Vivid Web Graphics Blog

Google has come up with some new changes in their search engine where they have tried to personalize the search engine results which may take the web-surfing to new levels.

The new Google Personalized Search Engine system is designed to help the viewers to find that they are looking for in easy and specialized way.The new system of Google basically works in this way, if someone is searching for some answer and clicks on a website that they often visit that has that answers, then that site will rank higher than others the next time they go to search for the same query. If you like the answers in wiki answers than some other website, Wikipedia will rank higher on the list because Google knows that you like that site more than other websites.

To take the advantage of Google’s new personalized search, you don’t need to keep signed-in to Google account nor you need a Google account. It is available in 40 languages worldwide. The Google personalized search also works with less specific keyword terms. If you type in a general term like “new phones” and frequently check for the relates websites from search engine, then the websites that you usually prefer to visit, will rank higher than other websites for “new phones”. In this way, google will help you to get the information you would normally like to check out first.

So what if you are looking for some more general search? If the new general search doesn’t impress you, you can simply turn off the customization setting that is found under “view customizations” on Google. Google only keep the customized search information records for 180 days and it is completely different from a users Google account and web history.

Google’s new personalized search tool makes users feel more comfortable in their search and makes it more easier for them to get that they are looking for. It’s giving the internet more of a personal touch, making it simple for those who are new to the web and more helpful for regular web surfers.

More here: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/personalized-search-for-everyone.html

It was my birthday this week (Nov 16th) and I decided to treat myself to a new desktop. I was running on an AMD T5062 2GB RAM for a year but realized I need more power. So did a little upgrade earlier this week to a Dell Studio XPS 8000 which runs a Intel i7 processor which is in essence a dual quadcore running 8 x 2.79 Ghz with 8 GB of ram and a GeForce GTS 240 – 1GB RAM firing power HANG I say! Of course I had to do my little benchmark ritual, firth the Windows benchmark then of course the 3D Mark. Results very impressive certainly when it came to processor power.

Can it get any better you ask? Well decide for your self:
Intel® Core™ i7-860 processor; 8GB DDR3 memory; 1TB hard drive

Every had a blurry new screen? Well it sucks, after fiddling around with the screen resolution and auto asjusting it still wasn’t sharp. I decided to download the dell s2409w screen drivers and installed those as well – yet with no luck.

Finally realized that I was still using analog cables while the monitor came with digital DVI-D cables..DUH!
Hooked those up and voila, much crisper. Apparently the best screen resolution for a dell s2409w is 1920×1080 which is for my taste too small (yes even on a 24 inch screen). So I’m running it now on 1280×720 @60hz.
I don’t know why but when I bump the hertz up it gets blurry (when it should get crisper).

I liked this screen so much I bought two of them . But didn’t work out very well, it’s just too much on one desk.

Download Dell s2409w drivers from dell

Create apple style menu

1. Create new document
Navigate to the top menu File -> New and set the document width to 850px and height to 200px – click ok.

Create New Document File-> New

2. Set your background to white
Use the paint bucket tool to set the background color to white so we can see the artwork better.

Use the Paintbucket -white foreground color

3. Create the menu bar
- Use the rounded rectangle tool and set the radius to 5px.
- You can set the radius in your top menu toolbar (visible when the rounded rectangle tool is selected).
- Draw by point clicking and stretching your rounded rectangle to about 800px wide and 40 px in height.

-Use the Rounded Rectangle Tool

Set the radius to 5px

4. Select your rounded rectangle to outline your selection
- Hold the control key and click on the white square

Hold the control key and click on the white square

- This will create a selection

Selection

5. Create a new layer

Create new layer

6. Set your foreground and background color
Foreground color: #d2d2d2
Background color: #949494

Set foreground and background color

Enter the values #949494 and #d2d2d2 respectively

7. Use your gradient tool to create the grey-ish transition

Use the gradient tool

8. Create the gradient
- Once the gradient tool is selected hold down your shift key and draw from the top of your selection to the bottom    of the selection by holding down your left mouse button and letting go at the bottom of the selection.

9. Create the menu seperators

Use the line tool -> set to 1px

- make sure your line is set to 1px – no style – #666666

1px #666666 no style

10. Draw a line in the same height as your main menu bar
- apply a stroke effect to the line using the values here below.

11. Set the Layer opacity to 40%

12. Repeat step 11 to create multiple seperators or hit CTRL + J to duplicate layer ( command + J on Mac)
distribute the separators evenly using the move tool (keyboard shortcut key is ‘V’)

13. Enter your menu names and set font style

Font Color is #383838

Set font Style by using the drop shadow effect on the font and set values accordingly.

14. Your menu is ready

Twitter Networking
Chances are that your grandma has a twitter account and you the business professional are still chasing clients the old-fashioned way.  You might have heard about Twitter in the news or from friends but still have no idea how to use twitter .  First off Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that enables you to post postings up  to 150 characters at a time updating  real time personal or business  activities or anything else that you would like to share with your friends or fellow Twitters.

Don’t be intimidated by the application you will find Twitter one of  the easiest applications on the web. Sign up is easy and you will get your own Twitter URL.
After your account has been setup it’s time to find people of interest using the search function you can search for people or search on topics. Now you can start following your people of interest and often they start following you. The neat thing is that everytime you update your Twitter page with a post your followers will get a notification on their end.

twitter

Leveraging Twitter
Ok the real power is not just in ‘I follow you, you follow me’ you should try to translate to cyber connections in to real human connections. Try to establish real contact see when they will be in your town or you might go to a conference where they will be too so now you might be able to meet them in person and turn a cold connection in to a hot one! Follow us on twitter:  http://twitter.com/vividwebgraphic

Twitter Explained

That Social Media can help your SEO rankings is a fact.
Social Media  is part of any good Search Engine Marketing campaign, community website such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and many more belong to the top social media sites where you as business owner should have either a personal profile or business profile.

Social Media allows you to connect in ways faster and more efficient than any traditional marketeer can dream off.  A recent client of ours had 400 followers overnight when they signed up for Twitter – a micro-blogging platform. Social Media is all about networking, networking over the Internet.

It is the how often that most people get stuck, how do you create a profile and more important what do you put in there to be most successful and how do I connect with my potential customers once signed up. That’s where we come in Vivid Web Graphics takes the load of your daily schedule. We will sign you up at over two dozen social media sites creating optimized point perfect business profiles  that will get you connected.

Here is how  Lauren Kozak, Social Media Director for Britney Spears leverages Social Media:

Google Adwords Seminar is coming to San Diego!
Would you like a hands-on in person training on how to make most of your Adwords Campaign?

From the newsletter:

“Each seminar is led by an independent and unbiased search marketing professional – an AdWords advertiser with years of experience who can show you how to choose targeted keywords, organize your account, and write effective ads.

On Thursday, February 19th we will be offering AdWords 301: Advanced Optimization and Tools and on Friday, February 20th AdWords 302: Advanced Bidding and Testing.

Some of the topics covered include:

• Advanced Targeting: See how geographic targeting and the Google Network can focus your campaigns on the most valuable customer segments for your business.
• Advanced Bidding Options: There’s more than one way to bid for your ads. Learn about CPM bidding, the Budget Optimizer, and position preference tools.
• Creative Workshop: Learn how to write ads that turn clickers into customers.

Additionally, each seminar will now devote a portion of time to address online advertising in a down economy. We hope this new section will be especially relevant and helpful to your current business.

You can visit our website to find more detailed information on course topics for AdWords 301 and 302.

Learn from the experts and make the most of your advertising budget — sign up for AdWords Seminars for Success today.

Sincerely,

The Google AdWords Team”

Technorati Profile

Search Engine Optimization SEO is the process of improving the findability of your website on the internet by implementing various techniques. In a nutshell there are two major optimization processes, there is the “on-page optimization” and the “off-page optimization”. The on-page optimization tackles all the elements on your pages such as the META Tags, content, images, internal linking, site structure, etc. The off-page optimization or better known as Search Engine Marketing SEM focusses on as the last word implies on “Marketing” your website. For SEM Different techniques are called into place to increase your website visibility for the search engines.

If you like to find out more on how we can help your business grow on the internet contact us today 858.964.2293

This tutorial is brought to you by Vivid Web Graphics.
Easy and quick way to re size your image in Photoshop.

It is not uncommon that after the website is completed you’d like to modify existing content (text and images) or add new content. For static websites you need to either have knowledge of the various web design tools or hire a professional to update your website. As for content management systems (CMS) you can update the content yourself through an administrative back-end. You don’t need any html editing experience nor a do you need to hire a professional web designer. The CMS system allows you to update your website like a pro.