals same except the IP address, change that to 192.168.2.50.
6. Share Drives or Folders on either of the machines: If sharing drives, right click on the drive name, hit “sharing and security” and under Sharing tab click on “If you understand the risk but still want to share the root of the drive, click here”. As soon as you click the link he same tab will show you a section “Network sharing and security”. Select share this folder on the network and Allow network user to change my files.
7. Run and Ping: Go to Start and hit Run. Enter \\192.168.2.50 on the machine where you have assigned the IP 192.168.2.51 OR vice versa. You should be able to see the shared drive/folder of the other machine.

Enjoy!

PS: The steps above are written keeping in mind Windows XP but should be applicable to Win Vista/Windows 7 with some minor modifications.

PPS: Just in case even after doing these steps you are not able to connect, try to disable firewalls of both the computers. (Control Panel > Security Center > Windows Firewall)

A firewall is essential when it comes to preventing malicious software and hackers from gaining access to your computer. With Windows 7, you can actually fine-tune your firewall settings to match your daily usage while still keep your computer well protected. To access the advanced settings and help you get started right away, follow these next few steps.

First of all, you need to disable your Windows firewall to gain access to recommended settings. To do this, go to Control Panel> System and Security > Windows Firewall and then click on the “Change notification settings” link on the left panel. Disable both private and public network firewall and click apply to continue. At the Windows Firewall control panel page you see after clicking OK, you will notice a new button labeled “Use recommended settings” — this is what we are after — so go ahead and click the button.

A popup will ask for your confirmation, and you can safely click Yes to continue. Windows will analyze your current computer state, along with installed applications, and determine the right firewall settings for your computer. After the process is completed, you can continue with fine-tuning the firewall settings to suit your needs.

To access the advanced settings for Windows 7’s firewall, click “Advanced Settings” on the left panel of the Windows Firewall control panel page. You will see a new page with Inbound Rules, Outbound Rules, Connection Security Rules, and Monitoring links on the left panel. You can disable available rules or create new ones — for Inbound and Outbound Rules, this is essentially important and allows you to set the firewall to work according to your needs — and manage monitoring preferences from here.

Not all web developers understand search engine optimization. The process is actually easy yet complicated at the same time, but these 3 steps I’m about to tell you will get you started right away.

1. Fill Your Site With Quality Unique Contents

The best thing you can do to prepare your site for search engine optimization is to fill your site with quality contents. Write articles, how-to’s, and other informational contents and post them at your site. Not only you will optimize your site for search engine optimization purposes, you will also entertain visitors and keep them coming back. If your site is an online store, you can still add a blog that discuss products you are selling as part of your site. Remember, the contents have to be unique; if you don’t have time to write them hire freelance content writers to do the job for you instead of going to online article directories and copy stuffs.

2. Update, Update, Update!

One of the key to successful SEO campaign is regular site update. Yes, you still have to cope with maintaining updates according to sets of keywords you are using to keep your site optimized, but you should update regularly. Again, this simple step can also be done with the help of freelancers if you don’t have the time or expertise to do it yourself, and it will keep your visitors entertained while your search engine rankings improve.

3. Use Keyword Phrases In Your Title Tag

This may sounds simple, but pages with keyword phrases in their title tags will enjoy better search engine rankings. Don’t push your efforts too far by spreading keywords all over the content or page; just add it as part of the title tag and present some in the actual content. Don’t worry about keyword placements too much, and keep your contents — and pages — readable to visitors.

Simple, right? Go right ahead and optimize your site for search engine crawlers.

List based drop down menu is one of the most popular site ornaments, and a lot of sites are using it as their primary navigation tool. If you want to use list based menu on your site as well, follow this tutorial I’m about to present to you and create your own with CSS/HTML in a matter of minutes.

Let us start with making the list to work with. Use the following HTML code as your guide.

<div id=”nav”>

<ul>

<li class=”first”><a href=”#”>Home</a></li>

<li><a href=”#”>Blog</a></li>

<li><a href=”#”>Services</a>

<ul>

<li><a href=”#”>SEO</a></li>

<li><a href=”#”>Internet Marketing</a></li>

<li><a href=”#”>Web Contents</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li><a href=”#”>Contact Us</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

You should notice the “nav” id that will be used in your CSS codes as identifier. Let us continue with setting up some basic CSS codes for your menu. First, set up the basics for #nav to lay down some ground formatting for your list based menu.

*{ margin:0px; padding: 0px; }

#nav {

font-family: arial, sans-serif;

position: relative;

width: 390px;

height:56px;

font-size:14px;

color:#999;

margin: 0 auto;

}

#nav ul {

list-style-type: none;

}

Add the following piece of CSS code to make your list based menu float. This will make integrating the menu to your site a lot easier.

#nav ul li {

float: left

position: relative;

}

Add the following code to your CSS to make the list clickable as a whole — instead of just the text — and add separating borders to the design. Of course, you can change colors and border settings used.

#nav ul li a {

text-align: center;

border-right:1px solid #e9e9e9;

padding:20px;

display:block;

text-decoration:none;

color:#999;

}

The following CSS codes will allow you to format child nodes properly and create a smooth dropdown effect.

#nav ul li ul {

display: none

}

#nav ul li:hover ul {

display: block;

position: absolute;

}

Last but not least, add the following code to your CSS to set the hover state of the nodes.

#nav ul li:hover ul li a {

display:block;

background:#12aeef;

color:#ffffff;

width: 110px;

text-align: center;

border-bottom: 1px solid #f2f2f2;

border-right: none;

}

#nav ul li:hover ul li a:hover {

background:#6dc7ec;

color:#fff;

}

When it comes to integrating the menu to your site, all you have to do is insert the CSS codes into your CSS file and add the HTML list code wherever on the page within a container. The new list based dropdown menu will be a nice addition to your already intuitive design.

A lot of Mac users choose to install Snow Leopard from scratch; this is very good if you are thinking about starting fresh, because you will surely notice the performance difference of a clean install. However, upgrading from the previous OS X version is not bad at all. You can save a lot of time installing Snow Leopard, and you will still be able to enjoy new features and improved performance.

Upgrading to Snow Leopard is actually pretty easy. All you have to do is insert the upgrade disc and hit install. Snow Leopard will select your primary drive, and all you have to do next is to wait for about 45-90 minutes for the upgrade process to be completed. What you need to do before upgrading is what’s important. Why, because there are apps that work fine with Leopard but won’t with Snow Leopard. A crucial step is to make sure you delete iStat Menu and system preferences related applications before installing Snow Leopard; if you skip this step, you will see that Snow Leopard takes forever to boot up and System Preferences will cause errors.

It will also be best to check other installed applications for compatibility issues. The best way to do this is to use SnowChecker to help you. You will be able to spot incompatible applications instantly and check if updates are available; you don’t have to remove them before upgrading to Snow Leopard, but if you see too many incompatible applications then it would be best to wait for updates for the applications before upgrading to Snow Leopard.

Microsoft has just released their latest installment of Windows operating systems. Windows 7, the latest version to carry the long legacy of this OS, is great. It is faster and more user friendly than Vista, and a lot of critiques predict that it will be the best yet. Still, there are some things you can do to improve the overall user experiences using Windows 7.

Adobe Reader Fix

The first thing you would notice about Windows 7 (and, in this case, Internet Explorer 8 ) is its slight incompatibility with Adobe Reader. Some PDFs just won’t open and an error message will pop up. Of course a fix will be out soon, but you can simply solve this problem by telling Adobe Reader not to display PDFs in the browser. Go to Edit > Preferences > Internet, and under the Web Browser Options box deselect the “Display PDF in Browser”. You will have no problem at all opening PDFs from IE8 now.

Control Panel Applets

By default, Windows 7 displays Control Panel items in categories. You can adjust it to complete view by clicking the “All Control Panel Items” button you find at the bottom of the category list. You will have easier access to options and features without having to figure out which category the control you are looking for falls into.

Aero Snap: Do You Really Need Them?

Yes, you need to figure out whether Aero Snap works for you. I personally think this feature is not helping me — I move windows around a lot and I often find my application window getting snapped — so I decided to disable it. If you think about disabling them as well, go to Control Panel > Ease of Access Center, choose Make the Mouse Easier to Use and tick the “Prevent Windows From Being Automatically Arranged When Moved To The Edge Of The Screen” check box before clicking OK.

Windows 7 UAC

Yes, a lot of you are complaining about the User Access Control pop-ups and choose to disable this feature. I find that selecting the option one step higher than completely disabling it (see the picture) is the best option, because your Windows 7 will still be protected but you will not be annoyed by constant pop-ups.

There are lots of things you can do to tweak and personalize your Windows 7, and we will discuss them further soon.

So you have accumulated hundreds (or even thousands?) of Google Toolbar bookmarks over the years and now want to delete them all.  Well, Google provides a way but for some reason it is undocumented.  A very intuitive option should be the Bookmarks menu option of the Google Toolbar but the delete all option is not available there.

Here is a step-by-step procedure of how you can delete all bookmarks from Google at a click of a button:

1. Go to Google Bookmarks
2. Scroll down. On the left hand side you will see Delete all link.



3. Now you know what to do. Enjoy.